Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Two things that help make the holidays special are movies and songs. What are the best ones? What about the worst? And find out the most overrated Christmas movie of all time.
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Two things that help make the holidays special are movies and songs. What are the best ones? What about the worst? And find out the most overrated Christmas movie of all time.
1. Topics
2. Additional Resources
3. Merchandise/Support the Show
4. Contact Us/Follow Us/Rate/Subscribe
New episodes every week!
Listen, rate, follow, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!
Follow us:
5. Credits
[00:00:00] Jeff: This week, Merry Christmas everybody, and welcome to Subpar Talks.
Hey everybody, welcome to Subpar Talks, where we have conversations about everything. I'm Jeff.
[00:00:35] Chris: And I'm Chris.
[00:00:36] Jeff: Thank you so much for joining us for this special Christmas episode. Merry Christmas to everybody out there, if you celebrate it. Even if you don't, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, whatever you're celebrating. Thank you again for joining us. And you know what's coming, our standard disclaimer, listener discretion advised. This podcast tends to have some profanity in it, and sometimes we will touch on some mature subject matter. And the thing is, we inject our humor into all of this kind of stuff. So if that doesn't set well with you, maybe this is not your type of podcast, and we like to give that warning before we get going.
[00:01:17] Chris: And what's better than profanity at Christmas?
[00:01:20] Jeff: Absolutely. Just drop some F bombs. Uh, Merry Fucking Christmas. There you go. All right, let's get into our Christmas themed episode this week.
And first, we are talking about Christmas movies. Movies is always one of my favorite parts of the whole holiday season. And I'm sure we all have our favorites. I know I do. Chris, I know you have your favorites. So let's talk about some Christmas movies. Could you nail down your absolute favorite Christmas movie, or is that too hard to do?
[00:02:03] Chris: Absolute favorite, I think I'd probably have to go with a classic, and that would be It's A Wonderful Life.
[00:02:10] Jeff: OK.
[00:02:11] Chris: There's so many others that I like. Many of them are more current than that, but that one just stands out to me. Uh, and I've even heard some people talk about, not so much considering it a Christmas movie because half of the movie is not during Christmas. But the second half of the movie all takes place on Christmas Eve, really. And just seems very much a Christmas movie to me.
[00:02:43] Jeff: I've seen It's A Wonderful Life all of one time.
[00:02:48] Chris: Oh my goodness.
[00:02:52] Jeff: Do we have to drop everything and go see it right now?
[00:02:54] Chris: Just about, yeah. I do really like James Stewart, Jimmy Stewart.
[00:03:00] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:03:01] Chris: I really like him. So his, his style I always liked, so that adds to it also.
[00:03:08] Jeff: And maybe this plays a role in me seeing it only once, but I tend to have a bias against black and white movies. I know that's bad. Are you the same way?
[00:03:20] Chris: So it definitely depends on what it is. I saw that first in black and white and just happened to like the movie.
[00:03:31] Jeff: Yeah, there's a colorized version, right?
[00:03:33] Chris: Yes. Then I saw the colorized version after that. I wasn't happy with it. Like, this isn't real. So yeah, I mean there, there can definitely be black and white movies where I go, oh, how good is this going to be?
[00:03:48] Jeff: Right.
[00:03:50] Chris: Just because I think we've kind of perfected the art of movie making in general. But that's one of those that the black and white doesn't put me off. And then even seeing it colorized, like that's not even OK to colorize a black and white movie.
[00:04:06] Jeff: OK, so we've talked about this in the past, that actors in movies a long time ago, they learned their craft largely in, in the theater, on the stage, and so the way they talk is very weird. It's kind of strange.
[00:04:27] Chris: Yes.
[00:04:28] Jeff: Does, does It's A Wonderful Life have that element? Cuz that personally drives me a little crazy.
[00:04:34] Chris: So that is interesting. I don't feel like it does as much as some other movies.
[00:04:38] Jeff: OK.
[00:04:40] Chris: I don't know if that's because I'm used to it, so I don't think about it that much. But yeah, when we've talked about it, it's almost as though in some of those older movies they are playing, it's like they're playing to a live audience, like in theater, and projecting as they would to an audience, looking for reaction, things like that, as opposed to being in their own space and like the camera is just kind of observing them.
[00:05:08] Jeff: Right.
[00:05:09] Chris: It's probably a cross between those. I, I don't think it's as blatant as some others, but I'm sure some of it's there.
[00:05:16] Jeff: That's not just us talking by the way, because I've read that now actors are supposed to, I mean, I guess it depends a a lot on the role, but just talk how people talk. Like, don't try to be a stage actor on film. Just talk how people talk. And I've read that Marlon Brando was the first one to do that on screen, and I don't remember what particular movie that was, but it was a big deal how he kind of stood out in the crowd among everybody else who was trying to, you know, still be a stage actor.
[00:05:50] Chris: Really? I hadn't heard that.
[00:05:53] Jeff: If I had to nail down my favorite, it would be Christmas Vacation.
[00:05:59] Chris: Oh, OK.
[00:06:00] Jeff: Also a classic, but not 80 years old or whatever.
[00:06:05] Chris: Yeah.
[00:06:05] Jeff: When is It's A Wonderful Life?
[00:06:07] Chris: It's, um, 1946. So almost 80. Yeah.
[00:06:11] Jeff: Yeah. So, wow. OK. Yeah. Christmas Vacation. Um, you like it, right?
[00:06:19] Chris: I do like it, but I like it as a novelty. I mean, it's a funny slapstick, that kind of thing. So I like it for that. I, when I typically think of Christmas movies, I tend to think of the ones that are more about the Christmas...
[00:06:41] Jeff: The spirit of the season. Yeah.
[00:06:43] Chris: Yeah. The more, the more traditional kind of thing.
[00:06:45] Jeff: OK. Yeah.
[00:06:47] Chris: But I did put that on a list for one that I like, but, but kind of put it in a different category.
[00:06:54] Jeff: Such a good movie. So my wife and I have this argument, she actually liked Christmas Vacation better than the original Vacation from 1983. And I, I'm split. I mean, I, I really like 'em both. Those are two of my favorite movies. But they take so much from the first one that was successful and they put it into Christmas Vacation, so it's not original in that way, a lot of it. Like they bring Cousin Eddie back, right? He hadn't been in, in European Vacation. And then there's uh, the dog and, and all that. It's just that whole element is in Christmas Vacation. But man, it's such a good movie.
[00:07:32] Chris: There are some really great parts in there.
[00:07:34] Jeff: There are. Do you know, have you heard or read anything about Chevy Chase?
