AOL Romance And Netflix Catfish Holiday Chaos

If your holiday watch list is packed with movies that barely mention Christmas, we’re right there with you and we’re ready to argue about it. Nathan is joined by Lexi and Mitch to judge two romantic comedies on two separate scales: how good they are as actual Christmas movies and how well they hold up as movies, period. Along the way, we throw in a spicy side debate about The Nightmare Before Christmas, because a perfect soundtrack and iconic style do not automatically equal a strong story.

First up is You’ve Got Mail, the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan classic that oozes 1990s internet nostalgia, AOL email, and pre social media vibes. We talk about why it still feels cozy, why the New York City setting and bookstore storyline hit emotionally, and why modern audiences might struggle with the “secret emails while dating other people” setup. Does it read like cheating now, even if it felt normal back then? And can a movie earn a spot on a Christmas list when the holiday shows up for only a moment?

Then we jump to Love Hard, the Netflix Christmas rom-com that surprised us with real laughs, a catfishing plot that doesn’t go where you expect, and a karaoke scene we still can’t stop thinking about. We also get into the “Baby It’s Cold Outside” moment and why it actually works for the characters instead of feeling like a forced statement.

Hit play, rate these movies with us, and tell us what counts as a Christmas movie in your house. If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a quick review so more couch critics can find us.

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Transcript

Holiday Cold Open And Introductions

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Couch critics, turn the holidays up, get the Goco Holiday Movies up from the naughty list to the nice one, two couch critics. Christmas, I'm wrapping films for you.

SPEAKER_03 0:12

Hello everyone, and welcome to a brand new episode of The Couch Critics. I'm your host, Nathan, and on today's episode, I'm joined with two of our couch critics. One has been on the show a couple times, so you might recognize her sultry voice. Hi, Lexi. Hello. And now someone who you may not even remember is on the show because they haven't been on the episode in a hot minute. He was supposed to be on last week's episode talking about the night before Christmas and actually gave him a shout out. And uh so here he is today. So Mitch, good to good to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Yeah, I don't teach don't teach high school theater, y'all.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

I teach I teach elementary theater.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Mitch Menon is with us, it was me as well. Yeah, that's crazy, Mitch.

Nightmare Before Christmas Hot Takes

SPEAKER_03 0:56

And it was funny because before we started, Mitch actually texted me and said that he's waiting for me to fire him from the couch critics. And if he hadn't shown up on this episode, I think this would have been the one, I may have strongly considered it. But he's here, so he's still part of the crew. And before we get started talking about the movies we're gonna talk about today, I did want to just quickly talk to Mitch about last week's episode. So we talked about the night before uh nightmare before Christmas. If you haven't listened to that episode, go back and listen to it. Mitch actually admitted before we started recording that he did not listen to the episode yet. So I have to know, just super quick, we won't take too long. Uh Lexi already let me know that she does not like the movie, which is not a surprise. She hardly likes any of the movies we talk about. So we won't dive into that much. Mitch, are you a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas?

SPEAKER_02 1:45

I'd say I'm a fan of it. I I think that it's I think nostalgia reigns with it. And the the soundtrack is incredible. You know, I mean the music is great, and aesthetically it's beautiful. It's so it's a triumph in what it is. It's a stop motion masterpiece when it comes to the artistic style of it. But if we're if we're basing it solely on its story, no, it's very weak. It's a very weak story. Um, a skeleton who lives in Halloween town who walks who for the first time ever walks down uh the woods and finds, you know, doors or trees with doors to other and then it's like, oh, we're gonna do Christmas instead. And there's really you can you can sense how quickly or how rushed they were to make the movie. I've watched a couple behind the scenes things on it, and they had to do it in a very small uh window to get it done. You can tell that it's rushed, that it's like, okay, no, we we we can't do this because you know, it seems like it was a good idea and then it wasn't, it could have been flushed out better. And I think that the reason why it's so popular now is because of the, you know, the Tim Burton look is, you know, that's evergreen. Even my students today love it. Um, but I think that the reason why it succeeds is because it's a holiday movie. I think if you take holiday out of it, it would fall by the wayside. I don't think it's as strong as if we're looking at other stop motion movies. I think Coraline's stronger. I think they're both kind of weird.

