Family Christmas Movie Favorites, Part 1 (w/ Jeff & Donna Ables, Chase Ables, and Katy Hebert)

Eli (00:00.802)
Hello and welcome to the establishing shot a podcast where I do deep dives and two directors and their filmography's I am your host Eli price and we are taking a break from our Spielberg series for the next few episodes To do some Christmas specials with my family So I'm gonna be asking my family members what their favorite Christmas movies are This will be really special few episodes for me

And I hope it will be meaningful for you the listener to to kind of just hear from me and my family of our favorite Christmas movies and movie traditions And maybe encourage you to see some movies a Christmas new Christmas movies yourself this holiday season But today I am going to be joined by my wife's side of the family. So it'll be my father-in-law Jeff mother-in-law Donna

and then my brother-in-law Chase who's been on the podcast before and his girlfriend Katie. So I hope you enjoy hearing about their three very Christmas movies.

Eli (00:02.25)
Hi, I'm here with my mother-in-law Donna Abels and we're gonna get your favorite Christmas movie. So what is your favorite Christmas movie and why is it the best? And you can give a caveat if you want to to yours. Okay, well first of all, I don't know that it's my favorite but it's one that I like a lot and I figured you know maybe it's one that everybody wouldn't be reviewing so...

So I chose Christmas with the Cranks. Yes. This is one I haven't seen, so you're going to have to fill me in. Okay. Or I might have seen scenes from it, but not the whole thing. Okay, let me give you just the premise. This couple, the Cranks, their daughter, their only daughter, is not going to be home for Christmas this year. And so they've decided to take all the money that they would normally spend on decorations and gifts and activities.

and put all that into a tropical vacation and just leave town. And so in order to do that, they're having to avoid their neighbors because their neighbors are all trying to push the normal Christmas traditions on them and they're trying to avoid those Christmas traditions. And so there's a lot of funny things that happen with the neighbors. But then at the end, those same neighbors really show up for them in a big way.

Very heartwarming, has a good ending, but it's a lot of laughs in the middle. Yeah. Yeah. And you, do you have any special memories connected to it? well, when the book first came out, the book was called Skipping Christmas by John Grisham and my husband, Jeff, read it to our whole family and yeah, yeah, just around the living room and we all laughed, you know, while he was reading that and yeah, it was a lot of fun. Yeah. And he's a kind of a John Grisham fan, so I'm sure that was fun for him. Yeah.

So y'all went and saw it when it came out, because y'all were already familiar with it, I guess. Yeah. And the other question I have, which I think I already know the answer to is, do you watch it every year? Well, not necessarily every year. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen it several times, though. It's a lot of fun. Is there one that you do watch every year? Probably Elf. OK. Yeah. That's a good one. Elf and probably A Christmas Story. Yeah. Yeah. So for Christmas in the...

Eli (02:27.694)
Christmas with the cranks, what is your favorite like scene or line that someone says? Well there's a really funny scene where the mom is out to get a Christmas ham and it's the last minute and there's one ham left in the store and it's just hilarious her you know kind of trying her best to get that ham. What about like is there

Is there like a kind of heartwarming moment that makes it like that kind of wraps it up nice and neat like a Christmas gift? Yeah, yeah there is but I don't want to to ruin it. Yeah. Okay. But that's good to know. yeah. Yeah it is because all through the movie Mr. Crank especially is very rude to his neighbors. Yeah. And so yeah it's good to know that there is a really good ending. With that I guess along those same lines what what is it that makes for a good Christmas movie?

that you know that this that you would say this has. Yeah, well you know it's got all the all the tradition you know I love that all the you know the Christmas parties the Christmas food the Christmas decorations you know the even caroling stuff like that yeah. Yeah. I like all of What about like thematically like what do you what do you look for in a Christmas movie? You know I like something different.

And I would say this is different. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, I think that's good. That's that's all we need. And so thanks for sharing that. That's Christmas in the cranks. I don't know if anyone else is going to pick that. So I think it's a good pick. Thank you. You're welcome.

