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Cheesy Christmas Movies Are Delicious | The Delicious Culture with Jon Francois · The Delicious Culture with Jon Francois

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  Merry Christmas, delishies. Grab a plate and
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  feast on the delicious culture. I'm your host,
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  John Francois. I hope you're enjoying this day
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  with yourself or with your loved ones. I say
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  yourself at first because a lot of people have
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  this perception that if you're celebrating Christmas
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  by yourself, it is a lonely time and something
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  must be wrong with you. And that is totally not
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  the case. Some people may just enjoy their own
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  quiet company on a day like today. And that is
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  totally fine. However, you want to celebrate
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  Christmas, I apply. And especially if you don't
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  want to give in to the pressure of gift -giving,
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  that is wonderful. All my life, of course, when
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  I was a child, I wanted Christmas gifts like
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  anybody else. So coming from a Christian family
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  and having that gift -giving commercialism pressure,
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  we always had giving each other gifts, giving
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  each other gifts. And then it got to a point
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  maybe a few years ago where I was tired of being
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  saddled with credit card debt, trying to buy
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  the perfect gift for family members, for friends.
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  my spouse and to be able to get to a point where
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  it's like, all right, I am done buying gifts
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  for people. I know that one point me and my family
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  decided that we weren't going to get gifts for
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  each other anymore. And we were going to do like
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  a secret Santa thing where we would get like
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  one gift for just one person. But even at that,
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  we all grow up pretty much me, my sister, cousins,
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  aunt, uncle, mom, my brother, like all of us
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  are adults. We've reached that point where we
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  don't really want anything. And and just bonding
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  with each other is enough. My wife also joins
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  us in that brood. And we are content with just
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  being with each other and dressing up in our
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  Christmas pajamas that my cousin Sarah likes
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  to pick out for everybody. We have our Christmas
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  dinner. We have the Christmas decorations up.
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  Maybe we watch football or watch a concert on
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  Netflix. And that's enough. And I love that that's
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  enough. because as it's very expensive to do
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  anything in America, so to not have to give into
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  the gift giving commercialism of Christmas anymore
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  is wonderful. Now, when me and my wife get a
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  child, that'll be another story because I understand.
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  Children, they love Christmas, they want things
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  for Christmas, so I will not deprive my child
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  of that same experience that my wife and I had
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  when we were children. But as long as me and
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  my wife don't have children, I'm all about, eh,
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  I'm not getting anybody anything for Christmas
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  and it feels great. I enjoy the holiday a lot
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  better because I experience the decorations.
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  I experienced the bonding with loved ones. I
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  experienced the Christmas movies, the aesthetic,
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  the experience, the vibes, the visuals, everything
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  about Christmas around me suddenly feels a lot
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  better when you don't have to go broke. And I
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  got to recommend Christmas movies specifically
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  that I would recommend you watch. Does that make
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  sense? Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I'm just kind
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  of... because I am just a crazy buffoon right
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  now. But the Christmas dinner we're gonna have
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  this episode is just talking about how delicious
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  these specific Christmas movies is. And I will
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  give you one Christmas movie that I don't recommend.
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  So wait for the end for that. Now we're gonna
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  leave aside all the classics. that you already
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  know. Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, Jim Carrey's
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  How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Home Alone. You
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  don't need to be told that these are classics.
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  It's fine. We're gonna leave those out of the
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  way and make space for the movies that you may
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  not know specifically, movies that have come
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  out in like the last three years or so. For example,
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  Champagne Problems. Oh my God, have you seen
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  that movie on Netflix that came out this year?
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  It stars Minka Kelly from one of my favorite
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  TV shows, Friday Night Lights, which is like
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  20 years old. Minka Kelly looks pretty much the
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  same. It's amazing. And this is about an executive
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  Minka. that travels to France to secure the acquisition
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  of a renowned champagne brand before Christmas,
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  but her plans are upended when she falls into
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  a whirlwind romance with a charming Parisian.
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  I won't say more because I don't want to spoil
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  it for you, even though I'm sure when you watch
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  it, you'll know kind of like the plot twist that
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  happens. Now there's 27 minutes of this movie
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  left for me and my wife. We haven't finished
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  it yet, but I love this movie. It's very sweet
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  and quiet for the majority that we have watched.
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  so far, I will say that it gives me the earnest
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  vibe that this and other movies that I'm going
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  to mention give that I would love to see more
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  and more of in Christmas movies. Yes, I understand.
