The Extras - Christmas Film Favorites of the 80s, 90s, & 2000s

Episode Date: December 15, 2022

Extras producers Emily Summers and Jason Hillhouse join the podcast for a fun-filled discussion about some of their favorite Christmas movies of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. The traditional favorites appear, but a few surprises make the list, like  "Strange Brew" (1983) and "Gremlins" (1984). We also review the recent 4K releases of "A Christmas Story" (1983), "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989), "Elf" (2003), and "Polar Express" (2004). And they talk about their experiences as producers of extras and some of their current projects.Purchase on Amazon:Elf 4KChristmas Vacation 4KA Christmas Story 4KThe Polar Express 4KFor more information on our guests:Trailer ParkM3 CreativeThe Sitcom StudyWelcome to the Sitcom Study, where we contemplate the TV shows we grew up with and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Hi, I'm film historian and author John Fricke. I've written books about Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz movie, and you're listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras, where we take you behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, movies, and animation, and they're released on digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Millard, your host, and today is our annual Christmas episode. And to celebrate, I've invited two friends and fellow Extras producers to join the show

to discuss some recent 4K holiday releases from Warner Brothers, plus to talk about some of our own favorite Christmas films and TV shows from our childhood and what we've been sharing with our own kids these days. Emily Summers and Jason Hillhouse, welcome to The Extras. Thank you, Tim. Thanks so much for having us. Thank you so much. Well, I'm so glad I could finally get you two on the podcast.

I know you both are very busy actively producing extras for home entertainment and streaming. So thanks for coming on. And I was just thinking, Emily, I think, and Jason, both, literally, I think I talked to you guys like a year ago. I'm like, oh yeah, we got to get you on. I'm like, has it really been a year? It goes by family. Yeah.

Well, I know you guys have been busy this year. And so that's good. I'm glad to hear it. But before we dive into our discussion of some of the favorite Christmas movies, I did want to give the listeners a chance to get a little background on how you each became extras producers. So let's start with you, Emily. How did you break into the business, so to speak? It was a little, I wouldn't say random, but it was a little bit. I went to college in San Francisco and I got a degree and it was called Broadcast of Electronic Communication Arts. So it was like

their TV department. And I thought I wanted to direct live TV. I loved it. But I was just getting job offers in the news and I just didn't want to do news. And so my brother went to high school with a gentleman named Patrick Stone, who was an editor at New Wave Entertainment. And he got me in as a PA in the back. And I was a runner. We would drive trucks and deliver tapes to studios. We'd spend time in the back room degaussing tapes to age myself. And then I slowly got to understand what the company did. And there was a department that this woman, Chris Hardy, she ran, we did shows for A&E and History Channel and kind of documentary television. And I thought that was really interesting. And so I started working with her. And then she shifted into reality TV like everybody else did. And I

worked a couple weeks on a show and I just realized it wasn't for me. And I was thinking, okay, what am I going to do next? I have to quit. I have to go somewhere else. And a friend of ours, Dorda Peterson at the time, now Dorda Baker, was like, you should come and work in our department, DVD. And this is back in what, 2004? It was like, when I started working there, there was like five people. And then within like a year or two, it grew to like 60 people. And I was like, I don't know. I don't even own a DVD player. And she's like, but it's kind of the same thing. You get to interview people. It's kind of documentary, which I was finding I really, really enjoyed. And so I just started doing that until I could figure out my next move. And then I really ended up loving it. I worked under Constantine Nasser, who's a fantastic producer in the business still and learned a lot and worked with you, Jason Hillhouse, and stayed at New Wave for a couple years. And then I moved to Trailer Park and I've been there and still doing it. So yeah, it was, it wasn't something I ever planned on doing. And

I really enjoyed it. I get to be a bit of a film and a TV nerd and ask people about their jobs and how they do what they do. And I loved it. So. So you guys worked together a little bit at some point, but before you go to when you started working together, Jason, how did you get started? Well, it's funny because, I mean, you said, Emily, a couple of times, like this wasn't really what you planned on doing. Yeah. I don't even know if it was a thing, right? Like when, I mean, I'm older than Emily by about 30 or 40 years.

But this wasn't even, you know, DVD was kind of a new thing coming up in the, you know, there was laser disc, but it wasn't really a thing. It was more of a niche thing. And then sort of, there was a perfect storm of people that were super excited about movies and DVDs and then special features all just kind of boomed, you know, in the early, I guess, early two thousands or whatever. And it suddenly became like a thing, you know,

and all the studios started building their own departments and stuff. But my wife was friends with some people and they had a production company and she went to work for this production company. And I was bouncing around writing and acting and doing all kinds of stuff. I was an actor as a kid and all the way through as an adult. And I still do stuff off and on now and now and then, but special features have kind of taken over my life. But anyway,

so they were working on Lord of the Rings for Warner Brothers. And then they started working on Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man movie. And they knew I was a big comic book nerd. And I kind of forced got my way into working on a little bit of that stuff. And then that led to more things and more things. And eventually our friend Cynthia Slavins, who is now a big, I don't know if she's running Pixar yet or what she, but she's she has a very fancy title at Pixar now. And she'll be mad that I don't know what it is. But she was like, well, why don't you, you know,

come talk to these guys who are new. And it was, it was kind of probably around the same time, Emily. I don't know exactly when you were over there with Chris or whatever, but I think it was 2002 or 2003. Yeah. And we started putting together a group and I think, I don't know if it may have been after you left emily i'm not sure because i don't again i'm terrible at all that but at one point the

new wave department i and i went through a bunch of different names or whatever but at its biggest i think there was almost 100 people just in that department between editors and producers and associate producers and you know all that kind of stuff. And it was a really amazing time because there were so many titles and so many studios and everybody's working on three or four things at a time. And everybody's kind of figuring out what are special features even going to be. Commentaries were obviously a kind of a holdover from LaserDisc, but there was all kinds of, you know, it was actually a really exciting time to try to kind of figure some of these things out. And then slowly but surely, there's been budget constraints and more, you know, it was actually a really exciting time to try to kind of figure some of these things out. And then slowly, but surely there's been budget constraints and more, you

know, more and more things kind of cutting back, but there was a sweet spot there where you could really use your imagination. And we still, I think, try to try to carry that spirit over now. But then I left New Wave after like 10 years. And then I've been at M3 working with Brad Beru and those folks over there for, oh God, almost 10 years again. Yeah. You two have had terrific careers. I think Emily, you and I probably started working together when I was at Warner Brothers around 2007, 2008. And Jason, I don't think we actually ever worked on a project together i knew you my name and and vice versa but it seems like the circle of constantine and and a number of the people who all came out of that new wave group and still continue to be working in the industry today um you guys all

kind of came up together many of you yeah i think it's an interesting yeah constantine and and cory watson and emily and yeah jeff learner and jam kenny was uh was there in my time mikey brosnan yep and it was it was crazy because emily's point what she said earlier like you could be a big nerd which i think a lot of us are right we all love movies and we all love tv and that's a wide net right so there was a lot of room for you know again big comic book nerds or Star Wars nerds or 80s kids that grew up in the 70s and 80s. Now I got to do work on John Hughes movies and I got to work on Batman the Animated Series

