Looking for Christmas movies that aren’t “Home Alone,” “Die Hard,” “Elf,” “A Christmas Story” or “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation?” Maybe something with a little local spirit?
We’ve put together a list of 12 holiday films with Syracuse and Central New York ties that you can watch right now on streaming services. Highlights include movies filmed in Syracuse, starring actors from the Salt City, or featuring references to CNY.
Merry streaming!
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“The Holdovers”
Rent on Amazon Prime
Paul Giamatti stars in this acclaimed film about a New England boarding school teacher in 1970 who stays on campus over Christmas break to supervise held over students (including Dominic Sessa as a brainy troublemaker). The movie features an Oscar-winning performance by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and a direct shoutout to Syracuse during the final moments (no spoilers).
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“The Christmas Letter”
Streaming on Amazon Prime
This 2024 film centers on an everyday man from Utica (played by Angus Benfield) who decides to top his wealthy friend’s annual Christmas letter by cashing out his 401K and taking his family on a year-long series of crazy adventures to create “the Christmas Letter to rival all Christmas Letters.” Scenes were shot throughout the Mohawk Valley, but the project was most notable for featuring a “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” reunion with Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid (in his first movie in 6 years) and Brian Doyle-Murray.
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“It’s a Wonderful Life”
Streaming on Amazon Prime
An angel helps Jimmy Stewart see the value of his own life in Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday classic, set in Bedford Falls (inspired by Seneca Falls). Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.
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“It’s a Wonderful Binge”
Streaming on Hulu
American High’s 2022 sequel to “The Binge,” filmed in the Syracuse area, is set in a near future where all drinking and drugs are banned except for on one glorious day known as The Binge. This time, Binge Day falls on the same day as Christmas, leading to holiday hijinks with a cast that includes Eduardo Franco, Dexter Darden, Kaitlin Olson, Tim Meadows, Nick Swardson, Danny Trejo (in an “It’s a Wonderful Life” spoof scene) and Tony Cavalero (as a Syracuse, N.Y., resident named “David Letterman”).
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“Scrooged”
Streaming on Amazon Prime and Paramount+
Syracuse native Bobcat Goldthwait is fired by Bill Murray’s character in this 1988 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” featuring three ghosts who convince a cynical TV exec to find the true meaning of the holiday. (Fun fact: Goldthwait also directed Bill’s brother, Joel Murray, in “God Bless America,” which was partly filmed in Syracuse.)
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“Eyes Wide Shut”
Streaming on Tubi
If “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie, then so is “Eyes Wide Shut.” Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 erotic thriller stars Syracuse native Tom Cruise and his then-wife Nicole Kidman as a couple on a sexual adventure during the holiday season. (Note: This movie is rated R and could spark awkward conversations if you try to watch it with the family.)
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“Carol for Another Christmas”
Streaming on YouTube
Syracuse native Rod Serling, best known for creating and hosting “The Twilight Zone,” wrote this 1964 adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” about a wealthy industrialist embittered by the loss of his son in World War II. The TV movie features Sterling Hayden, Eva Marie Saint, Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, Percy Rodrigues and Steve Lawrence, plus music by Henri Mancini.
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“Second Chance Christmas”
Streaming on UP Faith & Family
“Second Chance Christmas,” which was filmed in Armory Square and other parts of Syracuse in 2017, is an UP TV movie about a couple torn apart by amnesia over the holiday season. Previously known as “Love Strikes Twice” and “Old Acquaintance Be Forgot,” the TV movie stars Tilky Jones (“Nashville”), Katrina Begin (“Gossip Girl”), Charlene Tilton (“Dallas”) and Steven Ted Beckler (“Luke Cage”).
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“Autumn in New York”
Streaming on Tubi (free) or Rent on Amazon
North Syracuse high school graduate Richard Gere begins a May-December romance with a terminally ill Winona Ryder, including ice skating while surrounded by Christmas lights and trees in New York during the holidays. Also starring Syracuse University alumna Vera Farmiga.
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“Pottersville”
Oscar nominee Michael Shannon stars as a local businessman who gets drunk in a gorilla costume and accidentally sparks rumors of Bigfoot sightings, prompting a tourism craze as reality TV’s “Monster Hunter” (Thomas Lennon) tries to catch the beast with Ian McShane. Filmed in 2016 in Hamilton, Syracuse, and at the former film hub in DeWitt — and set in the fictional town of “Pottersville,” named after the town from “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
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“Reba McEntire’s Christmas in Tune”
Streaming on Lifetime
Juliet and Keith Giglio, a married screenwriting duo in Manlius, N.Y., have written three Lifetime holiday movies, including 2021’s “Reba McEntire’s Christmas in Tune,” starring Reba McEntire and John Schneider (“Dukes of Hazzard”); 2019’s “Christmas Reservations” starring Melissa Joan Hart (“Clarissa Explains It All,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) and Michael Gross (“Family Ties”); and 2018’s “A Very Nutty Christmas‚” starring Hart and Barry Watson (“7th Heaven”).
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“Rise of the Guardians”
Streaming on Peacock
This 2012 animated film features Alec Baldwin, who frequently visits family in Syracuse, as Santa Claus (a.k.a. North). He and “guardians” like the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) recruit Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to stop the evil spirit Pitch Black (Jude Law) from shrouding the children of the world in darkness.
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Can’t get enough? You can also try watching movies filmed in Syracuse during the winter, such as “Slap Shot” and “Adult World,” or TV episodes with CNY ties like:
“SpongeBob SquarePants” season 8, episode 23: “It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!” (streaming on Paramount+) starring Syracuse native Tom Kenny as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants.
“New Girl” season 3, episode 11: “Clavado en un Bar” (streaming on Hulu) – Schmidt, Nick and Winston are all Syracuse University alumni, and this episode reveals Schmidt once worked for Old Man McCue, the “Christmas Tree King of Syracuse.”
“Pee-wee’s Playhouse: Christmas Special” (streaming on Tubi) – Oneonta native Paul Reubens stars as Pee-wee Herman, celebrating the holidays with guest stars like former Syracuse resident Grace Jones.