00:00:07
S1: Hey, everyone, I'm Thomas Mitchell, and this is the draw a culture show from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, where we dive into the latest in the world of pop culture and entertainment. I'm here today with my co-host and assistant Melanie Kingsbury.
00:00:17
S2: Thank you. What an intro. I actually feel like the whole office is your assistant because you are so inept at using Google calendars.
00:00:25
S1: Yes, that is very fair. Our wonderful co-host Osman Farooqui is currently on break, but we will be filling in for him. And today we're going to be looking at perhaps the most wonderful time of the year.
00:00:34
S2: Oh ho ho!
00:00:35
S1: It is obviously December and Christmas is just around the corner, which is very exciting. But most importantly, the arrival of the festive season brings the excuse to finally watch Christmas movies on repeat for the entire month. Melanie, I feel like I know the answer to this, but are you a Christmas movie kind of gal?
00:00:50
S2: Well, what do you think, Thomas?
00:00:52
S1: Well, it's hard to tell because in one, like, sometimes you've got a cold, dead heart and sometimes you're actually quite wholesome. And so I feel like part of you will be cynical. But I could also see you sitting down and watching elf and chuckling along. So, I don't know.
00:01:04
S2: I'm torn. That's very hard to pin down. Yes. Look, I'm not a Christmas movie person. I wish I was like, I really like the idea of kind of getting into it in Christmas and going home and putting on the Christmas lights and watching like, elf again. But I don't know, it's just not really for me. I don't revisit the classics and I don't really watch the new ones, but I will say I do like Christmas adjacent movies.
00:01:26
S1: Like Christmas Is in it, but not like The Star.
00:01:28
S2: Yes, like I recently watched Todd Haynes Carol with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara after we were talking about The Talented Mr. Ripley a few weeks ago. And like, Christmas is just in the background. There's just like a kind of whiff of Christmas. So I like that rather than Christmas being at the heart and soul.
00:01:43
S1: Yeah, I think it's the same with Mean Girls. It's like at Christmas time, but it's not like a Christmas movie. Remember? They do the content.
00:01:48
S2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great concept. Um, what about you? I feel like you probably like Christmas films.
00:01:51
S1: I do like Christmas films, but I think this is what's interesting. And this is kind of where we're heading in today's pod. Christmas movies are having a big moment. Um, we're going to be talking about some of the best of all time, the home Alones The Love Actually, as well as this rise in kind of the Christmas film genre and festive films flooding streaming services and the ones that are worth your time and the ones that definitely are not. But look, to begin, I guess we're both children of the 90s. We are famously, and I would say that is arguably the peak of the Christmas movie era. That was absolute classics like Home Alone, Jingle All the Way, uh, miracle on 34th Street, and of course, Die Hard starring Bruce Willis, although that one does come with an asterisks because lots of people don't believe it's a Christmas film. Look, it was a great time for movies, but specifically a great time for Christmas movies. Do you have a favorite from that era?
00:02:39
S2: Look, I do, and I feel like my choice is not going to surprise you. It's a Christmas Carol, but the Muppets version, obviously.
00:02:46
S3: Humbug. He was the Greediest man alive. It's Ebenezer Scrooge until the night he met someone extraordinary.
00:02:54
S4: Hello.
00:02:57
S3: The Muppet Christmas Carol.
00:02:59
S5: I'll Drink to Mr. Scrooge.
00:03:01
S2: Famously based on a book by Charlie Dickens. You may know him. I do. Um. Michael Caine is Ebenezer Scrooge. Just a lot of fun. Have you seen it?
00:03:09
S1: I have seen it. I mean, there's so many good pics from that time. I always loved the Muppets.
00:03:14
S2: It just. I like the Muppets films. I think it's very funny. It's a bit different. It's got more cynicism than a lot of those other ones, and I think it's aged pretty well. But I will say I revisited one that kind of surprised me that I don't feel as many people have seen Nora Ephron's Mixed Nuts.
00:03:30
S3: Phillips job is solving other people's problems. May I put.
00:03:33
S6: You on hold while I run to my desk? Uh, you're not calling from a bridge or holding a weapon. No.
00:03:38
S3: But unfortunately, he's got problems of his own.
00:03:41
S7: I don't know how to say this. My psychiatrist thinks we should break up.
00:03:44
S3: I didn't know you were going to a psychiatrist.
00:03:46
S7: Well, I'm not actually going to one. I've been dating one for four months.
00:03:50
S3: And now it's Christmas.
00:03:51
S2: It was this 1994 film that she put out, and it was just after she'd done sleepless in Seattle, and it's set in, um, it's set in California on Venice Beach at this volunteer hotline for depressed people. But the cast is insane. It's got Steve Martin, Anthony LaPaglia, Rita Wilson, Garry Shandling, Rob Reiner and Juliette Lewis, Adam Sandler, Liv Schreiber.
00:04:12
S1: It's a stacked cast.
00:04:14
S2: It's a stacked cast, and the plot is insane. And it is so silly and over the top and slap sticky. But there's something very warm and affectionate, and it got, like, destroyed at the time of its release because I think it was coming out, you know, with all these other 90 films that were so loved and this was so different to all of that, and parts of it hasn't haven't aged particularly well. But I think it's worth rewatching just because it's quite silly and but also heartwarming.
00:04:37
S1: Yeah, it's funny because, like, I think it's hard to know whether or not like it's our own like recency bias in terms of like that era or like, you know, because we're nostalgic for it. We were young then, but I do feel like so many of the best Christmas films came from that time. Like, so a couple of years ago, I think it was variety. Did a, you know, this huge poll like the greatest Christmas film of all time and unsurprising, Home Alone came out on top. I think it is like for a lot of people, the peak Christmas film. Are you a Home Alone fan?
00:05:05
S2: Yeah, sure. Like definitely Home Alone one, then Home alone two. Yeah. And Home Alone one. Like, I rewatched it not that long ago, surprisingly. And it was, um, it was actually quite violent, like the violence of Home Alone was quite shocking to me at the time. Like, I didn't remember that part of it. I mean, look.
00:05:21
S1: I watched it obviously as a young kid and have watched it every year since and I think, well, firstly, Macaulay Culkin, probably one of the all time great on screen performances. Kevin McCallister, he's kind of like the kid that every kid wanted to be. I think his parents, like, live in this most amazing house ever. They go away every single year overseas, which again, as a young child in the burbs, I was like, well, they're not going to Nelson Bay this year.
00:05:45
S2: They're beautiful Christmas decorations all through their house.
00:05:47
S1: House is totally stacked. Big chaotic family. Um, and I just think like it's become such a part of like Christmas pop culture now. Like it's one of the most quotable movies I made my family disappear.
00:05:58
S8: I made my family disappear.
00:06:01
S1: Keep the change, you filthy animal. Like that. You can buy like, Christmas festive jumpers with these taglines on it. But I think what I love so much about it is it kind of brings together all the threads of like, what makes a good Christmas movie for me. Number one, there's a bit of like.
00:06:14
S2: Well, we.
00:06:15
S1: Begin the Ted talk, here.
00:06:15
S2: We go. No, but.
00:06:16
S1: Like what Macaulay Culkin aka Kevin McCallister does to Harry and Marv is like. I mean, each year I watch it, I'm like, this is some serious crimes being committed here.
00:06:26
S2: It's such a violent film. And then if you watch Home Alone two as well, it is even more violent. And when you rewatch it, you're like, these men would clearly be dead after this treatment. Like, how are they still standing?
00:06:36
S1: But also it makes me wonder, like, just Kevin's a young kid and he's got some pretty violent ideas that we really do need to talk about Kevin. But I think, like, there is this like wish fulfillment thing where, like when you're a kid, all you really want to do is like, be home alone and, like, happens to Kevin McCallister. And then obviously it it it's got these like, cute messaging in a way where he's like, he realizes he wishes his family away constantly. And then they go and he's like, so sad. And then the family, like, who are always so annoyed at Kevin because he's the youngest annoying kid, you know, they also realize, oh, it's not Christmas without Kevin, which is all great, but on like squeezed in between those bookended by those two messages is just like lots of really funny, dangerous pranks.
00:07:13
S2: Yeah, like a lot of gags, but it does. I think what Home Alone did so well was that it balanced that slapstick with the, as you were saying, the sentimentality of the message and the kind of the the joy of watching this young boy kind of have this experience alone, and at the same time realize that he needed his family around him. It's kind of it's a Christmas coming of age, isn't it?
00:07:34
S1: It really is. And like, I just think it's we've obviously all grown up with the movie and it's so funny having a look at the cast. So like Macaulay Culkin, I think kind of suffered a little bit from how popular Home Alone became like. He was kind of frozen as Kevin McCallister. I think he did like Home Alone one. Home alone two. Also, Richie Rich, another great film for the 90s, but then he hasn't really, though he.
00:07:53
S2: Did recently get a star on the Hollywood. Did you see that? Not only would you see.
00:07:58
S1: Who was there to help him receive it. Catherine O'Hara, his onscreen mum, which was amazing. But like, you know, John Candy, Joe Pesci and one of the all time great on screen baddie roles. Yeah, like it was, it was a kind of like a moment in time, I think. And it's really funny. I was reading the director, Chris Columbus. I think he does like basically every single year on Home Alone. He does like some kind of Home Alone related interview. And he was saying originally the Joe Pesci character was meant to be played by Chevy Chase. Yeah, okay. And they went out to lunch to kind of like talk about the role and stuff. And he just found Chevy Chase, like, so unlikable and such a, like, not a nice person that he, at the end of lunch was like, okay, well, I can no longer offer you this role. So I mean, like just little things like that. It could have been such a different film, you know? And Joe Pesci, I think, was so important to why Home Alone is so good. But I just think like it came right at the start of that era. It was released in 1990, and for me it is, you know, Home Alone two great for Home Alone one close to the perfect Christmas dinner yesterday.
