A Very Martini Christmas

A Christmas Themed episode! Joined by Adele Stewart and Brianna Woods, we talk about our favorite Christmas/Christmas Eve traditions, and our favorite Christmas movies, including that old Making A Martini original chestnut, 'Twas The Year After Christmas. Merry Christmas from everyone here at Making A Martini!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Welcome back to a very special Christmas episode of Making a Martini. I am your host, Caleb Figgles. So, we have a very magical episode for you all today. Um, believe it or not, we have secured the rights to a potential new Hallmark movie script that you'll be hearing uh today. The movie is called Twas the Year After Christmas. Um I've read it. I think it's straight up brilliant. Uh Hallmark would be foolish not to green light this project like immediately. And then we also have two very dear friends of mine, one you know, Adele Stewart, uh from the millennial episode. And let's talk about sex, part one. And a newcomer, Ricotta Woods. And uh yeah, we talk about, you know, all things holiday, uh, including favorite traditions, least favorite traditions, uh Christmas Eve, uh and then, you know, holiday movies that inspire us. Or don't because those exist as well. Uh the themed cocktail of this episode is easy. It's eggnog. So, um go get some fucking eggnog. Sit back as we listen to the very first never-before heard script of TWAS the year after Christmas. Fade in on a snow-covered street in a small town, children playing in the background, people walking the streets, shopping, pointing at windows with unnecessary excitement. A gazebo in the center of town, cut to an old couple walking, linked arms.

SPEAKER_09 2:17

I can't believe it's been a whole year since Christmas.

SPEAKER_06 2:21

It seems to go faster and faster every time. Maybe this young Grace will come home.

SPEAKER_09 2:27

Oh no, Mother Grace hasn't been up for a Christmas years.

SPEAKER_06 2:32

That doesn't mean I can't have home.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Oh, a limo! The limo stops in front of the gazebo and a young woman exits. It is Grace. She is stereotypically blonde, wearing fancy sunglasses, even though it is overcast, and a coat with some sort of fur collar.

SPEAKER_04 2:53

Back again.

SPEAKER_09 2:55

Grace, is that you? Can I help you? Great! Is that our neighbors from when you were younger?

SPEAKER_06 3:05

You two are still alive? Oh yes, Care, anxiously waiting for you to come home for Christmas. It's been well, we haven't seen you since you have some people after they've died tragically right before Christmas. It's been a year.

SPEAKER_05 3:23

It's been a year.

SPEAKER_09 3:24

What have you been doing?

SPEAKER_05 3:26

Living in the big city, having it all. Career, fame, money, a penthouse apartment, and a gay personal system to prove how tolerant we all are. You'll be arriving shortly after to make wisecraft one-liners and fall in love with a random townsperson or bartender. What brings you back this person? I came to wrap up some last-minute details with selling my parents' old house and passing off the old family business.

SPEAKER_09 3:50

The old family business! But you can't! That business of indeterminate theme is the glue that holds the town together.

SPEAKER_06 3:58

We live in the guest house of your parents' old house, so where will we go?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

She hands them a newspaper.

SPEAKER_06 4:05

I suggest starting with the apartment listing.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Grace walks off and heads to a store called the Old Town Store, while the old couple look at each other in display. Alright. Hi, you guys.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Hi. Who wasn't ready? Hello.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Why are you ruining this?

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Go ahead and start from scratch.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

No, that's staying. I was gonna stay. Uh well uh Brianna, this is your first time being on the podcast.

SPEAKER_07 4:41

Yeah, I'm so excited. Are you thank you for having me?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Tell me all the reasons that you're excited.

SPEAKER_07 4:45

I'm excited because I'm here and I'm here with you.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Oh my god. Wow. Adele, why are you excited? Are you excited?

SPEAKER_05 4:52

Um, no, but I am excited because um it's Christmas season and Christmas season puts me in such a good mood for some reason.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

I don't know, does it?

SPEAKER_05 5:04

Do you feel too?

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Do you feel like it does a book me in a good mood? Um are you feeling bad vibes for me?

SPEAKER_00 5:12

No, no, not even a little bit. I've never felt a bad vibe from you once in my life. Um, Adele, welcome back. This is your third episode.

SPEAKER_05 5:20

Thank you. I feel like I should get some kind of prize.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Um would you like this martini?

unknown 5:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Oh, wow. Okay. Well, so you guys, today we have a uh, you know, a lovely topic, and we're talking about Christmas. And later we're gonna talk more specifically about Christmas movies, but it's a Christmas season. This episode comes out December 14th. It's a little bit before. So everyone's like in the middle of getting all their Christmas shit. Brianna, you and I did Christmas shit all day today. We sure did. We did all the Christmas shit.

SPEAKER_05 5:51

I did all of mine online and I'm done.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 5:54

My last gift is coming on Monday.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Is it for me?

unknown 5:58

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 5:58

No, yours has been here.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Oh, is it in the house?

SPEAKER_05 6:01

No.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 6:03

Don't go looking for it.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Fucking shit. Christmas is ruined. Um, well, so I just kind of want to start by talking about um you know, getting the nitty-gritty. We're gonna talk about your favorite and least favorite Christmas traditions. And these don't have to be personal, you would be like, well, my family always does this. It can be, like, I'll tell you, my least favorite Christmas tradition is um, I think Caroling is fucking stupid.

SPEAKER_08 6:31

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

And I think it's because I had to do it when I was little. What?

SPEAKER_01 6:36

That's one of your favorites.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Oh, is it really? Oh my gosh, no, I hated it because I was like, maybe it was just the town I grew up in, like Muncie, maybe I'm I don't know. I'm sorry. But we had to like do it with our church, and like we go to people's houses and they'd just be like, fucking Carol is here. So guess we'll listen.

SPEAKER_07 6:53

Oh, maybe you just weren't good.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Well, that could be it too. I mean, it was only like 12, 12 people in my church that did it. So 12 bad people. 12 bad people, 11 bad people in me.

SPEAKER_05 7:05

I did Caroling one time, and I think Anthony, our friend Anthony was with me, and we went with my boyfriend at the time, and his family was like really big on it, and they had like a whole like tractor, trailer bed open for us to just drive around, and we would just park in front of different houses in the frontier and eerie neighborhood and just just belt. And then we went back to his house and drank hot cocoa and sat in a hot tub, and I was like, that's fun. Alright, that's fun.

SPEAKER_06 7:35

You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05 7:35

But then we broke up like a few weeks later and I never did it again.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 7:40

He's also gay now.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_05 7:43

Oh. Very gay.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Oh. Are you gonna out him on my international? No, oh no, he's out. Oh, he's out. Um that would that would that's that's mine. I I don't like Caroline.

