I know this is off-topic for this thread, but my favorite movie to watch at Christmastime (even if there is not a single mention of Christmas in the whole tale), is the Danish movie Babette's Feast.

Of the TV specials fare, I have to agree with the Guest who dislikes "Frosty the Snowman." Even considering the animation technology available at the time it was made, it comes off looking cheap and badly done.

My favorite TV special this time of year is the original animated "Grinch", directed by Chuck Jones.

Last year, I sat down at my computer and found an etext of Dicken's Christmas Carol. I enjoyed it much more than any of the various film versions out there. I half-wished there was a daring film maker out there who would retell it in the spirit of social and political protest that Dickens originally wrote it, and who would use modern effects technology to make the spirits appear as Dickens described them.

But mostly, I admit, I like wallowing in smaltz this time of year.