Great films to watch at Christmas and New Year

We’ve spent the whole year “on”, so this Christmas, it’s time to finally switch “off”. And what better way to lose yourself than with a rip-roaring piece of cinema in your very own living room. And this Christmas, there are a whole host of movie treats waiting to be unwrapped over the whole of the festive season.

So, we’ve pulled together our pick of the best films. And because your time should be entirely about relaxing this Yuletide, we’ve split our guide into individual days. So whatever day you find yourself on this page, we’ve got you covered. (Unless you’ve come here on 16 February, then you’re fresh out of luck).

• Looking for the best Christmas movies on Sky Cinema this year? We’ve got 12 of the best here
• Find the best movies of 2020 you might have missed (and can watch now) right here
• For more Christmas movies and the best TV to watch this festive period, check out our Christmas hub
  
  From talking bears and silent dragons to Christmas classics and legends reborn, there is something for everyone this year. And don’t worry, Elf is in there, too.

Angelina Jolie plays the iconic villain in this origin story set before the events of the classic Cinderella tale. Elle Fanning and Lesley Manville also star.

This sequel to the rebooted 2009 Star Trek packs a lot in. If it’s big-budget action with a great screen villain in Benedict Cumberbatch you want, this is the film for you.

Your search for “When is Elf on TV over Christmas?” is over. It’s right here. 7pm. On Sky One. Now get back to searching for pictures of cats in Santa hats.

This darkly satirical comedy from In The Loop’s Armando Iannucci is filled with his trademark wit and one-liners. Jason Isaacs steals the show.

Don’t miss this fabulous reboot of everyone’s favourite felt friends. Come for the songs from Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie, stay for the belly laughs.

By now as much a part of Christmas as dry turkey and novelty socks. A three-hour epic, but an epic nonetheless, from the master of cinema, David Lean.

The gripping second chapter in the story of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) sees her return to the one place she thought she had escaped forever.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost complete the “Cornetto Trilogy” – a series of films that started with Shaun of the Dead in 2004 – with a pub crawl-based sci-fi comedy.

One of the all-time classic Christmas movies, this updated (well, by 1988 standards) retelling of A Christmas Carol, starring Bill Murray, is perfection.

Roald Dahl movies have been strangely hit and miss, but that’s possibly because they’re usually compared to this one. Perfect casting and darkly hilarious.

Still one of Antonio Banderas’ greatest on-screen roles, this spin-off from the Shrek movies is filled with swashbuckling animated action for the little ones.

In the best Spider-Man film since Spider-Man 2, Tom Holland’s web-slinger faces off against Michael Keaton’s winged villain Vulture. Keaton is quite, quite chilling.

Ron Howard’s gripping tale of Apollo 13’s near-disastrous voyage is the kind of fist-pumping “USAUSAUSA!” antidote to the pre-Christmas blues.

No, this isn’t a movie about the whole of 2020 (although the title is very apt). Instead, it remains one of the greatest fantasy films of all time.

Ask us what time Finding Dory starts. Wait for it… We. Can’t. Remember! Once you’ve seen the film, that joke will be (mildly) funny. We hope.

Another film that has become a Christmas classic. A young boy travels to the North Pole to find Santa Claus in this CGI animated adventure starring Tom Hanks.

Has there ever been a film that encapsulates a big and raucous night out at a musical as much as Mamma Mia!? With actual Meryl Streep.

If you’re in the mood for a feel-good British film, then you can’t go wrong with this 2003 one starring Helen Mirren. You’ll never look at custard tarts in the same way!

Hard to believe that if you have young children you couldn’t already recite every word of dialogue and every lyric. But you will be watching it again, we guarantee.

Does the perfect film exist? Watch Paddington 2 and then judge for yourself. Sure to be one of your Christmas highlights and a much-need tonic after this year.

All of the How to Train Your Dragon movies are on over Christmas, and if you haven’t seen these animated adventures, get involved. They are brilliant films.

One of the romcom-iest romcoms of all time, it’s perfect Christmas Eve viewing. Going into other people’s homes also feels revolutionary in 2020.

Firmly in the Die Hard world of alternative Christmas movies. It brought a whole new dimension to the phrase “midnight feast”. Unmissable comedy horror.

Get warmed up for Strictly Come Dancing: The Christmas Countdown with some of the most iconic dancing from the great Gene Kelly in the classic 1952 musical.

Well, it wouldn’t be Christmas without this one. Take your annual pilgrimage to Dickensian London, and – ahem – consider yourself one of the family.

Stop-motion animation studio Aardman are back with this light-hearted and breezy caveman adventure as the Bronze Age comes a-knocking.

Dealing with death, culture and family, you wouldn’t expect anything else from the studio behind Up. Quite beautiful and a guaranteed Christmas Day weepie.