SPEAKER_07 7:56

Um, here's why I do like Caroline. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's because so I was in a very, very, very, very small hometown. We had one blinking light, not even a regular light, just a blinking light. So the one restaurant that was in town I worked at since I was like, I don't know, like 16 or whatever. So the group of us that worked there, um, we were like, oh, we're gonna we're gonna start carling when I was 16, and we continued on doing it um a couple of years later. But the reason that I didn't know that it was so fun is because everyone was drinking and they were so merry and so bright. And I was just 16 and love and life. And we went from door to door and merry and bright all on your own. Yeah, and gay. And um we were just and we would visit our friends, and we would visit like regulars at the restaurant, and um, it was just a good time to be had by all, like so many different kind of like you know, walks of life all coming together and singing the Christmas songs because who doesn't know Christmas songs? It was like something that brought us all together.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Yeah, okay. I guess I see that point.

SPEAKER_05 9:01

I don't like going to church on Christmas Eve. I used to love it when I was really little. Um I grew up Catholic, and I really enjoyed being in like the the choir, the church choir, like the children's choir. So we got the earlier mass, and then when I was older, I went to midnight mass with my family. Yeah, and I hated that. And I just don't thoroughly I just one, I don't enjoy going to church as it is. I grew up in a very Catholic family. I grew up had a cat like went through all these Catholic schools growing up, and like I just don't I don't like that tradition of feeling like you have to go to Christmas Eve Mass.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

You know though, I we uh in my family at least, like my grandmother and I, my my grandmother and I are very, very close, and we would always go to um midnight mass, which was at like 10 30, because it's a small town and you know people that are older like to go to bed. And I resonate with that now. Yeah, I get that. But we would we would always go and um my cousin Amy, who lives right around here, and I loved it because we would always go together and we would sit together and you know we got into like a lot of not like trouble trouble, but like we weren't well behaved the entire like like from whenever we started to like senior year of high school. Like we weren't I wasn't like into college as well, like even before I moved out of that town. And um so I I do I did love I mean granted our all like our I was Lutheran, so it was just a service, and it was 40 minutes and that was it, and that was that was great.

SPEAKER_07 10:41

Must have been nice.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Yeah, that was that was that was lovely.

SPEAKER_07 10:45

Every verse of every song. 90 minutes minimum. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Oh god. Um literally. But that like I have like really, really fond memories of Christmas Eve in that aspect with Amy. Like we would like like and when I say like inappropriate, like we would unnecessarily belt out like ox and ass because we're like, oh we said ass. Oh my god, you guys were like so funny.

SPEAKER_08 11:06

Oh messy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Yeah, I know. We were rebels. Um and eventually like they made us not sit together. We found a way, which is that just meant I had to say ass louder. So I mean, so I do like that. I do like like that. I mean, I haven't done it if I were to go to like Christmas Eve this year, I would probably not like it. Yeah. Well, actually, the last time I went to a Christmas Eve was after my family had moved to Ohio and my brother and I went, and my mom was just so embarrassed because we were also super I was a little drunk. He was too. But we were just very un not well behaved.

SPEAKER_07 11:42

Did you belt out ass?

SPEAKER_00 11:43

No, this was like a church that like sings like the you are the fa No, that's fashion. Lloyd. Lloyd Ma one to Savior. Savior. But so yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:01

I don't know about you guys, but we did St. Nicholas Day, which was like December 6th or something like that, and it was um legend has it, that you were to put your shoes out in front of your house, like and Saint Nicholas would drop off like toys and candy and stuff. So we always left um our shoes out like outside of our rooms or something, and St. Nick, definitely not my mom, would leave little gifts, and she always left me like a pop-up book, and they were like really beautiful pop-up books. I still have them. And it was like, I have one that was like the night before Christmas, I have the nutcracker, and they're like gorgeous books, and she also loved candy. So that was like my my thing. And when I got older, she stopped doing it because you know, St. Nicholas's mom, so she stopped doing it.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Sorry if there's any kids listening.

SPEAKER_05 12:54

Sam is real. Um listening to making a martini. Just wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

I would have as a kid as a child.

SPEAKER_05 13:02

His curious mind. But I don't know, that was just like my favorite, my favorite memory. Yeah, I always look forward to St. Nicholas Day. And then it got me really hyped for Christmas. Yeah, because I was like, um both of you. And I did.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

My favorite Christmas tradition is just like the decorating of the tree. It's my favorite thing. I like decorating for Christmas. I do have a problem.

SPEAKER_07 13:28

Oh no, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

A lot of Christmas stuff.

SPEAKER_07 13:30

I look forward to it actually. Um I guess the most memorable part of it was when I would come home from college and I was like on Christmas break, and that was the point where we would like put up the tree and all that stuff, because my mom had I had too much younger siblings, so she was busy like taking the basketball and dance class and all that stuff, and just like Christmas just kind of fell by the wayside. But when I came home, I was like, We're gonna Christmas so hard.

SPEAKER_08 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 13:55

This was like me and my brother and my sister would put up the tree and get all these ornaments and just like make a thing of it. And it was really nice because my mom could like sleep on the couple of what we were doing. And you won that, you orchestrated that.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Yeah. Did everyone give a least you didn't give a least favorite, Brianna? What's your least favorite Christmas decoration?

SPEAKER_07 14:13

Honestly, I my least favorite thing is that everyone gets so stressed and obsessed about giving the perfect gift on that specific day. Um, I've got a whole bunch of feelings about that.

SPEAKER_05 14:24

But I feel that, but not to brag. I have never felt stressed about giving gifts because I'm like, oh, I know the perfect gift for this person, this person. Not to say that I'm an amazing gift giver by any means. But in my brain, I'm like, this person needs this thing, or this part this made me think of this person, so I'm gonna get it for them. Whether or not people get it and receive it, and they're like, This was the best gift. That's on them, okay? I don't know. My family doesn't do gifts anymore. And unless it's for like the little kids, but for the most part, like everyone's just like, we're gonna be together. If there are things that you wanna bring, like my cousin and his wife make pickled beets every year, and they bring those, they're so good, they're great. Um, so yeah, we we don't really have we don't really put that stress on each other anymore, but I used to love getting and giving gifts. I was like, I was a gift bitch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

I do love.