[00:07:41] Chris: That he's not the nicest person.
[00:07:43] Jeff: Right. OK. That's what I was, I was getting at, yeah.
[00:07:47] Chris: Yeah.
[00:07:47] Jeff: I have heard and, and read, many times actually, that he is just a complete asshole to people.
[00:07:55] Chris: Yeah. I heard that about him on Saturday Night Live. I also heard, this was much more recent. There was a show, and I just learned about it a little while back when it's been on Netflix, but it's called Community.
[00:08:12] Jeff: Yes.
[00:08:12] Chris: And it was about these students in a community college and anyway, he was one of the students there. I watched a little bit of it, but I think he got fired from that because of his attitude.
[00:08:26] Jeff: Yeah, sounds about right. Yeah, and there's a famous encounter with him and Bill Murray before Saturday Night Live once. Chevy Chase had already left the show, but he was coming back to host, and right before he went on to do the monologue, he and Bill Murray, like, duked it out, like they swung at each other. I guess they made up, I don't know, because they did Caddy Shack after that. I think Caddy Shack is 1980 or '81, but I don't know. I've just heard from so many people he's not the nicest person.
[00:09:00] Chris: Maybe anything for money.
[00:09:03] Jeff: True. Yeah.
[00:09:04] Chris: I wonder about Bill Murray too, like what's he like?
[00:09:09] Jeff: I, I wonder that too. I know people love him. Uh, Bill Murray this, Bill Murray that. But I, I can also see how he could be an asshole too.
[00:09:17] Chris: I bet he could be an ass, yeah.
[00:09:19] Jeff: Yeah. And isn't that weird, like, we have these actors who we wanna, like, we associate them with the roles that they're in, and so you're kind of hoping they are gonna be something like that. And a lot of times they're like the polar opposite of what you get on screen.
[00:09:36] Chris: Yeah, for sure. I've been very disappointed in some actors and actresses. Yeah, you exactly, you, you personify them as whatever the character is that you identify with and then holy shit, that is not who you are.
[00:09:54] Jeff: And then Cousin Eddie, what do you know about Randy Quaid? Have you heard about all his things going on, the mess that his life has become?
[00:10:04] Chris: Nothing that I can really recall, but I, I just know there's some shit going on there.
[00:10:11] Jeff: I had to look up exactly what had happened because I would see this just occasionally on social media, and something happened with Randy Quaid, and he'd be recording a video and post it, and he is rambling about, God knows what. Seems like he's kind of gone off the rails. He and his wife, it seems like they've been in a, a, a lot of this in on it together. They were both arrested for fraud, something about a credit card bill at a hotel. Uh, they've been arrested for burglary.
[00:10:46] Chris: Oh, wow.
[00:10:47] Jeff: And then they went up to Canada and they didn't report after a certain amount of time as immigrants, so they got deported from Canada and shipped back to the US.
[00:10:59] Chris: Illegal immigrants in Canada.
[00:11:02] Jeff: I know it. Stupid Americans invading Canada. Uh, and he is also an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump. He, he posts on Twitter about the election fraud, you know, and all that nonsense. So...
[00:11:16] Chris: Oh, I didn't know that. Well, he's gotta be a real outlier in Hollywood then.
[00:11:21] Jeff: I would think so. I don't even know how much he has to do with Hollywood anymore. Like, I don't even know what the last thing he acted in. OK. What are some other of your favorites? So that, if you had to nail down, It's A Wonderful Life is your favorite, what are some others you like?
[00:11:36] Chris: So this is another one that's more, I, I'm gonna say it's a classic because it's a classic story. It's much newer than that, but A Christmas Carol. And the one that I will typically watch, and obviously that one's been redone in every way.
[00:11:54] Jeff: Can I stop you right there?
[00:11:56] Chris: Yeah.
[00:11:57] Jeff: I've never seen that movie.
[00:11:59] Chris: OK. I knew that's what was coming.
[00:12:01] Jeff: I don't even know what it is.
[00:12:03] Chris: Did you ever read it?
[00:12:05] Jeff: No.
[00:12:06] Chris: It's Charles Dickens.
[00:12:07] Jeff: Oh, is this Scrooge and then all that?
[00:12:09] Chris: Yes. Yes.
[00:12:10] Jeff: OK. Well, OK. I know the gist of the story then.
[00:12:13] Chris: OK. Yeah.
[00:12:14] Jeff: I didn't remember that that was what it was called, but OK.
[00:12:16] Chris: So I remember, I was in like eighth grade I think, and the church group went to see a production of A Christmas Carol, and that may have been my first introduction to it, and I was just fascinated by it. But part of it that was fascinating to me was it's kind of a time travel-ish, like the, the ghosts of, you know, Christmas are taking him back and, and forward. And so I like that aspect, kind of seeing the, the different perspectives in that way, but I mean, the lessons that come from it and all of that. So I, I just got really fascinated by that. And then I ended up reading the book, which that was a huge thing for me, because...
[00:13:02] Jeff: Well OK.
[00:13:02] Chris: I just voluntarily read a book in eighth grade. .
[00:13:06] Jeff: You asked me a while ago if I read it. Surely you jest.
[00:13:10] Chris: I know.
[00:13:11] Jeff: The only Dickens book that I was supposed to read in school was A Tale of Two Cities, and that didn't happen. So I wasn't just gonna pick one up and read it.
[00:13:21] Chris: Well, and for some reason, I found, I found this book easy to read. Maybe it was just what the story was. I honestly don't remember that the language in it was difficult.
[00:13:33] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:13:34] Chris: Like you might think of some other 1800s language. But anyway, yeah, I liked it. But I have a version of A Christmas Carol, it's from 1984, has George C. Scott playing Scrooge.
[00:13:48] Jeff: OK.
[00:13:49] Chris: And it is said to be known as one of the best productions of it. And so I just never looked for other versions. And then, you know, there's all kinds of cartoon versions, stuff like that. But this is a very pure telling of the story, but I think it was a great job in doing it.
[00:14:14] Jeff: So I think your list is um, already a little bit more sophisticated than mine.
[00:14:21] Chris: Well, mine changes after this. Those just happen to be two, like, older, what I would call classics. I mean, It's A Wonderful Life, undoubtedly a classic, whether people like it or not. Same thing with A Christmas Carol. My others get much more current and pop culture-ish.
[00:14:39] Jeff: How about Love Actually? Do you like Love Actually?
[00:14:41] Chris: That's one of the next ones on my list. Absolutely. That's a great movie.
