We’ve already covered the top Christmas movies available on Hulu this season, but what about HBO Max? The platform boasts a wide selection, ranging from iconic holiday staples to lesser-known treasures that deserve a spot in your festive movie lineup. Among these is an underrated film about the author who penned the story that not only inspired numerous adaptations but also laid the groundwork for the entire Christmas movie genre. All these films are currently streaming on HBO Max and are expected to remain available through the end of December.

In “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” after experiencing two disastrously memorable road trips, the Griswold family opts for a cozy holiday at home. Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, aspires to host a traditional family Christmas. However, his plans quickly unravel in a series of comedic mishaps, proving that sometimes the most chaos can occur right at home.

“A Christmas Story” offers a timeless portrayal of a child’s all-consuming wish for the perfect gift, though the desired BB gun may not resonate with today’s youth. However, many who grew up in the ’80s fondly remember a different era and gift—none other than the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which was the ultimate Christmas morning prize for a generation.

Enjoyment of “Christmas Vacation” definitely requires ignoring some dumb things, including how selfish of a dad and husband Clark often is. But you can’t help but love the oaf’s desire to give his family the perfect Christmas as much as his wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) and kids Rusty (Johnny Galecki) and Audrey (Juliette Lewis) do. Of course, much of why the movie is so funny and endlessly quotable is due to Randy Quaid’s delightfully unhinged performance as self-invited houseguest Cousin Eddie.

• Cast: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid
• Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
• Release Year: 1989
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 97 minutes

“A Christmas Story” is timeless in the way it depicts a kid who becomes completely consumed with getting the perfect present. Less timeless is the fact that the present is a BB gun, not the most relatable gift to kids who didn’t grow up in the 1940s. Nowadays, middle-aged adults are nostalgic for a different era and present — and for many ’80s kids, no present was a bigger Christmas morning holy grail than a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

While “8-Bit Christmas” feels at times like it follows the “what if ‘A Christmas Story’ was set in the ’80s instead of the ’40s?” concept a little too closely, it still succeeds thanks to great performances and a lot of heart. Jake Doyle (Neil Patrick Harris) tells his daughter (Sophia Reid-Gantz) the story of the Christmas season during which he was obsessed with getting an NES. That’s when we see young Jake (Winslow Fegley) first playing an NES at a neighbor’s house and realizing he has to have one of his own, doing everything that a kid can reasonably do to make that happen. 

• Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Winslow Fegley, June Diane Raphael
• Director: Michael Dowse
• Release Year: 2021
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 97 minutes

While cutting-edge at the time, “The Polar Express” is home to a few Christmas movie moments that didn’t age well, mainly owing to how far mo-cap technology has come since then. But to let that spoil the magic of “The Polar Express” is to be no better than the overly skeptical child in the beginning, nitpicking every little clue that Santa might not be real — and to miss the point that he fully believes by the end.

The main protagonist, credited only as Hero Boy (voiced by Daryl Sabara), is at that crossroads that every kid eventually reaches — whether to finally accept the mounting evidence that there is no Santa Claus, or keep ignoring it in favor of retaining a belief in something magical. When the titular conveyance somehow pulls up right outside his house on Christmas Eve, he goes on a journey that removes any doubt that both Santa, and magic itself, are very much real. 

• Cast: Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye
• Director: Robert Zemeckis
• Release Year: 2004
• Rating: G
• Runtime: 100 minutes

Most Christmas movies focus primarily on white characters and families, which isn’t really fair to the millions of people of color who also celebrate the holiday. Luckily, there are movies like “Almost Christmas,” which centers on a Black family coming together for their first Christmas since the passing of their matriarch. Her widower husband, Walter (Danny Glover), attempts his first solo hosting gig for a family holiday, inviting his four adult children over for the festivities — which proves complicated as they haven’t exactly remained close.

The concept isn’t particularly novel, and everyone learns the lessons they’re supposed to learn. But “Almost Christmas” succeeds in spite of all that, thanks to the wonderful chemistry of a truly talented cast. Glover presides over an impressive ensemble that features Gabrielle Union, Mo’Nique, J.B. Smoove, Omar Epps, and others — all of whom bring the prickly energy when everyone is arguing and the heart when they’re making up. 

• Cast: Danny Glover, Romany Malco, Gabrielle Union
• Director: David E. Talbert
• Release Year: 2016
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 111 minutes

After two early silent film adaptations, 1938’s “A Christmas Carol” came out with an incredible version of the story that has been hard to top. In fact, it remains the best adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” even edging out the much-beloved “The Muppet Christmas Carol.” While part of that is because it was released at a time before the story had been adapted to death, it’s still a masterpiece even against its many subsequent competitors. 

It doesn’t use gimmicks or try to put a fresh spin on the story. It simply doubles down on its powerful — and timeless — message better than any of the movies that came after it. Everyone knows the story: A cold-hearted business owner named Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen) doesn’t care about his family, has no friends, and certainly can’t spare any warmth for his employees, even on Christmas. But then he’s visited by four ghosts, who show him how his behavior has hurt those around him and where he’s headed if he doesn’t change his ways. 

