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The most magical Christmas movies · The Front

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  Speaker 1: I think we should do the quiz. Okay, there's us
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  Speaker 1: general knowledge. No, No, it's movies, okay, Christmas move Okay.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm going to say, don't ask me to point
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  Speaker 2: to turns an air on a mautorry.
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  Speaker 1: From The Australian. This is the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: If there's anything good about a Christmas heat wave, it's
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  Speaker 1: the opportunity to stay indoors, turn the air conditioning up
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  Speaker 1: to eleven and watch something on TV. In my house,
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  Speaker 1: we snuggle under blankets, sip hot drinks and pretend we're
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  Speaker 1: in a winter wonderland because the festive season just wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: be the same without some of the classics we've come
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  Speaker 1: to love. And so today to get us in the mood,
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  Speaker 1: we're talking to one of our best writers and critics
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  Speaker 1: here at The Australian, Jordie Gray. Geordie, I love Christmas
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  Speaker 1: TV and Christmas movies. I only know about one that's
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  Speaker 1: on this year, Red One starring the rock Rock Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Is that going to be good?
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  Speaker 2: I think Amazon hopes it will be because they paid
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  Speaker 2: him fifty million dollars to be in it.
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  Speaker 1: I watched the trailer with a bunch of kids the
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  Speaker 1: other day, who all said that looks terrifying. Why did
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  Speaker 1: they think it's scary? Well, Santa gets abducted. I mean
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  Speaker 1: it's terrifying.
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  Speaker 2: Good about.
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  Speaker 1: The way they've constructed it. It's like Taken or one
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  Speaker 1: of those movies. Yeah, the trailer is constructed as a thriller,
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  Speaker 1: hi Jack, which I think missus the mark for preteen kids.
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  Speaker 1: Are you saying Santa Claus has been kidnapped?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's one of those weird movies that seems to
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  Speaker 2: be made for everyone and is thus made for no one.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, and the rocks a bodyguard? Right, I'm not sure,
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  Speaker 1: it's not clear. I don't think it matters what this
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  Speaker 1: movie is about.
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  Speaker 2: So Red One is up against two ginormous movies in
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  Speaker 2: the family space, Mauana, which is Disney's biggest film, and Wicked,
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  Speaker 2: which is just like a phenomenon. Families are gonna want
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  Speaker 2: to go see those two movies more than they're gonna
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  Speaker 2: want to see like a chintzy Christmas movie and teenage boys.
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  Speaker 2: If they had the choice between like Red one and
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  Speaker 2: Gladiator two, they're gonna go see Gladiator too, because Swords
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  Speaker 2: and Sandals is just infinitely more epic than Santa getting snatched.
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  Speaker 1: I have to confess I've now watched Red One twice
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  Speaker 1: with those same terrified kids. I had to drag them
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  Speaker 1: into the cinema the first time, and then they dragged
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  Speaker 1: me back just a week later. It's actually great and
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  Speaker 1: it is a little scary, but it's well worth the payoff.
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  Speaker 1: What is a Christmas movie? What makes something a Christmas movie?
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  Speaker 2: So I have a theory that there are four types
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  Speaker 2: of Christmas movies. That's a classic Christmas comedy, so like
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  Speaker 2: Elf and Love Actually and Bad Senator. Then there's a
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  Speaker 2: melancholy Christmas movies like It's a Wonderful Life. And this
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  Speaker 2: one that I think is going to be like a
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  Speaker 2: future Christmas classic that came out last year called The Holdovers.
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  Speaker 1: Have you seen it? No? It arrived really quietly.
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  Speaker 2: It's this movie by Alexander Payne, but it became this
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  Speaker 2: word of mouth hit. Just a really sweet film set
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  Speaker 2: at a boarding school in the nineteen seventies in New England.
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  Speaker 2: Marty this grouchi professor and over the Christmas break, one
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  Speaker 2: of the students gets left behind by his parents, so
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  Speaker 2: they form like a really sweet relationship. It's just one
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  Speaker 2: of those warm lovely movies that make you cry, but
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  Speaker 2: you don't feel like you're being like emotionally manipulated. It
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  Speaker 2: just has that sweet melancholy of Christmas. And then there's
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  Speaker 2: the ambient Christmas movies which you have a christssm that
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  Speaker 2: you actrea.
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  Speaker 1: This that every year. Every year in my family we
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  Speaker 1: watch a movie called About Time. Christmas doesn't feature in
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  Speaker 1: this movie. There are no reindeer, there's no snow as
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  Speaker 1: far as I can recall. But because it was made
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  Speaker 1: by Richard Curtis and it stars Bill Nye, I think
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  Speaker 1: it's adjacent to love actually, which makes it feel like
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  Speaker 1: a Christmas movie to me. It's a beautiful story about
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  Speaker 1: a family in which the men have an ability to
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  Speaker 1: travel through time so they're able to revisit the most
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  Speaker 1: precious moments of their lives over and over again. It's
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  Speaker 1: a pretty silly idea, but it's executed with so much
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  Speaker 1: subtlety and genuine emotion that it makes me cry Every Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: We will show on Christmas Eve.
