Where to Watch All of Your Favorite Christmas Movies For the Holiday Season

By Olivia Haveron

It’s the most wonderful time of the year as Christmas draws near in this crazy year of 2020. Everyone has taken the holiday spirit to the extreme in order to stay jolly as COVID has continued to take over all of our lives. However, Christmas is not going away, which means that our favorite Christmas traditions aren’t leaving either. One of these traditions happens to be watching holiday movies.

Whether it be ‘25 Days of Christmas’ or ‘Hallmark,’ snuggle up on the couch in your favorite festive pajamas with some hot coco in hand and enjoy the films that make the season bright.

There are many options to binge on the holiday classics. To start, TBS will continue its treasured tradition of airing a 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story. The marathon will begin on Christmas Eve and continue into Christmas Day. The network’s viewing of the film usually is the most-watched program on cable for both days.

Another obvious choice for where to get your Christmas-craving is Freeform’s ‘25 Days of Christmas.’ Every year, beginning at the stroke of midnight on December 1st, Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family, airs a constant stream of everyone’s favorite Christmas films from Home Alone to Love Actually to the Santa Clause chronicles. However, while this is usually a fan favorite channel to find the classics, this year’s lineup lacks not only creativity, but also lacks the most important thing of all… the Christmas spirit and joy.

Yes, it includes the favorites, but not actually what the viewers want to see. Freeform finds issue when it comes to variety in films. For example, out of the 25 days leading up to, and including, Christmas, The Santa Clause series is present 13 out of the 25 days. The Home Alone films are shown on 12 days as well. Both of these films are shown at night, when viewership is at its highest peak.

There is no mention of the Claymation films from the 60s-80s that warm the hearts of so many, including myself. No The Polar Express that attracts the younger audience. Toy Story, which isn't even a Christmas movie, appears more than Elf. And I’m not the only one who is angered by the lack of Christmas joy. On the ‘25 Days of Christmas’ Instagram account, people flooded the comments to discuss their discontent. Despite my not-so-holly-jolly comments about my distaste for these movies, ‘25 Days of Christmas’ is your best bet for watching Christmas movies whenever seeks best for you.

However, there are many other options to find your favorite films. Esquire has put together a full list of the top 57 Christmas films of all time and where to watch each one. For those missing out on Elf, you can watch it on Amazon, or even iTunes. Actually, most movies can be found on these two platforms, in addition to Netflix.

This proves once again that these streaming platforms are becoming the primary source of watching television and movies, and these Christmas films can perfectly find their place within these services. Every streaming service has its own collection of Christmas movies, many that you might not have even heard of previously; enough to get you through the next 25 Days and even after.

It’s also quite possible that you could even get paid for watching Christmas Movies. Reviews.org is looking to pay someone to be their Chief Holiday Cheermeister, watch 25 holiday movies in 25 days, and fill out surveys about the movie-watching experience. It’s a Christmas miracle and a dream come true for the movie lover. Not only will the selected person receive $2,500, but they also will receive a year’s worth of streaming services. Applications are open until 11:59 p.m. on December 4th.

While COVID may put a damper on the holiday season, Santa is still riding on his sleigh, and Christmas movies still provide us comfort and joy even on the worst of days. There are endless options to view classic and original movies this year. So grab your hot coco, sit by the fire, and binge your favorite Christmas movie.