and all those, you know, superhero stuff. And now I've got to do Star Wars and Marvel. I've worked on a lot of Chris Nolan movies, you know, like, so it's been a really cool thing to really find, you know, they say, find that thing that you love. And I will sit here and bitch for an hour about the whole industry and my job and everything else. But at the end of the day, you can't complain because I mean, really, we're just sitting around meeting these really interesting, cool people and getting to talk to them one-on-one and talk about and make

stuff about things that we love. Yeah. You just mentioned Star Wars and things of that nature. I'm a big fan. And I don't know if there's anything you can talk about that you've worked on recently and just in a broad way. But have you been working on any of the TV series? people. So by, by extension, I've gotten to interview a ton of people and yeah, the, the Disney gallery Mandalorian shows, uh, we put together Brad directed and we've done a bunch of interviews and stuff. That's been a cool thing, by the way, not to get, I'm, I'm a big physical media guy, but streamings actually, as much as, you know, it's the death of DVD. Yes. In some ways, but in other ways, it's been an interesting thing, especially with like Disney plus and stuff, seeing how they've kind of embraced extras, special features, you know, traditional. And we've done that with Marvel assembled as well. Like a lot of those long format, sort of hour long documentaries about the making of some of

these movies and TV shows, which may or may not have gotten, you know, in this day and age may or may not have wound up on a DVD. You know, there's still the DVD pieces and things that we do, but it's actually kind of cool to be able to do these a little bit longer form documentaries, kind of like what you used to do in the old days, at least more widespread. We still do them some, but at least more widespread. So streaming has been kind of cool, but I've, I've been lucky enough to be around some of the, some of the new Star Wars stuff and it's been really exciting. And Emily, I was just chatting with you recently and,

and I think you got some recent Clio nominations. Pretty cool. I did. It was, uh, yeah, it was crazy in the, in the category of home entertainment,

there were 11 nominations and I had five of them, which is crazy. And four of them, one, I got two silvers and two bronze. So that was really exciting this year. I'm very, very, very fortunate. I get to work on a lot of A24 titles,

which is really wonderful because they're not the biggest budgets. So you really have to be very creative in how to figure out things. But the films are so rich and have these wonderful scores and they're shot beautifully. And they send like a producer's assistant to go on set and shoot behind the scenes. So like they just don't have a budget for EPK. So we'll get stuff half times they don't get

interviews with the cast and crew. So then I can do those later. And I get to really have fun with being super outside the box with like even just a simple making of but we can just stylize them in a way that's like an extension of the film and really lives within the world of the film and so yeah I got to work on a couple fun titles for them Red Rocket, Come On Come On, Everything Ever All at Once which is just going up right now yeah and it's just great and then um and I do a lot of work and it's usually through Lionsgate um and thenman's Wife's Bodyguard, which is another really, really fun one. And I mean, it was like, it's like, you can't make it bad. Like there's just so many fun one-liners and the score is fun.

And there's just, I mean, you can't, and the interviews, I mean, they're wonderful in their interviews. So it's not like, I don't know, it's just such a rich world to work in. But yeah, that was a surprise this year. And I got to go to the Clio Awards and that was fun. And I don't know. When we're behind the scenes, you feel so behind the scenes, right? Like even when we do junkets and we go in, I'm always like, you don't have to record my camera because I'm not on camera. And so it's just, it's kind of fun to live a little bit in that like exciting world for a moment. Well, just for the listeners, we should probably explain what the Clios are, but they're basically an industry awards

for advertising promotion. They have a home entertainment area. And those are just kind of an industry awards thing that maybe not everybody's familiar with, but it's an honor to be nominated and it's terrific to win. It's a chance for people who do the extras to get a little notoriety and to be able to be with others who do the same thing and just kind of acknowledge each other's work,

which is really a lot of fun. Well, let's talk some Christmas memories before we get into the Warner Brothers 4K releases that I did want to talk about. I did want to ask you guys a little bit about some of your favorite films and TV shows growing up at the Christmas time. Jason, let's start with you. What are some of your favorites? Well, I mean, you start with, you know, I think everybody with the Rankin-Bass stuff. And it's crazy to think about, you know, when I was a kid that those things were kind of

new and now they're, you know, however old they are. But watching them again, you know, with my daughter, you watch like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Ranger and you're like, everybody in this is a dick. Like everybody's mean. Like everybody, Santa's a dick. Parents are mean. Clarice tries and rudolph is so whiny yukon cornelius is the hero of the of the whole thing he saves the day and then bumble comes

around but like yeah you watch it just kind of with new eyes you're like good lord this is not really that great my favorite is probably santa claus wait which one's the one where he santa claus is coming to town is the mickey rooney one where they it's like the origin story of santa claus i like that one yeah and i i will like the origin story of Santa Claus. I like that one. Yeah. And I will say, this is controversial. I'm going to say,

I like that better than the year without a Santa Claus with the heat miser and all that. So I think the other ones, I think the other ones better. Those may be fighting words for some people, but yeah, that's, I think that's Charlie Brown,

obviously Charlie Brown's that that's where it starts. And then you get a little bit older and it's Christmas vacation, which, you know, we're going to talk about and it's a wonderful life. It's Charlie Brown, obviously. Charlie Brown, that's where it starts. And then you get a little bit older and it's Christmas Vacation, which we're going to talk about. And It's a Wonderful Life is just so, I mean, if you don't like It's a Wonderful Life, you're trying too hard. You know, like, just stop it. You love that movie and it's okay and it's fantastic and you should. And once they released those Rink and Bass things on DVD, they started packaging them together. You know, like, there's a lot of them. And I found one that's on, I think it's on the Santa Claus is Coming to Town one called Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey.

Right. Which, if you thought Rudolph was bad in terms of everybody being, it's the saddest, most awful thing I've ever seen. I'm like, I can't believe they showed this to kids. It's on one of the DVDs. So if you have it, like it's one of the side, you know. And also Nestor, the long-eared donkey. They're like, oh, one year we'll put that on. And oh my God, you've got like,

literally everybody's just going to cry and be the most depressed Christmas ever. Just don't watch that. If you have that DVD, don't watch that. It's horrible. Well, that's funny you should mention that. When I was at Warner Brothers, we released the ones we had the rights to, the Rankin-Bass ones. And I think there's a, I can't remember the other studio, but some of the rights are owned by different studios for whatever reason, because they were broadcast first. There was no home entertainment. It was all about that.

that part of the answer to why would they put that on there is there's people who clamor who want every single rank and bass out there for their collection and so you have to find a place to put it and even if it even if you're like why there's some nostalgia or something to having seen it as a child and then when you watch it later you know to your point you're like wow they're mean or wow this is not you know to today's standards, nice or something of that nature. Well, the people that are clamoring for Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey hate Christmas and I'm glad their collections are complete. And you know what? It's great that it's on there. I never have to watch it. So it's fine. I'm not advocating that we get rid of it. I'm just saying, you know, I'm warning people out there listening to this, that that's not for you. Just trust me. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people who totally disagree with you.

Just as you said, well, come, come at me because good Lord. What are some memories of your favorites growing up? I mean, obviously it's a wonderful life. I'm, I'm not a denier about one. I love that one. Um, I mean, I'm so much younger than Jason Hill house. So let's see. Um, I've heard much younger than Jason Hillhouse, so let's see. I've heard. Yes.