SPEAKER_05 15:25

I know. And when my aunt said this year we weren't doing it, I was like, oh man.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

I have a problem waiting. When I'm like, look at this gift. Also though to give or to get. To give, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 15:38

Yeah. Mine is getting. I grew up an only child, so I'm very like, I was very used to being spoiled everywhere I went. And uh we don't do that anymore. But and um I'm 31 years old and I bought a house and like all the stuff and the things, and I'm like, guys, I I need m money. I need things. Like, there you there is nothing that you can buy me that I won't need in my house. You know what I mean? An entire house to fill it up. An entire house to fill up. Like, even if you're like, hey, I'm giving you$50, I'd be like, oh my god, this$50 can go toward the projects that I have on this house or like my groceries one week because I am spending money on other things in this house. You know, it's like I'm grateful for the time spent together. Don't get me wrong, but you know, I still am like I on this knife set though. Yeah, come on, fam, y'all know I need that.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

We were talking earlier today because I um it might have even been yesterday. It doesn't matter. But um like December and like the amount of money that I like spend in December in comparison to, you know, every other month. Um I was telling her, like, I feel like I always run out of everything in December. Like I'm almost out of like cleaning products. I'm like, you know, I mean we might lock down again like for who knows how long, and I'm like, hmm, I've got eight rolls of toilet paper. Am I gonna be okay? I don't know. Um but I feel like that always happens in December. Is that I mean that makes sense because I'm spending money on like gifts and things like that, but it's like after how many years you think I prepare.

SPEAKER_07 17:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

I don't. I don't prepare.

SPEAKER_07 17:22

After how many years? Like like you're 50 years old. You're not.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I'm not making it that long. I'm not gonna have that many Christmases.

SPEAKER_05 17:30

Well just think about it, Caleb. Like so many Christmases that you've lived as an adult on your own. You go home. Like you go back to your family's house. So like you're not, it's really not you're not used to the situation that you're in right now. And you have three rolls of toilet paper, we're about to go home.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

That's true. I can I can go there.

SPEAKER_05 17:50

Yeah, take all their toilet paper. Oh my god, put some in your suitcase.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

I might.

SPEAKER_05 17:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

I can steal all the toilet paper.

SPEAKER_07 17:57

If there's one thing parents do well, it's stock uh toilet paper. My grandma's got like a whole closet of just like extra supplies, like toothpaste. We should go there.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

I know that's because of her.

SPEAKER_07 18:10

She's a couponer. So she's got this like closet in the hall. Just fill up your stocking with um, you know, toothpaste and dandruff shampoo and toothbrushes.

SPEAKER_09 18:21

Also appreciated.

SPEAKER_05 18:23

I missed that. Like, so when I was my cousins are a little bit older than me, and we would spend all of our like Christmases and stuff together, and they would get socks and toothpaste and soap and stuff in their um stockings, and I never would, and I was like, when I get older, I'm gonna get it. And then my family started doing like the no gift thing, so I just never got necessities in my stocking, and I was so looking forward to it. I'm like, if there's someone who needs socks, it's me because I lose them constantly.

SPEAKER_07 18:53

I have three pairs of matching socks right now. Don't look under my couch, they're definitely not there.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

This was the I actually had this conversation with my mom two weeks ago. I was like, listen, I got bad news. I don't need like socks underwear. I was like, I I've been wearing Tom, so I don't use socks as much. And now I'm like, well, my socks are all in really good shape because I haven't worn them in ten months. So I know I started my Tom's obsession when quarantine started back in March. So it's been 10 years.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

How many cars do you have?

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Well, let's move on. Um, I think actually right now would be a really good opportunity to check back in with the Hallmark movie 'twas the year after Christmas, and we'll be right back. Grace walks into the old town store and a bell rings as she comes in. The store is filled with food, antiques, toys, flowers, and hardware/slash tools. Grace looks around. She picks up a jewelry box as if it has super sentimental value to her. Something that will make the audience know this must be important. A man enters from the back wearing a cut-off shirt carrying a crate of something that shows off his arms. Can I help you? Grace turns. She sees Chet, her old flame. She almost drops the jewelry box.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Chet, what are you doing here? And why are you wearing that type of shirt? It's freezing.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Well, we never thought we'd see you here again.

SPEAKER_05 20:36

I'm back to take care of a few things, including signing over the deed to my old family business.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Oh yeah. Signing it over to who?

SPEAKER_05 20:44

In my father's will, it was left to me, and in the instance that I didn't want it, I'm to sign it over to the current manager. So, if you could go and get him, please, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Well, Grace, that would just happen to be me. What a twist.

SPEAKER_05 21:01

You? You mean you run my old family business? I wasn't emotionally ready to handle this.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

So what, you need a pen?

SPEAKER_05 21:09

You seem awfully hostile toward me. It seems as if maybe you haven't gotten over what happened between us so many years ago.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Well, maybe I haven't. And how could I? You broke my heart. I loved you. I've spent my entire life thinking about it. Literally, my entire life.

SPEAKER_05 21:25

I had so much of my life to live still. I wanted a career and a life.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

I could have given you all those things.

SPEAKER_05 21:32

Well, I guess we'll never know. It's not like they can bring us together for one magical night where everything just goes right out the window, and I discovered that I what I really wanted has been here all the time.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Yeah. I guess not. Grace is fumbling with her purse. She is looking for the papers to sign.

SPEAKER_05 21:51

Oh fudge, I forgot the papers. Look, I'll bring them by later and sign this dump over to you.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

I'll do you one better. We're all getting together at the post. But tonight, why don't you come by and sign them there? Give everyone in town a real chance to see you.

SPEAKER_05 22:04

The last thing I want to do is spend Christmas Eve in a dive bar like that.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Well, you'll have to, that's where I'll be. Heading over there now.

SPEAKER_05 22:12

Now. It's 5 30. You really must be running a thriving business here.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

It's Christmas Eve, Grace. I know you remember how things go here.

SPEAKER_05 22:23

Fine. I'll bring them by, get the signatures, and then I'm leaving once the realtor takes the keys for the house to sell it for me. And then I never have to come back to this hellhole again.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Fine. Oh, and Grace, this place isn't a hellhole. This place is a town full of laugh and laughter. And love. I think you'll come to see it again for what it really is. Oh man, this is getting like really intense. This is the perfect Hallmark movie, don't you guys agree?

SPEAKER_05 22:58

It is. I love it. Thank you. Quintessential. Honestly, it makes the holiday.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

It's going to be a Christmas staple.

SPEAKER_05 23:04

I'm almost feeling like I'm watching the Hallmark Channel.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Well, essentially you are. Um. So now let's talk a little bit. We're gonna switch gears ever so slightly and talk about Christmas Eve. Because to me, personally, I enjoy Christmas Eve so much more than actual like Christmas Day. Christmas Day can get a little stressful with like family meals. But like Christmas Eve is very like simple, easy. I have my traditions and everything. Um like talk about like Christmas. I don't know what you guys do.

SPEAKER_08 23:37

What's yours like?

