After Lunch Michael May

This year on the podcast we're going to be all about Holiday Spirit movies: films that are undeniably about Christmas, but don't heavily feature supernatural or magical elements like toy-making elves or flying reindeer. We'll be re-running a bunch of discussions of these kinds of movies from Michael's old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast, but to kick things off, Michael and Rob talk about Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis in Happiest Season. The movie seems like a standard romantic comedy at first, but there are plot twists and a fantastic cast that includes Mary Steenburgen, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Victor Garber, and Dan Levy.
And stay tuned for a spoiler-filled discussion of Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas at the end.

Michael and Rob welcome back Jacob Bean-Watson to talk about another tangential Christmas movie this year. Though it may be more than just tangential. It's Roy Del Ruth's It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a charmingly relevant story about a group of homeless people who take shelter in a mansion over Christmas (although unbeknownst to most of the group, some of them are the house's actual owners). The movies stars Victor Moore, Hazel's Don DeFore, Gale Storm, Ann Harding, Charlie Ruggles, and Gilligan's Island's Skipper himself: Alan Hale Jr. 

As the Christmas celebrations continue on After Lunch, Michael and Rob welcome back Jody Collins to the show to talk about one of his favorite Christmas movies. It's Serendipity, starring John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Piven, Molly Shannon, Bridget Moynahan, and John Corbett. The movie is a sweet and funny love story with some lovely surprises, but it also raises philosophical questions about fate, free will, and the romantic notion of The One. 

Happy Holidays! To kick off a busy Christmas season on the show, Michael and Rob welcome back Mike Westfall (Advent Calendar House) to discuss this year's Christmas Carol adaptation. It's Edwin L Marin's 1938 film starring Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit. The movie makes severe cuts to the story while adding other plot elements, but that's not all. There are also bad wigs, the most cheery Fred ever, a super cute Ghost of Christmas Past, and much much more.

Michael, Rob, Jody Collins, and Becky Tyler each create a mixtape with ten of their favorite '80s songs. Some songs have personal importance, others are simply iconic, but all 40 help define the decade musically for our panel. Listen and let us know which playlists most reflect your taste and what songs (whether we mentioned them or not) best exemplify the '80s for you.

Michael and Jess finish Universal's solo Frankenstein movies with The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) before checking out the introduction of Lon Chaney Jr's iconic werewolf character in The Wolf Man (1941). Then they wrap up with the creation of Universal's Monster Cinematic Universe in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).