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Haul Out the Holly
44 Plays11 days ago
Tis the season friends! It's the grand kick-off of 2025's Go Get Your Ho Ho Ho's!! And what a perfect way to start than with the very bland, very low stakes Christmas Classic 2022's Haul Out The Holly. Emma and Katie chat all things Hallmark with this Lacey Chabert vehicle. How did this movie spawn 2 separate sequels?! You'll have to tune in to find out!
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Transcript
Morning Banter and Thirsty Thursday
00:00:02
Speaker
Good morning, Kitty. Good morning, Emma. Yeah. Is that how we're starting now? yeah I mean, it it is a morning. Yeah. It is. i don't know if it's a I mean, some might say it is a morning of great importance.
00:00:23
Speaker
it? Because... Yeah. Because...
00:00:28
Speaker
It's Thirsty Thursday. That's what knew you were going for. It's a Christmas miracle. I also love the fact that Charlie texted you Happy Hump Day yesterday.
00:00:40
Speaker
He's done it multiple occasions. I just ignore him. I don't respond. No one would encourage that kind of behavior. That's what I find works the best with Charles.
00:00:52
Speaker
When in doubt, just... Shut him out?
Paddington Musical and YouTube Frustrations
00:01:03
Speaker
You know, have you seen the footage of the Paddington musical, Bear? No. oh No, I don't have social media. I haven't seen anything. Oh, Katie. Oh, Katie. Oh, Katie. Oh, my God. You're going to lose your mind because you're going to cry. like They're doing a stage musical?
00:01:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, and the puppets in it are ah phenomenal. um I have to show this to you, and I'm going to send it to you right now, um because I need to watch you watch it live on the pod. um We'll probably cut this out, though, right?
00:01:39
Speaker
I mean, you're going to start crying. I'm not going to start crying. You're going to start crying. I'm definitely not going to here's the other thing. Like, this won't work. You like you sent me something, i link on Instagram the other day. I don't have Instagram. I deleted it. Oh, so you can't watch it? Hold on. Hold on I can find i can find i can find a YouTube link. I can find a YouTube link. This is a great use of our time.
00:02:01
Speaker
Paddington the musical. Okay. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Yep. Here we go. Here we go. Okay. Yeah, you sent me some other like K-pop Demon Hunters thing and I just, yeah, i can't I can't watch that. Did you just go, ha ha ha ha, LOL? I don't think i I was going to say something and then you sent something else and we started talking about that instead. okay.
00:02:22
Speaker
Okay, fine. gotta watch ads. God damn it! This is great content. two big I gotta watch two ads. Two ads? What is the world coming to Remember when YouTube was free?
00:02:38
Speaker
um me to meet you it's very nice to meet you Jesus a person.
00:02:48
Speaker
his little whiskery facial expressions are remotely controlled by a second actor <unk> also doing the voice um'm having a little moment here take your time it was even treated to a marmalade sandwich is there a trial that would stare or just a smart person you've got a small person And for the show's songwriter, McFly's Tom... Yeah, that's it. That's it. real I just need you to see Paddington. ohji to holy shit. kill for this bear.
00:03:17
Speaker
Okay, well, I'll watch rest of that later. That's incredible.
Film Critiques: Timothée Chalamet and Robert Zemeckis
00:03:21
Speaker
Why? Like...
00:03:25
Speaker
we met okay well i'll watch the rest of that later yeah that's incredible why like yeah it for So but obviously that, okay, we're going to cut that out. We're going to cut that out I don't know. feel like the listeners. This is your hit and you love to not cut things out. this but The listeners love love to hear about Paddington.
00:03:49
Speaker
I don't know if that's true. the It's a video of an and an incredible animatronic. like suit this person is, is wearing that has that is facial expressions remotely controlled by, by somebody offstage.
00:04:03
Speaker
Like that is movie quality. um Yeah. Special effects. Like there's no, like we don't need to cover everything in CGI. You can just, you know, you could just use animatronics have come a long way since the, eight since the nineties. Clearly. Yeah. Obviously.
00:04:21
Speaker
i mean, look at this bear, this fricking bear. i would kill for Paddington. I never saw the third one. Did you see the third one? I haven't seen the third one yet. No. um I hear it's not as good. Well, because the it's not the same writer-director. Oh, yeah. And the second one's so good. Because he made Wonka instead.
00:04:40
Speaker
Oh, that was a choice. Wonka's good. Have you seen it? No, I just don't like the Chalamet. You don't like the boy? Why don't you like the boy? i don't know. Timothee Chalamet annoys me. He's going to win an Oscar this year.
00:04:55
Speaker
For what? For the ping pong movie. Have you not seen the trailer for it? For the ping pong movie? Yeah. What fucking ping pong movie? didn't win for Bob Dylan, and so he's going win for the ping pong movie?
00:05:10
Speaker
Yeah, it's called... um ah What is it called? It's it's called Mikey Extreme or something like that? Hold on. Oh, Jesus fucking Christ. It's... um It looks really good. Marty. Marty Supreme. Marty Supreme. Yeah, it's one Safdie brother. And it's this movie about a ping pong guy set in the 50s. It looks really good.
00:05:42
Speaker
Okay. and And it's not about um ah Forrest Gump? no no because forrest gump is a bad movie that everyone thinks is good what forrest gump when's last time you saw forrest gump emma a while la ago but everyone knows is boomer nostalgia trash that again i saw when i was like seven years old and thought was good yeah and is not it is a
00:06:15
Speaker
It's a bad movie, just like all of Robert Zemeckis' movies after 1990. Katie will be taking no questions. I mean, sure, I'll take questions. Um...
00:06:29
Speaker
there are some shooters for hanks There are some shooters for the Brad Pitt movie about World Allied um that people seem to like. I haven't seen that one. So maybe maybe Robert Zemeckis has made ah some good movies. Also Flight, which I haven't seen. i haven't seen that.
00:06:46
Speaker
But of of all the Robert Zemeckis movies I've seen, which is most of them, i know i think I think Back the Future Part II maybe is the last good one. When to death did Death Becomes Her come out before after that?
00:07:00
Speaker
I don't remember. I want to say, I actually don't know. Death Becomes Her is 92. Okay, so Death Becomes Her. um ah my I believe, my opinion was the last good Robert Zemeckis movie. And everything after that was trash.
00:07:17
Speaker
All right. Fine. um Trash. Contact is good. kind Okay. Contact. Okay. Trash. Trash.
00:07:29
Speaker
Famously featured in today's film. An annoying person who has strong opinions about things. Famously featured in today's movie. In today's film.
Holiday Movie Tropes and Hallmark Critiques
00:07:44
Speaker
That's right. You guessed it.
00:07:46
Speaker
This is go get your ah ho ho hoes. And yes, I will be redoing the intro to have some sleigh bells. that Some sleigh bells. Yeah, we have to. We have to have um go get your ho ho hoes.
00:07:59
Speaker
ah This this is the podcast where Emma and then Katie. I don't know. Go get your ho ho hoes implies that we are the hoes, I think. don't think that's just OK, fair enough.
00:08:10
Speaker
Go get your ho ho ho's. Or it could be like, go get your ho. Ho ho. That's what I'm saying. yeah That like, we're the ho's.
00:08:23
Speaker
But how is that any different than saying go get your girl? Well, it's pejorative, isn't it? like
00:08:31
Speaker
How is ho different than girl, Emma Palizza, 2025? In a way. um in a playful way Some would say a girl is how is ah pejorative also. There are some there's some women who are like, don't call me girl. I'm a woman.
