As the festive season is upon us, a talk about my all time favorite Christmas movies was a must. While some are predictable like the snow is cold, others may tickle your curiosity taste buds.

Let’s start with the oh, so predictable ones and just get them out of my system. Nothing says Christmas as well as Home Alone does it. Let’s face it, we all dreamt of being Kevin at one point of our lives. As a child, I was astonished by the fact that he could eat a bowl of ice cream for lunch and that nobody punished him. I made my family disappear became one of my most favorite lines ever. His way of organizing his daily life, the suddenly-grown up activities like doing the laundry or buying groceries, that scene where he first tries his father’s aftershave, all these moments made Kevin an icon. Not to mention the fact that he saves his house, fights the villains, helps catching them and manages to fool the cashier and the pizza delivery guy that he’s not all by himself.

If we move on to Home Alone 2, the childhood fantasy continues and grows. What’s better than making your family disappear? Parting ways with them in the airport and exploring a Christmas themed New York. His slyness when dealing with the Plaza employees, the way he, yet again, eats ice cream out of an enormous bowl, his creativity when facing the villains, his generosity towards the lady in Central Park and his devotion to saving the toy store make Kevin, yet again, our favorite character.

So yes, judge me, sue me, call me predictable, but I adore watching Home Alone on the first day of Christmas and Home Alone 2 on the second day. Luckily enough, the next movies I’m gonna talk about are also part of a series, so I can counterbalance the softness and sensibility of the Home Alone franchise with some old school action and ass kicking.

As you may have figured from the title, the series I’m referring to is Die Hard. Give me a young, hot, sarcastic Bruce Willis trying to save the world and fight the bad guys on his own any day of the week. Give me a young, hot, sarcastic Bruce Willis trying to save the world and fight the bad guys on his own on Christmas and it’s a blockbuster. The first Die Hard surprises you. Not your typical Christmas movie. A tormented Bruce Willis tries to save his marriage and ends up saving the world. Well, not the entire world, but the building where his wife works. Alan Rickman is a great villain and gives you the shivers when he enters the room. Bruce Willis is a great hero and gives you different kinds of shivers when he enter the room. In the end, he saves the day, gets back with his wife and makes you believe a little bit more in the magic of Christmas.

Die Hard 2 follows the same recipe as Home Alone 2: same hero, same time of the year, bigger area of combat and, in the case of Die Hard 2, bigger fish to fry. As Kevin McCallister tries to save the toy store while fighting the bad guys, John McClane tries to save the passengers of on airplane whilst fighting the bad guys. (Side note: is it a coincidence that both characters are of Irish descent? St. Patrick would say no.) Long story short, Bruce Willis saves the day yet again, burns a plane while it’s taking off, greets his wife on the airport runway and manages to defeat all his enemies.

Before I get to the last mention of this post, which is also an unusual type of Christmas movie, I need to make some honorary mentions. These movies are not Christmas themed, but have some Christmas scenes worth mentioning. One of them is Serendipity, a movie that starts and ends with the holidays in New York, filling you with joy and hope that true love is out there and that the Universe helps you find it. Another one is You’ve Got Mail, another New York based rom-com that has some Christmas scenes worth seeing and that make you believe in the power of synchronicity and fate. Let’s not forget the Christmases at Hogwarts, with all their coziness, decorations and old school charm, their gifts, the copious amounts of food and the Great Hall looking like a fairytale.

And now, let’s go out with a bang. The last movie I’m gonna mention is Reindeer Games. Starring a young, post-Good Will Hunting-succes Ben Affleck, a fox like of a character Charlize Theron and a deceitful Gary Sinise, this movie is not your typical Christmas rom-com. Ben Affleck’s character just gets out of prison and thinks he has fooled Charlize Theron’s character into believing he is someone else. Guess again… for some time during the movie you don’t know who’s fooling who. I’m not gonna give more spoilers, ‘cause if you haven’t seen it yet, do it, I guarantee it’s worth your time. Don’t forget it’s an action- thriller movie, so don’t expect any actual reindeers to be guiding Santa’s sleigh through the snow. Spoiler alert: Rudolf doesn’t make a cameo appearance.

So here it is, my selection of movies for the holiday season. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (or morning or day or evening, depending on when you are reading this)!