Ep 65 - The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: The Christmas Chronicles 2018. Christmas comes once a year, but if you can film the fat man in the act, you could be rich for a lifetime. At least that's what the plan is with Kate and Teddy. And they put it into action one wild Christmas Eve. Because nothing brings families closer together during the holidays than selling out St. Nick for a sack of Nick. [00:00:32] Speaker B: This episode is brought to you by Radik Audio. Radik Audio. Enjoy the music. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to our rating. The show where I get together with two of my buddies and we take a movie franchise, break it down by a movie, give it a score, throw it up on the board, and see where it lands. Compared to the other movie franchises. This week we are talking about Christmas Chronicles, the one with Kurt Russell. And I'm joined, as always, by Brian and Will. Will, how are you doing this week? [00:00:56] Speaker A: I'm doing fantastic. You know, Christmas is closer by the minute and children are excited, and I am but a manchild. [00:01:03] Speaker B: Excellent. I. I feel you on that one, to be perfectly honest. Brian, how you doing? [00:01:08] Speaker C: I'm good, Dan. To be honest, there were some negative vibes this afternoon, so I'm really happy to be here with good friends, talking about hopefully good movies. [00:01:15] Speaker B: Oh, fair enough. Fair enough. You were playing arc this afternoon, were you not? [00:01:19] Speaker C: Yeah, and that's where the fun ended. After arc, my day got bad. Broken phones, screenshots, damaged stuff, crying kids. Everything went wrong. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Oh, boy. [00:01:29] Speaker B: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. This one's a Netflix exclusive, so it is on Netflix, so we've all had access to it for years. Is this your first time coming to this one, Will, or you seen this one before? [00:01:39] Speaker A: First time, Daniel. [00:01:41] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Okay. I wasn't expecting that. What about you, Brian? [00:01:44] Speaker C: No, I've seen it a couple of times. My oldest son likes this movie, and so I just watched this, so it's fresh in my head to talk about. [00:01:52] Speaker B: Fair enough. I am the same way. I've seen this one a couple of times over the years. There is a sequel which will be talking about next week. Obviously, it's a franchise show, but this is one that my kids also really enjoy and especially my youngest was very excited. I kind of threw it out to her just randomly, like on Sunday, be like, hey, do you want to, like, watch this movie with me that I have to watch for my show? And she got, like, shockingly excited. I think more about the dad time than the movie itself. But, like, all through the week, she was talking about, like, our daddy daughter date on Wednesday, and I'm Just like, oh, I. That's awesome. I was just expecting it to just watch the movie, but, like, I'm so glad you're so excited for this one. So it was. It was very fun. I did watch it last night, so it's still pretty. Pretty fresh in my head, but been a busy week, so I don't have as many notes as I was normally like to have. [00:02:32] Speaker C: Will, did you watch this with your kid? [00:02:34] Speaker A: Yes. I believe this is the first movie on our show that I've actually been able to watch with my son. He's 5, so not a lot of movies are applicable that we've watched. So it was exciting getting to experience it with him for the first time for both of us, so I enjoyed that quite a bit. [00:02:53] Speaker B: That's awesome. We should definitely do more, I don't know, Toy Story or something like that, so you can have some family bonding with your kid. [00:03:04] Speaker C: I hope that was towards Toy Story, not the bonding with your kid, but we'll see. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Hey, I'll leave it up to you, you know, you decide. [00:03:11] Speaker B: Whatever works. Oh, great timing. Okay, so if this is your first time coming to this one, I. I'm just gonna throw it out there. The movies, the movie is what it is. But Kurt Russell in this movie is absolutely fantastic as Santa. I actually really like the look of him. Specifically, I think he looks excellent, probably because he's probably. Actually has that beard and hair at this point. Like, he probably doesn't have to dye it gray or wear a wig. That probably just is who he is. Having his wife play Mrs. Claus at the end for that brief little cameo is super fun for the most part. I. I found him extremely watchable in this movie. What do you guys think of Kurt Russell as Santa Claus? Did he do it for you? [00:03:54] Speaker C: I. I think Kurt Russell kind of carried the film for me. The child actors were mid. That's just. You could say it's just me. But I. I don't think that they did a fantastic job in this. They could have been worse than. But Kurt Russell was. Was a pleasure to watch in this role. I don't think he was given the best lines, but he delivered them well. And. And he. He looked great as saying. I love the. I want to say dirty, but it wasn't like this pure white trim and pure white beard and everything. He looked more real, and I like that. [00:04:29] Speaker B: Yeah, he looked kind of like a Santa that had lived a life. Right? Like, I. I don't know how else to word that, but I. I agree. I liked it. What about you Will. [00:04:37] Speaker A: I agree. I think Kurt Russell carries this. This is a Kurt Russell showcase. The rest might not be so good. [00:04:47] Speaker B: That's fair. I think for me personally, Kate did a better job than her brother or her mom. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Teddy. [00:04:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:58] Speaker B: Like, as much as we rag on child actors, I. I think the mother was worse. Perfectly honest. Like, every line she had is like, ooh, ooh, okay. Whereas, like, Kate had some very bad, cheesy lines, but other ones that she did pretty well with. Like, I feel like she was a better. This sounds so weird for a Christmas movie. She was a better sad character than she was an excited character. Like, when she's talking about her dad, she did a pretty good job there. People haven't seen this movie. Her dad passes away at the very beginning of it. When she's talking about her dad. She does a pretty good job and I'm pretty okay with her. But then when she's riding the reindeer, she's like, this is the best. It's like, oh, second take, please. Maybe a third. I don't know. [00:05:36] Speaker A: It's because she wasn't really flying. She was clearly behind a green screen and it kind of showed she wasn't flying. Yeah, yeah. So she couldn't quite get that emotional high. [00:05:46] Speaker C: Well, somebody here doesn't believe in Santa Claus. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Let's not go quite that far. Yeah, no, I think I agree with you. I think Kurt Russell really did carry this movie. He's the one that makes this really fun, really enjoyable. Now, my kid obviously loved most of it. She was giggling along at, like, the elves and stuff like that. But for the, like, Kurt Russell, I really enjoyed, I'm gonna say, except for maybe the jail sing along scene. That was pretty over the top for me and it was pretty okay if that had been left on the floor. But I also understand that that is kind of what they needed to prove to the jail guards. Like, no, this is magic. This is over the top. There's no way I could have brought in all these instruments and put this together if I was just some street magician or whatever. Like, clearly something bigger is going on here. Outside of that, though, that whole scene was kind of. Kind of cringy for me. [00:06:35] Speaker C: Speaking of the jail guards, David was really good as that, as that jail guard talking with Santa. You know, he's in the interrogation room with Santa Claus and they're kind of going back and forth and he's bringing out the Christmas items and saying, this is what you wanted when you were seven and you were eight and all this stuff. Trying to Trying to fool him and everything. At the very end, after he sang the Christmas ensemble, he's like, okay, I'll let you out. And then Santa just whiffs off into smoke anyways and didn't even need to be let out. It was kind of weird and everything. But I did like the security guard, both of them really. But the, the one in particular, the David character, he was good. I liked this sing along. I don't think like, like, because like they were obviously ad libbing it and then they, they dubbed the music over the top of it and it was very noticeable. So I wish they would have put more polish on it in that way because, you know, Kurt Russell likes sang it, but he sang it in a sound studio and then they dubbed it back over and it just didn't look very good. It didn't sound very good. But I don't think that was Kurt Russell's fault. I, I liked the song and sequence and I talked to a lot of other people that said that they like that sequence as well. [00:07:43] Speaker B: All right, fair enough. Maybe I'm the odd man out on that one. What about you, Will? [00:07:46] Speaker A: I mean, I take it or leave it. I have more issue with like the whole story premise itself. Like he's going out of his way to steal this tape from these kids because he doesn't want to get this out. But throughout the movie he's proving himself to be real Santa with magic all over with everybody, right? So it's like, what's the point? [00:08:08] Speaker B: I don't think that was the point of the movies that he's just trying to steal the videotape back. I think he just takes the tape back at the end. [00:08:15] Speaker A: It's a big plot point though, right? And it, it doesn't seem to be of any matter really. There's no importance to it. And at the end of the movie, it would have been easier for the little girl to be like, I didn't turn my brother in with the tape. I'm not going to turn Santa in with the tape. That's the easy solution to be like, oh, they are good kids. They're gonna keep this Santa secret to themselves. The, the whole him being like, I'm. I got a video for us to watch. Mrs. Claus was kind of creepy and took away from the message a little bit. Right? So absolutely creepy. [00:08:48] Speaker C: Really? [00:08:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Well, I didn't get creepy from that whatsoever. But okay. [00:08:52] Speaker C: He had a creepy look, I thought anyway. But yeah, I think you're right, Will. I think she should have handed him the tape and Been like, no, it's cool. But it didn't make any sense because he was showcasing his Christmas magic all over the place, literally turning into smoke and going up through the ventilation shaft. And the whole thing was this idea that he needed to get his hat back. Right. He was waiting for that to happen, but the truth was, he didn't need his hat. That was all a lie. And it basically made the entire premise of the movie pointless. Like, there