If like us, you love putting your feet up and cracking open a box of sweets while watching a movie over Christmas, then this guide is for you! We've rounded up the best movies on TV and streaming this Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife, BBC One, 5.50pm
Directed by Jason Reitman, son of the original film's director Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters: Afterlife follows a single mother and her two children after they arrive in a new town and discover their connection to the first Ghostbusters.
Siblings Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) are seen discovering the Ectomobile, complete with its Ecto-1 number plate, while the proton packs and ghost Slimer from the original film also return.
The supernatural comedy features new cast members including Ant-Man star Paul Rudd and The Leftovers actress Carrie Coon. Afterlife will also see guest cameos from Murray, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver.
The film is the fourth in the Ghostbusters franchise and the first since the all-female release in 2016 starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, who started a ghost-catching business in New York City.
Could this be the Christmas movie of all Christmas movies? Macauley Culkin stars as Kevin McCallister, a quick-thinking kid who gets left alone during the festive season when his family fly off on holidays without him. This one never gets old.
Die Hard, TG4, 10.05pm
Die Hard is a 1988 action movie directed by John McTiernan, based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever. The film stars Bruce Willis as NYPD officer John McClane and is set during Christmas in Los Angeles.
The plot follows McClane, who arrives in LA to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). She works at the Nakatomi Plaza, a skyscraper where a Christmas party is being held. While McClane is waiting for her, a group of highly organized terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), hijacks the building. They take the employees hostage and plan to steal millions in bonds from the building's vault.
Die Hard has become a Christmas movie classic for its holiday setting and themes of family and redemption, despite being primarily an action thriller. It also spawned a successful franchise, with several sequels and spin-offs.
That Christmas, Netflix
Netflix's new Richard Curtis movie is based on the charming trilogy of children's books. It follows a series of entwined tales about family and friends, love and loneliness, and Santa Claus (Brian Cox) making a big mistake, not to mention an enormous number of turkeys!
The animation also features the voices of X Factor presenter Dermot O'Leary, Killing Eve actress Fiona Shaw, former Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker, and Love Actually's Bill Nighy, who play the residents of a charming Suffolk seaside town where things are turned upside down one Christmas.
That Christmas is directed by How to Train Your Dragon animator Simon Otto and also includes a score from composer John Powell. Powell received BAFTA nominations for films including Happy Feet and How to Train Your Dragon.
Bad Tidings, Sky Max and NOW, 8pm
What would you do to save Christmas for your family and the neighbourhood? Would you team up with your sworn enemy to become local heroes?
Well, that's what Neil and Scott are having to do this festive season in Sky Original comedy, Bad Tidings.
Written by Chris McCausland alongside Laurence Rickard and Martha Howe-Douglas, part of the BAFTA-winning team behind Ghosts and Horrible Histories, Bad Tidings promises to bring some fun and mischief to the holidays.
Part Home Alone, part Deck The Halls, Bad Tidings stars Lee Mack, Chris McCausland, Rebekah Staton, Ben Crompton, Sarah Alexander, Millie Kiss, Emily Coates and Josiah Eloi.
Beetlejuice, 10.45pm, BBC Two
Tim Burton's 1998 dark comedy follows a recently deceased couple, Barbara and Adam Maitland, who find themselves haunting their former home. However, they struggle to scare away the new living tenants, the Deetz family, which includes the quirky and goth-like Lydia Deetz.
In their attempt to reclaim their home, the Maitlands seek help from a mischievous, eccentric, and often chaotic bio-exorcist named Beetlejuice, played by Michael Keaton. Beetlejuice's job is to scare the living away, but his unpredictable nature and reckless antics cause more trouble than help. His behaviour creates more chaos than the Maitlands ever anticipated, leading to a series of surreal and bizarre events.
The BFG, TG4, 1.25pm
Steven Spielberg's big screen adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic tells the story of a young girl named Sophie and the Giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country.
Mark Rylance of Wolf Hall fame plays The Big Friendly Giant and Sophie is played by Ruby Barnill, who previously appeared in the TV show, The 4 O'Clock Club. The cast also includes Rebecca Hall and Bill Hader.
