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

A couple split up and negotiate shared custody of their dog - but when he gets depressed, they reunite for Christmas to cheer him up. It's a rock-solid premise for some light comedy, with likeable stars - Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel - and a great canine performance. But does it live up to the basic idea? And is it even Christmassy? Your host, Helen O'Hara, is joined by journalist and author Ka...

Christmas is a time of miracles, and also robberies, according to Netflix's new rom-com crime caper, wherein two plucky but dodgy young people played by Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells decide to rob a department store on Christmas Eve. In defence of these bad Santas, they have both been provoked by its awful owner (Peter Serafinowicz) - and their plan may be smarter than it looks. Here to assess...

It's not all glitzy romances and action movies at Christmas; spare a thought for the microbudget indie movies that are also set at this time of year. Take, for example, 2014's Christmas, Again from director Charles Poekel, finally hitting UK cinemas this December with its tale of a Christmas tree salesman (Kentucker Audley) trying to shuffle through the season without too much fuss. It's been desc...

What's more important: Christmas or geography? Can sexy Russian spies also be cat ladies? And is Marky Mark secretly French? All these and more questions will be answered on today's episode of Bah Humbug, the Christmas movies podcast, as we look at The Family Plan 2, Apple's Christmas-tinged sequel to the 2023 action comedy with Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan. Your host, Helen O'Hara, is join...

Cynical brand extension or charming Christmas adventure? Why not both! A Very Jonas Christmas Movie features pop siblings the Jonas Brothers on an epic quest to get home from London to spend the holiday with their families. Alas, Santa Claus (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) decides that the trio need a lesson in brotherly love so he sabotages their plans, forcing them to spend time together on the road. Wit...

Kate Winslet's directorial debut is not your typical Christmas movie. It's set mostly in a hospital, as a family gather around their dying matriarch (Helen Mirren), and features more IVs than holly-and-ivy. But it has a truly impressive cast and a surprising amount of heart and humour. To talk about it, your host Helen O'Hara is joined by Empire's news editor, Beth Webb. We also have a visit from...

This year has been relatively light on Christmas horror, but fear not. There's plenty of claret on offer in the remake of 1984's slasher Silent Night Deadly Night from director Mike P. Nelson. It's the story of a likeable drifter, Billy Chapman (Rohan Campbell), who is also a prolific serial killer. But, you know, he wears a Santa suit so it's seasonal! Horror expert Becky Darke joins your host, H...

It's not often here at Bah Humbug that we can lay claim to a genuinely great, not-graded-on-a-curve film set over the Christmas season, but say hello to Harry Lighton's Pillion, starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard. They star as a meek young man called Colin and the impossibly hot biker daddy he falls for, in a coming-of-age story about unconventional romance and figuring out what it is...

The last time Michelle Pfeiffer made a Christmas movie, the result was the great Batman Returns. Now she's back in Oh. What. Fun., starring with the likes of Felicity Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Grace Moretz, Dennis Leary, Dominic Sessa and Eva Longoria. She's the stressed-out matriarch of a Texas clan who just goes AWOL one Christmas when she is left feeling unappreciated by her family. A war...

Today's episode of Bah Humbug, the Christmas movies podcast, focuses on Tinsel Town, the new Sky film wherein a spoiled Hollywood star reluctantly agrees to do theatre in the UK - and unwittingly finds himself signed up to play Buttons in a panto production of Cinderella. Kiefer Sutherland is our hapless hero, with support from Rebel Wilson, Danny Dyer, Derek Jacobi and many more. To talk about it...

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...

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 cinema...

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'Ha...

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 pur...

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...

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)...

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 (@TomJBeasle...

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 he...

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...

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...

SHOW BLURB Welcome to Pop Culture, the podcast that puts soft drinks at the top of the menu. Helen O'Hara and Kat Brown are arts journalists who don’t drink: Helen's a life-long teetotaller, and Kat is four years sober. Join us as we explore the culture lifting soft drinks out of the dark ages, hear from guests about their favourite non-booze options, and meet the people making things delicious. I...

Folklore: not just a Taylor Swift album. In this Norway-set horror / comedy, an enraged barn elf just ruins a family Christmas in revenge for being fed fish instead of cookies. It may be a relatable beef, but it's taken to extremes in a sort of Gremlins-esque romp through Norwegian folklore. Director Magnus Martens joins us to talk about the levels of horror and humour involved, and then your host...

John Woo is back, and he's brought a Christmas movie: now that's the kind of present we like to see under the tree. Or is it? To discuss this new Christmas-set tale of revenge and voicelessness starring Joel Kinnaman, your host Helen O'Hara (@HelenLOHara) is joined by Amon Warmann (@AmonWarmann) to delve into questions of action, representation and why you should be watching For All Mankind... If...

Apple TV's big Christmas extravaganza this year is a showcase for the multi talented Hannah Waddingham, the star of Ted Lasso who is also a classically trained opera singer and Broadway star. As she gathers celebrity friends and family for an evening of Christmassy fun, Charlotte Harrison (@sometimescharlotte) joins me to talk variety shows, musical selections and hot tubs... If you want to read o...

Is it a Christmas film? Technically maybe not. But then again, yes, utterly. Paul King's follow-up to Paddington 2 is a musical, an ode to the power of chocolate and one of the most delightful films of the year, and in this episode Helen is joined by The Independent's film critic Clarisse Loughrey (@ClarisseLoughrey on Twitter) to discuss how Wonka isn't a Christmas movie but is it kinda? Kinda, i...