The Point Radio: Choosing Your Christmas Movie

It’s the Day Before Christmas and all through the family room the TV is showing holiday fare. So what is your favorite Christmas movie? Alonso Durlade’s new book, HAVE YOURSELF A MOVIE CHRISTMAS, has a great list of things to watch that fit in the tradition of the season – but we’re guerssing you might not think of them as “Christmas Movies”! And he has great trivia about some of your favortite films, too – sharing it right here with us! Plus it’s our ANNIVERSARY! And be sure to stay on The Point via , RSS, MyPodcast.Comor Podbean! Follow us now on and ! Don’t forget that you can now enjoy THE POINT 24 hours a Day – 7 Days a week!. Updates on all parts of pop culture, special programming by some of your favorite personalities and the biggest variety of contemporary music on the net – plus there is a great round of new programs on the air including classic radio each night at 12mid (Eastern) on RETRO RADIO COMICMIX’s Mark Wheatley hitting the FREQUENCY every Saturday at 9pm and even the Editor-In-Chief of COMICMIX, Mike Gold, with his daily WEIRD SCENES and two full hours of insanity every Sunday (7pm ET) with WEIRD SOUNDS! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE FOR FREE or go to GetThePointRadio for more including a connection for mobile phones including iPhone & Blackberrys.

Transcript

Hello, it's Mike Raub. Welcome to The Point where all parts of pop culture come together. It's the night before Christmas. Looking for a good movie to watch? We've got the book that will tell you everything you need to add some great screen time to your holiday traditions. There's a lot more on the way, including it's our anniversary. For the third year in a row, I get to settle back, look at you and say, let's get to The Point right

now. This is The Point, The Point Radio, get The Point Radio. Ah, here it is the holidays and a lot of us have our very own traditions, one of which may be to settle in front of the big screen TV and watch one of our favorite holiday movies. If you're looking to add a little something new to that mix, there's a great book out there called Have Yourself a Movie that Look Christmas. It's by Alonzo Durlotti who says that writing a book like

this will just seem like the natural thing. Well, you know, I've always been one of those Christmas people. You know, I love the time of year. I love the, you know, everybody's in a better mood and, you know, people are entertaining more and, you know, the food's great. Soap and candles smell better, you know, and I've always been a movie nerd as well. So I guess it was sort of inevitable that these two things I really enjoyed would

kind of come together. One of the things that drew me to Alonzo's book is that it is a complete list of all the Christmas movies and a lot of other ones that, well, you wouldn't think fall into the holiday genre, but really do. So what's the criteria for a Christmas movie? Well, I mean, I think it kind of depends. I think that, you know, when we see Christmas films, obviously we like seeing Christmas depicted, you know, there's something kind

of comforting about watching, you know, snow or, you know, people's decorated trees or that kind of thing. You know, plot wise, you know, things can go in a lot of different directions. I think that what people really like most in Christmas films, though, are sort of stories of redemption, stories about maybe families that didn't get along coming together and figuring out that maybe they can get along or, you know, somebody like

Ebenezer Scrooge discovering that, you know, it's not too late for him to change his life and to become a better person. In a way, I think that Ebenezer Scrooge and George Bailey from It's Wonderful Life and even little Kevin from Home Alone are kind of very similar characters because all of them don't appreciate the circumstances they're in until they're shown an alternate version of what their lives might be like. And that really makes them kind of

not take for granted, you know, what's happening to them right now. It always just seemed to me that when people decide to do a Christmas movie, one of the things they continually go back to is, of course, the concept from A Christmas Carol. On a personal level, I got to say I was getting a little tired of it, but the Lonzo changed my mind on that.

Well, you know, I don't think we ever get sick of it. I mean, there's something about A Christmas Carol. It's sort of like, you know, when you see the passion play every year, you know all the plot beats, you know what's going to happen, but you're still riveted and kind of fascinated by it. You know, and I just think it's one of those stories that even though we know exactly what's going to happen and in what order, you know, it's still

something that we really enjoy watching at Christmas. And I think what's great about the story is that it really loans itself to so many kind of different versions. I mean, a lot of people do it sort of straightforwardly, you know, in the era of Dickens, but you look at a film like An American Christmas Carol, you know, where Henry Winkler plays a Scrooge-like character, but in the United States, they're in the Depression. Or even like the Susan

Lucci version or the Torrey Spelling version, you know, there was a spate of what I call the Santa is a ruthless screw, which is a ruthless career woman movie. You know, you can still apply the lessons of that original story to different time periods of very different characters. So yeah, I think that, you know, we just can't get enough of it. I mean, local theaters around the country, you know, bring back a Christmas Carol every, you know, December.

