Let It Stream Episode 1: Royalty

Patrick and Andrea are pitting 16 holiday romance films against each other in a festive tournament to determine which straight-to-TV release reigns supreme. First up, four films about royalty: "A Christmas Prince," "The Princess Switch," "Christmas With A Prince" and "A Christmas in Royal Fashion."

Our theme music:
Christmas Rap by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3505-christmas-rap
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

[00:00:00]MUSIC INTRO
Andrea: [00:00:00]  Hello and welcome to let it stream. I'm Andrea. 

[00:00:07]Patrick: [00:00:07] And I'm Patrick.

[00:00:08] Andrea: [00:00:08] And together we are pitting 16 holiday romance films against each other in a festive tournament to determine which straight to TV release reigns supreme.   we, asked our friends and some strangers on the internet to recommend their favorite holiday romance films.

[00:00:25] And we got many dozens of great recommendations. and we had actually hoped to start with a 32 film bracket but our need to feed and clothe ourselves. took precedence over watching so many films over the next few weeks before Christmas. So we have narrowed it down to the 16 films that were the most recommended that seemed the most entertaining and we're the easiest to find. we have some rules. the film's Ms never have had a theatrical release. they must have been released after the year 2000, and they must be about [00:01:00] romance. Not family get togethers or Santa's in peril or some other holiday related nonsense.

[00:01:07]Patrick: [00:01:07] Yeah. And we've organized these films into four categories by theme, which are royalty time-travel small towns and one that we're calling cynics and grinches, and we're going to start by picking two winners from each theme. Then we'll make picks for the quarter and semi-finals, and then we're going to treat ourselves to a repeat viewing of the finalists before we name the greatest holiday film to never Brighton the silver screen. MUSIC

[00:01:35]A Christmas Prince

[00:01:35]This our first episode will take us on a tour of the make-believe modern monarchies of Belgravia Al Davia, Edmore, and Saint Savar. As we learn what a bunch of Playboy princes with hearts of gold can teach us normal folk about the holidays, , or is it the other way around?

[00:01:52]And we're going to begin with a Christmas Prince.  This is a 2017 film that is available on [00:02:00] Netflix.  And here's the IMD description of this fine film. When a reporter goes undercover as a tutor to get the inside scoop on a Playboy Prince, she gets tangled in some Royal intrigue and ends up finding love, but will she be able to keep up her lie? we're going to ask three simple questions of each of these films,  and the first one is what did this movie teach you about the holidays? So, Andrea, I put the question to you.

[00:02:26]Andrea: [00:02:26] okay. What I learned from a Christmas Prince about the holidays is nothing. this is only incidentally, a holiday movie. it could have been said at any time of year, it's not about learning about the spirit of Christmas, or any of that shit. so it didn't teach me anything about the holidays.

[00:02:46] I don't think, but it did teach me that, wealthy white men are not always who the media make them out to be, and that we need to give them a little more leeway from the fake news.

[00:02:58]Patrick: [00:02:58] Uh, I learned a lot [00:03:00] about the, to your point, not necessarily about the holidays, but about the Arcana of Belgravia and, succession.

[00:03:09]Rules. and so the biggest lesson that I learned from this is that sometimes when a nation realizes that its method of selecting its leaders is out of step with the times.

[00:03:20]And in order to keep a crave and desperate from proclaiming himself, the King, sometimes you have to change the law and then you need to hide that new law inside an acorn and hang it on a tree. For Christmas.

[00:03:35]And that's how it's about Christmas,  whatever we want to replace the electoral college with, we just put it in an acorn and wait for a report or to discover it somewhere in the Royal palace.

[00:03:46]Andrea: [00:03:46] undercover reporter, which is the way all reporters do our jobs is to lie constantly about who we are and why we're there. And our editors love it and think it's great.

[00:03:58] Patrick: [00:03:58] Editors love it. The people that you're [00:04:00] conning think that it's hilarious.

[00:04:01] And maybe you'll find love along the way.