was actually no danger of anything going wrong. He was just playing a joke to get those two kids in the Christmas spirit, which seems like, hey, let's risk the entire world's Christmas experience to try and, you know, goose these kids into some holiday spirit. It. I was just like, seriously? It was all for. It was all just a ruse. I didn't like it. It really kind of made me feel robbed. [00:09:52] Speaker B: I mean, that's an interesting take. I think more of the point was to, you know, set this kid on the right path, trying to show him, you know, all the different things that could go wrong or. Or different paths that he could take and whatnot. You know what I mean? Like, showing him the guy at the bar that's like, oh, look, this guy steals cars, and look where he ended up. Do you really want to be like this guy? [00:10:09] Speaker A: It's a little Scroogesque. [00:10:10] Speaker B: And, yeah, he's using the hat as [00:10:12] Speaker A: a leaving of this. [00:10:14] Speaker B: Yeah, he's using the hat as, like, a plot device to get these kids to come along and to help him out. But I don't know if the Christmas was ever really in danger so much as he was just, you know, you tell kids what you got to tell kids to get them to play along. [00:10:24] Speaker A: I agree. I. I found it that Santa's just bored because he's been doing this. [00:10:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:30] Speaker A: For hundreds and hundreds of years, and this is how he gets his kicks. You know, he gets these kids who are, like, you know, on the edge of not believing. So. And. And their family dynamic is kind of on the rocks, so he's gonna solve their problems. He's gonna solve David's problem at the prison, getting him back up together with Lisa. He's gonna do all of these things just to get his kicks during Christmas and make Christmas fun for himself. He's selfish is really what it comes down to [00:11:02] Speaker B: sometimes. I honestly don't know how joking you are if you're actually being serious. [00:11:06] Speaker A: I mean, I'm serious about what I said up until the joke lineup. He's selfish, but it does. It just seems like he's Making Christmas enjoyable for himself because it's just a boring thing. Routine for him every year. And this gives it some, like, you know, oomph. It's like, oh, man, we actually have to make it on time now because I put myself in this situation because he was in control the whole time. [00:11:30] Speaker B: He's also okay, depending how far down this rabbit hole we want to go. He's also changing lives. Right. Like, David's life obviously gets better for listening. [00:11:38] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:11:38] Speaker B: The kids lives get better, probably. The people in jail's lives get better. I don't know that the guy who stole the red car, his life is gonna get any better. Probably. [00:11:45] Speaker A: No, probably not. Probably not. [00:11:47] Speaker B: But, like, in a lot of ways, he's kind of trying to spread the Christmas cheer around, which is kind of the whole point of Santa. Right. [00:11:53] Speaker C: The. [00:11:53] Speaker A: The Christmas cheer up. [00:11:55] Speaker C: Right. [00:11:55] Speaker A: Because his watch, which I think was also baloney, that it's all dropping. How is it dropping continuously as he's showing more and more people that Santa's real? It does. Doesn't make sense. [00:12:04] Speaker B: I know. [00:12:04] Speaker C: Down to 19 and back up to 95. I'm like, yeah, because of a song. How does that work? I don't know. [00:12:10] Speaker B: Yeah, it's got to be just a Christmas spirit in his general vicinity hasn't woken up yet. Why are they losing Christmas spirit during the. They're sleeping like, four in the morning and kids are, like, waiting for Christmas morning. [00:12:23] Speaker C: Like, f. This plot holes is what I really felt like. And whatever they were trying to do with this movie, they didn't hit those notes well enough for me. It wasn't like a big plot reveal. It felt for me. It felt more like I was being robbed at the end when he revealed that he was in control the whole time. And so. And as we talk about how we perceive this, there wasn't like, a definitive answer for any of this. It's kind of like what we kind of think. And I wish that they would have nailed it so that it would have been, oh, here's the big reveal. And it's like, oh, wow, that changes the whole story or something for me. And it didn't really do that for me. I felt like they just. The director just didn't land that, like, a lot of things that just didn't quite land. There were a lot of jokes in this that I was like, ah, I see what they were going for, but it's not making me laugh. It's not. Not, you know, funny, so. [00:13:17] Speaker B: Well, admittedly, the jokes aren't made for you specifically. Like, we are definitely not the right demographic for this. But I will say there was a lot, like, there was a lot of things in this movie that timed this movie to a very specific moment that is not 20, 25. Right. Like when the elves. Exactly, exactly. Will. [00:13:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:35] Speaker B: When the elves start doing the floss, I'm just like, oh, that. Okay, that's. That was a 20 minute period in the history of time, but sure, go for it. And there was something else. One of the elves or somebody said something like a line that was definitely popular at one point, but not anymore. I'm just like, oh, sure. I don't, I don't disagree with you though. Like, I kind of