Happy Christmas! Here are the 6 best movies on TV today

It’s Christmas Day and that can only mean one thing — movies on the couch with plenty of wine and chocolate

The presents are done, you’ve gotten dressed up for the photos, and now we move onto the real meaning of Christmas Day — classic movies all day from the couch. Irish TV can always be relied on to provide the goods on Christmas Day, and this year is no different — we’ve got great animation, comedy, action and plenty of entertainment to keep us glued to those shiny new TVs in the front room.

Here are our six favourites that we’ll be setting reminders for today. Happy Christmas from IMAGE!

Moana, 12:55, BBC One

One for the kids (it is their day, after all), Moana tells the story of the daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, who, after a blight strikes her homes’ crops, is chosen to return a sacred relic to a goddess, and save her island from extinction. The songs are definitely the best part of this stunning animation, and it makes for perfect pre-dinner singalongs.

Some Like it Hot, 14:05, RTÉ 2

A true classic, Marilyn Monroe was never better than in this comedy starring the bombshell alongside Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. When two musicians witness a mafia raid, they must flee town and assume new identities, and end up dressing in drag to join an all-female showband. This obviously leads to a number of hilarious mishaps, and features one of the best closing lines of any movie ever — a must-watch if you’ve never seen it til now.

Back to the Future, 14:35, Channel 4

Sure, a lot of Back to the Future’s subplots seem a little dubious now (the whole date-rape thing with Marty’s mom is more than a bit dark), but it’s still a great nostalgic watch for Christmas Day. Marty McFly is the archetypal 80’s teenager, and fears that his life is destined for downfall when he looks at his down-and-out parents. When he meets the Doc, and his time-travelling DeLorean, Marty accidentally goes back in time and ends up on an adventure to change the course of his life.

The Wizard of Oz, 16:45, Virgin Media One

Required Christmas Day viewing. Although it first premiered in 1939, The Wizard of Oz still holds up as cinema magic today, from the first to last scene. Judy Garland plays Dorothy, a Kansas girl who dreams of a better life, but when she is transported to Oz in a hurricane, she finds that there’s no place like home.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, 18:10, RTÉ Two

Obviously Harrison Ford with a satchel is what we’d all like to find under the tree, but this evening’s showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark is the closest we’ll get. An 80’s action classic, Indiana Jones heads to Egypt to uncover the Ark of the Covenant, only to encounter some obstacles from the Nazis.

Jurassic World, 20:05, RTÉ 2

A genuinely great follow-up to the iconic Jurassic Park films, Jurassic World stars everyone’s favourite Hollywood Chris, Chris Pratt, opposite Bryce Dallas Howard, as we find the park transformed into a massive theme park. But as the owners create their first genetically-modified hybrid dinosaur, things go terribly, entertainingly wrong.