Family Christmas Movie Favorites, Part 3 (w/ Robin Price & my kids)

Eli (00:01.008)
Hello and welcome to the Establishing Shot, podcast where we do deep dives into directors and their filmographies. I am your host Eli Price and we are here on episode 75 of the podcast. And yeah, it's another Christmas special episode. This one is very special because it is me and my wife and my two kids joining me today to talk about our favorite Christmas movies.

So I hope you will enjoy this. We're gonna kick things off with my kids and then my wife will share hers and I will end it with mine. And so yeah, I hope you enjoy this episode.

Eli (00:00.962)
Hi, I'm here with my little daughter. She is just not quite two years old. What is your name, little girl? What's your name? Elsie. Say Elsie. huh. Elsie, what is your favorite Christmas movie? Pooh Pooh Bear? Say it louder. Pooh Bear. Pooh Bear. You like A Very Merry Pooh Year?

Yeah, why do you like Pooh Bear?

You don't know? What do you like that Pooh Bear does? I don't know. You like Pooh Bear? Who else? Piglet? Yeah. Who else? Tigger? Yeah. Anybody else? Owl. And anybody else? Rabbits. huh. And I know there's another movie you like.

that this guy is in. Who is this? And what movie is he in? The Grinch. That's right. All right. Anything else you have to say about your favorite Christmas movie? No. No? Okay. Say bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Eli (00:01.358)
Alright, now I am here with my cute little son. What is your name little boy? Ezekiel Wilder Price. And this is Grinch. That's true. And why do you have that Grinch? Is it because the Grinch is your favorite Christmas movie? Which Grinch do you like the most? Because there's a few of them. I like all three. You like all three? But what's your favorite?

Eli (00:30.7)
The regular one. The old one? one that we watched the other night? Why do you like that one the most, do you think?

Eli (00:46.103)
Yeah, okay, do you like the songs in it more or what? Yeah, you know what I like in it I like when Grinch the way Grinch puts his face on Max when he walks to him You like the new one too, don't you the one with the big fat reindeer named Fred It's newer. Yeah, it's newer than the old one

I didn't know that. Yeah. You like that one too, huh? What's your favorite part of that one? It's the... It... When...

Eli (01:28.866)
That Fred shoots whipped cream out of his nose. Yeah, that is funny when he shoots whipped cream out of his nose. Okay, bye bye. See you tomorrow. I guess we're done. You're all done? Okay, Grinch. That's Ezekiel's recommendation. Any of the Grinches. Yep. Just go watch any of the Grinches, right? See Grinch's body. Bye bye.

Eli (00:01.652)
I am now here with my lovely, beautiful, darling wife, Robin, making her first ever podcast appearance ever for any podcast. Any podcast. Yeah. So I feel very special and honored, of course, to have her on out of her comfort zone on camera. This is how.

I know she loves me. This was a test of love in the Christmas season. thanks for coming on, babe. You're welcome. I do love you. So you want to just, let's just get straight to the point, huh? So you can be done. Okay. What is your favorite Christmas movie? Hot Frosty, obviously. Yeah. Hot Frosty for sure.

No, it's a Christmas story. We did watch hot frosty. We did and it was pretty hilarious. We laughed all the way through Definitely worth a watch this this holiday season. Thank you Netflix, I guess But what would you say it was a Christmas story a Christmas story? Okay, so you I don't know if you realize this you're the third person who's taking a Christmas story Well, so it's the clear winner Absolutely overall. It's the best Christmas movie. Yeah 100 %

I mean, it's not my favorite, but it's my second favorite. So it's a close second. Yeah. But we'll get to mine. But so why is A Christmas Story the best? It's hilarious and it's nostalgic and it's somewhat relatable. Like you can kind of see yourself or your family a little bit reflected in those characters. Yeah. But.

It's just one of those movies that you can watch over and over and over again and it will never get old. It's like quintessentially nostalgic. Yeah. It's like that's what the movie is, is nostalgia. Absolutely. Yeah. And so it's weird because you can feel nostalgia even if like that wasn't your experience because the movie is like has nostalgia baked into it. So what what like special memories do you have tied to a Christmas story?

Eli (02:17.238)
So my family and I watched this movie every Christmas for as long as I can remember. Like I don't remember a Christmas going without a Christmas story. Yeah. So at least once a year, sometimes more than once frequently on Christmas Eve, that was our tradition. Yeah. Christmas Eve. Yeah. Now did y'all do like pop in the VHS DVD or did y'all watch it like on the 24 hour cycle that it would play on TV?

That's a good question. I remember so once we had the DVD Yeah, we would yeah happen the DVD player, but I remember we would catch it on TV frequently I don't know if it was the 24-hour. Yeah, but yeah, we did watch it on TV sometimes. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense Yeah, that's what it's it's funny cuz like there's probably like there was a period where you didn't have the DVD right? That wasn't a thing, right? So maybe that was when y'all just caught it on TV. It's on yeah

Everybody to the couch. So y'all did watch it every year. Have you watched it every year since then? Have you ever missed a year? I don't think so. Yeah, we watch it every year. Every year. We haven't watched it this year yet. And we need to where we got time tonight when this is done. Maybe. But yeah, that's I've told everybody that's been on so far. That's like if you don't watch it every year, then it's not really your favorite. Yeah. So we watch it every year. Yeah. Yeah.

