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[0:48] Jess: Hello and happy holidays from your dear friends. I am here joined with Christi Esterle of Musical Hell and Emily Clark of Stealing Focus.

[0:59] Christi Esterle: Yay!

[1:00] Emily Clark: Woo!

[1:00] Jess: And today we are listing not only our top five Christmas specials, but our top five Christmas films and just generic holiday films and specials as well. I think there's gonna be there's a little bit of bleed over in mine, but we'll get to that.

[1:14] Christi Esterle: That's fair enough.

[1:15] Jess: But which one do you want to start with first? The specials or the films?

[1:20] Christi Esterle: Um I'm good with either one. I mean, the spe uh let's see. I think the specials might almost would might almost be more fun. So we might do we want to hold that until the second half, or I think mine are more controversial than the special, so I'm happy to start with films.

[1:35] Jess: Alright, let's start with movies. Everyone's number five, and we're gonna start from five and get to one. Um I will just lead this charge right here because this is gonna be my worst take of the evening. Um, and my number five favorite Christmas film is Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Ron Howard film.

[1:54] Christi Esterle: Okay, from the like 90s, early 2000s.

[1:56] Jess: Yep, yep, yep. The 2000s I saw Emily's eyes glaze over just the tiny school when I said that.

[2:03] Emily Clark: I was uh a little too old uh to appreciate that when I was in high school. I imagine if I was an impressionable youth, I would have been very into the mugging and those weird fucking noses they have.

[2:17] Christi Esterle: Yes.

[2:17] Jess: However, the thing is, I was like right, I think I was in kind preschool when this film came out. So I was very preschool.

[2:26] Christi Esterle: Oh, Jesus.

[2:28] Jess: I was babysitting you.

[2:30] Christi Esterle: She could have very much could have. Um, and for most of my elementary life, this was just the film that would always be in the classrooms or on at home, or no matter what, because it was like the big money-making like Christmas film of that age until Elf came out. Um, and they realized what a quality comedy Christmas film.

[2:50] Jess: So it's just so ingrained into my childhood and ingrained into like the lexicon of quotes and things that I watch around this time. And it just is purely a nostalgic choice for me, and I'm not gonna try to claim that this film is some cinematic masterpiece. It does take some very big swings because Ron Howard did develop a brand new like dolly track system because he thought everything should be wonky, including the camera.

[3:24] Christi Esterle: Bold choice doesn't really work for a um so I I will say, I will say that that song they gave for Cindy Lou, uh, Where Are You Christmas? That's a nice song.

[3:35] Jess: It does feel in the world of Dr. Seuss as well. Like that doesn't feel outside the world. I like the Faith Hill version. I do appreciate it.

[3:42] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[3:43] Jess: I think Bill Irwin, um, just seeing him in a big budget film also makes me happy. He's like the best at the clowning work. And it didn't feel like they were just picking sitcom randos because it would get butts into seats. They picked people that felt in the world. I don't know. I appreciated the effort put into that film that nowadays I'm not seeing. So it is a time capsule. It is nostalgic, and it is easily my worst choice on this list.

[4:09] Christi Esterle: Okay. Wait till you see some of my choices, man.

[4:12] Jess: Okay, yeah. Christi, you're up next.

[4:16] Christi Esterle: Okay, so mine is also a nostalgic choice, but I am uh, you know, of uh generation or two before Jess. So mine is Santa Claus the movie.

[4:26] Jess: Which is remember Santa Claus.

[4:29] Christi Esterle: 1985 movie um done by the people who did like the original Superman. Um, and it just like, you know, is like Santa's origin story and goes through the years, and then you know, it gets to the 20th century, and he has to, you know, there's this evil toy maker played by John Lithgow, who is absolutely chewing every single bit of scenery that he can find.

[4:50] Jess: It's you know, it's very fun. When I was a kid, you know, I just loved it. I thought it was so magical, and honestly, I kind of have this soft spot for you know, Santa mythos, you know, where it explains, okay, how does he get down the chimney? You know, how does he do all this in one night? How did the reindeer fly? So I kind of like it when stories explain some of that.

[5:10] Christi Esterle: And it's just it looks fantastic. It's um great movie. It's got Dudley Moore as like the head elf, and he's adorable.

[5:19] Jess: And I used to drive my parents, my brother and I used to drive our parents nuts, you know, marching around setting the table to like the elf working songs, so yeah.

[5:27] Christi Esterle: So that's my nostalgic choice. Um, you know, it's probably something that wouldn't hold up, you know, if I saw it today, but you know, you can pry it from my cold head hands. I love it.

[5:36] Jess: Sincerely, Christi.

[5:38] Christi Esterle: I watched this for the first time last year, and I was amazed at how well it held held up for me.

[5:43] Jess: It is it's just the only complaint is it's a little long, but it feels so massive.

[5:47] Christi Esterle: Yeah, once you actually get to the 20th century, things drag a bit, but that first, you know, the first couple of acts, you know, where Santa gets lost in the blizzard with his wife and they meet the elves, and um, you know, they say, you know, he's like the chosen one who's going to, you know, deliver all the toys to all the children of the world.

[6:07] Jess: It's I think that's beautiful, and the watching the time pass through the years, and how he decides, okay, we're only gonna give presents to the good kids and things like that, and hearing um, you know, uh Clement Clark Moore's The Night Before Christmas and kind of having a little, you know, body image moment because they're talking about his bowl full of jelly belly.

[6:28] Christi Esterle: So yeah. Great choice.

[6:31] Jess: Um, Emily, what's your number five?

[6:34] Emily Clark: My number five is a modern Christmas classic. It's become a staple in my home over the past couple years, and that would be Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square.

[6:48] Christi Esterle: A modern masterpiece.

[6:50] Emily Clark: If there ever was one, I will hear no slander against it. I love Jennifer Lewis singing her like your main Scrooge song to uh to Christi Baransky.

[7:04] Christi Esterle: I love that weird dumb guy, that weird dumb guy who can't talk like a normal human, and yet he's in he's in She-Hulk.

[7:12] Emily Clark: He's on the romantic lead, and I don't his wife character is just the epitome of every like vaguely religious ingenue community theater girl you ever knew. Like I am obsessed with it. I love it. It's so dopey and fun, and I wish I could see a community theater production of it because it is just that perfect.

[7:37] Christi Esterle: I love it. Dolly Parton's an angel, and she's got that little dancing girl who's like she she's like the dancer in the ensemble who's like playing her like like angel buddy, and I love it, it's wonderful.

[7:50] Jess: Um great choice.

[7:52] Christi Esterle: Yeah, I mean Kelly Parton. It's I love it. It's so dumb, and I love it.

[7:56] Emily Clark: Christine Baransky specifically is very hot in it.

[8:01] Christi Esterle: Um, and she's like, oh, I'm so mean, I'm so scroogey, oh I'm gonna ruin this town, and and and she learns a lesson.

[8:09] Jess: Oh, of course she does.

[8:11] Emily Clark: Yes, but even me and but me in act one is like, yeah, but I but I could fix her.

[8:11] Christi Esterle: But I could fix her.

[8:16] Emily Clark: Yes, I love it. Christmas on the square. Seek it out, people. It's on Netflix, right?

[8:22] Jess: Yeah, definitely.

[8:23] Christi Esterle: Okay. Wonderful, wonderful choice. Um, I'm realizing how weird my list is now that I'm at my number four.

[8:29] Jess: Um, my number four choice for best Christmas film is Eyes Wide Shut.

[8:34] Christi Esterle: Um Explain on uh I know it takes place at Christmas.

