Wednesday, December 2, 2015

F This Movie! - Our Favorite Holiday Movies

Kick off December with Patrick and Adam Riske listing off the movies they watch every holiday season and get a special visit from The Bear Jew.



Download this episode here. (94.2 MB)

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Also discussed this episode: Brooklyn (2015), Trumbo (2015), The Good Dinosaur (2015), Creed (2015), Dangerous Men (2005), Spotlight (2015), Room (2015), Steve Jobs (2015), The Look of Silence (2015), More Dead Than Alive (1969)

47 comments:

  1. Yes, Die Hard With A Vengeance is better than Die Hard 2, but in no way is it because of Sam Jackson. As a matter of fact, he is what I don't like about WAV because McClane doesn't ever need a sidekick. Die Hard 2 however, has an awful script with lines that make absolutely no sense. I've mentioned it before but I'll say it again "What sets off the metal detectors first, the lead in your ass or the shit in your brains?" THE WORST. The ADR in some places is so noticeably distracting (the bad guys setting up shop in the barn) it drives me crazy and Colonel Stuart is an awful villain. There are a ton of I will say, there are some awful lines in WAV as well as some terrible logic. The way they discover where the bomb is is so ridiculous I lose my mind when watching it (McClane after getting cut off by a car: "Who do you think you are lady, Hillary Clinton!?" Zeus: "That's it!" - GOD AWFUL). So, DH2 and WAV are very closely tied for 2nd but I think WAV nudges it in my opinion due to pacing, direction, and a slightly better script.

    Sorry, Die Hard comes up, I chime in.

    I like both of your lists quite a bit! I always watch Die Hard but that's like 5 times a year, but other than that, I really don't find myself watching Christmas movies as much as Christmas TV specials like the old Rankin/Bass one's, the Grinch and Charlie Brown. I'm kind of tired of A Christmas Story to be honest although I think I just need to skip a few years of seeing it and come back to it. I'm also tired of Christmas Vacation. I don't know, I still like it and I love watching hot D'angelo but I kind of get this weird feeling knowing when some of the really bad jokes are coming. Like I was cringing in embarrassment (I had the same reaction to some parts of Love Actually which I use to revisit during the Holidays as well).

    I need to watch a few this year on your lists that I haven't seen to break the monotony. I'm definitely going to watch Happy Christmas this year as I've been wanting to see it for a while and, well, Lynskey. I also didn't hear you guys mention it but I really liked 2008's A Christmas Tale although it's way tooooo long.

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    1. No arguments about that line. It's bad.

      I haven't seen A Christmas Tale! And I still haven't seen Rare Exports. I'm the worst.

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    2. I'm apparently the only person who laughs at the metal detector line in DH2. Sad face.

      I should have mentioned Happy Christmas as an honorable mention. There's a lot to like in that movie especially Lynskey.

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    3. I cringe through all of Love Actually.

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    4. Nice, Adam, that's great to hear! Looking forward to seeing that one. I think it's hilarious that you laugh at that line, btw :)

      Patrick, Rare Exports is decent. It's short enough where you can bang it out quickly (it's listed as an hour and 24 mins but I remember it being more like an hour 10.)

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    5. I think I laugh at that line because I was a big NYPD Blue fan and Dennis Franz is the recipient of that insult

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    6. I agree with Chaybee on Die Hard with a Vengeance, and while I like DH2, I don't even think it's close. WAV blows it away. I'd even say it's one of my 5 favorite action movies of the 90s, along with Total Recall, Speed, T2 and Mission Impossible.

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    7. Have any of you seen Blood Beat(Christmas Horrors)? It's one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. Apparently, it was made in Wisconsin and it is bat shit crazy. It looks like it's going to be one thing and then I don't know what the fuck happens. I'm not sure what it has to do with Christmas but it has a magical Samurai...and it's a slasher, kind of. I think it's budget was $1.47 and that was spent on special effects. See it?

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    8. Yep! Watch it. Watched it for Junesploitation 2014 - here is my review

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    9. I need to see Rare exports too ;(

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    10. Adam, just watched Happy Christmas. I thought it was pretty good. I could watch Lynskey in anything, and she stole the show for me, but in addition to that I dug most of it.

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    11. Nice! Yeah, it's no Drinking Buddies but it's a nice little movie.