[00:14:46] Jeff: Definitely one of my favorites, not just Christmas movie. It's one of my favorite movies.
[00:14:52] Chris: Yes.
[00:14:52] Jeff: And uh, man, I love how the, there's different stories in it, right? But they're all, at least some of the characters intertwine, uh, in the different stories. And it's, it's good. It's got Christmasy stuff in it, but it's also funny. It's got really funny parts in it. Just...
[00:15:13] Chris: It does.
[00:15:14] Jeff: Lines that my wife and I just quote, even when it's not Christmas time. We just, you know, say something from it. It's, yeah, really good.
[00:15:21] Chris: Yeah, I really love that movie. So given time, the ones that I put on the list, I will just about always find an opportunity to watch them. And that's one of them. Like I said, if I've got the time, then that's, that one's gonna be on the list for sure.
[00:15:40] Jeff: You can't go wrong with a movie that has Keira Knightley in it.
[00:15:44] Chris: No, you cannot. Man, she was young.
[00:15:49] Jeff: OK. Yeah, that movie, that movie's 2003 and I think she was like 18 or 19 in that movie, so...
[00:15:57] Chris: Maybe barely 20 and, and maybe not.
[00:16:00] Jeff: Doesn't that make me feel old.
[00:16:01] Chris: Well see, that's crazy. That's just one of those other things that I can't think of much of anything with her that's more current. So I feel like that's the way I always picture her is from that movie.
[00:16:15] Jeff: Yeah, that's true. I don't know what she looks like now. All right. What else you got?
[00:16:21] Chris: Um, The Family Man.
[00:16:23] Jeff: Oh, yes. OK. That's on my list too.
[00:16:26] Chris: Love The Family Man. That is so great in so many ways. So, talking about It's A Wonderful Life, I mean, that movie is a takeoff on it, but I think it's a great recreation of its own story. It's, it's a similar concept, you know, what would life have been like in this other way? But it, it's so great with all of the characters and, I love it.
[00:16:53] Jeff: It is, it's kind, I think of it as the opposite of It's A Wonderful Life. In It's A Wonderful Life, he gets a glimpse of what his life is not like and it's bad, right? He hates it. So he's becomes thankful for the life that he does have. And in The Family Man, it's the exact opposite. He sees this parallel universe that he really loves, but he can't have it. And, but it's so good, yeah.
[00:17:19] Chris: The best thing about The Family Man, well, I'm kidding, not the best thing, but it's great, is that, he actually ends up in the situation where he still has all his money. So...
[00:17:33] Jeff: I've thought about that too.
[00:17:34] Chris: It's like he's got his money and now he is got the chance at the girl
[00:17:39] Jeff: Yes, I know it. I've thought about that very thing, like, well, he's loaded still, so...
[00:17:45] Chris: Yeah.
[00:17:45] Jeff: Time to make something of it. Right. And so I guess we're um,. I don't know if this is pulling back the curtain or not, but to let our listeners know, the title of our podcast we got from The Family Man. Because when Nicholas Cage, uh, what's his, Jack is the character, when he goes back to or goes to this parallel universe where he's not loaded with money and he is just this middle class, you know, guy just trying to eek out a living.
[00:18:18] Chris: Barely hanging on.
[00:18:19] Jeff: Barely hanging on, and he looks in the closet for the first time and sees the wardrobe and he says, oh, this is just subpar. . Such a great line.
[00:18:31] Chris: And we've talked about that so many times and knew that had to get factored in here.
[00:18:36] Jeff: Yep. There you go. And when he takes a drink at work.
[00:18:40] Chris: Yes.
[00:18:40] Jeff: Yeah. You must have needed this every day. OK. Um, The Family Man, that was on my list. How do you feel about Home Alone? You like Home Alone?
[00:18:53] Chris: I'm not a big fan. No. I would just say I'm not a big fan. Like somebody else wants to watch it, I can sit through it, but I never choose to watch it.
[00:19:02] Jeff: OK, so it's one you tolerate?
[00:19:05] Chris: Yes.
[00:19:06] Jeff: Yeah. I, I think, um, I didn't really rediscover Home Alone until just a few years ago when my kids wanted to see it, and I had not seen it since I saw it in the theater back in, I think that movie's 1990. And I saw it in the theater, and this was, I was a teenager, so I was like, oh, you know, I had that teenager attitude like, oh, this is stupid, this little kid or whatever. So I think that kind of turned me off of the whole thing.
[00:19:35] Chris: Right.
[00:19:36] Jeff: But since I've seen it, you know, in the past few years, yeah, it's a good movie. I don't put it on the same level as the, the other ones that I've just mentioned, but...
[00:19:45] Chris: I mean, it, it ultimately, obviously has a good story to it, like with the old man and stuff like that, the neighbor, but...
[00:19:53] Jeff: The old man caused George to cry, remember? In...
[00:19:59] Chris: What happened?
[00:20:01] Jeff: He wanted, remember George wanted to, he wanted to watch Home Alone in Jerry's apartment cause he felt like he was doing something if he's watching it there. And then they come home early and he's crying. He said, the old man got to me.
[00:20:19] Chris: That's right. I forgot about that.
[00:20:22] Jeff: That's the triangle episode.
[00:20:24] Chris: Was it? When he bought the triangles?
[00:20:27] Jeff: Yeah. I do this with my wife. I don't know if I'm gonna edit this out or not, but so many times I'll ask her, so ...where are we going for our big dinner on Friday? That's what the guy says to Elaine.
[00:20:46] Chris: Yep.
[00:20:46] Jeff: Stuffing his face with spaghetti .
[00:20:50] Chris: Aren't we going to the Poconos ?
[00:20:53] Jeff: Oh, that's The Junior Mint episode. That's the...
[00:20:57] Chris: Oh it is. With Mulva.
[00:20:59] Jeff: Wow. So all that's together. Mulva, The Junior Mint, the triangle. God, there's a lot going on.
[00:21:06] Chris: It is a lot going on.
[00:21:08] Jeff: OK. How do you feel about Bad Santa? You like Bad Santa?
[00:21:13] Chris: I like it, yeah. And I, I put that on my list, but it's one that kind of falls in that other category. Like, the others we've talked about, those are the ones that I said. I would make time to watch them. Bad Santa is one that I would watch if I see it on, but I'm gonna make it through the Christmas season if I don't see it. But it's great. It's hilarious.