A Christmas Story. I mean, I have to. I've watched it a million times. My kids are watching it again. Although, that's another one, too, where it's like it's a really funny thing to watch as an adult because they were like, what's a BB gun? And like,

having all these conversations and and I don't know, Christmas vacation is a huge one for me. I mean, National Lampoon's is... Well, we're going to get into those in just a second. Yeah. You were not that young that you grew up watching those, are you? Yeah. I'm telling you. I'm telling you.

She is 27 years old right now. Alright, alright, alright. Did you ever watch Rudolph? I did. I watched the most classics and then the Charlie Brown one for sure. But we, it was funny because I called my parents over the weekend and I was like, why don't I have memories of stuff that we watched? Like, and it might make sense because my personality, I don't know.

But like we, we watched Strange Brew on Christmas. Oh, that's the greatest thing I've ever heard. Like we did that for years, much to my mom's. Oh my God. Never wanted to watch it. And she would just sit and huff in the kitchen about how awful of a tradition it was. Oh, that's the greatest thing I've ever heard. My older brother and I, I mean, I thought my brother was the coolest and everything

was hoser and hose head. And so to me, like Gremlins or Strange Brew, like those are Christmas movies. And then as I got older, it was, you know, you've got male and love actually a little bit and things like that. Yeah, when I was a kid, I mean, we would watch. We didn't have a traditional thing that we woke up and that was the first thing that we watched. We just didn't do stuff like that. We would watch on TV, be like Monday night or a Sunday night movie. And it was whatever they were showing.

It was a lot of the ABC specials. There was Carol Burnett specials, things like that. Definitely remember watching those and like the SNL would put out, you know, their best of, or their Christmas episodes. I very much watched a lot of SNL. Yeah, that was, that was my, my childhood. Oh my God. I will never get over the fact that you watched strange brood for Christmas. That's the greatest thing I've ever heard. That's the greatest thing I've ever, I'm going to try to sell that to my family God. I will never get over the fact that you watch strange brew for Christmas. That's the greatest thing I've ever heard. That's the greatest thing I've ever, I'm going to try to sell that to my family now. I like, cause I'm always pushing and they're, and Mackenzie likes it and her name's Mackenzie. Ha. And I said, you're named after her. Her mom's like, no,

she's not. But, um, I'm pushing that. That's awesome. That's going to be a new tradition at our house. That's the greatest thing. I mean, there's snow in it. So therefore, yeah, dude, come on. It's October fest. I mean, there's snow in it, so therefore. Yeah, dude, come on. It's Oktoberfest. I mean, it's kind of, it's like pre-Christmas, but you know, please. Yeah. One you guys didn't mention, but I think is an all-time perennial favorite is the original Grinch, the animated Grinch.

So good. Yeah. And of course it's been remade and remade. So people have seen it in different versions, but. And never better. All the remakes it's never been, it's never been bested. Yeah. It was captured the first time. Were you guys around? I mean, were you around? I know, Emily, I think you were still at knew it, but they did the,

they finally restored it because you know, they edited it for TV for years where they cut part of it out. And when they, when I think it was Warner brothers and Tim, you might've been there when, when you guys released that. And I was, Oh, it was such just, it felt so good. It was so exciting. Like, Oh, it's, it's back. The whole thing is back because yeah, for years on TV, they, they went through and they

kind of, I don't know, they didn't butcher it, but you know, like it was just missing down to 22 minutes or whatever. And that was a glorious, again, triumph of, of DVD and physical media was the restoration of the full Grinch cartoon. Cause oh man, it's so good. Well, it's so funny because I didn't grow up watching, my parents were not movie watchers and we would have watched TV, but being in the military, we were stationed overseas and you just didn't get much. You got Dallas Cowboy football games, right?

And then you've got things like Rudolph and you've got, you know, you've got Charlie Brown Christmas and, you know, Grinch. And you just got a few of those favorites that would be on the armed forces network. So I was kind of limited to probably the most popular of the ones that made it over there, but it's a wonderful life to me. It's just, I have to watch it every year, you know, at Christmas time, you know, it's just, it's a special thing. Do you do like white Christmas and holiday and, and those, those kind of as well, there's like some kind of competition. I saw something online at one point,

and I don't know if this is still a thing or not, but people were like, oh, it's you're either Holiday Inn or you're White Christmas. And I'm like, why? How is that a fight? Like, why is that? That seems like a weird pairing of, you know, like Irving Berlin is a throwdown smackdown. Like, what's going on? Yeah, I don't know. I'm not a White Christmas guy.

I like White Christmas a lot. Yeah. Holiday Inn is fine, but I like I like White Christmas. If we Yeah. Holiday Inn is fine, but I like White Christmas. Did you get those? Did you get those over with the... You know, White Christmas I remember, but I don't necessarily remember some of the other ones. Fair enough. Well, Emily, you mentioned some of them already, but I did want to talk about these current 4k Christmas classics that

Warner Brothers came out with. And I did get review copies. They look great. They sound great. The beauty of these, even though they're on the streaming network and you can, you can just watch them there is that you can, you know, if you have a 4k monitor and the 4k system, you can watch them in the pristine and everything. And the thing about Christmas classics for collectors is that you know what you like and you know you're going to watch it like at least once a year, right? Like other movies you buy and you put on the shelf five years go by, you never actually open the shrink wrap on it, even though you think I want to own this movie. But these movies are ones that you know you can own and have a great time with.

First off, I want to ask you about, you mentioned it, was A Christmas Story from 1983 starring Peter Billingsley as Ralphie. I mean, so many moments, but what are some of your favorite moments from that, Emily? Oh, I mean, fuck, fuck. My kids say that. We started showing it to them. That was great. Well, it's for my son is a redhead.

And so like the evil guy my son is a redhead. And so like the evil guy and is like a redhead. And that to me is, I don't know, just really, really funny. Because my son was like, he has red hair like me. And he's like, but he's the bad guy or something. I made some comment about it. And I was like, oh, but the parents relationship, the oh fudge fudge you know and there's just like the parents and the children and watching that as a child and not understanding the things that parents did and how they are and how they talk to each other and the little rules and then becoming a parent

and then having children and then you know my son's seven so he doesn't really believe in santa but all of a sudden now we've never done it. He believes in Elf on the Shelf. And he thinks it's like 100% real. And he wanted to do it. And we were like, Oh God. So we started doing it and he loves it, you know? So it's just fun to be close to a film that you grew up with as a child and then having it flip and understanding like the inside jokes or, you know, just how parents are and how they hide stuff and being tired in the morning on Christmas and making this big giant jokes or, you know, just how parents are and how they hide stuff and being tired in the morning on Christmas and making this big giant meal. And, you know, everything's going to go down. So I don't know.

All of it to me is just so, so fun and special. And I don't know, nostalgic, I guess. There's no Christmas or winter even that goes by where I don't reference Randy not being able to put his arms down. where I don't reference Randy not being able to put his arms down, especially once McKenzie, you know, trying to put those big jackets on little kids especially is super fun. Like, oh, I can't put my arms down. That comes up like all year round, just about.

