The Best Holiday Movies

A Christmas Story

The ultimate Christmas cult classic introduced the Triple Dog Dare, the leg lamp and "fudge" (only he didn't say fudge) into the pop culture lexicon. The 1983 film takes us back to the 1940s, where little Ralphie Parker is hoping and praying to find only one thing under the tree: an official Daisy Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle. In layman's terms, the boy wants a BB gun. But no matter who he asks—his mother, his teacher, even the mall Santa Claus—he's continually told one thing: "You'll shoot your eye out." Despite its campy slant, A Christmas Story ends warm and fuzzily enough—Ralphie's very last gift is the gun he's been dreaming of. And then he almost shoots his eye out.