Ep 66 - The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: The Christmas Chronicles 2. 2020. This Christmas, a jealous elf goes rogue and Santa's village is at risk of being lost forever. But Teddy is more into girls than gifts. So it is up to Kate to save Christmas once again. This time with the help of scaredy cat Jake the Jack. [00:00:19] Speaker B: What? [00:00:20] Speaker A: Very memorable character, Obviously, the magical Mrs. Claus and one cool Santa. [00:00:26] Speaker B: This episode is brought to you by Radik Audio. Radik Audio. Enjoy the music. Hello, everybody, and welcome to our special Christmas episode of our rating. We're talking about. Christmas Chronicles 2 starring Kurt Russell came out in 2020. I was gonna say 2022, but it's just 2020. I am joined today by Will and Brian. Brian, how you doing today? [00:00:45] Speaker C: I'm good, Dan. How you doing? [00:00:47] Speaker B: I'm doing excellent. We are shockingly close to Christmas. Actually one week away from Christmas right now. And it's kind of mind boggling. Like every time I look at a calendar, it kind of freaks me out a little bit more. I just was doing the court list for the morning and it's like, oh, Monday is the 22nd. Is that real? Like, oh, I'm ready. Like, I've got everything bought that I need to do and everything. But it still just does not feel like it's now. [00:01:10] Speaker C: They just had their last day. So starting at winter break, our kids [00:01:14] Speaker B: have school tomorrow in theory. We've also got a massive snowstorm coming our way. So, like, this teacher has already sent us, like, all of their stuff home with them just in case they don't come in tomorrow. So we'll see how things go. How are things out your way, Will? [00:01:26] Speaker A: Things are good. Things are great. I'm happy. It's Christmas time. [00:01:32] Speaker B: Excellent. All right, I. I accept that. Now, as far as Christmas goes, we all subjected ourselves to Christmas Chronicles 2, the sequel to last week's movie, which admittedly, I liked last week's movie. I said that it was one that I would revisit again. I pray I don't have to revisit this one again. I know we don't want to give away things right off the bat, but like, everything I was thinking about it, the things that I praised in the first movie, they got rid of. And the things I didn't like about the first movie, they doubled and tripled down on. I'm just like, why? Yeah, I don't understand. How did you, like, I know your feelings on this one, Brian. What about you, Will? [00:02:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I wasn't. I wasn't like, this didn't drop massively for me by Any means. It feels like a sequel to the first one. They tried to expand on the lore, the fantasy of this Santa character they created, and we dive into his world fully, full force. Are we ready to dive in? Could we have used a little more cocoa before entering? Probably. But here we are. [00:02:42] Speaker B: I try to keep that image I didn't want. Yeah, I. I watched this one with my youngest and they enjoyed it. And I asked them after the facts, I was just curious. And they actually said they enjoyed this one better than the first one, which was really mind boggling to me. But I mean, it does have more of the childish things. Like it's got the elves, it's got the whole Santa's village, they're all running around with toys. I guess I can see it. But like, for me, I said last week my favorite parts of that movie were Kurt Russell interacting with the real people, trying to convince them who he was, kind of using like a little bit of his charisma and like his Kurt Russell swag. And we get none of that. He doesn't with any real people in this movie. And then the things I hated was like the elves and we're surrounded by them the entire time. [00:03:30] Speaker A: Yeah, my son was the exact opposite, actually. We asked him after watching the movie and he said he actually preferred the first one. Smart kid. Peace, I think. [00:03:41] Speaker B: So [00:03:44] Speaker A: I was. I couldn't have been a prouder parent at that moment. [00:03:47] Speaker C: When I went through this, I kind of enjoyed this one more, but it was. It's really weird. Okay, so we had a musical number in the middle of this one. I enjoyed the one in the prison way better than the one in the airport, and they're both horrible. But I did prefer the first and then flying around on the sleds and, and the, and the reindeer and the, the look of the reindeer. I thought it was terrible this time, but for some reason I kind of enjoyed this one a little bit more. And I think it was because Kurt Russell landing a few more good lines and Goldie Han kind of brought this up a little bit. But I don't know when I went to score this thing, like, breaking it down into its individual components didn't do so well, but. And so I'm kind of on the fence. Did I enjoy this more than the first one? Like, when I stop and think about it, no. But overall, like, at a brief glimpse, I kind of did. So I don't know. We're just gonna have to tear this apart. [00:04:54] Speaker B: I mean, it's always one of those things that I conflict with When I'm watching a movie where, like, my enjoyment score could be astronomical or really low down, but then