Anytime you're wearing a coat or anytime you're wrapped in a blanket or anything like that, that always comes up, which is a lot of fun. And have either of you caught the new HBO max 40 years later, like Christmas story too? I did. I watched, we watched about the first half an hour of it. And then there was chaos at the house and something happened. We turned it off, but we watched the first half hour of it. And because my kids love a Christmas story so much, they were excited to watch it. So we have to finish it. They really enjoyed it. But yeah, that's another fun, weird thing too, is like, you don't want to see yourself so grown up, but at the same time, it's so wonderful to see the kid being a parent now. And then I watch as a kid and being a parent now. So yeah, it's such a nice callback

to that time and those stories and his personality. And he's such a cute character too. We watched that original every year. And then I didn't even know until this new movie came out that there was a Christmas story, too, in between these. And I didn't even know, like, because when you go on HBO Max, it shows like, oh, and here's this. And I'm like, oh, wow. Did Pete Billingsley do that, too? Like, I had no idea that that was even a thing. So apparently there was a Christmas story, too. And then.

But. Did you know? And you probably do. I'm saying this like haha but you probably know this but that wasn't the director's first christmas movie a christmas story no i didn't know that he directed black christmas a movie called black christmas which is the absolute opposite of christmas story and all that it entails but it's worth checking out if you haven't checked it out. Okay.

That's part of the fun too is like those movies that aren't necessarily, you know, it's not, it's a wonderful life, but like all the Shane Black movies, you know, that aren't necessarily or Gremlins. We watched Gremlins.

Mackenzie had never seen Gremlins. We watched Gremlins the other night for the first time. And those movies that aren't necessarily diehard that are kind of fun. Batman Returns is a christmas movie yeah um that whole stretch i always thought was really really cool kiss kiss bang bang and lethal

weapon and trading places and you know like that's especially as the kids get a little older it's it's fun planes and automobiles that's another good so good did you guys see any of the new and they just released that did you see any of the new outtakes and stuff that they found? No, I haven't seen them. Have you? They've had a few of them online and it's cool. I mean, it's, you know, all the time with outtakes, it's very rare that anybody watches outtakes and goes, oh man, that would have made the movie so much better.

You know, it's just, it's an interesting exercise to see. And I know why a lot of directors don't like to do it, but in this case, especially, you know, John Hughes is gone and John Candy's gone. And it's just fun to see the chemistry those guys had. And just to get to see more of it, you know, whether it was like edited into the movie or not, you know, it doesn't matter, but just getting to see them kind of do some, some more stuff is a lot of fun. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast.

And I wanted to let you know that we have a new private Facebook group for fans of the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers Catalog physical media releases. So if that interests you, you can find the link on our Facebook page or look for the link in the podcast show notes. our Facebook page or look for the link in the podcast show notes. I think part of that development in the eighties and nineties, as the film industry realized, wow, we really need programming for the holidays because that's just such a big time for the box office. And also they knew they could draw them in. It seemed like more and more movies were made for the holidays. Well, they, you know, like they jumped on Bill Murray and Richard Donner Scrooge, you know, which is which is great. And yeah, and obviously coming kind of off of that, I think Christmas Vacation kind of rolled in sort of off of and I'm old enough to see both of those in the theater for real.

But do you have a favorite you guys have a favorite um version of a christmas carol like because that's been shot so many times i mean for me scrooge was a big one i mean i i remember even just staying home like sick at school and just watching movies and i would watch scrooge in the summer so like i love bill murray i love that movie i think it's it's hilarious yeah i mean. I mean, my generation, I grew up with Bill Murray. It's, you know, if you ask me my favorite Bill Murray, I'd probably say stripes, which seems way out in left field, but I love that movie. But Scrooge is a classic. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'll tell you that if you haven't seen it and it's good for the kids and stuff too, there's's a musical version of A Christmas Carol called Scrooge.

Not Scrooge Debt with Bill Murray, but Scrooge, just his name. That Albert Finney plays Scrooge. And it's so good. It's so good. I was lucky enough to be in a production of it when I was a teenager. But Albert Finney is so great. And it's one of the few things nasser and i actually agree on we both we both we actually bonded when i think we met pretty early about over somehow that came

up around christmas time like oh my god you like that movie too like i didn't know anybody that really even had watched it that much it's got alec guinness as a ghost before he was a forest ghost it's great the songs are all great and the performances are all great and it i think it came out like 1970, something like that. But check that out. It's cool. Okay. Well, you just mentioned National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

That came out in 89. And I have to say, I just rewatched it with my daughter and wife. I mean, we've watched it before, but it just delivers so much. And just for folks, in case they don't know the movie, but it stars Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, and he's determined to have the most fun-filled family Christmas ever. And of course, then everything goes wrong. But that's just a classic. I mean, do you recall when you first saw it in the theaters? I do. I went, I took this girl I was dating and we went on a double date to a double feature and we saw that and Steven Spielberg's Always, which was one of the weirdest double features. Not the weirdest double Christmas double feature I ever saw.

That's a very strange double feature, I have to say. It is. The weirdest Christmas double feature I ever saw was I saw Annie and Rocky 3. saw was I saw Annie and Rocky three. Um, and my grandmother took my cousin and I to see, and those were the two movies we picked. So we went and saw that, but yeah, always in, always in Christmas vacation in the theater. And you're, you're so right. Like it delivers every, I mean, it's, there's some of those movies that are Christmas stories, the same thing where you, I mean, I literally watch them every year and, and die hard too.

Like they're just so rewatchable, you know, like there's movies you watch and you're like, you've seen them a couple of times die hard to like they're just so rewatchable. You know, like there's movies you watch and you like you've seen a couple of times. You're like, oh, that's great. And it was a really good movie. But there's something I mean, it's kind of hokey to say that it's like comfort food, but there's something just like it's reliable, but it also can surprise you. Still, you find something new in it every single time. The opening credits of Christmas Vacation, just the animated thing.

And Prince wrote that song for Mavis Staples,ples i think or at least he produced it or something prince had something to do with it he was on a on a warner brothers kick with batman and christmas vacation that year but um it's so good i mean just that the animation's hilarious like the whole thing the whole santa with the candy cane walkie talkie and just all of it is is great and yeah chevy chase just you know he's in the pocket we were just watching the other night and um my daughter she's like is this an animated movie i mean she kind of had forgotten because of that animated open i'm like no no no no it just starts that way but it's a john hughes thing right like that fine line between with plenty of zombies has it all of them at 16

candles everything they they have that almost looney tunes sort of there's these just it's it's real but it's it's a little cartoonish it's you know what you think about bill paxson is chet and weird science or what you know like there's these sort of cartoony sort of things that go you know every once in a while these cutaways or jokes or things like that that are almost like yeah like this bugs bunny kind of looney Tunes sort of deal, but they keep it grounded, which is really a John Hughes kind of hallmark. I probably knew this and then I forgot it. And I was just reminded when I watched it again, that the little boy is Johnny Galecki from Big Bang Theory. And I was looking at him, I was like, wow, he did a terrific job. He's just

such a young kid in that, but he's like, it's okay, dad. I mean, he was like, wow, he, he did a terrific job. He's just such a young kid in that, but he's like, it's okay, dad. I mean, he's like so supportive. And I probably noticed more of also how supportive the daughter was when I last watched it, because I have a daughter. I'm like, oh, she's so sweet to her dad. You know, the lights don't work. He's plugging in. Why aren't they working in Julia Lewis? You know, she's like, it's okay, dad. It still looks terrific. And I'm thinking only a daughter would say that to her dadis you know she's like it's okay dad it still looks terrific and i'm thinking only a daughter would say that to her dad you know my friend my friend megan said the other day that the older she's gotten and she's you know she's much younger than me she's like

emily's age um but she said the older i've gotten the more i relate to julia louis all the lady wants to do is sit down and have a glass of wine and a peaceful Christmas. And these terrorists next door are just intent on burning down our house. It's it's I was like, that may be the truest thing I've heard in a long time. That's really great. It's so true. And it's one of those movies where like, like I recently we went to like a family vacation in Hawaii.