You’ve Got Mail And 90s Internet

SPEAKER_03 3:00

And uh I my my end of the episode take of on that movie, and again we'll move on to the other two we're talking about. But my my overall take on it is it the whole plot is a waste of time because it ends with Jack Skellington realizing that Halloween town shouldn't have Christmas because Santa Claus is in charge of Christmas, and so the end of the movie is Halloween Town stays Halloween town and Christmas Town stays Christmas Town, and then it snows. And Thomas was like, Well, they have the spirit of Christmas. I'm like, No, they don't, they don't have the spirit of Christmas. So, anyway, so that that that was my hot take on that movie. So let's move on to the two movies we're gonna be talking about today. Uh, one of which Mitch did not watch, which again makes me question his loyalty and dedication to the show because both of these movies that we're about to talk about are literally on the same streaming service. That's how I was able to knock them out so quickly. But you know what? He's here. So he again, he's still part of the crew. But Lexi, who's always been like so dedicated almost on every single episode I've asked her to come on, and she's just been rocking it as a couch critic, did watch both of these movies. But we're gonna start with the first one. So if you didn't listen to last week's episode, then you won't know what I'm talking about unless you follow us on our social medias, Facebook, Instagram, and the TikTok. Search the Couch Critics. Our first movie we're talking about is You've Got Mail, which stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. That's right, we're talking about another Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie. We already talked about Sleepless in Seattle, which we came to the conclusion. Uh, why was it on a Christmas list? Just because it's at the beginning of the movie, I guess it's Christmas Eve. That's the only reason. This is another one that barely mentions Christmas. There's one scene with Christmas in it, and so I guess Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan like to make movies that vaguely mention Christmas in their in in the movies. Um, I do like this movie. I'll start with that. I do like this movie. I didn't remember all of the plot when I started watching it again. So I wasn't sure if I was gonna get angry at this movie, like I did Sleepless in Seattle, and uh A Family Affair, which was another movie that we watched. I think it was called Family Affair. Something about an affair. And I didn't like that movie either. So I was very confused at first because at the start of this movie they're both in relationships and they've been secretly talking to each other via email. I didn't know how to feel about that, but as the movie went on, I was more okay with it. But I still I still don't know how I feel about how that that's how the movie starts, is that they were secretly talking to each other while they were both in relationships. So I don't know how well this movie has aged when it comes to that plot part of the movie. Uh so before we talk about even more, Lexi, have had you ever seen You've Got Mail before we talked that we were said we were gonna watch this.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Yes, I had it on VHS. This uh, so you got mail. Can I go on my spell now? Sure. So you got mail. Um, my mom, my mom, my dad collected VHS tapes. I still actually have the collection. It was green. I still have the tape collection, it's one of my favorite 90s movies that I remember watching. And when I went back and watched it, I still loved it as if I was watching it the first time. Um, to your point of the plot, I guess it never bothered me that they were both in relationships. Maybe I'm a horrible person, but I always look at it as they're in a group. You know how we first chat rooms wasn't my first thing, it was MySpace for me. And I remember just talking to everybody on MySpace that I could, and it didn't seem like a big deal. Yeah, now that she's saying they're both in relationships, I guess. Yeah, but they was like kind of destined to end up with each other, so I didn't care.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

Well, because it reminds me of again, sleep is in Seattle, or Meg Ryan's character is in a pretty good relationship with a really nice guy, and that's why that movie kind of wrote me the wrong way. Same with the uh I'm trying to remember the holiday affair, not family affair, holiday affair. That it was the same kind of movie. This lady who's in a really nice relationship with this guy randomly meets this other guy, and they have no chemistry whatsoever. And those those are the two that ended up together. If you ever seen Holiday Affairs, it's yeah, it's tough. But this movie, obviously, they have chemistry because it's Tom Hanks and Megarine. And again, as the movie goes on and you see these relationships dissolve, basically, you're kind of more okay with it. But yeah, the fact that they start out like that still makes me feel some kind of way. But it is Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. So that right there, you already know the chemistry is gonna be there because they've made a plethora of movies together. Mitch, had you ever seen You've Got Mail before we said we were gonna talk about it?

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Yep, I'm with Lexi. Watched it the year it came out. Um, I think we got the DVD of it. Um, my dad was uh in the it was 1999, I think it came out '98, right?