[00:21:36] Jeff: It is so good. And man, I some of the lines that Billy Bob Thornton gives are just so great. Uh, like perfectly timed curse words. Just, he nails it. And I wish now that I had appreciated John Ritter for some of the stuff that he was in. I really didn't even watch anything John Ritter was in. I wasn't allowed to watch Three's Company when that was on.
[00:22:06] Chris: I wasn't either.
[00:22:07] Jeff: Yeah. So I never really watched anything that he was in, but he is so good in that. And if you haven't, to all our listeners, uh, go to YouTube. You could probably find these on YouTube. The outtakes from Bad Santa and some of the stuff John Ritter does in that is just top-notch.
[00:22:29] Chris: I don't think I've seen that. That's cool.
[00:22:32] Jeff: I only know they exist cuz we had the DVD. I guess we still have it, but we don't watch DVDs. But it was at the end of those. But I'm assuming somebody's uploaded those to YouTube and yeah, it's great. All right. What else do you have on your list?
[00:22:46] Chris: So in that vein of those kinds of movies, Elf. I'll just put this out, out there right now, I am not a Will Ferrell fan, generally.
[00:23:00] Jeff: I'm not either.
[00:23:01] Chris: Just not. He, he's a weird dude and I don't feel like I get his comedy a lot. But, that movie, it's, it's funny. It's got a good message too, and I mean, it's a good lighthearted, but I can go along with that comedy. It fits for me.
[00:23:24] Jeff: To me, that's one of those movies, I'll, I'll tolerate it like, uh, but I'm not gonna just seek it out to watch it before Christmas. Is Bob Newhart still alive?
[00:23:35] Chris: Yes.
[00:23:37] Jeff: My God.
[00:23:38] Chris: I know.
[00:23:38] Jeff: How old is he?
[00:23:40] Chris: He's up in his nineties for sure.
[00:23:43] Jeff: Wow.
[00:23:44] Chris: I say up in his nineties. I know he's over 90.
[00:23:48] Jeff: Yeah. Uh, James Caan's in that too. He died not too long ago.
[00:23:52] Chris: He just died. Yeah.
[00:23:55] Jeff: So you're looking up Bob Newhart's age. Let me guess. I'm gonna say he is like 90, 92.
[00:24:00] Chris: OK. Born in 1929, so he is 93. Just turned 93.
[00:24:08] Jeff: If he's already had a birthday. Yeah. 93.
[00:24:10] Chris: Yeah. September, just turned 93.
[00:24:13] Jeff: Wow. Funny guy.
[00:24:16] Chris: Yeah, he is.
[00:24:17] Jeff: Bob Newhart's a funny guy.
[00:24:21] Chris: So I didn't know when I was watching Mad M en, they talked, and this was one of the very early episodes of Mad Men, because it was supposed to be like 1960, and they were talking about listening, well they were, they were listening in one of their offices, they were listening to a Bob Newhart record, and they were talking about this new comic.
[00:24:46] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:24:47] Chris: And I had no idea that he was around in 1960. I barely remember The Bob Newhart Show being on in the mid- to late-70s. I since rewatched it as an adult when it was on like Nick At Night. But yeah, I had no idea that he was doing stuff back then.
[00:25:10] Jeff: In the first season of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, remember her husband was doing a standup and it turns out he ripped it from the Bob Newhart record.
[00:25:23] Chris: Yeah. And that's supposed to be early sixties, right?
[00:25:26] Jeff: '61, '62, something like that. Yeah.
[00:25:29] Chris: Yeah. So right about the same.
[00:25:31] Jeff: And then, yeah, The Bob Newhart Show. I just, I've seen that in reruns. I don't remember when it was on the air, but good show.
[00:25:38] Chris: Yeah.
[00:25:40] Jeff: Do you like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the original, the cartoon?
[00:25:46] Chris: I don't really remember much about the cartoon. I mean, I know I've seen it and I kind of know the story. I say kind of know it. That's because I don't feel like I've just had that much exposure to it.
[00:25:59] Jeff: That's one of my favorites. I like to watch that every Christmas season.
[00:26:05] Chris: And what about the Jim Carey one, do you like it?
[00:26:08] Jeff: OK, that's what I was gonna say. They've remade, they've done, I don't know how many Grinch movies now. I know the Jim Carey one, and I saw that in the theater and I didn't like it. And then I think they've done, I know they've done at least one other, but there might be more. But I have no interest in seeing those just because I know they're not gonna top the one from 19-, what, I think it's '66?
[00:26:32] Chris: Yeah.
[00:26:33] Jeff: So those are my favorites. Christmas Vacation, Love Actually, Bad Santa, The Family Man, Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the original cartoon from the sixties. You have anything else on your favorites list?
[00:26:51] Chris: Well, a couple. Yeah. And, and these are both good, kind of in the, in the same, uh, genre, I guess. One is The Holiday. It has Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, and Jude Law.
[00:27:10] Jeff: Oh yeah, OK. See, I haven't seen it enough. I think I've seen the whole thing just once through, I mean, just all the way through once.
[00:27:17] Chris: That's a really good holiday movie, I think.
[00:27:20] Jeff: Yeah. Do you like Jack Black? Generally?
[00:27:24] Chris: I haven't seen a whole lot with him. I remember I saw Nacho Libre and I was crazy drunk when I saw it, so I don't really even remember enough. I just, I felt like it was just kind of a silly movie. But, what was that one that he was in? Bernie.
[00:27:44] Jeff: Bernie's great.
[00:27:45] Chris: He was really good in that.
[00:27:47] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:27:48] Chris: And he is really good in this one, The Holiday. I'm trying to think if I saw him in something else. But yeah, I, I can like him depending on what it is.
[00:27:58] Jeff: Uh, do you like School of Rock? Have you seen that?
[00:28:01] Chris: I have not.
[00:28:02] Jeff: OK. He was really good in that. But Bernie, uh, he should, I don't, maybe he did, he should have won an award for his performance in Bernie. Cause it was impeccable. Yeah.
[00:28:12] Chris: It was great. Yeah. The only other one I put on here, and I think this is a good one, it would, I haven't seen it in a while. I, I might really like it better than I think cuz it is a, a really good movie is The Family Stone.
[00:28:25] Jeff: I haven't seen that.
[00:28:27] Chris: It's, it's, well, you should definitely see it. It's very worthy of seeing. It's, uh, Craig T. Nelson and Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rachel McAdams.
[00:28:43] Jeff: Wait, Rachel McAdams. Do I know who that is?
[00:28:46] Chris: Um, The Notebook. Never seen it. That's probably the biggest, one of the biggest famous movies she was in. She's In Mean Girls. I never saw that.