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Oh, my Christmas Eve is pretty um intense, actually. Uh no, I I literally every year I get um a shrimp cocktail and I have martinis. Shocker. And me, yeah. Like I have a martini. And um I watch my favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard. And that's how I spend Christmas Eve every year. And every year I like I don't know why I've never like I always think of it on Christmas Eve, and I want to like time it out so that it strikes midnight to like be Christmas Day when Officer John McClain says, Yppie, motherfucker, and I never invest in that.

SPEAKER_07 24:24

This year's the year.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

This year's the year because it's on HBO, so I can actually like go and be like, ooh, it happens at this time, and then I just have to do math.

SPEAKER_07 24:30

So math it out.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

Good luck, Caleb.

SPEAKER_07 24:34

You can do it now. Yeah. Mine's uh a little bit different. We honestly made it than that? Yeah, I mean why? I mean, that is as Christmas as a comes. Someone definitely says yippie kai motherfucker, however, we're not watching a movie. Oh. It's kind of like we celebrate our Christmas traditions on Christmas Eve. So Sienta has always dropped presents off at my grandparents' house, which is way out in the boonies, so obviously he'd have to stop there way early to make it to the rest of the world on time. Logic was not boxed on that.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Um that makes sense to me. I was like, yeah, that is true. That is true. You would have to stop there pretty early to get everywhere else.

SPEAKER_07 25:14

So we go over there and we spend some time with my grandparents and my aunts and uncles, and um, we open some presents there, and we have dinner and um just spend time together, and that's kind of like our big Christmas celebration. And then Christmas morning, well, and then we have to go to Christmas Mass at Christmas official, I don't know, what time? Whatever. Um way, way, way too late, which I'm already grumpy and tired for because I had way too much jerky in hand, so I'm sleepy as hell. And my brothers are out there in a cavic serving mass, falling asleep too, and I get an embarrassment. And um then we go to sleep, we wake up Christmas morning and we open presents just to you know our my immediate family. And then we go back to my grandparents as though seeing them the day before was not enough. And we eat some more. So um we're healthy, you know, we're active.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 26:05

Yeah. Yeah. So that's like it's kind of the kickoff to Christmas, it's Christmas Eve for us.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

That's sweet though. I do like that.

SPEAKER_05 26:13

Yeah. We we struggled to find a tradition for a very long time, and it wasn't until I think I was like in eighth grade, maybe seventh grade, that we started to go over to my mom's friend's house, and they have a big family, and they have this old Victorian house in like like the I think it was I can't remember which street it was in Erie, but the whole house, the whole neighborhood was just like old Victorian houses. It looks so pretty in the wintertime, and they have this gigantic tree, and every Christmas Eve after my mom and I would leave church, which I always sing in the choir. I did have a couple solos, not to brag. Um you know. Um, we would go over there and have dinner with them, and we would have to entertain the kids for a little bit while they brought out presents. I know. Um, we would go up to um like the kids' rooms up there and like play Legos or play games and one year, um well also Santa would get there pretty early. I don't know how he did it because um he was at Brianna's. He was at Brianna's and he also didn't live I also didn't live too far away from them, and Santa somehow didn't make it as quickly from their house as he did to mine. Like I didn't get Christmas I didn't get Christmas presents until the next day. So I'm like, how did they read it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

I mean, there's a method to the madness. You can't question his way.

SPEAKER_05 27:38

It's true. Santa he's crazy. But um so then like all of a sudden we'd be upstairs and you'd hear like bells and we'd run down and all the kids would be so excited. And um one year we got uh the Ikara machine, it was like a e karaoke machine that you like hooked up to the TV. And we sang karaoke for hours while the adults played cards and got drunk. And uh that was the best Christmas Eve tradition. I think they still do it to this day. I just haven't gone in a long time.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Let's bring that back. Yeah, karaoke the karaoke Christmas.

SPEAKER_07 28:16

I mean, we sang Backstreet Boys before and it was magical, so I can only imagine in a more organized fashion what that's gonna be.

SPEAKER_05 28:24

Sounds divine. Christmas Eve next year.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Alright, well we've got a plan. Yeah. Alright, 2021. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:30

Pencil I have big plans for you.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Yeah, pencil, yeah. You can even pen me in. Oh shit, it's not be me in. Yeah, but like an erasable pen. Yeah. Just in case. I have. You know, I might be like famous by then. Yeah. I might be like on tour.

SPEAKER_05 28:44

Right. Making it. Well, also we don't want to take your shrimp cocktail away from you.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

No, like it will no, and like, you know, I feel like if I don't watch Die Hard, then like who's gonna save all those people?

SPEAKER_05 28:54

Yeah, you might you might die easy.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

And that would be terrible. Yeah. Yeah. Also die hard part two. But I don't watch that on Christmas Eve.

SPEAKER_05 29:03

No. We always watched Christmas Story, but on Christmas Day, that was my mom's favorite movie. We would watch it, like it would just be in the background like all day. And we would watch it. Like whenever someone was cooking dinner, we would sit and watch this movie, even though we knew every line, we knew everything that was about to happen. Like, there's no real like climax in that movie. No. Like nothing that you're like, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, wait for it, wait for it. Like you're just like, he hits the gun and he shoots his eye out.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

And then there's still like 20 minutes left.

SPEAKER_05 29:34

Yeah, they have Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Yeah. But they're still Christmas.

SPEAKER_07 29:43

It doesn't have to be like super.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Like a normal even when it ends, it's just so sweet. I just don't like the Christmas story.

SPEAKER_05 29:51

Well, you don't have to.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

That's true, I don't. I just like I just remember like growing up, it was just it was a 24-hour marathon. So like no matter what. Oh, is it what? Still is. Oh, is it still? Well, I don't I don't partake. I struggled to watch it this year because of this topic, because you said it was like one of your favorites.

SPEAKER_05 30:13

Love it. But I have to say, so my dad knew that I loved watching it, and sometimes I'd spend Christmases with him, so he would um record it, like he recorded it on a tape and gave it to me one year, and I was sleeping over at his house, and I was watching it in my room, and when it ended, I thought that it was for sure going to go into a Christmas story again. But then it went into Scrooge's and Scrooge scared me when I was younger.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Scrooge scared me. And I just watched it. There's this like one very particular part where he like sees that dead guy that's frozen, and I'm like, that creepy music's playing, and I'm like, hmm, don't feel good.

SPEAKER_05 30:59

And little me after watching all that Christmas story.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Yeah, it's definitely it's definitely a different tone. Yeah. Um, but I do. I do. I love Christmas Eve. I Christmas Eve. This year, it's just me, my mom, and my brother. We are going to they're gonna join me. I'm gonna let them join me, actually. Great because diehard's like pretty personal. It's like an emotional talk.