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  Speaker 2: Why do you think you're compelled to go back to
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  Speaker 2: that movie?
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  Speaker 1: It's very optimistic and it's all about family love, and
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  Speaker 1: I think at Christmas Australians are spending four or five
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  Speaker 1: billion dollars on Christmas presents every year. We love each
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  Speaker 1: other a lot, and throughout the rest of the year
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  Speaker 1: we don't talk about that much. We don't often talk
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  Speaker 1: about happy families, especially in our business in the news,
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  Speaker 1: we talk about things that have gone wrong. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: one of the things I love about Christmas is this
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  Speaker 1: remembering every year that actually we do love each other.
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  Speaker 1: It's completely mushy.
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  Speaker 2: I think it exists that intersection of mushy and clever, though,
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  Speaker 2: so you don't feel too guilty about watching it.
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  Speaker 1: What else fits into that Christmas adjacent category? Would you
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  Speaker 1: say die Hard is a Christmas ambient movie? See?
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  Speaker 2: Diehard's a very tricky one because it's is it just
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  Speaker 2: a Christmas movie?
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  Speaker 1: For me?
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  Speaker 2: Ambient Christmas movies have nothing to do with Christmas, but
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  Speaker 2: they feel Christmas y. So like Richard Curtis movie is
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  Speaker 2: Four Weddings and a Funeral, You're always gonna watch that.
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  Speaker 1: At Christmas, even though there's no snow. There's no snow.
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  Speaker 1: Bridget Jones has a bit of snow, it does.
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  Speaker 2: It's just those movies, usually British, Hugh Grant's probably bumbling.
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  Speaker 2: They make you feel cozy. You have seen them so
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  Speaker 2: many times you can basically recite them. Just something that
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  Speaker 2: everyone can agree upon.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, And what's your fourth category? Hallmark Chintz, which this
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  Speaker 1: is a new thing, newish new to me. It's new
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  Speaker 1: to me.
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  Speaker 2: I actually don't know how long it has been a
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  Speaker 2: thing because we don't have the Hallmark Channel here. We've
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  Speaker 2: been introduced to it via streaming service. So one day
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  Speaker 2: I was just very aware of all these shiny Christmas
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  Speaker 2: movies that existed.
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  Speaker 1: So these are about women with ponytails and great eye
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  Speaker 1: shadow falling in love with someone yes, and there's a
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  Speaker 1: great resolution, and it's a Christmas yep.
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  Speaker 2: And they almost always follow the same plot, and they
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  Speaker 2: often use the same actors.
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  Speaker 1: So there's this cottage industry.
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  Speaker 2: And every year there's this thing called Christmas Con and
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  Speaker 2: all the Hallmark actors go and the fans flock to
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  Speaker 2: meet them.
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  Speaker 1: It's just this massive deal.
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  Speaker 2: The Hallmark Channel is so popular in the United States
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  Speaker 2: that in the twenty twenty election, their channel was watched
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  Speaker 2: more than CNN election coverage.
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  Speaker 1: Because you're guaranteed of a heavy ending, right, true, it
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  Speaker 1: might speak to like collective yearning to escape or turn
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  Speaker 1: your brain into maorish. I'm not sure.
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  Speaker 2: The big Netflix one this year is one called Hot Frosty,
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  Speaker 2: and the premise, from what I understand, is a woman
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  Speaker 2: puts a scarf on a snowman and he transforms into
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  Speaker 2: a handsome prince, a handsome prince, and thus.
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  Speaker 1: Begins that great love story I hear. Lindsay Lohan is
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  Speaker 1: back in this demographic.
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  Speaker 2: She did this film last year, could Falling for Christmas,
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  Speaker 2: where she played an heiress who had a sense that
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  Speaker 2: there was more to life than just being an heiress.
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  Speaker 2: So her fiance was like, you should become an influencer.
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  Speaker 1: So she goes to kick off her.
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  Speaker 2: Influencer career and falls and suffers the concussion.
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  Speaker 1: And then has amnesia.
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  Speaker 2: But it had the crucial hallmark elements she falls in
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  Speaker 2: love with, not her fiance, a lumberjack, a good hearted lumberjack.
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  Speaker 2: Itself is not very good, but it was such a
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  Speaker 2: great reminder of what a dazzling and gifted comic actress
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  Speaker 2: Lindsay Lohan is. If you watch it for whatever reason,
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  Speaker 2: it should be her.
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  Speaker 1: So if you had to choose on Christmas night stuff
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  Speaker 1: with mince pies, what would you watch? Love?
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  Speaker 2: Actually, every single time it's a perfect film that can
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  Speaker 2: only be watched at Christmas. You never feel like watching
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  Speaker 2: Love Actually in April. You want to sit down with
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  Speaker 2: your family. When I sing the opening notes so that
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  Speaker 2: I feel it in my fingers, I bean it mto
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  Speaker 2: you know the beats.