00:08:46
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, we could say go get your Mrs. Clauses, but that seems a bit mouthfully. That's mouthfully, yeah. But i call I call men boys. Like, I call all men boys. Yeah, because all men are boys.
00:08:58
Speaker
Right. all And all holiday women are ho-ho-hos. Okay. Okay.
00:09:07
Speaker
So that's nine minutes we can just throw out and we're going to start hard right here. Yep. yep That's the, ah or I mean, we could say go get your Holly, but I don't like that. I don't like that. I didn't like that. Her name wasn't Holly in this. I feel like her name should have been Holly. i think that was That was a missed opportunity. Anyways, guys, you guessed it. This is, this is the podcast where Emma and Katie go back home to Salt Lake City, Utah.
00:09:32
Speaker
Question mark. Hallmark. Hallmark.
00:09:38
Speaker
Because ah our stupid boyfriend we broke up with and we have nowhere to go for the holidays. So we go back home to our super intense Christmas loving parents' cul-de-sac, which is obsessed with Christmas. And there's a very strict HOA bylaws it put in place about Christmas And our parents decide to bail on us for Florida. And so we have to then find the meaning of Christmas.
00:10:11
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. Also, we're both Lacey Chabert. I'm Emma. And I'm Katie. And this movie is probably what's going to happen to me this Christmas.
00:10:23
Speaker
You're going to go back home to your ah to your holiday cul-de-sac in Salt Lake City and then have to take over decorating the house because your parents bailed on you to go to Florida? Yeah, except much sadder. Except it's just going to be me and my mom and ah there will be no decorations. There will be no decorations. if It'll be real sad.
00:10:44
Speaker
So you won't have a hot HOA guy coming around being like, your nutcracker needs to be taller than nine inches. Yeah.
00:10:56
Speaker
That's not what he said, is it? It's just what I thought. No, but my Nutcracker being longer than nine inches, i i just, there's such such a world of jokes that opened up as soon as you said that. As soon as it came out of my mouth. I was overwhelmed by choice and couldn't commit to any of them.
00:11:24
Speaker
I mean, do you think his nutcracker is longer than nine inches? Well, his wouldn't be a nutcracker, would it? Nutcracker is vagina, clearly. see, I'm i'm envisioning...
00:11:41
Speaker
envisioning the little statue as a replacement for a penis. Oh, sure, sure, sure. And I was trying... i haven't measured the depth of my vagina, who has...
00:11:53
Speaker
But nine inches seems a lot. That seems very deep, but I'm also not a gynecologist. Correct.
00:12:04
Speaker
And I'm not going to test. Well, I mean, I know that it like gets bigger, you know, like it it it yeah stretches to accommodate. But um yeah, so we've gotten really personal right off the top here. Yeah. um I mean, I still like to believe that the nutcracker innuendo was that his penis was a nutcracker.
00:12:25
Speaker
But yeah, but why would it be cracking? Like, I feel like... it wouldn't be cracking. would just be like the little statue because it's festive. I don't know. To me, the term nutcracker implies something that receives a penis. Not necessarily like... It makes more sense when you explain it.
00:12:41
Speaker
ah Mine made absolutely no sense. It was just my sick, sick brain. Right, right, right. I hope this is the first episode my mom decides to listen to. Merry Christmas.
00:12:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:55
Speaker
What movie are we watching today, Katie? I forgot. um It's called... Today, we are watching Hall Out the Holly.
00:13:06
Speaker
um Some Hallmark nonsense from- Yes, it is. 2022. Yes, it Directed by McLean Nelson, ah who has written a lot of holiday-themed Hallmark movies, or has directed a lot of holiday-themed Hallmark movies, including two sequels to this.
00:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say this movie has spawned two sequels. And guess what? Emma and Charlie, we've seen them all. Okay. Are they good? They are like this. Okay. Written by Andy Sandberg. i want to point out that is Andy Sandberg and not Andy Samberg.
00:13:49
Speaker
yeah also Also, Jerry Herman gets ah credit for writing the song ah um Need a Little Christmas. The Holly. It says based on the song. And like, no, it's not. not No, it's not. There's literally no. you i don't know if. the I don't know if the Herman estate is very litigious, but to me, I feel like you can name a movie after a lyric in a song without having to give the, without, without the the writer of the song, getting a screenplay credit. I think that's the first time I've ever seen this. I mean, and to be, to be honest, like,
00:14:29
Speaker
It's a Christmas song. Like, I feel like chris if you write a Christmas song, that is putting that Christmas song into the ether of, um at like, the free domain. Like, that's Christmas song. I mean, it's from MAME, the musical. So it's not explicitly, like, a Christmas. Well, I know you know, but I'm telling our listeners. Um, I'm, I, so it's not like exactly like it was written to be a Christmas standard, but I guess a lot of, you know, a lot of standards are for musicals. I'm trying to think, are there other Christmas songs that originated in musicals?
00:15:01
Speaker
Well, I know there's Turkey Lurkey Time, um,
00:15:07
Speaker
Yes, that Christmas song. That Christmas song. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is from Vivian St. Louis. Vivian St. Louis. Yeah. I mean, White Christmas.
00:15:19
Speaker
So the the play and the movie White Christmas are, um that's a jukebox musical of Irving Berlin songs. Did White Christmas originate in a musical before that? Or was it just released as a Christmas think it just released as a Christmas song. It's the best selling song of all time. Did you know that?
00:15:35
Speaker
I did not know that. Good job, Irving Berlin. Um... Song. there I mean, it's fine for us to take these digressions because um we don't there's not much to talk about.
00:15:49
Speaker
it was written for It was written for Holiday Inn, of course. I forgot about Holiday Inn. It was written for a movie. yeah got a Holiday Inn, real rough watch. Really? Really?
00:16:01
Speaker
Have you seen it? No, I've never seen it. i just know they revived it. There's full on blackface in Holiday Inn. Oh, woof. I just know they revived it for the for Broadway and they had a really cool dance sequence where they danced with um jump ropes or they tap danced with jump ropes and it was really cool. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. um I mean, i'm I'm assuming that. I think they used that to replace the blackface.
00:16:22
Speaker
yeah Well, even the, I think if you stream it, it's cut out at this point. Oh, that's good. Because like White Christmas has the menstrual number, which has no black face, but it's all about like, boy, I sure love menstrual shows. Remember how great they were? It's a little uncomfortable, but. And you just go.
00:16:41
Speaker
you know For like three minutes and then it's over and then you move on to something else. Yeah. And then they go, remember World War two Yeah, yeah it gets really jingoistic at one point, but like, you know, they'd been through a lot. So we're going to give them a break on the- um Yeah, yeah. Remember when all of my friends died and we're the only ones that survived? So now this is the only bit that brings us happiness?
00:17:03
Speaker
It's a little bit like that, yeah. Yes. It's a lot like that. I love White Christmas so much. We went last year to the um the music box sing-along showing of it. It was very fun.
00:17:15
Speaker
Nice. Nice. There's a really good production of it that um just took pictures at the train that I work at. but The Christmas train that I work at, they did promo pictures at the Essex Steam train. um And one of our stage managers is the production manager, I want to say, on it. um But it's at Goodspeed Musicals.
00:17:35
Speaker
ah For White Christmas. Yeah, for White Christmas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or were they doing the snow? Yeah, yeah, they were in that. and Yeah, taking pictures outside but the train, like of them outside the train and then like the snow in the dining car. It was really cute. on One of the examples. They've also filmed a Hallmark movie on that train and um I might make us watch it.