[8:39] Jess: You watch it every Christmas.

[8:41] Emily Clark: I do.

[8:42] Jess: Um, I do watch this because it gets the vibe, the colors. Like it's part of those things where that one piano note going over and over again.

[8:50] Christi Esterle: Yes.

[8:51] Jess: Um and the last shot of the film is them Christmas shopping. The colors are everywhere, and uh as the sex club.

[8:59] Christi Esterle: Yeah, it's great.

[9:00] Jess: Yeah. Um, she does a long monologue about how she dreams about cucking Tom Cruise.

[9:05] Christi Esterle: It is all the things.

[9:07] Jess: Don't we all, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[9:10] Christi Esterle: Okay. Well, I guess if I guess if Die Hard's a Christmas movie, yeah, go back to the show.

[9:14] Jess: That was exactly my argument. Like, it is as much a Christmas movie as Die Hard, except this actually has some thematic relevance to the overall story as opposed to just like window dressing that Die Hard has it as.

[9:27] Christi Esterle: Um, and I don't know. I this feels like proper like holiday colors and proper like feelings, and the complex feelings of having to be around your family and go to these weird Christmas parties.

[9:39] Jess: Especially the opening scenes where he's invited to those more Christmas party, and it's just like I barely know anyone here.

[9:45] Christi Esterle: That sums up the Christmas time.

[9:47] Jess: Do I have to go to the holiday sex party again?

[9:53] Christi Esterle: Ah, if you haven't got a big one.

[9:55] Jess: Oh my god, whip out the mask again.

[9:57] Christi Esterle: Oh, get a new one.

[10:01] Jess: What the girl from Hocus Pocus has AIDS?

[10:04] Christi Esterle: No!

[10:06] Jess: Oh Jesus.

[10:07] Christi Esterle: The Christmas feelings.

[10:08] Jess: Yeah. Alright, Christi, you're number four.

[10:11] Christi Esterle: Okay, uh, my number four is uh the one I just did a know the score on, and that's Jingle Jangle, a Christmas Journey.

[10:18] Uh 2020 uh Netflix uh thing came out. It's got uh Forrest Whitaker as this toy maker whose apprentice betrayed him a long time ago and his heart's broken and he can't invent anymore.

[10:30] Christi Esterle: And then his granddaughter comes and you know, basically brings him back to life and you know, finds his you know, secret new invention that can save his shop and save the day.

[10:41] Jess: And it's a lot of fun. It's got um it's got music uh co-written by uh John Legend.

[10:48] Christi Esterle: Uh it's got some fantastic choreography, it's got a brilliant aesthetic, which is kind of this, you know, half steampunk, half uh black uh fashion uh thing going on, and it looks great.

[11:00] Jess: It's got Keegan Michael Key as the bad guy.

[11:02] Christi Esterle: He has like this killer villain song, and it's a lot of fun. It looks beautiful. Go check it out.

[11:08] Jess: And go check out her Nor the Score, no know the score of the Skirl.

[11:13] Christi Esterle: Yes. You gotta be cut off drinking too much.

[11:18] Jess: Yes, very, very good.

[11:19] Christi Esterle: Oh, and Anika Noni Rose is like his a strange daughter, and she's got a fantastic, you know, 11 o'clock number.

[11:25] Jess: So is Anika Noni Rose like doing the thing where she's like older than me, but playing someone who's like 25?

[11:33] Christi Esterle: Um she's been doing that forever because she looked perpetually 25.

[11:38] Jess: Yeah, she's you know, it's kind of a morphous, but you know, she's old enough to have like a 10-year-old girl, so uh she's probably like in her 30s something ish.

[11:48] Christi Esterle: Yeah, yeah.

[11:49] Jess: Yeah, she's what do you mean older than you? You're like 23, Emily.

[11:52] Emily Clark: Yep, that's that means she's older than me, clearly.

[11:58] Christi Esterle: Um I love Jingle Django, it's wonderful.

[12:01] Jess: Um, I should rewatch it. I only watched that first year. I should really revisit it.

[12:05] Christi Esterle: Yeah, I rewatched it for um know the score, and it held up really well.

[12:09] Jess: So beautiful, beautiful.

[12:11] Christi Esterle: Emily, number four or four, yeah.

[12:13] Emily Clark: Yeah, yeah. Number four number number four is a classic for me.

[12:16] Christi Esterle: Uh Miracle on 34th Street.

[12:18] Emily Clark: Ah, of course.

[12:20] Christi Esterle: Only, only the original.

[12:22] Emily Clark: Only the original one.

[12:24] Christi Esterle: I can't.

[12:24] Emily Clark: You're gonna fight Mara Wilson.

[12:26] Christi Esterle: No, I love Mara Wilson. She's great, but I think it's a sweetheart.

[12:29] Emily Clark: I can't do any of the remakes. It is just the OG one for me because it still really, really holds up.

[12:35] Christi Esterle: Um Natalie Wood is insane.

[12:38] Emily Clark: It's insane to see her as a child and be like, you are the best actor ever.

[12:43] Christi Esterle: Um and it's just God, it's just a good story.

[12:46] Emily Clark: I really like how they handle her mom and Mr. Gailey, who lives next door, and I like their romance because it's not laid on super thick, and it's very clear that she's divorced, but they're like kind of getting together, and then a few scenes later, he's like, you know, she's calling him Uncle, whatever his first name is.

[13:04] Christi Esterle: You know, like I kind of like that.

[13:05] Emily Clark: Like they're handling it in a really tactful way.

[13:08] Christi Esterle: And it just every year I I watch it and I I'm just like, this lasts forever.

[13:13] Emily Clark: And I will forever love that drunk wife on the phone, going, we'd love to have Santa Claus today with us.

[13:21] Christi Esterle: I mean, I love her.

[13:22] Emily Clark: I love the villainous guy who like rubs his eyebrows, and obviously um Ed Gwen, who plays Santa Claus is one of the all-time greats.

[13:30] Christi Esterle: So I love it. I watch it every year. It's a perfect Christmas film, and it is evergreen.

[13:36] Jess: Completely agree. Wonderful, wonderful choice. Um, Emily, fantastic.

[13:40] Christi Esterle: Um, I'm uh for my number four, or for my number three.

[13:44] Jess: We're on three now.

[13:46] Christi Esterle: Um it's much later for me than it is for y'all, just so you know.

[13:51] Jess: Yeah.

[13:51] Christi Esterle: That's for the context.

[13:53] Jess: It's all good.

[13:53] Christi Esterle: Um I'm picking Krampus, um, which came out.

[13:58] Christi Esterle: I love this film, but I want to specifically say the original cut.

[14:02] Christi Esterle: I think that the unrated cut is just a little too mean, a little too dour, a little too edgy, um, and a little too long.

[14:09] Christi Esterle: I think that the original cut is like a perfect mix of like a gremlin-style horror film.

[14:15] Christi Esterle: Um that's also very much a Christmas film.

[14:18] Christi Esterle: Um Adam Scott and Tony Colette are incredible in it.

[14:21] Christi Esterle: Um David Kechner as well.

[14:23] Christi Esterle: The entire cast is truly like A plus choices, and it's properly terrifying.

[14:29] Christi Esterle: Like I I stomach horror very, very well.

[14:33] Christi Esterle: And this one, it's pretty it uses its everything, right?

[14:37] Christi Esterle: I don't think we have enough movies that delve into like, you know, the you know, the all the Santa alternates, like Black Pete and Krampus and the ones who, you know, take the switches and coal to the bad kids.