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  Speaker 1: You know you're gonna cry.
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  Speaker 2: When Emma Thompson opens up her gift and it's a
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  Speaker 2: Johnny Mitchell CD and not the necklace, even though a
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  Speaker 2: Joni Mitchell CD is a much better gift than like
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  Speaker 2: a horrible ruby necklace. To me, that's perfect Christmas film.
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  Speaker 1: What about you? For me? Love Actually, absolutely, even though
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  Speaker 1: I do love about it time, there is something about
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  Speaker 1: Love Actually that is I think because of the quality
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  Speaker 1: of the actors we're in it. And this is the
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  Speaker 1: difference between quality Christmas movies and the homework channel BI
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  Speaker 1: talking about any movie that's got Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman,
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  Speaker 1: Bill Nye, Kira Knightley, Martin Freeman, Hugh Grant. Of course, to.
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  Speaker 2: Your point, I think that is exactly why Harry Potter
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  Speaker 2: is an eternal Christmas film, because the acting is good.
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  Speaker 1: Kids love it, adults love it.
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  Speaker 2: It's just fantastic storytelling and so well acted. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know how they did it, that they got every single
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  Speaker 2: one of the finest actors and convinced them to put
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  Speaker 2: on hats. The Quini hats.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up? How well does our Christmas expert No, the
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  Speaker 1: Christmas movie classics. It's quiz time, Geordie. We're gonna do
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  Speaker 1: something we've never done on the front before. A quiz. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: they're multiple choice, You ready as I'll have a vo
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  Speaker 1: question one? What is the highest grossing Christmas movie? Is
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  Speaker 1: it A The Grinch? B Home Alone? C Home Alone two?
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  Speaker 1: D Love? Actually, my gut's telling me Home Alone two
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  Speaker 1: it's The Grench. Oh, unsurprised thing.
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  Speaker 2: Today we will do mean things and we will do
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  Speaker 2: them instile.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. Who played Susan Walker in nineteen forty seven's Miracle
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  Speaker 1: on thirty fourth Street? Was it A Rita Hayworth, B
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  Speaker 1: Natalie Wood, C Ingrid Bergman or D Lauren beccall.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I have a shocking admission that I've never seen
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  Speaker 2: Miracle on thirty fourth Street. But I'm picturing a brunette
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  Speaker 2: with kind of a bob.
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  Speaker 1: Is it Ingrid Bagan? It's Natalie Wood. I don't know anything.
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  Speaker 2: I'm the Christmas expert that doesn't know anything about Christmas?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, who plays the polka musician who helps mother Kate
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  Speaker 1: in home alone? Is it A Danny DeVito, B Jim Belushi,
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  Speaker 1: C dan Aykroyd or D John Candy So I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to go D yeah, John Pandy who directed the Holiday?
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  Speaker 1: A Nancy Myers, B Sharon Maguire, C. Sophia Coppola or D.
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  Speaker 2: Greta Gerwick's definitely not Sophia or Greta.
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  Speaker 1: Nancy Myers.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, checks out, very very her bag.
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  Speaker 1: She did something good to give Okay, which actor was
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  Speaker 1: originally considered to play John McClain before Bruce Willis was
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  Speaker 1: cast in die Hard? A Stephen Siegal, b Arnold Schwartzenegger, C.
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  Speaker 1: Wesley Snipes or D Frank Sinatra? Ooh, die Hard?
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  Speaker 2: Was it?
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  Speaker 1: We six Snipes? It was Frank Sinatra.
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  Speaker 2: I'm honestly surprised that he was alive when that was made.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot imagine him crawling up the lift shaft with
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  Speaker 1: his shirt off, no singing. I don't know. Jaunty little Tune,
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  Speaker 1: what instrument does Sam played by Thomas Brodie Sangster learned
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  Speaker 1: to impress his crush in love? Actually a a cork synthesizer,
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  Speaker 1: B the guitar, see the drums, or D the French horn.
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  Speaker 1: It's the Jungs. I don't think anyone's ever impressed a
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  Speaker 1: girl with the French horn. No, they were cork synthesizer.
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  Speaker 1: That's another story. Okay, I've got one more question for you.
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  Speaker 1: Which movie is referenced in Australian songwriter Jack Ladder's song
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  Speaker 1: Christmas in Rehab A the Holiday, b elf see the
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  Speaker 1: Grinch or D It's a wonderful life. I'm gonna say
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  Speaker 1: it's a wonderful life. It's actually the Holiday. Huh. Easier
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  Speaker 1: to rhyme, I think not many things rhyme. It's a
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  Speaker 1: wonderful life.
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  Speaker 2: It's a wonderful life and I am and rehab. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Jordie, thank you very much, thank you for having me,
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  Speaker 1: and Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you. Jordie Gray is
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  Speaker 1: a journalist at The Australian and she writes TV criticism too.
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  Speaker 1: You can check out her warm, funny and very knowledgeable
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  Speaker 1: reviews every weekend in our review section and anytime at
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  Speaker 1: The Australian dot com dot au