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    12. Still have to see Drinking Buddies also. Santa Buddies might come first though ;-)

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  2. I'm pretty boring when it comes to favorite Christmas films: Gremlins, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, and occasionally The Nightmare Before Christmas.

    Haven't listened to the episode yet but definitely looking forward to some new movie recommendations.

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  3. Oh man, I just loved this episode so much. I can't say the Spectre episode didn't bum me out a bit, so this episode really reminded me why this is the best movie podcast on the internet. Like Adam, I'm also a fan if the Christmas genre, and I have to agree It's a Wonderful Life is the greatest of all time. I'm also a big fan of Miracle on 30th Street. Both the original and the 90s remake.

    Yes! The Santa Clause 2 romance is fantastic.

    Black Christmas is the scariest slasher film I've ever seen. Good call guys.

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  4. just added The Thin Man to my Netflix queue! Hopefully I love it as much as you seem to!

    Also, as far as Christmas-y musicals go, I am partial to Holiday Inn. I know Adam mentioned it briefly. I think it has some great singing and dancing, and I especially like the "I'll Capture Her Heart" number.

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  5. I know you'very probably looked it up by now, but the William Powell movie Adam was alking about it Manhattan Melodrama. It also has Myra Loy in it and it is pretty good. I also agree with Patrick, I have never gotten Clark Gable.

    I also think that the system used to produce Movie Stars more. They would promote people, and control their image way more. And with hindsight, we do only see the bright shining stars. Everyone else sort of drifts into the background so it seems like there was only awesomeness. I mean, there were a lot of bad movies made in the 40s, but we only know about the good ones because why would Criterion put out Topper Returns on blu ray?

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    1. My phone's autocorrect hates me btw. I can type, but on the phone it always looks bad.

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  6. Nice to hear some Westerns getting a mention, were all ready for The Hatefull 8, I just bought a Leoni boxset, Fistfull of Dollars, Few Dollars more, Good bad and the Ugly and Hang um high, its getting me Jazzed for Tarrantino, I hope I get to see it on 70mm, that would be special

    I love Riske on the show, I nominate Adam for the most fun Podperson, its always fun when hes on the show
    Ps My fave Christmas movie that gets me in the mood is always Scrooged

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  7. "... made me want to run up the stairs and them jump down them." You guys are still responsible for everyone at my office thinking I'm a nutjob for laughing at work. Love the episode! Sorry I haven't been stopping by as much, I've still been listening (the "Four Fingers of Death" episode title confused me, but once I put it on I loved it)!

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    1. PS. The movie I always remember not being allowed to go see was Starship Troopers. I had just turned 9 when it came out, so it was probably a good call on my parents' part, but I could not forgive them.

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  8. As far as a true Christmas movie is concern Home Alone takes the cake for me. If we're picking the ironic Christmas movie then it Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. Gary Busey shooting the tv and shouting its fuckin Christmas gets me every time.

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  9. Excellent podcast. Enjoyed every minute. Especially the Black Christmas love. I am right with Patrick on how COLD it feels. Watch any scene of John Saxon outdoors. You can tell the dude is struggling with the cold.

    My favorite Xmas movie is the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. He is excellent.

    Also I am #TeamDieHardWAV all the way.

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  10. Gremlins, Scrooged and Home Alone are the extent of my holiday rotation. I'm not a big Christmas person, but those get me more "into the spirit" of things. I'm curious as to your opinion on Scrooged because I don't think it was mentioned?

    I can't stand Love Actually because the "in love with my BFF's wife" plotline seems like something creepy disguised as something sweet and that ruins the mood for me. Last December I watched The Long Kiss Goodnight and loved it. I'm intrigued by The Ice Harvest and will be renting it soon, along with the Thin Man. William Powell forever and ever.

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    1. Did you like Scrooged? Groundhog Day and The Muppet Christmas Carol are two of my all-time favorite movies (Groundhog Day is actually #1) - so I've always wondered what the marriage of them would be like.

      I can't stand Love Actually either. I think those vignette-style stories are really hard to pull off and not come across as super corny (and yes, creepy disguised with corny as sweet). A successful one was Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her, imo.

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  11. I wonder if Octopussy will end up in the public domain in Canada so it can be remade as...