[00:04:03]Andrea: [00:04:03] yeah,  so it's funny, our lessons are surprisingly political,  which is for sure not where I thought this conversation was going to go when we were planning out this podcast.

[00:04:15]yes, the films themselves are crafted to be, it offensive. But I am still nevertheless surprised that both of our takeaways  have to do with current electoral politics in the U S not that everything doesn't ultimately have to do with current electoral politics in the U S  I just, I don't know why didn't, I think it was going to go there.

[00:04:42]Patrick: [00:04:42] except that like the plot is about, who becomes King. you know, the big scene where Richard does become King happens in parliament and there's a political process in a new law that has to change to make it happen.

[00:04:54] So like the plot is like in this case, it's love alone. Doesn't save the day, but, [00:05:00] politics do, and like politicians willing to do the right thing.

[00:05:02]Andrea: [00:05:02] Yeah. 

[00:05:03] Patrick: [00:05:03] shall we move on to the next question?

[00:05:07]I want to know Andrea, do you think this is a good movie?

[00:05:10]Andrea: [00:05:10] Do you think it's a good movie, Patrick?

[00:05:12] Patrick: [00:05:12] I wrote yes. Question Mark. Uh, I think that I said yes, because I'm so afraid of what is coming next in this tournament of ours. That I think that it's only downhill from here.  

[00:05:23] Andrea: [00:05:23] I think, I mean, it's fine, but that doesn't make it good.

[00:05:27] I'm not saying it's bad. I wonder then in saying this, if I am similarly, Setting myself up for just giving this answer every single time we watch a movie, because I think the thing for me that makes it not a good movie is um, typical of this genre, which is exceedingly low stakes, Lack of meaningful character development, I think because the creators want viewers to insert themselves into the characters.

[00:05:58] And so you can't give the character [00:06:00] too much, or the viewer won't, won't put themselves into that fantasy role. which is a critique of a lot of romance writing period. And in fact, I think, is being like actively pushed back against these days. And there's some really tremendously good romance writing out there.

[00:06:16] That's not like that,   but that is a trope of romance writing, I think. and that, This film is, predictable. And I think all of those things are going to be problems with every movie we watch for the next 15 movies.

[00:06:33]Patrick: [00:06:33] I thought that it had a few things going for it. the plot to me was comprehensible.  things happened for reasons that made sense, and came to care about a few of the characters, at least, princess Emily,

[00:06:47] um, Amber. As well, I cared about what happened to her and her dad like he didn't really do much, but like I thought that he is a character, it was like engaging and I thought it was fun spending time in his diner [00:07:00] as much as we did.

[00:07:01]and the, the ending wasn't a surprise, but there was suspense around it. Like I didn't know. How they were going to get to the ending the way they did. And maybe we'll discuss this question in about the next film, but like of these two, I found this one more suspenseful,

[00:07:17] uh, there are obvious filmmaking flaws, they've read all the stock footage at the start of the movie to establish that we were in New York and New York, this in New York that, and then they just have a scene from Chicago with the Chicago flag flying and the Chicago river, and that slipped through, which probably isn't great. 

[00:07:35] Andrea: [00:07:35] perhaps it just means that they were putting their, their attention to detail elsewhere.

[00:07:39] Patrick: [00:07:39] like the stock footage of the  

[00:07:43] Andrea: [00:07:43] truly though, do you give a fuck about what New York city looks like? Or do you want to look at a motherfucking castle? Because I 

[00:07:50] Patrick: [00:07:50] That's true.

[00:07:51] Andrea: [00:07:51] a motherfucking castle.

[00:07:52] Patrick: [00:07:52] Give me the castle please. Any day. Yeah. did you enjoy this movie?

[00:07:58] Andrea: [00:07:58] Yes. Yes. I think it [00:08:00] is. I think it's entertaining. And as you say, I do care about some of the characters. I do. I like princess Emily quite a bit. and, I think that many of the world's parents could benefit from daddy. Rudy's Les, a fair approach to whether or not you're spending the holidays with them.

[00:08:19]In service of your career or other pursuits. and once you settle into the low stakes Snus of it and just, you just know that like no matter what, very mild secondhand embarrassment you're experiencing, it's all going to be totally fine.