say, like, it's not made for us, but at the same time, we're the ones reviewing it. So it is what it is. [00:13:57] Speaker C: But there's plenty of movies that aren't made for the parents but still have things in them to make the parents happy. There's, there's lots of kids movies where there's two levels of humor. There's the one the kids get and then there's ones that go right over the kids head. That. And smack us in the face and we're laughing. For me, this one didn't even try to do that. It was just for the kids. And it had kind of a childish approach at humor and everything. And I was like, okay. But even my son, now that he's seen it a couple of times, he was kind of bored watching this one with me. And, and he's got other more liked Christmas movies that he wants to watch. [00:14:34] Speaker A: Like Home Alone. [00:14:35] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. My kid is big on Home Alone, unfortunately. In fact, he literally said to me, I would rather be watching Home Alone 4 than this. And I was like, you don't know how bad it burn that is. We. He likes Home Alone 4, not us, obviously. [00:14:53] Speaker B: No, yeah, that's one of our lower scores, unfortunately. I would agree this is not like my favorite Christmas movie by any stretch the imagination. I'm sure it's not even my teenagers. [00:15:02] Speaker A: Great. [00:15:02] Speaker B: Like top of the list by any stretch. My youngest is still young enough that she did really enjoy it. And again, I said like, it might have also been just the daddy daughter time that she really looked forward to, but at no point was she bored or like, can we do something else or anything like that. Like, she was invested in this movie the entire time. So that was quite nice. What about. If you're willing to speak on it. What about your son? Did you guys like, was he invested in the film or. [00:15:24] Speaker A: Oh, Yeah, I mean, he's a big. He's a big Christmas fanatic, much like his mother. So he was in. He had a lot of questions off the start because Santa does look a little different. And he's like, why isn't he the big jolly Santa? And all this, but he was so in. And then obviously his favorite part wore the elves, which were just there for the kids because the elves were horrible. They were the worst part of this movie by far. And that's fine. It wasn't for me, obviously. I saw the demographic it was for. It's for five year olds and it worked. But, yeah, he had a ball throughout. He really enjoyed it throughout. Yeah, no, he'll ask to watch the next one with me too, so that'll be fun. [00:16:07] Speaker B: My daughter wants to do a double feature right away. Just like, can we do the next one? Like, no, it's 9:30. Go to bed. Like, this is not happening right now. [00:16:14] Speaker C: Why did you have to speak another language? What was the point of that? And then they subtitle anyway. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Elves are Elvish. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Well, okay, but here's the thing. If the elves are made for five year olds, why are they using subtitles? [00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:28] Speaker C: Because it doesn't. [00:16:29] Speaker A: It doesn't really matter what they're saying. They're all physical. Humor, stupidity, it doesn't really matter, I [00:16:35] Speaker B: guess, but it just. It just feels like a weird disconnect from the director's part. [00:16:38] Speaker A: Sure. I mean, I'll give you that the writing in this isn't great to begin with, but my kid didn't know exactly at all what they were saying. I didn't tell them, tell my kid what the elves were saying. It did not matter. The elves were beating up bad guys. They were flossing, they were doing hilarious antics. That's all he needed. They had a chainsaw. That was it. He was it. [00:17:00] Speaker B: Yeah. That one was going to straight up murder that kid. Like all the other people got like through and through windows and stuff like that. And that one elf was just like, all right, let's go full James Bond villain on this and just slice you up the middle. I was like, oh, like, obviously he's not going to. But it's just like. That's a weird thing to even put in a kid's brain. [00:17:15] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:17:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:17] Speaker C: Yeah. There were some choices made in this movie and I didn't agree with a lot of them. I didn't like the look of the elves. [00:17:23] Speaker A: I. [00:17:24] Speaker C: No, I really didn't like the look of the elves. I thought they were kind of creepy. And hairy. I just kept thinking, man, they're gonna get dog hair on my carpet. It just seemed weird. So I didn't like them. And I did like the look of the reindeer. I thought those looked really nice when the kids were riding them. Most of the time I didn't notice the. The cg, you know, like, they looked pretty clean and they. And they popped. Polished it pretty well. It was usually the times, like, when the little girl was falling off of them and everything. And the part of the arena that she was on, I was like, that's a saddle in front of a green screen. And they added the neck and horns and head, you know, I wish. I don't know, is so hits and misses there. But the. The reindeer looked pretty good when the kids weren't riding them. I like that. [00:18:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I think. Yeah. I'll touch on the L's again. Like, just atrocious. Like, just the look of