00:17:56
Speaker
Oh dear. Okay, two Hallmark movies for your choices. All right. um Sounds like Katie's got to step it up with the quality. I'm going to have to pick a movie that says the word fuck because I can't handle all this.
00:18:09
Speaker
tvg salt lake city nonsense um too much uh yes so um this movie is written by andy sandberg um who who has written a a couple of other hallmark movies and then notably not the sequels to this so he has very few credits actually yeah that's surprising yeah um what does that sound Oh, sorry. They're getting rid of a tree.
00:18:41
Speaker
oh okay. Well, hopefully the noise gate will kill that. Yeah. um Yeah, so we open on ah i what must be, because Lacey Chabert is 45 years old. We need to point that out.
00:18:53
Speaker
Yes, And I'm not sure how old this character is supposed to be, but it, the opening bit when she's a kid, she's like narrating, like, I grew up on the most Christmassy street in the world. Yeah. And it's all due to my parents. um Yeah. Okay. Everything but me.
00:19:11
Speaker
yeahs it's They don't really get into any of that. Um, This little girl wakes up on Christmas and she's like, oh my God, it's Christmas, which is like, this was me when I was a kid. Like I yeah love Christmas so much. um I still do. um But ah yeah, when I was a kid, I was, I was like just obsessed with, with Christmas and decorations and um like wrapping presents. Also, like I am an excellent present rapper, by the way. Just. I'm not surprised by that fact. And yeah in any way, shape or form, not surprised. Yeah.
00:19:43
Speaker
I, uh, yeah, I have, I have wrapped, um, many, many, uh, friends presents over the years. Um, just because it's, I don't know, for whatever her reason, it's something that I'm good at. I mean, I did get a lot of practice when I worked at, um, bookstores and stuff, but. Yeah, that'll do it.
00:19:59
Speaker
m Um, yeah. But yeah, so she wakes up, she runs down, and her parents are leaving. Yeah. They're like, all right, we've got too much stuff to do. We've got to get downtown to to run this Christmas event and this Christmas event. And she's like, well well, can we can we open presents? Yeah. you're like They're like, no, we don't have time.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah, they're like, no, no, no We got we gotta to go make Christmas magic for everybody else except for you, child. There's this like undercurrent to in this movie um that's completely unexplored because it's a Hallmark movie. Yeah. Of like why these people are the way they are. And we of course never get into any of that because it's the most conflict free tissue paper of a movie.
00:20:41
Speaker
There's literally, as I was rewatching this, I think this is the second time I've seen this movie, maybe the third. Um,
00:20:50
Speaker
It's not that it's particularly good. It's just a real dumb holiday movie that you can put on in the background. And it's just dumb fun. ah But like, as I was watching it again, i was like, wow, there's literally no stakes in this musical, in this you know in this movie. There's no stakes.
00:21:11
Speaker
Nothing at all. There's no stakes. There's no conflict. There's no conflict. It's just, I mean, and I've seen plenty of Hallmark movies and this is This is a particularly thin one. Like even on the on the on the on the axis of of Hallmark Christmas movies, there's no conflict.
00:21:31
Speaker
Yes. And ah believe or not- Everyone is nice and likes each other and gets along and is friends. Yeah. And if they don't, it's resolved in like five minutes. Yeah.
00:21:43
Speaker
the the The third act, like, misunderstanding thing is maybe one of the worst ones I've ever seen in any rom-com. We'll get to it. Okay.
00:21:54
Speaker
We'll get to it. We'll save it as a little surprise. Yeah. So we start off, we have her parents who um ah are played by a lady that I don't know. ye And Peter Jacobson, who is one of our most Jewish actors. yeah um It's very strange.
00:22:13
Speaker
thought he was in this Christmas movie. He's from Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Yeah, he's in Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He's from a House. Like, I know him mostly from House. And, again, I'm, you know, the thing about House, House is a terrible person, and comments on him being Jewish constantly. Like, that's his character. He's Jewish doctor. Yeah.
00:22:34
Speaker
So it's just very funny to see him in this role for whatever reason in this Mormon Christmas movie. Right? Because you have to assume everyone in this cul-de-sac is Mormon.
00:22:45
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's Salt Lake City and it's Hallmark. i mean, that's the thing. Also, there's no actor of color in this entire movie except for an extra at the at the the festival at the end. Yeah.
00:22:56
Speaker
that's That's a lie. That extra is also in their board meeting at the beginning. And also part of Santa's Secret Service. That extra has no lines, but they threw him in for diversity.
00:23:09
Speaker
That is. It's very, very light. um ah well If you look at the cast magazine yeah if you look at at the cast on it's extremely white. um it's got from Reba.
00:23:23
Speaker
ok I've never seen Reba. Is that is that that is it the blonde lady? I'm just assuming based on yeah who would be on Reba.
00:23:35
Speaker
yeah She's also in the new Reba sitcom. Oh, she must be friends with Reba. Good for her. Well, they spent a good like five years on a TV show show together. Sure. um Wait, how long did Reba actually so um So, let's do a sidetrack on Reba.
00:23:54
Speaker
na Reba. Is Reba playing herself in the sitcom? Is it like... I have no idea. have you seen Reba? re but Oh, yeah. She don't remember if she plays herself.
00:24:08
Speaker
oh Oh, on the TV show i thought were talking about the new one. um On Reba, Reba plays a woman, ah a right-headed woman named Reba. She doesn't play Reba McIntyre. She plays Reba Schmackintyre. And it's all about how um her husband cheated on her and remarried a younger, blonder lady who's the This lady. and ah And also her daughter gets knocked up and her daughter's in high school. And so it's about her her dealing with all of that. And it's a multi-cam sitcom.
00:24:43
Speaker
Yep. That's a dark premise for a multi-cam sitcom. It's about a single mom of three navigating life in a Houston suburb. And I started watching it because it started when I moved to a Houston suburb. And I was like, well, that makes sense.
00:24:57
Speaker
So I'm going to do that.
00:25:01
Speaker
Nothing against Reba McIntyre. um Just never got into that. um So yeah. There's, yeah, so this flashback is like, it should be like the mid 80s, but it looks like it's 2022. Yeah. They just took away all the technology. Yeah. um So then we cut to her. um Oh, no, no. we We see we meet the little boy. That's her friend. She gets a Polaroid camera for Christmas. That's the one present she's allowed to open before they go downtown. And she meets an irritating little nerd. um Oh, and it should be said that she is given this Polaroid camera only so that she can be the photographer for the Christmas carnival. So again, in her work parents put her to work.
00:25:52
Speaker
um And she meets an annoying little nerd who is talking about he got a set of Frank Gary Legos, which that's funny. um Frank Gary Legos is funny. He likes architecture.
00:26:03
Speaker
Well, and Frank Gehry is famous for like no no no straight edges, right? It's all curves and stuff. So it would be difficult to do a Frank Gehry Lego set. Only an architecture nerd would know that.
00:26:15
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um But also they didn't have, this was the mid 80s, they didn't have like specialty Lego sets in the mid 80s. So that was a lie. Anyway.
Christmas Gifts and Real Estate Theories
00:26:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:29
Speaker
And so they're friends and they take a Polaroid picture together. And then we jump forward to the modern day where she has the worst boyfriend in the world. She is, get she bought like way too many presents for him. And he's like, yeah, I'm not big on presents. And she's like giving or getting. He's almost like giving.
00:26:46
Speaker
Yeah. And she they've had this conversation several times, like at her birthday. and For years and they live together. And like, this is new information to her somehow. Yeah.