Some Like it Hot, BBC Two, 3.10pm
Some Like It Hot is widely regarded as one of the greatest comedies of all time. The classic 1959 American screwball film was directed by Billy Wilder and stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.
The story follows two musicians, Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon), who witness the St Valentine's Day Massacre. To escape the mobsters, they disguise themselves as women and join an all-female jazz band.
The band's singer, Sugar Kane (Monroe), becomes the object of both men's affections, despite their disguise. As the plot unfolds, they find themselves in a series of humorous and increasingly complicated situations, all while trying to keep their identities hidden from the mobsters.
Paddington is the story of a lonely bear, sent to forge a new life in England, far, far away from home. He lands on his, er, paws when he is adopted by a London family - the Browns - who need him as much as he needs them.
The magic of Paddington on paper - the perfectly scripted stories, the imaginative illustrations of the books (first created by Peggy Fortnum), of which there are 70 in total - goes some way to explaining sales of over 30 million copies in 30 languages around the globe. That same magic, which has been sprinkled throughout millions of unforgettable bedtime readings between mums, dads and children everywhere, has jumped from page to big screen.
The messier the bear, the bigger the laughs.
Despicable Me 3, TG4, 4.45pm
Gru and his minions are back and while the dark magic of the first film isn't matched, there is still fuel in the tank and enough joyful mayhem to keep you entertained.
This time around Gru (Carell) finds himself up against a new villain, Balthazar Bratt (Parker), a washed-up 80s TV icon set on taking over the world one dance fight at a time.
Bratt is everything you want from a Despicable Me villain and he steals each scene he's in with his killer soundtrack and old-school weaponry – Rubik's cubes and sonic keytars at dawn!
The story is set four years after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), where dinosaurs are now living freely around the world, causing significant ecological disruption. The film explores the challenges posed by this new reality, focusing on the balance between humans and dinosaurs.
The plot revolves around Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) from the original trilogy reuniting with Jurassic World characters Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard).
They join forces to stop the dangerous spread of genetically engineered species that are threatening the environment.
The 1971 cult-classic musical fantasy film is based on Roald Dahl's beloved 1964 novel. The film was directed by Mel Stuart and stars Gene Wilder as the eccentric and mysterious chocolate maker Willy Wonka.
The story follows a boy named Charlie Bucket, played by Peter Ostrum, who wins a golden ticket to tour the famous chocolate factory of Willy Wonka. Along with four other children, Charlie embarks on an incredible journey through the factory, discovering its magical and strange workings. Each child, except Charlie, faces consequences for their bad behaviour, which aligns with the moral lessons in Dahl's story.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, BBC One, 6.10pm
Aardman's four-time Academy Award-winning director Nick Park and Emmy Award-nominated Merlin Crossingham's short brings the signature humour, quirky animation, and engaging storytelling that fans have come to expect from the Wallace & Gromit series.
The plot revolves around Wallace being targeted by a mysterious and vengeful character, set against the backdrop of Wallace's passion for inventing and his love for cheese.
An Cailín Ciúin, TG4, 8pm
Based on the Claire Keegan novella Foster, An Cailín Ciúin shows us the difficulties children can face, but also the love they can elicit. Cáit is a 9-year-old girl from an impoverished and chaotic home who is fostered out, as many Irish children were in times gone by.
The title translates to The Quiet Girl, reflecting the reserved nature of the protagonist. An Cailín Ciúin has been widely praised for its understated performances, especially by Catherine Clinch, who plays Cáit, and for its sensitive portrayal of childhood and the importance of love and kindness.
The 1992 holiday comedy film and the sequel to Home Alone (1990). Directed by Chris Columbus, the movie stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a young boy who accidentally gets separated from his family and ends up in New York City during Christmas time.
While there, he crosses paths with the Wet Bandits - Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) - who are trying to rob a toy store. Kevin uses his resourcefulness to foil their plans and set traps, much like he did in the first film.