[00:08:35] Patrick: [00:08:35] Yeah, I agree. I, and I enjoyed the movie as well.  And I think the thing that I loved about it, the most,  is how much it's about the journalism industry. Uh, and even though she works for, a, tabloidy 

[00:08:45] Andrea: [00:08:45] works for beat now,

[00:08:47] or now 

[00:08:49] what? Okay. This is actually a question that I have about it because it seems like it's a gossipy, like us weekly sort of thing, but then she comes back [00:09:00] from, Al Davia, with the puff piece and her editors, like we can't run this schlocky puffy tripe, like you were supposed to bring me a real substantive story.

[00:09:12] And I think they're just maybe some, a lack of understanding on perhaps it's the writers part about the nature of what the field of journalism entails.

[00:09:23]Patrick: [00:09:23] . But it did foresee the future of journalism, which is, a blog as the title  

[00:09:32] Andrea: [00:09:32] Okay. Are you making fun of my sub stack that I only send out once every six months?

[00:09:37]Patrick: [00:09:37] just, I'm just saying now I know where you got the idea, 

[00:09:39] Andrea: [00:09:39] I think I got the idea in 2004, when I wrote my senior thesis on how blogging was the future of journalism. And then it turned out not to be extremely, but I don't know now. I'm right. So who knows? Yeah.

[00:09:52]Patrick: [00:09:52] the moment in the press conference where Simon stands up and explains who she is. And the queen says, is this true? [00:10:00] Are you a journalist? And she says, yes. And everybody gasps and groans. 

[00:10:05]Is that true? That you're a journalist. I am

[00:10:15] Andrea: [00:10:15] Yeah, that happens to me at most press conferences.

[00:10:17]Patrick: [00:10:17] and family gatherings and just at the mall, wherever. Yeah,

[00:10:22]The Princess Switch

[00:10:22] Andrea: [00:10:22] Okay. Should we talk about, the Christmas Prince's competitor? The princess switch.

[00:10:28] Okay.

[00:10:30]The princess switch, is a 2018 Netflix film, starting Vanessa Hudgens, and the IMD baby description says. Competing in a Christmas baking competition in Belgravia a Chicago Baker bumps into the princess fiance who looks just like her. They switch lives for two days. first question Patrick is what did this movie teach you about the holidays?

[00:10:58] Patrick: [00:10:58] Okay. you may [00:11:00] think this is a bit of a stretch, but here it goes. I learned that even if two packages under the tree look the same, it doesn't mean they've got the same thing wrapped up inside them. And there's a bow out there somewhere for every package.

[00:11:14] Andrea: [00:11:22] that's really sweet.

[00:11:23] Both sweet and deeply objectifying. so well done on that. I like it. It's a good metaphor. I had a similar takeaway. which was, first of all, the, again, I learned nothing about the holidays in particular, and this is also only incidentally, a holiday film, and could have been set at any time of year.

[00:11:45]but my sort of the broader life lesson, which is that, if other people find your personality irritating, find someone who looks just like you and trade lives with them.

[00:11:57]do a secret Santa with [00:12:00] your life. 

[00:12:03] Patrick: [00:12:03] cut. A attainable version of that is fine. Keep looking for somebody who does like you. 

[00:12:09] Andrea: [00:12:09] the even more attainable version of that is learning to love yourself. And then you won't need someone to affirm you from the outside?

[00:12:19] Patrick: [00:12:19] doesn't anybody make a movie about that? 

[00:12:23] Andrea: [00:12:23] Okay. Patrick, do you think this is a good movie?

[00:12:25]Patrick: [00:12:25] No,  I don't think, I don't think, I mean, it to me, the plot here was just,  not only was it, like a real reach, but there were a lot of things that just get picked up and then dropped again, the whole baking competition that she goes to, Belgravia.