SPEAKER_05 31:27

What did they always do when you were watching it?

SPEAKER_00 31:29

I don't know. I was watching it. Usually, like my mom was wrapping like the presents for us because she does tend to like put that put that shit off. Um she's a working woman. She's a working woman. Janine can she can rap. But I think she likes it because I think she also watches like she likes to watch like Wonderful Life.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

It's a it's a wonderful life. And like the bishop's wife, but like the old version. Well, there's only one bishop's wife. The new version's called the preacher's wife, so but um, and then Ian I don't know, smokes something and watches something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 32:13

Smoke something, watches something, marry.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

He wait he's there the next day, so I just assume that he's alright. The one year, I wish I like had well, why would I I have thought, but like uh it was like recently after we had moved to Ohio, and the one year him and I went out and got like rip roaring stoned in the garage. And I made a snap of it, and I think it's one of the funniest things because I was saying don't stop believing, and I'm always very it was very quiet. It was very like don't because it was snowing, because I mean in Cleveland we lived in the snow belt and we had the lake effect, so it was if it snows there, it's like not as bad as Erie, but close because it's rough. But you know, I was just doing like this don't stop believing. It was very quiet, very peaceful. And Ian's like ripping a bong and he just like pulls away and goes, ooh, and this huge thing of smoke comes out of his mouth. And that's what Christmas means to me. Oh it was brotherly bonding.

SPEAKER_07 33:13

Beautiful, it's beautiful. If that isn't it, I don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

I don't know either. Well, so we're gonna start talking about um Christmas movies, but I think before we do, we should like check back in on 'twas the year after Christmas because I mean I gotta know what happens next. So we will be right back. Cut to Grace's parents' house. A decent house with lots of furniture covered with sheets and dust. Grace sits by the fireplace, looking out of the window longingly. A man named James, Grace's assistant, enters the room. Grace, you're not coming to the party tonight?

SPEAKER_05 33:52

You're going?

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Well, I figured since you gave me the night off.

SPEAKER_05 33:55

I didn't give you the night off. Do you want me to go, go, go, have a good time. Hey, who were you going with?

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Oh, I met someone. He's a townsperson or a bartender or something.

SPEAKER_05 34:11

Uh we'll go. Have a good time.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Thank you, Grace. Oh, and Grace. I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't my thing to offer words of wisdom with a bit of sarcasm before walking out of the door. So, listen, I know you've had a rough year. What with your parents dying a year ago today and your fiance leaving you only last month, but things could always be worse.

SPEAKER_09 34:37

How?

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Oh. Look at my Uber! Damn, they're fast out of here. Well, have a lovely night. Merry Christmas! If you change my mind, you'll know where we'll be. James leaves and Grace sits there alone. She gets up and looks around the house. She sees the papers for Chet to sign on the table and takes them over to the bar and pours a drink. And then another one. We see flashbacks of her and Chet when they were younger. We see them ice skating, building some men, kissing under the mistletoe, and opening Christmas presents with each other. Only memories that happened during Christmas. Literally no other memories. She then slams her glass down, grabs the papers, and gets in her car because driving drunk in this town isn't a problem. We hear an upbeat version of a normally slow Christmas song playing as the underscore. She speeds off. Speaking of Christmas movies.

SPEAKER_08 35:33

Smooth.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Thank you. I thought that was a pretty solid transition. Did you?

SPEAKER_05 35:38

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Laugh.

SPEAKER_05 35:42

Oh my god, Caleb. Thank you. Such a joke, sir.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

I just like Christmas movies, okay. What's your favorite? Uh Die Hard.

SPEAKER_07 35:54

Okay. Second favorite.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Scrooged.

SPEAKER_07 35:58

Third favorite. Oh, you weren't ready for this.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

No, I'm just debating.

SPEAKER_07 36:04

Okay. What did it be?

SPEAKER_05 36:06

Talk to it. What are you debating between?

SPEAKER_00 36:13

Love, actually. And Christmas with the Cranks. Christmas with the Cranks just like sneaks in and gets me randomly. I get like super emotional about it.

SPEAKER_07 36:26

What do you think it is?

SPEAKER_00 36:28

It's because they have a character that's dying of cancer, and he's like, hey, here's a trip. Spoiler alert. We haven't seen it. But it just fucking like it it well, it's like very picturesque. Like, you know, it's snowing, the music is playing, and the main character has a change of heart, and so you're just like, okay, yeah, this is good. I like this. Yeah, a change of heart. Change of heart. Change of heart. Change of heart.

SPEAKER_06 36:59

Change of heart. Change me.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Change me. But anyway, yeah, do you guys like Christmas movies?

SPEAKER_05 37:09

Yeah, I fuck with Christmas movies.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

Yeah, really like which ones you guys.

SPEAKER_05 37:13

Don't be so rude, but that was rude.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

That was rude. That was in the Christmas spirit.

SPEAKER_05 37:17

Yeah, it was. It wasn't. Um, but I started watching the Christmas movies this year, like maybe a little bit before Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

Like October.

SPEAKER_05 37:27

I couldn't stop.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

15th is I think maybe when I started.

SPEAKER_05 37:31

Yeah, I th I think the second that they came out on Netflix, I was like, Cryphon F movie. But I really like, I've already said, a Christmas story. I really love Elf. And then when we first started chatting about this, I was like, I really love Home Alone 2. Not Home Alone 1, oh my god. But Bird Lady Home Alone 2. I freaking love her. But I think I've changed my tune and what?

SPEAKER_00 37:59

No, I'm just I'm just I'm excited.

SPEAKER_05 38:02

I think I've changed my tune and after watching Christmas Chronicles.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

That was a that was a raucous good time.

SPEAKER_05 38:09

Yeah, the first one. I just really I felt it.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

There's just like it hit me in the feels.

SPEAKER_05 38:14

I think I have a very specific thing about Christmas movies. And that would be anything that I don't Christmas story is the tradition, but for ELF and Christmas Chronicles, it's all about like people feeling the Christmas spirit. Like you start the movie where people don't believe in it, and then there's some kind of like turn of events where all of a sudden everyone's like oh my gosh. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

I believe.

SPEAKER_05 38:42

I believe, right. And like when you were growing up, like you believed in Santa Claus, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 38:47

Entirely too long. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, if it weren't for like my sixth grade teacher telling us they weren't gonna say there was no Santa Claus, yeah. Frickin' bitch.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

But um I hope she has chlamydia.

SPEAKER_05 38:58

I think she died.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Well, I hope it was of chlamydia. Speaking of the Christmas spirit.