Eli (00:01.228)
Hey, I'm here with my father-in-law now, Jeff Abels. And yeah, we're gonna get your favorite Christmas movie now. What do you got? Okay, so my favorite Christmas movie has to be A Christmas Story, Ralphie, The Red Ryder BB Gun. It's just the best. Mom and Dad, like they don't even think they have names. Yeah, I know, right? It's just Mom Love it, man. Absolutely love it. Yes. And why would you say it is the best?

I love the nostalgia of it. I love how it revisits a simpler time. And it's just a ton of fun. And then it's got some sentiment as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Do you have any like special memories tied to it? Well, we watch it every year. So it's kind of a tradition. And so I guess that's what makes it special for me, you know.

Do you remember when it came out, like seeing it back Gosh, it's been so long. You know, it's a fairly old movie. And I'll tell you this about that film is that it's not just my favorite Christmas film. It would be in my probably top 20 just films. It's so well done. Yeah, it is. Great acting, great writing, great directing. It's super. It's really well written for sure. For sure. And I love the narration. Yes. That's like part of what makes it so special.

Yeah, and you can do narration so wrong. For sure. It can ruin a movie. But in this case, it wouldn't be the same without it. Yeah, for sure. And you already said you watch it every year, which is a good sign that you found your favorite Christmas movie. Yeah. you watch it every year. Yeah, and enjoy it every year. It never gets long in the tooth. yeah. Yeah. Did you ever watch it like...

There's like channels that'll do like the 24 hours. Yeah. I don't know that I would just enjoy keeping watching it, you know, all in one season, but definitely at least once every year. Yeah, for sure. We take it in. yeah. What would you say are your favorite like scenes or lines from the movie? I love like when he starts daydreaming about what he's going to do with that Red Ryder. That's a ton of fun. You know, the

Eli (02:18.122)
Iconic flagpole tongue froze to the yes flagpole scene. It's a great one It's just got so many great scenes so many great lines. Just love it Yeah, and what so I guess like the last thing would be You know, it's always good to think about you're you're picking a favorite Christmas movie So there's got to be something that makes a Christmas movie a good Christmas movie Yeah, so what is in this movie that you would say like?

makes for a good Christmas movie? Like you need these elements in it for it to be up there for you. I think probably this film more than, I mean we have a lot of Christmas movies that we enjoy, but I love how it captures the childhood experience of Christmas, the magic of Christmas for, you know, like through a kid's eyes. I think that is...

Just magic, think is powerful. Yeah, absolutely. That's great. I think that's all the questions I have unless you had a final thought about a Christmas story. No, again, I love a Christmas movie that marries...

some good laughs, but with some sentiment as well. think you got to have some heartwarming stuff. sure. Yeah. So spirit of Christmas. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Yeah. A Christmas story. We might be hearing that one again in a different episode. We'll see. a lot of people's favorite. yeah. But thank you so much. My joy.

Eli (00:01.282)
Hi, I'm here now with my brother-in-law, Chase Abels, and yeah, it's your turn. Yeah! We're gonna get your favorite Christmas movie. What you got? So I'm actually not going with the movie. I am going with an episode of the classic Twilight Zone series. Okay. I think it's the Christmas episode in the second season. It's called Night of the Meek. Night of the Meek. Yeah! With Art Carney. Okay, yeah.

And I've seen this before, I think with you, but it's been a long time. So I can't really like remember a ton about it. Fill us in on like the concept. So concept is, concept is there's a mall Santa in a town. He lives in like the kind of rundown poor part of town. He's unemployed most of the year.

This is just kind of a gig that he, you know, can recurrently get. And he's an alcoholic. We open on him in the bar. Yes. Getting drunk before his shift, working as small Santa. Of course. Of course. And he goes to work and kind of stumbles over himself and makes a bit of a scene. And...

This one particular mother feels very offended by this drunk mall Santa and makes a fuss and gets him fired. But before that he gives a very touching speech. And from there, Twilight's own magic-y things start happening to him and he becomes Santa Claus. Yes. That's the best. When someone becomes Santa Claus...

I feel like that's the best. really is. Yeah. And you really, this must be a really good pick because there happens to be a Thursday night high school football game going on nearby with the drum line going that you can probably hear in the background and they must really like your pick for your favorite Christmas movie. They're celebrating it out there. But yeah, do you have any like special memories tied to that one?