And okay, so what is your favorite scene or line or both? You don't have to pick just one you can do favorites. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Well the whole movie is my favorite No, okay when When so, you know dad has the leg lamp. Yes Mom knocks it over breaks it and he comes in here and he's you know quivering with rage He says go get the glue

And she delivers this line so perfectly with this calm, controlled sass. She says, we're out of glue. And then he says, you used up all the glue on purpose. You know what's funny is when my mom was on last week, I quoted that line. Did you really? She was saying that was one of her favorite scenes too. it's so good. It's so good. The delivery is fantastic. yeah. Yeah. Any other?

Eli (04:41.654)
Specific you know when Randy's got his little snow suit on and he says I can't put my arms down That's a classic line. Everybody says that one wanted to live in a place where we could do that to our kids Like have them so bundled where they couldn't put their arms down. Yeah alas We live in South, Louisiana Maybe one day we'll visit somewhere But yeah, okay, so We'll save this question

last we'll answer this last question together because it's not tied to the movies necessarily but but yeah you you wanted to interview me for mine i did so go for it yeah i get to play the ball caster now the ball's in your court okay so hi eli thanks for coming on my podcast yeah you're very welcome i hear you like movies sort of yeah

Welcome to my podcast about movies. I'm glad that you're here. I wanted to ask you, what is your favorite Christmas movie? My favorite Christmas movie is the best Christmas movie. sitting on the shelf right here over my shoulder. If you're watching right next to a Christmas story and it is a Muppets Christmas Carol. That's debatable. It's not the first, the best. No, it is. This is my favorite Christmas movie. You asked me what my favorite Christmas movie was.

Okay, why is it your favorite? Okay, so Muppet Christmas Carol. It's everything you want in a Christmas movie. It's funny. It's sentimental. It has a classic Christmas story. It has Gonzo pretending he's Charles Dickens and narrating the story. has it has Michael Caine. Yeah, Michael playing it.

He's playing Scrooge straight while all the Muppet shenanigans are going on around him. It's perfect Yeah, it makes me laugh. It has fantastic songs. The songs are really sweet and catchy. Yeah It's grown on me and it's just Yeah, it's everything I want in a Christmas movie the songs the Christmas the snow the classic tale the laughter the sentimentality

Eli (07:00.878)
It's just all of it. It just has it all. Yeah. You know what? In reading A Christmas Carol with Ezekiel, I keep referring to it in my mind. I keep referring to that movie. Like, that's what comes to mind. It's just good. And I've watched other versions of A Christmas Carol, obviously. I'm going to try to knock out at least one more version this year if you want to watch one with me. yeah, like the animated one with Jim Carrey playing Scrooge.

That I think Robert Zemeckis did it's okay There's there's one that there's the really old one from the 30s is like it's me Yeah, it's not great to me. Okay But there's a couple of versions that I do want to see That are like older that I think I'll probably like but none of them I don't feel are gonna touch. I'm up at Christmas Carol. It's just it's the best. It's my favorite and yes, I

Do you watch it every year? was about to ask. Do you watch it every year? So this wasn't always my favorite Christmas movie. No? No, I think it's really since we've been married and I started watching it every year that it's become my favorite. What would you have said before? Probably either a Christmas story or Christmas vacation, probably between those two. But this has like exceeded those.

What do you think the difference was? What made it up? Just watching it, just all the things I said. Yeah. Yeah. I just love it. It makes me laugh. I like to sing along. Yeah. So. The songs are really, really sweet. And I can watch it with our kids. Yeah. Like I can't watch a Christmas story or Christmas vacation with our kids yet. Like I can watch it with our kids every year. So that makes it even like, gives it even another boost. Cause our kids are five and two. Almost two.

So yeah, they're not ready for the other so no it could change again. Okay, but right now it's a month at Christmas Carol by By a long stretch. I guess not a long stretch over a Christmas story, but yeah, probably that's Okay, what would you say is your favorite scene or favorite line? It's hard like anytime gonzo's on on the screen and like he does this like

Eli (09:21.52)
He does this bit where he's Charles Dickens and I'm blanking on the mouse's name. He's a rat isn't a rat's name. Yeah It's not coming to me, but I'm going to keep vamping and talking while I pull it up on here But anytime gonzo is on screen and he is pretending to be Charles Dickens Rizzo Rizzo the rat he's

talking to Rizzo is always like, no, you don't. How do you know that he's inside of his house? And he's like, I'm the narrator. I'm omnipresent. It's great. I'm trying to think which the the Muppet that's the the ghost of Christmas present like the big like life size Muppet is he's great. Michael Caine is really great.

