The Couch Critics
The Couch Critics is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan, along with a rotating door of eclectic co-hosts, dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critics bring thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan and friends guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critics
Familiar Faces, New Stories: When Beloved Films Return
Ever wondered what happens when three movie critics with wildly different tastes tackle beloved films spanning generations? Welcome to our triple feature extravaganza where nostalgia, family dynamics, and holiday magic collide!
We kick things off with "Freakier Friday," the long-awaited sequel to the 2003 body-swap comedy. Two of our hosts grew up cherishing the original, while one watched it just days before seeing the sequel—creating the perfect storm for fascinating perspectives. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan's return sparks joyful recognition, but does lightning truly strike twice? We debate whether the sequel stands on its own merits or relies too heavily on nostalgic callbacks.
The conversation truly ignites when we turn to "A Christmas Story," where passionately differing opinions emerge. While two hosts declare it "quintessential Christmas" and a perfect holiday classic that defined their childhoods, our third critic boldly proclaims she'd "rather watch paint dry" than sit through it again! This leads to a thoughtful exploration of why certain films resonate differently across audiences and generations.
Perhaps most surprising is our discussion of "A Christmas Story Christmas," the 2022 sequel that brought back most of the original cast. The emotional weight of Ralphie returning to Cleveland Street as an adult father trying to recreate Christmas magic after his own father's passing strikes deep chords with some—while others find themselves unexpectedly preferring it to the original.
Throughout our conversation, we explore fascinating questions: What makes a worthy sequel? How does nostalgia shape our movie experiences? Can films that speak powerfully to one generation connect with another? And how do movies about family dynamics change meaning as we move through different stages of life?
Join us for this laughter-filled, occasionally heated, but always thoughtful exploration of these beloved films. Whether you're a die-hard fan or completely new to these movies, you'll find perspectives that challenge, entertain, and perhaps even change how you see these cinematic treasures.
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On the couch. We're laughing, crying, feeling it all, breaking down the big screen, the hits and the flaws. Grab your seat, press play. Let's take the pic. Lights, camera action. It's Cinema Sunday. Let the credits roll.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, welcome to a brand new episode of the couch critics with an s. I'm your host, nathan, and on today's episode it's not just me, it's not just another person, it's three people. So we got the trinity, not the holy trinity, but the trinity. Today we have me and we also have lexi, lexi, and we also have mitch mitch. Now why in the world are all three of us on an episode? Well, I'll tell you why because we were supposed to release a cinema sunday episode about the movie we're about to talk about, but mitch and lexi don't know how to keep track of when we're supposed to record. This has become a theme for me when it comes to recording that the people I try to record with never seem to know the thing called paying attention.
Speaker 3:Make a Google Calendar. Make a Google Calendar.
Speaker 2:It's called a group chat. That should be enough. It'd be a e-vice, but anyway. So we were supposed to talk about Freakier Friday on our Cinema I was about to say Cinnamon Cinema Sunday episode but we kind of dropped the ball All three of us did. It's not just their fault, it's mostly their fault. So we're going to talk about that today. But I did promise that this was going to be a double feature episode, but to make it even more fun, it's a triple feature and we'll talk about the other two movies after freakers writing. But before we talk about our likes and dislikes, I have to go over the synopsis.
Speaker 2:20 teeth. 22 years after tess and Anna endured an identity crisis, anna now has a daughter and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. As they navigate the challenges that come when two families merge, tess and Anna discover that lightning might strike twice. Freak your Friday stars Jamie Lee Curtis, then Lindsay Lohan, julia Butters and Sophia Hammons. So I watched Freak your Friday before I went to go see this movie. I had never seen the first one with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan and surprisingly, I liked it. I think I have the same feelings about Freak your Friday than I did about Freaky Friday. But before I divulge what my thoughts were for both of those movies. Mitch Lexi, do you want to take your thoughts first? What did you like, what didn't work and should people go see it?
Speaker 3:You want to go first, Mitch? You want me to go first?
Speaker 2:You can go first.
Speaker 3:So Freaky Friday is a kid classic for me. I watched it a lot growing up. It's one of my favorites. And when I went into this movie they had one job not to mess up a classic for me in my life. And they did not disappoint. I actually enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed all the callbacks to the original, all the Easter eggs. They really kept the same vibe as Freaky Friday and Freakier Friday. Jamie Lynn was amazing. That woman does not get enough credit for her acting skills because she was amazing. Lindsay Lohan surprised me a little bit and was still as great as I remembered her. So yeah, it was good for me. I got all the fuzzy feelings from when I was a kid. Disclaimer if you are not into freaky stuff same with FUG it won't be a movie I would go take my kids to see, but it's a good movie to watch.
Speaker 2:Mitch. What did you think, what did you like about this sequel?
Speaker 4:Well, to pull off what Lexi said, for me it was the same thing. I can remember this is a fun fact. It came out in 2003,. The first one, freaky Friday and our calendars are exactly the same as 2003. So it came out only two days after it originally came out. So it came out the exact same week that it came out, which is freaky. It kind of fits the freaky thing. I saw it in theaters that Wednesday after band camp of my sophomore year with my parents and brothers, so it was really cool. I got to go see it with my mom and dad because they loved it. They loved the first one too.
