Old School Lane

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1976 Rankin/Bass animated special Frosty's Winter Wonderland, the sequel to Frosty the Snowman. Frosty has returned from the North Pole to the town where the children greet and play with him. However, Jack Frost is jealous of Frosty's popularity and wishes for him to go away. Meanwhile, Frosty feels lonely because he d...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. An angel named Clarence is watching the life of a man named George Bailey to help him from committing suicide so he can gain his wings. Since George has given up so much, he feels that his life is worthless. Clarence then shows up what life would have been like if he was never born. Wha...

In this episode of In Search of the Crystal Skull, 90s Christmas Movie Month continues with Arun and Patricia discussing about the 1990 comedy film Home Alone. A young boy named Kevin McCallister is left home alone after his family accidentally forgot him while heading to Paris for Christmas vacation. While his mother Kate is trying to head home, Kevin is having the time of his life. Meanwhile, tw...

In this episode of the Roald Dahl Retrospective, Patricia and Arun discuss about the 2020 Sky TV film Roald and Beatrix: The Tale of the Curious Mouse, which is based on the true events of a six year old Roald Dahl and a fifty-six year old Beatrix Potter, the writer behind the Peter Rabbit books. It's 1922 and Roald Dahl's father had recently died from pneumonia. Roald was told by his mother Sofie...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1989 action film Die Hard as requested by AOC, the New York Representative. We think. Anyway, the plot focuses on John McClane, an NYPD cop who goes to Los Angeles around Christmas Eve to patch things up with his estranged wife Holly. She is at a Christmas party at her job at the Nakatomi Plaza, but gets interrupted by...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1965 Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas based on the Peanuts comic strips by Charles Schulz. Charlie Brown is unhappy and depressed about Christmas not knowing what it really means. He sees his friends, his sister Sally, and dog Snoopy focusing on the commercialism of Christmas. He asks Lucy for advice and she...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2020 Netflix exclusive Christmas special Alien Xmas by the Chiodo Brothers. An alien named X is part of an alien race called the Klepts who steal from other planets to survive after their planet became lifeless. He is sent by Supreme Leader Z to go to their next planet, Planet Earth, to steal resources from them. He en...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2004 animated film The Polar Express based on the 1985 book by Chris Van Allsburg. A young boy has doubts of whether Santa Claus exists. One Christmas Eve, a large train named The Polar Express, is heading to the North Pole. The young boy decides to enter hoping he would get the answers he was looking for. What did Pat...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2008 animated TV special A Miser Brothers Christmas, a spin-off sequel to the 1974 Rankin/Bass Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus. The Miser Brothers are tasked to help Santa make toys and deliver them after being falsely accused of knocking down Santa's sleigh and crashing resulting in him throwing off h...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2003 British comedy film Love Actually. Over 10 subplots focusing on multiple characters occur during the last few weeks before Christmas such as the Prime Minister of England falling in love with his secretary, a rock star trying to release a hit Christmas single, a couple who recently got married and the best friend...

In this episode of In Search of the Crystal Skull, Patricia and Arun tackle another theme. This time, it's 90s Christmas movies and they start with the 1994 film Miracle on 34th Street, the remake of the 1947 film of the same name. The Cole's department store hires an old man in the street named Kris Kringle to become their Santa Claus on their Thanksgiving Day parade after firing their previous S...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2018 Illumination animated film The Grinch, based on the 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. In the town of Whoville, The Grinch hates Christmas for multiple reasons. He comes with an idea to steal Christmas from the Whos by disguising himself as Santa and grab all the gifts, trees, and food and toss...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the sequel to the 1990 film Home Alone. Taking place one year after Home Alone, the McCallister's are planning a Christmas vacation to Miami, Florida. But due to an accidental mix-up at the airport, Kevin ends up at New York. He checks in at the Plaza Hotel and takes advantage...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2016 Nickelodeon animated Christmas special Albert as requested by listeners Nasaya Lucero and Sketch Bud. Albert is a small Douglas fir tree in a flower shop who wishes to be the Christmas tree at Empire City. Albert and his girlfriend, a corn plant named Maisie, stow away at the truck of the son and granddaughter of...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1942 musical Holiday Inn. A performing trio named Ted, Jim, and Lila are doing well with their traveling act. Jim wishes to retire, marry Lila, and getting a farm in Connecticut. However, Lila is engaged to Ted and wants to continue to travel to sing and dance instead. Jim, with a broken heart, built the farm and made...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1974 Rankin/Bass Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus based on the book of the same name by Phyliss McGinley as requested by listener home9dog2blue. Santa is sick and feeling unappreciated, so he decides to take a holiday. Mrs. Claus sends elves Jingle and Jangle to find Christmas spirit all over the world....

After almost two years, the Roald Dahl Retrospective is back! In honor of Matilda the Musical being in the theaters, Arun and Patricia catch up with the remaining Roald Dahl adaptations before jumping into this new film. In this episode, they cover the 1976 BBC special James and the Giant Peach based on the 1961 book of the same name starring Simon Bell, Anna Quayle, Ann Beach, Arthur Hewlett, And...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1990 comedy film Home Alone. Kevin McCallister is neglected by his family as they're getting ready for a Christmas trip to Paris. He wishes to be home alone and gets his wish when his family rush towards the airport without knowing they left him behind. While Kevin is happy being home alone, two thieves named Marv and...

In this episode of Casual Chats, Patricia and special guest Arun Mehta from The Arun Mehta Show discuss about the 2022 biographical parody film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, based on the life of musician and performer Weird Al Yankovic. It chronicles his childhood where his parents don't approve his strange hobbies and accordion playing, his college years where he finds his talent in writing parod...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 1982 British Christmas special The Snowman based on a book of the same name by Raymond Briggs as a request by listener PhantomKitten. A young boy named James builds a snowman and is surprised when it comes to life. He brings the snowman into his house, shows him around the living room, the kitchen, his parents' room, h...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2003 comedy film Elf. A young man named Buddy was raised by elves at the North Pole and taught how to fix toys and fix Santa's sleigh. He always thought that he was different until he was told that he was adopted when he crawled into Santa's toy sack when he was a baby at the orphanage. It turns out his father is at Ne...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2019 animated film Klaus. A postman named Jesper is send to a small town called Smeerensburg when his father feels that he's too entitled and spoiled. His assignment is to receive 6,000 letters in one year or else he loses his inheritance. Things get more difficult when Smeerensburg is homed to two feuding families who...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discusses about the latest adaptation based on the classic 1843 book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the 2022 animated film Scrooge: A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge is a grouchy old man who hates Christmas. He is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley and was told that he would be visited by three s...

In this episode of 25 Days of Christmas, Patricia and Carlene discuss about the 2021 film A Boy Called Christmas based on the 2015 book of the same name written by Matt Haig. An old woman named Ruth is telling the story of a young boy named Nikolas to her niece and nephews who are going through grief after losing their mother. Nikolas and his father are woodcutters who live in the forest of Finlan...

Day 3 of 25 Days of Christmas has Patricia and Carlene discussing about the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop motion Christmas special Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer based on the 1939 booklet of the same name by Robert L. May. A young reindeer named Rudolph is treated as an outcast due to his glowing red nose. After mistreatment from his father, Santa Claus, and the other reindeer, he ran away. He meets up wi...