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Yes, it's it's very much a nineties movie because the the whole you've got mail AOL.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

I was eyes. I had no business watching it.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

But I did wow, thanks for making me feel old.

SPEAKER_02 7:43

Yeah, like unlike Lexi, although I uh Nate, I'm not sure if you were. I had an you know, I was on AIM, I had several different handles, uh, and was just part of the, you know, that that look before social media, that was that was that's what we did online. So I agree with you guys um that I think it it doesn't age well. At the time I'm with Lexi, it didn't bother me. And I also think it's because our perception of the internet now is different than it was then. It was such a new thing, and it didn't seem like as you know, the connection between like like chatting with someone online like that, like the Eve, the ePal thing, was was still a very new concept. I think it's taken on, obviously, it's taken on a different uh animal. It's a different animal entirely in today's world. So I think that I will say this. Uh, I showed it to Brooke. Um, I think I showed it to her during it was like one of the COVID movies. She had never seen it. I'm like, oh, you're gonna watch You Got Mail. And from the very, the very beginning of the movie, Nate, and like she she was like, wait, they're both in a relationship. I don't like that. And at the end of the movie, she's like, I still don't like it because of that. I was like, she it like it, it set her off on she was sour on the whole thing from from the very beginning, and she just detached herself from it from that point on. So I agree, I agree on that point. But on the other hand, let's uh talking about the good parts about this movie. The performances from Tom Hanks and Meg are fantastic. Uh Steve Zahn is great in this. Um, the kid actor, F-O-X. I uh well, what's called Gary Kneer? I mean, yeah, great, right. Oh, Greg, did I say Gary? Um, you know, his middle name is Buck, Greg Buck Kaneer. Yeah, um, that's a true fact, that true story. Um, he's great in it too. I love you know his obsession with his typewriters. Um, so I think that it's strong in Nora Efron. You know, it's just um he's usually good at, you know, she's she's like one of the queens of uh of rom-coms. And this one in that regard, um, I think the pacing of the movie's good. I think that their performances are great. I think it's a great shot of it's beautifully shot in uh the upper west side of New York. So it really it it does another another big name. Dave Chappelle's in this too. So it's uh I think if you if you can get past that first part, it's a great movie.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Yeah, I mean I go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

I guess I never looked at that. I think a lot of people don't like them being in a relationship because they look at it as cheating. It didn't feel like they were cheating to me, but I also viewed this movie from the timestamp that it's in. Well, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

Absolutely. So so here's here's my thing about that. So when we first watched this movie, like the first time you ever watched it, you don't you don't notice that, you know, you don't pick up on that. But in today's society with infidelity going crazy and people just doing whatever they want to do, you I I picked up on it right away that they were in a relationship. And I thought it was very sketchy at times because there would be moments where she would be typing on her laptop, and then Greg Conneer's character will come in and she like throws it and closes it like she has to like she's hiding something, and so you just pick up on those little things nowadays, and so that's why it just rubbed me the wrong way. And yeah, I mean, I can see Mitch, I can see how your wife just couldn't be like feel the romanticism of them ending up together because it's all based on them hiding their conversations from their significant others at the beginning of the movie. Yeah, um, that being said, Tom Hanks's significant other is very much annoying, and he breaks it off because she's annoying. And Meg Ryan's significant other, for the most part, for the majority of the movie, kind of reminds me of the holiday affair guy who was super nice, super supportive, but then ends up, I guess, kind of cheating, or you know, starts get being attracted to this TV personality person. So, I mean, I kind of they gave them an out, but they kind of did it really late in the movie.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Yeah, yeah, it's too late in the film.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