[00:12:40] For, like we hardly see any of it, and it just seems that you could have so much more suspense built up just by having this big contest at the end. And it just comes and goes.  and there's one real villain in this movie, I think is Frank, who was, who is, Prince Edwards, buddy, like professional buddy. and he's like [00:13:00] suspicious about this whole scheme and things. The lady Margaret has been swapped for a doppelganger. and then it turns out that, he's right.

[00:13:08] And he doesn't care because he's just won over by the whole thing and like his resistance to the whole thing, just fizzles. 

[00:13:14] Andrea: [00:13:14] Yeah, I certainly,  one thing? That I look for in a henchman is committed and Frank doesn't have it.   frank is committed enough to falling over a balcony to get a picture of the Vanessa's Hudgins, but.

[00:13:32] When it turns out that they all just really liked their boyfriends. He's like, Oh, golly. 

[00:13:39] there is another, a bad guy, a girl, bruh. Brianna, I believe is her name. She's the Baker. She's the other Baker, the champion from last year. But then all she does is like walk through a scene and be like, I won last year by there's not even any like really decent sabotage. She cuts the cord on the kitchen aid mixer. [00:14:00] And which means that, Vanessa Hudgens has to beat the demurring by hand or some shit, I don't know. but also I, this is, I think, Patrick, you said a thing is just that, you have to accept that every problem in these films could be solved with a text message.

[00:14:19] And just accept that that text messages never is never going to be sent or read by anybody. if, if their thing is broken in the middle of the competition, she says, Hey judge, somebody fucked with my mixer. Can I have a new mixer, please?

[00:14:32] Also Brianna's cake was better. I'm sorry. Maybe it tasted like shit, but it looked awesome.

[00:14:39] Yeah. There were like all typically Tingey tangy balls, like next to each other on the off balance. That was really 

[00:14:45] cool. okay, well, so I agree with you that this is not a good movie. if that isn't already clear, this might be a bad movie. 

[00:14:53]so then my question to you, Patrick, is, did you enjoy this film?

[00:14:56] Patrick: [00:14:56] Oh, yes, I did. And I really enjoyed, [00:15:00] I enjoyed the movie face-off as well. And I think both of these have going for them is it's. It just must be so hard to pretend to be somebody else. Even if you look like them, but like around the people that know them the best. And, I just w could never look away from a movie like that where, you're just trying to see, like, are they going to get the accent, right?

[00:15:20]

[00:15:20]  Andrea: [00:15:20] I did not enjoy this film at all. as a genre. Yeah. The light switched bodies, switched, faces, switched places. I, it makes me so uncomfortable. Like this thing that you describe of Ooh, it's interesting. Let me see how  they portray the other person.

[00:15:37] What happened? I, it just makes me want to die in a deep and hard way. and I think, face-off is entertaining because it has, one of the great actors of our time in it, Nicholas cage, of course. but also the stakes are pretty high, in face-off if I recall correctly. and so there's a little bit of [00:16:00] incentive there to pull the thing off.

[00:16:02]In the princess switch. The stakes are, are still quite low.   so I don't like the parent trap either. and I also don't like, Freaky Friday is the other one that I'm thinking of. there's something about the, if you're a girly girl, you're only a girly girl and if you're not.

[00:16:21] And it, and that it's like hard that you can't switch between being a lady, Margaret and a Stacy, That I don't, I just don't like that dichotomy for women in particular.  I think we're past that narrative in the year 2020, like it's cute with Hayley mills in 19, whatever 68.

[00:16:44]but it just doesn't, it doesn't feel very fresh anymore.  All right. how are we gonna surprise each other with our pic? should we put it in the chat?

[00:16:55]Patrick: [00:16:55] Yeah. .

[00:16:55] Andrea: [00:16:55] Okay. One, two, three, go. 

[00:17:00] [00:17:00] Yay Christmas Prince wins.

[00:17:02] Patrick: [00:17:02] unanimous. 

[00:17:06] Andrea: [00:17:06] He gets his kingdom and to advance to the next round in, let it stream.

[00:17:11]Patrick: [00:17:11] Okay, so that's it for round one. And we'll come on back for round two, where Christmas with a Prince faces off against a Christmas in Royal fashion.