• Cast: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart
• Director: Edwin L. Marin
• Release Year: 1938
• Rating: Not rated
• Runtime: 69 minutes

To get this out of the way up front, “Gremlins” is certainly an example of a movie that people can’t agree on it being a Christmas movie. But if you don’t like to include movies like “Gremlins,” “Die Hard,” or “Lethal Weapon” in your Yuletide movie rotation, you’ve got plenty of more traditional options on this list to watch instead. But if you’re still here, then you know that “Gremlins” is not only a Christmas movie, but a classic one to boot.

In trying to find a truly unique gift for his son, Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) procures a mysterious creature called a mogwai. He gives the mogwai to his son Billy (Zach Galligan), along with a list of very specific rules for its care. After Billy accidentally breaks one of the rules — don’t get the mogwai wet — it spawns a number of other mogwai. Only they aren’t sweet and cuddly like Gizmo, the original. These gremlin mogwai proceed to terrorize not only the Peltzer household, but the entire town, to the tune of classic Christmas songs and with their violent rampage lit by red and green lights. 

• Cast: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton
• Director: Joe Dante
• Release Year: 1984
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 106 minutes

Considering how common it is for people to have divorced parents and split holiday visits among multiple locations, there are still a fairly small number of Christmas movies that address that scenario. “Four Christmases” helps to fill that void, starring a couple who each have divorced parents and therefore need to visit four different houses for the holidays. Further complicating things is that Brad McVie (Vince Vaughn) and Kate Kincaid (Reese Witherspoon) are long-term partners who have decided they are going to forgo a lot of the typical expectations of adult couples.

To that end, they’ve yet to spend any holidays with either of their extended families. But when weather ruins their latest Christmas vacation plans, Brad and Kate find themselves forced to see all four sets of their respective parents. “Four Christmases” is a fun comedy about how the holidays often force people to reconnect with estranged family members and also test the strength of budding romantic relationships. 

• Cast: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall
• Director: Seth Gordon
• Release Year: 2008
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 89 minutes

In the mood for a Christmas movie that leans in a more non-fiction direction? Then the HBO Max original documentary “Santa Camp” might be your perfect gift this season. The initial spotlight is on the New England Santa Society and their annual retreat, where Santa portrayers hone their craft before being let loose on malls and parades. But co-founder Dan Greenleaf recognizes that there is a serious diversity problem in the Santa community, and seeks to expand the group’s reach beyond straight, white, cisgendered, able-bodied males.

Thus begins the real story of “Santa Camp,” focusing on a Black Santa (Chris Kennedy), a trans Santa (Levi Truax), and a St. Nick with spina bifida (Finbar Ciappara). As each of them face various setbacks and backlash for not being a “traditional” Santa, they stay the course, partially for themselves but mostly so that kids like them can have their own version of Santa that they can relate to and identify with. 

• Cast: Dan Greenleaf, Chris Kennedy, Levi Truax
• Director: Nick Sweeney
• Release Year: 2022
• Rating: TV-MA 
• Runtime: 92 minutes

There’s a reason why TBS has been doing their annual 24-hour “A Christmas Story” marathon for nearly 30 years now. It’s become a tradition for families to just leave it on in the background all day, as comforting as a fireplace that you occasionally sit down in front of for a few minutes of warmth here and there. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people actually have access to TBS, or traditional television, at all anymore. So that means turning to streaming services to set up our own repeating loop of “A Christmas Story.”

Enter HBO Max, which is allowing its subscribers to do exactly that this year. So whether you like to just check in now and then — during the triple-dog-dare scene, the department store Santa scene, or whatever your favorite is — or actually sit and watch this holiday staple from start to finish, you’re able to do that at any point this December. We don’t know if “A Christmas Story 2” is on HBO Max because we didn’t bother looking, and you shouldn’t either.

• Cast: Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley
• Director: Bob Clark
• Release Year: 1983
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 94 minutes

While the less said about “A Christmas Story 2” the better, 2022 did produce a miracle in the way of a follow-up that is actually a genuinely good film. “A Christmas Story Christmas” sees Peter Billingsley return as a grown-up Ralphie with a wife (Erinn Hayes) and kids (River Drosche and Julianna Layne) of his own. Following the passing of his father, Ralphie brings his family to spend the holidays with his mother (Julie Hagerty) and to deliver the kind of family Christmas that would have made his dad proud.

Being set in the ’70s retains the nostalgic feel of the original movie, the first of many masterstrokes from Billingsley, who co-wrote the story himself with Nick Shenk. It also does an expert job at balancing Ralphie catching up with his old pals and paying tribute to their childhoods with the shift to Christmas now being about Ralphie’s own kids instead of him.

