Tinseltown - The Holiday Movie Podcast

From a universe with terrible sound quality on both ends (sorry), Lara and I review Leap Year, a movie that is MARGINALLY about leap years.

The Mayor's wifi is still on the other side of a dimensional vortex, so this week, we're stopping off in the Labor Day universe to look at "Salt of the Earth", a fairly mild melodrama containing nothing anyone could disagree with, yet was SOMEHOW considered horrifying communist propaganda in the 50s.

This week, despite the swirling vortex in the Mayor's home office, everything goes completely normally. We're Ross and you're the boss.

Bringing guest month to a very unconventional end, Maggie, whose name is embarrassingly mispronounced in this episode, joins me to talk about "Barbie Princess Charm School", a movie my students made me watch.

Alonso Duralde joins us again to discuss ANOTHER Christmas Carol musical, this time starring Kelsey Grammer, Jane Krakowski, Jesse L. Martin, Jason Alexander, and probably also some people who weren't on NBC shows.

Tim Montoya joins us again to talk about Trapped in Paradise, a movie that he loves, yet freely admits isn't very good. It's a 1994 comedy that feels like it was made in 1987, written and directed by someone who - and this isn't a joke, just a true behind the scenes fact - utterly did not care.

Lisa Kopitsky rejoins us to go over what is, the the great shame of the Jewish people, the biggest Hanukkah movie of all time, "Eight Crazy Nights". In this episode, we discuss Adam Sandler's singing voice, the film's confused ethics, and why all basketball movies are Hanukkah movies.

Chant MacLeod joins the Mayor to discuss "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians", one of the shiniest gems from 1964, which was just... just a TERRIBLE year for film.

This week, Maggie Rowbotham of "Endeavor" and "Kids Love Batman" joins the Mayor to talk about the fairly recent creature feature "Krampus"!  

Lights, please. In this episode, Sarah and Brian recap "The Nativity Story", a boring and bad movie that everyone already knows the plot of anyway. Topics covered include whether Sarah's daughters are better than Jesus (yes), whether you'd know these people are good actors from watching this (no), and whether donkeys are waterproof (unclear at best).

The Christmas Boys take another crack at the current culture's most dominant form of blockbuster with Shazam!, a superhero movie that didn't exactly bust any blocks, but is very good. The Christmas Boys are Brian and Robbie.

The Mayor and Colleen get embrangled in a sea of dames as they review the truly bizarre POV film noir "The Lady in the Lake".

Anton and the Mayor join forces for an alarmingly sloppy Rankin-Bass Santa origin story... No, this is the other one. "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town".

David joins us to talk about "Just Getting Started", a movie that asks the question "What happens when a reasonably accomplished sports movie director does a mob comedy with two acting legends?" The answer: Nothing worth watching!

We might have to shut down for good after this thick slice of Canadian bacon, "Christmas in Wonderland". This week, Lara unofficially officially joins the mayoral staff, the Mayor almost burns down his apartment, we name a new Tinseltown All-Star, and we have our lives spiritually transformed by a sublime filmmaking experience. Also there may be a ghost.

1 - Don't expose him to light. 2 - He hates loud music. 3 - Ass, gas, or grass, no one rides free. IT'S GREMLINS!

The Rom-Comtesse, Emily, has returned with her quarantine partner Spencer in tow, and she's brought "The Holiday". This one had to be done over the phone, so the sound quality is... variable.

Coming at you almost live from inside a small orb of glass and metal, the Mayor is joined by Justin to review that classic-ass classic, "A Christmas Story"! Hope y'all like NOSTALGIA, because Jean Shepherd ain't the only one doling it out this week.

Little Sweet comin' on the podcast! You deserve a sweeeeeeet episode of Tinseltown! OW! Nothing unusual happens in this one.

You're a socially distancing one, Mr. Grinch, and Courtney and the Mayor go a little loopy reviewing your latest movie, which frames you as a sort of depressed millennial. But hey. Hey. You're all right.

Anton and the Mayor take a look at another movie about a hot Christmas toy, but this time, it's SCAAAAARY! Allegedly. It's "Pooka!", a competently directed and incompetently scripted movie that paints us into the corner of having to watch at least six made for TV horror films.

Barbara Stanwyck's ever-horny Christmas journey begins here in 1940, and you know Colleen is here for it. It's "Remember the Night", written by Preston Sturges!

Hey, all! Just a special announcement of a FREE film commentary for everyone over at our Patreon page, and some info on the incredible range of wild and weird stuff we have on offer there.

Emily and the mayor look at the 1998 Jonathan Taylor Thomas vehicle "I'll Be Home for Christmas". A movie which... Look, we aren't making any of this up. Everything we say actually happens in this almost belligerently weird movie. This was recorded six months ago, and I still haven't finished Pride and Prejudice.

Flonk's here. We're watching Shazam, and nothing is going to go wrong.