Enjoy a Movie With Your Candy Cane

If you’re lucky, you’ve finished all the last minute shopping and preparations, and the final countdown to Christmas will consist of sipping eggnog by the tree and taking in some holiday themed entertainment. To help give you some inspiration for staying in the Christmas spirit, we’ve listed a handful of our favorite holiday movies. Kill some time over the next few nights with these naughty and nice classics and tell us your favorite holiday movies.

• “A Christmas Story”

Poor Ralphie’s doomed quest for a Red Ryder BB Gun is more beloved now then it was a quarter century ago when “A Christmas Story” first came out. From Flick’s traumatizing encounter with the flagpole to Ralphie’s dad and the leg lamp, the classics moments in this Christmas comedy endure for hilarious memories each year.

• “A Christmas Carol” (or “Scrooge”)

Many versions exist, but the 1951 version of the Dickens tale starring Alastair Sim stands out as the classic in my mind. Sim makes the perfect Scrooge, cranky and impenetrable in his miserliness, then heartwarming in his transformation.

• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”

What better way to spend the holidays than with the Griswolds? No matter how wayward your Christmas plans may have gone, watching Clark’s misadventures is a surefire way to feel better about your own celebration.

• “Home Alone”

Watch the original and leave all the sequels on the shelf. This film made Macaulay Culkin famous for a reason: he’s the ultimate smart, quirky troublemaker, and Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are perfect as the bumbling bandits. Just the right amount of sentiment makes this a great one to watch each Christmas.

• “Bad Santa”

Definitely not for viewing with little ones. Forget “Sling Blade,” Billy Bob Thornton is at his creepy, drunken, lecherous best in this anti-Christmas expletive-filled comedy. This flick is especially perfect as an antidote to a day filled with shopping in overcrowded malls blasting non-stop Christmas tunes.