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah. This guy sucks. Yeah. He sucks so much. i ah And he's like, well, just make a list. And she's like, I'm not making a list. I'm not seven. And I very much agree with that. I um i really don't like to make Christmas lists, especially for like significant others. Like if they don't know what to get you, that's on them.
00:27:14
Speaker
I like being surprised. I love being surprised. I, I find that it takes out some of the magic when you make a list and you just give it to someone and be like, get me these things. Because then like, where's the magic of the surprise of like, Oh, you thought of me in this way.
00:27:29
Speaker
yeah like I'll make a list for family. yeah Um, especially like, cause like my aunt, like I you know barely talked to her, but she gets me a Christmas present every year and it's easy. Like, but she doesn't really know me. You know what mean? Yeah, exactly. it's easy just to like, she has a list that she can get something off of and that's fine. And like, if there's something really, really, really, really want, I'll like tell Charlie. But, like, I'm not going to make a list of things of only get me these things.
00:27:59
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. um But, yeah, it's... it's ah And then you can you can always, like, have, a like ah like, a short list of things. And then, like, you know... Yeah. They can get you one thing off of there. And then also, like, something, like... Exactly. You know more intimate. So... Anyway. um This guy is the worst. He is not interested in her or ah Christmas at all. He can barely take his...
00:28:23
Speaker
virtual reality set off long enough to talk to her. Yep. Um, I said that he looks like if someone put the handsome Squidward filter on Will Forte. Fair.
00:28:37
Speaker
Yeah. Something about his face. I don't know. It's got like a, a Will Forte ish quality to it. Yeah. I that. I get that. They've been dating for years. She breaks up with him on the spot because of this. And he's like, okay, get out. Because when... What what what was it? She was somewhere... Oh, yeah. she When she went to her family reunion that he didn't want to go to And she was like, yeah, I'm still upset about that. um and He was like, well, it lined up when we had to renew our lease for our apartment. And I kind of sort of just put my name on the lease. And so it's in my name.
00:29:14
Speaker
I don't know if you can do that. You can't do that. Charlie, that was the first thing Charlie said. He goes, that's not legal. That's how that works. I don't think that's legal. I think if she was going to be off the lease, there'd have to be some kind of agreement there. Exactly.
00:29:30
Speaker
Anyway, ah so she calls her parents and is like, um I guess I'll just go on vacation or something. Oh, yeah. Like like many characters in a rom-com, she is somehow rich without having a job. um she says that She has a job. She does copy editing.
00:29:45
Speaker
we know We don't see her work. Not one day. um She says that she's a freelance copy editor. Which clearly pays an absorbent amount. In Salt Lake City it does.
00:29:59
Speaker
i just don't. Well, we don't know where she lives because she had to fly to get there. though she drives. Oh, no, you're right. You're right. She drives. She drives. She drives. So I imagine that like, let's see. She lives in Pertholo or something. Yeah, exactly. she lives.
00:30:15
Speaker
yeah Salt Lake City is beautiful. um I've never been. um i have i have a um a couple friends who live out west. And from what I understand, ah Utah is is gorgeous. I'd love to go somewhere.
00:30:29
Speaker
Yeah. Also here, it's absolutely beautiful. Yeah. So there, yeah, so it is Salt Lake City. We hard cut to this mountain and I was like, Jesus. This movie is shot on location on this little street, which I assume is a Hallmark backlot or not even a backlot. It seems to be cul-de-sac that I'm guessing Hallmark owns and shoots all of their movies on. Because one thing that they do, which I love to see in a movie, and they get a lot of mileage out of it, is that the exterior and interior of the house is shot on location. Like, it's not a set. It's very rare in a movie that the interior and exterior of a house, even if you do shoot it on location, the exterior will be different. Because they move the camera in and out of the windows and doors, which is production value. And I like to see that. It's fun. Yeah.
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah. It's nice. I mean, I also have a theory that it could also be like a Hallmark executive's neighborhood. and I guess. Because they're all mansions. They're all like McMansions. We don't know what her parents do, but it is it is a mansion that she lives in. Every single house on this cul-de-sac is a McMansion. It's very affluent Salt Lake City suburb um that, my guess is, Hallmark owns all the houses and shoots all their movies there. That's what I would do if I owned Hallmark. Yeah. I mean, well...
00:31:58
Speaker
Here's actually um the first time. Emma's fun facts. Emma's fun facts. When the parents are, quote unquote, on vacation and in a pool and they like are FaceTiming Lacey Chabert, it was actually the backyard of the house that ah they filmed in. That makes sense. The movie was filmed at the end of summer. So the snow is fake, which isn't a surprise if you've watched this movie. Yeah. It is not a surprise that this movie was shot in summer. It looks like it. Yes. Yes. We'll get there. um ah It is the fakest you've ever seen in this movie. Yeah.
00:32:31
Speaker
So she's there on Evergreen Lane. Her parents are immediately leaving. ah They're moving to Florida and they're going to go, they're going looking for houses right at Christmas, which seems like they love Christmas more than anything. Why would they schedule? Why would they schedule? Also like,
00:32:49
Speaker
You're not going to be able to like go look at houses on Christmas. Like the realtors aren't going to be like showing houses like on. I mean, anyway, I mean, I guess like as that you've that they've got like five days before Christmas, but still.
00:33:03
Speaker
But still, I mean, like I, I think there is an ulterior ah ulterior motive in all of this. I guess, but they had it planned long before because none of their Christmas decorations are up or anything. No. Okay. The premise of this movie makes little to no sense. Okay. This is why you need to see the other sequel.
00:33:21
Speaker
This is why you need, this is why you need the rest. The rest. Is it a prequel? Is it about her parents? is It is not a prequel. It is a sequel. Um,
00:33:31
Speaker
And i we should point out this this is called Hall Out the Holly Get Lit or something like that. get lit And then the third one what that just came out this year was Hall Out the Halloween.
00:33:43
Speaker
I feel like I'd be more interested. Are they building like a like a haunted house? Because I feel like I'm more interested in that. um hall The Halloween is fantastic because it goes back into the lore of Evergreen Lane and why they are so obsessed with Christmas and not Halloween. And it's because ah it was ah because Lacey Chabert gets scared by um friend in middle school who like scares the bejesus out of her. So everyone in the neighborhood ices out that family and they have to move.
00:34:15
Speaker
Oh, dear. And then and also it has to do with like the last Halloween she spent with her grandma. And so her grandma's kind of haunting her. i don't know. they end up celebrating Halloween and having a great time. um And it has the chick from Halloween town. Okay. Okay.
00:34:33
Speaker
ah But yeah, so, okay. So, if you notice in the very first shot that we see with the parents, and they're on the phone with her, and they're, like, talking to her about how she should come home and stuff, there is a Christmas tree there. There is Christmas decorations.
00:34:46
Speaker
All of that is already out. So, it is my theory, and I cannot remember because it has been a minute since I've seen the sequel, if this is, like, actually like legitimately like laid out in the sequel. But they take down all of their Christmas decorations. They had all their Christmas decorat decorations up, and they take everything down so that when she comes there, she has to then...
00:35:11
Speaker
do all of the Christmas stuff and be in charge of all the Christmas stuff so that she can get closer to um neighbor boy. and to this annoying nerd. Yeah, i think it's a matchmaking situation because they like love him. They know he's single. They know that she just broke up with her boyfriend. They think they'd be perfect for each other. So they sort of manipulate this situation um because as soon as they hang up with her, they're like, okay, take down the tree. Take down the tree. And then they...
