Tis the Podcast

Happy Easter everybody! In an effort to inject a little bit of Christmas into the Bunny’s time of year, this week the elves decided to discuss Dreamworks Animation’s 2012 feature-film, Rise of the Guardians, which brings together Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost in order to take on the evil Boogeyman, Pitch. There is a lot of love to go around between Julia, Thom, and Anthony in an episode that is infinitely more cheerful than last week’s, as the hosts gush over these new interpretations of the icons of childhood and the lore that surrounds them. There is one big question mark that looms over the episode this week, however: is this movie actually a Christmas film? And if not, how will that factor into where this holiday mashup fits into the official Christmas Canon Ranking?

Happy Easter everybody! In an effort to inject a little bit of Christmas into the Bunny’s time of year, this week the elves decided to discuss Dreamworks Animation’s 2012 feature-film, Rise of the Guardians, which brings together Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost in order to take on the evil Boogeyman, Pitch. There is a lot of love to go around between Julia, Thom, and Anthony in an episode that is infinitely more cheerful than last week’s, as the hosts gush over these new interpretations of the icons of childhood and the lore that surrounds them. There is one big question mark that looms over the episode this week, however: is this movie actually a Christmas film? And if not, how will that factor into where this holiday mashup fits into the official Christmas Canon Ranking?

This week, the elves discuss “what may well be the single most self-indulgent tripe ever written, produced by and starring a self-righteous narcissist: Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas.” There is no love for this film at all as Julia, Thom, and Anthony stand united in their anger and frustration against what is easily the worst film we’ve reviewed yet. It’s so bad, in fact, that none of us can recommend in good conscious watching this offensive film and wasting 79 minutes of your lives. Nonetheless, despite Christmas Cheer being in low supply this episode (Spoiler Alert: there is unanimous agreement that this film is not a Christmas movie!) the conversation is fun and wide-ranging as the hosts express their disbelief in how something so bad could ever have been made, dub a new term (The Anti-Linus Test), and make a pact to end the show if a movie worse than this ever comes up for us to review.

This week, the elves venture into completely new territory while covering their first made-for-T.V. Christmas movie! Surprisingly, it’s not a Hallmark Original, but an ABC Family (before it was Freeform) Original that debuted during it’s 25 Days of Christmas programming block back in 2001: Three Days. While Julia, Thom, and Anthony are all over the map in what they think about the overall quality of this movie starring Kristin Davis, Reed Diamond, and Tim Meadows, they’re in agreement about the fact that it’s quite depressing for a Holiday story, and have fun picking apart script flaws and directorial choices. In addition, the hosts discuss the brand new poster, trailer, and plot synopsis released for Illumination Entertainment’s upcoming 2018 film Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the elves dive back into the world of Rankin/Bass at the request of two listeners who suggested they review 1981’s The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold. Though discussion of the made-for-television movie is short, and lacking in holiday cheer – Julia, Thom, and Anthony are all in agreement that it’s not a Christmas movie – it is nevertheless a fun discussion, as they bond over their shared confusion over Leprechaun lore and fright for Old Mag the Hag amongst many other topics; Thom even gets a moment to educate Julia and Anthony that Christmas in Killarney is actually a real song – and a good one at that!  In addition, the hosts briefly discuss Illumination Entertainment’s upcoming film Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Walt Disney’s upcoming movie The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, unanimously agree about which host would be which Christmas ghost in A Christmas Carol, and gush over their personal favorite Christmas tree ornaments.

If you want additional content, you’re in luck, because the elves’ conversation on the 1985, cult-classic movie Clue is now available on Patreon – check it out! https://www.patreon.com/tisthepodcast

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the elves dive back into the world of Rankin/Bass at the request of two listeners who suggested they review 1981’s The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold. Though discussion of the made-for-television movie is short, and lacking in holiday cheer – Julia, Thom, and Anthony are all in agreement that it’s not a Christmas movie – it is nevertheless a fun discussion, as they bond over their shared confusion over Leprechaun lore and fright for Old Mag the Hag amongst many other topics; Thom even gets a moment to educate Julia and Anthony that Christmas in Killarney is actually a real song – and a good one at that!  In addition, the hosts briefly discuss Illumination Entertainment’s upcoming film Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Walt Disney’s upcoming movie The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, unanimously agree about which host would be which Christmas ghost in A Christmas Carol, and gush over their personal favorite Christmas tree ornaments.

If you want additional content, you’re in luck, because the elves’ conversation on the 1985, cult-classic movie Clue is now available on Patreon – check it out! https://www.patreon.com/tisthepodcast

The elves follow up last week’s horrendous take on Charles Dickens’ iconic A Christmas Carol with a film that details the author’s conception and writing of the holiday classic: 2017’s The Man Who Invented Christmas. (Based on the novel of the same name.) After last week’s downer of an episode, there’s a lot of genuine joy and good spirits amongst our hosts as they discuss this movie in their continuing quest to honor Christmas in their hearts and keep it all the year.

There’s a lot of false positivity in this episode as the elves attempt to summon every bit of Christmas cheer they have just to make it through discussing this awful reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale. Truly a new low (the rating is abysmal), they find much to dislike about this movie (read: everything). They manage to end on a high, however, when discussing their most memorable Christmas gift-opening experiences from childhood, and are all in agreement about how excited they are to talk about next week’s movie. In the meantime, enjoy our blissfully short conversation about 2013’s All American Christmas Carol – we’re truly sorry for making you go out of your way to watch it.

There’s a lot of false positivity in this episode as the elves attempt to summon every bit of Christmas cheer they have just to make it through discussing this awful reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale. Truly a new low (the rating is abysmal), they find much to dislike about this movie (read: everything). They manage to end on a high, however, when discussing their most memorable Christmas gift-opening experiences from childhood, and are all in agreement about how excited they are to talk about next week’s movie. In the meantime, enjoy our blissfully short conversation about 2013’s All American Christmas Carol – we’re truly sorry for making you go out of your way to watch it.

Tackling our first religious-themed movie, strong opinions and high expectations prove to be a heavy lift for this 2017 animated nativity story. Can the all-star voice cast push this movie into the upper rankings of our Christmas Canon list? Will angry Julia make an appearance? Stay tuned for a religious good time with the elves in this week’s episode!