And every time I hear Malikalikimaka, I think of this movie. Or like, there's just so many like grace, it's a blessing. And like, there's just so many iconic lines and things that I find I can reuse them in every day. And then even so we just, as I said, we just moved, we're in a neighborhood. And I, my parents were visiting and I was like, I love this house. It's so 80s. It reminds me of, and I literally said this two weeks ago.

It reminds me of a Julie Louis Dreyfus's house from Chris's vacation. Cause it was like this like eighties, modern, cool house. You know, like I just remembered that. I remember what they look like. I remember what, I don't know. Every, you know, if, if somebody's gone, you know, just super extra on their lights, you drive around and be like, Oh, there's a Griswold. Sometimes it's a whole street.

If you're lucky, it's a Griswold street but yeah it's become such a such a part and i'm sure there's like families and kids and stuff that say that and they don't even know what they're talking about like it's become such a part of our vernacular yeah all right well we'll keep this uh show moving along here the next uh warner brothers uh movie that i wanted to ask you about is from 2003 so uh you probably were in in uh in high school here emily uh no just kidding that would be uh that would be elf which stars will ferrell as buddy and uh he has a baby in the orphanage. He accidentally climbs into Santa's toy bag and ends up in the North Pole where he is raised by elves.

And then he finds out he's a human, not an elf because he's much bigger. And he goes in search of his father played by James Caine. He plays it brilliantly, by the way. And this is directed by Jon Favreau, who people think of so much as Iron Man and Star Wars and all these. But this is one of his earlier directing jobs, I would suspect.

What do you guys remember about this movie when it came out? Well, the one thing I always look to at this movie, especially as the years have gone on, here's how you know Will Ferrell's really good in that movie because he sneaks into the ladies shower and sings probably what has become. I love the song, but people, you know, it's now nowadays it's like, oh, it's the stalker, like weird, like date, rapey, whatever. Maybe it's cold outside song. He sits in there and sings that song. And it's so charming and sweet and not at all creepy that you're like, wow, that's a really that's how you know that he's really good at that.

Because everything about that scene was set up to be like the creepiest, most, you know, inappropriate, awful thing. And Will Ferrell's just so charming and lovable and great in it. And everybody in that movie is just right on. Dinklage is great. I mean, he oh, my God, I laugh every time. He's great. Ed Asner's great. Ed Asner is Santa. Yeah. I love him. And like you said, a little bit of a different role for James Caan, which is kind of cool. Like kind of seeing him as a, a warm, you know, family man kind of, you know, after we kind of think of him as such a tough guy and it's great. Yeah. I mean,

he's not at the beginning of course, but he, he evolves, he evolves in that. That's right. Bob Newhart. I mean, come on. the beginning of course but he evolves that's right do you remember it Emily? I do you know it's funny because I was such a big Saturday Night Live fan and I never saw that movie when it first came out and then I think it was just kind of by word of mouth of how funny this movie is and then watching it and being like oh yeah it's brilliant it's great

like the soundtrack is amazing the score is amazing Will Ferrell, obviously. And now my kids are enjoying it. I'm enjoying it more as an adult. But yeah, when it first came out, I don't think I saw it in a theater. I don't think I was that connected to it. And then I just, over time, got into it.

Clearly missed. Yeah, and for people who want to own it on 4K, I was looking at it. It looks great, sounds great. Again, it's a perennial. If you don't own it on Blu-ray already, or you just want to add it to your great again it's a perennial if you don't own it on blu-ray already or you just want to add it to your library it's a great opportunity to get it now i'm enjoying all these new 4k releases by the way i'm like i have my blu-rays but i'm starting

to build out this 4k of the things that i especially like this where i know i'm going to be watching this movie for years to come oh yeah so. So it's a lot of fun. Uh, I just watched this movie. I think I did a double bill. If you can believe this with elf and then Christmas vacation. I mean, we just, we just went bang, bang. We just decided to do it. That's a good ab workout. You're laughing so hard that you're going to, you know, work on the six pack. Well, my daughter is, uh, is 10. So she doesn't get everything in Christmas vacation, uh, as much as she does an elf. I mean, I think pretty much an elf.

It's, it's a, it's a home run for her. Was there a moment when, did you see elf in the theater? Don't recall if I did. I saw it. I don't know if it was the opening weekend. It was pretty early on. And there was a moment, you know, you're kind of watching it and it's cute and it's funny. And there's all the kind of cool forced perspective things and it's Will Ferrell in tights. And that's

funny just by itself. And you know, the whole thing, but the moment when he leaves and it kind of goes into that rank and bass sort of whatever, you could feel the whole theater be like, oh, okay. You know what I mean? Like it kind of turns into, Oh, this is going to be good. You know, like, uh, it's, it's funny. It's great. But that kind of, this is going to be that kind of humor and that kind of movie. And, um, I just remember sitting in the theater and you sort of like, just felt the, you know, the audience just go, you know, like with, with excitement, you know, like, Oh my God, laughing and the whole thing, but like, it kind of took it up a notch just in the, in the audience, um, see it in the theater. And it's, it's weird, you know,

looking at like a Christmas vacation too. Um, we're talking about the extras, right. The special features and stuff. Yeah. And I know people kind of, you know, all Emily, you probably run into this. Well, I know you have, but people that don't know in terms of what it takes to do special features and stuff on these dvd you know they look at something like why isn't there like tons of special features on why i i promise you that there are people that that want there to be that are that are very excited for there to be and there's always

reasons why it doesn't work out. It's not just that, Oh dude, somebody forgot to ask Tom Cruise to do a commentary on Top Gun. You know, like, no, they know that that would be something that there's a reason, you know, there's people,

people pass on things. And I was, I was thinking about Christmas vacation in particular. And I know for years, people have tried to kind of get more different things kind of going with that. And I think they have an old like commentary or something on it. Yeah. That's I don't even remember. I don't remember if Chevy Chase is on the commentary or not. I can't remember. No, it's Randy Quaid, Beverly D'Angelo, Johnny Galecki, but it does

not have Chevy Chase. Yeah. My point is, is for people that are listening, there's reasons that a lot of times these things don't, you know, it's not just that people are terrible at their jobs. I mean, believe me, there are a lot of people that are terrible at their jobs, but that's not the only reason why some of these things aren't just, you know, all Lord of the Rings doubt for every single movie. Oh yeah. Well, and to remind people, the Christmas vacation was in 1989 and a Christmas story was 1983. People were not saving things or doing extras back then. That was, you know, what VHS was just kind of where most people were seeing this stuff on home entertainment.