00:35:39
Speaker
like walkie and their little Christmas walkies, like some sort of thing. i don't know.
00:35:47
Speaker
Yeah. Okay.
00:35:51
Speaker
If you say so. It just, it makes sense. It makes sense. I don't know if it makes sense, but it's that that's something that happens. Steven Tobolowsky is there. um ah He's playing an insane person. i have a question. is he is he Jared's dad?
00:36:12
Speaker
No. That comes out in hollow out the Halloween. Okay. Okay. Because his he his mom is there, but he doesn't have a dad, right? His mom and dad are divorced. His dad's not a part of his family. And his mom is a single mom and she loves her son so much. But then through the three sequels, she starts to get really close to Ned.
00:36:34
Speaker
Okay. All right. fair enough. And then it's a whole storyline in hall the Halloween. Because it seems like at the very end, I feel like they were sitting together or something. I was like, wait, are they together? I didn't know. No, they end up dating and it's a whole thing.
00:36:48
Speaker
Love that. Love that for Stephen Tobolowsky. One of our most deranged character actors. um he's yeah He's playing an insane person in this movie. um ah As kind of is everyone in this town. yeah there Everyone in in this town is insane.
00:37:07
Speaker
um Also, okay, so she gets there and almost immediately she's greeted by this obnoxious nerd, ah Jared, played by Wes Brown, who looks like i wrote a poor man's Ken Marino.
00:37:21
Speaker
um i can see that. I can see that. And apparently he was in True Blood. I don't remember him from True Blood. Who the hell was he in True Blood? I don't know. He was in like seven episodes in season two. he gives out the personality of someone that strictly does Hallmark movies.
00:37:38
Speaker
I mean, he does that now, but, uh, but apparently back in the, in the, in the aughts, he was in a true blood. um she has a friend and a daughter who she introduces to everyone, which is weird because they live there. So I don't really get that.
00:37:52
Speaker
Don't they like also, didn't they go to school together? Yeah. So she should, I don't know why that she doesn't know everybody. Yeah. But she's too poor to live on Evergreen Lane. Her friend's too poor. Oh, okay. Well, she she gets cited by um Jared for insufficient Christmas decor, which seems to me um like ah religious persecution. Yep.
00:38:18
Speaker
what is Yeah, a little bit. does what what Yeah, there's a homeowners and so association, which he is the president of which this movie is about HOA hell. That is what this movie is about. This is about the the modern um ah the the modern hell that we live in with HOAs and like tenants boards and stuff.
00:38:45
Speaker
It is, um yeah, so she is required to have all of these Christmas decorations, which like, what there is it all like Christian white people who live in this
Diversity and Movie Critiques
00:38:55
Speaker
neighborhood? Essentially, yeah.
00:38:56
Speaker
It must be. I mean, it is Utah. It is Salt Lake City, a very rich suburb in Salt Lake City. ah You have to imagine that they do not care if anyone is of a different religion.
00:39:08
Speaker
Yeah, clearly. um i guess they're all Mormon. the um Because there's no... I mean, there is... They do sing Joy to the World, which is, like, the one religious Christmas song that always go get gets through, like, in these movies. i don't know you've noticed, but, like, Joy to the World is the go-to explicitly religious Christmas song that will always get sung in these things. I guess because...
00:39:34
Speaker
I don't know. It's just like joy to the world, I guess sounds, uh, the first line of it at least is sound sounds, um, not necessarily explicitly religious maybe. Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:45
Speaker
And then you can just get her off the with the rest of it. You can go joy the world.
00:39:53
Speaker
Let earth receive her King. um who's that King? It's, uh, question. Yeah. Yeah, so there it is a blandly ah non-denominational Christmas, despite you know being explicitly Christian. Yeah, explicitly Mormon.
00:40:11
Speaker
Explicitly Mormon. This is the second Mormon movie we've watched this month. hey what do you know?
00:40:19
Speaker
Again, I want to reiterate that I don't mean any disrespect to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yep, we are strictly we are pandering to the Mormon fans. ah we are After the Twilight episode, I don't see how that's possible because I feel like they'd be mad at me.
00:40:35
Speaker
I also love the fact that my mom didn't know that um that Stephanie Meyer is Mormon and that those books are very Mormon. No, really? That is surprising, especially since she called it her favorite vampire movie, which is... yup she She does agree that with both of us and says that it is our best episode yet. So if you haven't listened to Twilight yet, listen to Twilight. All right.
00:40:57
Speaker
You want to hear me scream? For two hours.
00:41:04
Speaker
It is also our lot. we did We did beat Pride and Prejudice. So Twilight is now, by by a number of 20 seconds, our longest episode. And here's the thing. At least in Twilight, 85% of that episode is about the movie.
00:41:18
Speaker
Oh, that's true. We are pretty on topic. Yeah. yeah yeah Because there's so just quite much to discuss. We spend a good 20, 30 minutes talking about improv. Yeah. Well, there's lots to discuss about improv as well, honestly.
00:41:30
Speaker
oh guess what? so somebody Famously not featured in this film. Somebody left this in the cafe and I ah took it home. How to be...
00:41:41
Speaker
The greatest greatest improviser. Jesus Christ. And there's notes in it. And I was like, oh, ah this will be funny. I'm going to read this. But then didn't. Yeah. yeah Yeah. I mean, here's here's a fun fact.
00:41:55
Speaker
Just, a I don't know. Yes and. It's a little more complicated than that. But yeah, that's basically. Yeah. What you want to go out on. Yeah.
00:42:05
Speaker
Sure. This is you being a trained improviser and me being not at all. Yep. Yep. And also just be dumb. Just say, just say dumb shit.
00:42:16
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Be funny. Um, and, uh, stick to the parameters. Yeah. Yeah. Stick, stay in the scene. Don't go out crazy. But like, if something pops in your head, just say it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:30
Speaker
Well, here's the thing. be funny. Don't try to be funny. That's the thing. You just have to be funny. Yeah. Yeah. Which is just something that you're born with as someone that is just naturally funny. Same.
00:42:45
Speaker
I don't know i Can you teach someone to be funny? it's a Humor is so hard to describe and understand. i don't know if it's necessarily something you can teach. You can teach someone better timing for sure. Oh, for sure. And I think that there is there is a wealth in the fact that honestly everyone has a little bit of comedic ability in them. It's just sort of like what specifically that is and do you have the confidence to just sort of lean into it?
00:43:17
Speaker
Yeah. Like I think someone that's super straightforward, if they just say whatever's on their mind and they say it with a serious face, but they don't like mean it, that can be funny. Yeah. Well, that's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. there's um There's different kinds of humor for sure. I think a lot of what being funny is, is being smart and outgoing at the same time.
00:43:40
Speaker
Yes. Because if you're not one of those things, like if you're outgoing and not smart, or if you're smart and not outgoing, I don't really think that equals humor.
00:43:51
Speaker
Yeah. Generally. Agreed. Agreed. And if you don't buy into the joke, then the audience isn't going to buy into the joke. Anyways, that was Emma and Katie. You can't ask for it. um There's one thing. So like the the horrible television show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the Aaron Sorkin um yeah show about Saturday Night Live, which is really bad and no one should watch. Yeah. There is a good line that my my theater director in college pulled from that show.
00:44:20
Speaker
which is there's there's a note scene after they after they did a dress rehearsal of one of the sketches. Sarah Paulson is getting notes from this dress rehearsal of a sketch, and he tell the director tells her, um there was one scene in when you asked for the butter, ah you were asking for the joke, don't do that. And she says, well, what am I supposed to do? He says, ask for the butter.