00:08:49
S3: He was just a kid, but tonight he's a home security system. You guys give.
00:08:55
S8: Up? Oh, yeah. Thirsty for more.
00:08:58
S3: From John Hughes? You know, I got a feeling this is going to be your best Christmas ever. A family comedy without the family are home alone. Are you here all alone?
00:09:09
S8: I met you, John. You think I'd be here alone?
00:09:13
S2: I think it really set the standard for that 90s crop of film. That kind of wholesome vibe that they all had with a kind of moral message behind it. Also a very white and straight vibe, which continued through a lot of the 90s and into the 2000 as well. Like, it's hard to ignore that, particularly when you look at the crop of, um, films that are coming out this year and in recent years, and we'll talk about them later, which are have a far more diverse cast, um, sexually, racially, um, and more interesting plots because of that. But yeah, the 1990s and into the early 2000 were a very white Christmas. More ways than one.
00:09:49
S1: Yeah. It's funny, like, I feel like the 90s was very much the Christmas for the whole family vibe. I mean, all of those things you said are so true. But even if you look at some of the most popular ones, like they had such a formula, it was like jingle all the way. Um, I'll be home for Christmas. Home alone. It's all like, you know, like mischievous young kid gets into trouble at Christmas. And it was very much like a family experience. And I do think as we moved into the noughties, Christmas movies became more kind of commercial adult products that studios like look to tap into making money at this time of year. And in fact, six of the top ten grossing Christmas films of all time are from the 2000. And a lot of them, I guess, are kind of like more adult films. Uh, we're talking elf, of course. The holiday, one of the, I guess, all time great Christmas movies. I love the holiday, and you can probably guess the last one that makes it into the top ten.
00:10:38
S2: Surely love actually.
00:10:39
S1: Correct?
00:10:40
S3: This holiday season, I'm picking up Good Vibrations. Join this unforgettable filmmaking team. Welcome.
00:10:48
S9: Prime Minister, this is Natalie. Hello, David. I mean, sir.
00:10:53
S10: 20 years ago, you'd have been just his time.
00:10:55
S3: Are as they explore that time of year. When desires are revealed. I'm love. Aren't you that young?
00:11:06
S1: I'm fresh from rewatching this last night. Are you.
00:11:08
S2: Okay? Interesting.
00:11:09
S1: Uh, it's probably worth noting it's been 20 years since love Actually came out, which is insane. Uh, came out in 2003. Yeah. Big year for Christmas film 2003 also saw the release of Elf and Bad Santa. But look, love actually, I think it's impossible to have a Christmas movie conversation without it coming up. It remains, I guess, this, like kind of cultural totem pole for people at Christmas time every single year. You know, like Moonlight Cinema does a replay of Love Actually, which I am also going to later this month. But it is polarizing. You know, it is very popular, but people have strong feelings about it, I guess. Let's begin with, do you like Love Actually? Is there room in your cold, dead heart for a beautiful Christmas film?
00:11:52
S2: Firstly, I have to say that I think outdoor cinema is the perfect cinema for you. As a noisy cinema man. Outdoor everyone is rustling and there are kids and there are dogs and there are mosquitoes and wind. And like I reckon that is your ideal mode of watching cinema, whereas you.
00:12:07
S1: Enjoy the cover of nature in which to make my noises.
00:12:10
S2: So you could see all of those films that you could watch and you went for Love Actually again.
00:12:14
S1: Yeah, because it's nice to watch it outside.
00:12:16
S2: Yeah. Okay.
00:12:17
S1: You really liked I heard you say the other day you hate seeing movies outdoors, which is such a specific hate.
00:12:22
S2: I do you know what I'm like? I like a kind of dark, quiet, siloed room where I can just be completely absorbed by the cinema that I'm watching. And I don't want the distractions, because to me, that's a completely like, I would enjoy going to outdoor cinema, but I would treat it as a social event, not as anything to do.
00:12:40
S1: I like, I like having a picnic and I like going to the movies, but I don't want to combine those two things.
00:12:44
S2: So Love Actually is probably quite a good one to see at the outdoor cinema, because I'm not deeply invested in it and I have seen it a few times. Um, look, I think we have to say it doesn't particularly date well. Do we? No we don't. Thomas.
00:12:58
S1: I think no, you're right, it doesn't date well. But I think it's become like. It's become cool to hate love, actually, because it's so, like, overly sincere and earnest. And there are definitely things that haven't dated. Well, but I think as a movie, it's like, I like I said, I watched it last night. I was like pretty fucking into it, to be honest.
00:13:15
S2: I feel like the gender politics of not dated well, rather than the sincerity is not what I'm like. The sentimentality is not what I'm so concerned about. But it's more like, and I don't want to be the Grinch. That's still love Actually from your Christmas. You do. But I mean, the women don't have a huge role in it. Are they like the general, quite emotionally inept? The women are all idols to be kind of one. You think of, like Keira Knightley character Juliet. Um, to Andrew Lincoln's character Mark. You think about Joanna, the small girl. You think about Colin Firth new love affair. She's a woman who speaks no English. Obviously these women.
00:13:58
S1: Colin's first fault that he doesn't speak Portuguese.
00:14:00
S2: Often the women are like one without or tried to be one without any actual. She's literally in the film and the only noisy one. Um, and of course, I'm not the first person to point this out, but the only noisy one, Emma Thompson, who, like, is fantastic in it. Um, who plays Karen. She is, like, very much punished, isn't she, for having some kind of personality that isn't just silence or kind of desirable woman.
00:14:27
S1: Yeah. Look, I mean, that is all true. And when you rewatch it last night, especially, like, aside from the kind of problematic gender politics, the storyline with Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln is really, like, quite odd. It's, you know, how people cut those trailers on YouTube when they, like, redo a film, but like as a horror or whatever you could? Seriously. It's so odd how much he films her. And I know that that's become like this really famous sequence when he appears outside the apartment. It's like, to me, you are perfect.
00:14:55
S11: Oh, hi.
00:14:56
S6: Who is it?
00:15:00
S2: Is carol singers.
00:15:02
S12: Again.
00:15:03
S1: But like if that scene was to roll another 10s, you would probably see a Swat team, like taking him down because it's so really is odd how into who he is. And like for that to be this kind of big emotional moment in the film is very funny that he essentially is a stalker who's in like has been filming his best mates girlfriend from afar.
00:15:22
S2: I know totally and to the point about kind of men who are unable to express their feelings like I love when Keira Knightley is like to him, but you never talk to me. You don't like me like she's like, why? This is not normal kind of behavior about how you treat someone who you would like to seduce. But even at the end when he's showing her the signs, he can't even express his feelings. Yeah.
00:15:43
S1: I mean, look, he's he's he's about a humble man.
00:15:46
S2: Did that strike you rewatching it so recently?
00:15:49
S1: Yeah. Like I it hasn't held up well, but the problem with me is I'm such a sucker for, like, a big set piece. So, like, when they're getting married and then the, like, orchestra appears in the church, there's nothing you.
00:16:00
S12: Can. That can't be done.
00:16:02
UU: God, there's nothing you can say. Can't be sung. There's nothing you can say.
00:16:09
S12: Learn how to play the game.
00:16:12
UU: It's easy. All you need is love.
00:16:21
S1: I'm like I was last night. I was like, I felt myself moving on the lounge and stuff like, I love that. But how did they.
00:16:26
S2: Not see even that? Her husband, like kind of. And I think Lindy West writes about this in her piece that she wrote for Jezebel, which I think kicked off a lot of, um, a lot of the Love Actually discussion. Like, why did her husband upstage her on the wedding day with this surprised dig gesture? Like, that wasn't run past her? And how did they get the band into the church?
00:16:44
S1: That was like literally last night. My wife was like her. Probably her favorite watching activity is just a pick holes and things I don't think she even enjoys, like any content. Um, mostly just giving feedback. But like we were watching it, she was like scrolling on her phone, like half watching. And that happens just like fucking stupid. How would they not know they're in the church? And I was like, I was mid dance. Like, okay, well, you've ruined this for me.
00:17:06
S2: Yeah. Where is your Christmas spirit? Also, I think Alan Rickman as Harry, who kind of seduces his sexy young secretary and like she calls him sir, which is really weird because, you know, that's not really shaming. Yeah, yeah, but I think she means like, so in terms of that's just how they dress each other in the office. But I don't think that's age particularly.
00:17:27
S1: No. But the funny thing about that whole sequence, I have a huge crush on the secretary, but agree. Um, the funny thing about that, though, is he calls Laura Linney into his office. She plays Sarah, like the American who works for him. Um, and he's basically like, this is her boss, right? And he's basically like, so, you know, you're in love with Carl. How long have you been in love with Carl? We all know it. When are you going to, like, make a move on him? I'm like, this is.
00:17:51
S2: Not gonna fly.
00:17:52
S1: Crazy. And she's just like, oh, my God, I've been in love with him for like three years, two hours and 14 minutes or whatever it is. And then he basically like, I mean, like, has anyone been in an office? This is crazy. Yeah, that's.
00:18:03
S2: Not how it would fly today. I will say, though, one thing I do love about Love Actually is the soundtrack. I enjoy Billy Neely singing Billy Mac's um, love is All Around at the start or Christmas is all around.
00:18:17
UU: I feel it in my fingers, in my fingers. I feel it in my toes. Feeling my. Love is all.
00:18:29
S13: Ah fuck wank, bugger, shitting arse, head and whole. Start again.
00:18:38
S2: They've got like the the soundtrack is really good. Joni Mitchell, Beach Boys all I want for Christmas is obviously in there the Bay City Rollers, Bye bye baby. Like I do enjoy the soundtrack of the film.