So I I it's it's weird because I I think of this movie and I think, man, I really did like this movie. My biggest thing is kind of goes to kind of the same thing with The Nightmare Before Christmas. I thought the soundtrack for this movie was great. I even own the soundtrack for You've Got Meal because I love the songs in it. You got Randy Newman sings a song in this movie. So I mean, you got that classic guy right there. So the songs are really good, and then just the storyline itself and the fact you know, we're talking about it while we're talking about Christmas movies, and so this movie really has nothing completely to do with Christmas except that one little moment where she talks about Christmas time and then it moves on. It's kind of like Sleepless in Seattle. So I say all that to say that sometimes you you love a movie when it first comes out, and then you watch it when you're older, wiser, you know, learn the ways of the world, and you just can't watch a movie the same way again. And it's kind of sad because you you like this movie when it first came out, but you just can't look at it the same. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's tough because there's such a Lexi's like, no, I still like it.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Because I like I said, I don't and I'm I just maybe because I do view it for the timestamp that it is, and I can take it out of like where we're at in today's society, because today's society, because social media is where it is, stuff like that is sketchy, but back then it was just more weird that she was talking to a random person that you didn't know. It wasn't like you're cheating, it was more like, Oh, that's kind of weird. You you're making a whole friendship with someone in Japan. My best friend lived in Japan, never met the person. It was my best friend, you couldn't convince me otherwise. So it was like, I think that's probably why.

Rating You’ve Got Mail As Christmas

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Well, I think we've shared all the feelings we can really share about this movie. So let's go ahead and rate it. So, Mitch, since this is the only of the two movies that you watch, I'll let you rate it first. Why would you rate it as a Christmas movie first?

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Um, I will say that yes, that there's a small part of it that's um that is Christmas where she talks about it. But the scene where they're singing the piano part, I think that that's a very um notable scene. Like we, my family and I we always sing the clarinet, the coes doy do lead that. Like that's something we associate with Christmas always. So I think because of that sticking power of that song, we never watch it at Christmas time, it's never on our list. I'd probably give it a two. And I actually I do give it a two in Christmas.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

That's pretty high. That's pretty high. So, what would you give it as a general rating, as a movie in general?

SPEAKER_02 13:37

As a general rating, I still think it's a very strong, uh, it's it's still a very strong rom-com. And quick, I'm gonna briefly talk about this. Um, the whole thing about Meg Ryan's character and her shop, her mom's shop, and how you know, not letting go of the shop because it's like the you know, the last piece of her mom, and like her her like coming to terms with her mother's death again as the store closes. I just think that that is it's it's such a powerful, impactful part of the movie. I think these are the reasons the performances and those those other storylines are what make the movie great. So I I still give it, I think I'm gonna give it a 7.5 out of out of five.

SPEAKER_03 14:11

You really haven't listened to this show in forever, Mitch. Has it been that long? We go up to five. We go up to five stars. Wow, I think I should fire you right on this episode.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Don't fire me, please. He said 7.5. Guys, I mean, I'm so sorry. You're indirecting. I'm so okay. Okay, no, we're just moving. We're just moving.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

Stop talking, stop talking, Mitch. You're just I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Oh my gosh. I thought you were gonna mention how this movie is a remake of Shop Around the Corner because the name of Meg Ryan's store is Shop Around the Corner. This is a remake of a classic film with Jimmy Stewart, I believe, where they write letters to each other, and that's kind of hinted at that some of the older characters uh did that when they were older. And I don't know if you noticed that Edith Bunker from All in the Family is in this movie. She plays the older lady character. So I thought that was awesome. So, Mitch, I am uh done with you, and so Lexi moving on.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

What would you I just wanna was you gonna give it a 3.5, Mitch?

SPEAKER_03 15:07

That's what you would call it, yes, uh 3.5, sure. Uh so Lexi, what would you give you've got mail for a Christmas movie?

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Oh, for a Christmas movie, I'm gonna give it a zero, maybe a one. Okay, come on now. You know, I'm harsh when it comes to Christmas movie. I mean, it mentions it and it dimensions it for like a split second. I didn't even remember it, and I watched it again, and I still don't remember talking about Christmas. Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

So, what would you give it for a general rating?

SPEAKER_01 15:29

A general rating is one of my favorites. I have to give it a 4.5. I love this movie. I've watched it before we even said we were gonna watch it. It's one of my favorites. That's pretty high.