[14:49] Christi Esterle: Because those are some pretty that's some pretty, you know, fun and messed up stuff, and you know, I like that I like that they, you know, took a took that and made a horror story out of it.

[15:00] Christi Esterle: And the practical effects in this film, I I've yet to see anything really come even close to how well executed they were.

[15:07] Christi Esterle: Um, while it's not all 100% practical, just the idea of having a nutcracker, but then there's like meaty skin and stuff underneath it, like that is more horrifying to me than any of the Saw movies.

[15:18] Jess: Yeah.

[15:18] Christi Esterle: Um, so yeah, Krampus, go watch it with your family.

[15:21] Christi Esterle: Um double feature it with eyes wide shut, of course.

[15:26] Christi Esterle: Um you've got some pretty morbid Christmas.

[15:31] Jess: Yes.

[15:31] Christi Esterle: I I'm I'm so sorry, but this really does sum up my entire life.

[15:36] Christi Esterle: I love Christmas so fucking much, but I love turning it on its head.

[15:39] Jess: Um Christi, your number two.

[15:42] Christi Esterle: Okay, I think you know, uh some people this one's kind of been a little overexposed, so some people are probably gonna go ew, but it's a Christmas story.

[15:49] Christi Esterle: And kind of more for what it, you know, my kind of more for what it has been to me than more than what it becomes.

[15:54] Christi Esterle: Um, you know, because I what got into it before TBS started running it 24 hours every December 25th.

[16:01] Christi Esterle: So I get why some people think it's overexposed, but I think it's just a fun, nostalgic little movie.

[16:07] Christi Esterle: And what I love about it is the way it's narrated, it's you know, explaining a child's perspective with an adult's vocabulary.

[16:16] Christi Esterle: Because you know, you know, a little Ralphie wasn't really thinking, my old man painted and curses like an artist with oils.

[16:24] Christi Esterle: But yeah, you when he says that it's like, yeah, that's what you the kid thinks.

[16:27] Christi Esterle: And yes, when you were a kid, you know, you had these fantasies where you were the hero of your own story, or where you know you would come back blind and your family would be sorry for the way they treated you, and just like all the little crazy stuff that happened, sticking the tongue to the light pole and getting into the fight with the bully and getting freaked out by the store Santa Claus, who I admit was legitimately terrifying when I first saw that as a kid.

[16:51] Christi Esterle: I was like, Okay, yeah, I can see why you were scared.

[16:55] Christi Esterle: But yeah, it's a lot of fun.

[16:57] Christi Esterle: It's just you know, good old-fashioned, nostalgic Christmas, and also very eminently quotable, I think.

[17:04] Christi Esterle: You know, it's it's a major award and the whole lamp thing.

[17:08] Christi Esterle: Like non-stop quotes, non-stops.

[17:10] Jess: Yes, it is.

[17:11] Christi Esterle: When I watch it, I just like say everything.

[17:15] Christi Esterle: I just poem the whole time.

[17:18] Christi Esterle: Yeah, and just the cute story where the dog, you know, just the cute little thing at the end where the dogs eat the turkey, so they all go out to the Chinese restaurant.

[17:27] Christi Esterle: So good.

[17:27] Christi Esterle: A little cringe, a little cringe nowadays.

[17:29] Jess: That's yeah, I mean, you you can't really get away with the uh no faba um pitch uh yeah today, I think, but you know, that was you it.

[17:39] Christi Esterle: That's 80s humor.

[17:41] Christi Esterle: Um, but the best part though is where you know the mom says, uh it's looking at me and then the guy just yeah take a cleaver and goes whap and freaks her up even more.

[17:50] Christi Esterle: So good.

[17:51] Christi Esterle: So good.

[17:52] Christi Esterle: Incredible, incredible.

[17:53] Christi Esterle: I mean, no one's gonna fight John Allen Christmas.

[17:56] Christi Esterle: I got a lot of lists left to go.

[17:57] Jess: Um Emily, you're up next.

[18:00] Emily Clark: Okay.

[18:00] Emily Clark: Well, so um uh I have a an iteration of a Christmas carol on both of my lists.

[18:07] Emily Clark: But for me, um my Christmas carol is Scrooge, and um I love that musical so much.

[18:15] Emily Clark: And um a big reason is because my dad used to watch it with us every Christmas.

[18:21] Emily Clark: I I would have divorced dad Christmases, you know, and so Scrooge, um, you know, it's Leslie Burkuse, and I just think it's such a good Christmas carol adaptation.

[18:31] Emily Clark: I think Albert Finney had no right being that good as Scrooge, especially considering he was younger than me when he played the part, and he's so good.

[18:40] Emily Clark: I I love all the ghosts.

[18:43] Emily Clark: I love that kind of they're writing that you know, Oliver exclamation point coattails, because it was only a couple years later.

[18:51] Emily Clark: So they're like, we're gonna use those London sets and we're gonna have high kicking dancing through the streets, and we're gonna have sh waking my baby, and oh, we gotta sing quietly now.

[19:00] Emily Clark: Like all that stuff.

[19:02] Emily Clark: I love it.

[19:02] Emily Clark: I love that.

[19:03] Emily Clark: Um, thank you very much, is basically consider yourself.

[19:06] Emily Clark: But I I love Scrooge.

[19:08] Emily Clark: It uh, you know, it it's just like a great Christmas Carol musical adaptation in a world of Christmas Carol musical adaptations, but also it just you know holds that nostalgia feel for me.

[19:20] Emily Clark: And I just remember watching it growing up and quoting it with my dad and my brother, and so it's it's the movie version for me.

[19:27] Christi Esterle: And don't get me wrong, love the Muppets Christmas Carol, but this one was the one I actually grew up with.

[19:32] Emily Clark: The one you grew up with, yeah.

[19:33] Emily Clark: And like kind of has a hold on my heart.

[19:35] Emily Clark: So I love it very much.

[19:36] Emily Clark: And um, I think the score is very underrated.

[19:38] Emily Clark: Heck, thank you very much.

[19:40] Emily Clark: You can sing it at Thanksgiving.

[19:41] Christi Esterle: And we don't have very many Thanksgiving songs.

[19:43] Emily Clark: I think it's I think it's an underrated, you know.

[19:46] Emily Clark: I think it's one of those great songs where you know, if you sing it out of context, it sounds, you know, like fun and peppy, but then you sing it in context, and you're like, oh my god, they're celebrating a guy who guy dying because he was such a terrible asshole.

[19:59] Christi Esterle: Yeah, it's like how pretty women in Sweeney Todd, if you didn't know the context, you'd be like, yeah, beautiful duet.

[20:05] Emily Clark: It's yeah, and it's like yeah, it's legitimately beautiful, and that's what makes it so creepy.

[20:09] Christi Esterle: So yeah, yeah.

[20:10] Emily Clark: So I I love it.

[20:11] Emily Clark: I highly recommend it.

[20:12] Emily Clark: If you've never seen it, it's really great.

[20:14] Emily Clark: The um Alec Guinness plays Marley and he had no special effects.

[20:19] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[20:19] Emily Clark: So he just was like, how would a ghost move?

[20:22] Emily Clark: And he does this weird thing movement throughout it, which is kind of like, what are you doing, man?

[20:28] Emily Clark: Which kind of would have worked on the stage, but on screen, you're like, why are you floating your eyes like that, man?

[20:34] Christi Esterle: If all you know of Alec, if all you know of Alec Guinness is Obi Wan, you gotta really check out his body of work because he has he wasn't a fantastic character actor, kind hearts and coronets.

[20:45] Emily Clark: I mean, that was that's a master class right there.