00:18:49
S1: This is the thing I think I could love actually as a package people. It is like a good offering, but once you start to scratch the surface, there are some big issues. But yeah, like watching Bill Nye try and fit in that extra syllable. Like if you really love Christmas, he is very funny. He's probably like one of the best characters in the film, I would say.
00:19:06
S2: Yeah, I think I think that's true. Um, obviously shout out to Hugh Grant playing the Prime Minister, and I think I was reading a piece that was like a lot of people in the US, like, probably kind of believed that Hugh Grant was the British prime Minister.
00:19:19
S1: Like he was really busy. I also think it.
00:19:21
S2: Was the start of maybe he's turned towards villain.
00:19:24
S1: Well, yeah, because he's a that's a funny storyline as well. And also again, kind of problematic a little bit. Yeah. I mean having been.
00:19:31
S2: Watching adored on.
00:19:32
S1: You, I know you I mean it's annoying because like we obviously obviously did a lot of preparation for this podcast and now you've come in here and just completely shattered my idea of love.
00:19:41
S2: Actually, you like cancelling your Moonlight Cinema tickets?
00:19:43
S1: Yeah. No, don't be ridiculous. Just say something else. Um, I think it's safe to say perhaps you've tainted love actually forever. Uh, for me, at least until December 20th, when I go and see the Moonlight Cinema again.
00:19:54
S2: I actually don't know how you've got by 20 years without having these thoughts about love. Actually, I've.
00:19:58
S1: Had the thoughts, but I don't let it, like, ruin the film. It's so fun.
00:20:02
S2: You should do some reflection on that.
00:20:04
S1: I mean, some people still love it. I think I'm safe.
00:20:06
S2: How often do you rewatch it?
00:20:08
S1: I watch it like probably once a year at Christmas.
00:20:10
S2: How often do you rewatch Home Alone?
00:20:12
S1: Probably twice a year. Wow.
00:20:14
S2: So you are. You love Christmas films.
00:20:16
S1: This is why I suggested we do the podcast. Yeah, it is funny though, like we kind of flagged before, but both. Elf. Elf, another great Christmas film. Um, Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel together. So cute. Love that.
00:20:28
S14: I ought to say no, no, no.
00:20:31
S15: Mind if I move in?
00:20:33
S14: At least I'm gonna say that I try.
00:20:35
S15: What's the sense of hurting my brain?
00:20:38
UU: I really can't stay. I mean, it's cold outside. Right.
00:20:48
S1: But also same year, Bad Santa. Very different. Uh, speed. Billy Bob Thornton, who we mentioned also in love actually, uh, of course, playing a department store Santa who goes on a robbing rampage. Very, very funny thing has.
00:21:00
S16: Ever sucked more ass than this. If I'd known I was going to have to put up with a bunch of screaming brats pissing on my lap for 30 days out of the year, I would have killed myself a long time ago. Come to think of it, I still might. Where I come from. We didn't celebrate Christmas. Not because we were both.
00:21:23
S1: Came out in 2003. All three movies turning 20 this year. So look, it was a it was a a big time when studios thought like, actually, it is possible for us to make money by just investing in this seasonal film. And all three have done crazy numbers at the box office. I mean, I guess like the noughties, perhaps peak Christmas era?
00:21:42
S2: Yeah, I think so. And I think like those are still talked about as classics because they kind of bring us this level of nostalgia and comfort, and it's like the annual appointment viewing that people have with their families, um, each year, you know, it's something to mark the start of the season. And like, I guess the more cynical side of me thinks it's because we don't really connect or a lot of people don't really connect Christmas with faith anymore. Spirituality and Christmas is just about commercialism and consumerism. Um, that watching these films is kind of a way to make us pretend that we're kind of good people and have values around this time of year.
00:22:18
S1: I love anything that makes me think that I can feel something again. And that's what that's basically what Christmas films do. Yeah, yeah.
00:22:24
S2: It's our way of pretending that Christmas hasn't been reduced to just kind of shopping.
00:22:29
S1: Yes. Which is probably an ideal segue into, I guess, the final part of our chat today, which is this, I guess in some ways it's the cult of bad Christmas films, but really it's this new phenomenon, probably like new to the last like ten years, streaming has changed the game for Christmas films. And if you'd log on to Netflix right now, or I guess any of the other streamers, but Netflix specifically, you would be inundated with a bunch of Christmas movies you've never heard of, and each name kind of sounds like a slightly different version of the one before we're talking A Christmas Wish, falling for Christmas, A Christmas Prince, Christmas with you, a brush with Christmas, catering for Christmas. And these are what they refer to as Hallmark Movies in America, which is obviously a nod to the US network that produces many of these films. They're kind of made for TV holiday romcoms. We don't have hallmark over here, but so many of them end up on Netflix, and they do often follow a similar trope. Uh, two people meet in unlikely circumstances, often in a small town. Someone's coming back home escaping their job in the big smoke. Uh, and then, you know, they might butt heads at first but end up falling in love. And ipso facto, Christmas is saved. Now, I have been off the last couple of weeks and inhaling these hallmark movies like they're going out of fashion. Uh, it makes me feel a bit weird now. I've just watched so many of them and I can't even tell which is which anymore. Mel, have we reached the death of the Christmas movie as we know it?
00:23:52
S2: Look, I in some ways, yes, I think there are different types of Christmas films being made at the moment. Like I think every streamer now is kind of it is the battle of the Christmas film. Every streamer is trying to make the Christmas film that gets the most eyeballs, and I think it's become a stock standard on the streaming release calendar around this time of year. But as I was saying earlier, I think as well as seeing the kind of classic hallmark film where it is very predictable and silly and you kind of know what you're getting into. I do think we're seeing some more interesting ones coming out, and it's more because of the kind of politics that are involved in some of them, whether it's class or race or gender. I do think opening up those discussions into Christmas films, when it's done well, it does make a Christmas film more interesting. Um, and some of them are just, I think, a bit more tongue in cheek now, like some of the ones that are out are riffing on the Christmas films of past. Like I do think they're doing something a bit different. I watched Best Christmas Ever on Netflix. Was that on?
00:24:49
S1: You're obviously watching it, correct? Yeah.
00:24:52
S17: Dear friends, family and fellow earth dwellers, life just seems to fly by when you're having a splendiferous time.
00:24:58
S18: Oh, is that the Jenning's holiday newsletter?
00:25:01
S17: It's the most absurd thing ever. I would love to.
00:25:03
S7: Show up at her.
00:25:04
S17: House uninvited and to see the actual truth. Charlotte Sanders Jackie Jennings.
00:25:12
S2: Stars actual Brandy.
00:25:14
S1: Yeah it does. And Heather Graham. This is the other funny thing about these movies. It's always like stars. Someone you're like, huh.
00:25:19
S2: Brandi? I know. And then I looked and she's gotten I think she's got a new album coming out as well. I mean, she's got a Christmas album.
00:25:24
S1: That's that's good.
00:25:25
S2: Jason Biggs as well plays Heather Graham's husband. So the setup is essentially Heather Graham plays this woman called Charlotte, her old college friend. Jackie, who's played by Brandi, you know, seems to have this beautiful, perfect life, sends a postcard every year about how wonderful her life is, and then they end up kind of together on Christmas. They try to tear each other apart, and then they have to build each other back up again. It is a kind of formulaic plot, but I just thought it was really sweet and very sassy and kind of. I enjoyed it. Yeah.
00:25:53
S1: It's weird. I mean, I thought this was one of the crazier ones because the plot, like, these are two friends who end up spending Christmas together because, like, there's a lot of they get snowed in like it was okay.
00:26:04
S2: All right. Are you being your wife now? Here. You said picking holes in the details.
00:26:07
S1: But, I mean, part of the hallmark experiences, that the plot is often so ridiculous, it doesn't matter. But even in this one, I was like, okay, where we're bending here. I did enjoy seeing Jason Biggs back. You know, he's funny.
00:26:19
S2: I knew you would enjoy that.
00:26:20
S1: I think he holds up like he's pretty good. He should get more work. Um, so Jason Biggs, agent, if you're listening to this. Yeah.
00:26:26
S2: Get him, get him on the TV shows.
00:26:28
S1: Um, I thought it was quite fun. Like, again, it was exactly what you expect. Like, it's 80 minutes long. It's barely a movie. It's a long episode of something. Um, and, you know, there are a few laughs. There's, like, the quirky kid. The nerdy kid, the silly kid. Uh, and I guess a kind of conflict. Barely. But this ticked all the boxes in that, like, the plot was crazy. You don't have to think too hard. You can be doing. They can be wrapping presents while it's on and like nothing matters.
00:26:54
S2: Yeah. Best served with some eggnog, I would say. Correct.
00:26:57
S1: Now, one of my favorites from this year. Uh, it's actually currently it was at the time of writing, it was sitting number three on Netflix. It's now dropped down to number six guys. So I mean, hopefully when you're listening to this, it's still in the top ten. It's Catering Christmas.
00:27:09
S19: Catch the second original movie of Great American Christmas Catering Christmas starring Merritt Patterson and Daniel. Listen, these are really good.
00:27:17
S20: Your charm will not work on me.
00:27:19
S21: You think I'm charming?
00:27:21
S20: Wow. You know more about catering than you've let on. I might have.
00:27:24
S21: Done a little bit of research this.
00:27:25
S1: Week. This is absolute. This is like paint by numbers Hallmark Christmas movie. So I'll read you what it's about. A fledging caterer, Molly Frost is hired by Jean Harrison Frost.
00:27:37
S2: Does she make cakes?
00:27:39
S1: Well, she's gotta get hold.
00:27:40
S2: Hold the.