[00:28:57] Jeff: Oh, I saw Mean Girls, but I, I don't remember.
[00:29:00] Chris: OK. Claire Danes was in it, also. Luke Wilson. I don't remember if I said him. Anyway, it's a great movie and, and the whole thing is about all of those people coming home. Craig T. Nelson, Diane Keaton are the parents. All of them and their significant others or spouse, whatever, coming home for Christmas and spending that time together. But it, it's, it's a good one.
[00:29:29] Jeff: So, I think you probably did this too, but when I listed my favorite movies, I was curious what IMDb had to say about the whole thing, and to see if my list lined up nicely with the top Christmas movies on IMDb. And no, and I think...
[00:29:50] Chris: Not even close.
[00:29:53] Jeff: Lost a little faith in humanity, what little I had left.
[00:29:56] Chris: Right?
[00:29:57] Jeff: Because, OK.
[00:29:59] Chris: I don't know what the hell they're thinking.
[00:30:01] Jeff: I know. The top 10 Christmas movies according to IMDb rating: number 10 is some movie called The House Without a Christmas Tree. It's a made for TV movie from 1972. How can that be the 10th best Christmas movie? It's a made for TV movie. It's like going straight to video.
[00:30:25] Chris: Yeah, right? And if we've never heard of it, how good can it be?
[00:30:31] Jeff: I know. And then number nine, some Japanese animation, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Jesus Christ.
[00:30:43] Chris: No.
[00:30:46] Jeff: Number eight, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, from 1964. So, I've seen that.
[00:30:52] Chris: OK. Yeah.
[00:30:53] Jeff: Wouldn't call it one of the top 10 best movies, but...
[00:30:58] Chris: No.
[00:30:59] Jeff: Then a movie from 1940. I'm just gonna start snoring right now. The Shop Around The Corner. Never heard of it.
[00:31:09] Chris: So, um, You've Got Mail, you know that? It was essentially a remake of that. Although, and, and I saw, so I saw The Shop Around The Corner on the list. I also saw You've Got Mail on the list and the, see, the weird thing about that is there is just, at least in You've Got Mail, there's only a small section of the movie that has anything to do with Christmas. I just don't understand how it's called a Christmas movie at all. Now You've Got Mail's a great movie. It's Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and among others that, that are all good. But, OK, The Shop Around The Corner is one I tried watching and being an older movie like that, I couldn't do it.
[00:31:59] Jeff: Yeah. It's 1940. I'm, I'm assuming it's black and white.
[00:32:04] Chris: Yeah. And I would say that's one of those where I think they're trying to play more to an audience.
[00:32:11] Jeff: Number six is A Christmas Carol from 1951. Have you ever seen the 1951 one?
[00:32:18] Chris: I don't think so, but I do know that's another one of the kind of classic versions of it.
[00:32:24] Jeff: Here's another one that I've never heard of, a movie from 1982 called The Snowman. Have you heard of this?
[00:32:32] Chris: Nope.
[00:32:33] Jeff: When I saw that on IMDb's list, I thought, well, it's gotta be Frosty The Snowman, the cartoon version. And no, it's something different. I have no clue. Number four, people debate this all the time, but IMDb had it as a Christmas movie, Die Hard.
[00:32:51] Chris: Oh, OK. I haven't even seen the movie.
[00:32:55] Jeff: I've seen it once.
[00:32:57] Chris: I'll just say that, and I mean, I know what people are debating. Like, I don't think it's about, it's at Christmas time.
[00:33:06] Jeff: Right.
[00:33:06] Chris: So there are a lot of movies out there that have something to do with Christmas, but I wouldn't say they're Christmas movies.
[00:33:14] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:33:15] Chris: And I think that's exactly where the debate is on that one. And, and that, uh, that would be a perfect argument on, I, I think for, you know, You've Got Mail, The Shop Around The Corner. It's not a Christmas movie, it just happens to have a Christmas season in a very small part of it.
[00:33:32] Jeff: Just because it's set in December doesn't make it a Christmas movie.
[00:33:35] Chris: Right?
[00:33:37] Jeff: Uh, number three, A Charlie Brown Christmas, from 1965. Do you like that?
[00:33:42] Chris: I used to watch the Charlie Brown, movies, TV shows, whatever, around the holiday stuff.
[00:33:48] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:33:50] Chris: Because it seemed obligatory. Let's just throw this out there. Well, it's just depressing to say . We are old enough that we had like four channels to watch, so...
[00:34:02] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:34:03] Chris: You know, if one or two of those channels are showing these Christmas movies, then it's like, well, that's what you do. And Charlie Brown was one of them. But, it could just make you short of wanting to kill yourself to watch any of the Charlie Brown stuff, you know?
[00:34:22] Jeff: So there's a Charlie Brown, there's Thanksgiving and there's Halloween.
[00:34:28] Chris: Yeah. The Great Pumpkin.
[00:34:29] Jeff: Yeah, whatever it's called. I don't like either one of those. I do like the Christmas one. But one of the things that makes it good, and, and this is true of the Grinch too, is it's short. I mean, with commercials, you're looking at like 30 minutes maybe. It is like, OK, let's get in and get out. That's, that's it. So I do like it for the, the length of it. If it were a full animated two hour feature with all those characters, I don't know that I could deal with that.
[00:35:01] Chris: Right. Anytime you talk about that movie, I just think about his Christmas tree.
[00:35:06] Jeff: Yeah. Sad. Just looks like a bunch of sticks.
[00:35:10] Chris: Yeah.
[00:35:11] Jeff: There's a line that Charlie Brown delivers toward the beginning of that show, and I can't remember exactly what it is, but it's something along the lines of, nobody likes me. Why do I have to have the holidays to just reinforce it, or something like that, or remind me of it, or it's something like that. It's so good.
[00:35:32] Chris: That sounds like George, on Seinfeld.
[00:35:34] Jeff: Yeah, it does. Very much so. OK, number two is How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the original from 1966. And then number one, greatest movie according to IMDb raters, I guess that's what we'll call them, is It's A Wonderful Life.
[00:35:53] Chris: So I looked at about three or four different lists, that being one of them, and It's A Wonderful Life was number one on all of them. That kind of surprised me because I have talked to people that were not as crazy about that movie. But uh, I think it was number one on Rotten Tomatoes also and Entertainment Weekly. So...
[00:36:17] Jeff: I guess I need to give it another watch, another chance. And before we leave movies and move on to songs, I have to mention, and I think you're in the same boat as this, this movie has gotta be one of the most overrated mo-, not just Christmas movies, movies of all time. It's horrible. It's not funny, and I don't know why people like it. And you know what I'm talking about. It's A Christmas Story.