00:44:40
Speaker
Um, so ask for the butter in, uh, when I was, uh, and then later, you know, I took that as, uh, as kind of ah ah a nice little succinct little line, um, about honesty and comedy, um, which is good for, I think, uh, directors to use, which I used in, in directing shows professionally after that, which is, uh, nice. that's great Yeah. I'll give one point to Aaron Sorkin for that. No other points.
00:45:09
Speaker
So anyways, this movie. This movie. um ah Oh, God. She, for some reason, likes this guy. i can't imagine why. um He fucking sucks so much. like They try to make it out like they're enemies to lovers. like Because he's like beating her down with all these citations. But not enemies. Not really.
00:45:31
Speaker
She doesn't ever dislike him. like They don't have any conflicts. Yeah. It's so um paper thin to use an expression um once used to describe us in this podcast.
00:45:49
Speaker
Paper thin. Paper thin. ah she's so she's like excited. She's like, I'm going to come here and I'm just going to relax and watch Christmas movies and be alone at Christmas, which is the saddest thing in the world to me. Yeah, yeah. ah wants it And ah he's like, actually, you've got to do a lot of work for this thing. And I'm like, you know, it's not relaxing doing a bunch of Christmas decorations. Right. He's like, surprise. Now you're a part of this committee because your parents have sort of like grandfathered you into this and they left. So now no you have to help do all of this.
00:46:23
Speaker
Not any part of this is legal. Like, would not stand up. Otherwise, you're ruining Christmas. Yeah. not a There's not a court in the world that would convict her. Yeah.
00:46:36
Speaker
they ah They light the tree on December 20th, which there is like a lampshaded moment where Stephen Tobolowsky is like, it's awfully late to be lighting the tree. And he's like, yeah, I know we had some problems. I don't know, which is one thing like that. I like that they acknowledge it, but it's yeah very silly in all of these Christmas movies. They have to have like a short time span. So most Christmas movies take place from like December 20th to December 25th. And, and every, nobody puts their tree up until like just like, so many movies, they put their tree up on Christmas Eve, which is crazy. You're done just to going to that up for what? Like two days.
00:47:13
Speaker
No one does that. um ah But but you in a screenplay, you need to have like an economy of time, usually. yeah so Except for um National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation being um a an exemption to that, almost all Christmas movies ah kind of...
00:47:34
Speaker
um Come up with with vague reasons why none of the decorations are done until right before Christmas. Just don't ask too many questions about it. Just don't worry about it. Don't worry. um So they light the tree and he's like, okay, so you're on the HOA board now because your parents were and you have to like be involved in all this like all these Christmas shenanigans. That we haven't planned or done anything for until December 20th. Yes. And they're all happening. And the entire town looks to us for the Christmas spirit because we are the richest cul-de-sac in and all of town. And your parents started this. And so now you have to help.
00:48:12
Speaker
No one has jobs. They're all doing Christmas full time. Exactly. Even though I'm apparently architect guy who can also afford my own mansion in the same cul-de-sac area that my mom also has a mansion.
00:48:24
Speaker
That is true, right? Yeah, he like bought a house next door to his mom. yeah That is creepy. That is so It's creepy. creepy It's so weird and creepy. It's so weird. If you're a 45-year-old, attractive, single man. yeah owns a house alone, never married next door to his mom.
00:48:45
Speaker
yeah That is red flags everywhere. Yeah, and he's obsessed with Santa Claus. I know this is a Christmas movie, but it's only red and no green flags. Yes, only red, no green flags. Yes. And also he's obsessed with Santa Claus. So much so that his doorbell goes ho, ho, ho when you press the doorbell. He's such a freak. He's such a freak. he needs to stay far away from this man. There's a reason that this man has been single.
00:49:09
Speaker
He has a bunch of dead women dressed like Santa Claus buried under his porch. Dressed like either Santa Claus or his mother. Yes. Mrs. Claus slash his mom situation going on.
00:49:24
Speaker
um Yes. um There's a cookie contest with an insane woman I wrote. yeah This is Pamela, who is a She's from Reba.
00:49:37
Speaker
um she is again like everyone it's so hard to just distinguish the characters because everyone's characteristic is they're obsessed with christmas yes um well she specifically is obsessed with like arts and crafting and winning the cooking contest sure she has a phd in arts and crafts that sound real with a minor in what oh in in scrapbooking scrapbooking i think yeah Got a PhD in keeping it real. um That's... ah
00:50:10
Speaker
like, what is happening? But okay. And so she can like whip up a Santa suit in 90 minutes. Yeah. I took so few notes on this. It's a breeze of a movie. I did. wanted it to be more fun than it was. Like I wanted it there to be. You didn't have fun?
00:50:28
Speaker
Well, it's no hot frosty, Emma, which is what I told Charlie last night. and he He said that. it's i want hot frosty i wanted there I wanted it to be... know it's Hallmark, and so it can't be like sexy, yeah But at the very least, there needs to be some kind of conflict in a story to make it interesting. like And i i get that I get a hangout vibe. I get like that people watch these things for comfort. So yeah and I understand that. And i i do I want that sometimes. Again, this is a podcast about rom-coms. I understand comfort movies. And sometimes you just need a movie to put on in the background while you're baking cookies. Sure, sure.
00:51:11
Speaker
um ah I would not put this on again for any reason. Not even Hall of the Holly lit up? Unless you make me watch it, I'm not going to watch it.
00:51:22
Speaker
Or Hall of the Halloween? There's just a ah ah white bread. let's call There's a shortbread lameness to this.
00:51:32
Speaker
like lameness to this That I can't get behind. Like I need there to be. I need it to not be TVG. In different ways.
00:51:44
Speaker
Like. I need. I need there to be friction. at any moment in this movie. Like. Someone needs to like. Sabotage her Christmas decorations. Like because there's a contest. Or like someone needs to like. mean she sabotaged her own. Christmas cookies.
00:52:05
Speaker
There's a, the yeah, I know. Like she used salt instead of sugar in the sugar cookies. Yeah. Okay. They make that a comment all the time, but also salt and sugar look very different guys. No one could, could, could could mistake salt for sugar. Like I just don't buy that. i don't buy that.
00:52:21
Speaker
Um, like flour and baking soda. Maybe. But no flour and baking soda have different textures. Baking powder, baking powder and flour. Baking powder and baking soda.
00:52:36
Speaker
I mean, making Okay, all right. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. None of this matters. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. no None of this matters. um It is... So it's just... It's lame. ah It is the best... It is the best way to describe this for me. And I just need there to be a little bit more... I think friction is the best word um in in a movie to make it interesting. Like...
00:53:02
Speaker
Like we didn't like, um what was the Chad Michael Murray movie we watched last year? oh the Merry Gentleman. Yeah, that we didn't like the Merry Gentleman, but there's, but I like the Merry Gentleman better than this, right? There's there's something, that is, ah it is again, it's a, I think that I like the Netflix model better than the Hallmark model because the Netflix model has a little bit more to it. Yeah, there's a little bit more plot little bit more plot or or or it's not is that the word at not spice in the terms of like a spice in a romance novel but like there's a little bit there's just something more interesting in the plots of those movies to while still being an extreme comfort watch like there's nothing to those movies but there's more to them than this this is the this is the the the the paper is thin of Of any of the movies we've ever watched. The paper is thin. Yes. yeah Because I mean like essentially...
00:54:07
Speaker
All of the things are like solved in 20 seconds. There's no thing. There's there's no, there's there's nothing, there's nothing to solve. It's the, the only point of conflict in this movie really is where, is when she and her boyfriend break up, but she initiates that she's way into that decision. Doesn't regret it.