them, the sound of them, the humor. I'm gonna go with of them. All of that was clearly designed for not our age demographic. And I mean, it seemed to have worked for Will's kid. It worked for my kids. So, like, great. But, like, from my perspective, I forgot they were in the movie. To be perfectly honest. I've seen this one a couple of times, and until you actually saw one on screen, I completely forgot they were in this film. And my heart kind of went like, oh, right. Like, it's like sunk a little bit. As soon as I saw, like, the back of one of their head or one of them ran past or what, I was like, oh, no. [00:18:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:47] Speaker B: Definitely the low point of the movie for me. The. There. There was some acting that was pretty rough in certain parts, but usually it didn't last for too long. And you can kind of get past it. Kurt Russell, I thought, did a fine job, did carry for a certain part, but Kurt Russell interacting with other people, like, trying to convince them he was Santa Claus. Probably one of my favorite things in this movie, whether it's the waitress, the cops, pretty much every time that he. He did it, he tried to, like, oh, you know, you tried to get this for Christmas and all that. That. That did work for me. That. That I really did enjoy. And I could have actually gone for just a Kurt Russell on his own movie. Let's just have him be Santa Claus going through town. I mean, you need the kids for the plot development. But I don't know that that was probably my favorite part. [00:19:27] Speaker C: What about him going to the restaurant, knowing everybody's name and talking to him? Trying to trade a baseball card for a Porsche. You know, the wife rips the card up, and every guy who's ever collected baseball cards, their jaw drops, you know, So I did. I did enjoy that. Like I said before, Kurt Russell carried this. He had great interactions with other people, and he did a really good job as that Santa Claus. I do still think that he maybe wasn't given enough leeway or he was limited on some of the lines that he had to use or some of the storytelling that he was doing that I would have gone a little bit different, opened it up a little bit more, maybe tried some things that would work better for a wider range of audiences. But for what he was allowed to do in this movie, he nailed it. [00:20:11] Speaker B: All right. Just out of curiosity, I did just look up what a Mickey Mantle rookie [00:20:15] Speaker A: card sells for something like, close to 3 mil. [00:20:18] Speaker B: $12.6 million. So, like, [00:20:24] Speaker C: yeah, like, matching his and her Porsches without even breaking, you know, a sweat. [00:20:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, that hurts. That hurts so much more. I thought it was just the nostalgia that he wanted the card, but, like, oh, although it's Santa, can he just pull out another one? [00:20:42] Speaker A: Like, yeah, he can, but he's not. Will. Will he. You know, it's kind of. He refused the gift. Move out of the. [00:20:49] Speaker B: He didn't. He wanted it pretty bad. The wife. [00:20:52] Speaker C: He's gonna devalue that card if he keeps bringing out more. [00:20:54] Speaker B: Oh, that's true. Brings them. What gives them to enough people? It's all worth $12. Oh, I was a little surprised. No more people in that restaurant scene believed him. Like, he walked up to them, speaking their language, calling them by first name, and they're all just like, you're weird. It's like. I get it. But also, like, how, like, only the one person was surprised that he knew their name. Like, everybody else has kind of accepted it, which is. [00:21:16] Speaker A: It was very. That's very. That's very sad. [00:21:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I know, I know. I know. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Christmas movies, though, so, sure, you know, it's fine for the plot. [00:21:24] Speaker B: I. I wasn't, like, saying it was a hole or anything like that. [00:21:27] Speaker A: No, I know. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:29] Speaker C: Well, you know, he's in the prison, and he's whipping out instruments left and right in his jail cell, handing them off. Suddenly there's lights and smoke and, you know, costumes. Costume changes. There's microphones. The whole stage is set up. They're going crazy in there. And then everybody's shocked when he turns into smoke and goes up the ventilation shaft. And I'm like, the other stuff Wasn't magical enough for you? Like, that didn't break our whole realm for you and make you think you're in the Matrix or something? [00:22:01] Speaker B: Well, I think when he pulls out the guitar, he's not even wearing his coat. Like, he literally just reaches behind his back and pulls it out of thin air. There's people behind him. Like, what did they just see happen? [00:22:12] Speaker C: Not to mention some of those people don't know how to use those instruments and they were playing them fantastically. [00:22:17] Speaker B: Yeah. What am I supposed to do with this? Just give it a try. Oh, okay. I'm perfect at this point. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:22:23] Speaker B: Apparently that actually is like a real life band. Yeah, I, I'm blanking on their name now. I had looked it up at one point. Will, do you have it by any chance? [00:22:31] Speaker A: I don't. Okay, I did. I did recognize that as well. [00:22:34] Speaker B: But I, I thought I recognized the, the first guitarist that he talks to with long hair as a different actor. So that's why I looked it up originally. I was like, oh, it's not that guy. But it is an actual, like, blues band. So I was like, that's kind of cool. [00:22:46] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they are a blues band. [00:22:47] Speaker B: And you said Kurt Russell actually did sing that song. [00:22:50] Speaker A: I, I believe Kurt Russell has played Elvis or has been in Elvis Story movies like five or six times in his career. So I'm guessing he requested it in the movie would be my guess. [00:23:00] Speaker B: Gotcha. I'll do this movie, but you have to let me sing my own lines. [00:23:04] Speaker A: That's right. If there's a song, I'm. I'm doing some Elvis, like that's my go to. [00:23:09] Speaker C: Was Kurt Russell in 3,000 miles to Graceland with. Yes. Yeah. With Field of Dreams. Oh, Kurt Russell. [00:23:19] Speaker B: No, sorry. Oh, wow, right. [00:23:22] Speaker C: Blanket on his name right now. [00:23:24] Speaker A: Kevin Costner. [00:23:26] Speaker C: Thank you. Yeah, Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell in, In Graceland. And so he's. Yeah, he's got some love of Elvis and you could definitely tell in that sequence that he, he was enjoying himself. So. But like I said, it didn't, it didn't seem that polished as like, you could see that it was unlike the rest of this movie to something dubbed over. Well, the whole, the whole movie was missing some polished. I kind of felt was. Was the unfortunate thing. What was the budget on this film? Did either you guys get that? [00:23:56] Speaker B: I didn't, but I can have it in a second. [00:23:59] Speaker A: So you've mentioned the director that you didn't love some of the choices you made. His name's Clay Katis and I Didn't know him from anything else, but it looks like he's also directed. His first movie was Angry Birds movie and then some TV stuff and then A Christmas Story Christmas, which is a Christmas Story's most recent edition with the Growing Up Ralphie. [00:24:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:22] Speaker A: So looks like he's got a couple of Christmas movies under his belt, but hasn't done a whole lot of projects aside from that. So. [00:24:27] Speaker C: Yeah, maybe you can see why, you know. And A Christmas Story Christmas I thought was better than I expected it to be. Not as good as the original, but a decent follow up film. And then the Angry Birds were watchable and okay. I wouldn't complain. So I, I did, I did check out some of those too. And I was like, okay, well this guy's got some decent chops. Maybe this will be okay. And when I rewatched this movie I was like, put it back in the oven. [00:24:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I, I, I, I always lean hard against the writing when it comes to that. You know, with some of the plot holes and some of the lines that people are saying. I'm like, okay, some of this is just writing issues as far as I'm concerned. [00:25:06] Speaker C: And did you check out the writers too? Because I, I looked them up. I forget what they, what they did, but they got a few things under their belt. But nothing, nothing crazy good. So. [00:25:14] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. [00:25:15] Speaker B: Another issue I had, Sorry. Because this is a Netflix movie, they don't disclose their budget as much as other studios do and obviously there's no box office because it never went to the theaters. Yeah. So unfortunately I don't have it. They are is suggested it's a multi million dollar budget film, likely in the tens of millions. Which like compared to like this is comparable to like a Hallmark Christmas movie which is usually be like 1 to 3 million dollars. So the budget's higher. But again, how much of that is Kurt Russell? Yeah, yeah, right. Like he's the shining star of this film. [00:25:47] Speaker A: So substantial CGI in here as well for sure. [00:25:50] Speaker B: Yeah. And like as you mentioned, not all of it looks terrible. Just. [00:25:53] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, some good, some, some good, some bad. [00:25:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Flying of the sleigh and like him turning to dust. That all looked fine. I had no issue with that. [00:26:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:01] Speaker B: I mean as good as I expected from a film of the Scalibur. [00:26:04] Speaker A: Oh yeah. I got a question for you guys. [00:26:06] Speaker B: Sure. [00:26:07] Speaker A: How old is Teddy? [00:26:12] Speaker C: Somewhere between the age of 13 and 24. I'm not really sure what how old he was supposed to be in this. I was guessing like a, like a 15, 16 year old, like just about to get his license kind of thing. But yeah, he could have been like an extra on Dawson's Creek or something. Like, he was, he looked a lot older than he should have been. [00:26:35] Speaker B: I think if you were, I didn't pay super close attention at the very beginning. Like, so the movie starts off with like them showing multiple Christmases and they have like the time stamp in the bottom corner. I think he's supposed to be like 4ish when she's born. So my guess is she's 11. He's probably like 15. [00:26:51] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:52] Speaker B: But I mean, the, the age gaps in those start jumping pretty wildly. Like, there's one where I'm doing the math. I'm like, she's three and she's like running around and doing all these things. And like the camera, I'm just