00:27:40
S1: Line. The perfectionist director of the renowned Harrison Foundation to cater this year's annual Christmas gala. Things get complicated. They often do in Christmas films when Molly falls for Jean's nephew Carson, a travel photographer with no desire to take over the family's foundation until his aunt assigns him the task of making sure the catered dinner goes perfectly. So basically, you've got this small town caterer who meets this, you know, photographer from the big city. He's home for Christmas. Uh, they work together. At first they don't get along. Why would they? But then, of course, you know, the magic of Christmas sees them fall in love. It was. It was amazing. Like I couldn't have been more into it. Um, it was so, so bad. Like the production values on this thing. So I think I read it was filmed in two weeks, filmed in Canada, like so many of them are, uh, like on a very tiny budget. You can tell everything's been turned around so quickly. The grandmother Jean, in of her first, like 6 or 7 scenes, her outfit doesn't change. She'd been wearing the same thing for like two weeks. It's it's amazing. Like, I would definitely put it on your list. Uh, it's catering Christmas. Uh, and the best thing is the lead actress, Merritt Patterson. Uh, she's basically like, I think, I don't know, she I think hallmark basically own her. She's done like 7 or 8 Christmas films.
00:28:51
S2: Like, she's like doing the. Winking at the camera. Get me out of here!
00:28:54
S1: No! She's like, please, someone send help! This is like her seventh or eighth Hallmark Channel movie in the last few years. So. Yeah, she's. I mean, she's found her lane and she's sticking to it, so I respect it.
00:29:02
S2: Wow. Sounds like just like the perfect cake. Light and fluffy and delicious to watch.
00:29:08
S1: And then you have too much of it and feel sick after.
00:29:10
S2: I will put forward. Have you seen in your perusal of Christmas films? Did you watch the family switch?
00:29:15
S1: I obviously watched the family switch.
00:29:18
S9: I wish you could be me.
00:29:19
S7: I would love for you to be me for one day.
00:29:21
S5: I would love for you to know what it's like to be. I would kill.
00:29:24
S22: To eat a dozen donuts and just have it burn right off.
00:29:26
S7: Would you take a picture of my family, please?
00:29:28
S23: Everybody say Merry Christmas.
00:29:34
S2: Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emily Meyers, Brady noon. They start as a family. They're kind of falling apart. The mom and dad and the kids. And then one day an astrological event occurs and then they switch bodies firstly so that the parents become the children and the children become the parents. Classic setup. Firstly, why does Jennifer Garner always want to play body switch films? That was the first thing that I could not get over.
00:29:56
S1: I know it's like an agent's like, look, you're a body switch person now. This is your like, people love you in this.
00:30:02
S2: You've mastered this.
00:30:03
S1: Your best when someone else is playing you. So.
00:30:07
S2: Um, uh, I don't like body switch films, so I really. I didn't like this one. I don't like Freaky Fridays. I don't like.
00:30:13
S1: Friday, but.
00:30:14
S2: It throws me. I don't, I can't it's too much for me to handle in a film. And I did not really like this film.
00:30:20
S1: If we're going body switch, I only really like Face Off. I mean, that's more of like a facial transplant film.
00:30:25
S2: But not quite.
00:30:26
S24: Yeah.
00:30:27
S1: No, look, I agree, and this is what's so funny, I think because, you know, the hallmark things are the hallmark movies are like one thing, but there is also a kind of trend of, like, pretty successful actors, like, you know, Jennifer Garner, you know, famous doesn't work a lot, I suppose, but Ed Helms, but we've also had, like Jeannie with Melissa McCarthy and Candy Cane Lane with Eddie Murphy. Like, these are big famous comedic actors, like putting themselves in very, you know, low quality Christmas films. And I think like the for the Stream is like, they must make so much money off these that they're offering these guys insane salaries to do them. And so like we're going to see I guess this will continue to be a Christmas tradition. Yeah.
00:31:04
S2: And I reckon that is one definite trend in this new crop of films is having kind of a landmark actor or a big name Shailene Woodley. Lindsay Lohan was recently in one last year. Like having these big name actors to peg a film to. I think that's kind of something you see consistently. It's like everything is hung off. The idea that people will watch just for this person, not for anything else. Yeah.
00:31:27
S1: Yeah, it's funny. But then like in the in the hallmark space you go through and I was like really crazy amount of Australians appearing in these films. Yeah. Okay. Kind of like mid tier Australian actors. So in catering Christmas we talked about earlier the lead kind of male actor very handsome man. Uh is Daniel listing who's an Australian actor. He's kind of been overseas for a long time. Uh, Rihanna and Phish. Former Home and Away star. She does a bunch of hallmark films. Luke Bracey has done one with Emma Roberts called Holidate like it's. Yeah, it must be if you're a kind of jobbing actor over in Los Angeles come November, December, you'd be like, well, I'm just gonna fly to Canada where they make all these, like, really bad Christmas movies and just hang out until someone calls to me.
00:32:04
S2: Why are they being made in Canada? What's the go there? Is that the setting? Is that the tax write offs?
00:32:08
S1: Yeah. It must be the tax write off. It's cheaper over there. Like the same thing with suits. So like you can this can be New York. So yeah. All right. Well, enough talk of potentially boring Christmas content. Let's get to the good stuff, guys. Impress Your friends is back for another week. Melanie. I feel like you've got something fun. Let's hit it.
00:32:31
S2: Yeah, well, because I knew I would be sick of all this cloying sentimentality. I've gone for a real dark one. Season two of time, which is on binge. Did you see season one? I did see loved it. Ah it's incredible. Season one was Sean Bean and Stephen Graham. Um, Sean Bean played this guy who accidentally killed an innocent man and was in prison. And when he was there, he met Eric McNally, this caring prisoner officer who was trying to protect him and look after people. That was played by Stephen Graham. It was so good. It was very acclaimed. It was the perfect kind of interesting prison drama, kind of a short season. It's back for season two. Stephen Graham still involved in it, but we're centered in a, um, in a female prison this time, where Jodie Whittaker plays this woman who's been, um, arrested for fiddling the lecture with me.
00:33:21
S1: All right. I wasn't expecting that.
00:33:22
S2: I know it comes early in the first episode because they're from the North. Um, it comes early in the first episode where she's like, I've been sent to jail. All I did was fiddled the lecture, and I had to rewind it about four times to be like, did she say, what is she saying? That I had to Google it and fiddle in the lack. It means feeling the electricity meter so she didn't have to pay for her gas.
00:33:45
S1: Ah, anytime you talk about a crime and the word fiddling is involved. Yeah. No.
00:33:48
S2: You don't think it's good? Yeah, but it's now my go to. If I've done something wrong, I'm like, I was called Fiddler on the ledger. Um, anyway, she gets into jail for six months, which is obviously insane. And part of the setup is like the system that has allowed this woman to be sent for jail, and the kind of ramifications for that. She loses, her kids life falls apart and so forth. But, um, in jail, she meets two women, Bella Ramsey, who you might remember from The Last of Us. She plays this heroin addict who finds out she's pregnant. She is so good. I think she is such an actor to watch and is going to be around for a long time, and she is also paired with another woman, um, named Abby, who's played by Tamara Lawrence, who is in there for, um, for matricide. It's a fantastic show. I think the first two episodes are out now and they're coming week by week, but it is so worth watching and I'm really glad it's come back different, but just as strong as the first season.
00:34:42
S1: Yeah, I love the first season and Stephen Graham quietly building like possibly one of the best bodies of work out there, I would say, um, very tense show that. I found it very stressful. Watch. Yeah. Anything prison related I love though, so I'm very keen for that. Uh, my rec this week is one that people have kind of started to get around, but I think it's worth discussing and I personally loved it. It is Leave the World Behind. Yes. Uh, so it dropped on Netflix a few days ago. It's, uh, based on the novel of the same name by Roman Alarm, and basically it's kind of a post-apocalyptic end of the world tense psychological thriller, uh, which is several of my favorite genres just stuffed into one sentence. Directed by Sam Esmail, it stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, and Kevin Bacon. Like, I really love the setup of this. Julia Roberts plays this kind of like, uppity New Yorker, almost like a Karen type, if we can use that term. She's married to Ethan Hawke. Um, they, you know, she books this beautiful house on Airbnb in Long Island, takes her kids. They're, uh, having a great time. And then in the middle of the night, knock on the door, and, you know, there is Mahershala Ali, and it's his house, and he's returned home because there's been this nationwide blackout. And, you know, he needs somewhere safe to stay. Julia Roberts is inherently skeptical of him. Um, you know, she's kind of a bit, if we're being honest, confused by this black family turning up in the middle of the night. She, you know, she's kind of wearing it on her sleeve, how she feels. And then it goes from being, you know, what you think is going to be like a kind of. Is this like a cat and mouse thriller to being this much wider post-apocalyptic thing, all these strange occurrences going on, you know, around the United States. And the great thing is that the whole time you never really know what's going on. Um, a few really good jump scares, but also very, very fun trying to figure out where this is headed. Uh, and then. Yeah, a very, a very fun, uh, and controversial, I would say ending, but that's on Netflix now. It was in cinemas a couple weeks ago, but Netflix have dropped it. Definitely worth a watch. And I think a really good one for like, you know, lots of people are on holidays now. Spend a couple of hours doing this and you're like, yeah, okay, that's time well spent.
00:36:37
S2: Yeah, I'm gonna put this on the list. And I am loving like great stacked cast and loving Julia Roberts in this kind of. I feel like she's having a bit of a renaissance lately in a lot of films and always fun.
00:36:47
S1: Yeah, I'm a big Julia Roberts fan, but yeah, she's doing some really cool stuff now. So yeah, that's Leave the World Behind on Netflix now.
00:36:52
S2: Suitably impressed. Yes.
00:36:54
S1: Well, that's it for our festive theme pod. Uh, we'll be back next week with a whole bunch of other stuff for you by. This episode of The Drop was produced by Kai Wong. If you enjoyed listening to today's episode of The Drop, make sure you follow us on your favorite podcast app. Leave us a review or better yet, share the episode with a friend. I'm Thomas Mitchell. See you next week.