[00:36:50] Chris: I, oh my gosh. So, over some years, I saw little pieces of it. And even when I would see that, it was like, what am I missing? Like I have to be missing something because how can this many people be so crazy about this movie? And so one time I just bit the bullet and sat down to watch it. And I think I made it halfway through and I just couldn't do it anymore. Like, that's enough. I, I have sacrificed, I, I wanted that hour back and then some.
[00:37:32] Jeff: So I was kind of the same as you. I had seen bits and pieces of it, never the whole thing. And my kids, like we were thinking about different Christmas movies to watch and, uh, that they're allowed to watch so far. And we've let 'em watch Christmas Vacation. That was kind of borderline, should they see this or not. But uh, you know, we watch Home Alone and whatever else, and then I'm like, well, let's give A Christmas Story a chance. What I've seen so far didn't really intrigue me, but let's just watch it from the get go and see how it is. And, it's just, it's not funny. It is objectively not a funny movie. My kids who will watch anything, God, they'll watch anything and they're like, they just got up, like, they're like, ready to do something else. Like, this is not a good movie. How do people like it? And it's rated 7.9 on IMDb.
[00:38:30] Chris: Yeah, I, I saw it on multiple lists I looked at, within the, if not the top 10, certainly in the top 20. And I just don't get it.
[00:38:49] Jeff: OK. Let's talk about some Christmas songs. Kind of the same thing with that, I think this is actually harder to do. Is it possible for you to nail down your favorite Christmas song? There are so many.
[00:39:03] Chris: Uh, I don't know how I could, well... I could come close actually.
[00:39:08] Jeff: OK.
[00:39:09] Chris: Yeah, I could come close. There are so many that I like, but I, I will put, this is interesting. I don't really know if this was supposed to be a remake, they have the same title. All I Want for Christmas Is You. And there's the one by Vince Vance and the Valiants, and then there's Mariah Carey.
[00:39:29] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:39:30] Chris: I think both of those songs are just great. The strange thing about them is that, so the Vince Vance and the Valiants was originally released in '89. It was re-released, I don't know why, in '93. And the Mariah Carey one came out in '94, so that's almost back to back. I don't know if you consider it a classic, but I mean it's not a classic like, you know, Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire and things like that. But, I love those songs and I, that is a Christmas spirit thing to me.
[00:40:07] Jeff: I definitely remember hearing the Vince Vance version. Can I work any more Vs into that sentence? I definitely remember hearing that version before I heard Mariah Carey's, and I've read before where, OK, she released it in '94, but it was not a, like, it was not a big deal. I do not remember hearing that song at all in the nineties. It only kind of resurfaced, I think maybe in the early two thousands. And now, now it's such a polarizing song. It's like people either love it or they can't stand it. And I, yeah, I like it. Like I think it's, it's a really good song.
[00:40:48] Chris: Yeah. One thing that surprised me in looking at this was the, the one by Vince Vance and the Valiants is called a country song.
[00:40:58] Jeff: Oh.
[00:40:58] Chris: It makes it on the top lists of country, which I don't see how that's a country song at all.
[00:41:06] Jeff: I don't either.
[00:41:08] Chris: But yeah, I love both of those. I, I think more than others I would about have to put that at the top, but it's not to the exclusion of others either.
[00:41:19] Jeff: I'm a big fan of the classic Christmas songs, a lot of those. And I gotta tell you, by a lot of the artists who I would never listen to them seeing anything else.
[00:41:29] Chris: Right.
[00:41:29] Jeff: People like Dean Martin and, and Nat King Cole and, who else, Bing Crosby. Like, I'm not gonna listen to these people seeing anything else but these Christmas songs, I, yeah, I think they're really good.
[00:41:44] Chris: Yeah, their Christmas songs are the only things I know by them.
[00:41:48] Jeff: Well, OK, that's true. Like if I heard anything else, I don't think I would like it. I doubt very seriously just from that style of music.
[00:41:56] Chris: Yeah.
[00:41:57] Jeff: This is not, I wouldn't, well, maybe it is classic. Not in that sense though, but the Carpenters. I like the Carpenters Christmas music.
[00:42:05] Chris: I do too.
[00:42:06] Jeff: They've got a lot of good songs.
[00:42:07] Chris: So I, I wanted to just put down their whole, whatever we're gonna call it today, album, CD, whatever, cuz there's so many good ones on there. And, and this is just more of a nostalgic thing that I remember as a kid listening to. I think one of the ones that stands out the most to me from that is Merry Christmas Darling.
[00:42:31] Jeff: Yeah, that's a good one.
[00:42:32] Chris: That one really stands out, but there's so many on there that I love that, that's just great.
[00:42:38] Jeff: Yeah. Uh, I'm kind of like you. Those are songs that I've always, like, I can't remember where I first heard it. It's just you, like riding with your parents in the car or whatever, and that was on, you just, yeah.
[00:42:51] Chris: Yeah.
[00:42:51] Jeff: It's just always been.
[00:42:53] Chris: Yeah.
[00:42:53] Jeff: I'll tell you another polarizing song is Last Christmas from Wham. Do you like that?
[00:43:00] Chris: I, I like it I guess in kind of a nostalgic way.
[00:43:04] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:43:05] Chris: But not that I would say, ooh, that's a favorite song.
[00:43:08] Jeff: Mm-hmm, OK. I like it. But I know some people just loathe it, cannot stand it, but yeah I like it.
[00:43:14] Chris: Oh, I don't feel like that, no.
[00:43:15] Jeff: Yeah. Do you have any other specific favorites?
[00:43:19] Chris: So I put down a few that you'll just hear often and are certainly, I would say, classics. Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, by Brenda Lee. Now this shocked me. She was 13 years old singing that song. I had no idea.
[00:43:39] Jeff: I didn't either. Wow!
[00:43:41] Chris: No, it doesn't sound sound like a 13 year old.
[00:43:43] Jeff: No, it sure doesn't.
[00:43:45] Chris: Jingle Bell Rock.
[00:43:47] Jeff: Yep.
[00:43:48] Chris: I said The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole. Um, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Gene Autry.
[00:43:56] Jeff: Yep.
[00:43:56] Chris: Here comes Santa Claus, Gene Autry.
[00:43:58] Jeff: Gene Autry. Yeah.
[00:44:00] Chris: So those are, you know, a lot that go back there. Frosty the Snowman, so there's a lot of different versions of that. The one I've heard fairly frequently in the last few years is a Jimmy Durante version.
