As the holiday season sneaks up on us, its presence is unmistakable, even if your own home is not yet decked out in festive decor. A glance at streaming platforms reveals a shift, with timeless holiday films like Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and The Polar Express climbing the charts. These classics typically premiered in November to maximize theater exposure during the holiday rush. I still remember the slight disappointment of watching The Muppet Christmas Carol the day after Christmas in 1992—an amazing film, but poor timing! While some streaming holiday movies may briefly shine before fading away, it’s fascinating to see how many enduring favorites hail from the mid-2000s. Could this era mark a peak in holiday cinematic magic?

In fact, the golden age might extend further back, to 25 years ago. Ron Howard’s vibrant live-action take on How the Grinch Stole Christmas debuted over a quarter-century ago, dominating Thanksgiving box offices and becoming the top-grossing movie of 2000. This success prompted a 2003 attempt to recreate the magic, this time with Mike Myers starring in The Cat in the Hat. Despite high hopes, the film stumbled, earning just $100 million amid harsh critiques.

With Dr. Seuss adaptations seemingly off-limits, studios instead leaned into the festive spirit of Grinch‘s success. Consequently, 2003 saw the release of Elf, Love Actually, and Bad Santa in close succession. While Bad Santa may not have drawn directly from Seuss, its plot—featuring Billy Bob Thornton as a misanthropic mall Santa—echoes similar themes of redemption and unlikely bonds.

The year 2003 was a standout for holiday films, even if Love Actually divides audiences. The film’s diverse ensemble, featuring Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, and others, offered a refreshing variety compared to the formulaic Hallmark romances that would later dominate. Coupled with the comedic charm of Bad Santa and the family-friendly joy of Elf, this year marked a high point for holiday cinema.

But if the release dates of A Christmas Story (1983) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) suggests a particular once-a-decade pattern to the emergence of Christmas classics, 2013 and 2023 did not follow suit. Back in the 2000s, though, the Christmas train rolled on with The Polar Express (2004) and The Family Stone (2005), which both have their followings. But something sinister was lurking behind them, too: 2004’s Christmas with the Kranks (“A colossal miscalculation!” raved Roger Ebert) and its unofficial companion piece Deck the Halls (2006). The nauseating self-regard of The Holiday (2006). In 2007, Vince Vaughn attempted to horn in on his Old School co-star’s territory with Fred Claus; unsatisfied, he would vengefully return a year later with the terrible Four Christmases. To close out the decade, Carrey remixed himself into Polar Express territory with a motion-cap version of A Christmas Carol.

And then, by 2010, they were mostly gone. Yes, Christmas movies still turned up throughout the 2010s, but it seemed as if they’d received a chastening akin to what romantic comedies were experiencing around the same time. In other words, Four Christmases was a hit, but Hollywood people seemed too ashamed to actually imitate it. (Call it the Bride Wars principle, and as with rom-coms of the era, the occasional good one wasn’t enough to reverse it.) And as with a lot of genres subject to benign neglect in the 2010s, that turned into active avoidance in the post-pandemic years. The only wide-release 2013 holiday film? A Madea Christmas. (And it wasn’t even one of the bigger Madea movies.) 2023’s was Silent Night, a John Woo action movie.

So what set those mid-2000s movies apart, and why can’t we just get that from your made-for-streaming fodder? Certainly, some of the latter does the trick. But Love Actually, Elf, and Bad Santa all have a particularly potent mix of obvious star personas (by the barrelful in Love Actually), comic cynicism, and genuine sweetness. Even the extremely vulgar Bad Santa ends with a kind of battered, bloodied dignity. Their successors, like Four Christmases or Kranks, affect a kind of eye-rolling, quasi-satirical stance toward holiday celebrations that (unlike Bad Santa) doesn’t actually say anything funny about those who aren’t feeling it, and always winds up chased with a bunch of phony feel-good sentiment anyway.

Was there something uniquely first-half-of-the-2000s about those more successful Christmas movies? Or something uniquely curdled about the back half of the decade? Was it the unusual combination of fear and sincerity cooked up by 9/11? That might sound absurd, but Love Actually – a Christmas movie from England, mind! – opens with a monologue about 9/11, and Elf expresses a kind of gleefully deranged version of a tourist’s love and wonder for New York City. And Bad Santa, well, I don’t recall any 9/11 jokes, but it certainly captures a certain black-comic hopelessness that feels appropriate to that moment. Streaming Christmas movies, so far, don’t seem capable of replacing those moments. They’re mostly just courting what these 2000s classics get effortlessly, year after year: some holiday-season attention.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (At least, that’s what Andy Williams promised.) The holidays are a time to celebrate with family, friends, food, and, let’s not forget, fun things to watch. Whether you’re huddled up with the whole family in your living room or cozying up under the covers with your tablet, let Decider be your guide to all things festive this holiday season.

Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer living in Brooklyn. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts at www.sportsalcohol.com, too.