As we've entered the Christmas season I've heard a lot of people discussing Christmas movies and what some of the best Christmas movies of all-time are. I always have to mention the list we all compiled last year and refer them to it. I don't think they truly understand what great detail I went into and how much work was put into putting together this list. It wasn't just a list, it was an adventure. So here it goes again, the top 12 Christmas movies of all-time as compiled by me and 37 other people ranging from ages 18 to 72.

Here is last year's post:

Thirty seven ballots cast, 41 total movies but just 12 make the final cut. Why 12? Because I counted down the 12 days of Christmas with the movies that you all helped me vote as the 12 best Christmas movies of all time.

Wondering how I got my information? Here you go...

I started on Dec. 1, 2006 asking people to rank their top 10 favorite Christmas movies and I ended it ten days later with 37 ballots. I was surprised and pleased at the number of participants that I got to help me with this. Thank you all for casting a ballot, I love creating my Excel spreadsheet and ranking all the movies and enjoyed seeing what everyone chose as their favorites. It also helped me get into the Christmas spirit. So thanks for that too! I hope that reading this list and remembering these movies will do the same for you.

Now for how the point system works.

Very simple, the No. 1 movie gets 10 points, the No. 10 movie gets one. I have my spreadsheet ready and every time a ballot is cast I plug in the numbers and the computer calculates the total number of points.

Now to the poll.

Anytime you do a poll you’re going to have some disagreements (please see college football’s BCS poll and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game). Should TV specials like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" be included? What constitutes a Christmas movie? Is "The Ref" or "Trapped in Paradise" a Christmas movie because it’s taken place around Christmas time? And then there were the "Are these really Christmas movies?" picks like "Heidi", "While You Were Sleeping" and "Empire Strikes Back", which for the record I did not vote for despite it being my all time favorite flick.

Overall though the movies I thought would be near the top were at the top. Timeless classics like "It’s a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street", the modern-day classic "A Christmas Story" and soon-to-be classics "Elf" and "Bad Santa". Okay, maybe not so much with "Bad Santa", but it did hold its own in the voting.

And now to the list.

I tried to make the list a little more entertaining rather than just listing the movie and my take on the flick. Being a lover of statistics and useless information, I’ve included in each summary the year the movie was made, who directed it and starred in it, the total points that it compiled and its highest rank, number of ballots it was on and my personal ranking. I also included either the tagline or plot outline from the film courtesy of IMDB.com (Internet Movie Database) and a memorable quote and fun fact about the film. Like I said, a lot of useless information.

As I mentioned above I enjoyed being a geek and compiling the list, putting the numbers together and then finding out useless information on the movies. I hope you all enjoy it and hope it helps you all get ready for the Christmas season. Merry Christmas to you all!

No. 12 – White Christmas (1954)

Directed by: Michael Curtiz. Starring: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney.

Total Points: 79 (Highest Rank No. 1 – twice. Named on 15 ballots. Not ranked on Kevy’s ballot).

Plot outline (from IMDB.com): After leaving the Army after W.W.II, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis team up to become a top song-and-dance act. Davis plays matchmaker and introduces Wallace to a pair of beautiful sisters (Betty and Judy) who also have a song-and-dance act. When Betty and Judy travel to a Vermont lodge to perform a Christmas show, Wallace and Davis follow, only to find their former commander, General Waverly, is the lodge owner.

Memorable quote: Judy Haynes: Oh, Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow. Phil Davis: Yeah, you know something... Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow.

My Take on the Film: Though the film is called "White Christmas" the actual white Christmas part of the movie doesn't really happen until the end of the film when the snow is falling and Bob, Phil and the girls are singing White Christmas for General Waverly. It’s a nice ending to the film and a wonderful Christmas present for the General. I was also touched by the beginning sequence when Bob (Bing) sings "White Christmas" to the troops. Hearing the words, "I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…" while the soldiers are stuck in the middle of a war was somewhat moving. But in between those two scenes there is a ton of singing and dancing and the movie really lacks a Christmas feel to it.

"White Christmas for me, is one of those timeless "feelgood movies." It's a great story of people falling in love and doing something nice for someone else who needs it. It's filled with wonderful songs by Irving Berlin. All four main characters play their parts perfectly, mixing comedy, singing and dancing. It's a timeless tale that captures "the age of innocence" in America that warms your heart," says my friend Cory, who picked "White Christmas" as his No. 1.

Fun facts about the film: The original idea was to reunite Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, as they had been successful in Holiday Inn (the No. 18 movie on the list). Astaire refused, as he had "retired" at the time, so the part was reworked for Donald O'Connor. O'Connor pulled out, and the part was reworked for Danny Kaye. The Vermont inn is the remodeled Connecticut inn set of Holiday Inn (1942). All of Vera-Ellen's costumes, down to her robe and sleepwear, were designed to cover her neck, which was aged beyond her years due to her eating disorder, anorexia.  

No. 11 – Frosty the Snowman (1967)

Directed by: Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. Starring: Jimmy Durante.

Total Points: 91 (Highest Rank No. 2. Named on 17 ballots - 46-percent, with an average rating of 5.4. Not ranked on Kevy’s ballot).

Plot outline (from IMDB.com): A living snowman and a little girl struggle to elude a greedy magician who is after the snowman's magic hat.

Memorable quote: Frosty: Happy birthday! Hey, I said my first words. But...but snowmen can't talk. Ha ha ha, come on now, what's the joke? Could I really be alive?

My take on the film: It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the TV special so I don’t remember much about the snowman with the magic hat. What I do know is that Frosty the Snowman, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, is a story that transcends generations. A holiday favorite that my parent’s watched, I watched and my kid will watch. Also like Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman started off as a song and was then turned into a TV special and into one of the images we think about when we think of the Christmas season. It is this reason that Frosty the Snowman was picked as the No. 11 movie on this list.

Fun facts about the film: Voice actress June Foray was cast for both Karen and the Teacher and had recorded vocals for both characters. However, only her recordings for the Teacher made it into the final special as another actress was called in to replace Foray's Karen, for reasons that even Foray herself to this day does not know. No changes were made to the credits, so the actual voice actress we hear as Karen remains unknown and uncredited. Foray's Karen can be heard on the Rhino Records soundtrack.

No. 10 – Home Alone (1990) 

Directed by: Chris Columbus. Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

Total Points: 97 (Highest Rank No. 2 – twice. Named on 24 ballots, 65-percent of the ballots, with an average rating of 4.0. Kevy’s No. 9).

Tagline (from IMDB.com): A Family Comedy Without the Family.

Memorable quote: Kevin McCallister: [gleefully] I made my family disappear.

My take on the film: Ahhh…nothing says the Spirit of Christmas more than leaving one of your kids at home – alone – during the holiday season while you and the rest of your family fly to Paris for Christmas. Behind all the silly falls and all the wily tricks that Kevin plays on the self-proclaimed "Wet Bandits" there is a sweet message about the Christmas season – spending time with your family. No matter how much you dislike them during the rest of the year, Christmas is for spending and enjoying time with your family. I don’t know if this is the reason it was named on 24 ballots, it’s probably because it was hugely popular when it was released and made Macauley Culkin a household name.

"My family looks forward to watching this each Christmas season. We know ahead of time what antic is coming and yet still laugh at the hilarity of it all. It's one of those movies that we don't get tired of. All of us from Gramma down to youngest grandson, enjoy it," says Lainey, who picked Home Alone as her No. 1 Christmas movie.

Fun facts about the film: The concept for this movie originated during the filming of a scene in Uncle Buck (1989) in which Macaulay Culkin plays a character who interrogates a would-be-babysitter through a letterbox. Joe Pesci kept forgetting that he was filming a "family" movie during his characters on-screen outbursts so director Chris Columbus advised him to say "fridge" instead of the "F-word".

No. 9 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) 

Directed by: Ron Howard. Starring: Jim Carrey.

Total Points: 101 (Highest Rank No. 1. Named on 19 ballots, 51.3-percent of the ballots with an average rating of 5.3. Not ranked on Kevy’s ballot).

Tagline (from IMDB.com): You Better Watch Out!

Memorable quote from the 2000 film - The Grinch: The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there - and on such short notice. Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn't allow it. Four o'clock, wallow in self pity; 4:30, stare into the abyss; 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one. 5:30, jazzercize. 6:30, dinner with me. I can't cancel that again. 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing; I'm booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9 I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear?

Memorable quote from the 1966 film: Narrator: All the Whos down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not. The Grinch hated Christmas - the whole Christmas season. Oh, please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or maybe his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the best reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

My take on the films: I liked how both the cartoon and movie portrayed the Christmas season. In the cartoon the Who’s are still happy that its Christmas even after the Grinch supposedly stole their Christmas the night before. It didn’t matter to them that there were no presents or a Christmas tree, they were still happy. In the movie the Whos are in a hurry to go shopping, they rush toward the "Everything $0.99 cents" deal, they "compete" with their neighbors with Christmas lights but in the end they are still happy despite not having all of that. And the Grinch realizes this at the very end of both films. I think that’s the way most of us are. Christmas has become so commercialized that we forget about the meaning of the season and I think if you took all of that commercialization away we’d still enjoy the Christmas season.

Fun facts about the 2000 film: Everything in the film revolves around a swirl, the same as in the original drawings of the book. This includes the clouds. If you look closely at in several scenes, several times the initials "C.H.", "J.C.," and "R.H." briefly form as the clouds move. This stands for actor Clint Howard (Whobris), actor Jim Carrey (The Grinch), and director Ron Howard. Eddie Murphy and Jack Nicholson were at one time considered to play The Grinch.

Fun facts about the 1966 TV special: Dr. Seuss was initially uninterested in animating this or any of his books, but Chuck Jones managed to persuade him. 

No. 8 – Scrooge (1951) aka A Christmas Carol

Directed by: Brian Desmond Hurst. Starring: Alastair Sim, Mervyn Johns, Michael Hordern.

Total Points: 104 (Highest Rank: No. 1. Named on 17 ballots, 46-percent with an average ranking of 6.1. Not ranked on Kevy’s ballot).

Plot outline (from IMDB.com): An old bitter miser is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by ghosts on Christmas Eve

Memorable quote: Ebenezer: Go, and redeem some other promising young creature, but leave me to keep Christmas in my own way.

My take on the film: The story of Ebenezer Scrooge was actually voted on 37 ballots, because there were four variations of the story. You had the original film in 1951, the Disney take "Mickey’s Christmas Carol", the "Muppet’s Christmas Carol" or Bill Murray’s "Scrooged" which finished just out of the running in 13th. I chose both "Scrooged" and "Mickey’s Christmas Carol" on my top 10. The story is a Christmas classic. Ebenezer is taken back to his past, present and then future by three different ghosts, before finally realizing what Christmas is all about. It’s this reason that so many people chose "A Christmas Carol" as one of their favorite Christmas movies.

Fun facts about the film: In the 1950s New York television market, there was a local channel 9 (WOR-TV then, WWOR-TV, Secaucus, NJ now) that broadcast a movies only show called "Million Dollar Movie". Its theme song was the theme song of "Gone With the Wind", and its format was showing movies over and over again, back to back, not unlike in a movie theater. But on Christmas Eve for years and years, it would continuously play this movie under the American title of "A Christmas Carol" all evening and all night, right up to Christmas morning.

No. 7 - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

This movie barely missed out on being No. 6 falling two points shy of overtaking its next competitor, which you all know I can’t reveal. And now I feel sad because, after recently watching this one I would’ve voted for it in my top 10. Okay, so maybe I’m not sad, but still, this film is deserving as it is the story of a little boy trying to find the true meaning of Christmas.

Directed by: Bill Melendez. Starring: Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

Total Points: 113 (Highest Rank No. 1 – three times. Named on 21 ballots (57-percent) with an average ranking of 5.4. Not ranked on Kevy’s ballot).

Plot Outline: Repelled by the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find the true meaning of Christmas.

Memorable Quote: Linus: Charlie Brown, you're the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem. Maybe Lucy's right. Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest.

My take on the film: The only movie on this list, so-far, that actually mentions the true meaning of Christmas – the birth of Christ. I didn’t vote for this special because I hadn’t seen it in a long long time, but after watching it recently, it would’ve definitely made my top 10. It’s short (26 min) but it touches on so much. Charlie Brown gets upset at how commercialized Christmas has become that he doesn’t feel in the Christmas mood. But thankfully, Linus reminds him and the rest of the Peanuts gang what Christmas is truly about. Oh, and let’s not forget about the little Christmas tree Charlie Brown picked out. 

Fun facts about the special: Bill Melendez tried to talk Charles Schulz out of using Biblical references (especially Linus's speech) in this special. Schulz reportedly won him over by saying, "If we don't do it, who will?"

No. 6 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Directed by: Kizo Nagashima and Larry Roemer. Starring: Burl Ives.