3.10pm, Channel 5/HD (CH 154/105)

Whether you’re together in a Christmas bubble, or video chatting throughout the day, nothing brings the family together like this classic musical treat.

Some people might question the logic in Kevin McCallister going missing for the second time and facing off against the same burglars. Some people can shush.

Starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, this is the story of a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite being… an awful singer.

Wes Anderson brings together all his collaborators to Avengers: Endgame levels in this delightful story about an exceptional concierge (Ralph Fiennes).

While so many action adventures deal with fathers and sons, this Scottish-based film takes a very different route in a princess story like no other.

Speaking of princess stories, this is the OG princess tale brought to life in this live-action adaption starring Lily James as the eponymous Cinderella.

Despite the brilliant reboots starring Dwayne Johnson, the original with Robin William, in which a board game unleashes the wild onto a small town, is still the best.

Spend an afternoon with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. But after eating solidly for a week, look away when Newton-John appears in those leather trousers.

Starring Taraji Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe, this tells how a team of African-American female mathematicians played a vital role in the US space program.

If you need a Boxing Day pick-me-up, this probably isn’t the film for you. But if you can stomach it, this 2017 movie about the evacuation is breathtaking cinema.

• Looking for the best Christmas movies on Sky Cinema this year? We’ve got 12 of the best here
• Find the best movies of 2020 you might have missed (and can watch now) right here
• For more Christmas movies and the best TV to watch this festive period, check out our Christmas hub

While not as loved as the flawless original, this prequel imagining Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman) in a college fraternity is still a lot of fun.

It’s time to once again climb every mountain and have some fun with the nun on the run. The timeless classic with Julie Andrews never, ever, ever gets old.

A deeply underrated 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic, starring Keira Knightley and a pre-Succession and Quiz Matthew Macfadyen.

The best one since the 1993 original, imagining a world where a working dinosaur park exists. Chris Pratt stars, as things at the park go predictably out of control.

Jamie Bell headlines as the 11-year-old miner’s son with the top-tapping talent at odds with his dad and community. Julie Walters also stars as Billy’s dance tutor.

Would the classic scene with Julie Roberts and Richard Gere marching back into a shop still work in 2020 with a queuing system, masks and anti-vac gel? Absolutely!

What if we could look inside our heads and see what our feelings thought? That’s the high-concept premise of this bold and brilliant animated movie. Bring tissues!

It’s been a rough year. But no year wouldn’t be improved by watching this slice of patriotic cinema with one of the most iconic scores ever. You know the one.

One of the truly great comedy movies. John Candy and Steve Martin are impeccably cast in this ultimate road trip. Your sides are about to split!

A truly wondrous live-action reimagining by Iron Man director John Favreau. Neel Sethi as Mowgli gives an astonishing performance against the CGI trickery.

Tom Cruise at his running-away-from-stuff best. With much of the technology in this 2002 movie now a reality, are “Precogs” the next step? We hope not…

Such a delight, this one. A city of animals, predators and prey, all living in harmony. That is until the top of the food chain starts attacking the bottom.

Another film where any parent could mouth every word in their sleep, and – deep breath – a close second to Tangled in the modern-day list of best princess films.

Robin Williams as a Peter Pan who grew up and forgot Neverland is as inspired a premise as it is casting, espeically when you throw in Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. A tale about responsibility and remembering who you are.

With Wonder Woman 1984 coming out, catch up with the brilliant first film here. Closer to Richard Donner’s optimistic Superman than the darker hero takes in recent years.

While this Oscar-winning era-spanning story’s lustre has faded somewhat over the years, it’s still up there with the best of Tom Hanks – and that’s saying something.

Arguably the pinnacle of Daniel Craig’s era as 007, filled with action and personal stakes, not to mention the greatest theme tune of the modern Bond era.

If you missed out on a lads (or lasses) holiday in 2020, this is all the evidence you need that you were saved from yourself. Classic comedy spin-off from the Channel 4 series.

Bill Murray finds himself reliving the same day over and over again – something you can appreciate if working from home in the same room for nearly a year.

The final chapter in this three-film series sees Hiccup and Toothless go in search of a secret Dragon Utopia. A thrilling climax to this brilliant franchise.

Ian McKellen stars as an older Sherlock whose mind is rapidly deteriorating and seeks help to solve the one case the great detective couldn’t solve.

This classy take on the Agatha Christie mystery sees a starry cast accused of foul play. Kenneth Branagh’s moustache required its own dressing room.

Aca-scuse me? More musical delight abounds (why not start 2021 with a song!) as Anna Kendrick joins her college’s all-girls singing group, The Bellas.

Chris Pratt enters the MCU as Star-Lord in this hilarious galaxy-spanning quest surrounding a mysterious orb that is rather important down the line.