Bah Humbug: A Christmas Movie Podcast with Helen O'Hara

Are Netflix raising their game on Christmas movies? Or just softening us up for My Secret Santa? Your host, Helen O'Hara, assesses the contenders with guest Olly Richards. First up is Alicia Silverstone in A Merry Little Ex-Mas, trying to bring that Clueless magic to a tale of a divorced couple trying to negotiate their first Christmas apart. Then we look at Champagne Problems, wherein Minka Kelly flies to Paris to buy some sparkling wine and instead ends up in a fizzy rom-com. And yes, these are Christmas movies, we're still judging on a curve. But are there signs of actual quality here? The answer may surprise you!

Both films are now out on Netflix.

For more from Olly, you can find him on Bluesky (etc) @OllyRichards, and his new book, Tim Burton: The Complete Unofficial Guide (part of the Iconic Directors series) is out now.

For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale.

This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email [email protected].

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Gurinder Chadha's new film, Christmas Karma, reimagines Charles Dickens' classic Christmas story with The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar in the lead. How does it stack up to the best previous adaptations? Can it measure up to the Muppets? And why is Dickens still relevant?  Your host, Helen O'Hara, assesses the results with the help of comedian and author Marc Burrows.

Christmas Karma is in cinemas around the UK now.

Marc’s new book, The Story of the Christmas Number One: Mistletoe & Vinyl, is out now, and you can learn more about launch dates here: Marc Burrows.com

For more from Helen, you can find her on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her new books, 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know and A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary are available now.

This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O’Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email [email protected].

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Another year, another Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie - and this time she hasn't even lost her memory. In Our Little Secret, she's visiting her boyfriend's family, when she discovers that her ex is dating his sister. Instead of simply telling everyone about the coincidence, they inexplicably keep it secret and complications ensure - but are they comical or cringe? Well, joining your host, Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) to discuss it is actor David Kirkbride (@DavidKirkbride), who has strong opinions on why these films end up feeling so very generic. We also touch on a couple of Christmas movies that we haven't had time to fully cover this year: Nutcrackers, with Ben Stiller as an uncle trying to find a foster family for his nephews, and Nosferatu - yes, really - from director Robert Eggers, so we can finish off the year strong and be ready for any home invasions that might occur: whether of inconvenient exes, orphaned children or undead vampires. Can't be too careful!

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now.

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

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With people flying home for the holidays, now would be a really terrible time for ne'er-do-wells to smuggle a mysterious and dangerous package onto a plane by threatening a hapless TSA agent.

Taron Egerton stars in this Jaume Collet-Sera film with Jason Bateman playing the unnamed man threatening him.

But it all takes place on Christmas Eve, so it's technically a Christmas movie and inside the purview here on Bah Humbug, so your host Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) has invited film experts Chris Hewitt (@ChrisHewitt) and Amon Warmann (@AmonWarmann) along to assess airport security and how best to handle Christmas terrorism...

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now!

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

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It's a movie based on the old joke, about a dyslexic who sold his soul to Santa. This time, however, it's a kid (Robert Timothy Smith) who writes his letter to Santa with a crucial piece of misspelling, so that the devilish Jack Black turns up that night offering him three wishes in return for his soul.

But is it worth eternal damnation to watch this one? Well, to find out, your host Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) sits down with author and comedian Marc Burrows (@20thCenturyMarc) to talk demons, wishes and what exactly this film could have done better. 

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now in The UK .

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

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An unconventional and fresh-feeling Christmas movie, Tyler Taormina's Christmas Eve In Miller's Point recreates a family get-together in a small town in the early '00s with painstaking attention to detail and more than a little comedy.

To get the lowdown on this atmospheric tale, your host Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) talked to writer-director Tyler Taormina and guest Laura Venning (@LauraVenning) about what it takes to make a real family Christmas. Christmas Eve In Miller's Point is on digital platforms now, and will play in Picturehouse Cinemas this Christmas Eve...

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now in The UK .

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

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This British Christmas animation is based on a series of books by Richard "Love Actually" Curtis, so you know it's going to be quirky and Christmassy and British, and stars a comedy who's-who of talent, including our guest this time, Rhys Darby! But did our panel love it?

To find out, your host, Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) talks to Charlotte Harrison (@sometimesmovies) and Tom Beasley (@TomJBeasley) to find out if it's THAT good or THAT bad before talking to Rhys himself.

That Christmas is was in cinemas on November 29, and will now be on Netflix.

Your host, Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) sits down with stand-up comic and former MC of Magic Mike Live, David Morgan (@ThisIsDavid) to talk about the difference between chiselled and too chiselled, and what exactly is going on in these small towns...

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now in The UK .

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

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Think Christmas, think perfect chiselled abs. At least, that appears to be the message from Netflix's Hot Frosty and The Merry Gentlemen.

The former sees Schitt's Creek's Dustin Milligan play a snowman come to life to fall in love with Lacey Chabert's cafe owner. The Merry Gentlemen, meanwhile, sees Britt Robertson's dancer turn Chad Michael Murray and friends into a topless dance revue to save her parents bar.

Your host, Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) sits down with stand-up comic and former MC of Magic Mike Live, David Morgan (@ThisIsDavid) to talk about the difference between chiselled and too chiselled, and what exactly is going on in these small towns...

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now in The UK .

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

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It's the biggest Christmas film in years, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Chris Evans leading a starry cast and a massive budget. But is Red One actually any good? This year's first Bah Humbug episode, with Amanda Keats (@filmvsbook) and Kelechi Ehenulo (@specialKWrites), join your host, Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara), to dissect a wannabe Christmas classic, that puts the four quadrant into for he's a jolly good fellow. Or something.

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now in The UK .

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

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It's not often that you see a Christmas film with Oscar buzz, nor one that the studio for some reason decide to release in the second half of January. Yet here we are, with the excellent cast and crew of The Holdovers. The reunion of Sideways' director and Star, Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti respectively, sees them tackle the story of a depressed teacher left looking after outcast students at a boy's boarding school over the holidays, which is no-one's idea of fun. Joining your host, Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) to talk about it is Radio One film critic and host of Radio One’s “Screen Time” Ali Plumb (@AliPlumb), here to dissect perhaps the best Christmas movie of the decade...

If you want to read or hear more from Helen, you can order her book "Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film" which is out now in The UK and comes out on 16th December in the USA and Canada.

Helen O'Hara is also on the Empire podcast every week and hosts the Podcast "His Darker Materials" to coincide with the BBC/HBO TV drama "His Dark Materials".

You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenLOHara

This pod was edited by Ben Williams and produced by Helen O'Hara and Stripped Media. If you want to know more about this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.Stripped.media to find out more or email [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices