There are so many Christmas movies out there; picking favorites or watching them all can sometimes feel as overwhelming and frustrating as trying to park your car at the mall on any weekend in December. Or trying to buy all your presents in one hour on the Day before Christmas.

But fear not, we at TalkNerdy2Me are here to help you – at least when it comes to movies. We picked a few gems  – in a very nerdy way of course: Let’s take a ride through sixty years of candy canes, mistletoes, nervous breakdowns and awful gifts.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

In case anyone still hasn’t made the transition from Thanksgiving and all its leftovers, this will be a great movie to help you turn on the Christmas cheer.
Miracle on 34th Street is a timeless classic that will make you laugh, cry and think about the magic of Christmas that somehow got lost once you realized that Santa’s beard was made in China.

White Christmas (1954)
There’s dancing, singing, George Clooney’s aunt and a lot of fake snow – what’s not to love?
Oh and good luck making “White Christmas” stop playing on repeat in your head.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
“Charlie Brown, you’re the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem.” Linus was probably right but few things are more charming than watching Charlie Brown trying to find the true meaning of Christmas.

A Christmas Story (1983)

We’ve all tried to convince our parents and everyone who had the power to buy presents to “Please, please, pleeeeeasssse!!” give us that one toy we could possibly not live without – even if we’d shoot our eye out with it. Mix that with the disappointment after you open all the other, useless gifts and you get “A Christmas Story”  – a hilarious trip down a snowy memory lane.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

The more you try to have the perfect, quiet, old-fashioned Christmas, the more things will go wrong. Christmas Vacation gives you a good idea of all the things that could possibly go wrong and watching the Griwolds trying to survive Christmas makes you hopefully very grateful for your own (extended) family.

Home Alone (1990)

Yet another holiday classic written by John Hughes.

I think Kevin inspired generations of kids (and adults) to imagine what it would have been like if our parents would have left us behind for a few days – depending on the holiday drama and stress, we probably still do.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

If you’re curious if holidays and all its participants know about each other and what would happen if their worlds collided: Tim Burton’s masterpiece gives you all the answers in this beautiful fairytale.

Elf (2003)

If you still think that elves are fragile, elegant, and cute little creatures, think again. Nobody raises “Elf-Awareness” like Will Ferrell does.

Love Actually (2003)

Have you ever wondered how many famous (British) actors, plot lines, comedy, romance and holiday cheer can be packed into one feel-good movie? A lot, actually.

Happy Holidays!

Isabelle Mitchell is from Switzerland (not Sweden). She loves coffee and chocolate and she can talk about movies and the weather for a very long time. Isabelle went to Film School in Denmark and Canada and is a Sound Designer, but she’s currently working on getting her BS in Advertising at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (Online Division). She’s planning on slowly taking over the advertising world one tagline at a time. When she’s not doing homework or studying, she works as a Marketing Assistant. You can find her on Twitter @isabellesagt or if you have a longer attention span, her blog.