S1: Hey, everyone, I'm Thomas Mitchell, and this is the draw a culture show from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, where we dive into the latest in the world of pop culture and entertainment. I'm here today with my co-host and assistant Melanie Kingsbury.
00:00:17
S2: Thank you. What an intro. I actually feel like the whole office is your assistant because you are so inept at using Google calendars.
00:00:25
S1: Yes, that is very fair. Our wonderful co-host Osman Farooqui is currently on break, but we will be filling in for him. And today we're going to be looking at perhaps the most wonderful time of the year.
00:00:34
S2: Oh ho ho!
00:00:35
S1: It is obviously December and Christmas is just around the corner, which is very exciting. But most importantly, the arrival of the festive season brings the excuse to finally watch Christmas movies on repeat for the entire month. Melanie, I feel like I know the answer to this, but are you a Christmas movie kind of gal?
00:00:50
S2: Well, what do you think, Thomas?
00:00:52
S1: Well, it's hard to tell because in one, like, sometimes you've got a cold, dead heart and sometimes you're actually quite wholesome. And so I feel like part of you will be cynical. But I could also see you sitting down and watching elf and chuckling along. So, I don't know.
00:01:04
S2: I'm torn. That's very hard to pin down. Yes. Look, I'm not a Christmas movie person. I wish I was like, I really like the idea of kind of getting into it in Christmas and going home and putting on the Christmas lights and watching like, elf again. But I don't know, it's just not really for me. I don't revisit the classics and I don't really watch the new ones, but I will say I do like Christmas adjacent movies.
00:01:26
S1: Like Christmas Is in it, but not like The Star.
00:01:28
S2: Yes, like I recently watched Todd Haynes Carol with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara after we were talking about The Talented Mr. Ripley a few weeks ago. And like, Christmas is just in the background. There's just like a kind of whiff of Christmas. So I like that rather than Christmas being at the heart and soul.
00:01:43
S1: Yeah, I think it's the same with Mean Girls. It's like at Christmas time, but it's not like a Christmas movie. Remember? They do the content.
00:01:48
S2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great concept. Um, what about you? I feel like you probably like Christmas films.
00:01:51
S1: I do like Christmas films, but I think this is what's interesting. And this is kind of where we're heading in today's pod. Christmas movies are having a big moment. Um, we're going to be talking about some of the best of all time, the home Alones The Love Actually, as well as this rise in kind of the Christmas film genre and festive films flooding streaming services and the ones that are worth your time and the ones that definitely are not. But look, to begin, I guess we're both children of the 90s. We are famously, and I would say that is arguably the peak of the Christmas movie era. That was absolute classics like Home Alone, Jingle All the Way, uh, miracle on 34th Street, and of course, Die Hard starring Bruce Willis, although that one does come with an asterisks because lots of people don't believe it's a Christmas film. Look, it was a great time for movies, but specifically a great time for Christmas movies. Do you have a favorite from that era?
00:02:39
S2: Look, I do, and I feel like my choice is not going to surprise you. It's a Christmas Carol, but the Muppets version, obviously.
00:02:46
S3: Humbug. He was the Greediest man alive. It's Ebenezer Scrooge until the night he met someone extraordinary.
00:02:54
S4: Hello.
00:02:57
S3: The Muppet Christmas Carol.
00:02:59
S5: I'll Drink to Mr. Scrooge.
00:03:01
S2: Famously based on a book by Charlie Dickens. You may know him. I do. Um. Michael Caine is Ebenezer Scrooge. Just a lot of fun. Have you seen it?
00:03:09
S1: I have seen it. I mean, there's so many good pics from that time. I always loved the Muppets.
00:03:14
S2: It just. I like the Muppets films. I think it's very funny. It's a bit different. It's got more cynicism than a lot of those other ones, and I think it's aged pretty well. But I will say I revisited one that kind of surprised me that I don't feel as many people have seen Nora Ephron's Mixed Nuts.
00:03:30
S3: Phillips job is solving other people's problems. May I put.
00:03:33
S6: You on hold while I run to my desk? Uh, you're not calling from a bridge or holding a weapon. No.
00:03:38
S3: But unfortunately, he's got problems of his own.
00:03:41
S7: I don't know how to say this. My psychiatrist thinks we should break up.
00:03:44
S3: I didn't know you were going to a psychiatrist.
00:03:46
S7: Well, I'm not actually going to one. I've been dating one for four months.
00:03:50
S3: And now it's Christmas.
00:03:51
S2: It was this 1994 film that she put out, and it was just after she'd done sleepless in Seattle, and it's set in, um, it's set in California on Venice Beach at this volunteer hotline for depressed people. But the cast is insane. It's got Steve Martin, Anthony LaPaglia, Rita Wilson, Garry Shandling, Rob Reiner and Juliette Lewis, Adam Sandler, Liv Schreiber.
00:04:12
S1: It's a stacked cast.
00:04:14
S2: It's a stacked cast, and the plot is insane. And it is so silly and over the top and slap sticky. But there's something very warm and affectionate, and it got, like, destroyed at the time of its release because I think it was coming out, you know, with all these other 90 films that were so loved and this was so different to all of that, and parts of it hasn't haven't aged particularly well. But I think it's worth rewatching just because it's quite silly and but also heartwarming.
00:04:37
S1: Yeah, it's funny because, like, I think it's hard to know whether or not like it's our own like recency bias in terms of like that era or like, you know, because we're nostalgic for it. We were young then, but I do feel like so many of the best Christmas films came from that time. Like, so a couple of years ago, I think it was variety. Did a, you know, this huge poll like the greatest Christmas film of all time and unsurprising, Home Alone came out on top. I think it is like for a lot of people, the peak Christmas film. Are you a Home Alone fan?
00:05:05
S2: Yeah, sure. Like definitely Home Alone one, then Home alone two. Yeah. And Home Alone one. Like, I rewatched it not that long ago, surprisingly. And it was, um, it was actually quite violent, like the violence of Home Alone was quite shocking to me at the time. Like, I didn't remember that part of it. I mean, look.
00:05:21
S1: I watched it obviously as a young kid and have watched it every year since and I think, well, firstly, Macaulay Culkin, probably one of the all time great on screen performances. Kevin McCallister, he's kind of like the kid that every kid wanted to be. I think his parents, like, live in this most amazing house ever. They go away every single year overseas, which again, as a young child in the burbs, I was like, well, they're not going to Nelson Bay this year.
00:05:45
S2: They're beautiful Christmas decorations all through their house.
00:05:47
S1: House is totally stacked. Big chaotic family. Um, and I just think like it's become such a part of like Christmas pop culture now. Like it's one of the most quotable movies I made my family disappear.
00:05:58
S8: I made my family disappear.
00:06:01
S1: Keep the change, you filthy animal. Like that. You can buy like, Christmas festive jumpers with these taglines on it. But I think what I love so much about it is it kind of brings together all the threads of like, what makes a good Christmas movie for me. Number one, there's a bit of like.
00:06:14
S2: Well, we.
00:06:15
S1: Begin the Ted talk, here.
00:06:15
S2: We go. No, but.
00:06:16
S1: Like what Macaulay Culkin aka Kevin McCallister does to Harry and Marv is like. I mean, each year I watch it, I'm like, this is some serious crimes being committed here.
00:06:26
S2: It's such a violent film. And then if you watch Home Alone two as well, it is even more violent. And when you rewatch it, you're like, these men would clearly be dead after this treatment. Like, how are they still standing?
00:06:36
S1: But also it makes me wonder, like, just Kevin's a young kid and he's got some pretty violent ideas that we really do need to talk about Kevin. But I think, like, there is this like wish fulfillment thing where, like when you're a kid, all you really want to do is like, be home alone and, like, happens to Kevin McCallister. And then obviously it it it's got these like, cute messaging in a way where he's like, he realizes he wishes his family away constantly. And then they go and he's like, so sad. And then the family, like, who are always so annoyed at Kevin because he's the youngest annoying kid, you know, they also realize, oh, it's not Christmas without Kevin, which is all great, but on like squeezed in between those bookended by those two messages is just like lots of really funny, dangerous pranks.
00:07:13
S2: Yeah, like a lot of gags, but it does. I think what Home Alone did so well was that it balanced that slapstick with the, as you were saying, the sentimentality of the message and the kind of the the joy of watching this young boy kind of have this experience alone, and at the same time realize that he needed his family around him. It's kind of it's a Christmas coming of age, isn't it?
00:07:34
S1: It really is. And like, I just think it's we've obviously all grown up with the movie and it's so funny having a look at the cast. So like Macaulay Culkin, I think kind of suffered a little bit from how popular Home Alone became like. He was kind of frozen as Kevin McCallister. I think he did like Home Alone one. Home alone two. Also, Richie Rich, another great film for the 90s, but then he hasn't really, though he.
00:07:53
S2: Did recently get a star on the Hollywood. Did you see that? Not only would you see.
00:07:58
S1: Who was there to help him receive it. Catherine O'Hara, his onscreen mum, which was amazing. But like, you know, John Candy, Joe Pesci and one of the all time great on screen baddie roles. Yeah, like it was, it was a kind of like a moment in time, I think. And it's really funny. I was reading the director, Chris Columbus. I think he does like basically every single year on Home Alone. He does like some kind of Home Alone related interview. And he was saying originally the Joe Pesci character was meant to be played by Chevy Chase. Yeah, okay. And they went out to lunch to kind of like talk about the role and stuff. And he just found Chevy Chase, like, so unlikable and such a, like, not a nice person that he, at the end of lunch was like, okay, well, I can no longer offer you this role. So I mean, like just little things like that. It could have been such a different film, you know? And Joe Pesci, I think, was so important to why Home Alone is so good. But I just think like it came right at the start of that era. It was released in 1990, and for me it is, you know, Home Alone two great for Home Alone one close to the perfect Christmas dinner yesterday.
