I’m bottling out of picking a single movie this week, much the same as I did last year. And revisiting that year-old post, it’s interesting to see which films are being repeated over the festive season this year. But whatever your tastes there’ll be something there for you, and I wouldn’t presume to make your choice for you this week out of so much rip-roaringly good celluloid. Let’s face it, we all have different moods over Christmas so from one minute to the next you might feel like a thriller, some escapist fantasy, or to sit around with the kids and smile your way through an animated feature (while they play with their empty boxes and look for some spare batteries).

Click through for a rapid run-down of the best of what’s on offer next week by genre. I’m guaranteed to be watching at least some of these with you, so have a very happy movie-watching Christmas and normal service will resume next week!

Animation / Family:

Christmas Carol: The Movie (C4, Saturday 22 December, 4.35pm)
Mixed live action/animation with a strong, mostly British, cast.

Ice Age (ITV2, Saturday 22 December, 7.45pm)
A sabertooth tiger, a sloth, and a wooly mammoth find a lost human infant and try to return him to his tribe. It’s not Pixar, but it’s none the less funny for all that.

Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (BBC Two, Saturday 22 December, 9.25pm)
This received a bit of a “marmite” reception, especially from long-term fans of Douglas Adams’ inventive work, but if you’re prepared to let go your preconceptions and treat it for what it is, there are a few laughs and the fx, as you might expect, are first-rate.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (BBC One, Sunday 23 December, 10.15am)
Looking a little dated now in the face of more computer-intensive work nevertheless the story holds up well and it’s still famous for being the only movie to feature Disney and WB cartoon characters teaming up.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (Five, Sunday 23 December, 5.25pm)
Anna’s favourite Christmas movie (apparently) it didn’t quite make my top ten but here it is anyway tucked away in one corner of a Sunday afternoon where it’ll fill a happy couple of hours before Corrie.

The Railway Children (ITV1, Christmas Eve, 12.15pm)
Three children (including a young Jenny Agutter) are forced to move from Victorian London oop North, which must have scared the living daylights out of them, because we eat children up here tha’ noars. Anyway, if you want to see whether we left any meat on the bones, watch this.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (ITV1, Christmas Eve, 4.15pm)
One of the best feelgood movies on offer this Christmas. Poor yourself a glass of wine, get some wrapping done and sing along to Toot Sweets.

The Grinch (ITV2, Christmas Day, 3pm)
Another that didn’t quite make my top ten (you might have noticed Die Hard was on already).

Finding Nemo (BBC One, Christmas Day, 3.10pm)
If you only want to watch ONE animation this Christmas, make it this one. It has everything. The underwater sequences are breathtaking, the characters are fabulous, the gags hilarious and the story is almost as traditional as Christmas itself. Great family entertainment.

Shrek 2 (BBC One, Christmas Day, 4.40pm)
Following hot on the heels of Nemo, this second outing for the jolly green giant…err…ogre gives the lie to the old adage about sequels.

The Polar Express (ITV1, Christmas Day, 5pm)
The first feature-length motion-capture film gets lost a bit in the middle but you can forgive that at Christmas, and the artwork is beautiful.

An American Tail (C4, Boxing Day, 11.30am)
Another old favourite in my family, the mouse Fievel gets lost on his way to America and has to find his family again. A bit like Finding Nemo in reverse, thinking about it. But drier.

Monsters, Inc. (BBC One, Boxing Day, 5.35pm)
Pixar at its best – bumped from last year’s Christmas Day slot by Nemo but worth another look even so. One of those movies that rewards second and third viewings by giving up more of its fast-paced wisecracks that you missed the first time round.

Action / Adventure:

The Great Escape (BBC Two, Sunday 23 December, 4.15pm)
Dear old Dickie Attenborough leads the British section of acting luminaries, and Steve McQueen the Yanks as the incorrigable escapees join forces to help each other out of a supposedly escape proof POW camp.

Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl (BBC One, Christmas Eve, 8.30pm)
Clearly Dead Man’s Chest hasn’t been out long enough to make it onto regular telly, so we’ll just have to watch this one again. It was on on Boxing Day last year.

Jurassic Park (ITV2, Boxing Day, 9pm)
The first of three dinosaur outings on ITV2 for Christmas, and still as scary as the day it was made.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (ITV2, Thursday 27 December, 9pm)
The sequel has some new dinosaurs but sadly replaces many of the original cast, which was a bad move. Still, the darker story makes up for it.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (BBC Three, Thursday 27 December, 10.30pm)
Tarantino’s seminal work on brutal betrayal and the subsequent vendetta. Not exactly your traditional Christmas fayre but you’re supposed to be sick of turkey by now, so you might be sick of sugary sweetness and light too!

Jurassic Park III (ITV2, Friday 28 December, 9pm)
The third JP story is for many the best of the lot. Sam Neill makes a welcome return – much more believable than Jeff Goldblum – and the dinosaurs are even more believable and scary than before.

Adult / Traditional: (not *that* sort of adult – settle down)

Fiddler on the Roof (ITV3, Saturday 22 December, 8pm)
Great chance to see this old masterpiece again. One of the last great film musicals.

Great Expectations (More4, Christmas Eve, 11.50am)
Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without Pip, Estella, Joe and Magwitch, although I’ve had to dig through the schedules to find it hiding away on More4. Another one for watching while you’re wrapping those last presents, basting the turkey and nibbling on a surreptitious mince pie.

Love Actually (ITV1, Christmas Day, 9.30pm)
Soppy romantic twaddle. I love it. You’ll all be asleep by now anyway, and what better to sleep in front of than this inoffensive fluff?

The Queen (ITV1, Thursday 27 December, 9pm)
Doesn’t seem to have been out five minutes and it’s on the telly already. Helen Mirren’s triumph as Mrs. Q. She won a hundred and fifty-seven awards for this you know.