[00:17:20] Andrea: [00:17:20] Looking forward to it.

[00:17:23]MUSIC

[00:17:23]Christmas With A Prince

[00:17:23]  Alright, we're back for round two Christmas with a Prince facing off against a Christmas in Royal fashion. first, we're going to talk about Christmas with a Prince, uh, which is a 2018 Netflix movie. And, the IMD be description. is such. Pediatric specialist, Tasha Mason is focused on keeping the kids in her award as healthy as possible, but when the handsome Prince Alexander Cavaliery breaks his leg on a nearby ski slope. [00:18:00] Tasha is forced to allow him to secretly get well on her floor. And she's furious that a spoiled Royal is interrupting the precious healing time her kids need soon. However, Tasha learns that some tough love and a lot of Christmas spirit could turn this Royal pain into a Knight in shining armor. 

[00:18:19]So, the five top keywords for Christmas with their prints. Are. pediatrician. Female pediatrician. Pediatrician the way the British people spell it and female pediatrician the way the British people spell it. So that's what this movie is about. Lady doctor. you have to prepare

[00:18:39] people for these forward thinking. narratives  This hyper feminist feminazi matriarchy universe of the holiday romances. 

[00:18:49]what did this movie teach you about the holidays, Patrick?  

[00:18:52] Patrick: [00:18:52] okay. I'm speaking of Prince Alexander here. when I say that this movie taught me that [00:19:00] around the holidays, especially it's never too late to grow up. Just the tiniest, smallest, barely measurable amounts. Even when you're a 50 year old masquerading as a 20 some Playboy Prince, 

[00:19:15] Andrea: [00:19:15] Yeah.

[00:19:16] that's pretty, so. Nick Hounslow is the actor who plays Prince Alexander Cavaliery of indeterminate age. and if you Google Nick hounds, low age, which I did because you genuinely cannot tell if this man is 60 or 22. somebody like Nick hounds Lowe's handler person has done the best job of keeping his actual age off the internet, which tells me that he is much closer to 60 than he is 22.

[00:19:45] Patrick: [00:19:45] Because in the world of the movie, Prince Alexander and Dr. Tasha are old school buddies. They're supposed to

[00:19:50] be about the same age.  But the actress she's 

[00:19:52] clearly 

[00:19:53] what, 

[00:19:53] Andrea: [00:19:53] She's younger than us. She was born in 1988. And really though, I think in the wide world of [00:20:00] romance in general, one of the takeaways is like, You're never too old to just do a little bit better. the thing that this movie taught me about the holidays was, That. Like I get the most holiday Eve thing I can come up with from this is that speaking up for marginalized people is. I good idea. but,  I think it's nice. The doctor Tasha more. What's her name? Mason, says to her boss, Hey, I don't want this Prince on my floor because it's going to fuck up my kids and like their recovery and their treatment and stuff. So like, to the extent that, like I do actually guess adults should be speaking up for children in general, my political practices to let marginalized people fucking run the show. Broadly, I guess that's sort of a lesson, but I think the biggest lesson, I get from this film is Get a Prince to fall in love with me and intervene to preserve my employment.

[00:20:58]Patrick

[00:20:59] is this a good [00:21:00] movie? 

[00:21:00] Patrick: [00:21:00] no, it's very bad. It's a very bad movie. It's a long movie., , I guess the thing that makes it really bad to me, the, the tension in this is I think the romantic competition, of the, his fiance who shows up. When I thought the movie was already over, it was, you ends up being about two thirds of the way through, with three quarters of the way through, we just meet this whole new lady and find out that he was going to marry her at some point. and she thinks that he still is, 

[00:21:24] Andrea: [00:21:24] Yeah, it was super weird. I definitely,  when I think about this movie, my memories of it are entirely the hospital plot. And not the Christmas party plot, but that whole, the like second 45 minutes of this movie take place at our Christmas party. I think the ex fiance says some bitchy things to Dr. Mason. And then Dr. Mason has like a heart to heart with King cheeseburger, and then the Prince is like, [00:22:00] sure, let's do this thing. what else happens in that last 45 minutes at the party? That's it 

[00:22:05] Patrick: [00:22:05] I was laughing at King cheeseburger there. And I was thinking it was like a Mr. Rogers joke or something. And then I remembered that like the King's whole 

[00:22:13] thing was that he just wanted a cheeseburger at the end of

[00:22:15] Andrea: [00:22:15] That's the thing they did to humanize the King was to make it clear that he was going to get a cheeseburger after the party.