And you just couldn't do extras very easily on VHS. I mean, it really can be out of our control. I mean, you feel like you want to hunt down people sometimes or do things. I mean, I worked on a film where it was a 30 year anniversary of a big film, and I'm not going to say the names or anything like that. But the female in it, she looks very different than how she used to look. And I kept going back to her publicist and her manager and they kind of were like, look off the record, she just looks a lot different. And having that cut back and forth, you know, they were just like,

we're just not going to do it. And I was completely understand and I respect it. It's unfortunate because you want to hear the stories and it's it's missing this person. But you know, I mean, there's stuff like that. There's just, they had a bad experience or they just some there's just people who are really great with getting lines fed to them and their actors and they want to do it. And then there's people who are like, I don't feel comfortable speaking for myself, like they'll do some limited stuff, but they really don't feel comfortable. I mean, or it just doesn't exist or the person passed away. I mean, it's just, um, yeah, somebody can just deny it and then everything gets scrapped. And some people don't like to talk about things too early. Yep. Now people are more used to it nowadays, of course, because there's been,

you know, the publicity and promotion and extras for the last 20 some odd years, but anything earlier than the, you know, mid nineties, it can be pretty slim pickings. Well, I remember when we first started at New Wave, it was booming because there's all these catalog titles. So it was like going back and doing all these new interviews with people to talk about films. And they were really interested because nobody had really, none of that was saved. They didn't have a lot of on set stuff. I mean, there was just this peak where it was like, I remember asking a client, I was like, can we work on Rad? It was like this, you know, BMX bike movie from the 80s.

And they were like, yeah, you know, like you could just come up with a movie you loved. And there was no, it wasn't on DVD yet. So you can almost petition for it to get made. So yeah, exactly. And believe me when I said that I went to everybody at Warner Brothers and everybody that Warner Brothers still listening and I begged them to do a Strange Bruce special edition. I'm not kidding. You can ask Paul or Michael or anything.

I was so adamant that we could get Dave Thomas and Rick Moran. Although Rick Moran has kind of stepped out of the spotlight for a little bit. And there's a bunch of those paramount comedies like better off dead and real genius and stuff that never really got the full. Yep. Whatever. But I mean,

but just again for everybody on the internet, that's like, I can't believe they're reviewing DVDs and I can't believe they don't have these special features suck, but there's people trying for the most part, you know, not, not always,

but just, you know, not to get too far away from christmas movies but yeah but to your point i mean i was just thinking about that with the 4k you know release and i want to get those for the 4k part of it but the special features part you know there's still some stuff on there but i don't know how much is new you know know, for the... There's nothing new on these 4K releases, but they do at least include the Blu-ray and the digital code. So it kind of covers the gamut, you know, from the studio side. Because the Blu-ray has all the extras from the previous releases. Right. Then you have the digital, of course.

Now you can stream it, but if you own the digital, then you can take it with you on the go and all that good stuff that digital offers. So... If you own the digital, then you can take it with you on the go and all that good stuff that digital offers. So the last movie I want to kind of focus in on is this 2004 performance capture film with Tom Hanks as the conductor directed by Robert Zemeckis. And that's the Polar Express. I started showing that to my daughter fairly young. So now it's kind of traditional for us to watch it. Do you guys enjoy that movie?

Um, I like the book. I, I just, I can't, it's so creepy to me because it's that early motion capture, you know, stuff and it, it feels just off enough that I can't, I can't, I, the story is wonderful and you can see the performances kind of coming through and stuff. But for me personally, I just, I can't quite get it. It's, it's like two steps removed for me, you know, like trying to get into it. Yeah. I mean, I liked the movie and I love the book. Uh, yeah, I just, I, I, maybe it was like the time it came out. Um, and my kids haven't gotten into it. Yeah. I don't have like a, sadly, I don't know. I mean, I love, I, I, maybe it was like the time it came out and my kids haven't gotten into it.

Yeah. I don't have like a, sadly, I don't know. I mean, I love the book and I grew up with the book in a way, but I don't have a major connection to it, but I always enjoy it. I mean, I feel like it's like a quintessential holiday movie. It checks all those, you know, boxes, but. It's funny you should say that Jason about, you know, the style and that it doesn't really work for you. There's so many different things that you could, you could talk about the rank and bass, some of that early stop motion and, you know, each generation or what you grew up with can be a little bit different. The performance capture doesn't bother me at all. To me, I just put it in an, in a, that was that era that era that's what it looked like and it doesn't have to match up to what it is now you know so on so forth so for me and when I show it to my daughter I mean

the the wealth of different styles of animation you go from like the nightmare before Christmas you know that style to all of the the animation, which is so beautiful and clean and three-dimensional, you know, to me, it just is, it just is what it is. And the story is so sweet and the music is so compelling and the characters are based around children, which is fantastic. And it's a magical story, as you said, from the book. So we enjoy it. And, and I have no problems with the look of it. Yeah. Well, you know, when, when you're trying new things, um, when you swing for the fences, sometimes, you know, you don't always hit a home run, right? Like you're trying new things, you're breaking new ground and, and having the, um, the opportunity and the budget and,

and all those tools at your disposal to kind of push things forward. And with that movie, yeah. You know, like, does the same thing bother me in Lord of the Rings? No, you know, like it's, it's just those new technologies and all those kinds of things when it's, when it's done really well and, and whatever, you know, it certainly advances things. And, and if you don't have Polar Express, you probably don't have some of these other movies where they, you know, figured things out for me a little better. I'm just, I, you know, Tim, I get it. You're trying to say I'm old. I understand. Um, I will say just to bring it back to, uh,

the extras. Um, I think that is one thing that's really rewarding about our job is that sometimes it gives the filmmakers an avenue to talk about their struggles and maybe why, like I recently worked on a movie about sharks and I watched it and I was like, Oh, this is rough. Like it's hard. And then I got to interview the director and I did a commentary with him and I spent time with him and he was just like, we were up against this. We had to do blue screen that we had wind or there was no wind or it was cold or it was this. And we didn't have the budget and we were working with this, you know, European crew who really didn't understand. And he really was up. He was up against so many struggles that he was like, this is the best we

could make it and it will never be up to my standard. And I'm really disappointed. But here's the story I wanted to tell. And even him telling what the story was and the meanings behind certain things, I just kind of like, I could put those details into like a making of or giving them time to do a commentary and really talk through stuff. You have a new appreciation for the film and what went into making the film. And I feel like sometimes it's really nice

to be able to give people that opportunity to kind of justify what they're doing and what was hard for them, you know? And sometimes those are the best stories too yeah yeah and then you know the mean internet people can be like oh well okay well and i've had people and i'm sure you have too i've had people that um especially going on sets and talking to other people and stuff like i said hey which is again surprising me that anybody would ever know who i am but there are people that do, there are people

that really love the extras and stuff. And then I've reached out and been like, this was really cool. I learned a lot about this technique or this, you know, or how somebody got into something, you know, because of these special features or because of, you know, whatever it is. And I don't know, I I'm assuming polar express has some stuff about the motion capture. Oh yeah. It has a thing on there, I would imagine, right? And I bet it's fascinating, especially for people, again, to your point of that era and people that are taking that technology forward, whether they're turning Mark Ruffalo into the Hulk or, you know, whatever it is, kind of being able to go back and see that kind of stuff. It's an interesting time capsule.