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  Your Netflix, your HBO, your streaming services,
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  they're going to take a satirical wink wink look
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  at how cheesy Christmas movies are. And those
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  can be fun, but at a certain point you tend to
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  see the sort of defense mechanism and cynicism
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  behind satire. And you're looking for just something
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  wholesome and genuine and earnest. And Champagne
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  Problems is one of those movies. So I highly
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  recommend that. Another one from 2023 from Hallmark,
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  My Christmas Guide, which actually stars Amber
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  Marshall. My wife knows the lead actress from
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  the Canadian drama series Heartland. So there
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  you go. If you look. Heartland. You'll probably
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  love Amber in this movie, which is about a college
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  professor connecting with a guide dog trainer
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  after losing his eyesight and adopting a seeing
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  eye dog. Now, my wife, Toni, she is a veterinary
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  technician. And for those of you that are like,
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  oh, wait, she is in charge of cows? No, smaller
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  domestic animals like dogs and cats. So my wife
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  knows everything there is to know about dogs
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  and anytime we watch a dog movie together, like
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  this one, she will just kind of cynically point
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  out the inaccuracies, the inappropriateness that
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  happens. Like for example, like when the scene
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  in this Christmas guide movie where the guide
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  dog trainer is giving a brochure to the professor's
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  daughter's school teacher and my wife just being
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  like, Oh, that's not appropriate to be presumptuous
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  like that. That shouldn't happen boundaries.
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  So it's funny because I'm just coming from the
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  place of, Oh my God, this is a wholesome. wonderful
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  Christmas dog movie. And my wife is just like,
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  uh, yeah, this shouldn't happen in real life.
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  That shouldn't happen in real life. But I think
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  overall we still enjoyed it together in some
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  respect, right? Right. I think so. Another movie
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  from Hallmark that actually came out this year,
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  2025, we met in December after a magical night
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  sharing hopes, dreams and a perfect kiss. Strangers,
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  Annie and Dave lose each other with no way to
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  connect. So they embarked on a quest to find
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  each other by Christmas. So basically if these
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  two that just found each other, fell in love
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  at a hotel, had a nice night together. If they
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  had just exchanged contact info with each other
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  before they left for their respective flights,
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  we wouldn't even have this movie. But of course,
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  they just did not give each other contact information
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  in the year 2025. And I guess, you know, you
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  can't find them on social media because they're
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  just generic white people named Dave and Kelly,
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  whatever the fuck their names are. Oh, Annie
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  and Dave, I'm sorry. Generic white people called
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  Annie and Dave in Chicago. So yes, it would be
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  very hard to find. uh the specific Annie and
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  Dave that that they're respectively looking for.
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  So this movie was like kind of a fun game of
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  cat and mouse like oh my god like they're so
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  close to finding each other they're both in the
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  same building but one is coming out as one is
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  coming in it's that kind of movie and my wife
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  of course is just like Like she's like almost
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  legitimately frustrated and I'm amused by that
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  and and I know that this is what makes the the
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  90 minute movie is the fact that they're almost
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  there they're in the same room but they always
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  miss each other until they don't at the end of
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  the movie yada yada yada so there you go I recommend
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  that we met in December Hallmark from this year
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  it is a really good movie it was the one that
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  made me want to get the free trial on Hallmark
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  Plus that only lasts for one week and then they
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  charge you $7 .99 a month. Wink, wink if you
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  want to not pay Hallmark Plus any money then
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  just sign up and then cancel at the same time
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  and then you will have your one week free without
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  them charging you and you forgot that you're
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  being charged. So One Delicious Christmas is
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  from Discovery Plus. That's from 2022. I highly
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  recommend that one. It's about Abby who struggles
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  to run her family's inn and restaurant during
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  the busy holiday season. She partners with hotshot
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  chef Preston to refresh the menu and secure a
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  key investment leading to culinary creativity
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  and the warmth of new found romance. Bobby Flay
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  is in this movie. Yes. Well -known celebrity
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  chef, Bobby Flay, playing someone not named Bobby
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  Flay, which doesn't make any sense, unnecessary.
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  Just play Bobby Flay in the movie. Like that,
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  that, that should already have enough cachet.
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  Alex Mallory Jr., the, the male lead in this
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  movie. My wife and I recognized him from the
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  Netflix show, Genie and Georgia. He played this
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  sort of law enforcement agent that's after Georgia.
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  So definitely very different from this charming,
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  flirty, kind of funny, handsome chef coming in.
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  to change things in this Christmas movie here.