[20:48] Emily Clark: So oh, and so he he even kind of sings.

[20:51] Emily Clark: I mean, he talks sings this kind of creepy song where he's like floating above.

[20:55] Emily Clark: And I like this version too because a lot of versions of a Christmas carol, when they get to the third act, when they get to the ghost of uh Christmas yet to come, it's like Scrooge going, I'm gonna die.

[21:06] Emily Clark: Oh no.

[21:07] Emily Clark: And it's like, well, everyone's gonna die.

[21:08] Emily Clark: Why are you scared of that?

[21:10] Emily Clark: And this one captures the fact that it's like, oh no, you're gonna go to hell.

[21:13] Emily Clark: And so that's it's it's not that they're gonna die.

[21:16] Emily Clark: It's that you're it's that nobody will care.

[21:19] Emily Clark: It's that nobody will care when you die.

[21:21] Emily Clark: In fact, they will be happy when you die.

[21:24] Emily Clark: That's the whole point.

[21:25] Emily Clark: And he goes down there, and then like uh Marley meets him, and then he's like in hell where it's hot, but then it when they go into his room, it's freezing cold, and then they put the chains on him, and it's it's it all ties it together, baby.

[21:38] Emily Clark: I just love those versions of a Christmas Carol.

[21:40] Christi Esterle: Uh the Muppet Christmas Carol does as well too.

[21:42] Emily Clark: That pulls out from the book that you don't see very much.

[21:45] Emily Clark: And so I really like this version.

[21:47] Emily Clark: It was very creepy when I was a kid, but I really liked it.

[21:49] Emily Clark: So I highly recommend.

[21:51] Emily Clark: I also want to say, um Emily and her brother joined us on Musicals with Cheese to chat about this.

[21:56] Emily Clark: So if you want to hear us about this more, check out that episode.

[22:00] Jess: Um I do wanna say unrelated but related.

[22:03] Jess: Um I know that we're all iffy on the new movie spirited, um, but it is of my opinion that I'm I haven't seen it yet.

[22:11] Jess: Um I that I'm yeah, the Netflix expression.

[22:17] Jess: The Albert Finney Scrooge.

[22:19] Jess: Um, and there are direct references to that version.

[22:23] Emily Clark: Um really?

[22:25] Jess: Yeah, so I'm like, I really am looking forward to Emily watching this one because I'm it's very clear the creators of this one are fans of that musical.

[22:34] Christi Esterle: Well, Passic and Paul were in on it, eh?

[22:37] Jess: I don't think they I think they were I have very strange feelings about that film.

[22:42] Jess: Um we just did an episode, but it's obviously a passion project, which is the best thing I can say about that.

[22:48] Jess: It it's not a product.

[22:50] Christi Esterle: That's good, that's good, that's good.

[22:51] Jess: Um, and it's obvious they really liked the Albert Finney Scrooge so much that they do their own thank you very much scene.

[22:58] Christi Esterle: Um I love it.

[23:00] Jess: I also watched a really shitty one where they also referenced Thank You Very Much.

[23:03] Jess: That musical is getting a lot more traction nowadays.

[23:05] Christi Esterle: So it's so good.

[23:07] Jess: It's a good Christmas Carol musical.

[23:10] Christi Esterle: I'm just saying.

[23:11] Emily Clark: I do.

[23:11] Christi Esterle: I agree.

[23:12] Christi Esterle: And Thank You Very Much is probably one of the best musical theater scenes ever on film.

[23:17] Emily Clark: Oh, and I love I Hate People.

[23:19] Emily Clark: Like that works in my real life all the time.

[23:21] Christi Esterle: I just can't.

[23:22] Christi Esterle: It's so good.

[23:23] Jess: Yeah.

[23:24] Christi Esterle: And it's one of the few versions I capture that like Christmas Eve feeling too.

[23:28] Christi Esterle: I really like just the Bob Cradch going through the streets.

[23:31] Jess: That's what I'm saying.

[23:31] Christi Esterle: Oh, and the Bob Cratchit in that version is so good.

[23:35] Christi Esterle: He's so good.

[23:36] Christi Esterle: And the little kids, the little kids singing on this beautiful Christmas morning.

[23:43] Emily Clark: Stop it.

[23:44] Christi Esterle: The cutest tiny Tim in a world of cute tiny Tims.

[23:47] Christi Esterle: That little boy.

[23:48] Christi Esterle: Oh, the Chris Man is full of.

[23:50] Christi Esterle: Oh, I love it.

[23:51] Christi Esterle: It's so good.

[23:52] Jess: I want to watch it right now.

[23:55] Christi Esterle: Hey, it's the meanest man in the old Y World.

[24:00] Jess: I love getting Emily revved up about things she loves.

[24:04] Jess: Like, that's one of my top tier like feelings.

[24:07] Jess: Um, either way, my turn and my number two, and this is a cheat.

[24:10] Jess: Um, but I think these are basically, as far as societies are concerned, um, the same film as far as Alexicon, or at least in the same camp.

[24:19] Jess: And this is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Christmas Story.

[24:22] Jess: They are both like marketed to a point where you forget how the original.

[24:28] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[24:29] Jess: Like Christmas Christmas Vacation does have to get an honorable mention for me because it's a very funny movie.

[24:36] Jess: They are both very funny movies, and they're ones that when you watch them a little too young, you the edge, you don't quite get all the jokes, so it's a bit of an awkward watch, but uh you appreciate it as you get older.

[24:47] Jess: Um and then it makes you more angry about how much like oh how much they're referenced in the culture that you almost don't remember how good it is.

[24:55] Jess: Um both of them are extremely sentimental, extremely cynical, and extremely funny.

[25:00] Jess: And they're both like hand in hand, similar tones would make a great double feature, and I don't go a Christmas without watching both of them.

[25:08] Jess: Um so I think they both go here.

[25:09] Jess: And I also have a lot of memories with my boomer father watching these, which are both replicating.

[25:15] Christi Esterle: Hey, yeah, we're all different ages, but we all have boomer parents.

[25:19] Jess: Yeah, my boomer boomer dad is all about Christmas, you know, he'll quote Christmas story and Christmas Vacation.

[25:25] Jess: My you know, my dad's like adult uh retired tradesman, so he just loves the part where they're doing the lights, and he turns the light on it, and you get the shot of the um the the meter box and it's just going nuts.

[25:39] Jess: Um or just like quiet contempt for like your in-laws.

[25:42] Jess: Like that's like the best part of Christmas vacation, it's just how very much Clark haze his relatives.

[25:49] Christi Esterle: Yeah, but this was also the one where introduced Randy Quaid's character, and he kind of like it.

[25:55] Jess: No boy's first one, okay.

[25:56] Christi Esterle: Yeah, he was introduced in the first one because I remember that because Jane Peteski with his daughter.

[26:00] Jess: Yeah.

[26:01] Christi Esterle: Okay, but yeah, he's he's a highlight in this one too.

[26:04] Jess: So um, yeah, and every everything about that film works.

[26:08] Jess: I just wish it wasn't I wish it wasn't so referenced that I forget how great it is.

[26:12] Jess: Um and watch it and it's about their generation, especially a Christmas story.

[26:17] Christi Esterle: Um, that is about our parents' generation.

[26:19] Jess: Yeah, yeah.

[26:20] Jess: Um, but I I think I've said my fill on that.

[26:22] Jess: Um, Christi, do you're number two?

[26:24] Christi Esterle: Okay, my number two is the nightmare before Christmas.

[26:29] Christi Esterle: Yes.