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  12. Re: Stars of yesteryear vs stars of today. If I had to venture a theory, it would be that studios once had a more vested interest in creating stars because of how contracts used to be written. If Humphrey Bogart had a five picture deal with Universal, then Universal would be best served by tailoring those films and its marketing to capitalize on Borgart's popularity. Now stars can sign as they please and studio A doesn't want to spend marketing money to pump up an actor just so the next studio he signs with can make more money. Better for them to focus on IP (intellectual property) and make the property (Marvel/Star Wars/fighting robot toys) the main draw so they can swap out stars when those stars become too expensive without hurting revenues.

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  13. I think you're onto something with this. Regardless (and I may just be wearing rose-colored hindsight goggles), I can't help thinking that even with more freedom of contract, starlets like Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy and Lauren Bacall possessed a richness of character that's much harder to come by today. It's interesting to wonder if any of today's interchangeable actresses could be made into something more legendary with firmer pressure and molding from studios. Or if the aforementioned would have been lesser without it. The mind reels.

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    1. Hm. Yea. Sometimes I wonder about that "richness of character" you described. Just last week my sister was telling me about how degrading Maureen O'hara's character in The Parent Trap was to women. She and the other women you mentioned are some I grew up idolizing (but including Ann-Margaret, I admit). Sometimes I wonder if they weren't all male-constructed roles. Anyway. Yes, the mind reels ;)

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    2. I love Scrooged. I grew up with it, so it's one of those things for me. And, like most humans, I'm a sucker for Bill Murray in anything.

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  14. My go-to Christmas movie, which we watch every year, is 1987 A Muppet Family Christmas. No not the Muppet remake of a Christmas Carol. It's the Muppets all getting together for Christmas with lots of songs. And then! The gang from Seseme Street show up! By the end, the characters from Fraggle Rock are there too, and it ends in a grand Christmas melody.

    We had recorded it from the TV to VHS, and transferred it to DVD at one point.

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    1. And recently, was delighted to find on the interweb, all the old Rankin/Bass stop motion Christmas classics that we enjoyed as kids. My kids love them, and it's become a tradition to rewatch them.

      Stop motion has a special place in my heart, as my first memories of watching movies, was my dad borrowing a movie projector from the library, and we would watch various stop motion films, projected onto the living room wall. The short movies came in little reels, while the long ones had what appeared to my 5 year old eyes, the biggest reels possible.

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  15. Our to-go holiday movies are "The Bishop's Wife" with Cary Grant, "The Man Who Came To Dinner" with Monty Wooley and the first two "Thin Man" movies, because - like Patrick said - William Powell is the shit. Last year, we watched all six of "The Thin Man" movies, but the first two really are the best ones.

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  16. Adam, you didn't like Brooklyn? My heart is broken. No, it's okay. My family wasn't into it either, so my heart was broken pre-podcast. Anyway. Since everyone here loves it so much, I'm going to try to watch Die Hard. And Scrooged and Lobster- which doesn't look good, but looks weird enough that I wonder if maybe there's something there.

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    1. I liked Brooklyn but I was expecting a 4 star movie and got a 3 star movie. That's just my humble opinion. It's still worth seeing. This time of year is weird. If it's not great, somehow it feels like the movie's bad in some way.

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  17. Agreed. Expectations are powerful things.

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  18. This is so hilarious! I always laugh so much whenever you sing, it is my favourite!

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  19. Getting in a little late here but I saw it almost 20! Years after it was released - 'Edward Scissorhands' is a Christmas movie I have time for. ��

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  20. Nobody's got love for Christmas Vacation??

    I'm also a huge fan of Arthur Christmas. No other movie really captures the spirit of the holiday more than that movie. I wish it had made more waves when it came out a few years back. Really underrated imo

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    1. I'll have to check that one out.

      Christmas Vacation's good but I'm not a big Chevy guy so it didn't come to mind for me as a favorite.

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  21. Not one mention of any version of A Christmas Carol?

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    1. I think Scrooged counts toward a Christmas Carol, if not the muppets version still makes my heart tingle hehe.

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    2. Yeah but they didn't even mention Scrooged (which I also love)

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    3. Hi Mike. I like many versions of A Christmas Carol but none are my personal favorites. Honestly, I didn't think of them at the time. My bad? Yes, my bad.

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  22. It's Nov 1st so I had to listen to this on my long car ride. Just want you to know the Nick Nolte impressions had me crying laughing in my car. Man, bring that back please!

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