00:54:25
Speaker
And how, causes no real problems for her in the longterm. And only one in the short term is that she has to go spend time at her parents vast mansion. Yeah. Yeah, by herself.
00:54:37
Speaker
She has this whole giant mansion. Also, it should be said, she then later on at the like end of the movie calls her ex-boyfriend for a favor. um Yeah, so they get along. Exactly. Yeah. yeah you know um So there's a snowman contest and this is this is ridiculous. The most realistic snowman you've ever seen in your entire life.
00:54:59
Speaker
i I thought they were intentionally made out of styrofoam at first. They were so bad. I thought they were supposed to. I've never seen faker-looking snowmen. I thought that this was like, oh, it's like a styrofoam snowman making contest. But it's not. They're supposed to be made out of snow. Yep.
00:55:16
Speaker
They look fully paper. They look like... Yep, this is this is definitely a Hallmark, peak Hallmark Christmas movie filmed in the summer in that even in the wide shots, you can tell it's just white felt that is on the ground. It's not even like potato flakes or anything. it is It's the fakest looking snow I've ever seen. Super fake. Yeah.
00:55:39
Speaker
I mean, I guess they shoot these all the time, but they need to they need to to shoot some stuff. they They shoot in Utah. There's snow on the ground. They should have a longer production post-production cycle and shoot some shit in in the winter and can turn it around for Christmas. like yeah They shot this movie in like July and turned it around by November. and that's i mean I guess they have the the ability to do that, but man.
00:56:03
Speaker
I mean, the like snowballs that they throw and like the few snowball fights literally look like snowballs from like a snow cone machine. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. um They have a big snowball fight, which looks fun. i mean, get again, the the idea of this, and I appreciate this, is they want to incorporate a lot of Christmassy things that people like doing and show adults doing it and having fun, which I i want in a Christmas movie. Yes. Yeah.
00:56:32
Speaker
So there are a lot of events, but there's also, I don't know. I don't know. There's more structure to it. Do you like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? No. You don't like it?
00:56:44
Speaker
I've never seen it, and I refuse to. You've never seen it is wild to me. I don't. It's in that genre of movies, Katie. Interesting. It's that genre of movies. What is the genre of movies?
00:56:56
Speaker
You call it something very insensitive. I call it eighty s for films. a movie? I call it that's insensitive. You say i don't like poor people. Oh!
00:57:13
Speaker
I say I don't like tacky 80s movies. That is not a poor people movie. I don't like 80s movies. I don't like Ernest. I don't like National Lampoon.
00:57:25
Speaker
You don't like Vacation? the the The first one? No, I don't like any of them. wild wait Have you seen it? No, they're all tacky. my god, Emma. they're so good.
00:57:39
Speaker
The first one. Okay, so Vacation is the best one. I think Christmas Vacation is the second best one. The others aren't good and aren't aren't really worth watching. Okay. European vacation is terrible. And the Vegas one is even worse, maybe. um But no, the first one and Christmas vacation are so good. um i don't know why, but something about the 80s film look, like the 80s movie look, just feels so tacky to me. You don't like 80s movies? But you love The Princess Bride. I love The Princess, because it doesn't look 80s. But ironically, I like Heathers. Heathers is probably heather favorite my favorite movies.
00:58:17
Speaker
Don't really like Goonies. Working Girl? No, never seen it. 9 to 5? 9 to 5? No, I've never seen it. Ever! Ever seen 9 to 5? Oh
00:58:28
Speaker
oh my god.
00:58:31
Speaker
don't know. Something about the like the look of an 80s movie just feels tacky to me. um That is so prejudiced of you. um Which is ironic because the 80s was the Reagan era.
00:58:45
Speaker
Yeah. You say I don't like poor people. Well, because I just... When I first made that comment, it was like it was when we were doing... um ah Oh, God. The movie... The Coen Brothers movie.
00:59:00
Speaker
Oh, Raising Arizona. Raising Arizona. And i was like, there's something about like the look of like these 80s movies that like that just sort of like... It feels gross to me. It feels tacky and gross. Well, that movie is about poor people. Yeah.
00:59:13
Speaker
It's yeah, because most of those movies are definitely explicitly not about poor people. um Interesting. Okay. I mean, one of my favorite movies of all time is could be considered 80s rom-com. So we'll we'll see ah how much you break my heart when you don't like broadcast news at some point.
80s Aesthetics and Movie Resolutions
00:59:32
Speaker
I mean, like, don't get me wrong. I love When Harry Met Sally. That's an movie. Yeah, When Met Sally is an 80s movie. Yeah. Yeah. But it like takes New York as the third character and it doesn't feel eighty s I feel like it feels extremely 80s, but...
00:59:47
Speaker
you know there um I love the aesthetic of the 80s. I know you I think that the... I just... I don't know. It's... Borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered 80s. Like, I...
01:00:02
Speaker
Just have this ah this kind of thing for like the the the neon, the vaporwave, 80s aesthetic. And not the politics, of course. Yes, of course. I'm the same way, but like with like the 40s and 50s.
01:00:21
Speaker
Well, I get that too. I have that too. um But there's something about the 80s that I really like. um Do you like Stranger Things? Yeah. i Yes, I do.
01:00:34
Speaker
Because it feels very nostalgia-y. Yeah, I don't know why. i I like Stranger Things. I don't like the fashion. I don't think anyone looks good in it. Oh, no. You haven't seen 9 to 5 is very surprising. We'll have say it for the pod.
01:00:55
Speaker
that is Well, it's not a rom-com. It's like an anti-rom-com. It's about this guy sucks and we're going to get him. Maybe we do anti-rom-com February. Okay. All right. So anyway, back to Christmas. Back to haul out the holly. Back out to haul out the holly. They are hauling out the holly, I suppose. They have a whole thing where everybody shows up at her house and gets all the decorations down and decorates her house for her, which is nice, I suppose. Because again, absolutely no conflict. He keeps writing her these citations. It is like it's an enemies to lovers thing, but he doesn't mean it.
01:01:31
Speaker
And solves all her problems for her and helps her constantly. ye Yep. Yep. Yep. We have, ah therere that she goes to the room and, um oh yeah, so she bonds with Pamela when they're trying to get people for the snowman parade. And Pamela tells the story about, they moved here, she says they moved here five years ago.
01:01:53
Speaker
And then later she's she's looking at her books of photographs and she finds the Polaroid of Pamela. And she even says, Pamela, And I'm like, oh did Pamela lie about moving here five years ago? Is there some kind of... And I think it's just a mistake. yeah i think it's just a mistake. But why does she say her name? The way that she saw the photo and said her name out loud draws attention to it. It's not like they just flipped through it. Like, I could see it being a mistake if she's flipping through maybe the photos. she didn't live in the cul-de-sac. Maybe she lived in the town but didn't live on the cul-de-sac. No, no, no. She says explicitly they moved to this place from a different town. from Because she even names that mentions the name of the town that they lived in, which is far away. used to come from far away because this is like...
01:02:39
Speaker
Well, see, that's what I thought they were doing. thought they were building up some kind of thing like that. But no, I think it's just a i think it's just a mistake. Oh. Because her husband has some horrible job where he's gone all the time. And ah so she's alone. yeah And um do they have kids? i don't think they have kids, do they?
01:03:00
Speaker
They do. They have a daughter. Pamela has a daughter? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. um Oh, you're right. You're right. They have a daughter. You're right. I'm sorry. i was confusing the two the two daughters. They're like the same age. Yeah. Little blonde-headed girls that look exactly alike. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. No, there's two of them.