[26:29] Christi Esterle: I you know, I love Christmas and I love Halloween, so getting that aesthetic mashed up is fantastic.

[26:36] Christi Esterle: It's gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous stop motion animation.

[26:39] Christi Esterle: You know, it still blows me away every time that I see it.

[26:42] Christi Esterle: Um they actually had to do like a whole bunch of different stuff.

[26:46] Christi Esterle: Like they um with the armature for Jack, they had to, you know, do some really specific stuff just to make him, you know, that thin and skeletal.

[26:53] Christi Esterle: Um, so yeah, a lot of really creative stuff going on in the design.

[26:58] Christi Esterle: Um, you know, you got Danny Elfman doing Jack's singing voice, got some fantastic music there.

[27:03] Christi Esterle: Uh Catherine O'Hara as Sally.

[27:05] Christi Esterle: I love Sally.

[27:06] Christi Esterle: Um, she's uh I did was her for Halloween like several years back.

[27:10] Christi Esterle: I just love her look and everything.

[27:13] Christi Esterle: So and I did you see any of the docs about it on like Disney Plus or anything?

[27:26] Christi Esterle: Right because before she was just like a Tim Burton manic pixie dream girl, nothing. And then she was like, Oh, okay. Yeah, and then she was like, I'm gonna give her a personality, and the whole reason she is so iconic is because she um like that in the script. Yeah she wrote her as a self-insert where she's like got this weird dude that she loves and adores who's just obsessed with his weird puppets and stuff. But so what? Like Danny Elfman, I mean, come on, Jack was Danny Elfman's self-insert. Yeah, it's not just like this remote pining. I mean, she's actually doing stuff, and you know, she's using she solves everything. Santa's like, you guys need to listen to her. You guys are all dumb. Yeah.

She's like, yeah. Yeah, and you know, she's like, you know, her body can come apart and she uses that, you know she jumps out of windows she uses she takes off her legs so that she can do the whole you know sexy distraction on Oogie Boogie I mean Oogie Boogie's got a fantastic you know song and great black light um sequence yeah Ken Page it's yeah it's a great musical it's a great musical that you can really do on stage and I'm okay with that and I'm totally fine with that yeah maybe you know with like some Julie Tamer puppet stuff but you know I just don't need to see a guy dressed up like Jack on stage he's just so otherworldly like I like let's see and I I'm very happy about that.

[28:49] Jess: Yeah and yeah another one that's been uh merchandised up the wazoo unfortunately but it's a legitimately good movie and um I love it so I agree um although I do have this are there is the argument is it a Halloween movie is it a Christmas movie I argue with the Thanksgiving movie because it takes mostly in November I like to watch it on Halloween or to to segue me to like it's segwayed to Christmas because it's both it really is like it can it's it scratches both itches in a lot of ways I I agree and it's you know it's got it's got that best Tim Burton aesthetic where it's you know creepy but fun.

[29:29] Christi Esterle: Yeah it's got the Tim Burton aesthetic but with the Henry Selleck storytelling yes yes yeah and you know good taste um I'm watching Wednesday right now and I'm like you made some choices there didn't you that's definitely an I'm too old for this shit type of thing. But I will say my high school my high school students, musical theater students were talking about it the other day, and they were getting really in-depth talking about it. So I was like, you know what? If they're really fancy, who am I to say anything? I think it's very cute. I like it a lot. Um, however, it is an obvious choice that hey, all the people of color are the bad guys. Wonder why that is. Uh-uh.

[30:12] Emily Clark: Okay, so uh we're on number two, yeah?

[30:14] Christi Esterle: Yes.

[30:15] Emily Clark: Okay, so my number two is a Christmas story, and you know, I'm what can I say? It like Christi, I I grew up with it before the hullabaloo about it. In fact, it kind of flopped when it first came out. It did, it's one of those it's one of those, you know, saved by video. It really was. And the thing is, my it was another one of those ones that I really associate with my dad. My dad, you know, is a is an older boomer. He was born in like the late 40s, and he um was from Nebraska. And so that film really just kind of captured what his childhood was. And so we would watch it together, and with every year, there's stuff about the stuff with the grown-ups that just gets so much better. And Pete Billingsley, I don't know how they captured what he had going in that moment, but that wide-eyed, I don't know, like that's just what a little 10-year-old boy kind of is in a lot of ways.

And so much of it is so timeless. Dumb kids being like, I double dog, dare you, and the coding with the yellow eyes. He doesn't actually have yellow eyes, but you remember it that way. It's the idea of recounting something that you remembered as a kid, and when you were a kid, it was larger than life, you know.

[31:26] Christi Esterle: Um also I know um the dad, the old man, was way older. Um, who's the guy who plays the dad? Oh, geez, I can't remember his name. Anyway, he was like in his 60s when he played the part or something like or 50s. He was like way older than he actually should have been.

[31:42] Christi Esterle: But the whole idea was that like when you're a kid, your dad seems right.

[31:46] Emily Clark: Darren McGavin.

[31:47] Christi Esterle: I just looked at him. Thank you, Darren McGavin.

[31:49] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[31:50] Christi Esterle: Um and like just uh it it's kind of like uh miracle on 34th Street. It's why you can keep watching these movies. It's like they're of their time, even though this is a nostalgia piece, but there are truths in it that just resonate forever. And I love the mom.

[32:06] Emily Clark: I love the mom.

[32:06] Christi Esterle: The mom is great so much.

[32:08] Emily Clark: I love her so much.

[32:10] Christi Esterle: And every year I see more of how good she is at capturing just like laughing at her dumb little kid eating like a piggy. Like her seeing that Ralphie is just having a meltdown and maybe not yelling at him is the best way to go because he's already freaking out. And then just that child frustration too. Like there's so much of it that I relate to. And then I tie into it my dad every year, kind of his his feeling of being a dad, watching us, watching that, but also him reliving his childhood. So I I know it's I know it's overdone hell, but for me it wasn't because it was this little thing that like none of us we all just kind of talked about, like um, have you seen a Christmas story? Have you seen a story? Um, and then eventually TBS was like, We're gonna show it for 24 hours. And now it's way overdone. But it's still a per like just a perfect film.

[33:03] Emily Clark: Yeah, and I think it's one of those things where I watched it as a kid and I didn't quite get it. Um but then you know, the older I get, the more I'm like, yes, I understand this.

[33:12] Christi Esterle: Yes.

[33:12] Emily Clark: And you know, no matter no matter who you are, no matter what generation you come from, you can relate to, you know, getting all your snow stuff on, and then you need to go to the bathroom.

[33:20] Christi Esterle: Well, and and just even even the employees, um, the Santa and the elves, like them guys like, Come on, kid, come on. Like they're just scary, but then part of me goes, honestly, I relate. Like, I get it.

[33:31] Christi Esterle: Yeah, and you're like, yes, those are the people seasonal workers who are doing this for the paycheck. You get it. And then um, and the kids just screaming when they see him because the kids do. They actually get up to him and then they scream and he's like, oh, whatever. Like, it's so freaking funny and oh my god, function. Oh my god. It's so you legitimately you legitimately should not take kids to see Santa until they're old enough to know what Santa is, you know.

[33:59] Emily Clark: But they're when they're like three, they just see like this big loud guy who is not mom or dad.

[34:06] Christi Esterle: Yeah, that's all they see, and it freaks them out. I think truly one of the best parts of it, which I feel like doesn't get talked a lot about um because there's so much fun stuff around it, is when Ralphie actually gets the BB gun.

[34:15] Emily Clark: Oh, yes, and how his dad the whole time was the only one actually listening to him.