Eli (02:22.804)
I, nothing really specific. It's just, I don't know. I watched a lot of like old classic television like that growing up, like Twilight Zone and Andy Griffith and different things. And it was an episode that I had seen as a kid and really liked. And then when I grew up, it just kind of became a thing that I watched every year and I still watch it every year. Yeah.

Yeah, and I've been saying that's a good sign of a good Christmas movie is if you do want to watch it every year For sure. What what would you say is like your favorite scene or line or or whatever? Probably It's kind of hard with twilight zone because you don't want to give like too much away. Sure. It's probably either His big speech right before he gets fired

or towards the end there's a scene of just him talking to one of his friends kind of after the night's done, it's not Christmas anymore, the magic has kind of settled and it's just kind of just talking and he has this line where his friend asks him like, okay, well you didn't get anything, know, who's taking care of you this Christmas? And he goes, I can't think of anything else I would want.

You know after being able to like bless everyone in this community and it's it's yeah. Yeah. Yeah I guess like along those same lines. What is it? About this movie that you would say makes for a good Christmas movie in general like when you look for a good Christmas movie you look for these things and you find it in the night of the meek

Eli (04:12.77)
So this is, I don't know, it's different than most Christmas movies. There's a lot of things that I might look for in a Christmas movie that is not in this. know, it's not, you know, it's not a ton of fun. It's not bright and colorful. It's not overly cheerful, but it's very sincere. And it really speaks to like the heart of Christmas as a holiday. it, you know, it reminds you that, you know,

Christmas is a time to think about the less fortunate. Christmas is a time to, you know, express, you know, love. Like, giving is great, giving things away is great, but it's, you know, if it's not done with love, what's the point? Yeah, like deeper than just giving. Yeah, deeper than just giving. And, you know, it's a reminder to not just, you know, treat people any old way, you know, you know.

going through the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and the stressfulness of that time, not to lose sight of the humanity of everyone else. And to like, kind of look at the people around you that you would see as kind of the dregs of society and remember that they're human and they probably have things to teach you. They might be better people than you. And, you know, to love them. Yeah. No, that's really great. And I think that is like,

I can think of like a few Christmas movies that I really like that kind of have that same thing going on like, you know, like Miracle on 34th Street and even more recently, the Holdovers kind of has that going on. So yeah, no, I think that's really good. But yeah, that's really all we have. So that is the Twilight Zone episode called The Night of the Meek and it's in, we believe, season two of the Twilight believe so. Yeah. So you can look it up. think it's on...

What is the Twilight Zone on? Is it on Macs? It seems like maybe Macs or Amazon. I think it's on Peacock. It's on whatever Jordan Peele's new one is on, which I think is Peacock. Maybe so, yeah. So, you can find it. Yeah, it's on Amazon's free streaming service. I think it's on 2B. I think it's on a bunch of things, yeah.

Eli (06:37.656)
Well that's probably one that a lot of people haven't seen, so that'll be a good suggestion, a good new one to watch this season. Hopefully. Yeah, thanks. Sure. Merry Christmas.

Eli (00:01.272)
Hey, I am here now with my brother-in-law's girlfriend. It feels like she's family. it's been what, almost, it's been almost five years I think. Yeah, yeah, so I mean she's at all of our family stuff, but her name is Katie and yeah, we're gonna get your favorite Christmas movie. So what did you choose? I picked Home Alone. Okay. So to be honest, when I found out you were doing this and I was like...

man, do I even have a favorite Christmas movie? And honestly, I technically I don't think so, but honestly, I feel like Home Alone just works outside of that. It just is a good movie. I feel like the humor holds up because that was what, early 90s? Yeah, and I mean, it's got Joe Pesci and you know, what more could you want? And who's the mom? Yeah, the mom is...

I can't say Katherine Hahn, but that's not who that is. No, Katherine O'Hara. Yes. What an icon. I mean, I mean, Macaulay Culkin's great. yeah. Yeah, for sure. What a trooper. And you were saying you kind of grew up just watching it year round. Yeah. We like we when we go on like our Easter camping trips, I would watch just Home Alone. I would wear that VCR out. Yeah. So, yeah. And I just feel like, I don't know, it's cozy and fun.