Total Points: 114 (Highest Rank No. 2. Named on 27 ballots (77-percent) with an average ranking of 4.2. Ranked No. 8 on Kevy’s ballot).

Plot Outline: A misfit reindeer and his friends look for a place that will accept them.

Memorable Quote: Santa Claus: From what I see now, that will cut through the murkiest storm they can dish up. What I'm trying to say is, Rudolph, with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight? Rudolph: It will be an honor, sir.

My take on the film: Has anyone noticed how rude Santa is in this TV special? We just sat and watched this special for the first time in years and realized how rude Santa is. He gets mad at Donner for letting Rudolph come out to reindeer practice and gets frustrated with the elves song they made for him. Anyway, the film is about Rudolph and how he saved Christmas from a horrible storm and how the red-nosed reindeer guided Santa’s sleigh and helped find homes for the misfit toys. It’s a classic Christmas movie, that’s why it’s on the list and was named on 77-percent of the ballots, third among all movies on the list.

Fun facts about the special: After an outcry of protest insisting on a happy ending for the Misfit Toys, new scenes were animated depicting Santa's sleigh rescuing them and finding homes for them all.

No. 5 - Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Miracle on 34th Street landed on just 51-percent of the ballots but had an average ranking of 6.6, which was the fourth highest of the top 12.

Our No. 5 movie is one of the best at getting us into the Christmas Spirt. Poor Kris Kringle (Santa Clause) is put on trial, nobody believes he’s the real deal and Kris is left trying to prove to everyone that he’s really Santa Claus. A movie that’s all about believing in the spirt of Christmas, and Santa Claus (it took me 15 years to find out he wasn’t real!), I give you...

Directed by: George Seaton. Starring: Natalie Wood, Maureen O’Hara, Edmund Gwenn.

Total Points: 125. Highest Rank No. 1 – twice. Named on 19 ballots (51-percent) with an average ranking of 6.6. Not ranked on Kevy’s ballot.

Tagline: Capture the spirit of Christmas with this timeless classic!

Memorable Quote: Fred Gailey: Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles.

"The reason I like this movie is because it had Natalie Wood in it and she is close to my age so I kind of related to her a bit. Of course I like family movies and thought it was touching how Santa Claus changed everyones thoughts to believe and be more caring. You might say it touched my heart and does each time I see it," says my wonderful Grandma.

Fun facts about the film: Despite the fact that the film is set during Christmas, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in May because he argued that more people went to the movies during the summer. So the studio began scrambling to promote it while keeping the fact that it was a Christmas movie a secret. Check out the non-Christmas original movie poster.

No. 4 - Elf (2003) 

Our fourth movie is just four years young. A story about an elf who doesn’t quite fit in with the other elves and decides to hike to New York to try and find his real dad, and in doing so helps the people around him get into the Christmas spirit.

It was named on 62-percent of the ballots and had an average ranking of 5.8. The more and more I watch this film the more and more I like it. One of Will Ferrell’s best I give you movie No. 4.

Directed by: Jon Favreau. Starring: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart.

Total Points: 134 (Highest Rank No. 1 – three times. Named on 23 ballots. Kevy’s rank No. 4.)

Tagline: This holiday, discover your inner elf.

Memorable Quote: Leon the Snowman: Why the long face, Buddy? Buddy: It seems I'm not an elf. Leon the Snowman: Of course you're not an elf. You're six-foot-three and have had a beard since you were fifteen.

"Well I love the way Buddy is. He acts so good and it is so funny. I love it cause he loves his dad sooooo much and tries so hard. I like it cause you have to believe in Santa and I love Santa!," says my Mom, about why she chose "Elf" as her favorite.

My friend Stephanie chose it for this reason, "I picked Elf as my favorite Christmas movie for so many reasons! It's hilarious, beautifully stylized, completely innocent and childlike and has one-liners that make me laugh all year 'round. The way I see it, if a Christmas movie I've seen a few dozen times can make me shoot soda out of my nose in the middle of July, just from thinking of a scene like the one where Buddy the Elf freaks out after he learns that Santa will be visiting Gimbel's department store, then I can't deny that it's a classic that deserves top rating in my book. Years from now, our grandchildren will be watching a 24-hour marathon of Elf on Christmas day, and will be screaming with laughter when Buddy sneaks a piece of gum from the subway railing."

Fun facts about the film: When this screenplay first emerged in 1993, Jim Carrey was attached to star in the lead. The outside of Gimbels is a digitally altered view of the 34th St. Macy's, a reference to Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Gimbels was Macy's main competition but it is now closed.

