REBELS WITHOUT A CLAUS

Christmas classics for every grinch

Festive celebrations are everywhere in December – which can be a heartfelt gift or a lump of coal in the stocking, depending on your feelings about Christmas cheer.

If you’re the type to bask in the glow of Christmas lights, we have a wealth of festive films onboard to fill hearts and minds, from quirky comedies Elf and Home Alone to cartoons Arthur Christmas,

The Polar Express and Disney’s favourite punchy princesses in Frozen.

But if you’re more of a grinch, we’ve got you covered too. Take the 1984 horror comedy Gremlins, which stars a cute Christmas present turned nightmare (and was deployed by every parent in the early 2000s to put their kids off another Furby). Or spinoff Once Upon a Deadpool, which reworked Deadpool 2 into a slightly more family-friendly encounter thanks to the addition of a Christmas backdrop and a Princess Bride parody framing device.

Then there are the handful of films that have become a Christmas tradition, for some reason. Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman going head-to-head in an action-packed thriller might hardly sound like the stuff of mistletoe and wine, but Die Hard is continually ranked as one of the greatest festive films of all time – despite the eternal argument over whether it’s a Christmas film or just a film that takes place at Christmas.

The Star Wars ‘Skywalker saga’ series brings an entirely new dimension to the equation. Each film in the sequel trilogy was released in the run-up to Christmas, and fans are quick to re-watch earlier films as they gear up for the new instalments. The release of final film The Rise of Skywalker in cinemas this month should prove no exception – get caught up onboard. And if you’re looking to remember where it all began, we also have the original trilogy ready to cue up.

From the warm and fuzzy to the ghoulish and ghastly, there’s a film for everyone onboard – even the Scrooges among us.