Love Hard Catfish Meets Christmas

SPEAKER_03 15:39

So I would give you guy mail a 0.5 out of five for Christmas, just because it mentions Christmas for like a split second to literally 0.5% of the movie. And for a general rating, because of my rewatch, unfortunately, I'm not gonna give it as high as I probably would have if I remembered it when I first watched it. I'm gonna give you got mail a three out of five, which is still pretty good. It's not too low. That's not bad. It's not bad, but I don't think it's aged well and yeah, good times. So moving on to a movie that Mitch should have no opinion about because he didn't watch it. We're gonna be talking about Love Hard, which is another movie on Netflix. I would categorize this as somewhat of a Hallmark movie, a little bit. It you know, it it takes a little ingredients from Hallmark. Girl goes and does a story about finding not being able to find love on the love apps. And I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I actually liked it a lot more than I thought it was going to. I was very surprised how much I like it. And I thought it was I thought it was interesting, I thought it was unique. It didn't go in the direction that I thought it was going to. I'm glad it didn't. I I'm I'm very happy with how they ended the movie. I will say, saying that, and and Lexi is covering her mouth right now. So I don't know if that means if she's she's about to say something that I probably won't be surprised about her saying, or I don't know, I could be. So before I divulge too much more, I kind of want to know what Lexi thought of this movie now. Lexi, please tell me what you thought of this movie.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

I'll put covering my mouth because this is the second time I think we've ever agreed on a movie.

SPEAKER_03 17:11

You liked it too?

SPEAKER_01 17:12

I love Lovart.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

See, I really, I really did like this movie. So I'm I'm kind of I'm kind of trying not to do the whole synopsis stuff anymore because I thought I always thought that took a lot, a lot of time. But I will give a brief synopsis of this movie because again, it's a movie I've never seen before. So this movie, I don't know the actor's name, so I apologize if you're listening to this and you starred in this movie. So it stars this this girl, and again, she works she's from Vampire Diary.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Sorry. I've never watched that.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

You need to bread, dude. I'm gonna say that. I've I've never I've never watched it. So anyway, so she works for this, I guess, magazine or newspaper or something. And her whole spiel is that she always talks about her disastrous dates that she gets on these again dating apps. And so she starts talking to this guy on this app, and she sees his pictures, and it's like this rugged looking guy who likes the outdoors. And so they start talking to each other. I don't know how long they talk to each other, and then randomly he talks about how he wants her to come visit him for Christmas, just saying it. And she has the crazy idea to actually go and visit him for Christmas, like I think clear across the country. And she gets there and she finds out that she has been catfished by this Asian guy, and comedy ensues. But he actually used pictures of an actual guy who also live lives in town and says that he will try to uh hook her up with this guy. And I'm really glad I seriously thought first for a split second, I thought that she was gonna end up with the other guy. And I was like, that would have been really stupid. So I guess I'm gonna spoil this movie, but I also think you should watch it because I r I just think it was it's a cute movie. It kind of reminds it was like it had remnants again of a Hallmark movie, but it also had like remnants of the Ryan Reynolds and Anna Ferris just friends. It kind of had that feel to it too, because it wasn't like cutesy, innocent Hallmark all the way through because it did have some language in it and things like that. But I will say, and I'm not gonna spoil this part, the karaoke scene. I seriously cracked up laughing. I I was not expecting what they did with that. Like, see, I don't know if you remember that scene.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

See, it's cold outside.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

No, no, not that part, not that part. The one where she's trying to attract the the other guy.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Oh, yeah, that's hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

I was not expecting what they did, so I would I I'm not gonna spoil it. I thought it was hilarious. So, yeah, I just thought this was a really fun movie. There's nothing really else I can say about it. I there's not really anything, but going back to what I said at the beginning, as much as I wanted her to end up with the guy that she ends up with, part of me like it felt kind of forced at the point in the movie where it finally happened. And I know that's not like it to me, they didn't really drop enough hints that it was gonna happen, even though I'm glad it did. And but then when it happened, I was like, I don't know how I feel about it. I'm glad it happened, but it still feels kind of weird at the same time. If that makes sense. What did you think of the ending of this movie?

SPEAKER_01 19:59

I like the ending, I'm all for an underdog type story, um, which is funny because I hated just friends, so you can't remember that. But I enjoyed this movie, it was funny, it was cute. Um, I think his name is Jimmy, he's one of my favorites in Crazy Rich Asians because I love that movie as well. So I was excited to see him in a movie, him actually being the lead guy. Um, the only thing I'm surprised you actually were okay with the baby is cold outside scene because they switched the lead.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