[34:20] Christi Esterle: Yep.

[34:21] Emily Clark: And it's so cool to see him do it. Even the mom didn't know that he Yeah, even the mom didn't know that he did that for him. But yeah, it's such it's a character. And when you're a kid, you don't they don't give it away. So if you're watching it as a kid, he's like, Oh, Santa brought it. Like they're they they never give it away explicitly that they're doing this. Even uh even when the kids go up to bed, they go up to bed and then the dad just goes, All right, let's get them. Like that's it. And so it's these little touches that you as like an adult will see, but as a kid will go over your head. And so it's a great family.

[34:49] Christi Esterle: And that's yeah, and it's a great character moment for a guy who's you know, otherwise been like this gruff, you know, um mid-20th century uh dad. And then, you know, he does this wonderfully, you know, loving thing where he just gets this kid the BB gun that he's been begging for. It's fantastic.

[35:07] Emily Clark: And and um I will say my my honorable mentions, by the way, everyone, uh, they're not on my list, but my honorable mentions are the home alone uh home alone one and two.

[35:17] Christi Esterle: Uh-huh.

[35:18] Emily Clark: For many reasons, but I I do appreciate that both Joe Pesci and Darren McGavin decided to come up with a whole new cartoon lexicon of how to swear in a Christmas movie. I love it so much. I love it. I did it when I played Miss Hannigan. Miss Hannigan was very Joe Pesci inspired. But like it's it's it's wonderful. I love it. Like it's overdone, but it's overdone for a reason. It's it's a great solid Christmas film. I love it. I love it.

[35:50] Christi Esterle: I do have a question for both of you. Um, have either of you watched the recent HBO Max A Christmas Story, Christmas.

[35:57] Emily Clark: No, I haven't.

[35:58] Christi Esterle: No, but I kind of want to only because and I know they've made sequels, but I kind of want to see what how it might be better if Pete Billingsley is involved, because he is a strong. I mean, did he direct it? Do we know? Because he ha that's his biggest creds.

[36:10] Emily Clark: Those are his biggest creds posts.

[36:12] Christi Esterle: I wouldn't say that's his biggest cred.

[36:16] Emily Clark: He produced Iron Man.

[36:17] Christi Esterle: Oh, well, I mean, like in terms of like actually okay, producing, you know, but like in terms of like him actively being on the set and doing stuff. Like he's only Christmas story is let's face it, that's his obituary role. When he dies, that is what they say. Star of Christmas story.

[36:32] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[36:32] Christi Esterle: Have you seen it, Jess?

[36:34] Jess: I did, and it's much cuter than I expected. It actually works. It's actually, it's like like it it's one of those things like my dad was like, everyone come over, we're watching this, and we all sat down and liked, and we were all like awing at the same moments, and it's not just like fan service for fan service sake. It was its own little thing, and I'm like, Well, that's good. It's not it's not like a classic or anything, but I'm like, this is actually I enjoyed this quite a bit. In a world of constant Christmas content, let's have something that makes you kind of be like, that's nice.

[37:05] Christi Esterle: Yeah, and there's a lot of like switcheroo moments where you think it's going one way because you've seen the first one, but you don't know.

[37:13] Emily Clark: He has the best scene in the movie.

[37:16] Christi Esterle: He's so into his character, he's always on every retrospective, and I know he's still an actor.

[37:21] Emily Clark: Okay, good.

[37:22] Christi Esterle: Okay. Zach Ward is actually a very good actor too.

[37:25] Emily Clark: Zach Ward who plays him.

[37:26] Christi Esterle: He was on a TV show called Titus, and he was incredible on that too. He's a much better actor than he gets credit for, and he's very good in that movie.

[37:33] Emily Clark: Um wait, I I hold on. I do want to shout out before I forget, I do love the little kid in line behind them.

[37:40] Christi Esterle: He's like, eh, who is an event.

[37:44] Emily Clark: I like standards.

[37:46] Christi Esterle: And then Ralphie goes, yeah.

[37:47] Emily Clark: And I'm like this weird aviator thing on.

[37:52] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[37:53] Emily Clark: I love it. I just I love that kid. I've never related more to it.

[37:57] Christi Esterle: That was me as a child watching the green.

[38:00] Emily Clark: And then he keeps staring at them.

[38:01] Christi Esterle: I like the Tim man.

[38:03] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[38:04] Christi Esterle: Okay.

[38:05] Emily Clark: Sure.

[38:06] Christi Esterle: Cool, cool.

[38:08] Christi Esterle: Um, the most relatable part is just Randy doesn't say a goddamn word throughout that entire line.

[38:13] Emily Clark: He just stares off at his face.

[38:14] Christi Esterle: Yeah, Randy.

[38:16] Emily Clark: Randy is so funny to me when he's like in the snow and he's like, a kick!

[38:22] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[38:22] Emily Clark: Oh my god, it's so good.

[38:25] Christi Esterle: I'll never tire of it.

[38:26] Emily Clark: I don't care.

[38:27] Christi Esterle: I don't care what anyone says.

[38:28] Emily Clark: I agree.

[38:29] Christi Esterle: Um, are we ready for number ones?

[38:31] Emily Clark: Number ones, yes.

[38:33] Christi Esterle: My number one is a cliche, but sincerely it's just the best film, and Christmas is also part of it, but I think it's just the best film, and that is It's a Wonderful Life.

[38:43] Emily Clark: That is one of the best films ever made.

[38:46] Christi Esterle: Uh-huh.

[38:48] Emily Clark: It's one of those that's been referenced to here and back that so that you can't quite you sometimes you might actually forget why it's so good, but when you see it, you absolutely get it. My favorite thing is to watch it with friends.

[39:02] Christi Esterle: And then as soon as, and then as soon as he says she's an old maid, I go, that's a librarian.

[39:11] Emily Clark: I love it.

[39:13] Christi Esterle: I love it.

[39:14] Emily Clark: I just think it's very funny.

[39:15] Christi Esterle: Out of all the bad things that happen to everyone, they're like, she's not married and has glasses now.

[39:21] Emily Clark: She's about to close up the library.

[39:23] Christi Esterle: Yeah, but this is why the this is why this annoys me, because this is based on a short story called The Greatest Gift, which I actually read, I think in junior high. And what actually happens is that Mary marries someone else, and he's like a terrible person, you know.

[39:40] Emily Clark: He's he's a dr he lost his job and he's drinking, and it's pretty much implied that he's you know abusing her, and it's you know, she's very unhappy.

[39:50] Christi Esterle: Yeah, she's very unhappy. She has, you know, these terrible monster children. So um, and I I'm thinking it was pr that was probably a Hayes Office thing. That's too much for that. We can't see her married to someone else, especially somebody who's drinking and slapping her around.

[40:06] Emily Clark: Yeah, um, so I mean, technically that's George Bailey's job, because he immediately starts drinking and is like, why do we have so many goddamn kids?

[40:15] Christi Esterle: George is kind of a dick in places, but you kind of need that to get his redemption.

[40:19] Emily Clark: I think you need the arc, yeah.

[40:20] Christi Esterle: And another thing that the Hayes Office went uh, you know, kind of put a no on, which I think is, you know, kind of odd because they're usually about getting your come up comeuppins, is they took out the scene where Mr. Potter, you know, he dies of a heart attack.

[40:33] Emily Clark: And basically, you know, Clarence is standing.

[40:36] Christi Esterle: Yeah, and Clarence, you know, just kind of stands over him and watches him die and says, you know, kind of, you know, you're you know, this is what you get for being, you know, a terrible old man.