The second John Hughes movie (see No. 10 "Home Alone") to enter the top 10, I give you…drum roll please…drum roll…

No. 3 - National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

Our No. 3 film was the highest ranked movie on the list. It averaged an 8.0 ranking and was named No. 1 on eight ballots, also the most.

Every year, either on Christmas or Christmas Eve, the Johnson’s sit down and watch the Griswolds hike through the snow to pick out a Christmas tree that is too big for their living room ("It’s not going in our yard Russ. It’s going in the living room.") and light up their house with 25,000 lights ("Two hundred and fifty strands of lights, one hundred individual bulbs per strand for a grand total of twenty-five thousand individual miniature imported Italian twinkle lights.") This movie has always been a favorite of mine and a favorite in the Johnson household. When my Dad cleans the tank in the motorhome he always blurts out Cousin Eddie’s line, "Shitter was full!" Or after my Dad has climbed up the ladder onto the roof to hand the Christmas lights I tell him, just as Clark told his Dad, "You taught me everything I know about exterior illumination." And when my Dad starts ranting and raving he looks like Clark hopping around with his hands in his pockets, upset about his Christmas bonus.

But we also love Clark because he wants what he thinks is best for his family. He rejects the idea of going to Hawaii for Christmas because he’d rather have a good old-fashioned Christmas with the parents, in-laws, cousins and all. We root for Clark because he tries hard to please his family and unfortunately, like their trip to Wally World and Europe, nothing seems to go right for him and his family. I also like that midway through the movie we’re introduced to new characters, first Cousin Eddie appears and shortly thereafter Aunt Bethany arrives. It’s got its hilarious moments and lines (I could go on and on with the memorable quotes, and do so below), but what the movie portrays is that behind all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, it comes down to spending time with the ones you love.

Directed by: Jeremiah Chechik. Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid.

Total Points: 183 (Highest Rank No. 1 – eight times. Named on 23 ballots. Kevy’s No. 1).

Tagline: Yule Crack Up!

Memorable Quote: Clark: Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f**king Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white @$$ down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of @$$holes this side of the nuthouse.

Says my co-worker and fellow Goonie Mike, ""Christmas Vacation" is one of the few movies that seems just as funny every time I see it - and I've seen it A LOT!"

He goes on to say, "Clark Griswold is a great character. You root for him because you know that deep down he just wants everything to be perfect for his family, but the funniest moments are during his freakouts when disaster strikes time after time. My favorite scenes include the road rage sequence where the Griswold car gets trapped between the wheels of a semi truck, the epic outdoor light saga when they finally get the electricity to work, and Clark's whacko tirade after he realizes he didn't get a Christmas bonus.

"Also, I love some of the subtle-but-hilarious lines, like when Clark mumbles, "It's good! It's good!" as he chugs egg nog during one of his manic episodes. And cousin Eddie almost steals the show with his awesome mock turtleneck, general dopiness and shameless toxic waste disposal on the sidewalk. His best line, of course, is: "Shitter's full!" Classic."

Fun facts about the film: The Griswold's neighbor's house is the same house Murtaugh and his family lived in all the Lethal Weapon movies. The houses on this street are on the Warner Brothers Studios back lot.

Just because I love it, here are some more memorable quotes that make me laugh everytime I hear them:

Clark: Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, d**kless, hopeless, heartless, fat-@$$, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey sh*t he is. Hallelujah. Holy sh*t. Where's the Tylenol?

Bethany: Is your house on fire, Clark?

Clark: No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights.

[Todd and Margo Chester, the Griswold's yuppie neighbors, appear]

Todd: Hey Griswold. Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?

Clark: Bend over and I'll show you.

Todd: You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that Griswold.

Clark: I wasn't talking to you.

Uncle Lewis: Hey Grizz, Bethany and I figured out the perfect gift for you.

Clark: Aw, you didn't have to get me anything.

Uncle Lewis: Dammit, Bethany, he guessed it.

Ellen: What are you looking at?

Clark: Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an @$$hole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer...

[Eddie, in the driveway, is draining the RV's toilet]

Eddie: Merry Christmas! Shitter was full.

Eddie: You surprised to see us, Clark?

Clark: Oh, Eddie... If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now.