00:08:49
S3: He was just a kid, but tonight he's a home security system. You guys give.
00:08:55
S8: Up? Oh, yeah. Thirsty for more.
00:08:58
S3: From John Hughes? You know, I got a feeling this is going to be your best Christmas ever. A family comedy without the family are home alone. Are you here all alone?
00:09:09
S8: I met you, John. You think I'd be here alone?
00:09:13
S2: I think it really set the standard for that 90s crop of film. That kind of wholesome vibe that they all had with a kind of moral message behind it. Also a very white and straight vibe, which continued through a lot of the 90s and into the 2000 as well. Like, it's hard to ignore that, particularly when you look at the crop of, um, films that are coming out this year and in recent years, and we'll talk about them later, which are have a far more diverse cast, um, sexually, racially, um, and more interesting plots because of that. But yeah, the 1990s and into the early 2000 were a very white Christmas. More ways than one.
00:09:49
S1: Yeah. It's funny, like, I feel like the 90s was very much the Christmas for the whole family vibe. I mean, all of those things you said are so true. But even if you look at some of the most popular ones, like they had such a formula, it was like jingle all the way. Um, I'll be home for Christmas. Home alone. It's all like, you know, like mischievous young kid gets into trouble at Christmas. And it was very much like a family experience. And I do think as we moved into the noughties, Christmas movies became more kind of commercial adult products that studios like look to tap into making money at this time of year. And in fact, six of the top ten grossing Christmas films of all time are from the 2000. And a lot of them, I guess, are kind of like more adult films. Uh, we're talking elf, of course. The holiday, one of the, I guess, all time great Christmas movies. I love the holiday, and you can probably guess the last one that makes it into the top ten.
00:10:38
S2: Surely love actually.
00:10:39
S1: Correct?
00:10:40
S3: This holiday season, I'm picking up Good Vibrations. Join this unforgettable filmmaking team. Welcome.
00:10:48
S9: Prime Minister, this is Natalie. Hello, David. I mean, sir.
00:10:53
S10: 20 years ago, you'd have been just his time.
00:10:55
S3: Are as they explore that time of year. When desires are revealed. I'm love. Aren't you that young?
00:11:06
S1: I'm fresh from rewatching this last night. Are you.
00:11:08
S2: Okay? Interesting.
00:11:09
S1: Uh, it's probably worth noting it's been 20 years since love Actually came out, which is insane. Uh, came out in 2003. Yeah. Big year for Christmas film 2003 also saw the release of Elf and Bad Santa. But look, love actually, I think it's impossible to have a Christmas movie conversation without it coming up. It remains, I guess, this, like kind of cultural totem pole for people at Christmas time every single year. You know, like Moonlight Cinema does a replay of Love Actually, which I am also going to later this month. But it is polarizing. You know, it is very popular, but people have strong feelings about it, I guess. Let's begin with, do you like Love Actually? Is there room in your cold, dead heart for a beautiful Christmas film?
00:11:52
S2: Firstly, I have to say that I think outdoor cinema is the perfect cinema for you. As a noisy cinema man. Outdoor everyone is rustling and there are kids and there are dogs and there are mosquitoes and wind. And like I reckon that is your ideal mode of watching cinema, whereas you.
00:12:07
S1: Enjoy the cover of nature in which to make my noises.
00:12:10
S2: So you could see all of those films that you could watch and you went for Love Actually again.
00:12:14
S1: Yeah, because it's nice to watch it outside.
00:12:16
S2: Yeah. Okay.
00:12:17
S1: You really liked I heard you say the other day you hate seeing movies outdoors, which is such a specific hate.
00:12:22
S2: I do you know what I'm like? I like a kind of dark, quiet, siloed room where I can just be completely absorbed by the cinema that I'm watching. And I don't want the distractions, because to me, that's a completely like, I would enjoy going to outdoor cinema, but I would treat it as a social event, not as anything to do.
00:12:40
S1: I like, I like having a picnic and I like going to the movies, but I don't want to combine those two things.
00:12:44
S2: So Love Actually is probably quite a good one to see at the outdoor cinema, because I'm not deeply invested in it and I have seen it a few times. Um, look, I think we have to say it doesn't particularly date well. Do we? No we don't. Thomas.
00:12:58
S1: I think no, you're right, it doesn't date well. But I think it's become like. It's become cool to hate love, actually, because it's so, like, overly sincere and earnest. And there are definitely things that haven't dated. Well, but I think as a movie, it's like, I like I said, I watched it last night. I was like pretty fucking into it, to be honest.
00:13:15
S2: I feel like the gender politics of not dated well, rather than the sincerity is not what I'm like. The sentimentality is not what I'm so concerned about. But it's more like, and I don't want to be the Grinch. That's still love Actually from your Christmas. You do. But I mean, the women don't have a huge role in it. Are they like the general, quite emotionally inept? The women are all idols to be kind of one. You think of, like Keira Knightley character Juliet. Um, to Andrew Lincoln's character Mark. You think about Joanna, the small girl. You think about Colin Firth new love affair. She's a woman who speaks no English. Obviously these women.
00:13:58
S1: Colin's first fault that he doesn't speak Portuguese.
00:14:00
S2: Often the women are like one without or tried to be one without any actual. She's literally in the film and the only noisy one. Um, and of course, I'm not the first person to point this out, but the only noisy one, Emma Thompson, who, like, is fantastic in it. Um, who plays Karen. She is, like, very much punished, isn't she, for having some kind of personality that isn't just silence or kind of desirable woman.
00:14:27
S1: Yeah. Look, I mean, that is all true. And when you rewatch it last night, especially, like, aside from the kind of problematic gender politics, the storyline with Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln is really, like, quite odd. It's, you know, how people cut those trailers on YouTube when they, like, redo a film, but like as a horror or whatever you could? Seriously. It's so odd how much he films her. And I know that that's become like this really famous sequence when he appears outside the apartment. It's like, to me, you are perfect.
00:14:55
S11: Oh, hi.
00:14:56
S6: Who is it?
00:15:00
S2: Is carol singers.
00:15:02
S12: Again.
00:15:03
S1: But like if that scene was to roll another 10s, you would probably see a Swat team, like taking him down because it's so really is odd how into who he is. And like for that to be this kind of big emotional moment in the film is very funny that he essentially is a stalker who's in like has been filming his best mates girlfriend from afar.
00:15:22
S2: I know totally and to the point about kind of men who are unable to express their feelings like I love when Keira Knightley is like to him, but you never talk to me. You don't like me like she's like, why? This is not normal kind of behavior about how you treat someone who you would like to seduce. But even at the end when he's showing her the signs, he can't even express his feelings. Yeah.
00:15:43
S1: I mean, look, he's he's he's about a humble man.
00:15:46
S2: Did that strike you rewatching it so recently?
00:15:49
S1: Yeah. Like I it hasn't held up well, but the problem with me is I'm such a sucker for, like, a big set piece. So, like, when they're getting married and then the, like, orchestra appears in the church, there's nothing you.
00:16:00
S12: Can. That can't be done.
00:16:02
UU: God, there's nothing you can say. Can't be sung. There's nothing you can say.
00:16:09
S12: Learn how to play the game.
00:16:12
UU: It's easy. All you need is love.
00:16:21
S1: I'm like I was last night. I was like, I felt myself moving on the lounge and stuff like, I love that. But how did they.
00:16:26
S2: Not see even that? Her husband, like kind of. And I think Lindy West writes about this in her piece that she wrote for Jezebel, which I think kicked off a lot of, um, a lot of the Love Actually discussion. Like, why did her husband upstage her on the wedding day with this surprised dig gesture? Like, that wasn't run past her? And how did they get the band into the church?
00:16:44
S1: That was like literally last night. My wife was like her. Probably her favorite watching activity is just a pick holes and things I don't think she even enjoys, like any content. Um, mostly just giving feedback. But like we were watching it, she was like scrolling on her phone, like half watching. And that happens just like fucking stupid. How would they not know they're in the church? And I was like, I was mid dance. Like, okay, well, you've ruined this for me.
00:17:06
S2: Yeah. Where is your Christmas spirit? Also, I think Alan Rickman as Harry, who kind of seduces his sexy young secretary and like she calls him sir, which is really weird because, you know, that's not really shaming. Yeah, yeah, but I think she means like, so in terms of that's just how they dress each other in the office. But I don't think that's age particularly.
00:17:27
S1: No. But the funny thing about that whole sequence, I have a huge crush on the secretary, but agree. Um, the funny thing about that, though, is he calls Laura Linney into his office. She plays Sarah, like the American who works for him. Um, and he's basically like, this is her boss, right? And he's basically like, so, you know, you're in love with Carl. How long have you been in love with Carl? We all know it. When are you going to, like, make a move on him? I'm like, this is.
00:17:51
S2: Not gonna fly.
00:17:52
S1: Crazy. And she's just like, oh, my God, I've been in love with him for like three years, two hours and 14 minutes or whatever it is. And then he basically like, I mean, like, has anyone been in an office? This is crazy. Yeah, that's.
00:18:03
S2: Not how it would fly today. I will say, though, one thing I do love about Love Actually is the soundtrack. I enjoy Billy Neely singing Billy Mac's um, love is All Around at the start or Christmas is all around.
00:18:17
UU: I feel it in my fingers, in my fingers. I feel it in my toes. Feeling my. Love is all.
00:18:29
S13: Ah fuck wank, bugger, shitting arse, head and whole. Start again.
00:18:38
S2: They've got like the the soundtrack is really good. Joni Mitchell, Beach Boys all I want for Christmas is obviously in there the Bay City Rollers, Bye bye baby. Like I do enjoy the soundtrack of the film.
