Christmas classics on Netflix

A selfish postman and a quiet toymaker stumble into inventing Christmas, and it is the softest movie Netflix owns. Hand-drawn, a little sad, and the one we put on when the room needs to exhale.

A pile of London love stories collide at Christmas, some delightful and some that have aged worse than others. Rated R. On Netflix and Peacock. We still put it on, with a little side-eye at a couple of the plots.

Kurt Russell plays Santa like a rock star who lost his sleigh, and two kids have to help him get it back. It is loud in the best way, and it is still on Netflix.

A boy goes looking for his father and finds the beginning of Christmas instead. It is a storybook movie, a little dark at the edges, and very kind in the middle.

A family comes apart over the holidays, and a basset hound narrates the long way back together. New on Netflix this November, from the people who wrote A Dog's Purpose. Have the tissues where you can reach them.

Two neighbors go to war over Christmas lights, and the lights are winning. Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito, on Netflix. Broad on purpose.

A rich woman wants to sell her hometown out from under the Christmas festival, and Dolly is not going to allow it. A musical with a sermon's heart. Sing along or just sit with it.

A toymaker who stopped believing gets a second chance, and the whole thing is a musical with gears and glitter. Put it on when you want Christmas to feel handmade.

The kids are older, the North Pole is in trouble, and Kurt Russell's Santa has a score to settle. A bigger, brighter sequel for the night the first one was not enough.

A pastor inherits a hurting church and has to find his faith again before Christmas, with a room full of gospel voices helping. Tyler Perry's new one, on Netflix as of November 11.

Christmas Eve at an airport, a suitcase, and a voice in an earpiece that will not let a TSA agent off the hook. Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman. PG-13, tense, on Netflix. This is the one for when the cocoa movies are too quiet.