And that winds up being the sort of, you know, easy hit that kind of subsidizes their more challenging stuff throughout the rest of the year. Like I said earlier, some of the things on Alonzo's list, well, you wouldn't really think of as Christmas movies, but… Well, I'll tell you, the one that I get the most sort of raised eyebrows that I included

is Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. You know, when that movie came out, there was a lot of controversy about, you know, the explicitness of some of the sex scenes, but it is set entirely during the Christmas season. Everywhere they go, people are wrapping presents, they're, you know, lights hanging off the lampposts, you know, they're going to parties. And I think it makes a really interesting sort of

backdrop because here's a, you have a story about a marriage falling apart and mistrust and suspicion. And, you know, Christmas, which we usually think of as really, you know, a time of love and togetherness and openness and understanding. So it makes for an interesting counterpoint to set that specific story against the backdrop of Christmas. Of course, there's all the tried and true favorites, too.

Sure. Well, you know, I think pretty much it's a wonderful life to sort of just become kind of woven into the American DNA, you know, from its sort of constant exposure on TV in the 70s to it just really having become this sort of unassailable classic. It's kind of, you know, if there's a Mount Rushmore of Christmas movies, George Bailey is on it. And, you know, it's a movie that we can revisit over and over again. And there's so much going

on. There's so many characters, you know, Capra really creates this entire town of Bedford Falls and all these characters with their eccentricities and their good aspects and their bad ones. And, you know, I think it's one that we don't get tired of. So what's at the top of Alonzo's list? You know, this is kind of an odd one, but I really like The Rest, which is this sort

of dark comedy with Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey. They play a bickering Mary Kep and I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a

great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that made it all kind of amazing because it was originally going to re-team Bing Crosby

and Fred Astaire from Holiday Inn, which is the movie that first introduced the song White Christmas. But then Crosby dropped out because his wife died and then a stare dropped out because he didn't want to do it without Crosby. And then Crosby came back on but they couldn't get a stare back so then Danny Kaye joined the cast. And then they had hired the cast. They were rehearsing the musical members but they didn't like the script. And so they brought

these two new writers in. They had eight weeks to rewrite the entire thing while the movie was actually starting production. They worked day and night and just finally cranked it out at the last minute. The Bishop's Wife, which is another favorite one, I think also started shooting with a whole different cast. I think Theresa Wright was playing the wife. But they had to shut down. They started over. She was pregnant. So they brought in Loretta

Young. So a lot of the movies that we think of as classics, we're really going to touch and go there for a moment. We didn't know what was going to happen. And a story that I was like the night before Christmas, the Tim Burton animated film was actually inspired by he was walking by a store window and they were taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up the Christmas ones. And so seeing those two things side by side is what

gave him the idea. So if you're looking to add a couple of new things to your Christmas mix, this is the place to start. Well, no, I was just saying, I think that what's great about Christmas is that we all do sort of make our own traditions and everybody kind of has their own way of doing it from what we eat to what we watch and what we wear. And one of the things I really wanted to kind of do with the book was to sort of honor the

breadth of what are out there as Christmas movies and what the different films that people turn to and also to let people to let them know, hey, you know, I know you watch, you know, these three movies every year, but you want to add a fourth one. You might want to check out one of these and see if it'd be up your alley. Have yourself a movie, Little Christmas by Alonzo Durlotti available online and right now at Amazon.com.

It's Christmas Eve 2010. Here's what's going on in pop culture. Well, it's not a Golden Globe. It's not a People's Choice Award. It's not even an MTV award, but it is notable that Kick-Ass was the second most downloaded movie of 2010. The guys at Torren Freak said that it trailed only Avatar 11.4 million illegal Kick-Ass downloads or what they clock. Here's something interesting. In 2009, this would have been the number one movie because Star Trek,

which was number one in that year, made the number one spot with just under 11 million downloads. Like we said, Avatar though, was the number one downloaded movie of this year. It came in at 16.6 million illegal takedowns on the internet and a box office, roughly that about 25 times of Kick-Ass. What else was downloaded this year? Well, in the top five, Inception was number three, Shutter Island, number four, and Iron Man 2 came in at number five. A lot of people in the

Hollywood circle say they haven't seen his script yet, but Joss Whedon says he's going to begin principal photography on the Avengers in New Mexico in April, and it'll continue through September. This according to an interview with Joss in Variety, some shooting will take place also in the process in New York and in Michigan as well. The Avengers movie is set to open on the 4th of May in 2012. DC has set up Flash in number nine coming in January as a jumping on point for people

who maybe haven't tried the new series of the Scarlet Speedster. It is not only a prelude to the upcoming Flashpoint event in the series, it's also a Bright as Day tie-in. It's written by Jeff Johns as well. It creates a new character in here called Hot Pursuit, part of the Speed Force and somebody who'll be playing an important part in the Flash universe in the months to come. Flash number nine should be in comic stores right around the 26th of January. CBS has announced some

changes to their schedule that'll take place after the first of the year, the most important of which is finally we get to see the Criminal Minds spin-off. Criminal Minds suspect behavior goes into the 10 o'clock Wednesday slot right after the original Criminal Minds. That starts on the 16th of February. Also for a month, Blue Bloods will move from Fridays to Wednesdays just to get people to sample that. That'll be pretty much for the month of January, then after that return to its regular