• Cast: Peter Billingsley, Erinn Hayes, Scott Schwartz
• Director: Clay Kaytis
• Release Year: 2022
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 98 minutes

Not every Christmas movie needs to be a family affair, or even be kid-appropriate. Enter “Bad Santa,” an R-rated Christmas comedy about a pair of criminals who pose as Santa and an elf in order to rob department stores at night. It seems like the perfect plan, and for a while it is — until Willie’s (Billy Bob Thornton) boozing and womanizing starts to interfere with his Santa duties. This doesn’t sit well with his elf partner Marcus (Tony Cox), who begins brainstorming ways to cut Willie, an increasing liability, out of the equation.

When Willie meets a kid (Brett Kelly) who lives in a huge house and whose parents are never around, he sees an opportunity for a side score. But Willie reluctantly develops an affection for the kid, at which point even this very crass and vulgar raunchfest manages to deliver its own version of a feel-good Christmas movie ending. It would later spawn one of the worst Christmas movie sequels ever in the completely dreadful “Bad Santa 2,” but don’t hold that against it. 

• Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham
• Director: Terry Zwigoff
• Release Year: 2003
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 92 minutes

Probably the least-known movie on this list, but still no less worthy of inclusion among the other entries, is “A Christmas Mystery.” This delightful little gem of a movie might only appeal to the youngest members of the household, but there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Put this one on for the kiddos while the grownups watch “Bad Santa,” and everybody wins.

Needless to say, “A Christmas Mystery” is a whodunit, with a small Oregon town’s most prized possession — a pair of actual jingle bells from Santa’s sleigh — gone missing. But this is no mere display piece, as the bells seemed to have a magical effect on the town that made everyone happier, healthier, and wealthier. Losing the bells is bad enough, but losing them just before Christmas is tragic, so young amateur sleuths Violet (Violet McGraw) and Kenny (Santino Barnard) get on the extremely time-sensitive case.

• Cast: Violet McGraw, Santino Barnard, Lauren Lindsey Donzis
• Director: Alex Ranarivelo
• Release Year: 2022
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 87 minutes

When one thinks of Tim Allen and Christmas movies, it’s “The Santa Clause” that comes to mind. But he also starred in this underappreciated family comedy where he not only doesn’t turn into Santa, but more or less becomes a scrooge. When Luther and Nora Krank (Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) find out that their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) won’t be home for Christmas, Luther has a brilliant idea. He tallies up the amount that he and his wife typically spend on the holidays, and suggest that they instead use that money to take a cruise together. 

However, the Kranks’ neighbors feel betrayed when they learn that the Kranks won’t be participating in the neighborhood decorating festivities. Those begins a hilarious cat-and-mouse game between the Kranks and the neighbors, some of which reaches almost “Home Alone” levels of slapstick — not unexpected, given that “Home Alone” director Chris Columbus wrote the screenplay. It’s no “Home Alone,” certainly, but “Christmas with the Kranks” doesn’t deserve the critical drubbing it got — you might be pleasantly surprised. 

• Cast: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd
• Director: Joe Roth
• Release Year: 2004
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 98 minutes

Back when Will Ferrell was still just a guy from “Saturday Night Live” and Jon Favreau hadn’t yet helped launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the duo collaborated on “Elf.” In hindsight, it feels like a dream team of established hitmakers, but there wasn’t a massive amount of hype around “Elf” when it was first released. Of course, it wouldn’t take long before it earned its place as a modern Christmas movie classic, destined to forever be included in the discussion of the greats.

Much of why “Elf” works is thanks to Ferrell’s performance, knowing how to play a clueless manchild type but in a way where he’s lovable rather than cringeworthy. Credit where credit is due, of course, to Ed Asner as one of cinema’s best Santas, and the always perfect Bob Newhart as Buddy’s (Ferrell) adopted elf dad. James Caan brings the Sonny Corleone heat when he needs to, but otherwise proves to have adorable comedic chemistry with Ferrell. Lastly but not leastly, Zooey Deschanel’s Jovie is impossible not to fall in love with the moment Buddy does. 

• Cast: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel
• Director: Jon Favreau
• Release Year: 2003
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 97 minutes

Thanks to the countless adaptations and homages to “A Christmas Carol” — it’s almost a requirement that every sitcom does a version of the story at some point — Charles Dickens can be considered the man who invented Christmas. Thus the title of this movie, which tells a fun interpretation of Dickens sitting down to write the landmark 1843 holiday story that would delight audiences and inspire film and TV writers for over 180 years and counting.

Dan Stevens is delightful as a young Dickens, especially during the more fantastical portions of the movie that see him interacting with his own characters as his story plays out, while Christopher Plummer steals the show as a work-in-progress Ebenezer Scrooge. Even if you’re completely burnt out on “A Christmas Carol,” you’ll be surprised just how much you ended up enjoying — and learning from — “The Man Who Invented Christmas.”

• Cast: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce
• Director: Bharat Nalluri
• Release Year: 2017
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 104 minutes