Before you scroll down to see what the final two movies are (I’ve already lost you haven’t I?) I’ll give you the honorable mention, and then recap the 10 movies that preceded these two and give you some useless statistical information.

Just missing the cut: "Scrooged" (67 votes), "Bad Santa" (51), "The Santa Clause" (46), "Love Actually" (46), "The Polar Express" (45).

No. 12 – White Christmas (41-percent of the ballots and an average ranking of 5.3)

No. 11 – Frosty the Snowman (46-percent, 5.4 ranking)

No. 10 – Home Alone (65-percent, 4.0 ranking)

No. 9 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas (51-percent, 5.3 ranking)

No. 8 – Scrooge aka A Christmas Carol (46-percent, 6.1 ranking)

No. 7 – A Charlie Brown Christmas (57-percent, 5.4 ranking)

No. 6 – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (77-percent, 4.2 ranking)

No. 5 – Miracle on 34^th Street (51-percent, 6.6 ranking)

No. 4 – Elf (62-percent, 5.8 ranking)

No. 3 – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (62-percent, 8.0 ranking)

So as you can see, our highest rated movie was my own favorite "National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation", however, the top two films were named on an impressive 28 of 37 ballots and on average were ranked No. 7 or higher. What’s even more impressive is that our No. 1 movie was named No. 1 on just five ballots (that means that a lot of people liked it enough to rank it high) where "National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation" was No. 1 a poll-leading eight times and No. 2 was ranked No. 1 on seven ballots.

Tired of the useless information? Okay, then I’ll get to the final two movies. Both classics and both movies that every generation loves. They are also two movies that are played constantly throughout the season and especially the days leading up to Christmas.

I don’t have much to say about these two films as we had two people write their own "essay" on each film and they pretty much summed up why everyone picked these two films as their favorites.

Before I leave you, I want to thank everyone for voting. I’ve had fun compiling the useless information and posting them every day for the past 10 days or so. I’ve also been pleased with the interest and positive feedback I’ve gotten from people about the list. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 3-day weekend. I hope you spend it with the ones you love and maybe watching one of these top 12 movies.

No. 2 - It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) 

Directed by: Frank Capra. Starring: Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore.

Total Points: 198 (Highest Rank No. 1 – seven times. Named on 28 ballots. Kevy’s No. 5).

Tagline: They’re making memories tonight!

Memorable Quote: Zuzu Bailey: Look, Daddy. Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.

"I first saw the movie in 1948 or 1949 as a dirt poor kid we always found the money to go to a movie. I placed myself in the movie as the kid working at the soda fountain, a.k.a Jimmy Stewart, as a 12-year-old kid. My 'never forget' part was when the cute girls were sitting at the counter talking to young Jimmy. I put myself there meeting the girls and in love as I was 12 at the time and the hormones were flowing. I wouldn’t count sheep to go to sleep, I would picture myself over and over meeting the girls and getting a little kiss. I would fall asleep with a smile on my face, until my mom came home, drunk as a skunk and yelling and fighting with some guy she picked up in a bar. I would close my eyes and ears and think of myself at the ice cream counter and drown out the reality and wish I was there," says my Grandpa about why he picked "It’s a Wonderful Life" as his No. 1 film. See the photo of he and my Grandma with Karolyn Grimes, the actress who played Zuzu Bailey.

My good friend Ron gives his "essay" on why he chose "It’s a Wondeful Life". Good job Ron I give you an A-plus for your essay.

"Trapped! Trapped by responsibilities he never asked for. Trapped by bills. Trapped by other people's expectations and needs. George Bailey had big dreams. He wanted to travel, to build bridges and skyscrapers, but he got trapped in Bedford Falls running his Father's Building and Loan. Most of us can identify with George's dreams, as well as his sense of loss and failure at never having been able to live his dreams. I believe that this is the first reason that so many people love the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life". We see much of ourselves in George Bailey - we feel his pain. (By the way, I think that this is the same reason so many people love "A Christmas Story". We see ourselves in, and are able to re-live our childhood through Ralphie.)

But I believe there is an even deeper reason that we love this movie so much - we need its message of redemption. George Bailey gets a second chance. All of us wish we could get a "mulligan" or two in life, or at least the chance to know that we have not screwed things up too badly. George gets that. He might not have lived his dreams, but he gets to see that he made a very positive impact on a whole town! That is something we all wish for. Everyone of us wants our life to count, to matter. Combine that with the fact that we can identify with George, and that makes a powerful combination. Now it is true that "A Christmas Carol" is also about redemption, a second chance (that's why it was #8), but not many of us are as nasty as Scrooge. Since we see ourselves in George, we gain hope when we see that he was not a failure, but was a massive success. Maybe, just maybe, we too can make a difference.