Friday night slot. Also in February, the new series Mad Love with Sarah Chalk from Scrubs, that premieres right after How I Met Your Mother on February 21st. And another new series called Chaos begins right around the 1st of April. That's on Friday night and 8 on CBS. Fairly new years, but Marvel's planning ahead, far ahead, the next summer for a massive crossover event they've announced called Fear Itself. Imagine something along the lines of another Civil War or maybe

fashioned a little closer to Secret Invasion. Fear Itself premieres with an extra-long prologue issue in March and then a seven-issue miniseries launching in April. There'll be crossovers and special series that'll be aimed at a number of the major Marvel titles and miniseries and ongoing storylines in some of the regular books as well, all tied into the main Fear Itself story. Fair Itself miniseries will be written by Matt Fraction. Stuart Emanon will be doing the artwork on that.

What's it all about? The Marvel heroes versus the god of fear. And from there, well, you can extrapolate what can happen with a number of different images that Marvel has released. You'll see all over the web over the next few days. Again, Fear Itself begins with this prologue issue in March. Make your decision and get your bank loans ready for everything that happens after that. It's been a slow comeback but a comeback nonetheless and it looks like Pee Wee is headed

back to television. HBO has announced they're going to shoot a special performance of the Pee Wee Herman on Broadway show. For airing sometime in 2011, the Pee Wee Herman Broadway show ends its limited six-week engagement. On Broadway, coming up right after the first of the year, HBO will shoot a performance immediately following the conclusion of the engagement. And why is it all called a comeback? Well, this is pretty much how it began the first time.

HBO did a special from the original Pee Wee Herman stage show back in 1981 that led on to the regular Pee Wee Herman series that was popular all during the 80s. Justified returns to FX for a second season on February the 9th. It'll be 13 weeks this time. Still starring Timothy Olafide and based on the works done by crime writer Elmore Leonard. Don't worry, you got some time to catch up on the critically acclaimed series. Season one available right now on DVD. Just a reminder that

Young Justice is said to premiere on the Cartoon Network very soon. Friday the 7th of January at seven o'clock is the time you need to mark down on your calendar. If you missed that hour-long special that was ran last month, well you missed a lot because it was a pretty good adaptation of the Young Justice series from DC. Of course it's got its own Cartoon Network twist but it's still possibly the best adaptation of the DC series since the original Justice League a few

years back. Once again, Cartoon Network Friday January 7th at seven o'clock for the new weekly Young Justice series. Alright, it's official. Get ready. The DC Universe online game premieres on the 11th of January, not too far after the beginning of the new year. It's been a long haul to get it there but a lot of people that have played the beta version say this is the big one. Retail prices begin at $59.99 for PlayStation 3, $49.99 for play on a PC. The game includes a 30-day game

membership with monthly subscriptions available thereafter for just about $14.99 a month as well. In case you haven't heard much news living in that cave over the past few years, this is the biggest DC game ever and the first time that the entire DC Universe will be available in an online game to fans. It again premieres in early January on the 11th to get more information and lots of cool samples as well at SOE.com.

This is my gold. There seems to be only one way to turn off the dark. I had lunch with a good friend earlier this week and she asked me what I thought of all the problems at the Spider-Man Broadway show. After many accidents, technical problems, and delays, they pushed it back still again this time to February. I said I didn't think they'd open the show until somebody died. That very night, the stunt actor playing Spidey did his web-leaping

off the bridge thing and hit the floor hard. That was the fourth major accident and thankfully he didn't get killed. Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark is a $65 million dollar travesty of mythic proportions. Like all Broadway musicals of the past decade, it is not a Broadway musical. It's a warm-up for Las Vegas that relies on gimmicks and stunts and a high-priced score by Bono and the Edge. First floor tickets

range from $187 to $332 each. Ambulance service extra. I said it before and I'll say it again. Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, Turn Off the Lights. This is Mike Gold on America's true pop culture channel. Get the point. Radio.com. Point the point. That puts a wrap on our week and also on our second year. Yep, it was Christmas Eve 2008 that we did this for the first time. Lots happened since then and thank you for being along

on the ride. There's a lot more to come as we kick off our third year and don't forget we're now 24 hours a day, seven days a week with everything you need in pop culture and get the point radio.com. Whatever device you picked up over the holidays, well you can tune it into us easy and free. Your iPhone, your Blackberry, your iPad or just your plain old PC. You can come on in and listen anytime you want to. A couple of clicks is all it takes and get the point radio.com. Keep in mind this

podcast is produced for great websites like ComicMix.com and michaeldavisworld.com by Malcadene Media. We're also in the iTunes podcast directory under the point radio and you can always find out what's going on in our heads by just asking it. Listen and get the point radio.com. It's the holiday week. We're going to be back one more time between now and the new year with a big update on what's going on with the revamp of V and a little bit about a new movie about a really

ugly guy in American history. There's a lot more on the way. You'll catch us midweek but until then have a great Christmas and we'll talk to you in a few days. Get the point radio. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.