all the technical aspects kind of really skew it. Like. Like sometimes you watch a really, really well made movie that is just not for you. [00:05:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:11] Speaker B: And it's just like, how do I score this one? Because it doesn't feel right to give this an 80. Exactly. [00:05:17] Speaker C: Well, for me, well made movie just not my bag. [00:05:21] Speaker B: The first one that came to mind for me was not when we've done on this episode, but. But I'm gonna get it wrong, but it's like the. The Assassination of Jesse James by the cowardly Rob Ford or something like that. [00:05:32] Speaker C: Right? [00:05:33] Speaker A: Right. [00:05:34] Speaker B: I can tell it's an incredibly well made movie. I can tell all the acting is on point. It just did nothing for me. And I'm not digging the movie. Like, that's just. It's just wasn't for me. But it's one of those ones where like, how do I score that then? Is that like a 90 because it was so incredibly well made, or is it like a 10 because I didn't like it? I think in this one it's much less hard for me because I didn't enjoy it and I think it was kind of poorly made. So like, hey, Win, Win. This is easy for me. [00:05:58] Speaker A: Yeah. It seems like this was like an action movie. Like deep in the fantastical world of Santa Claus, this is the world he lives in day to day. Get in or get bent. Whereas the first one was like, this is a typical Christmas story with a twist of Kurt Russell, you know. And so that one appealed to me more as a Christmas movie. This one doesn't really appeal to me as a Christmas movie. It more appeals to me as a bad action fantasy. [00:06:32] Speaker C: Yeah. It almost felt like a superhero film where Santa Claus is the superhero and we're exploring his, you know, his bat cave and everything else. It was kind of rough. I had something I was gonna say and it just flew out of my head. [00:06:45] Speaker A: Oh, well. [00:06:46] Speaker B: I also think I gave the actors a bit of a pass in the first one. Specifically the little girl, Darby Camp. She returns in this one. She is joined by a couple other child actors and they don't bring anything to this movie. I thought it was so much worse. Yeah, I thought she was. She had less to do and the other actors surrounding her were significantly worse. Like the. The villain, Julian Denison Bell. [00:07:13] Speaker A: Snickel. Snickle him. Oh. [00:07:16] Speaker B: Was just hard to watch the entire time. [00:07:18] Speaker C: Not that he had great lines in the first place, but he was really bad. I've seen him in other movies, like the Deadpool movie, and I. I didn't really like him in that either. He's just not. He's not an actor that I would go for. And. And he did a pretty poor job in this. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt because of the character and the role and everything was pretty. Pretty stupid. But. But then again, Kurt Russell had, like, the stupidest character of all, and he was probably the highlight of this movie, again, mostly was his charisma, carrying it, you know? [00:07:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:49] Speaker C: What do you guys think about Goldie Hawn in this? I'm kind of curious. [00:07:53] Speaker B: I. If I didn't know that they were married, I was trying to think about this earlier. I don't. If I didn't know that they were married in real life and were a real couple, I don't know that I would have cared that she was Mrs. Claus. I think some part of the fact that it's like, oh, look, it's the real married couple. Like, they've really made it work over the years. Like, it's kind of fun seeing them together. But, like, do I think she specifically was great in this movie? No, she was fine. She was better than most of the kids. Yeah. Low bar, but sure. [00:08:23] Speaker A: I don't disagree. That said, I don't actually believe they're married. I think they've just been in a relationship for this many years. But I feel like she maybe forgot how to act because she was just kind of phoning in the lines and I don't know, she just seemed, like, lost. Like, I need to deliver this line. I'll just be happy and doing it and caring. But it just didn't come across as genuine to me at all. It just came across as I'm supposed to be genuine and caring Because I'm Mrs. Claus. [00:08:58] Speaker C: She didn't. She didn't come off like a Mrs. Claus to me. She just didn't seem like a Mrs. Claus. Had they tried to make it kind of funny and made her, like, a Mrs. Claus on drugs or something, maybe then, because she was kind of aloof, right? She. [00:09:12] Speaker A: She was. [00:09:13] Speaker C: She was a little bit aloof and just different and weird and it didn't land. And so I would have gone for that, but then it wouldn't have been a kids movie anymore. [00:09:20] Speaker B: I mean, a lot of weird things in kids movies that kids aren't supposed to understand until they're older. So it's possible. I mean, she's just addicted to Mistletoe in the cor something or just hitting [00:09:30] Speaker C: the eggnog real hard, you know, kind of saucy. I think that would have been funnier. [00:09:34] Speaker A: I mean, that's. Kurt Russell is a different Santa Claus than we've seen. [00:09:39] Speaker C: So