3. 'Elf' (2003)
Pretty much every moment in this deliriously entertaining comedy – which stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a North Pole elf who sets out to find his father after learning that he's really a human being – delights and amuses. But Buddy's stint at the department store ranks among the highlights. (Gimbels, incidentally, closed in 1987, but it's perfect for this movie, since the store was the big rival of Macy's in 'Miracle on 34th Street.') Buddy uses his elf skills to redecorate the toy department, begins a tentative courtship of his co-worker Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), and gets really excited about the arrival of Santa – until he realizes that the store has hired an impostor, at which point all cotton-headed-ninny-muggins heck breaks loose.

4. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993)
Jack Skellington, also known as the Pumpkin King, is the reigning scare-meister of Halloween Town, bringing eerie chills to everyone in the world each October 31. But he craves something new, something different. So when he accidentally wanders into Christmas Town, he's bombarded with sights and sounds that he can't begin to understand, from snow to candy canes to The Man in Red himself. This sequence takes all the brightly-colored, sparkling-light, tinsel-strewn magic of the holiday and distills it into one musical number ("What's This?").

5. 'Miracle on 34th Street' (1947)
Does the term "spoiler" apply when discussing a 63-year-old movie? Let's keep it a little vague just in case. Young Natalie Wood plays Susan, a little girl who's been raised to be logical and down-to-earth, so of course she doesn't believe in Santa Claus, even when Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) comes to work at Macy's and convinces a whole lot of people that he's the real Saint Nick.

Suffice it to say that by the time Christmas rolls around, Susan's heart -- much like the Grinch's -- has grown three sizes.

'Tis the season and all that, but there's a staggering amount of Christmas movies you could be watching. Who's got the time for all of them? Between holiday parties, shopping, wrapping gifts, hanging lights, and addressing cards, your holiday time -- not to mention energy -- is at a premium.

Because you might not have the strength to kick back with a nice mug of cocoa and some of your favorite holiday classics on DVD, we've asked critic Alonso Duralde -- the author of the recent compendium 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' -- to give us the top 10 finest moments from holiday-related films.

Since we're sure you have your own faves, be sure to tell us all about them in the comments section.

Poor 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World': Critics and audiences have loved the unique way that it grafts comic-book and video-game storytelling onto moviemaking, and it's the kind of movie that's destined to garner great word of mouth (and sell lots of DVDs) in the years to come.

Right now, unfortunately, there aren't enough enthusiastic audiences out there to rescue the movie from being one of the big money-losers of the summer of 2010. But buck up, Mr. Pilgrim -- the history of movies is dotted with films that died in theaters but eventually become popular classics anyway. With any luck, you'll join this list.