Top Ten Family Christmas Movies

If you're like most of us, the holiday season around Christmas time is the time to spend with the family. You may live in different states, and only get together at holidays. Or, maybe your job keeps you busy most of the year and you have a few days around Christmas and New Year's to catch up with relatives. Whatever the scenario, hopefully you'll have some time to also to watch some Christmas flicks, ones geared for the whole family. Here are ten choices for family movies to watch over Christmas and the winter holiday season.

1. Home Alone (1990). For some reason, whenever I think of a family Christmas movie, my first thought is always of the movie Home Alone starring Macauley Culkin. It's just so memorable how his family leaves him behind at Christmas when they leave to go visit relatives. As if that's not enough, then he has to defend his home against burglars! It sure ain't easy being a kid anymore.

2. The Family Man (2000). I wish what happens to Nicholas Cage in The Family Man would happen to guys before it's too late, and they give up on the one they love. In The Family Man, Nicholas Cage's character Jack Campbell did just this: he let go the love of his life. He let her slip away. He then became highly successful, but he forgot what was important. So, in this great family movie, Jack gets a chance to find out what his life would have been life with his exgirlfriend Kate, if they actually had pursued their lives together. He would have had children and a nice family home. No, he wouldn't have his current penthouse, but who cares. Will he realize what's important or will things go back to normal for him? This movie is kind of like the movie Scrooge, where Ebenezzer Scrooge gets a glimpse of what it will be like for him if he doesn't change his ways. However, it's a bit opposite because Jack Campbell gets to see what his life could have been like if he had been the great person he once was. The thing is, can he still have what he lost and keep his family?

3. Jack Frost (1998). Jack is a father who is in a band. He often puts the band in front of his family. One night, he decides to go home from a gig and spend the night with his family, but he dies in a car crash on the way home. Somehow, he comes back as a snowman! So, he gets the chance to actually reunite with his son as the snowman, and spend the time with him that he didn't when he was alive. This is a pretty good choice for a family Christmas movie!

4. While You Were Sleeping (1995). So what if you decided that you would take advantage of someone's accident and amnesia to gain a future husband? That's what Sandra Bullocks' character does in While You Were Sleeping. A man gets pushed onto the train tracks where Lucy (Sandra Bullock) works. She saves him, but he goes into a coma. Lucy decides to start telling people she was going to marry the guy. Somehow, she sets into motion a whole series of lies where she becomes his fiance, and she has his whole family believing the story! What adds to the plot is that the man's brother actually starts to really like her himself. Will she keep up the lie, or try to be with the brother? The whole family is involved in this tale about falling for a guy you don't know and then realizing there might be someone else more suited for you once you get to know him.

5. Frozen River (2008). In Frozen River, two women smuggle illegal immigrants into the country from Canada. Although this isn't your traditional nuclear family unit, the two grow close to one another and learn about the importance of friendship and family.

6. Surviving Christmas (2004). Ben Affleck's character Drew Latham is going to be alone on Christmas. He had a wonderful girlfriend that he deeply angered when he suggested going to Fiji for the holidays and leaving her family behind. Drew decides that he will return to his old childhood home, based on the advice of his therapist. Once there, he decides to offer the family a large amount of cash to let him spend Christmas with them. It might not be his real family, but will it suffice? What will he learn about the meaning of Christmas spending time with this other family?

7.One Magic Christmas (1985). Imagine a family having financial troubles at Christmas. That's probably not too difficult to do, hm? Well, in this Christmas family movie, a family such as this exists. The mother Ginny has forgotten about the meaning of family and Christmas. What occurs next is what will show Ginny what Christmas truly means, and how sometimes, miracles can still happen.

8. Make the Yuletide Gay (2009). Picture this movie as an alternative family Christmas film where a young gay college student hasn't told his parents about his sexual orientation. What will happen if the family finds out?

9. The Holly and the Ivy (1952). Even clergymen can forget about what's important at Christmas and not put their families first. That's what happens to Reverend Martin Gregory, who is more caught up in the church than with his family. What will it take for his family to get his attention back?

10. Trading Places (1983). If you're looking for a feel good family Christmas comedy movie, then you've found the right holiday film. In Trading Places, a bum off the street finds himself switching places with a person with money, as part of a bet two friends make. They decide to conduct an experiment and see what will happen when they switch these two people's lives. Will nature or nurture win? The movie is hilarious, as Dan Akroyd finds himself a common criminal, set up by the two friends and arrested. Eddie Murphy then happens into Dan Akroyd's former life, and we'll see whether he can take on the role of a much richer man. The antics ensue.

What are your favorite family Christmas movies to watch during the holiday season?