I discovered this Christmas that there are five Christmas movies I can watch over and over again, and never tire of. Don’t get me wrong, I have watched many, many Christmas movies this year, and liked them all, but most of them I can watch once, maybe twice a year, and have my fill. Not my top five, though–they deserve multiple viewings!

1. White Christmas–not just my favorite Christmas movie–one of my top five favorite movies, period!
2. San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker–not technically a movie, but still one of my very favorite things to watch at Christmas.
3. Elf–just so very, very funny.
4. The Muppet Christmas Carol–I watched at least five versions of A Christmas Carol this year, and the Muppets are still, by far, my favorite. True to the original story, great music, plus…Muppets. What more can you ask for?
5. Eloise at Christmastime–this is kind of a guilty pleasure, because it’s somewhat cheesy, and the production quality is pretty low. But for some reason, I find it absolutely charming, even if Eloise is the world’s naughtiest child!

I could probably cheat a bit, and add a TV program to my list–A Charlie Brown Christmas. I never tire of hearing Linus tell the Christmas story, and I love the music. Plus, I have to respect any animated special that doesn’t focus on (and in fact, barely mentions) Santa.