[00:44:14] Jeff: Yeah, he was the voice in, uh...
[00:44:19] Chris: The cartoon?
[00:44:19] Jeff: Didn't he play, yeah, in the cartoon version. That's what it was. And so I think...
[00:44:23] Chris: Yeah.
[00:44:24] Jeff: Does that come from that? I don't know, but yeah. I like that one. Yeah.
[00:44:27] Chris: Yeah. I think that was all I had.
[00:44:32] Jeff: No, I was just looking at my list and that's really all I got too. I do have a list. OK. So I kind of did the same thing with IMDb. Did anybody rank any Christmas songs? And sure enough, somebody did. Now this is Billboard Magazine. Do we still call it Billboard, do they even put out a hard copy?
[00:44:53] Chris: I don't know.
[00:44:54] Jeff: Billboard Magazine? I have no idea. But this is their staff members last year ranking the best Christmas songs. Now, their website, I'll link to it in the episode notes, they did the top 100. I'm not gonna go through that. That would bore everybody and it'd take way too long. But I did list the top 20 and see if you agree with this more or less. But, and we can comment on each of these. Uh, number 20 is Run Rudolph Run, by Chuck Berry. Do you like that one?
[00:45:25] Chris: No.
[00:45:26] Jeff: It's OK. It's, it's one of those I could take it or leave it. Uh, you mentioned this one, number 19, Jingle Bell Rock.
[00:45:33] Chris: Yeah. See, I'm surprised that's not higher.
[00:45:36] Jeff: Yeah, I was too. That's from 1957. Number 18, do you know Christmas Wrapping, by The Waitresses?
[00:45:44] Chris: No.
[00:45:46] Jeff: I think you, I can't sing it cuz we'll violate copyright . I think you'd know it if you heard it. Uh, it's from 1981. In fact, I'm almost sure you would. Uh, number 17, River, by Joni Mitchell. Do you know that one?
[00:46:03] Chris: River. I can't think of that, no.
[00:46:06] Jeff: Number 16, Little St. Nick, by The Beach Boys.
[00:46:10] Chris: OK.
[00:46:10] Jeff: I hate that song. Hate it. I like The Beach Boys. Don't like that one.
[00:46:16] Chris: Yeah, it gets annoying.
[00:46:18] Jeff: Number 15, Judy Garland's version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, from 1944. I don't know that. I mean, obviously I know the song, but I don't know her specific version, do you?
[00:46:29] Chris: So, it was in a movie, and I can't remember what movie it was in. But, in The Family Stone, one of the characters is watching whatever that movie is and she's singing it. That's what she's seeing in the movie was her singing that.
[00:46:46] Jeff: You know what I still get tripped up on is, so the only thing I know Judy Garland from is The Wizard of Oz. And she was like 17 when she made that. Her daughter is Liza Minnelli.
[00:47:02] Chris: Right.
[00:47:03] Jeff: But all I've ever seen of Liza Minnelli is this old woman. So I would get confused. Wait, who's the mother and who's the daughter? Because I would forget, Wizard of Oz is from 1939. It's just weird for me to see this young person and then this old shriveled up person, Liza Minnelli. But oh yeah, that's her daughter.
[00:47:23] Chris: Well, Liza Minnelli wasn't always shriveled up.
[00:47:31] Jeff: Probably not.
[00:47:31] Chris: So that's funny. When I see Liza Minnelli now, I'm like, damn. Because, time slaps you in the face and you don't realize, you know, while, while we were getting older, everybody else was too.
[00:47:45] Jeff: Right.
[00:47:46] Chris: Because I think of Liza Minnelli as, some time ago. One of the things, I, I guess probably the main thing that I know her from is Arthur.
[00:47:57] Jeff: Arthur, yeah.
[00:47:59] Chris: So...
[00:47:59] Jeff: We saw the sunrise at Liza's. Minnelli's?
[00:48:03] Chris: Yeah.
[00:48:04] Jeff: No.
[00:48:04] Chris: No.
[00:48:08] Jeff: Um, OK. Number 14. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, by Andy Williams. That's a good one.
[00:48:16] Chris: So that was one I had on my list too. Yeah, I do like that song.
[00:48:21] Jeff: Number 13, never heard this song to my knowledge. Santa Tell Me, by Ariana Grande, from 2014.
[00:48:30] Chris: No. And I'll just go ahead and throw this out there. Songs, probably movies to an extent too, but I think especially songs, I will tend to gravitate toward those that I know. It seems like everybody and their dog puts out Christmas music.
[00:48:48] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:48:49] Chris: And just because I might like other stuff that you sing, I don't know that I care to hear you sing Christmas music too, when I already like these other people that sing Christmas music.
[00:48:58] Jeff: Right. And, and my point with that is, like, I'll take that one. Uh, the, the previous one, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, by Andy Williams. I really like that. I think it's a really good song. If somebody puts that out now, what are they gonna do better than he did it? Like...
[00:49:18] Chris: Right.
[00:49:19] Jeff: Why am I gonna listen to you when I've already got that version that I like?
[00:49:24] Chris: Yeah. And then sometimes as people are remaking songs, they are making it differently. It's like, that's not how the song goes.
[00:49:34] Jeff: Right.
[00:49:35] Chris: Like literally, that's not how the song goes.
[00:49:37] Jeff: Yeah. You screwed it up.
[00:49:39] Chris: Yeah. It's a waste.
[00:49:42] Jeff: Number 12, Blue Christmas, from Elvis.
[00:49:46] Chris: No.
[00:49:46] Jeff: It's a great one.
[00:49:47] Chris: No.
[00:49:48] Jeff: You don't like it?
[00:49:48] Chris: Can't do it.
[00:49:49] Jeff: Oh, no.
[00:49:50] Chris: No. No.
[00:49:52] Jeff: What do you not like about it?
[00:49:54] Chris: Starts at the beginning and ends with the end. I just don't like it.
[00:50:00] Jeff: The beginning and the end and the middle.
[00:50:02] Chris: I, yep, I, I like a lot of Elvis songs, but I can't do that.
[00:50:08] Jeff: I really like that one. Number 11, Christmastime Is Here, by the Vince, I don't know how to say that, the Guaraldi Trio.
[00:50:20] Chris: That's the Charlie Brown.
[00:50:22] Jeff: Yes, the, it's not the one that they played during it. It's, it's Christmastime Is Here is the one that plays at the beginning, and I think they've got a chorus going with it too. But I think the original's just instrumental. Number 10, never heard of it. Never heard this title, never heard the person. This Christmas, by Donnie Hathaway, in 1970.