[00:22:22] the, woman who plays Bella I'm, Melinda Shankar, I thought did a wonderful job. she was like, she had the correct amount of face. Acting going on. And like had a lot of good, like physical, I don't, she was just believable. in a way that, uh, many of the other people in this film, we're not believable. yeah, 100%. I too thought that this was a bad

[00:22:47] movie. for many of the reasons you, enumerated here, Uh, I will say a thing that this movie has going for it is that the majority [00:23:00] of the leads speaking roles for women are women of color. which is, has so far not been the case,  like the vast majority of these movies, star white women as the love interest. Um, and we'll have usually like a woman of color. I was like the best friend. . so you know, that's, uh, like it's, it says that I think somewhere, somebody is trying to put some thought into it. and I, I appreciated that part of it as well. 

[00:23:29] Okay. Patrick. Did you enjoy this film? 

[00:23:32] Patrick: [00:23:32] no, I did not. I did not enjoy this movie.   Prince Alexander, we haven't really talked about just what an awful person. This guy is, he was just so far beyond, even like a Playboy Prince who doesn't really have to think about things very much. the scene early in the movie  when he gets wheeled in. Cause he has a leg injury, he gets wheeled in to the room full of children in the hospital.

[00:23:57] And he says that he doesn't want to stay in the room [00:24:00] because he doesn't want to look at them, sad 

[00:24:01] Andrea: [00:24:01] Okay. 

[00:24:04] Patrick: [00:24:04] And I'm not sure I've seen anything that bad in it. Any movie in a very long time, we've been, we've been watching gangs of London and he sets a man on fire with his, dangling, from, by his foot from a rope off a high rise.

[00:24:20]and that seemed a little bit less cruel. Then this I know  they're trying to make a point about this guy, but they really just swamped this way too far on this 

[00:24:30] Terrible.

[00:24:32] Andrea: [00:24:32] Yeah, he's a big Dick for sure. I too did not enjoy this film. . I can even get over the fact that Prince Alexander of indeterminate age is clearly like decades older. Then Dr. Mason. But the so powerfully, ungraceful way, they tried to shoe horn that up-and-coming Canadian Christian rock singer into the film.   And I know that it, our experience of the film [00:25:00] was colored by the fact that our dog was having protracted barfing experience throughout it. So it did take us probably two and a half hours to watch this 90 minute film. But I know that I spent at An hour of that outside in the yard, watching fizzy barf. But I feel like I spent that hour. at the holiday ball with Dr. Mason and Chris Alexander, and it was too much. Well, shall we move on to its competition? 

[00:25:31] Patrick: [00:25:31] please. Uh, A Christmas In Royal Fashionit's competition is a Christmas in Royal fashion, which is a 2018 movie, that airs on the hallmark channel. And, let me tell you what IMDV has to say about this movie. handsome Prince and fashion assistant fall in love and midst of Christmas fashion show, . Andrea, what did a Christmas in Royal fashion teach you about the holidays?

[00:25:51]Andrea: [00:25:51] so much like Christmas with a Prince. I think I learned that it's a good thing for adults to do nice things [00:26:00] for sick children. because we got to go back to the children's hospital for this film. I'm actually, I'm curious to see if this children's hospital thing. . Is like a holiday romance trope But now I'm thinking back to princess, Emily. In a Christmas Prince, having spinal bifida. And maybe she's the like stand in for the Christmas hospital kid that otherwise needs to be in the film.

[00:26:29] I also learned that it's rude to fire people on Christmas. and I also learned that if I do get fired on Christmas, I get a Prince to fall in love with me and saved my job. 