Den of Thieves, Virgin Media Two, 9pm
Surprisingly, Den of Thieves is a lot better than the hopelessly generic title suggests. For starters, an effortlessly gruff Gerard Butler - exorcising his inner Russell Crowe - pulverises the scenery as often as he lights a cigarette, and he does more smoking here than Thomas the Tank Engine on a mad one around Sodor.
Butler plays detective Nick 'Big Nick' O'Brien, a macho and morally dubious LA sheriff who is determined to bring down Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber), an ex-marine, now leader and schemer of a crime gang (unbeknownst to O'Brien) planning on robbing the Federal Reserve Bank of Downtown Los Angeles.
Inspired by the true story of Ireland's biggest cocaine seizure in 2007, this comedy road movie sees best friends Conor and Jock, two inner-city teenagers from Cork who dress the same, act the same and even have the same bum-fluff moustaches.
Jock is a legendary bike thief who plays a daily game of cat-and-mouse with Garda Sergeant Healy. When a boat capsizes off the west coast of Cork and 61 bales of cocaine, each worth 7 million euros, are seized, word gets out that there is a bale missing.
The boys steal two bikes and go on a road trip, hoping to find the missing bale and sell it to escape their troubled home lives. But Sergeant Healy is in hot pursuit.
The Snapper, Virgin Media One, 10pm
Based on a novel written by Roddy Doyle, first published in 1990, the story is set in a working-class neighbourhood in Dublin and focuses on the Nolan family, particularly the character of Sharon Nolan, a young woman in her twenties, who discovers that she is pregnant.
The story unfolds as she navigates the challenges of her pregnancy and the relationships with her family and the local community, all while trying to keep the identity the father of her child a secret.
Notting Hill, Channel 4, 10.35pm
The 1999 British romantic comedy film directed by Roger Michell and written by Richard Curtis stars Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in the lead roles.
The story follows William Thacker (Hugh Grant), a modest and somewhat shy owner of a small independent travel bookstore in Notting Hill. His life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), a famous American movie star.
Into the West, TG4, 5.05pm
The 2002 Irish fantasy drama film directed by Mike Newell revolves around two young boys, Tadgh (Ciarán Fitzgerald) and Owen (Luke Griffin), who live in a poor, rundown part of Dublin with their father, Papa Reilly (Gabriel Byrne).
The boys' life takes a magical turn when they discover a mysterious white horse that leads them on an adventure, helping them escape their troubled life and embark on a fantastical journey.
The 1981 action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by George Lucas is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise and stars Harrison Ford as the iconic archaeologist and adventurer, Dr Indiana Jones.
The movie follows Indiana Jones as he embarks on a quest to find the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred biblical artifact, before the Nazis can get their hands on it and use its power for evil purposes.
Set in the 1930s the movie also stars Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood and Paul Freeman as the villainous René Belloq.
The Incredibles family takes on a new mission which involves a change in family roles: Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) must manage the house while his wife Helen (Elastigirl) goes out to save the world! Perfect viewing to help wind the kids down after a full-on toy-filled day.
The Proposal, 9pm, Virgin Media One
Released in 2009, directed by Anne Fletcher and starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, The story follows a high-powered book editor, Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), who faces deportation to Canada because her visa has expired. To avoid this, she convinces her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), to marry her.
The plot thickens as they travel to Andrew's hometown in Alaska to meet his family, where the couple must pretend to be in love. As the story unfolds, they navigate humorous and awkward situations while gradually developing real feelings for each other.
Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate Ruttledge (Anna Bederke) have returned from London to live and work among a small lakeside community near to where Joe grew up.
Now deeply embedded in the life around the lake, the drama of a year in their lives and those of the memorable characters that move about them unfolds through the rituals of work, play and the passing seasons.
First published in 2002, That They May Face the Rising Sun was John McGahern's final novel before his death in 2006 at 71
The Full Monty, 10.10pm, TG4
Six unemployed men, inspired by a touring group of male strippers, decide they can make a small fortune by putting on a striptease show of their own - with one small difference. They intend to go the "full monty" and strip completely naked!
In this hilarious, heartfelt comedy, these six friends discover the inner strength to bare it all in front of the world, all set to a super soundtrack that includes Donna Summer, Sister Sledge and Tom Jones.
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