it's not a bad thing. Like he makes it his own and any makes it work. [00:09:43] Speaker A: But let me ask you this, Brian, just because. Because you're saying she doesn't come across as a Mrs. Claus. Who do you think of or what do you think of when you think of Mrs. Claus? [00:09:53] Speaker C: Kind of like an Aunt Jemima kind of character a little more. [00:09:57] Speaker B: I don't think we can. [00:09:58] Speaker A: I don't think we can talk about antibiotic anymore, but okay. [00:10:01] Speaker C: I'm thinking, you know, a little bit older maybe. I'm not really sure. It's just. She just didn't feel like she really had it all under control. They talked about it being Mrs. Claus's workshop or whatever. That village. Yeah, that running joke. And it was like, I don't feel like she's kind of running the show around here. I don't feel like she's in charge. I feel like she's here trying to get through this role and doesn't know where to go with it. [00:10:29] Speaker A: I agree. So I think there's two issues. One is there's plenty of depictions of Santa Claus and lore about Santa Claus. So we know what we're getting from Santa Claus and we know what Kurt Russell is giving us as a twist. And so we enjoy that. And he's frickin charisma charming as all get out. So it really works. Mrs. Claus we don't really know as much about. She's just Santa Claus's wife and feeds him. That's all I know. And so there wasn't a whole lot to go off of. So what she's giving us, I didn't mind the backstory of. She's the one that designed all of the workers village. She's amazing cook that can make cookies that cure illnesses or blow up buildings. She can do all these amazing things. But Goldie Hawn did not live up to those expectations of the story that we were given. And so I think that's where the disconnect is. [00:11:25] Speaker C: She felt like she was playing the role of a supporting actress, not a co star. She just didn't bring it, unfortunately. Maybe it was too hard to step up to what Kurt Russell is presenting in this because he was fine. I mean, I'm not gonna give him an award for this movie by any means, but he was Fine in it with what he had to do. And a lot of his little jokes, like, you know when they're like, really? And he's like, yeah, you know, it just. He landed it and it worked, and I enjoyed that. And like I said, I just felt like she was trying to figure this one out and she never did. [00:12:01] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. I'm trying to think of other things. I've seen Goldie Hawn and I'm just [00:12:05] Speaker A: like, when was the last time I saw her? [00:12:07] Speaker B: And [00:12:09] Speaker C: Overboard. Amazing. Fantastic role and job in Overboard. I thought it was incredible. [00:12:14] Speaker A: Great. In Death becomes her. Amazing. [00:12:16] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I like that. Yeah. [00:12:18] Speaker B: That's like 92. [00:12:19] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:12:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:20] Speaker A: I'm not taking recent. I don't know anything recent, but, like, yeah, she's. She's played some good things. I don't know if she's acted a bunch recently. This is 2020. Yeah. Yeah, I believe so. [00:12:33] Speaker B: Sorry, what was that, Brian? [00:12:34] Speaker C: She's on Bird and Wire. [00:12:36] Speaker A: I'll. [00:12:37] Speaker B: I'll trust you on that one. I'm sure. [00:12:39] Speaker C: I. I've never seen it, but I hear good things about it, so just try to. Trying to throw some sunshine on her, but. [00:12:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:46] Speaker C: And then she gives Jack a Nerf gun to take out elves wielding chainsaws. What the. [00:12:54] Speaker B: But it worked. Like, I agree with you. I was thinking the exact same thing. But then it was clocking people that took a plane out of the sky. Like, I don't know what those planes are made out of, but if. [00:13:03] Speaker C: If she would have, like, dipped all the darts in that red, dusty stuff, the glitter bombs, and one at a time, like, convert them or something, it'd be fine. But that was just a Nerf gun. And he shot a drone, like, 200 yards away in the sky, and it, like, blew up. Like, we were playing arc raiders. It was nuts. And I was like, that's a nerf gun. It doesn't do that. [00:13:27] Speaker B: Well, not in your hands, but this is Santa's village. Well, Mrs. Claus's village again. [00:13:31] Speaker C: The movie's meant for kids. My son loved that part. [00:13:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:35] Speaker B: I'm sure that sold some toys. No doubt. But, yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Like, how. What. What are we doing right now? It doesn't even. Like, it doesn't even look like they tried to reinforce it. Like, you're saying, like, it's literally just an off the shelf nerf gun. It's like, okay, I've used those things. They go about four feet. Yeah. [00:13:54] Speaker A: It made for some action, though. And that's what this movie is all about. Okay, so did you. Did you guys enjoy all the lore that they try to jam into this movie? Like, we've got Bell snail, the elves. We've got the Yuletide cat, Jola. We've got the. [00:14:12] Speaker C: The Star of Bethlehem actual Chronicles to read bedtime stories. [00:14:17] Speaker A: The actual Chronicles? Yes. Is. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Are you. Are these like. I mean, obviously the Star of Bethlehem, but, like, are any of these even remotely. I'm gonna say real things, but I don't mean. Obviously I don't mean real, but, like, is the Yule cat from anything outside of this movie or is it just. [00:14:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:32] Speaker B: Fictional for this? [00:14:33] Speaker A: I can't remember where the Yule cat is from, but apparently, if. If kids were. Weren't good in giving gifts or something, the cat will come and eat you. Like, it's a real thing. [00:14:42] Speaker B: It's way dangerous. Into this movie, I'll be a set like that. [00:14:46] Speaker C: Okay. [00:14:47] Speaker B: That's kind of fun knowing that that's. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Or. [00:14:49] Speaker B: Or hearing from you that that's actually a real thing. That raises. I mean, not the score of the movie, but, like, it raises it a little bit. You know what I mean? Like, that's kind of cool. They're trying to fit real things in. If Bel Snickel is, like, actually in lore somewhere. Okay. But I assumed all of that was just thrown into this movie, just completely at random, just to be like, let's see what happens. Let's just throw in more stuff and more stuff and more, and they didn't throw in anything I cared about. They just threw in more stuff. [00:15:14] Speaker A: Oh, sorry. I. I misspoke a little bit. So they're from. It's an Icelandic lore for the Yule Thai cat. And if you didn't receive new clothing, it's a way to work in getting clothing for Christmas, you know, because you can't just get toys. If you didn't get new clothing for Christmas, then you're at risk of the Yule cat coming to eat you. [00:15:34] Speaker C: Oh, I see. [00:15:35] Speaker B: So it's on the parents to keep their kids alive. Okay. [00:15:37] Speaker C: And. [00:15:37] Speaker A: But it's a way to, you know, [00:15:39] Speaker C: happy to see clothing. [00:15:41] Speaker B: No, I know. [00:15:41] Speaker A: I know, exactly. I know my kid is always disappointed when he gets clothes. [00:15:47] Speaker B: I would just purposefully know that I would just not buy one of my kids clothes one year just to see their reaction when they're, like, going through. After, like, Christmas is done. They're, like, looking, toy, toy, toy, toy, toy. Oh, no. [00:16:01] Speaker A: Oh, [00:16:04] Speaker C: so we lost the big brother, Teddy. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:08] Speaker C: Which was probably good because his acting didn't age with him. [00:16:13] Speaker A: And he was way too old to be a gallivanting with Santa. [00:16:17] Speaker C: Yeah. And then we had what's his name from there as Bob, the. The husband to be. [00:16:28] Speaker A: Which was caroling boyfriend. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:31] Speaker C: That. He did a terrible job in that role. I don't know what happened. Why they. They chose him for that role and what he was doing in it, I don't know, but it was. It was terrible. It always felt like a fake smile was just plastered on his face and he was just waiting for them to say cut so he could go back to his trailer. Like, every time. It just didn't seem like he was in it. Right. And then, of course, we have Kitty cat Kate and. And she could not show a joyous moment with authenticity to save her life. And in this one, we even lost the sad moments. She couldn't act through those. At least in that. The first one, she could do sad scenes. She couldn't do happy scenes. In this one, she couldn't do any scenes at all. [00:17:12] Speaker B: I will give her the scene in the airport where she's with her dad. I'm not saying she did a great job, but I did enjoy that scene. Of all of the scenes in this movie, that's maybe the one where I was kind of like, okay, I'm at least engaged. [00:17:25] Speaker C: When she's sitting in the, like, police officer lounge with him and talking. At first, yeah, that was okay. I'm not saying it was great, but [00:17:33] Speaker B: okay is great compared to the rest of this film. So I'll take, like. Yeah, I almost want to say that, like, the Tyrese Gibson role was like a paycheck, except I have to assume with 10 Fast and the Furious is under his belt. Well, maybe seven that he's actually in. I would hope that he's doing okay. He doesn't need to do these Christmas movies. So, like, maybe it was one for his kids or something. [00:17:56] Speaker C: Favor something. I don't know. [00:17:58] Speaker B: It's hard to say. Kurt Russell was in Some of the Fast and the Furious is. Maybe they became friends or met or something. [00:18:06] Speaker C: I got wrangled into the sequel. I'm taking you with me, too, because she laughed at me for the first one. [00:18:15] Speaker B: I don't. I don't know if he's just that good of an actor. Kurt Russell seems to be the only person that's truly having fun on these movies. Like, I don't. I. I'm sure he's getting paid, don't get me wrong. But, like, he seems like he actually is having a good time. Being there. And maybe that's the difference. Goldie Hawn was just kind of