[40:46] Emily Clark: I got my witches now, bitch.

[40:49] Christi Esterle: Yes. But yeah, so that is that kind of he d you we do have that kind of loose thread, but it is a legit. Well, it it's yeah, so I guess they thought that was too dark, but it all together is a legitimately good uh movie.

[41:02] Jess: Um, you know, very warm, you know, Jimmy Stewart, very touching. Um Merry Christmas movie house. Yep. Merry Christmas, the old bank and loan. No bank and loan. Yep. Um just at the very end where he says, God, I want to live. That's just a fantastic moment. Jimmy Stewart's kind of a good actor.

[41:23] Christi Esterle: Yeah, no one nails a monologue better than Jimmy Stewart.

[41:30] Jess: I like that. No, nobody does. And that, you know, the whole scene where he and Mary is Donna Reed are flirting and you know, getting to know each other. I'll I'll get the moon for you, Mary. And it's fantastic.

[41:43] Christi Esterle: Oh my god, it's you know, where he's you know sexual tension when they're on that phone call comes on. Or, you know, when she’s talking to him and her mom's like yelling, Sam Wainwright's on the phone, and she's just you know, really annoyed and she's you know, he's making violent love to me.

[42:01] Jess: Violent love. I mean, not that violent love to me, mother. Oh god, I love it so much. Donna Reed is next level incredible in that movie. Like I feel like even if every other actor is the same and you replace Donna Reed. Her charm is just off the charts.

[42:17] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[42:18] Jess: Yes.

[42:18] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[42:20] Jess: We approve Jess. And Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter is so lovably hateable.

[42:25] Christi Esterle: Oh, yeah.

[42:27] Jess: You want comeuppance, and you're angry that it doesn't happen. So much like one of the best SNL skits in like even the darkest times of SNL is when they did William Shatner introduces a C word Dana Carvey and the entire cast go on. Where like um Uncle Billy realizes, hey, wait a minute, he took all that money, and they go and storm his office and beat him to death. It is wonderful.

[42:48] Christi Esterle: Um story though. There was a there's a scene where Uncle Billy is leaving, and there's this big crash, and he yells, I'm okay, I'm okay. That crash was was like was not scripted. Somebody like knocked over a prop table while they were filming, and you know, they just played with it.

[43:08] Jess: Yeah, and then like Frank Capra gave whoever did it like a ten dollar bonus because he improved the film. Um another fun story is the cast love fucking with Frank Capra so much. Like they got real sick of saying he haw so much that they would start saying hee ha on lines that didn't need it, like answering the phone and like he, oh, it's you.

[43:30] Christi Esterle: Um so little shit like that, and it makes the film better, sincerely. Like everything about this, it is timeless. Um, maybe some of like the gender politics things could be a little better, but yeah, it's up its time, but you know, I can still enjoy it whilst I hey, that's part of the fun is being able to have that moment where you get to collect your proof.

[43:53] Jess: Oh god, Larry!

[43:53] Christi Esterle: Yeah, not the library.

[43:55] Jess: He's got glasses and a ponytail. That was just a good thing.

[43:58] Christi Esterle: Yeah, But the thing that I relate to most of all that no one ever talks about when they talk about this film is just the feeling of being trapped where you are and having all your opportunities taken away from you. And that that hits home more and more every year. That's one of those things that just hurts every passing year a little bit more.

[44:23] Christi Esterle: My number one is a Muppet Christmas Carol. It's uh it's like this perfect melding of, you know, the you know, the kind of Muppet crazy and a genuinely good interpretation of the Christmas Carol.

[44:34] Jess: Um so yeah, I love to hurt, so that's my number one. Um Christi, what's your number one?

[44:37] Christi Esterle: Um, one of the things I love best is like normally when you have like this established, you know, cast of characters and they do a Christmas carol, you like have somebody be the you have some of them be the ghosts, like in the Mickey version. Um, you know, you have P does the Ghost of Christmas future and so on and forth. They didn't do that.

[44:53] Christi Esterle: They have original characters as the ghosts, and it's fantastic because Oh, the little ethereal floating little tiny baby ghost. I love Christmas past is fantastic. And then the big, the big woo-hoo hoo. That's exactly how you imagine the ghost of Christmas present.

[45:09] Jess: Yes, and I love I you know, you talk about the thing, the little things that they don't always include. I love that they included that the ghost of Christmas present ages as the day goes by. And they but they also put like this little, you know, uh Muppet twist where he's kind of got this short-term memory issue because he's the ghost of Christmas present, and everything in the present that's happening right now, and he can't remember anything else.

[45:32] Christi Esterle: But it's, you know, it's fantastic. Michael Cain is legitimately one of the best Scrooges ever.

[45:38] Jess: Um that, you know, again, because he is playing this like, you know, a straight uh interpretation of the Christmas Carol, just one where he's got like a frog Bob Cratchit and everything else.

[45:50] Christi Esterle: And I mean, uh Kermit's a great Bob Cratchit, uh Robin's uh, you know, Bless Us All. I think you know, that song just makes you go.

[45:58] Jess: Robin is so cute, and a little Bean the Bunny doing today, it's Christmas Day.

[46:02] Christi Esterle: Why it's Christmas Day, sir.

[46:04] Jess: Oh yeah, it's so cute.

[46:06] Christi Esterle: Yeah, Paul Williams does some great songs for it.

[46:09] Jess: Um, it's fun, it's you know, very touching.

[46:13] Christi Esterle: Um, it's the first movie that they did after Jim Henson died, and I really feel like it's one of the movies that really captures what Jim Henson was about, where it's you know, very crazy and funny and offbeat in places, but at the same time it's very sad and solemn and beautiful in places as well.

[46:32] Christi Esterle: So I'm doing a choral medley of it with my middle schoolers because it finally became available this year, and I snatched that up.

[46:41] Jess: And they said so good. It's such a fun medley. Less us all who gather here.

[46:47] Christi Esterle: So good. I love that. Um, if you can find find a version that actually has the love is gone in it because it's like Disney Plus.

[46:56] Jess: Yes, they put it back in.

[46:58] Christi Esterle: Um, it's great. I had the VHS with it, and I think it's you know, I get why they cut it, but at the same time, I think, you know, seeing, you know, that moment and seeing the older Scrooge.

[47:08] Jess: Well, they do the reprise of it later, so they need to set it up with something.

[47:14] Christi Esterle: Yeah, but seeing, you know, Scrooge, you know, singing along with, you know, the girl that he lost all those years ago, it's I think that's a great moment, and I'm glad that they finally put put it back in.

[47:24] Jess: I agree.

[47:25] Christi Esterle: And if I'm gonna say my honorable mentions, I would put the 2004 Kelsey Graber Christmas Carol, because that was what I grew up on.

[47:33] Christi Esterle: And no, it isn't good, but god damn it, I quote that one more than any of the other ones.

[47:38] Jess: Um yeah, Jennifer Love Hewitt as his girlfriend.

[47:41] Christi Esterle: Why not?

[47:41] Jess: Trace and Alexander is Marley.

[47:44] Christi Esterle: Why not? We got a contract.

[47:45] Jess: You know, that's what I think, yeah.

[47:47] Christi Esterle: That's what I think that's better on stage than it is on film.

[47:49] Jess: So Alan Macon's score is so good.

[47:52] Christi Esterle: Yeah, it is it is a very good score.

[47:54] Jess: And you do have and you got Jessica Jesse Ellen Martin is the ghost of Christmas present, so genuinely wonderful in that role.

[48:00] Emily Clark: Um, Emily, your number one.