00:18:49
S1: This is the thing I think I could love actually as a package people. It is like a good offering, but once you start to scratch the surface, there are some big issues. But yeah, like watching Bill Nye try and fit in that extra syllable. Like if you really love Christmas, he is very funny. He's probably like one of the best characters in the film, I would say.
00:19:06
S2: Yeah, I think I think that's true. Um, obviously shout out to Hugh Grant playing the Prime Minister, and I think I was reading a piece that was like a lot of people in the US, like, probably kind of believed that Hugh Grant was the British prime Minister.
00:19:19
S1: Like he was really busy. I also think it.
00:19:21
S2: Was the start of maybe he's turned towards villain.
00:19:24
S1: Well, yeah, because he's a that's a funny storyline as well. And also again, kind of problematic a little bit. Yeah. I mean having been.
00:19:31
S2: Watching adored on.
00:19:32
S1: You, I know you I mean it's annoying because like we obviously obviously did a lot of preparation for this podcast and now you've come in here and just completely shattered my idea of love.
00:19:41
S2: Actually, you like cancelling your Moonlight Cinema tickets?
00:19:43
S1: Yeah. No, don't be ridiculous. Just say something else. Um, I think it's safe to say perhaps you've tainted love actually forever. Uh, for me, at least until December 20th, when I go and see the Moonlight Cinema again.
00:19:54
S2: I actually don't know how you've got by 20 years without having these thoughts about love. Actually, I've.
00:19:58
S1: Had the thoughts, but I don't let it, like, ruin the film. It's so fun.
00:20:02
S2: You should do some reflection on that.
00:20:04
S1: I mean, some people still love it. I think I'm safe.
00:20:06
S2: How often do you rewatch it?
00:20:08
S1: I watch it like probably once a year at Christmas.
00:20:10
S2: How often do you rewatch Home Alone?
00:20:12
S1: Probably twice a year. Wow.
00:20:14
S2: So you are. You love Christmas films.
00:20:16
S1: This is why I suggested we do the podcast. Yeah, it is funny though, like we kind of flagged before, but both. Elf. Elf, another great Christmas film. Um, Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel together. So cute. Love that.
00:20:28
S14: I ought to say no, no, no.
00:20:31
S15: Mind if I move in?
00:20:33
S14: At least I'm gonna say that I try.
00:20:35
S15: What's the sense of hurting my brain?
00:20:38
UU: I really can't stay. I mean, it's cold outside. Right.
00:20:48
S1: But also same year, Bad Santa. Very different. Uh, speed. Billy Bob Thornton, who we mentioned also in love actually, uh, of course, playing a department store Santa who goes on a robbing rampage. Very, very funny thing has.
00:21:00
S16: Ever sucked more ass than this. If I'd known I was going to have to put up with a bunch of screaming brats pissing on my lap for 30 days out of the year, I would have killed myself a long time ago. Come to think of it, I still might. Where I come from. We didn't celebrate Christmas. Not because we were both.
00:21:23
S1: Came out in 2003. All three movies turning 20 this year. So look, it was a it was a a big time when studios thought like, actually, it is possible for us to make money by just investing in this seasonal film. And all three have done crazy numbers at the box office. I mean, I guess like the noughties, perhaps peak Christmas era?
00:21:42
S2: Yeah, I think so. And I think like those are still talked about as classics because they kind of bring us this level of nostalgia and comfort, and it's like the annual appointment viewing that people have with their families, um, each year, you know, it's something to mark the start of the season. And like, I guess the more cynical side of me thinks it's because we don't really connect or a lot of people don't really connect Christmas with faith anymore. Spirituality and Christmas is just about commercialism and consumerism. Um, that watching these films is kind of a way to make us pretend that we're kind of good people and have values around this time of year.
00:22:18
S1: I love anything that makes me think that I can feel something again. And that's what that's basically what Christmas films do. Yeah, yeah.
00:22:24
S2: It's our way of pretending that Christmas hasn't been reduced to just kind of shopping.
00:22:29
S1: Yes. Which is probably an ideal segue into, I guess, the final part of our chat today, which is this, I guess in some ways it's the cult of bad Christmas films, but really it's this new phenomenon, probably like new to the last like ten years, streaming has changed the game for Christmas films. And if you'd log on to Netflix right now, or I guess any of the other streamers, but Netflix specifically, you would be inundated with a bunch of Christmas movies you've never heard of, and each name kind of sounds like a slightly different version of the one before we're talking A Christmas Wish, falling for Christmas, A Christmas Prince, Christmas with you, a brush with Christmas, catering for Christmas. And these are what they refer to as Hallmark Movies in America, which is obviously a nod to the US network that produces many of these films. They're kind of made for TV holiday romcoms. We don't have hallmark over here, but so many of them end up on Netflix, and they do often follow a similar trope. Uh, two people meet in unlikely circumstances, often in a small town. Someone's coming back home escaping their job in the big smoke. Uh, and then, you know, they might butt heads at first but end up falling in love. And ipso facto, Christmas is saved. Now, I have been off the last couple of weeks and inhaling these hallmark movies like they're going out of fashion. Uh, it makes me feel a bit weird now. I've just watched so many of them and I can't even tell which is which anymore. Mel, have we reached the death of the Christmas movie as we know it?
00:23:52
S2: Look, I in some ways, yes, I think there are different types of Christmas films being made at the moment. Like I think every streamer now is kind of it is the battle of the Christmas film. Every streamer is trying to make the Christmas film that gets the most eyeballs, and I think it's become a stock standard on the streaming release calendar around this time of year. But as I was saying earlier, I think as well as seeing the kind of classic hallmark film where it is very predictable and silly and you kind of know what you're getting into. I do think we're seeing some more interesting ones coming out, and it's more because of the kind of politics that are involved in some of them, whether it's class or race or gender. I do think opening up those discussions into Christmas films, when it's done well, it does make a Christmas film more interesting. Um, and some of them are just, I think, a bit more tongue in cheek now, like some of the ones that are out are riffing on the Christmas films of past. Like I do think they're doing something a bit different. I watched Best Christmas Ever on Netflix. Was that on?
00:24:49
S1: You're obviously watching it, correct? Yeah.
00:24:52
S17: Dear friends, family and fellow earth dwellers, life just seems to fly by when you're having a splendiferous time.
00:24:58
S18: Oh, is that the Jenning's holiday newsletter?
00:25:01
S17: It's the most absurd thing ever. I would love to.
00:25:03
S7: Show up at her.
00:25:04
S17: House uninvited and to see the actual truth. Charlotte Sanders Jackie Jennings.
00:25:12
S2: Stars actual Brandy.
00:25:14
S1: Yeah it does. And Heather Graham. This is the other funny thing about these movies. It's always like stars. Someone you're like, huh.
00:25:19
S2: Brandi? I know. And then I looked and she's gotten I think she's got a new album coming out as well. I mean, she's got a Christmas album.
00:25:24
S1: That's that's good.
00:25:25
S2: Jason Biggs as well plays Heather Graham's husband. So the setup is essentially Heather Graham plays this woman called Charlotte, her old college friend. Jackie, who's played by Brandi, you know, seems to have this beautiful, perfect life, sends a postcard every year about how wonderful her life is, and then they end up kind of together on Christmas. They try to tear each other apart, and then they have to build each other back up again. It is a kind of formulaic plot, but I just thought it was really sweet and very sassy and kind of. I enjoyed it. Yeah.
00:25:53
S1: It's weird. I mean, I thought this was one of the crazier ones because the plot, like, these are two friends who end up spending Christmas together because, like, there's a lot of they get snowed in like it was okay.
00:26:04
S2: All right. Are you being your wife now? Here. You said picking holes in the details.
00:26:07
S1: But, I mean, part of the hallmark experiences, that the plot is often so ridiculous, it doesn't matter. But even in this one, I was like, okay, where we're bending here. I did enjoy seeing Jason Biggs back. You know, he's funny.
00:26:19
S2: I knew you would enjoy that.
00:26:20
S1: I think he holds up like he's pretty good. He should get more work. Um, so Jason Biggs, agent, if you're listening to this. Yeah.
00:26:26
S2: Get him, get him on the TV shows.
00:26:28
S1: Um, I thought it was quite fun. Like, again, it was exactly what you expect. Like, it's 80 minutes long. It's barely a movie. It's a long episode of something. Um, and, you know, there are a few laughs. There's, like, the quirky kid. The nerdy kid, the silly kid. Uh, and I guess a kind of conflict. Barely. But this ticked all the boxes in that, like, the plot was crazy. You don't have to think too hard. You can be doing. They can be wrapping presents while it's on and like nothing matters.
00:26:54
S2: Yeah. Best served with some eggnog, I would say. Correct.
00:26:57
S1: Now, one of my favorites from this year. Uh, it's actually currently it was at the time of writing, it was sitting number three on Netflix. It's now dropped down to number six guys. So I mean, hopefully when you're listening to this, it's still in the top ten. It's Catering Christmas.
00:27:09
S19: Catch the second original movie of Great American Christmas Catering Christmas starring Merritt Patterson and Daniel. Listen, these are really good.
00:27:17
S20: Your charm will not work on me.
00:27:19
S21: You think I'm charming?
00:27:21
S20: Wow. You know more about catering than you've let on. I might have.
00:27:24
S21: Done a little bit of research this.
00:27:25
S1: Week. This is absolute. This is like paint by numbers Hallmark Christmas movie. So I'll read you what it's about. A fledging caterer, Molly Frost is hired by Jean Harrison Frost.
00:27:37
S2: Does she make cakes?
00:27:39
S1: Well, she's gotta get hold.
00:27:40
S2: Hold the.