See, see, I understand, I understand why you thought I wouldn't like it, but the way they did it, I thought it was cute because I I know how some people feel about that song in today's society. They don't like it, they think it's very old-fashioned, it hasn't aged well, whatever. I don't care. But and so the female character in this movie, she strongly dislikes this song, which I'm like, okay, whatever. Some people do, but what they that one scene that you're talking about, which I think is the scene you thought I was talking about before. I thought it was cute. I I didn't care, and it fit the character and it fit the moment, and I thought it just fit really well in the movie, so it didn't bother me as much as like some other movies that do like what I call check the box moments kind of stuff. To me, it didn't really feel like a check the box moment. I thought it was cute, I I thought it fit, though I wasn't that upset about it. I I thought it was funny that the that one of the people from the the show Glee was in it, and he plays his older brother, and it was just really it was just a fun movie. Like I really just was very surprised that I liked it as much as I did. So, Mitch, um I haven't watched this movie. So, based on what me and Lexi have said, does this sound like a movie that you want to watch now? Absolutely. I think you would like I really do knowing you, yes, and uh knowing your personality, I think you would like a lot of it.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yeah, remember that you like just for instance and you're like bad.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

It it does, it does have the feel of it at times, it really does. Now, is it necessarily this is where I get kind of it's one of those movies where if you took Christmas out of it, could you still have the same movie? And I would say yes. I would say yes, like you could say, Oh, it's fourth of July, I wish you were here, it was so we could spend Fourth of July and see fire watch fireworks together. It's kind of like just friends. Like if you took Christmas out of Just Friends, you could still have the movie Just Friends.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

You really could. I only am on the fence with it because of the scene we just talked about. It only because so much on her disliking it, and that's why he took the approach that he did. That's the only way. Yeah, and that is kind of like the moment where you can kind of feel like she's starting to like him because she's like kind of late in the movie, but that's how she realized, like, oh, you paid attention to me that much that she was willing to change lyrics to a side.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

So okay. I can I can understand why like the the theme of Christmas is is integral to that really important scene. So I guess, I guess, yeah, I would probably lean more that you need Christmas for this movie than you do, just friends. So let's go ahead and rate it then. I think we've talked about it. There wasn't really anything negative I thought about it. Lexi, was there anything negative you could think of?

SPEAKER_01 22:55

No, I actually no. It it wasn't a typical Netflix Christmas movie, and I enjoyed it.

Love Hard Ratings And Big Laughs

SPEAKER_03 23:00

Yeah, I mean it did have like a little bit of a checkbox moment with one of the herbs, but they didn't go crazy with it. They just mentioned it and I was like, okay, moving on. So let's go ahead and rate this thing. What would you rate Love Hard as a Christmas movie, Lexi?

SPEAKER_01 23:14

As a Christmas movie, it's a solid four for me. Okay, yeah. And as a general, as a general, I think I still give it a four, four and a half. I actually enjoy this movie really much. It makes me laugh, though.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

Yeah, I don't think I've I don't think I've cracked up at a movie in a while. And that that one karaoke scene really, I seriously was like cracking up laughing almost the entire scene. So I would give Love Hard a 3.5 out of five for Christmas because you convinced me to not rate it lower because of that one scene. And for general, I can see myself watching it again. Maybe, maybe. So I would give it a four out of five for general rating. So again, it's one of those movies where I wasn't sure what it was gonna be about. I was kind of hesitant, I was kind of worried, and I was pleasantly surprised. So it's one of those few movies on this entire list that I've never seen before, and I'm glad I watched it. So, Mitch, you need to go watch it as soon as you can.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

And Texas, let us know how you feel about it.

Next Week Picks And Listener Links

SPEAKER_03 24:03

Yes, please. Absolutely. So next Sunday, we're continuing. I we're kind of almost done with this Christmas list. It's crazy. And I and I did skip some, which whatever. But we're gonna be watching two Christmas movies. One is another one I hadn't seen before called The Princess Switch, which I believe is on Netflix, and Jingle All the Way, the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic that I cannot wait to rewatch. Oh, I'm watching, I'm on this I am this episode. I cannot wait. So we're gonna be talking about those two movies leading up to our March. Actually, there have been two March cinema Sundays. The beginning of this month was Scream 7, and on the 29th, I'll be talking about hoppers. So that's coming up soon. So come join us, follow us on our social media, send us some fan mail, click that, send us the text link in the show notes. Part become part of the conversation on the couch critics, where every movie gets its close up.