It's a Wonderful Life
by jwoehr | created - 21 Jan 2018 | updated - 29 Dec 2020 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 499,426
2. A Christmas Carol (1951)
TV-PG | 86 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 25,731
3. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,883 | Gross: $2.08M
4. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,307,791 | Gross: $210.61M
5. Groundhog Day (1993)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 685,502 | Gross: $70.91M
6. Mr. Destiny (1990)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Unhappy Larry Burrows sees what his life could have been like if he had made that winning home run as a teenager.
Director: James Orr | Stars: Jim Belushi, Linda Hamilton, Michael Caine, Jon Lovitz
Votes: 13,275 | Gross: $15.38M
7. Home Alone (1990)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family
An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard
Votes: 653,120 | Gross: $285.76M
A kid realizes he can't live without his annoying brother and stuck up mom who always takes the brother's part.
8. Shrek Forever After (2010)
PG | 93 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rumpelstiltskin tricks a mid-life crisis burdened Shrek into allowing himself to be erased from existence and cast in a dark alternate timeline where Rumpelstiltskin rules supreme.
Director: Mike Mitchell | Stars: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas
Votes: 224,724 | Gross: $238.37M
9. Lost (2004–2010)
TV-14 | 5,445 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.
Stars: Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly
Votes: 595,727
In the series finale you'll realize instead of answers to every question. The show was "Jack Shepard, this is your life!"
10. The Family Man (2000)
PG-13 | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven
Votes: 119,435 | Gross: $75.79M
11. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
PG | 120 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
One year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself stranded in New York City - and the same criminals are not far behind.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 402,751 | Gross: $173.59M
Kevin learns the same lesson again. It's an entertaining sequel nevertheless.
12. The Truman Show (1998)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
An insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich
Votes: 1,197,537 | Gross: $125.62M
Many Jim Carrey movies can go here. Truman isn't happy with his life and soon realizes it's because he isn't in control of it. And never has been.
13. Scrooged (1988)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover
Votes: 116,462 | Gross: $60.33M
14. Flight of the Navigator (1986)
PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
In 1978, a boy travels eight years into the future and has an adventure with an intelligent, wisecracking alien ship.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 51,719 | Gross: $18.56M
15. The Santa Clause (1994)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
When a man inadvertently makes Santa fall off his roof on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place.
Director: John Pasquin | Stars: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Eric Lloyd
Votes: 133,452 | Gross: $144.83M
16. The Bishop's Wife (1947)
G | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A debonair angel comes to Earth to help an Episcopalian bishop and his wife in their quest to raise money for the new church.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley
Votes: 20,908
17. Click (2006)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A workaholic architect finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices.
Director: Frank Coraci | Stars: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff
Votes: 356,958 | Gross: $137.36M
18. Big (1988)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
Votes: 240,147 | Gross: $114.97M
19. Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
PG | 101 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.
Director: Rich Moore | Stars: John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman
Votes: 458,772 | Gross: $189.42M
20. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Peggy Sue faints at a high school reunion. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her own past, just before she finished school.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Catherine Hicks
Votes: 40,840 | Gross: $41.38M
21. Field of Dreams (1989)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.
Director: Phil Alden Robinson | Stars: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan
Votes: 128,219 | Gross: $64.43M
22. The Game (1997)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn
Votes: 429,738 | Gross: $48.32M
It's interesting and different but definitely belongs on this list. Even if that gives away the twist.
23. As Good as It Gets (1997)
PG-13 | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Votes: 318,603 | Gross: $148.48M
24. The Majestic (2001)
PG | 152 min | Drama, Romance
In 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 57,687 | Gross: $27.81M
25. Yes Man (2008)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Romance
A man challenges himself to say "yes" to everything.
Director: Peyton Reed | Stars: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins
Votes: 383,350 | Gross: $97.69M
26. Bruce Almighty (2003)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A whiny news reporter is given the chance to step into God's shoes.
Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Morgan Freeman, Philip Baker Hall
Votes: 433,995 | Gross: $242.83M
27. The Christmas Star (1986)
TV-G | 94 min | Drama, Family
A counterfeiter finds the true meaning of the holidays.
Director: Alan Shapiro | Stars: Edward Asner, Rene Auberjonois, Jim Metzler, Susan Tyrrell
Votes: 844
28. One Magic Christmas (1985)
G | 89 min | Family, Fantasy
An angel must show a mother the true meaning of Christmas. It's not just presents and materialistic things, but the people she cares about too.
Director: Phillip Borsos | Stars: Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Harry Dean Stanton, Arthur Hill
Votes: 4,455 | Gross: $13.68M
29. North (1994)
PG | 87 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Sick of the neglect he receives from his mom and dad, a young boy leaves home and travels the world in search of new parents.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Votes: 14,760 | Gross: $7.14M
30. The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
PG | 104 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A cooler-than-ever Bruce Wayne must deal with the usual suspects as they plan to rule Gotham City, while discovering that he has accidentally adopted a teenage orphan who wishes to become his sidekick.
Director: Chris McKay | Stars: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes
Votes: 172,677 | Gross: $175.75M
31. Vanilla Sky (2001)
R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell
Votes: 285,838 | Gross: $100.61M
32. Face/Off (1997)
R | 138 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
To foil a terrorist plot, FBI agent Sean Archer assumes the identity of the criminal Castor Troy who murdered his son through facial transplant surgery, but the crook wakes up prematurely and vows revenge.
Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola
Votes: 401,128 | Gross: $112.23M
An agent loses everything he has when switching faces with his arch enemy. To infiltrate his gang. Not expecting him to wake from a coma. And take over his life.
33. Happy Death Day (2017)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
A college student must relive the day of her murder over and over again, in a loop that will end only when she discovers her killer's identity.
Director: Christopher Landon | Stars: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken
Votes: 162,935 | Gross: $55.68M
34. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
PG-13 | 151 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Diana must contend with a work colleague, and with a businessman whose desire for extreme wealth sends the world down a path of destruction, after an ancient artifact that grants wishes goes missing.
Director: Patty Jenkins | Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal
Votes: 291,920 | Gross: $46.37M
35. Up (2009)
PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson | Stars: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 1,125,763 | Gross: $293.00M
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