Christmas is my favorite time of the year; I love everything about it. Decorating the tree, spending time with family, watching snow fall, presents, and all the traditions each family has. Christmas has inspired countless filmmakers to create movies about the holiday season, and some of my favorite films are Christmas movies. To celebrate the season, I've compiled a list of my favorite 12 Christmas movies or specials, and there will be a review of one of them every day, a countdown from 12 to 1. Check back every day until Christmas for a new Christmas review!

The 12 Films of Christmas

12: Elf (2003)

The 2000s have been a lean decade as far as Christmas-movies go, and in the past eight years, there's only one movie I can think of that has entered into my personal repertoire of Christmas films. Jon Favreau's Elf is truly a modern Christmas classic, containing all the best elements of a classic Christmas story, but putting them into a modern context.

The story, narrated by Paul Newhart as Papa Elf, begins when Santa accidentally takes a baby back to the North Pole from the orphanage. "Buddy," as they name him, is raised as an elf, but with a height of over six feet, he doesn't exactly fit in. When he's grown up, Papa Elf decides its time for Buddy to find his real family, and sends Buddy to New York to meet his father. The only problem: his father is on Santa's naughty list.

Will Ferrell is not the kind of guy you'd expect to find in a family film, and his performances in films like Anchorman or Talladega Nights don't exactly scream "loveable elf." But in Buddy, Ferrell has crafted one of Christmas' most memorable characters. He's odd, but amazingly endearing and his huge Christmas spirit will rub off on you, as it does on the other characters. It's Ferrell's performance that makes the entire movie work, and the movie works amazingly well.

The opening scenes at the North Pole are bursting at the seams with creativity. Jon Favreau's North Pole is a conglomeration of all the most classic Santa's-workshop interpretations, complete with talking, stop-motion animals. It's an immensely familiar place and seeing Buddy, a human, wander around in it starts the film off on a high note.

The creativity doesn't stop there, though. Once Buddy gets to New York, he takes up residence at Gimbels, and his antics there are hilarious. One of my favorite scenes comes shortly after this, when Buddy finally does meet his real father at the Empire State Building, and tries to come up with a song. The film puts Buddy in a new situation every few minutes, and every scene rings true. From a super-charged snowball fight to a hilarious romp in a mail room, Buddy's adventures are hilarious and heartwarming, and in each scene, Buddy teaches the people around him more and more about the meaning of the season. The finale, in which Buddy and his family help Santa fix his sleigh, is a perfect conclusion to a delightful, original story.

In addition to Ferrell's excellent performance, Elf also features James Caan as the straight man to Buddy's off-the-wall antics. Paul Newhart fits the role of Papa Elf like a glove, and Zooey Deschanel has great chemistry with Ferrell. Ed Asner's interpretation of Santa Claus adds a lot to the Christmas atmosphere of the film; he's great in the role.

Elf may not be a widely-recognized classic, but it certainly is one in my family. It's a celebration of the season, an homage to classic Christmas stories, and a feel-good comedy. There have been some enjoyable Christmas films these past few years, but none of them have entered my personal pantheon of Christmas classics, and for that, Elf gets a spot on the list.