I can see that kind of stuff is a, it's an interesting time capsule. And that's kind of the, when, especially with, with DVD or Blu-rays, or I don't know what you're supposed to call them anymore, but that stuff is a physical media forever. I look at that stuff as kind of time capsules, you know, like if, the more stuff you can put on it, that's why I love when they put on the original trailers, you know, if you get some of the original movie poster art or anything that you can kind of do to make this movie for a collector

be like hey this is the time capsule of what was going on you know at the time and this is our story of how we did it and you know there's always the legacy pieces which are cool to do you know a 20 years anniversary and look back and all that stuff but um a lot of that stuff that you can kind of pack in there at the time is that's what it feels like is like you're kind of making a time capsule for this movie that hopefully people will enjoy well you can i real quick sure complete i want to derail us but i was thinking i just thought of this we're talking about movies that uh people don't necessarily think of as christmas movies that maybe they haven't seen i'm going to do a shameless plug real quick there's a movie that some friends of mine directed called night drive, which made the fed little festival circuits and, and, um, did that. It had a quick theatrical release or whatever, but it's available streaming in

different places, whatever, but it's a Christmas movie and it's a Christmas movie. You probably haven't seen it and it's well worth your time. And it's, uh, I don't want to tell you too much about it, but it's kind of the adventures of a night of this uber driver around christmas time and things kind of get a little wacky it's a little after hours ish kind of i don't want to i don't want to give too much away if you look carefully you will see a gentleman dressed up like santa claus eating a hoagie in the back of the uber and that may or may not be me but it's definitely worth your time to check it out. If you had,

that's a Christmas movie for people that are looking for something new this holiday season. All right. I wanted to plug that because I think it's, it's super fun. I think they did a great job with it. We'll put a, I'll get the info from you so that we can put that on the,

the website and have some more information on there. Well, to kind of wrap up our discussion here of Christmas, I thought I would do a little rapid fire questions with you guys. So, you know, if you can, one, two sentence answers, so we can get through this. I'm incapable of that, but okay. Yeah. I'll try. All right. We'll start with you, Emily, but okay. Yeah. I'll try.

All right. We'll start with you, Emily, on this first one. What's your favorite animated or stop motion Christmas movie or TV show? Charlie Brown, Christmas. We have not mentioned that one, really. I mean, it got mentioned just briefly, but that's a classic. How about you, Jason? I would say the same one.

It's so good. And it's iconic. It's classic. You know you, Jason? I would say the same one. It's so good. And it's iconic. It's classic. You know, all the cliches are true. There's not really a false moment in it. And the greatest thing ever is when they go to decorate Snoopy's house and they all just make like their arms just all go.

I'm doing a thing on a podcast you can't see. And then suddenly just his house is, I mean, it's just everything. It never gets old. Yeah, I think that this is one or two sentence answer. Yeah. It was around Christmas. What Emily said. That's what I should have said. Edit that out to say what Emily said. That's great. But to me, that goes back to, and I am glad that we brought it up. To me, it goes back to that's a type of animation for its era. And just like Polar Express,

if you were five or six when Polar Express came out or seven or eight, that's your movie. That's your type of animation for that little period of time. And you're not a professional who works in the business like you do, Jason. It's got the sentimentality and the nostalgia for you as you're growing up and people who are that age now are having their own kids. And I think that some people would look at the old Peanuts movies and style and it's flat, right? It's that two dimensional. It doesn't have that. But the charm is in the story.

Yeah. 100%. My son is really into Charlie Brown. He's seven, almost seven and a half. Really into Charlie Brown. And I've noticed that because he's like a huge, giant Sonic the Hedgehog fan. He's seen all the movies. He's been obsessed since the firstedgehog fan. He's seen all the movies. He's been obsessed since the trailer, the first trailer came out. And he watches the old

like 90s TV show and it's it is 90s cartoon to a T. And then he'll watch the movie and to him there's no disconnect. It is that character. It's that story. It's his whole mission. So yeah, it really is. It's the story. I mean, animation is a huge part of it, but

if the story's not there, they'll lose interest for sure. Yeah. Well, and they've done it with TV shows and stuff, too. We're like, you know, we grew up on Hanna-Barbera, which is not always known for being the very economical animation. Let's just call it that. Now it's all, you know, when you look at like what McKenzie grew up with, like Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And it's that kind of, you know, 3D computer animation and stuff.

And yeah, I mean, that's what, you know, that's the Pixar style. I mean, that's, Pixar is obviously a lot better than that, but you know, it's that, that style of animation is kind of the hand-drawn animation stuff is a little bit quaint now compared to.

But that's part of the charm for, for when you get older and you get to show your own kids some of the favorites you grew up with and to see which ones they connect with. And I think just goes to show how great the Charlie Brown, you know, and the Peanuts ones are, specials are that they still connect with the current generation. It's amazing.

All right. Next question. That only took us five to eight minutes. I mean, that was all my fault. Yep. Go ahead. Okay. We'll start with you, Jason.

Favorite Christmas action movie. Die Hard. One? Two? I mean, there's only one. Yeah. No disrespect to Rennie Harlan and Die Hard 3. And I stopped at some point.

I was like, no, Die Hard is a perfect movie. It's got the two quintessential a-holes of 80s cinema in atherton and paul gleason atherton is kind of his holy trinity of being a jackass from real genius to ghostbusters actually it was ghostbusters real genius and then die hard paul gleason coming off the breakfast club being the principal i mean and you find something in that movie every single time it's endlessly quotable. It's never not enjoyable. It's the best.

All right. It's not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off Nakatomi Plaza. So, Emily, what's your favorite Christmas action movie? I mean, it has to be Strange Brew. A lot of action. And I watched it on Christmas. Hosehead rolls up the house. I mean, that's action.

A dog rolls on a roof up. So, I mean, what more better action game you get? I mean, I guess I'd have to go with Die Hard. I don't know. Yeah. That's a hard one. I mean, how many Christmas action movies? I mean, there's Lethal Weapon.

I mean, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I mean, it just depends, bang, bang, I mean, it just depends on where you draw the line, but, uh, gremlins maybe. Is that an action movie?

Gremlins. Somebody, somebody I saw said that Rocky four was because he fights him on Christmas day, Drago. And I'm like, really? I didn't even remember that.

He's Rocky four on Arbor day. It's, it's good for it. It's good for any occasion. You know, there's a few other reindeer games I've seen on lists. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So. All right.

Next question. Most underrated Christmas movie, Jason. Underrated. Underrated. Underrated. You know what people forget about? Maybe they don't. Somebody's going to be like, I never forgot about it.