[48:03] Christi Esterle: I love that we all have different number ones.

[48:05] Emily Clark: So yeah.

[48:06] Christi Esterle: We're not basic.

[48:07] Emily Clark: Yeah, so so I I've represented my dad a lot on this list, but number one kind of belongs to my mom. This is White Christmas.

[48:14] Christi Esterle: Aww.

[48:16] Emily Clark: I love this stupid ass musical so much. It's I love I don't care. I love it. I I watch it every year, usually on Christmas with my family. We have a drinking game that we play when we watch it.

[48:29] Christi Esterle: I am uh uh I my dream role is to play that girl who's like, Well, how about that? Without so much as a kiss my foot or heave an apple. I love her.

[48:39] Emily Clark: Um, I love um that I think it's just it's so funny to me. I love it. It's it's all these Irving Berlin songs, it's a jukebox musical, thank you very much. But um, you know, it they just mush them all together, and like, you know, 20 something in her prime, Rosemary Clooney had to act like she was falling in love with like dumpy old Bing Crosby.

[49:01] Christi Esterle: And and and Vera Ellen is like dancing all over the place, and she, you know, sure she does this thing where she mugs to the camera all the time and does all this stuff with her shoulders. I love it.

[49:11] Emily Clark: There's a weird song where they're like, we miss minstrel shows, but we're not gonna do minstrel shows because that's passe. But what we're gonna do is sing about how we miss them.

[49:21] Christi Esterle: I don't love that, but I think it's they bury the lead with it, and all of a sudden you're like, wait a second, what do you miss? This is uh this is a lot.

[49:30] Emily Clark: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

[49:31] Christi Esterle: Hang on a tick.

[49:32] Emily Clark: But that aside, that's why the stage version exercises that whole sequence, and it doesn't matter because the stage version is actually very good as I've seen that a couple of times, and it's just you know, it's fun, cozy Christmas, you know.

[49:46] Christi Esterle: My brother played the Bing Crosby role uh in a stage version of it a few years ago.

[49:51] Emily Clark: Um, and that was really fun. I love sisters so much.

[49:55] Christi Esterle: I love that it's Rosemary Clooney's voice twice because Vera Ellen can't really sing.

[50:00] Emily Clark: So when it goes with her singing with herself, um, and I love that she gives her Vera Ellen a little more of a sultry vibe. I love it.

[50:08] Christi Esterle: It's I don't know, it's just like uh you could just put it on and it's like, yeah, this is Christmas time, this is it.

[50:14] Emily Clark: Like, I love Danny Kay. I love that snow song they sing on the train.

[50:18] Christi Esterle: I love when they get off the train and they try to ad lib it and Vera has to go snow, she can't find her note.

[50:24] Emily Clark: Um, I think it is just wonderful. I love it, it's stupid, but I love it.

[50:30] Christi Esterle: I love it so much.

[50:32] Emily Clark: And I'm gonna throw a little recommendation to you folks. If you can find a revival theater that's playing it in 35 millimeter in the original technicolor, it is a different film.

[50:41] Christi Esterle: It looks incredible.

[50:42] Emily Clark: Um, if you can do that, um, because that was the first and only time I've experienced White Christmas, and my god.

[50:50] Christi Esterle: Um, beautiful, beautiful looking.

[50:52] Emily Clark: I mean, it's beautiful to look at even on your TV at home because truly, like the God, those colors pop, and like, oh god, those dance sequences.

[51:01] Christi Esterle: I love the um like Vera Ellen was supposed to be paired with some like dance star with like a huge dance star, um someone like Donald O'Connor, but then it didn't end up happening, and so then she got Danny Kay, who's great.

[51:15] Emily Clark: He could do that one the best things happen when you're dancing number with her.

[51:19] Christi Esterle: But all the big dance numbers like that she's supposed to do in the show, they just had like the dance captain guy do them with her, and he's amazing.

[51:27] Emily Clark: And then when they do that Abraham sequence where she's just in that little yellow dress and they're doing that dance.

[51:34] Christi Esterle: Oh my god, it's so freaking good. She's amazing.

[51:35] Emily Clark: And Rosemary Clooney is just beautiful, and when she's singing that song, Love You Didn't Do Right by Me, and then George Chiris is there, and he's like doing weird modern dance arms.

[51:46] Christi Esterle: I love it.

[51:47] Emily Clark: I love their weird choreography song, which is so of its time. Like, let's make fun of modern dance.

[51:53] Christi Esterle: Isn't this modern dance?

[51:54] Emily Clark: Weird, what a fad.

[51:56] Christi Esterle: I love I love it.

[51:57] Emily Clark: What a time capsule.

[51:58] Christi Esterle: Ugh, so much.

[52:00] Jess: Uh and that is our top five. And you know what? We've had so much doing the f fuck me. Um we've had so much.

[52:07] Christi Esterle: So much doing, by we've been doing this.

[52:11] Jess: We've had so much fun doing this. How about next week? You come and join us where we count down our top five favorite Christmas specials.

[52:17] Christi Esterle: In the meantime, Christi, why don't you promote your wonderful content um for people to find?

[52:23] Christi Esterle: I am at Musical Hell on YouTube. I am still on Twitter for reasons I cannot uh that are becoming increasingly vague to me. But I'm on Tumblr and Facebook and Redbubble. I've got merch. I'm on Patreon. I'm doing like some fun Christmas stuff in December, so come check me out.

[52:42] Jess: Alright, wonderful. And also, Christi's actually using Tumblr Right.

[52:46] Christi Esterle: Um, and she still stayed friends with me after following me on Tumblr for about a decade.

[52:51] Jess: Uh cool kids are doing it now.

[52:53] Christi Esterle: I mean, never since Twitter's been going to crap.

[52:56] Jess: Do I have to get a Tumblr?

[52:58] Christi Esterle: Oh my gosh, Emily, you're daunting.

[53:00] Emily Clark: You would be so good at Tumblr, though.

[53:01] Christi Esterle: Oh, that feels like daunting.

[53:03] Jess: Oh my god. I love it.

[53:04] Emily Clark: Um, Emily, promote your content and your future Tumblr.

[53:08] Emily Clark: Okay. Yeah, you can find me at uh Stealing Focus on YouTube, and I'm at Emily A.B. Clark on all the socials on all the socials that I can handle.

[53:21] Christi Esterle: So uh Instagram and TikTok and Twitter.

[53:25] Emily Clark: Um I got hive, but man, hive really kind of sucks.

[53:28] Christi Esterle: I'm kinda I kind of went uh crazy for a bit.

[53:31] Emily Clark: So what a piece of crap appeared, but um eventually we will figure out a substitute to Twitter, but um I don't think a viable one has come up yet.

[53:41] Christi Esterle: So for now, since everything is owned by a horrible conglomeration, I'll just stick on Twitter and fine.

[53:47] Emily Clark: But uh you can find me on Facebook too.

[53:49] Christi Esterle: I can't guarantee that I'll add you, but you could try.

[53:53] Emily Clark: Um I'm added, I'm better than you.

[53:56] Christi Esterle: Hey, you're my friend that's line.

[53:59] Emily Clark: Uh yeah, a dear friend, you might even say.

[54:02] Jess: Um I'm on Twitter at Jesse D. MacNally, the D is for my dick. Um, and I'm everywhere else at Musicals and Cheese.

[54:09] Christi Esterle: Um, on that note, we'll see you next week.

[54:17] Jess: Bye.

[54:18] Christi Esterle: Bye bye, merry little Chris Mus.

[54:35] Emily Clark: Merry Christmas.