like, okay, sure. Maybe I just forget what three year olds look like. I don't know. [00:27:06] Speaker A: But yeah, I just found like, even aside from his look, just how he acted was so all over the place. Like, yeah, sometimes it's like, okay, he's stealing cars, he's like trying to be this badass. And then other times he's like believing in the Christmas spirit and like writing letters to Santa. He's just all, he's just a mess. He's just a mess. Throughout this movie. [00:27:31] Speaker B: I loved that he wrote a letter to Santa Claus. Santa responded and the mother was shocked that he wrote a letter to Santa Claus. Not that he got a letter back from Santa. Not that he got a gift from a person that she didn't buy it for him. Like, where did this gift come from? And she's like, you wrote a letter to Santa? Like, I'm sorry, what? Like, do the adults just agree that Santa does exist? Like, I guess actually she comes from a long list of true believers. [00:27:54] Speaker A: That's true. [00:27:55] Speaker B: Okay, no, fair enough. Never. I'll just shut up. [00:27:57] Speaker C: Don't forget that he essentially got a crystal ball that features his dead father and he didn't share that with anybody else. [00:28:03] Speaker A: It's for him. [00:28:04] Speaker B: It's for him. I kind of wish it didn't do that. Like, I, I, I would have been more okay if he put it on the tree and he saw his father in himself without literally seeing his father. Because like, they mentioned a couple of times, like, oh, you know, your dad's really proud of you. I see it in your face. If he had like just enough of a glare off it that he kind of saw himself, like, that would have been enough for me. The whole spirally lights and actually turning into his dad. I was like, okay, yeah. [00:28:29] Speaker A: I mean, it could have been believable that, that that's what he was seeing if the dad didn't actually speak. Right, yeah. So they could have got away with that. But because they did the extra little. The dad in the lines, it was a little too much. But yes, he said I. Yes, he did. So the idea is sound that he sees himself. He sees his dad in himself and, and, and likewise. Which is great. That's a great message. But because they went the extra mile of the dad actually speaking to him, it kind of just threw it a little bit too far and. And it was too much. [00:29:08] Speaker C: I would have heard a double take where he thought he, like. Like you see the dad in the bulb and he does a double take, but then it's just himself and it looks very similar. But like, you know, to get that idea. Because I like what you're saying, Dan, and I agree. This is exactly what I was thinking. They pushed it too much and I wanted it to be the insinuation of that, not the realization of that. And so, yeah, again, because if I [00:29:32] Speaker B: remember correctly, the son says, I'm proud of you, and then there's like a two or three second beat. And then the dad says, I'm proud of you. Like even if he'd been looking at it and said, I'm proud of you, so he could see his dad say it as he was saying it. Like that would. [00:29:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:47] Speaker B: But clearly the dad heard him and then said it back to him. I'm like, ah, that's weird. But okay. [00:29:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. Now, speaking of the dad, what's his name? I forget his name. [00:29:57] Speaker C: I don't know. But they did some work on his hair to make him look like that kid, and it looked weird. I kept thinking he's wearing a toupee or something. It was just like too much hair dye or something. I don't know. It looked weird. [00:30:07] Speaker A: Keeping it in the family. The dad, the actor playing the dad is the son of Goldie Hawn. [00:30:14] Speaker B: Oh, really? Oliver Hudson. [00:30:16] Speaker A: Oliver Hudson, that's correct. And so it's kind of fun that, you know, Goldie and Kurt and Oliver all got together to do this movie. [00:30:26] Speaker B: Everybody gets paid. [00:30:28] Speaker A: Everybody gets paid. Yeah, I guess they just didn't have the daughter, Kate Hudson, in it. So maybe that's in the sequel. I don't know. [00:30:35] Speaker B: Isn't. Isn't the actor who plays John Walker, I can't think of. I'm blanking on his name at the moment. That's Kurt Russell's son too, though, isn't it? [00:30:42] Speaker A: Yes. So these are Goldie Hawn. That was Goldie Hawn's son, but at like age 5 or something. Kurt Russell married Goldie and he considers Kurt Russell his dad. [00:30:53] Speaker B: Gotcha. Gotcha. [00:30:54] Speaker A: Okay. 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When bundled, you save on all three additional components and when you use coupon code Mongolia checkout you you will get an additional saving as well. Thank you very much to Radique Audio for sponsoring this episode and thank you for not skipping the ad. You didn't skip the ad, right? If you like what we do and you want to help support us, consider joining the Patreon. There's a link down below. Shout out to our producers as well as our executive producers, Real Bubba, Hotep and Dino, and our head writer, Elder JM990. Thank you all very much. [00:33:55] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a fluffy Christmas movie. There's only so much. [00:33:58] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I will say this. You know, I've seen the second one because my son was a fan of this franchise and I'm, I know that they're going to bring back some of the characters and a lot