SPEAKER_05 39:05

But it's just something that like you see the magic happen and you remember how you felt when you were younger when you truly believed in it, and it just like it gets me so emotional.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

That's are you crying? A little bit No, that's like one of the big reasons why I think that and they're not like my favorites, but they I don't know, it fluctuates, but like the Santa Claus movies hit like super, super hard because there's that moment of like, oh my god, yes, I do believe. And you're like, I I fucking believe too, okay, Jim Allen.

SPEAKER_07 39:41

It's really hard to put your finger on what the Christmas spirit is, but I think a little bit of it is just like in watching even like these cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies or like something more a little bit established.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

Not like the one that we've been listening to this whole time. Like I know what you mean. Absolutely not. This is like an Oscar-worthy performance.

SPEAKER_07 39:59

Sure, sure, sure. Taking away nothing of that. Um there's something about like the pure abandon and vulnerability of just like accepting the fact that there is like good in the world, and I think that like brings a lot of hope to people. And Christmas is already like seasonal depression and like financial death.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

All the things we've already talked about. Yeah. Uh yeah. And then like Caroline.

SPEAKER_07 40:25

Caroline. Yeah, so you get it. You get it.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

Yeah, I do. Um no, I I uh Brianna, what's your favorite Christmas movie?

SPEAKER_07 40:36

My favorite Christmas movie is um The Grinch.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Yeah, that talk about change.

SPEAKER_07 40:43

Because everyone knows a Grinch in their family.

SPEAKER_05 40:46

Like, do you mean okay, so this this is very important. Is it I never pay attention to the titles, but do you mean the animated Grinch? The first one. The very first. Do you mean Jim Carrey? Or do you mean that new one that came out that was kind of like also emanated. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

The emanated, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 41:06

Well, number one, the anemone. The ineminable. Um, I haven't seen the newest one that's like kind of CGI or whatever. The first one is the one that I fell in love with.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 41:16

Where it's like, you know, lighthearted and you still like there's this curmudgeon who blah blah blah blah blah. But the second one with Jim Carrey has like a lot of character development and you get a lot of backstory, and that is like what steals my heart is like getting to know that character and understanding why he's the way that he is.

SPEAKER_05 41:33

Do you know that I went to that movie and I balled my eyes out whenever he was like little and um all the students were like making fun of him, and you remember when he shaved his face and came to school and like they were making fun of the mayor was making fun of them? That broke my heart into a million pieces, and I was sick the rest of the movie.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

Well, I don't know if I was that upset. No, I But it was it was awful, and then like when it like comes back later when like the mayor piece of shit gives him like the razor and stuff, you're like, yeah, because he'd just been having like such a great time for whatever the fuck it was called.

SPEAKER_07 42:12

That abandon, the umda cheermeister, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

Like when he goes to do that and everything's like working out really well, and you're like, hmm, things maybe he won't try to steal Christmas.

SPEAKER_07 42:24

Yeah. And we need to do that. They give him a reason to. Yeah. I mean it shows the effect of bling, you know.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. No, I um I think in that same aspect, like I think um one of the questions that I've written down is like what makes a a really good Christmas movie? And I think all the ones that have this like really powerful, like not even necessarily a message, because they don't always have a message. Sometimes it's just like one act of kindness, but like the main character or the main antagonist or something along those lines has to go through some sort of change to get to the end. And I think my favorite one is Scrooged. And if you haven't seen Scrooged, it's just a Christmas carol, but with Bill Murray. And instead of owning a bank, he owns a TV. You know, it's very, very similar, but he's visited by three ghosts, and he has this like huge epiphany that he's a piece of shit, which everyone can relate to.

SPEAKER_07 43:23

And a man perfect.

SPEAKER_00 43:26

Yeah, well, not you, of course. No. You're the ghost of Christmas.

SPEAKER_06 43:31

The ghost of the ghost of Christmas, period.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

Period. Period. Um, but no, he has this like 20-minute speech um about how the world should just be a better place and that people should be better because and not just on Christmas, they should be better all the time. And he gets really like emotional and worked up like while he's saying it, and you know, then they all sing, put a little love in your heart at the end, out of nowhere. But you know, it but it still has like The same like elements of a Christmas card when you're like the little kid who doesn't talk says, God blesses everyone. He's like the one that has like quote unquote handicap. I don't know, it gets it hits hard. I don't know what it is about that. Okay, I'll be honest. I said diehard was my favorite, but it doesn't make me cry.

SPEAKER_04 44:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:16

What about um? Am I crying right now? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

No, not yet.

SPEAKER_05 44:22

What about Charlie Brown Christmas?

SPEAKER_00 44:25

I I I do love Charlie Brown Christmas. I do love the peanuts.

SPEAKER_05 44:29

That to me is so nostalgic, and they have that dinky little tree, and they still put decorations around it, and they still sing around it, and it's like such a powerful message that you don't have to go all out for Christmas. Like you don't need the biggest tree in the tree farm, and you don't need to like throw decorations all over it. You just need that little red ornament that may like knock the tree over a little bit, but they still come together and just it's all about just like the Christmas spirit, and that's like that's my whole that's my whole show.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

That's your that's what you want in a Christmas movie.

SPEAKER_05 45:04

That's what I want in a Christmas movie. That's what I want out of Christmas. I want people to feel like just that they believe in something.

SPEAKER_00 45:13

Yeah. I mean, it's weird. It is, it's like the one time of year where you collectively as a human race. Do I feel confident saying human race? Maybe, but it doesn't really matter.

SPEAKER_05 45:25

But like Well, we're all one human race.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:28

We're all different races, but we're one human race.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Yes. Yeah. That was a good call. That was a good call out. Thank you. Um but no, I everyone at Christmas time does have there is a little bit of like joyousness that happens amongst people. Um I remember last year, my mom and I went out on Christmas Eve to do like last-minute Christmas shopping, and we went to Dunkin' Donuts, and we were like caught in that chain of like the person in front of you paying for the person behind. Did you pay for the person behind you? No, we didn't. We stopped the chain. We're not good people.

SPEAKER_05 45:59

Yeah, cut that shit out. But anyway, there you and your mom went to Duncan, people paid for your drink. You did not pay for your drink.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

We did, we did, we did by the people behind us. Anytime I've ever done that though, I've always been afraid. Was like, what if they have like a corporate order of like$50?

SPEAKER_05 46:18

I swear to God, that happened to me at Duncan a few weeks ago. I went and the person, my thing was like seven dollars because I got like a wake-up wrap and a small coffee. And the person behind me is meal was like 25, and I was like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:36

Yeah, like I already committed. I already committed hard.

SPEAKER_05 46:40

I said, what the hell did they get?

SPEAKER_00 46:41

No, I didn't say they think they is.