like, well, Kurt's gonna be there anyways. Why not? Whereas Kurt's like, this is fun. [00:18:35] Speaker A: We can hang out during filming. [00:18:37] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:18:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:41] Speaker B: At one point I'd heard. I don't know if it's accurate or not. I don't remember the timeline on when Once Upon a Time in Hollywood came out, but at some point I'd heard that this might be his last movie. Like, he might be retiring or retired at this point. So I don't know if that was like, well, if it's gonna be my last movie, be cool for us to do this together. So we kind of talked her into it. Or. Or maybe I have that story entirely wrong. I'm not really sure. But that was a rumor I'd heard at one point. [00:19:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not sure. I think he's always been pretty picky about the roles he takes, too. So maybe he just really loves Santa and wanted to have a take or have a stab. Right? [00:19:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:13] Speaker A: I'm not sure. But what we haven't mentioned is the director of this movie is a director of a few films that we've seen and a writer of films we've seen. And that's Chris Columbus. [00:19:25] Speaker B: That was shocking me when I saw that. [00:19:26] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's the writer of Gremlins and the director of Home Alone and Home Alone 2, I believe he did as well. So, Brian, obviously you're a big fan. [00:19:36] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, you. You asked me that before and I forgot. I remember seeing Chris Columbus plastered on the screen at the end of that, and I was kind of like, yeah, so he was. [00:19:46] Speaker A: I think he was writing on this one too, but he produced the first one, and then they couldn't get the same director for some reason, so he stepped up and directed this one. Apparently he and Kurt Russell hit it off really well in the first movie. To the Point. I saw an interview with him and he's like, yeah. I mean, Kurt was so excited. He went and wrote like a 200 page backstory on his Santa Claus and he was just in it. So, like, Kurt. And it shows. He is all in on this. [00:20:14] Speaker B: Okay. [00:20:14] Speaker A: And I wasn't wrong. Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. So I. I guess he's having a. He's having a blast. So, I mean, will there be A Chronicles 3? I hope not. But it's definitely possible. [00:20:27] Speaker C: And it's kind of hard to tell because these were both Netflix films, right? One and two. [00:20:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:32] Speaker C: And we don't Get a lot of data on those. [00:20:34] Speaker A: Exactly. So yeah, so if Netflix was like, yeah, a lot of people watch this. Just, let's do it, let's hit a third one. I'm sure, I'm sure Kurt Russell's having a blast. He'll, he'll just go for it. [00:20:45] Speaker B: But I mean, again, I didn't, I didn't hate the first one. If they, if they looked at what, okay, from my perspective, if they looked at what worked in the first one, what didn't work in the second one, like there's a world where they make a third one and I would enjoy it. I mean, and honestly, get rid of everybody but the Santa Clauses. Right? Like, like, well, because Kate's getting old, right? We already know she's a true believer. We don't need to see a 23 year old Kate. Her brother will be in his 30s. Like, she got [00:21:14] Speaker C: interesting. You could make an interesting plot out of that, that she's a true believer, but she's an adult now and she doesn't really have time for the Christmas spirit or something like that and something's got to happen. Maybe she has a kid and she teaches her. I don't know. Honestly, I hope they just don't make a third one because frankly, I'm having a hard time finding anything good to say about this film. [00:21:33] Speaker B: I'm very okay with them not making a third. I'm just saying, like, there's a world where they make a third with Kurt Russell and I would watch it. [00:21:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:42] Speaker A: So I mean, we have to watch it now, so it doesn't even matter. [00:21:45] Speaker B: Yeah, but you will too. [00:21:47] Speaker C: So, Dan, you usually open up like, hey, have you ever seen this before? Or who'd you watch it with? Or something like that. So I did watch this with my son and I have seen it many times before. I remember enjoying this a little bit more than going through it this last time. This last time, maybe it was just because I had other things going on or something, which I'm actually not that busy right now. But it sure felt like this was work for me to get through. And it was way more work than it was worth because the only times I really enjoyed it was a few of these moments that Kurt Russell created within the dialogue that he was given. The overarching story just didn't mean anything or matter to me. Especially because like we said, we hated the elves and this focused on elves. [00:22:29] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a lot of elf. There was a lot of elves. Oh, there's a lot of elves. And not only Were there a lot of elves? They were just straight crazy for most of it, which is even worse. Like, they were just a whole Gremlin movie. Yeah, there you go. [00:22:45] Speaker C: Imagine that. Imagine that. [00:22:47] Speaker A: Now, speaking of references, did you guys feel like we were in the airport of Home Alone in this movie? It was the 1990s based. [00:22:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:57] Speaker A: And there was a woman demanding a ticket to Chicago. [00:23:01] Speaker C: Yep. Yep. [00:23:03] Speaker B: That's a great call. I did not put that together at all until you're saying it now, but that's kind of fun. [00:23:07] Speaker C: No. Chris in there, I was like, wow, getting the vibes here. [00:23:12] Speaker A: And the other. The other thing I noticed is that is it at the beginning of the movie, they're watching A Wonderful Life in Elvish and in Home Alone. And Home Alone 2, you watch a Wonderful Life in different languages. And so I was like, oh, okay, Chris Clovis is putting his stamp on this a little bit more, which is kind of fun to see. Those were, like, moments. I was like, oh, I'm kind of interested because this is referring to better projects I've once watched. [00:23:36] Speaker C: I think they kind of wrote themselves into a corner with the elves speaking Elvish, because then we had a character who was an elf turned human, and he didn't speak any Elvish throughout the entire movie, even when he was an elf. And I kind of feel like they were like, oh, how do we work around this? Because there was very little subtitles in this. They tried to stay where they even had some elderly elves who spoke English. So I kind of felt like that might have been a bad choice from the first one. And they were just dealing with it this time. [00:24:06] Speaker A: Well, you actually mentioned that in the first one, I think. Right. Like, there's so much Elvish and then subtitles. You're like, this is for kids. Why is. Why are they doing that? So there you go. They heard you. And they corrected. [00:24:17] Speaker C: Tried to. I wouldn't say that corrected. [00:24:24] Speaker A: Also, I felt. I felt the. The whole time travel thing was really weird in this movie. Like, there's a lot of weird things in this movie. But that specifically was, like, really out of place. And, like, the whole reason behind it is so that she could say goodbye to her dad 100%. But it was Bel Schnickel who did it. So his intentions weren't for that to happen. But then Santa gets credit for it. She thanks Santa for letting him do it. So it's, like, all twisted up right in there and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but, I mean, the kids are loving it. [00:24:59] Speaker B: I Think. [00:24:59] Speaker A: Right. It doesn't matter. [00:25:01] Speaker C: In the first one, we were like, oh, so this was all for show and didn't. There was never really any danger. Do you guys feel like there was actual danger in this one, or did Santa Claus actually have this completely under control and he was just doing it for the kids? [00:25:19] Speaker A: Go ahead. [00:25:20] Speaker B: I mean, it's hard to say danger. That feels like the wrong word. But I, I feel like he was not as in control in this one. Like, in the first one, he definitely has that, like, wink at the camera moment where he's just like, I got this. Like, there was never a chance this wasn't going to turn out the way I thought it was going to. I don't think that that's true of this one. But I mean, I, I never felt like we were in peril or danger, like the best thing wasn't gonna happen, you know, I mean, like, the movie felt super safe. [00:25:50] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:50] Speaker B: But like, I get what you're saying for sure, like, for how much is [00:25:53] Speaker A: going wrong and chaotic, it's still very safe. You know, it's. It's a family friendly movie. My issue is like, Santa now has. Did he, did he always have access to time travel now to me, it feels like he'll never, ever slip up because he can always go back in time to get another star or fix Christmas the way it needs to be. Like, it's just like, even more reason now that there's nothing to worry about. No stakes. [00:26:27] Speaker B: Maybe that's the problem. Making a third one is there's nothing they can do because Santa just go back in time and fix it. [00:26:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. [00:26:34] Speaker C: I did think that Kurt Russell's character, Santa Claus, had way more powers and abilities that he just didn't bother to use. And at any time, he could have just like, shut down Bell Snickel because with a wink of his nose, he freezes that elf in its place. And after freezing that elf, I was just like, well, why didn't he just do that in the first place to Bill Sickle? [00:26:58] Speaker A: Well, I guess if you go with your theory of Santa always being in control, he needs Bel Schnickel to go through his journey. Which kind of mirrors Kate. Right? They both are like, Kate doesn't want to go into this new family dynamic. Bel Schnickel is upset about his family dynamic, and then they come together at the end. So maybe Santa knows they both have to go through this journey to reconcile on all aspects. [00:27:25] Speaker B: So are you saying that Kurt Russell or Santa