There’s probably one Christmas movie that’s your personal favorite. But here’s a more objective take on it: A new, fairly scientific study used 20 different factors to find out what the ULTIMATE Christmas movie is.
They looked at 20 popular movies. The four main categories they used were the number of Christmas references in each one . . . how they did at the box office . . . their reviews . . . and how much of a “festive buzz” they create year after year.
And according to the results, the most Christmas-y Christmas movie of all time is . . . the original “Home Alone”.
It actually ranked fairly low in Christmas references, with just five shots of Christmas outfits . . . 11 Christmas songs . . . 13 uses of the word “Christmas” . . . and only one shot of Santa Claus. But it ranked first in box office performance, and in festive buzz.
Here’s the top 10:
1. “Home Alone”, 1990
2. “Elf”, 2003
3. “Love Actually”, 2003
4. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” . . . the 2000 version with Jim Carrey.
5. “The Santa Clause” with Tim Allen, 1994
6. “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, 1993
7. “Arthur Christmas”, 2011. It’s an animated movie that was big in England.
8. “Gremlins”, 1984.
9. “The Polar Express”, 2004
10. “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, 1989
If you’re someone who insists “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie, it barely missed the Top 10 at #11. It was followed by “Home Alone 2” and “Scrooged”.
(FYI: A group in England did the study and they didn’t factor in a few classics. That’s why you don’t see “A Christmas Story” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” on the list. Check out the rankings for all 20 movies, here.)