more of some of the characters. And I remember enjoying that. About the sequel, I really like the ending. When Goldie Hawn makes an appearance. It just, for whatever reason, it just brightened the film and she said it for like 10 seconds. And so I'm glad that in the, in the next one we're going to get more of that. I, I had problems with the, the cast in this film just not doing enough other than Kurt Russell. Kurt Russell was the staple of it and everything else was just kind of meh. It wasn't bad. It just didn't fire on all cylinders for me and I was kind of happy that the film was over. And I don't think that I'm going to go back to this one. I've seen it enough times and even my Son, watching it with me was kind of like, yeah, I've seen this enough times too. This one came in at a 62 for me. It was just pretty meth as far as Christmas movies go. There's a lot better ones out there. This isn't terrible. It's definitely for your kids. And I think if you're a fan of Kurt Russell, check it out if you want to see a Christmas movie. But it's not necessary. It really isn't. [00:35:18] Speaker B: I agree with a lot of things Brian said on this one. I think this is a perfectly serviceable Hallmark movie that's elevated a little bit by having Chris. Sorry, Kurt Russell in. Would have been okay if they'd cast a regular like a no name Santa. But having him in it, having his charm, having his charisma, really did elevate this film for me quite a bit. Unfortunately, the elves brought it down. Again, this is not made for me. This is made for my kids and my kids really enjoyed it. So I have to give it a score based off what I would think. But it does elevate a little bit knowing that it works for the intended audience and I don't hate watching it with them. I don't know that I'm going to watch it all that much more, but I've seen it a couple of times at this point. I did enjoy it. I'm giving this one a 68. It's an okay Christmas movie. It's not a great one, but it's fine. [00:36:06] Speaker A: What is there to say about the Christmas Chronicles? Kurt Russell has a nice fresh take on playing a Santa Claus character. That was fun and. And a story. Yeah. The rest is pretty much just kind of regurgitated story points and characters from other Christmas classics. Not quite a fresh spin enough to make it its own or warrant its own, you know, classic. Put it into the movie rotation as far as I'm concerned, but that's okay. It is what it is. My kid liked it, so that's great. I'll have to watch it until the end of time. 63 out of 100 for me. Kurt Russell makes it watchable for the adults. The rest is just for the little ones. [00:36:52] Speaker B: And with that, Christmas Chronicles comes in at a 64, putting it above Beverly Hills Cop, but under Avatar, which, you know, considering the budget difference between this one and that one is kind of hilarious to me, but so be it. We all were pretty close knit on this one, so I can't imagine any of us are complaining about where this ended up on the list. I haven't seen the second one in a while. I don't really remember what's going to happen in it. Will I assume you've never seen the second because you hadn't seen this one? Do you think his score is going to likely go up or will it go down, as almost all of these tend to do? [00:37:23] Speaker A: I'm hoping by Christmas miracle it ends above Avatar and then Gremlins ends above it. How's that gonna work? [00:37:33] Speaker B: How? I don't know. We need a third Gremlins movie. It needs to be real good. [00:37:39] Speaker A: Come on, Santa. [00:37:41] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a shame our Christmas movies aren't making a good showing on our list. You know, they're mid to low. And maybe next Christmas we'll get something better. I don't see the sequel to this moving Christmas Chronicles very far at all. No, maybe it'll overtake Avatar. Maybe it'll fall below Beverly Hills, but it's going to be right in this zone. [00:38:02] Speaker B: I think if it's. If it's even on par with this one and Avatar is exactly what you two think that it will be, I could see those two switching. [00:38:11] Speaker A: It's possible. It's possible. [00:38:13] Speaker B: We'll see. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen. But yeah, only if Avatar is good is the Unfortunate. Because we got three Christmas franchises on here, right? Gremlins, Christmas Chronicles and Never Ending Story. [00:38:24] Speaker A: Home Alone. [00:38:25] Speaker C: Home Alone. Ish. [00:38:26] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. Sorry. I meant Home Alone, not never. Sorry. I meant. I meant Home Alone. Yeah, honestly, Home Alone was at the top of our list until you tanked it, Brian, forcing us to watch the other four movies. [00:38:37] Speaker C: That and I'm. I'm sorry, but my son made me sit through all five movies, so you guys have to, too. [00:38:44] Speaker B: That sounds like a Brian problem. I'm not gonna lie. [00:38:47] Speaker A: Well, they're all our problems now. They're all our problems now. [00:38:52] Speaker B: Yeah. All right, that's our rating of Christmas Chronicles, but what's yours? Leave a comment down below. I'd love to hear what you have to say. We record this live over at Twitch TV, the Mongolie show every Thursday night at 9pm Eastern Standard Time. So come on over and hang out with us over there. Or if you made it this far in the video, you probably enjoyed it. Make sure you hit the like and subscribe button so we see you in the next one, [00:39:17] Speaker A: Sam.