Claus is in control of this one. And he kind of allows Bell's nickel to go on his. [00:27:31] Speaker A: That. That's my. That would be my running theory, just based off of how the first one went down. But the first one just played it so much better still, like, kind of like, what's the point of the movie then? But at least they attempted that little, like, twist of, ah, he's always in control. This one is just, like, it's just chaos and fun for kids and then, oh, it all ends happily ever after. [00:27:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:59] Speaker A: But I mean, again, it's not well executed, so it doesn't really matter. [00:28:03] Speaker C: I kind of think you had, like, a lot of parents that probably, like, went, oh, I wish Goldie Hawn was in this more after seeing the first one. And they're like, oh, let's bring her in and put her on the poster and sell more seats. And who cares about the rest of the. I honestly, like, that was it. They. They upticked that and didn't really fix it. It was kind of a similar formula, but like you said, it was a lot of just chaos and the same characters, and they. They tried to do some world building, but nobody really cares because we didn't really care about that world. And it was a lot of crazy elves and nobody liked the elves. [00:28:38] Speaker B: Yeah, well, none of the adults like the elves. My kids like. Exactly. [00:28:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:44] Speaker B: One of the things that I noticed because, like, I've seen this movie before, didn't really remember it very well, knew I was going to watch it with my kid, and, like, went to the Netflix screen and took a look, and one of the first things you see is Bel Snickel as a human wearing his, like, I don't know, semi punk rock outfit. And it was just like, I was. I personally was instantly turned off. Like, the second I saw him, I'm just like, oh, no. Like, that is. That is not the sign of a movie I want to watch. And, like, I was just thinking about, like, I'm looking at Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn on the. The poster in front of us right here. Like, their costumes are so good. Like, Santa looks incredible. Like, it's a very fitted suit. When they give Kate and Jack their, like, winter outfits, they look really good. Did, like, Bell Sickle just looks super duper cheap. Like, they just kind of put together whatever they could with whatever they had left over. Like, he just. He just didn't fit this mood. I get that he's going for a different aesthetic. Aesthetic, but even with that aesthetic, it didn't look good to Me? [00:29:39] Speaker A: No. [00:29:39] Speaker C: For sure. [00:29:40] Speaker A: Like, the costume designer heard, oh, go, go with teen angst. And they just threw together whatever that meant to them. And it was this backwards leather hat, and it was just. It was. It was bad. It was bad. [00:29:54] Speaker B: He was Jack Black in Never Ending Story 3. Like, he was in that gang. And you're just like, right. That's not okay. [00:30:02] Speaker A: Right? [00:30:03] Speaker C: Honestly, I thought Jack Black's costume and Never Ending Story three was better than this. [00:30:07] Speaker A: So my other. My other problem is. And this is, like, so stupid, obviously, like, why am I even talking about it? But why are we talking about anything? He had this costume, this outfit, this, like, human outfit when he was an elf, before he turned human. And he hates humans. Humans are the thing he's most jealous of. That's why he turns into it. Why is he wearing human attire? That doesn't make any sense. Why he should be doing the most elvish clothing. [00:30:37] Speaker B: You just said he was jealous of humans. [00:30:40] Speaker A: Yes, because. Because Santa was spending all his time and efforts to go to give gifts to humans, and it meant less time for him. [00:30:49] Speaker B: Would that not. Doesn't that kind of make sense, then? If you're jealous of somebody, you would like. Like, jealousy and envy are pretty close together. [00:30:57] Speaker A: Right? But why would you dress like a human if you hate humans before you're turned into one? [00:31:03] Speaker B: I would agree if it was just hatred. If it's jealousy, then part of my brain kind of goes like, oh, that kind of makes sense. [00:31:07] Speaker C: Are you guys trying to shrink this character? [00:31:09] Speaker A: So. Oh, so you're sorry. Are you implying that he wants to dress more like a human to get more attention from Santa? [00:31:18] Speaker B: Potentially. [00:31:19] Speaker A: Okay, okay, I can see that. [00:31:22] Speaker C: I think they wanted to just dress him like an angry team. [00:31:25] Speaker A: That. [00:31:25] Speaker B: That 100. [00:31:26] Speaker C: I think that's what it was. [00:31:29] Speaker A: To break this down, Brian, we need [00:31:32] Speaker C: to be done with it. [00:31:35] Speaker B: How do we let the audience know that this is a rebellious kid? I know. [00:31:40] Speaker A: A backwards hat and a leather vest [00:31:44] Speaker B: with pins on it. [00:31:46] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:31:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:48] Speaker A: Oh, boy. All right. Yeah, I'm good to write this. [00:31:52] Speaker B: Sounds good. 