SPEAKER_05 46:46

I'm only gonna pay eight dollars of that.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:48

That's not Christmas spirit, you guys.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

No, that's not Christmas spirit. No. But that would make you a Grinch.

SPEAKER_07 46:57

Nothing, nothing. We'll talk about it later.

SPEAKER_00 47:05

Um so this year we also did have quite a few new Christmas movies come out. Any honorable mentions, anything? Um I guess the one that I have is not new, but it came out last year, but I watched it this year. And it was last Christmas on HBO. And I really, really loved it. It was very, very it wasn't it wasn't a typical Christmas. It had a little bit of a weird ending, but it was sweet and it was cute, and it was British, so I felt sophisticated because anytime I watch a British movie or a movie set with British people in it, and I'm like, mm-mm, yes.

SPEAKER_05 47:50

I want to talk about the two uh Christmas movies that I watched that had all uh uh queer leading casts. The first being Happiest Season on Hulu, which there was like a lot of so I I liked it. I watched it, I said that was a great movie, and um I'm gonna give some spoilers, but basically it was a movie about a lesbian couple going home to the one uh partner's home, and she has never been out to her family. So it was kind of a there was a uh whole situation where um there was an ultimatum, like are we going, we're either gonna be together or we're not gonna be together because you're not who you are, you're not your true self to your family. And the family comes around and it's just I thought it was a great movie, but then I looked online and people hated it. And queer Twitter and queer TikTok were up in arms. They did not love it. So then I watched this other movie that I didn't know was uh LGBTQIA plus friendly. I had I had no idea. It was just called um Christmas a Christmas wedding in New York City. It was a name. And I watched it and it was uh I'm also gonna give some spoilers here, but it was about a girl who uh was about to get married to this guy, and an a an angel, a gay angel visited her and they do exist and said one is among us right now. He's like, I'm gonna take you back to a certain time, a certain day in time where um you feel like I I think it was like you made like your biggest mistake or whatever, and it was when her and her best friend um on Christmas Eve her best friend blew her off for like this guy, and she was like, Don't ever talk to me ever again. So in this movie, um, when she went back in time, she was just like, Okay, it's fine, like I'll see you another day. And her friend ended up coming over and the whole story was like in the in the future with them as a lesbian couple, as opposed to her being with this guy. I don't know, but I didn't like it. I was like, this is this is tacky, like this is like beyond the quintessential homework Christmas movie, like this is just bad. But then I looked online and everyone loved it. They were like, it's like the it's the best representation of the queer community. Um, the lead character not only was a lesbian, but she was a woman of color, and they were just celebrating it. Yeah, which was great. But I was like, can we are we we're not we're all getting past the fact that this movie is terrible. Like the plot is a very good thing.

SPEAKER_00 50:51

We're gonna say it's great because of representation.

SPEAKER_07 50:54

Yeah. I started watching it twice and I couldn't make it past those first couple of scenes. It's so bad. Because it was so bad, and I watch garbage.

SPEAKER_00 51:03

So let's sort of talk about a l a little bit about um there are Christmas movies, quote unquote Christmas movies out there that I don't think fall into the Christmas movie category.

SPEAKER_06 51:22

Die Hard.

SPEAKER_00 51:25

Right there and ready, didn't you? Um shooting right on my hair. And let me just say someone posted on my Facebook because I watched Die Hard 2 and I posted, and literally at the end of it, he says he tears up John McLean's parking ticket and says, It's Christmas. I'm like, okay, well, there's the proof you need. But okay, and so here's how I think people should classify Christmas movies. So somebody posted on my Facebook wall author, I like posted that. They had this whole thing where they um compared Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, which people also associate with a Christmas as a Christmas movie because it also happens on Christmas Eve. So Lethal Weapon happens on Christmas Eve. You could take the fact that it happens on Christmas completely out of the movie and set it any other time in the movie still makes sense. You can't do that with Die Hard because and here's straight up facts the plot of Die Hard relies on the fact that it's Christmas because the terrorists had to break into this building at a point where there was little security, there were still people in the building, but not enough that they would be taken over, like a Christmas party. Um and like you can't take like you couldn't place this on like Thanksgiving. It wouldn't make sense. You don't have a Thanksgiving party. No, what? Does your office have a Thanksgiving party?

SPEAKER_05 53:09

No. But they give us gifts for Thanksgiving? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:16

That must be nice. But to make a long story short, diehard. You can't take Christmas out of diehard and have it make sense.

SPEAKER_07 53:26

Stop justifying your favorite movie.

SPEAKER_00 53:28

I'm sorry, it just wouldn't make sense.

SPEAKER_05 53:30

I just looked online and they said the other Christmas movies that aren't Christmas movies, they said home alone.

unknown 53:36

True.

SPEAKER_05 53:37

Because they technically traveled right the day after Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 53:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 53:41

Or like Christmas Day is when they got on their flight together. So that's another one.

SPEAKER_00 53:44

You could take Christmas out of that and it would still make sense.

SPEAKER_05 53:47

Because it just was a December movie. It was a trip, yeah. They also said Gremlins. And I don't remember Gremlins. I haven't really I haven't watched it in a long time. And another one was um they said It's a wonderful life. Christmas movie, as much as it's like a uh It's a little winter movie?

SPEAKER_00 54:05

Yeah, it's a fantasy winter movie, financial hardship movie. Yeah. Well it's another one of those like sort of like like Family Man, like it it takes place on Christmas and then it goes into the future. Like the a lot of the events don't happen and then it goes back at the end.

SPEAKER_07 54:22

But it does have that important part of like the falling of a hero or like the change of character, the lot of Christmas. The change, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:29

I find it weird that yeah.

SPEAKER_07 54:31

What about this?

SPEAKER_00 54:32

There's changes in diehard.

SPEAKER_05 54:34

Yeah, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:35

Alan Rickman die. Oh well, he is dead. But he dies in oh, spoiler, sorry. But that changed in real life. It's a big change.

SPEAKER_05 54:43

And in Harry Potter. Would you consider Harry Potter a Christmas movie? Because Christmas happened. Um but this movie came out this year, or maybe it was last year, but I saw it this year. But the holiday on Netflix. And I was like, oh, it's a Christmas movie. It was so long. They went through every goddamn holiday. They really did. Every holiday. Not Arbor Day.

SPEAKER_07 55:06

Including Cinco de Mayo.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

But not Arbor Day.

SPEAKER_05 55:09

Yeah, so maybe they don't know their holidays and what people say. But whatever, whatever. But I really thought it was a Christmas movie because it started at Christmas and then it ended at Christmas. But would you guys consider it a Christmas movie? Or would you consider it a movie?

