What Makes a Christmas Film, a Christmas Film?

"Miracle on 34th Street." "A Christmas Story." "The Muppets Christmas Carol." "Elf." No one can argue that those are not Christmas films. But many other movies are not so clear-cut. Check out some of these less traditional holiday films and decide for yourself.

"Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944)

This Judy Garland vehicle recounts a whole year in the life of the Smith family in the leadup to the opening of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. The film starts in the summer of 1903, but the third act transpiring during the holidays is possibly the most celebrated. Patriarch Mr. Smith (Leon Ames) announces that the family must move to New York right after Christmas for his work. This devastating news means this will be the family's last Christmas in St. Louis, and they will miss the world's fair. Second-oldest daughter Esther (Garland) tries to console youngest daughter Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) with a heartfelt rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Will that be enough for their father to reconsider his decision to uproot the family?

"The Apartment" (1960)

Billy Wilder's Best Picture winner "The Apartment" follows several weeks in the life of C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), a lonely New York City office worker seeking to climb the corporate ladder by allowing company managers to use his apartment for their extramarital trysts. He secretly pines for elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) who unbeknownst to Baxter is having an affair with his boss Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray). During the company Christmas party, Kubelik realizes that Sheldrake will never leave his wife for her, and she ends up passed out in Baxter's apartment following an argument with Sheldrake and an overdose of sleeping pills. As Baxter tends to her, the two grow closer together. Will these lonely colleagues fall in love by New Year's Eve?

"Trading Places" (1983)

John Landis's "Trading Places" stars Dan Aykroyd as the wealthy and snooty commodities broker Louis Winthorpe III and Eddie Murphy as the poor street hustler Billy Ray Valentine whose lives become intertwined when wealthy brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) bet on how the two men would fare if they swapped places. Winthorpe finds himself living on the streets during the holidays while Valentine is now earning a steady paycheck from Duke & Duke Commodity Brokers. At the company Christmas party, Winthorpe disguises himself as Santa so he can sneak in and plant drugs on Valentine to get him fired. When Valentine finds out about the bet, and that the Dukes plan to let him go, the two come together to plot their revenge.

"Die Hard" (1988)

With 95% of the film's action taking place during a Christmas party (a party gone terribly wrong, but a party nonetheless), it is hard to argue that "Die Hard" is not a holiday film. But the debate rages on more than 30 years after a group of terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) crashed the annual Nakatomi Corporation holiday party, spurring New York City cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) into action, taking down the terrorists one by one. With a soundtrack that includes "Let it Snow" and "Christmas in Hollis," as well as Santa hats, wreaths, poinsettias, and Christmas trees sprinkled throughout, and the memorable use of the phrase "ho ho ho," the film is full of holiday cheer.

"About a Boy" (2002)

Christmas is a recurring theme in this film about bachelor Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) who has no interest in commitment until he meets an awkward 12-year-old boy named Marcus (Nicholas Hoult). Freeman has very few cares in the world, as he lives off of royalties from a Christmas song that his father wrote. At a single parents social group, which he joins to meet women under the false pretense that he has a child, he encounters the attractive Suzie (Victoria Smurfit) and her friend's son Marcus, whose troubled mother has left him needing parental support. As Will and Marcus bond, he joins the family for Christmas dinner and a gift exchange and discovers what has been missing from his life