13 Holiday Movies & TV Episodes To Watch This Weekend

I love this time of year! Late Fall to early Winter is called “the Holiday Season” during
which Americans may celebrate holidays such as Halloween, Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah,
Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s, among others. Here are holiday movies to enjoy with
your loved ones this season! I’ve tried to include movies and TV shows you may not know,
which are also good for English language learners ;)

How can you learn from watching a movie in English? Here are some suggestions:

1) Comprehension: Try to answer questions about the main ideas of the story. Who are
the main characters? Where are they? What are they doing? When are the main events
happening?

2) Vocabulary: Write down new words, phrases, jokes, questions, or responses that YOU
want to use! WordReference or Linguee can help you to understand what they mean.

3) Grammar: What is a grammar point you want to practice? (For example The Present
Perfect, articles, adverbs...) Choose one grammar point and listen for when the
characters use it. Write it down and say it out loud!

4) Watch with English audio and English subtitles. (Using subtitles in your native
language or no subtitles at all is fine too!)

5) Watch your favorite scenes or the entire movie again and again! The more you
repeat, the more language you will learn and remember.

HALLOWEEN

1. Hocus Pocus (1993) One Halloween night in 1993 in Salem, Massachusetts, a teenager
Sam, his sister Dani, and friend Allison go to the Sanderson house. They wake up the
Sanderson sisters, three witches from 1693.1 Together, they must defeat the witches
before Halloween ends! (Available on Disney + and Amazon Prime Video)

THANKSGIVING

2. Home for the Holidays (1995) Join the Larson family for Thanksgiving at their home in
Baltimore, Maryland2 in this fun comedy we can all relate to! (Available on Amazon
Prime Video)

3. Miracle on 34th Street (1994) This classic story begins with a Thanksgiving Day parade
and ends with Christmas. 6 year-old Susan Walker and the city of New York join in a
debate over the beloved man Kris Kingle and whether or not Santa Clause really exists.3
(Available on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video)

HANUKKAH

4. Fiddler on the Roof (1971) This musical tells the story of Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman
and his family in 1905 in the Ukranian village of Anatevka.4 While not specifically about
Hannahukah, this heart-warming classic will certainly get you in the holiday spirit!
(Available on Amazon Prime Video)

5. A Rugrats Chanukah (1996) This family-friendly episode of the children’s TV show
Rugrats celebrates the story of Hanukkah5 in a way that both children and adults will
enjoy! (Available on Amazon Prime Video)

CHRISTMAS

6. A Christmas Story (1983) This classic comedy follows the young boy Ralphie Parker in
the 1960s in Indiana.6 You will laugh as he and his family navigate the winter and
Christmas! (Available on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video)

7. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) On Christmas Eve in 1945 in a small town in New York, life
is difficult and George Bailey wishes he had never been born.7 An angel shows him what
the world would be like if he had never been born, and he realizes that life really is
wonderful! (Available on Amazon Prime Video)

8. Love Actually (2003) This romantic comedy follows ten different relationships in the UK
around Christmas-time.8 Watch to see how all the people are connected and practice
listening to British English! (Available on Amazon Prime Video)

9. The Family Stone (2005) Everett Stone brings his serious, cold girlfriend Meredith home
to his family for Christmas in Connecticut.9 You will laugh and enjoy this story about
family and love! (Available on Amazon Prime Video)

KWANZAA

10. The Proud Family, “Seven Days of Kwanzaa”, Season 1 Episode 11 (2001) This
episode of The Proud Family follows the Prouds as they become friends with a family who celebrates Kwanzaa and they learn the real meaning of the holidays.1o (Available on
Disney + and Amazon Prime Video)

11. Everybody Hates Chris, “Everybody Hates Kwanzaa”, Season 3 Episode 10 (2007) In this episode of the family comedy Everybody Hates Chris, teenager Chris’s family
celebrates Kwanzaa for the first time in Brooklyn, New York.11 (Available on Hulu and
Amazon Prime Video)

NEW YEAR’S

12. New Year’s Eve (2011) This romantic comedy follows several connected people in New
York on New Year’s Eve as they learn about love and try to solve their problems!12
(Available on Amazon Prime Video)

13. The Holiday (2006) Iris from the UK and Amanda from California switch homes for the
holiday season and find love.13 (Available on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video)

As temperatures are dropping and you find yourself more and more inside with your
family and friends, drink some hot chocolate and enjoy these movies! ☕

References

1 “Hocus Pocus (1993 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hocus_Pocus_(1993_film).

2 Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, November 5). Home for the holidays (1995 film). Wikipedia.
Retrieved November 11, 2021, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_for_the_Holidays_(1995_film).

3 “Miracle on 34th Street (1994 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Oct. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_34th_Street_(1994_film).

4 “Fiddler on the Roof (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Nov. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddler_on_the_Roof_(film).

5 “A Rugrats Chanukah.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Oct. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rugrats_Chanukah.

6 “A Christmas Story.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Nov. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Story.

7 “It's a Wonderful Life.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Nov. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life.

8 “Love Actually.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Oct. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Actually.

9 “The Family Stone.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Oct. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_Stone.

1o “Seven Days of Kwanzaa.” The Proud Family Wiki,
https://theproudfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Seven_Days_Of_Kwanzaa.

11 “Everybody Hates Kwanzaa.” Everybody Hates Chris Wiki,
https://everybodyhateschris.fandom.com/wiki/Everybody_Hates_Kwanzaa.

12 “New Year's Eve (2011 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Sept. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year%27s_Eve_(2011_film).

13 “The Holiday.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Nov. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holiday.