I watch it every year. But I don't hear people talk about the ref very often the dennis leary movie anybody uh it was yeah it's i mean i i'd say it is that one i think you know what it's i don't know it's a movie it's a tv special that came out and it's hilarious and i they don't show it anymore i don't think but some friends of movie, it's a TV special that came out and is hilarious. And I, they don't show it anymore. I don't think, but some friends of mine gave it to me on DVD called how Murray saved Christmas. And it's really funny if you haven't seen it, check it out, because I think I don't, I don't know why it's not a Christmas. They show frosty returns every year, which sucks, but they don't show, I mean, no offense

to John Goodman because I love him so much, but yeah, how Murray saved Christmas is great. And the ref. Okay. Okay. Emily. I don't know. I'm going to say this one, but I don't think it's underrated, but I don't think it gets as much recognition

of how good of a movie it is. But Scrooged. I think Scrooged is a fantastic movie. I think it's perfect. And it's got so much heart. You have Bill Murray, who's fantastic in it. It's scary. It makes you think,

I think it's highly rated, but still underrated. Does that make sense? I don't know. Sure. Wait, can I go back real quick? I have a good action movie. Sure. Okay. I'm going to say Home Alone. Home Alone is a great action movie. Absolutely. It's, it's nonstop. I mean, the physical comedy in that is through the roof. It's the best. It's, it's nonstop. I mean, the physical comedy in that is through the roof. It's the best.

We, we watched both of them just recently, the first two and, uh, so good. Just so good. Okay. So next question is favorite Christmas romance. I'll start with you, Emily, since, you know, I'm a lady. Yes. Um. I'm a lady. Well, I have to say there's one movie that my family and I watch on Christmas. We have for like the last 10 or 12 years. It's called The Family Stone. And my sister-in-law always is like, spoiler alert, one of the main characters dies in the end. And she's like, why do you guys always watch this movie? It's so sad. But there's so many great lines about it. But it really is, to me, a really great romantic movie between couples and also a family with a mother and her children, a father and her children, a husband and wife. Like there's just so many little elements to it.

To me, that's a really great romantic one. And then also you've got male. I know that's like, I love Meg Ryan. I'm a huge Meg Ryan fan, have been forever. That one to me is if I see that on the TV, I'm like, I just puts me in the holiday spirit. So the original to what the shop around the corner or whatever that was. Yeah. Christmasy. Yeah. What about for you, Jason? I know you're a big romance rom-com guy. I am actually, I am. I like, I like everything, Tim.

I do too. Except for, except for the Polar Express. No, I'm, actually. I am. I like everything, Tim. I do, too. Except for the Polar Express. No, I'm just kidding. I like everything. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was thinking about this the other day, just randomly, because I didn't know you were going to ask this. Is it While You Were Sleeping kind of a Christmas movie? Sandra Bullock, isn't that? It's right? Because that happens during Christmas. that's part of the whole thing right is like she winds up in their house for christmas but i think if it's almost like it's a wonderful life at this point for me if you're if you don't like love actually i get it's got its flaws and what but you're trying too hard it's it's such a charming movie and it's heartbreaking and it's sweet and part of the voice cast from phineas and Ferb wound up being cast out of that movie and

and I love Phineas and Ferb and they have a good Christmas special while we're doing Christmas but no I think love actually probably probably is mine what do you guys think of four Christmases Vince Vaughn it's not the one with Reese Witherspoon and yes and Vince Vaughn it's sorry I didn't I didn't catch that. Yeah. And they have to visit the different families. I think that's underrated as well, but pretty good. It's a, it's a great idea and very relatable, especially once you've gotten married and

you've got, you know, different parents and different things. And yeah, I, I, my family, I'm from Texas, but my family's from Tennessee so that we used to have to do like California Christmas, Texas Christmas, Tennessee, you know, just this gauntlet of things. So yeah, it's, it's super relatable. And I, I don't think most people think of this as a romance, but I, having recently watched Elf, I did enjoy the romance in that movie a lot. the romance in that movie a lot. For sure. And if you're not rooting for them when they sing that, like again, back to the creepy shower scene, but when they're, when they're singing that song, duetting together, she doesn't even know it. Yeah. It is so sweet. And you're just rooting for them right out of the gate for that. You know what I mean? Like they're just, they're, they're both just perfect. And my daughter is 10 and she's starting to get really uncomfortable when the romance parts of movies start to happen.

And it's just fun to watch her. And she loves that movie. But, you know, she could be like, oh, you know, he's in the bathroom. And I mean, there's so many moments that were uncomfortable for her, which were quite fun. All right. Last one here. Favorite Christmas comedy, Jason? Oh, that's the worst. That's the worst thing you've ever asked me. You, you asked me in an hour from now, it'll change. Like I can't, I'm not,

I'm so bad at this kind of thing. Um, right now today I would have to say Christmas vacation. Yeah. I just, I, I, I, I'm so bad at these questions. I could make a case for about five different movies and including now Strange Brew. But Christmas vacation is just it's great. It's just it's perfect and it's so much fun. The Christmas story is right up there. But

yeah, call me back in an hour and I'll tell you something else. Emily, I 100% agree. Christmas vacation. Every scene and every moment is so random and specific at the same time. It's so thought out

and there's so many little jokes inserted into places that you might not realize it. It's funny. The performances are great. It's heartfelt. I don't know. To me, it's perfect. And Strange Brew. That's number two. And I have to say there are also like there's like a Pee Wee's Christmas special. Like I just remember going up in the 80s and it was like just turning it like some show had a special,

like every sitcom had their Christmas episode or whatever. Like even Saturday Night Live, I was re-watching a skit it was um vanessa bear and ryan gosling and it was like their new neighbors and they come over and they think santa's real and it's just this like drug trippy scene in it and they like get really like you know he's like in this kind of ragey we want to see santa because they're telling the santa's upstairs and he's gonna come down and like it's just the most awkward weird sketch but it's so well done and I'm not even saying it right but I know you guys know which

one I'm talking about but even like some of those you know Hanukkah Harry I mean there's just things of like I don't know that those little like moments or little sketches and things like that that also sticks out to me beyond all the wonderful films there are just have to plug those

on the youtube rabbit hole with those yeah it's christmas time for the jews so the stop motion thing that that schmeigel did is so good yeah it's so good yeah well i think that uh home alone has to be right up there uh as well especially for my daughter that That's just, can you, can you beat that idea of a child outwitting all of the adults? It's so far-fetched that a mother would be being a parent that you would somehow forget your child, but. Well, that's, I mean, that's the genius of that film. It's like, you look at it and you're like, how did any of that happen in reality? And it was sold. And it's one of the biggest films ever. I mean, it's like, that's good filmmaking. You film is like you look at it and you're like how did any of that happen in reality and it was sold and it's one of the biggest films ever i mean it's like that's good filmmaking you can make

your audience believe that this happened that's that john hughes kind of looney tunes thing sort of unleashed too with just the you know the the cartoonic slapstick violence and and the and the premise and everything and yet it you know chris columb It's, it's, uh, it's pretty, pretty impressive. Well, Hey, Emily, Jason, it's been fun to kind of talk Christmas, talk the business a little bit of what you guys do and what you've been up to as well. So thank you guys for coming on today. Yes, sir. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thanks for reaching out. This is really fun. really fun. For those of you interested in purchasing the titles discussed in the show today, there are links in the podcast show notes and on our website at www.theextras.tv. So be sure and check those out. And if this is the first episode of The Extras you've listened to

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