All the hijinks you could want. Yes. It's just it's just always a fun time and it holds up really well. Yeah. And you do you have any like specific memories tied to it from like childhood or whatever? Or is it just like watching it all the time? Yeah, I remember we had a camper and we would go to like Arkansas a lot. I remember like in the back of it, there were like two sets of bunk beds and like a little built in like thing for the TV. Old TV, you know.

That would just sit on the ground just watching the VHS in like April. Yeah. And do you still watch it like every year? I try to at least once. Yeah. I don't... That's a good sign of a good Christmas movie. Yeah. You do want to watch it every year. Yeah. And it doesn't get old because sometimes I'll watch something and I'm like, I just watched that and I watched it like seven years ago. Yeah. But I feel like it really holds up and it's always a fun time. Absolutely. What's what would be like a favorite scene or line from the movie that you can recall?

Eli (02:23.918)
I was thinking about today, it played through my head of him going, Buzz, your girlfriend, woof. Yes, when he's digging through his stuff. I was like, kind of right. He's not, you know, I hate to say it. And just like all the physical gags. Normally I'm not like big on physical comedy like that, but they, I mean, I get Joe Pesci and...

I can't think of his name either. He's also fantastic. They're both great. yeah. And what, so what, what would you say is in Home Alone that just makes for what you like, a good Christmas movie in general, like what you look for in a Christmas movie that you find here in Home Alone? I guess those like, you know, like fuzzy holiday feelings, I guess. Like, you know, at the end.

Everyone comes together. It's, my family does love me. know, my mom did all this to like get back to me for Christmas and I got my Christmas wish. And I don't know. It's just, you know, yeah, it's not too sappy, I guess. Because sometimes I feel like Christmas movies are really like laying it on thick sometimes. Sometimes. Yeah. I'm like, OK, I get it. know, Christmas magic. Sure. But let's. Yeah. Calm down a little bit. Yeah. Let's let's let's laugh a lot and then throw it there then.

as the frosting on top at the end. Not everything has to be like a Hallmark movie. But I feel like it has just enough of the, you know, just a little spice just to keep it fun. Absolutely. Yeah. And you like the first one more than the second one. Yeah, I do. I mean, you're wrong, but that's OK. Everybody can have their own. OK. Then you didn't know I was going to put you on blast. can't beat the original. Yeah, it's fair. don't.

I can't really argue against it. So that's just a personal preference thing. Yeah, plus I feel like comparing them I feel like the the old the old lady in the in the second one She still is just sad at the end Yeah, cuz at least in the first one though all the neighbor at least he gets to see his son and granddaughter again Like everyone ends up happy except buzz see I in my imagination imagined her like finding new friends and stuff

Eli (04:43.08)
Yeah, but I don't want have to. I want to see it though. I need to know that she's okay and not just wandering around with all the birds. Yeah, I mean, you know, there's nothing wrong with the birds. I pigeons are cool. Yeah. I hear they're like, you know, they used to be domesticated. So, you know, it's like she just has a bunch of cats that can fly. Yeah, basically. She's like a cat lady but pigeons. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, well, that's great. So we look for a movie that...

So kind of also like heartwarming and resolved yes, okay, so that's good well Unless you have any final thoughts on home alone, which is a great pick. I think I think that's all we got for I've never seen the third one. I don't know if I have either so it's not with McCauley Culkin It's not it's not I don't think it exists. I remember because I bought you know movie Anastasia

So I played through that a lot also as a kid and on the VHS that was one of the previews and I remember seeing it and being like I'm just gonna say alternate. It doesn't exist. No, cuz it There's just one and two That's okay, you don't have to cuz for all we know it doesn't actually

Yeah, that's none of my business really. Home Alone does and it's a great pick so but yeah, thank you. Yeah, thank you.

Eli (00:01.85)
I hope you enjoyed those segments with my wife's side of the family and their favorite Christmas movies. I had a, no, I had a good time myself. but yeah, I hope you join me next week to hear from my side of the family, my mom and dad and sister and brother-in-law, and my nephew's a baby, so maybe not him, but we'll see. but yeah, until next week, I've been Eli Price for my wife's side of the family.

You've been listening to the establishing shot. We will see you next time.