00:27:40
S1: Line. The perfectionist director of the renowned Harrison Foundation to cater this year's annual Christmas gala. Things get complicated. They often do in Christmas films when Molly falls for Jean's nephew Carson, a travel photographer with no desire to take over the family's foundation until his aunt assigns him the task of making sure the catered dinner goes perfectly. So basically, you've got this small town caterer who meets this, you know, photographer from the big city. He's home for Christmas. Uh, they work together. At first they don't get along. Why would they? But then, of course, you know, the magic of Christmas sees them fall in love. It was. It was amazing. Like I couldn't have been more into it. Um, it was so, so bad. Like the production values on this thing. So I think I read it was filmed in two weeks, filmed in Canada, like so many of them are, uh, like on a very tiny budget. You can tell everything's been turned around so quickly. The grandmother Jean, in of her first, like 6 or 7 scenes, her outfit doesn't change. She'd been wearing the same thing for like two weeks. It's it's amazing. Like, I would definitely put it on your list. Uh, it's catering Christmas. Uh, and the best thing is the lead actress, Merritt Patterson. Uh, she's basically like, I think, I don't know, she I think hallmark basically own her. She's done like 7 or 8 Christmas films.
00:28:51
S2: Like, she's like doing the. Winking at the camera. Get me out of here!
00:28:54
S1: No! She's like, please, someone send help! This is like her seventh or eighth Hallmark Channel movie in the last few years. So. Yeah, she's. I mean, she's found her lane and she's sticking to it, so I respect it.
00:29:02
S2: Wow. Sounds like just like the perfect cake. Light and fluffy and delicious to watch.
00:29:08
S1: And then you have too much of it and feel sick after.
00:29:10
S2: I will put forward. Have you seen in your perusal of Christmas films? Did you watch the family switch?
00:29:15
S1: I obviously watched the family switch.
00:29:18
S9: I wish you could be me.
00:29:19
S7: I would love for you to be me for one day.
00:29:21
S5: I would love for you to know what it's like to be. I would kill.
00:29:24
S22: To eat a dozen donuts and just have it burn right off.
00:29:26
S7: Would you take a picture of my family, please?
00:29:28
S23: Everybody say Merry Christmas.
00:29:34
S2: Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emily Meyers, Brady noon. They start as a family. They're kind of falling apart. The mom and dad and the kids. And then one day an astrological event occurs and then they switch bodies firstly so that the parents become the children and the children become the parents. Classic setup. Firstly, why does Jennifer Garner always want to play body switch films? That was the first thing that I could not get over.
00:29:56
S1: I know it's like an agent's like, look, you're a body switch person now. This is your like, people love you in this.
00:30:02
S2: You've mastered this.
00:30:03
S1: Your best when someone else is playing you. So.
00:30:07
S2: Um, uh, I don't like body switch films, so I really. I didn't like this one. I don't like Freaky Fridays. I don't like.
00:30:13
S1: Friday, but.
00:30:14
S2: It throws me. I don't, I can't it's too much for me to handle in a film. And I did not really like this film.
00:30:20
S1: If we're going body switch, I only really like Face Off. I mean, that's more of like a facial transplant film.
00:30:25
S2: But not quite.
00:30:26
S24: Yeah.
00:30:27
S1: No, look, I agree, and this is what's so funny, I think because, you know, the hallmark things are the hallmark movies are like one thing, but there is also a kind of trend of, like, pretty successful actors, like, you know, Jennifer Garner, you know, famous doesn't work a lot, I suppose, but Ed Helms, but we've also had, like Jeannie with Melissa McCarthy and Candy Cane Lane with Eddie Murphy. Like, these are big famous comedic actors, like putting themselves in very, you know, low quality Christmas films. And I think like the for the Stream is like, they must make so much money off these that they're offering these guys insane salaries to do them. And so like we're going to see I guess this will continue to be a Christmas tradition. Yeah.
00:31:04
S2: And I reckon that is one definite trend in this new crop of films is having kind of a landmark actor or a big name Shailene Woodley. Lindsay Lohan was recently in one last year. Like having these big name actors to peg a film to. I think that's kind of something you see consistently. It's like everything is hung off. The idea that people will watch just for this person, not for anything else. Yeah.
00:31:27
S1: Yeah, it's funny. But then like in the in the hallmark space you go through and I was like really crazy amount of Australians appearing in these films. Yeah. Okay. Kind of like mid tier Australian actors. So in catering Christmas we talked about earlier the lead kind of male actor very handsome man. Uh is Daniel listing who's an Australian actor. He's kind of been overseas for a long time. Uh, Rihanna and Phish. Former Home and Away star. She does a bunch of hallmark films. Luke Bracey has done one with Emma Roberts called Holidate like it's. Yeah, it must be if you're a kind of jobbing actor over in Los Angeles come November, December, you'd be like, well, I'm just gonna fly to Canada where they make all these, like, really bad Christmas movies and just hang out until someone calls to me.
00:32:04
S2: Why are they being made in Canada? What's the go there? Is that the setting? Is that the tax write offs?
00:32:08
S1: Yeah. It must be the tax write off. It's cheaper over there. Like the same thing with suits. So like you can this can be New York. So yeah. All right. Well, enough talk of potentially boring Christmas content. Let's get to the good stuff, guys. Impress Your friends is back for another week. Melanie. I feel like you've got something fun. Let's hit it.
00:32:31
S2: Yeah, well, because I knew I would be sick of all this cloying sentimentality. I've gone for a real dark one. Season two of time, which is on binge. Did you see season one? I did see loved it. Ah it's incredible. Season one was Sean Bean and Stephen Graham. Um, Sean Bean played this guy who accidentally killed an innocent man and was in prison. And when he was there, he met Eric McNally, this caring prisoner officer who was trying to protect him and look after people. That was played by Stephen Graham. It was so good. It was very acclaimed. It was the perfect kind of interesting prison drama, kind of a short season. It's back for season two. Stephen Graham still involved in it, but we're centered in a, um, in a female prison this time, where Jodie Whittaker plays this woman who's been, um, arrested for fiddling the lecture with me.
00:33:21
S1: All right. I wasn't expecting that.
00:33:22
S2: I know it comes early in the first episode because they're from the North. Um, it comes early in the first episode where she's like, I've been sent to jail. All I did was fiddled the lecture, and I had to rewind it about four times to be like, did she say, what is she saying? That I had to Google it and fiddle in the lack. It means feeling the electricity meter so she didn't have to pay for her gas.
00:33:45
S1: Ah, anytime you talk about a crime and the word fiddling is involved. Yeah. No.
00:33:48
S2: You don't think it's good? Yeah, but it's now my go to. If I've done something wrong, I'm like, I was called Fiddler on the ledger. Um, anyway, she gets into jail for six months, which is obviously insane. And part of the setup is like the system that has allowed this woman to be sent for jail, and the kind of ramifications for that. She loses, her kids life falls apart and so forth. But, um, in jail, she meets two women, Bella Ramsey, who you might remember from The Last of Us. She plays this heroin addict who finds out she's pregnant. She is so good. I think she is such an actor to watch and is going to be around for a long time, and she is also paired with another woman, um, named Abby, who's played by Tamara Lawrence, who is in there for, um, for matricide. It's a fantastic show. I think the first two episodes are out now and they're coming week by week, but it is so worth watching and I'm really glad it's come back different, but just as strong as the first season.
00:34:42
S1: Yeah, I love the first season and Stephen Graham quietly building like possibly one of the best bodies of work out there, I would say, um, very tense show that. I found it very stressful. Watch. Yeah. Anything prison related I love though, so I'm very keen for that. Uh, my rec this week is one that people have kind of started to get around, but I think it's worth discussing and I personally loved it. It is Leave the World Behind. Yes. Uh, so it dropped on Netflix a few days ago. It's, uh, based on the novel of the same name by Roman Alarm, and basically it's kind of a post-apocalyptic end of the world tense psychological thriller, uh, which is several of my favorite genres just stuffed into one sentence. Directed by Sam Esmail, it stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, and Kevin Bacon. Like, I really love the setup of this. Julia Roberts plays this kind of like, uppity New Yorker, almost like a Karen type, if we can use that term. She's married to Ethan Hawke. Um, they, you know, she books this beautiful house on Airbnb in Long Island, takes her kids. They're, uh, having a great time. And then in the middle of the night, knock on the door, and, you know, there is Mahershala Ali, and it's his house, and he's returned home because there's been this nationwide blackout. And, you know, he needs somewhere safe to stay. Julia Roberts is inherently skeptical of him. Um, you know, she's kind of a bit, if we're being honest, confused by this black family turning up in the middle of the night. She, you know, she's kind of wearing it on her sleeve, how she feels. And then it goes from being, you know, what you think is going to be like a kind of. Is this like a cat and mouse thriller to being this much wider post-apocalyptic thing, all these strange occurrences going on, you know, around the United States. And the great thing is that the whole time you never really know what's going on. Um, a few really good jump scares, but also very, very fun trying to figure out where this is headed. Uh, and then. Yeah, a very, a very fun, uh, and controversial, I would say ending, but that's on Netflix now. It was in cinemas a couple weeks ago, but Netflix have dropped it. Definitely worth a watch. And I think a really good one for like, you know, lots of people are on holidays now. Spend a couple of hours doing this and you're like, yeah, okay, that's time well spent.
00:36:37
S2: Yeah, I'm gonna put this on the list. And I am loving like great stacked cast and loving Julia Roberts in this kind of. I feel like she's having a bit of a renaissance lately in a lot of films and always fun.
00:36:47
S1: Yeah, I'm a big Julia Roberts fan, but yeah, she's doing some really cool stuff now. So yeah, that's Leave the World Behind on Netflix now.
00:36:52
S2: Suitably impressed. Yes.
00:36:54
S1: Well, that's it for our festive theme pod. Uh, we'll be back next week with a whole bunch of other stuff for you by. This episode of The Drop was produced by Kai Wong. If you enjoyed listening to today's episode of The Drop, make sure you follow us on your favorite podcast app. Leave us a review or better yet, share the episode with a friend. I'm Thomas Mitchell. See you next week.