[00:26:39]Patrick: [00:26:39] That's really the best way to lose your job is by doing something wacky, but endearing to a Prince

[00:26:44]Andrea: [00:26:44] I wish I had thought of that years ago when when they fired me from Sonic, because I can't count, change.

[00:26:49]Patrick: [00:26:49] If you had miscounted the princess change in a charming way.

[00:26:52] Andrea: [00:26:52] In Arlington, Texas.

[00:26:54]Patrick: [00:26:54] The King had 

[00:26:55] Andrea: [00:26:55] Okay. 

[00:26:55] Patrick: [00:26:55] a cheeseburger and 

[00:26:58] Andrea: [00:26:58] It's an excellent call back. 

[00:26:59] Patrick: [00:26:59] Thank [00:27:00] you. 

[00:27:00] Andrea: [00:27:00] But what did it teach you about the holidays? 

[00:27:02]Patrick: [00:27:02] well 

[00:27:03] I'm thinking about the conversation that early in the movie, when Kristen, masquerading as her boss, Melanie, and Prince Patrick are just like shooting the breeze about how charity is great.

[00:27:14] And, and Patrick says will, say, Melanie, what charities do you like? And she basically says, All charities are goods. what about you? And he says, yeah, they're all pretty great. My mom taught people how to read, 

[00:27:26] Andrea: [00:27:26] His mom threw a party. That's what she 

[00:27:29] did. She threw a party and then charged people to come to the party and then gave that money to other people to teach the children how to read. 

[00:27:38]Patrick: [00:27:38] that, this is the thing where I'm trying to land on this, is that like the greatest distillation of the Christmas spirit that you could come up with here at the end of this movie is throw a party so that some rich people will give you some money and then that'll go to 

[00:27:53] people who need it. 

[00:27:54] Andrea: [00:27:54] Correct. 

[00:27:55] The thing that is doubly frustrating,. it's just the, [00:28:00] like, Patent acceptance of. charity work as being fundamentally a good idea.  I can sort of get on board with like  a schmaltzy dumb, like fall in love story and not have to think about it real hard, but actually it is like difficult for me too. Find a story about a holiday fashion show in Deering,  five years ago, I probably would have been okay with it 15 years ago. I would've been totally fine with it. And like now I just can't. It's just not, it's not cute to me. It sucks. It's just. Breckenridge people Jack off party. 

[00:28:36]Patrick: [00:28:36] For the, holidays, a Christmas, a Christmas rich people, Jack off party.

[00:28:42]Andrea: [00:28:42] Christmas circle jerk. 

[00:28:44]Patrick: [00:28:44] okay. is this a good movie?

[00:28:45]Andrea: [00:28:45] no, it's not a good movie. But what's disappointing is that it started out really strong. I was super pumped at the beginning of this film and sort of a storybook, conceit for the framework [00:29:00] of it. and the acting started out strong. like the scenes that Kristin was in with Melanie, her boss was a good actress, no matter what that lady was good throughout the whole film, for sure. but like the scene she was in with her, she was really good. But then she didn't have as much chemistry with anybody else in the movie. I was like very impressed at first.  And then it hit that pacing problem again. this movie is under 90 minutes,. And the whole rest of the film, like after the first 10 minutes was a series of conversations, mostly between people other than the two love interests about how in love the love interests were. And that was exhausting after a while. What did you think? 

[00:29:38] Patrick: [00:29:38] I agree. It Uneven, I think is where I land on this too. 

[00:29:42] Okay. So Prince Patrick is like pretty normal. and like worldly and he suggests for a lunch. With Kristen that they get some sandwiches. He says, how about some sandwiches? And so they go for a picnic outside and she brings sandwiches, that are on rolls.

[00:29:59]instead of sliced [00:30:00] bread and he's blown away and he wants to know where she got this delicacy of a submarine sandwich, and then she brings out the eggnog latte and he's just just dives off the cliff in shock. He's just never had anything like it before. What was going on there?

[00:30:16] It was so strange. It was like just such a weird choice to be, to have the main character who's like otherwise a pretty normal dude, like a rich normal dude, to have never heard of sub sandwiches.