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  And might I say, he is Filipino -Canadian. And
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  I think one of the first things I said to my
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  wife when we first started this movie was, oh,
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  it's very rare that you see somebody of his ilk
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  in a movie like this, as a male lead, as a male
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  romantic lead. Hallmark especially, you know,
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  you go through all the thumbnails on YouTube
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  for all the Hallmark movies. It's white, white,
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  white, white, white, white, white, white, white,
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  white, maybe some black here and there. So to
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  have a Filipino Canadian like this guy considered
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  to be a handsome romantic Christmas movie lead,
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  it's just, it warms my heart. So there you go.
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  Take with that what you will. And yeah, business
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  partners being romantic, mixing the professional
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  with the personal. I know in real life that can
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  cause more problems than solutions. But I did
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  love the playful, fun, will they, won't they
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  kind of chemistry of the two leads in this movie.
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  You know how it's going to end, but still there's
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  just something about the way they playfully flirt
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  with each other. They're kind of on the edge.
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  There's this awkward tension here and there.
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  Like it's just... a trajectory that I really
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  enjoy where I know how it ends, but yet you're
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  still making me wonder how it all ends. That
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  is, I think, a sort of factor in what makes a
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  good Christmas movie seem fresh in 2025. So those
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  are great recommendations that I recommend for
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  you. I think the only one that I don't recommend
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  for you is My Secret Santa. which came out from
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  Netflix this year starring Alexandra Breckenridge,
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  who you may know from the Netflix series Virgin
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  River. She was also in This Is Us from NBC. After
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  losing her job, desperate single mother Taylor
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  resorts to disguising herself as an elderly man
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  to get hired as a local ski resorts Santa Claus
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  for the holidays. So this movie has a very Mrs.
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  Doubtfire vibe. I may have glimpsed Mrs. Doubtfire
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  a little bit back in the day. I don't really
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  have a personal connection with the movie as
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  much as many other people do. Uh, I enjoy Virgin
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  river. And I do understand from a podcast interview
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  that Alexandra gave gave to, I think Tommy Daddario
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  that she wants to challenge herself as a character
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  actor. And I was shocked by that because Alexandra,
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  she has this very chill monotone. sure adult
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  vibe to her. I've seen it in Virgin River. I've
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  seen it to some extent in This Is Us. I still
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  see that same vibe in My Secret Santa. So when
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  you combine basically the vibe that she gives
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  in Virgin River, if you're a fan of that, and
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  put it with My Secret Santa, which is supposed
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  to be this goofy Mrs. Doubtfire -like comedic
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  romantic Christmas movie, it's odd. It's odd.
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  I don't think Alexandra played it well in this
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  movie. It just didn't work for me. It was very
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  weird. My wife and I didn't end up finishing
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  it. And unlike Champagne Problems, I don't think
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  we will. So take with that what you will. My
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  Secret Santa, Netflix. Check it out if you want
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  to see if you like it or not. So that's about
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  it. for Christmas movie stuff, delishies. And
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  Merry Christmas. If you're listening to this
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  today, Christmas day, pretty much the last day,
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  you would probably want to watch these kind of
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  movies. Even though the days after leading up
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  into the new year, my wife and I were still enjoying
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  Christmas movies. I remember there was like a
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  country musician Christmas movie that we enjoyed
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  on like New Year's Eve. So Christmas movies don't
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  necessarily have to stop. at Christmas Day, you
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  do with that what you will. But by the new year,
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  if you're still watching it, then you need help.
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  Okay? Okay. Listen to The Delicious Culture wherever
• 12:39
  you get podcasts. We're on Apple, Spotify, iHeart,
• 12:41
  Amazon, SiriusXM, YouTube, wherever you get your
• 12:44
  podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave
• 12:47
  a five -star review or a five -star rating rather
• 12:49
  on Spotify. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
• 12:52
  Email TheDeliciousCulture at gmail .com. If you
• 12:55
  have any questions, concerns, comments, feedback,
• 12:57
  whatever. At The Delicious Culture on Instagram,
• 13:00
  YouTube, TikTok. Follow, subscribe, comment,
• 13:02
  like, share. It means a lot. You can follow me
• 13:05
  personally on TikTok. at John François Presents.
• 13:08
  If you want me to talk about things like pink
• 13:11
  registration forms and how they should be white
• 13:13
  permanently. Like, I don't know, stupid shit
• 13:15
  like that. Follow me on TikTok at John François
• 13:19
  Presents. And enjoy your Christmas, enjoy your
• 13:23
  new year. I think the next time we'll see each
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  other is maybe the day before the new year. No,
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  actually, no. Next episode will be on New Year's
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  Day. I'll try to come up with something that
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  makes sense for the first day of 2026. So until
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  then, let deliciousness ring.