I guess like favorite, it's hard to pick like a favorite scene or line. My favorite song is probably, it's probably the one that the big ghost of Christmas present Muppet sings. Wherever you find love. It feels like Christmas. I love that song and it's fun. Yeah, I don't know. I just love all of it.

Yeah Cool. Yeah, I Think that's all the questions. Yeah, all the questions that I have prepared today on my podcast. Yeah I'm gonna turn it back over to you now. So we're gonna both answer this correct question together What things make for a good Christmas movie what things are essential? for a Christmas movie and For it to be a good Christmas movie. Okay so

For me, this is personal preference. That's fine. Okay. I want it to be funny. Okay. I don't want to cry too much. That's something I maybe a little bit. A little bit is okay. Yeah. But I would rather like cry from laughing. You know? yeah, I, I don't want to cry too much in a movie, especially a movie about Christmas time. Come on. No. Yeah. want to laugh. Christmas time is hard though. Well, yeah. And that's

Eli (11:45.936)
Understandable, but doesn't mean it's my entertainment of choice. OK, so I know this about you. Yeah, but they don't. Right. Yeah, I want to laugh. And if it's a little bit relatable, then all the better. I can see myself or I can see my family or whatever in the story or in the characters, I think that adds a little bit to it. Sure. But yeah, those are some.

qualities of a great Christmas movie for me. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. And a well sculpted snowman. well sculpted snowman that might or might not come to life. With a scarf. Yeah. And follow who knows what rules of when a snowman comes to life. Right. What things does he know it doesn't know? I don't know. Yeah. You find out as you go. He learns lots of things very quickly from YouTube. Yeah. That's true. Where all?

Once again talking about how frosty which might become a yearly watch Well, it's not a good movie but it's a fun movie to watch yes, so yeah Yeah, I think the thing that's come up with a lot of people a lot of people a lot of our family has I've done this little series is like the kind of like heartwarming sentimentality Feels like it's essential like

I feel like there's Christmas movies that I like that maybe don't have so much of that, but they would never be my favorites. Because to me, a Christmas movie has to have some sort of like special, like heartwarming sentimentality to it. Cause I feel like that's like part of the Christmas spirit and Christmas magic is that kind of like nostalgia and sentimentality and heartwarming and all of those things.

You know, I mean, it's centered around like the humble coming of God to be a man. So like, it's kind of like that coming together as a family and like loving each other despite differences or like, you know, all that. There's a few Christmas movies that like, that are great because like it's people that are so different that like come together to love each other. That's

Eli (14:09.508)
Why I really enjoyed the holdovers that came out last year is because it's kind of that sort of tale and Christmas vacation is even a little bit like that and You know, yeah, I mean Scrooge It's yeah. Yeah, he's hard to get along with you know, yes I'm very But yeah, so I think that's like the main thing and then obviously like Centered around Christmas and some way goes without saying I guess yeah sure but yeah

And you know having an element of coziness there, you kind of a cozy vibe makes sure Christmasy as well. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, and there's like there's plenty of movies that like have Christmas in them But to me it needs to be like to be a full like on Christmas movie It has to be like centered around Christmas in some way. Okay. See I disagree I think if it has the cozy Christmas vibe to it. It can be a Christmas movie like so it have to be so

Yeah, so like Little Women, there's like a scene where it's where it has centered around Christmas, but like the whole movie isn't centered around Christmas. No, but it has those other traits that you were talking about. That's sure. The mentality, the family, the connectedness. And then there is a Christmas scene and, you know, it just has that quality to it. Yeah. Yeah. And like, I'm not opposed to people considering those Christmas movies.

But like for my personal way I see it, I'll like, I think I have little women like the older 90s, is it 90s? Yeah, with the women and the writer. Right, I have that one like on my Christmas ranked list. But it's like lower down because it's not centered on Christmas enough for how I see it. I see. Yeah. So how do you feel about the line, the witch and the wardrobe? Same way. Okay. Yeah. All right.

It just doesn't have enough like, so like Die Hard, even one that people don't consider. I do because like, it's all centered around Christmas. It has Christmas stuff all throughout it. There is no cozy vibe to Die Hard. But have you ever watched it? No. Okay. I know there's not though. But it's centered, but it's about like family and like he's trying to like connect with his daughter and like family coming together.

Eli (16:34.2)
you know, it's a broken family and he's trying to like, prove that he can be, you know, there for his daughter and stuff. And it has Christmas songs in the soundtrack. So it's like, yeah, I think that's a, that would be hot. Like it's not going to be my favorite Christmas movie because it doesn't have as much Christmas-ness as like the ones we've talked about. But I consider it more of a Christmas movie than Little Women.

Interesting. Yeah. Hot take. I don't think so. Agree to disagree. you know. Anything else you want to say before we sign off? Nope, I'm done. Okay. Thanks so much. Yeah. Merry Christmas, everybody. Christmas.