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When bundled you save on all three additional components and when you use coupon code Mongoolie at checkout you will get an additional saving as well. Thank you very much to Radik 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. [00:34:52] Speaker C: Okay, I was really hoping I would enjoy this movie a little bit more than the last one and I didn't. This comes in at a 58. It went downhill. They capitalized on all the things I didn't really like and they left out all the stuff I did. Luckily, Kurt Russell was in there and that was probably the only good part. Unfortunately, Goldie Hawn didn't do as good a job as I was hoping she would and so I kind of just think just, just pass on this. Watch the first one if you're really into the Christmas Chronicles and then just pass or just pass on the whole franchise. [00:35:22] Speaker B: So far I agree with everything Brian just said. I think that Kurt Russell absolutely carries this movie at least as best that he possibly could. There was one or two scenes that I thought did have some heart to them, or at least attempted to. But overall, pretty much everything in this movie got worse for me. I didn't really care for the police sing along in the first one. I hated this one even more. I didn't like the elves in the first one. I hated them even more in this one. I thought the child acting was okay at best in the first. I thought it was awful in this one. I think that these scenes where Kurt Russell is dealing with the public was the best part of the first one. And we get literally none of that in this. They took everything I liked and got rid of it and kept everything I didn't like and doubled down on it. This movie was atrocious for me. It was the definition of homework. The first one I was pretty high on it. Honestly. I'd probably watch it again. It was a 68 as far as Christmas movies go. For me, this one is like a 48. Like this one's not even a pass. I really, really didn't enjoy my time with this one. And shy of my youngest begging me to watch it, I will never put it on again. [00:36:20] Speaker A: I'm gonna repeat everything that was just said, but I'm not as hot as Dan on the dive. I'm closer to the dive as Brian. This movie is too much action, too much fantasy, too much wild elves destroying each other. Too many twists and turn in the plot that don't really make a whole lot of sense. And the biggest problem is it's too little Kurt Russell. Kurt Russell carried the first one, and I felt like there was just less of him to do in this one. Maybe that's because of the Bel Schnickel character introduction, which is the big baddie. Maybe it's because they introduced Mrs. Claus and they wanted to have a substantial role for her. I don't know. Whatever they did, it didn't work because there was less Kurt Russell and he is the one carrying this franchise on his back. His very fit, well costumed back. So, yeah, it dropped for me. That being said, like, did I hate it? No. Did I love the first one? No. [00:37:18] Speaker C: So it's a similar score. [00:37:19] Speaker A: 58 out of 100. I wouldn't watch it. My kid might make me. Please don't make me watch it. [00:37:28] Speaker B: And with that, we see Christmas Chronicles dropping to fittingly just below Gremlins, done by the same director. Feels pretty similar, this one. Honestly, with all the L's being a little bit crazy acting right at Christmas time, I think that's a very fitting spot for it. It makes me a little bit sad that it's still higher than a couple other movies that I would personally put higher than this one. But that's just the way this franchise thing works. So it is what it is. What do you guys think? Does 60 feel like an okay home for this one, or you wish it was a little bit different? [00:37:57] Speaker A: I think I asked for this. This is the Christmas miracle. I think I asked for it to be under Gremlins last week, actually. Yeah. So you know what? Keep. Keep dreaming, everybody. Christmas miracles do come true. [00:38:12] Speaker C: I. I was thinking last week that it would not fall this low. And then after watching it, I was like, yeah, it's gonna hit the accountant. [00:38:22] Speaker B: I. I'd forgotten what this movie was. I said it before. Like, I. I didn't really remember this movie, so I had higher hopes than this. And honestly, I'm not even kidding. I don't mean this to sound even ruder than it's already been. The second I saw that Beat Snickel or whatever on the post, I was like, oh, this is gonna be a rough one. Like, there's. There's no chance it's gonna be good. Beats Nickel, whatever his name is. [00:38:43] Speaker A: I love it. [00:38:43] Speaker B: All right, that is our rating of Christmas Chronicles 2. What do you think? Were we way too harsh on this movie? Is this a Christmas classic you enjoy watching every year? Let us know down in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you. We record this live over at Twitch TV themongoolie show every Thursday night at 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time. So you can head over there and hit the follow button if you want to hang out with us live. 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. [00:39:15] Speaker A: Sam.