Christmas may still be twenty days away, but HBO Max is bringing the sitting on the couch on Christmas season early. So, these are the best 10 movies on HBO Max this Christmas. The list below only includes scripted movies, not documentaries.
A Christmas Story
Synopsis: Youngster Ralphie Parker spends most of his time dodging a bully and dreaming of his ideal Christmas gift, a Red Ryder air rifle. Frequently at odds with his cranky dad but comforted by his doting mother, Ralphie struggles to make it to Christmas Day with his glasses and his hopes intact.
Elf
Synopsis: As a baby, Buddy crawls into Santa’s toy bag and is whisked off to the North Pole, where he is raised as an elf. A misfit who grows to be three times the size of his elf family, Buddy ultimately heads to his birthplace of New York City to seek out his roots. Unfortunately, they turn out to be a Scrooge-like father and a cynical ten-year-old stepbrother who doesn’t believe in Santa. Worst of all, everyone seems to have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. But using his simple elf ways, Buddy sets out to single-handedly win over his family and save Christmas in New York, hoping to at last find his true place in the world.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Synopsis: As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen, and children, as he tries to make sure everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie, and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs.
The Shop Around the Corner
Synopsis: By night Alfred and Klara are pen pals who have never met but who are deeply devoted to each other. By day, Alfred and Klara are co-workers who, just as deeply, dislike each other in The Shop Around the Corner. Academy Award winner Jimmy Stewart stars with Margaret Sullivan as Alfred and Klara in this classic romance directed by the great Ernst Lubitsch. This day/night — hate/love relationship cannot continue … but will it be loving or loathing when Alfred and Klara discover the identities of their cherished pen pals?
Dear Christmas
Synopsis: Natalie Morgan is the host of a popular podcast, Holiday Love, which shares true stories of holiday romance with its listeners. Natalie’s podcast has seasonal, romantic stories that captures the hearts of listeners everywhere, despite its host never having experienced a romance of her own, holiday or not. As Natalie prepares her much anticipated Dear Christmas podcast, she stops back home to spend Christmas with her family. But before she knows it, she begins to experience her own holiday romance as sparks ignite with local firefighter, Chris.
Gremlins
Synopsis: A gadget salesman is looking for a special gift for his son and finds one at a store in Chinatown. The shopkeeper is reluctant to sell him the mogwai but does with the warning to never expose him to bright light, water or to feed him after midnight. All of this happens and a gang of gremlins decide to tear up the town on Christmas Eve.
It Happened on 5th Avenue
Synopsis: As he does every winter, hobo Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore) moves in to a mansion on New York City’s 5th Avenue while its owners are away for the winter and invites all his hobo friends in from the cold. But this Christmas, Mary O’Connor (Ann Harding) comes home unexpectedly after a quarrel with her boyfriend to find her house occupied by jovial street dwellers. To make matters even worse, her father (Charles Ruggles) disguises himself as a hobo to get an invitation to stay in his own home — and keeps his identity secret in this perennial Christmas favorite about rediscovering family and the joy of being together.
Lethal Weapon
Synopsis: It’s drugs in southern CA with cop partners Mel Gibson and Danny Glover chasing sleazy dope dealers in a nonstop crime actioner. Roger Murtaugh, who is about to turn 50, exercises the kind of life preserving caution that Martin Riggs has discarded. Riggs’ wife has been killed in an accident, and he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies, just so long as he can take all the bad guys with him. Murtaugh has a hard time surviving with such a self-destructive partner as they investigate “The General,” head of a drug smuggling operation.
Meet Me in St. Louis
Synopsis: Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien star in this heartwarming tale of the emotional trauma the colorful members of an early 20th century St. Louis family experience when they learn their father has been transferred–and they will have to move to New York.
The Polar Express
Synopsis: When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.
This concludes the list of the best 10 Christmas movies on HBO Max in 2021. So, if you have watched them tell us in the comments and we will make a new list for you, and if you haven’t what are you waiting for.
