Best Christmas movies to watch: The best Christmas movies for every mood | In Pictures

The Shop Around the Corner (1940): You can make a strong case for that other Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie. But in the knock-down, drag-out battle for the Christmas movie title, there’s no greater delight than Ernst Lubitsch’s timeless love story. One of the most charming movies ever made, partly because it doesn’t shy away from real darkness, too. It also makes for a very effective drinking game if you sip something every time someone says “Mr. Matuschek.” – Coyle

Miracle on 34th Street (1947): It’s not even a remotely out of the box choice, but George Seaton’s Miracle on 34th Street endures as the platonic ideal of a Christmas movie. It’s strikingly modern for something that came out 77 years ago with Maureen O’Hara’s single working mom, Natalie Wood’s prematurely cynical New York kid and the litigious and capitalistic culture and yet it’s all full of hope and holiday spirit (and a healthy amount of glossy capitalism), taking us from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade through Christmas Day. (Pictured is a still from the 1994 film). – Bahr

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