To celebrate the corridor between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, which apparently also includes Christmas, the SportsAlcohol.com crew convened for a holiday podcast to talk about holiday-themed entertainment: what counts, what’s great, and what we wish we could ban from the airwaves every December. Hear us talk about Love, Actually, Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, TGIF, Home Alone, and so much more! The SportsAlcohol.com holiday podcast is guaranteed to brighten your spirits. Probably.
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Jesse is a cofounder of SportsAlcohol.com even though he doesn't care for sports or alcohol. His favorite movie is Ron Howard's The Paper. I think. This is what happens when you don't write your own bio. I know for sure likes pie.
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There are so many things in this podcast I could banter about ad nauseum. But, I will try to keep this brief! I am also tired, so there will be rambling and poor grammar.
Intro
-Scrooged is amazing. It sounded like you were poking fun, but maybe this was an actual endorsement. I still watch that movie almost annually and I think it holds up pretty well despite the overall 80s-ness of it.
Thanksgiving
-I agree with the fact that there aren’t really actual Thanksgiving movies (apart from the obvious Planes, Trains, and Automobiles). There definitely are more scenes within movies that are just about Thanksgiving. The first that comes to mind for me is Addams Family Values. That Thanksgiving play within the movie is amazing and is worth mentioning.
Christmas viewing traditions
-Jesse and Rob: Wes Anderson movies? Blade Runner? Really?
-Watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation on Christmas Eve or Day is a tradition with my family as well. Elf has also been added to that. Seriously, though— I cannot imagine watching Bad Santa with family. I never saw it in theaters and maybe only saw some director’s cut DVD, but I definitely remember an anal sex scene and a later mention of anal sex and that makes it a lot less of a family friendly entity.
Nostalgia Movies
-With regard to the mention that Home Alone was a huge deal and then not due to “Buzzfeed and Millenials:” I think it is actually an okay slapstick-y movie where “almost rooting for the robbers” is not a bad thing. I find it to be a sweet snapshot of the past. The scenario (leaving without the kid) is even more unbelievable today, which adds to the nostalgia. It exists at a time with no crazy airport security and no cell phones! Now, Kevin could easily send a “you bitches forgot me” text. Plus, a present-day wealthy suburban family would probably be tracking all their kids whereabouts with some obsessive helicopter-parenting app. The movie also reminds me of a simpler time when we had those deadly, paper thin glass ornaments. Have you ever stepped on one of them? I have. You could seriously take down grown men with those little shards.
Strike from the record?
-I don’t like Love Actually at all. It’s kind of a mess of a movie and I don’t understand why it seems to have such a following. So, agreed. Ditch it.
-Jesse, you have angered me. The “last 40 minutes” of Elf are charming! Yes, there is an “80s-y vibe.” But, I think this is a good thing! You clearly have no Christmas spirit and are part of the reason Santa’s sleigh won’t fly. I bet you’d only pretend to sing, too!
-Santa Claus: The Movie was actually a regular part of my childhood viewing. I basically don’t remember much of it now apart from that the reindeer were pretty cool, Dudley Moore was a weirdo, and maybe John Lithgow was in it?
The Great Debate
-The Nightmare Before Christmas… Halloween or Christmas? It’s both. Which is great.
Christmas Songs
-“Baby It’s Cold Outside” is not the best, but is SO damned catchy! Thus, the longevity. I think the “creep factor” came in later with people trying to read it that way. It really is just flirty. Rob, you’re wrong.
-“All I Want for Christmas is You” is so catchy and cute and classic sounding (and Love Actually almost ruined it for me.) Rob, I agree it has almost a Motown sound to it.
-I kind of like “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time,” so suck it.
-“Santa Baby” has got to go. Agreed.
-I have never heard the Patton Oswalt bit about that Christmas shoes song, but that song is the actual worst thing ever. I do not understand why it exists.
-Can I suggest a song to boot? Am I the only one who is totally weirded out by that Hippopotamus Christmas song? What’s up with that? Can we can that one?
Cheers,
R
Scrooged
Oh, I think I was involved in mentioning Scrooged and I love that movie. It’s definitely in my holiday-movie binder. Niagara Falls, Frankie Angel.
The Addams Family
Both of those movies span the holidays/seasons! The first one starts around Christmas and ends on Halloween, and the second one takes place in the summer but has that fantastic Thanksgiving play. A family for all seasons.
Bad Santa
Well, I imagine it’ll be MANY years before we’re watching it with my niece and nephew, but I guess we Whartons are generally cool watching stuff with salty subject matter? I saw it with my mom here in the city and then we went together as a whole family back in Arizona because we’d loved it so much (I’d actually seen it once before I saw it with my mom, so I knew she’d like it). But yes, your recollection of multiple anal sex references is accurate, both for the theatrical and various DVD cuts.
A Christmas Carol
I mentioned having multiple versions on home video, so for the record, I believe this is the current list:
A Christmas Carol (1951, w/Alastair Sim)
A Christmas Carol (1971, directed by Richard Williams w/the voice of Alastair Sim)
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
Scrooged (1988)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
A Christmas Carol (2009, w/Jim Carrey)
I can’t believe I forgot to mention the Addams Family Thanksgiving play. I just watched that movie while I was giving birth, too.
538 has a good companion to your Christmas vs Christmas adjacent discussion. Also that “Rare Export”‘s movie mentioned at the end seems like it would be up a few of the hosts alley!
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-best-movies-that-are-kind-of-about-christmas/?ex_cid=newsletter-significant-digits
No Mention of the BEST CHRISTMAS SONG: Last Christmas!
I like “Baby, Its cold outside”. I read this article anytime I feel bad about that:
http://persephonemagazine.com/2010/12/listening-while-feminist-in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/
Thanks for the 538 article. And yes, I really like Rare Exports! It’s both a good holiday watch AND a cool Amblin-y kid’s horror/adventure movie along the lines of Gremlins or Monster Squad (but with more geriatric male nudity). Recommended!
I also meant to mention our traditional family Christmas movie as kids was “The Sound of Music”. Totally not even a Christmas movie!
Carly Rae Jepsen put out a cover of Last Christmas this season so I have been ALL OVER THAT.
This also makes me feel okay to like “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/06/warming_up_to_baby_its_cold_outside_what_my_mother_taught_me_about_the_guy_who_wrote_that_rapey_christmas_song/