[00:30:28] Andrea: [00:30:28] Patrick. I have a question for you. Are you. All in on this universe, are you going to be, are you just gonna let skepticism and cynicism ruin your experience you gotta let it wash over you. Prince Patrick has never heard of a submarine sandwich, and that is the fact. 

[00:30:45]Also it's okay. It's Los Angeles. If there is a city in the United States that has a wider variety of like amazing and delicious food that some chapel fuck from a landlock European country [00:31:00] has never had it's LA right. so like they could have gotten a, anything. 

[00:31:06] Patrick: [00:31:06] Do you think they had something else in there? And then the hallmark execs were like, no, make it less interesting. Like sub sandwiches.

[00:31:12]Andrea: [00:31:12] I think you're right though.  It has to be submarine sandwiches because you're right. It can't be interesting. It's it's the thing where you know that hero and the heroine.  they can only have so much personality right before you, don't plug in yourself to their personality,  but you're right. Like anything else? Street tacos or ramen  or  even like fucking bolonaise or a chicken fried steak or something chicken fried steak actually could have been pretty funny. 

[00:31:43]There's gotta be a place in LA that serves chicken fried steak, like a Roadhouse. That would've been great. 

[00:31:49] a bad movie. That's all I need to 

[00:31:50] Patrick: [00:31:50] Sorry. 

[00:31:51] Andrea: [00:31:51] that.   I didn't enjoy it. What about you? 

[00:31:53]Patrick: [00:31:53] no, I will say I agree. It lost me. I liked the setup a lot. I liked meeting the characters and I was like excited for where [00:32:00] this was going to take me. and, and then after that, it really, crapped out   this is, I think, where I'm realizing where the rest of this podcast is going to go, is that it may just be a lot of movies like this, where. The first two, which I guess are higher budget. there are more, pretty pictures of castles and, like bigger set piece scenes  to like really engage you. And, and th these last couple were pretty rough. I mean, you're unlike soap, opera sets with, the lighting you can tell and the fewer extras and just all the things that, don't really draw you into the world. 

[00:32:34]Andrea: [00:32:34] Yeah. I mean, it really is. I think a budget issue.  which is funny because I kept thinking actually that. Or the princess switch and a Christmas Prince before I had watched these other two are, they felt low budget to me. And now I'm like, Oh no. Oh no, those were no expense spared. And these other two were like, somebody's making that on $20,000. and [00:33:00] really when you look at it from that perspective, They get a little better.  

[00:33:03] Patrick: [00:33:03] shall we pick a winner of these last two then?

[00:33:06] Andrea: [00:33:06] Yeah. Okay, we're going to type it into the zoom chat.

[00:33:09]Patrick: [00:33:09] I'm typing it in right now. Okay. 

[00:33:13] on three one, two, three?

[00:33:16] Andrea: [00:33:16] Correct Christmas in Royal fashion. 

[00:33:19] Patrick: [00:33:19] it's unanimous. Okay. coming out of this bracket here, we're going to have, the Christmas prints. Up against the Christmas in Royal fashion next time. 

[00:33:28] but first we get to treat ourselves to, 

[00:33:31] some time travel movies. 

[00:33:32]Andrea: [00:33:32] Yay. I'm excited about this bracket. I really excited about this bracket. 

[00:33:36] Yeah. So our time travel movies for the next episode are 12 dates of Christmas, spirit of Christmas that night before Christmas. That's where the silent K 

[00:33:48] Connect before Christmas is the way they said it in old English fun fact.

[00:33:53]

[00:33:53] so that wraps up the first episode of let it stream congratulations to a Christmas [00:34:00] Prince and Christmas in Royal fashion. we'll see. Y'all next time for a journey through time and Christmas.

[00:34:06]  Patrick: [00:34:10] And one last production note to share before we go like many made for TV films. This podcast is scored by a composer, Kevin McCloud, who makes his music available for free under creative comments. So our theme is Christmas rap by Kevin MacLeod. And you can find details in our show notes. Thanks for listening.