01:03:23
Speaker
Yes. Because Utah. And you're right. So now we have some very slight conflicts that come in. Yep. He Jared tells her that um he needs to find a Santa because the Santa canceled. Yes. And she's like, I'll find Santa for you. And he's like, oh, great. Thank you so much. That would be a huge help. No, he doesn't say that. His mom lets it. Oh, his mom. His mom says, hey, Jared's really stressed out because he can't find a Santa because his Santa canceled. um So he's just like super stressed out. And so Lacey Chabert is like, okay, well, I'll, I'll help him because, you know, I'm starting to get the feels and he's real cute. So, um so she goes and she like, he is cute.
01:04:09
Speaker
Yeah. And he is cute. And she convinces. she's got little freckles I like that. Yeah, Exactly. And so she convinces her friend's husband to be Santa. And so she tells him and he she goes, hey, just so that you know, I know that you were super stressed out with your Santa canceling, but it's okay. I did all the work for you. I solved this problem for you. i got you a Santa. And Pamela is going to make him a suit. um And instead of being excited, he sort of deflates and goes, okay.
01:04:38
Speaker
Thanks. Okay. Yeah, he gets butt hurt. Yeah, he goes and pouts. She didn't ask him to be the Santa, yeah but he's the one in charge of finding the Santa.
01:04:51
Speaker
Yeah. So it's not, as far as he knows, it's not her decision. Because he doesn't know that her mom asked her to find the Santa. yeah So- He has no reason to be mad that she did this or, or butthurt because yeah he's in charge of picking the Santa. If he wanted to be Santa, he could just be Santa. He doesn't need well i think her permission to be Santa.
01:05:17
Speaker
He didn't know that she was involved though. whole idea is he wants someone to ask him to be Santa. He doesn't want to choose to be Santa. He wants someone to ask him to be Santa.
01:05:30
Speaker
I don't want to make this like, I don't want to be gender essentialist. I don't want to like cause, make gender like more of an issue than it is. But I cannot imagine a woman doing that ever, ever, ever, ever. ever Like that is the most man thing I've ever heard.
01:05:55
Speaker
He is in charge of picking Santa, but he can't pick himself as Santa. He can't. He has to have someone ask him to be Santa. He wants a random person who's not involved in the process, as far as he knows, to ask him to be Santa. Yep.
01:06:12
Speaker
That is like the most like male ego bullshit I've ever heard. i yeah hate that. Yep. um So that is what serves as the third act conflict in this. It lasts ah about two minutes maybe of screen time. Because she calls her mom who's actually in the pool outside. Right. They're supposed to be in Florida. Yeah. And, and go, and she's like, well, honey,
01:06:39
Speaker
he really loves Christmas. And she goes, oh I'm such an idiot. No, she's not an idiot. It's insane to think that he would want her to ask him to be Santa without like, ah it's a, it's a secret thing that he'd made up in his head.
01:06:56
Speaker
He really wants to be Santa. Oh, and it should be said that the Santa that had to cancel was canceled because he sprained his lap. Yeah, which is a ah joke, I guess, that is gross. Doesn't work.
01:07:11
Speaker
Yeah, it's gross. He sprained his lap. That's a dreadful euphemism for something. Right. But anyways, so he ends up being Santa. And Lacey Chabert gets Pamela's husband there, who's played by the boss from Ugly Betty. And, ah you know, everybody's happy. And she he gets caught.
01:07:32
Speaker
He gets caught at an airport. And because Lacey Chabert's ex-boyfriend works for the airlines, she gets him home before the storm or whatever.
01:07:44
Speaker
Whatever. um Doesn't matter. Yeah. and Also, John Travolta's sister is there, we should say. um ah She's like an old. Yeah. She's like the old lady who knows all the like. That's John Travolta's sister? The kids terms. Yeah.
01:08:00
Speaker
I'm assuming she's the one who who says lit in the sequel. um Just based on.
01:08:07
Speaker
I mean, I'm not surprised by that. What does she say? She says like a couple of like um Gen Z terms yeah um for for humor. um And I guess that's funny. um ah What else happens? Oh, she says that she's just a girl standing in front of a boy, which is yeah from Notting Hill, obviously, and is our sign off. Yes, it is. um Asking him.
01:08:33
Speaker
To be Santa Claus. And then everyone's happy. And then it's Christmas. So hold on. Pamela's husband shows up at the Christmas fair. And it gets weirdly dramatic for a minute. ah And then the two of them like embrace. And it cuts to her friend's family and the little girl's watching them and the husband covers his little girl's eyes, which I assume means that Pamela and her husband started fingering each other in the street. That's the only possible way. Or it's so Mormon that he can't allow his child to see elongated kissing.
01:09:06
Speaker
two Two married adults kissed. Yeah. um No, they were definitely fingering each other. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Her parents come home on Christmas anyway. Which is why I think it was all a ruse.
01:09:21
Speaker
They give her the keys to the house and is like, you can live here. And it's like, well, yeah, I assume so. i assume at the very least you would sell me the house. She's like, might buy a house on the lane. And they're like, yeah, that's reasonable. We're going to give you this house. We're going give you this for free. This is why everyone here, this is why you have so much money because we pay for it all.
01:09:41
Speaker
Yes, um ah they're extremely rich. um With no reasoning as to why. We don't know what they do. i something Something very lucrative, I'm sure. um ah he um He shows up and she's like she gives him a citation that says, kiss me, and then they kiss. And that's that's pretty cute, I guess. Yeah, and that's pretty cute.
01:10:01
Speaker
yeah And that's Hall Out the Holly. That is Hall Out the Holly. other thoughts, feelings, questions? I don't know. um ah It was fine.
01:10:17
Speaker
It was ah what a way to start the Christmas season. Ho, ho, ho.
Upcoming Movies and Listener Engagement
01:10:26
Speaker
So what are we doing next week?
01:10:27
Speaker
Go get your ho, ho, ho. ah We are doing a um sort of Christmas rom-com that we were going to do earlier, but I forgot it was set at Christmas, and so we had to cut that out and pick another one. We are going to watch the ah Sandy Bullock 90s rom-com While You Were Sleeping. Yay!
01:10:50
Speaker
Definitely more problematic than anything the Hallmark Channel would put out. Yeah. Yeah. We're really, we're bouncing around so far to start off. go get your ho-ho-hos. We're getting into some moral quandaries. Don't worry, Emma. The next movie I have picked for this month is um a deranged ah lesbian Hallmark movie. so Fabulous. And it's not the one that we've already done.
01:11:17
Speaker
No, no, no, no, no. um This is, well, that wasn't a Hallmark movie. Oh, that's true. That's true. That's true. and yes I don't think this is a Hallmark movie either, but it's in that vein. it is insane. And we're goingnna have a guest on that. So amazing. Yeah. fabulous now Well, shall we outro?
01:11:35
Speaker
Let's outro. All right. Thank you for listening to Go Get Your Girl. If you like us, tell your friends and please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It helps out a lot and we would really appreciate it.
01:11:50
Speaker
Thanks to Andrew Milliken and Nick Svoboda for our theme music and Elena Henderson for our artwork. You can follow us on Instagram at GoGetYourGirlPod or email us at GoGetYourGirlPod at gmail.com. You can follow me and only me on social media at Emily M. Pizza.
01:12:07
Speaker
Until next time, we're just two girls standing in front of the internet asking it to love us. Good night.
01:12:34
Speaker
Christmas.