There is one last, and I believe the greatest, reason we love this movie. We all need to be loved. At its heart, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a love story. It displays every type of love that makes life worth living - the love between a son and his parents; the love of two brothers; the love between close friends; and most of all the love between a husband and wife. In this movie all of these types of love are of the highest degree because they involve sacrifice. The movie is full of people who love so much that they are willing to do anything, to risk everything, and to even give their lives for one another. As Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this: that a man lay down his life for his friend." After all, isn't that what Christmas is really about - the love of God for men that led Him to be born in a stable so that He could eventually lay down His life for them by dying on a cross? We all need that kind of love!

Why do I love "It's a Wonderful Life"? Why do we all love it? Because through it, for 2 hours every Christmas, we can forget our unfulfilled dreams and our disappointments and remember that "no man is a failure who has friends!"

Fun facts about the film: Lionel Barrymore convinced James Stewart to take the role of George, despite his feeling that he was not up to it so soon after World War II.

As Uncle Billy is leaving George's house drunk, it sounds as if he stumbles over some trash cans on the sidewalk. In fact, a crew member dropped some equipment right after Uncle Billy left the screen. Both actors continued with the scene ("I'm all right, I'm all right!") and director Frank Capra decided to use it in the final cut. He gave the clumsy stagehand a $10 bonus for "improving the sound."

And now the movie you’ve all been waiting for. The No. 1 Christmas movie of all-time…

No. 1 - A Christmas Story (1983) 

Directed by: Bob Clark. Starring: Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon.

Total Points: 210 (Highest Rank No. 1 – five times. Named on 28 ballots. Kevy’s No. 3).

Tagline (from IMDB.com): A Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas.

Memorable Quote: Ralphie: [Is shoved down the slide, but he stops himself and climbs back up] No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! Santa Claus: You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

My co-worker at the paper, Nels (Gary), writes this about why he chose "A Christmas Story" as his favorite Christmas movie:

"I never saw "A Christmas Story" when it first came out in the theaters in 1983. Some years later (circa late 1980s), when searching for Christmas movies to rent and watch with our two sons, Brian and Eric, JoAnne and I stumbled across "A Christmas Story" on VHS. It instantly resonated with me because I lived a lot of that movie, which truly captures the wide-eyed wonder kids have of Christmas. Although it depicted Christmas in the 1940s midwest, it reminded me of my Christmases in the 1950s (I was born in 1950). Many of the scenes and dialogue mirroried my childhood experiences: the "double dog dare you," the Scott Fargas bully wearing what looks very much like a Davey Crockett coonskin cap (I owned one of those and wore it everywhere, but I wasn't a bully); mom washing your mouth out with a bar of soap (yep, Nels sucked a few soap bars in his day).

Here are three of the movie's moments that especially ring true with me. The opening scene of Ralphie and his brother gazing wistfully at toys in the department store window recalled trips with my parents to downtown Seattle, where Frederick & Nelson's (now defunct) and the Bon Marche (now Macy's) had similar window displays full of wonder. You you could spend hours -- if only your parents would let you -- at those store fronts wishing for all the wonderful toys displayed there, and the displays always had the coolest train set running through it. Then there was Santa and his slide. The Bon at one time had a similar set up. You'd wait forever to see Santa only to get on his lap, full of awe for the jolly red elf, and forget what you really wanted to tell him. Then it was off his lap and down a curling slide. And my little sister, whom I had accompany up to Santa in my older years, was like the kid in goggles: Calm all the way to Santa, then turning into a screamie meemee when placed on his lap.

But the movie's coup de grace of Christmas reality was the "genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle." When I was young, every kid wanted a B.B. gun, and every kid's mother, including my own, always said "No" with those same immortal words: "You'll shoot your eye out." While Ralphie ultimately got his Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle for Christmas at that tender age of 9, I never did. Still, my 1950 Christmases were wonderful and filled with the same kind of magic and excitement that's so perfectly captured by "A Christmas Story." It is a classic."

Fun facts about the film (from imdb.com): Inspired the creation of "The Wonder Years" (1988). Ralphie says that he wanted the "Red Ryder BB Gun" 28 times.