SPEAKER_07 55:22

Well again, changing of character. Which I think is super nice.

SPEAKER_00 55:25

Well, I guess in reality, I think a good movie just has a change in characters. Something has to happen where a character changes. But it's important during the Christmas movie for that character to change. Because without it, you just have a Christmas story.

SPEAKER_04 55:40

Okay, but then Christmas story.

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Alright, well that about wraps us up. Uh we're going to go back to the heart-touching finale of Twas the Year After Christmas. Thank you guys so much for talking with me today.

SPEAKER_07 55:54

Thank you. Thank you so much for having us.

SPEAKER_00 55:57

Of course. And Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_07 55:59

Merry Christmas. God bless us, everyone. Watch the movies.

SPEAKER_00 56:03

Or don't. We'll be right back. A very drunk race bursts through the bar door, followed by Chet and James. As the door closes, we hear someone shouting, and stay out. Well, back in town for less than 24 hours and already getting kicked out of bars. Not much has changed.

SPEAKER_05 56:28

I wasn't kicked out. I left on my own.

SPEAKER_00 56:31

Of course you did, with the assistance of two bouncers.

SPEAKER_05 56:33

James.

SPEAKER_00 56:34

Being your assistant and best scalp pal, I should be sure to get you home safe. But it's just Christmas Eve, and the bartender was really cute and already told me to wait around until the last call, so.

SPEAKER_05 56:44

You can't be serious.

SPEAKER_00 56:46

I'll make sure you get home.

SPEAKER_05 56:47

I don't need you! I've got James!

SPEAKER_00 56:50

Oh, not to break that stereotype, but uh. it just seems to me like it would be better if you spent this beautiful winter night slash Christmas Eve walking home with your old boyfriend during a very strenuous time in your life. Okay, night. Merry Christmas, love you! James goes back into the bar. Well, shall we?

SPEAKER_05 57:09

Listen, Chad, I know how this looks, but I'll tell you right now that nothing will happen between us on this walk home. This is purely one person doing a nice thing for another person and nothing more, okay?

SPEAKER_00 57:22

Okay, sure.

SPEAKER_05 57:23

Excellent. Now put your arm around me and let's only take the streets with the most romantically decorated Christmas lights.

SPEAKER_00 57:30

They walk down the street, linked arm in arm. Christmas lights everywhere.

SPEAKER_04 57:34

I'm glad we decided to walk.

SPEAKER_00 57:36

Me too. What's five miles in real life seems like just ten minutes when it's Christmas.

SPEAKER_05 57:42

Chet, I've got to tell you something.

SPEAKER_00 57:45

Let me guess. That moving to the big city wasn't everything you thought it would be. That the job you have makes you the money that you want, but you spend night after night after night alone wondering why you are where you are. That when you wake up in the morning you think about what could have happened, that you've debated on coming back to tell me that you've made a mistake and that all you want is to move back home, but you're afraid of looking like a failure. And that when your parents died, it was too hard for you to be around, especially at Christmas, because everything reminds you of them, so you stayed away as much as you could this past year because you were too afraid to feel what you felt. And then you saw this jewelry box in my shop today, and it was yours when you were younger, and it brought back all of these memories of us, and you've been thinking about me ever since. By the way, I got the jewelry box for you, Merry Christmas. Does that sound about right?

SPEAKER_04 58:31

Uh no, I have to pee. But now that you mention it, yeah, that's all about right.

SPEAKER_00 58:40

Well then all I have to say is that I love you.

SPEAKER_04 58:43

Oh, Chet.

SPEAKER_00 58:44

A single tear falls down Grace's cheek as they kiss.

SPEAKER_04 58:48

Christmas is believing the things that you try to believe.

SPEAKER_00 58:51

Uh uh Oh, um uh uh what?

SPEAKER_06 58:56

Christmas is believing the things that you try to believe!

SPEAKER_00 59:00

Oh no, Grace, I heard you. I I just you know what? It doesn't matter. So does this mean that you're not selling your house or giving up the family business?

SPEAKER_04 59:08

How could I possibly?

SPEAKER_05 59:10

Because it was the year after Christmas, and my life has been changed forever.

SPEAKER_00 59:15

They kiss again as it begins to snow. It fades to a living room the next day with the old couple, James, Chet, and Grace having drinks while a fireplace roars. They are laughing and singing. The camera zooms outside where we see it snowing. As it pans farther and farther out, we see Santa's sleigh fie by, and the end written in shiny gold letters appears. The end.

SPEAKER_04 59:42

What a great holiday film.

SPEAKER_00 59:44

That was amazing. I cannot wait to watch that every year.

SPEAKER_03 59:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:48

It is a Christmas staple. I mean, I don't know who those actors even are, but they are I mean, Academy Award winning.

SPEAKER_08 59:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:56

I would be surprised if it doesn't win something. So well, um, that brings an end to uh this episode of Making a Martini, uh, the Christmas episode. Um so on behalf of all of us here at Making a Martini, uh, myself and Scooter, we just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Um if you're a fan of Making a Martini, let me know. Please leave a review, give me a rating, um, tell your friends, tell everyone you know about this podcast. Um you can literally find us anywhere you get your podcasts. So um Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, literally everything under the sun. Um and uh yeah, we look forward to more episodes. Thank you, everyone.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:40

Alright, well, I'm gonna head out.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

Oh, uh Dell, you don't have to. I mean, you can wait around a little bit if you want.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:46

Oh no, I really should go.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:48

Well, I mean I mean, look at it outside. It's kinda shitty.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:52

No, I really have to go. My family, it's it's a whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:56

Oh, well, why don't you tell me all about it?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:00

I really can't stay.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:02

But baby, it's cold outside.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:04

I gotta go ahead!

SPEAKER_00 1:01:05

But baby, it's cold outside. Put your hands there just like my mother will start to worry. Oh, what's your fireplace for the fire? Please don't.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:26

Maybe we're just gonna have a checkboard.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:32

It's real bad out there. No cabs to be had out there. Your ha your hair. Look at it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:45

I ought to say no, no.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

It's hurt my cry. It's cold outside. Well the best thing for that is to have a sip of the camera.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:07

I simply must.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:09

Baby, it's cold outside. The answer is not baby, it's cold outside.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:16

How about you dropped it?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:19

Look out the window at that door.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:23

There will be suspended.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:25

Look the lip. Wait, wait on. How many siblings?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:29

I made a man's mind.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:32

RD lift. I never got to freeze the full. Put your knees up there.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:44

You've really been crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:46

You touch my head. I like lots of things. Baby, it's cold. Baby, it's cold outside. Okay, I'll have another drink. That's what I thought. Merry Christmas, everybody.