[00:50:48] Chris: Nope. I don't know that.
[00:50:50] Jeff: No, but somehow it's the 10, 10th best Christmas song ever. Number 9, oh my God, kill me. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, by Bruce Springsteen.
[00:51:05] Chris: I don't like Bruce Springsteen.
[00:51:07] Jeff: I don't either.
[00:51:08] Chris: Just period.
[00:51:08] Jeff: There's a handful of Bruce Springsteen songs I like. I think he's overrated. And that Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, it sounds like he's constipated through the whole thing. And it...
[00:51:22] Chris: Oh, I will turn that off in a heartbeat.
[00:51:25] Jeff: When I'm in the car and I hear that, it just makes me wanna wrap my car around a telephone pole.
[00:51:31] Chris: Right.
[00:51:32] Jeff: Just end it. It's horrible.
[00:51:34] Chris: Well, I always, I always thought he sounded like he was hoarse.
[00:51:39] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:51:39] Chris: Like his voice is straining.
[00:51:42] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:51:42] Chris: So just don't even try it.
[00:51:44] Jeff: Like he's constipated, like he's grunting and he just can't, can't get it out.
[00:51:51] Chris: I remember when, um, Michael Bolton was just starting to sing and he was just coming out and somebody on the radio said it sounded like somebody, that it sounded like somebody was standing on his throat.
[00:52:07] Jeff: That's the perfect, perfect line. Yeah.
[00:52:11] Chris: Yeah.
[00:52:12] Jeff: Good description. Um, I can't hear Michael Bolton without thinking of Office Space.
[00:52:19] Chris: Yes.
[00:52:20] Jeff: I celebrate his entire catalog.
[00:52:23] Chris: Yeah, the Bobs.
[00:52:25] Jeff: Yeah. Uh, number 8, never heard of it. Christmas In Hollis, by Run-D.M.C.
[00:52:32] Chris: Nope.
[00:52:33] Jeff: No, I never heard it. I'm gonna have to check some of these out. Number 7, OK. I think you're either gonna like this or it's, it also makes you wanna wrap your car around a telephone pole. Feliz Navidad, from José Feliciano. Do you like that?
[00:52:48] Chris: Wrapping the car. Nope.
[00:52:51] Jeff: Take me to a telephone pole.
[00:52:54] Chris: I mean, I get the whole classic thing, but no. I, I, I can't listen to it.
[00:53:00] Jeff: I didn't know this was so old. It's from 1970.
[00:53:04] Chris: Oh, really?
[00:53:05] Jeff: I thought it would've been, yeah, I thought it would've been from the eighties. I, I like it OK. He goes on too long, like...
[00:53:11] Chris: Yes.
[00:53:13] Jeff: It's, it's a lyrically-challenged song, right? There aren't many lyrics in it. And he repeats it, I feel like, a hundred times.
[00:53:21] Chris: He wishes us a Merry Christmas way too many times.
[00:53:24] Jeff: Over and over, yeah. Number 6, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee.
[00:53:31] Chris: OK.
[00:53:31] Jeff: 1958. 13 years old when she sang it. That's shocking.
[00:53:36] Chris: Crazy.
[00:53:38] Jeff: Number 5 is White Christmas, by Bing Crosby.
[00:53:41] Chris: All right.
[00:53:43] Jeff: That's a good one.
[00:53:43] Chris: I can do that. Yep.
[00:53:45] Jeff: Yeah. Number 4, Last Christmas, by Wham.
[00:53:50] Chris: See, I don't get that being that high on the list. I don't hate it. I don't love it. It's OK. Like I'm, I'm good with it, but I can't see it being that high.
[00:53:59] Jeff: It does seem high. I mean, I like it. But the fourth best ever, I don't know about that. Number 3, The Christmas Song, by Nat King Cole. Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire.
[00:54:11] Chris: Yep.
[00:54:11] Jeff: You know who wrote that song?
[00:54:14] Chris: I don't.
[00:54:16] Jeff: Mel Tormé.
[00:54:18] Chris: Did he really?
[00:54:19] Jeff: The Velvet Fog, yeah.
[00:54:20] Chris: The Velvet Fog,
[00:54:22] Jeff: What the hell is a Velvet Fog? Number 2, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), by Darlene Love. Do you know that one?
[00:54:32] Chris: I can't think of that.
[00:54:34] Jeff: You'd know it if you heard it. But again, I can't sing it. And then number 1, All I Want For Christmas Is You, from Mariah Carey.
[00:54:41] Chris: OK, so that's interesting that the Vince Vance and the Valiants one is not on that list somewhere because it had its time of really being popular.
[00:54:55] Jeff: So they did the top 100. It might be above 20. I'm just not sure.
[00:55:00] Chris: But yeah, Mariah Carey. I mean you hear that all the time.
[00:55:06] Jeff: Yeah.
[00:55:06] Chris: But it's a good song.
[00:55:15] Jeff: It is.
All right, so there you go. That is our special Christmas episode. And if you like this kind of stuff, then you should follow us on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast on. That way you will get new episodes delivered to you automatically. You never even have to do anything. You'll just drop right in your lap on Tuesdays every week. And while you're there, go ahead and rate us. If you are in the Christmas spirit, go ahead and give us five stars. It's better to give than to receive, right? So go ahead and give us five stars. And while you're there, write something. It doesn't matter what you write, but if you write something, it makes it easier for people to discover this show. Uh, tell us your favorite Christmas movies, which ones you love, which ones you hate. Same thing with songs. We're gonna read it, and we'd like to know. You can also go to our website, that is subpartalks.com. You can email us. You can also leave us a voicemail there. You can give us suggestions on future topics you'd like us to discuss on this podcast. Or if you just wanna say hey, go ahead and do that too. You can follow us on social media. On Twitter, we are @subpartalks. On Facebook, we are Subpar Talks. If you wanna follow our personal Twitter accounts, we would welcome that as well. On there I am @independentjeff.
[00:56:36] Chris: And I am @chrisbradfordtx.
[00:56:40] Jeff: And finally, get the word out about Subpar Talks. Share this on social media, refer us to your friends, family, colleagues, whatever. Just get the word out. The more listeners we have, the easier it is for us to bring this content to you each and every week. So there you go. That's our initial Christmas episode. Has it been a Christmas miracle?
[00:57:04] Chris: Absolutely.
[00:57:05] Jeff: I think so too. All right, Merry Christmas to everybody and Happy Holidays, and we will be back next week. Until then, so long.