Awesome Winter/Holiday Movies to Watch

Have you ever felt bored because you ran out of enticing winter movies? Fear not! We have the perfect solution. Our wonderful team (Charlotte, Ripleigh, Siyona, and Isabel) has gathered many wonderful winter movie recommendations for you to watch on cold, snowy nights. Read until the end to find out what your classmates watch on winter nights. Enjoy these exciting movies with some milk and cookies as you are taken on a journey of fun and festivity.

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Charlotte’s Reviews

One great winter movie to watch is The Day After Tomorrow. In this thrilling movie, a scientist (Dennis Quaid) tries to save his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) when climate change goes out of control. Tornadoes, hurricanes, and a giant tsunami keep the stars on their feet in this test-of-survival nail-biter. This movie has a rating of 6.5/10 on IMDb. The plot is amazing, and the scenes are well put together and enthralling. This is an awesome winter movie to watch together with friends and family.

Another fun movie to watch is Elf. When he is a young child, a boy named Buddy gets taken to the North Pole and is raised as an elf. As he grows older, the adult Buddy (Will Ferrell) begins to feel like he doesn’t belong. With some help from Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) and permission from Santa Claus (Edward Asner), Buddy travels to New York in search of his real father. The rating for this movie is 7.1/10 on IMDb. This is a hilarious comedy and a great family watch. Cheer Buddy along in this jolly, hysterical, and quirky holiday movie!

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Ripleigh’s Reviews

Spirited, a new retelling of A Christmas Carol directed by Sean Anders, is about a money-minded businessman, Clint Briggs  (Ryan Reynolds), and the ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge, who is also the ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell). With the help of the ghosts of Christmas Past (Sunita Mani), and Yet-to-Come (Loren G. Woods, with the voice of Tracy Morgan), Scrooge must convince Clint to change his mind and worldview. This inspiring movie turns the capitalism of today’s world into a jolly Christmas musical, and you’ll be singing songs from Spirited for weeks.

The 2019 edition of Little Women directed by Greta Gerwig is another great winter movie to watch with family on a cold winter night. It features Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, and Florence Pugh as Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March, who are experiencing Christmas without their father in 19th-century Massachusetts. Their mother Marmee (Laura Dern) keeps them in good holiday spirits while their father is away fighting in the Civil War. This heartwarming family movie is perfect for watching with hot cocoa.

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Siyona’s Reviews

The Polar Express is an amazing holiday movie! It follows a little boy who has started losing faith in Christmas but is stunned to see a train sent from the North Pole outside his window on Christmas Eve. He gets on the train and sets off on a frosty adventure, making many friends along the way. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, this thrilling and heartwarming comedy was nominated for three Oscars. It stars Tom Hanks, Eddie Deezen, and Josh Hutcherson.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is another exceptional movie. It tells the tale of Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon and Danny Elfman), who secretly was slowly growing tired of Halloween. Soon, while walking in the woods, Jack unwittingly discovers an amazing new place called Christmas Town. This discovery gets him excited once again. Jack returns home, tells the people about his findings, and convinces them to take over Christmas Town! All of a sudden his scheme gets out of hand and causes some major problems. This movie is an October must-watch, blending Halloween and Christmas for a perfect movie night.

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Isabel’s Reviews

Home Alone is the story of a boy named Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) who feels ignored by his family. After he spends a night in the attic, his family forgets about him when they leave for Paris. He spends an entire day messing with the house and watching TV like he’s always wanted to. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know about the robbers that are about to ruin his staycation. This is a thrilling movie directed by Chris Columbus.

Another great movie is How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live-action), set in the town of Whoville, which celebrates Christmas every year. However, the Grinch (Jim Carrey) is a heartless creature who despises Christmas and its happiness. Determined to end Christmas, he dresses up as Santa Claus and steals all the presents, decorations, and holiday food! Despite the Grinch stealing all their holiday decorations, including the big tree in the town square, the people of Whoville are still happy with their Christmas. This has an effect on the Grinch, who joins the Whos in their celebration and discovers the true meaning of Christmas. This is an amazing movie directed by Ron Howard. 

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Lakeside Middle School’s Picks

The movie with the most votes from our survey was Home Alone, which had 16 votes, with Elf in second at 8 votes. The Nutcracker and The Grinch were tied at 2 votes, and many other movies including Mickey’s Christmas Carol, The Santa Clause, and Frozen 2 were all tied with one vote.