1. Batman Returns

I think I’ve seen Tim Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns more than the palm of my hand. It’s my favorite Christmas movie.

The Penguin (Danny DeVito, being perfectly strange) and Catwoman (an irresistible Michelle Pfeiffer, being perfectly strange) frame Batman for murder while the rest of Gotham tries to enjoy their festive Christmas tree lighting. But the Penguin—Oswald Cobblepot, abandoned as a deformed child and now rejected by society for his violence—still has further to fall. Catwoman, too, digs into vengefulness with her long razor nails.

Both characters serve as an interesting argument that humanity is a choice; both ultimately push down forgiveness and empathy in order to sink into their animal personas. Michael Keaton’s Batman isn’t immune to the dark call of the beady bat, either—he eventually uses a swarm of them to completely incapacitate the Penguin. So Batman Returns doesn’t bother with the tunnel vision morality of some lesser superhero movies. It exhumes the beast inside all these self-aggrandizing people in their disguises, and it does it with stunning clarity and magnetism.