Speaker 4:The first one was I'm with you, lexi, it's just, it's so good. It's not just good, it's like. It's like a movie that like sets it. It's, it's a movie that kind of. It's our movie, it's a millennial. I'm trying to find the right word. You get what I'm saying. It's yeah, it defines us. It's one of those movies that defines us. I think you can. If you talk to anyone, they can. Oh, you know, I'm like the crit keeper. There's certain lines in it. Hit me, baby one more time. If you said it to any of us, we'd be like, ah, freaky Friday. So I'm with you.
Speaker 4:This movie had one mission not to screw it up. And no, they didn't screw it up. Both my parents and myself, it was like we were transported back. We had the same feels that we did after. We all had a nice cry, my brother and his wife. They recently moved to Jacksonville, so it kind of brought up a lot of like you know, we're not all together anymore. It did. That's a side note. What I'm saying is it did a lot of things right. It did a lot of things right.
Speaker 4:The callbacks not just to Freaky Friday but to lindsey lohan's career uh, what's her name was in it? Elaine hendrix, uh, who played meredith in the parent trap. It was cool seeing her and it was good seeing lindsey lohan like being herself. You know she, she was wrapped up in all the kid kid acting drama, but she, it was like she. She returned back to form, her macaulay culkin. It's been really nice seeing these like kids that we grew up with on tv and in movies, like just having this renaissance and it it was, it was everything. It was everything it was supposed to be. I know I'm kind of rambling, but it I I can't describe like how great it was just to have a moment like that in the theater with my parents and just kind of being reminded of what it was like when we saw the first one wow, you guys really liked it, that's good, that's good.
Speaker 2:I, I was a sophomore in high school when freaky friday came out. When and to go back a little bit, alexi, when you say like, oh, it's a classic all this stuff, I'm thinking, wow, you like the one with Jodie Foster, because that's the original, yes, which I did not watch to prepare for this one.
Speaker 3:No, I did not like the original one.
Speaker 4:No, it's a snitcher.
Speaker 3:It's a Lindsay Lohan. I just want you guys to know the difference in age. And I just want you guys to know the difference in the age.
Speaker 2:I wasn't even in middle school in 2003, same with me yeah, I feel old so anyway so this one probably didn't mean as much to me as it did Lexi and Mitch. Again, I didn't see it when it first came out. It probably wasn't even in my wheelhouse of movies that I want to go see. So, like I said, I watched it to prepare to go see Freakier Friday and it was good. You know, it's not a bad movie. It's nothing to write home about for me anyway. Again, it doesn't have the nostalgicness that it does for Mitch and Lexi. But again, I think my thoughts are going to be the exact same for freakier friday than I had for freaky friday. So I didn't find myself really laughing that much. I I, I think, and because it's a disney movie and they always for some reason in disney live action movies in particular, and I don't know if it's because even stevens the live action tv show with charlotte buff, even though that was like one of my favorite disney live action shows love that show.
Speaker 2:I do feel like at times it went a little bit over the top. It was trying to be funny too much, and I feel like this is my opinion. I feel like with Freaky Friday it was doing the exact same thing. I felt like they were trying to be funny and it just kind of fell flat to me. But I did find myself towards the end, when it was getting like to the emotional core of the movie and the whole point of the movie and the whole point of them switching places, I did find myself enjoying the more dramatic moments.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's because I have two kids and so I can relate to the family dynamic that's being put into this movie. So I found myself enjoying, like towards the end, where jamie lee curtis is still switched with lindsey lohan, so she's doing the toast at the wedding, and so I found my I mean I'm not saying I got like emotional, but I I understood the, the assignment that they were putting before us now. Now, before I talk about my thoughts for Freakier Friday, even though you can kind of already tell what they're going to be, lexi, what were your thoughts about? Because you just said you know you thought it worked, you know it was great. Was there anything about it that you didn't think worked?
Speaker 3:The only thing is, at some points it felt like they did too many Easter eggs. I enjoy the Easter eggs, I enjoy watching it. It was like, oh yeah, that happened in this, that happened in the first movie, that happened in the first movie. Oh yeah, that's a callback there. But at some point it did kind of get redundant and I also didn't like how long it took to get to like the emotional plot part of it on why they had to switch.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but yeah, but one, two things I disliked about it. And, mitch, I don't think that the emotional part hit hit as good as the first one did. The first one, like you said, with the toast scene and even. It's funny because now, as an adult, when lindsey lohan, when she's playing the mom and she's like you know, tell him that we need to shut this off, I didn't realize, like how big that was for her, like that's her selfless love.
Speaker 4:As a kid I was just like, okay, you know, I was so focused on what was going on with Lindsay's character, or in this case Jamie Lee Curtis, that I didn't really realize you know her part. So when I rewatched it before I saw it. When she's like, you know, lindsey brought it, but then jamie lee curtis really brings it home. There's the one moment when she's like she knows that no one could ever replace her dad and when she's like because he was a really great dad. It just she, jamie lee curtis, did such a good job of embodying a kid and especially they care. I just you can't say any. You can't really say anything bad about jamie lee curtis and I'm glad she's finally getting her flowers now with you know her oscar and you know things like that. And the bear have you guys seen her in the bear? She's fantastic in that show. So I don't think that in freakier friday the emotional moment hit as well as it did. It was good, but it didn't hit as good as the first one.
Speaker 2:Well, I think the emotional punch they're trying to go for for Freak your Friday, I didn't like what they were trying to say.
Speaker 2:So, without getting too much into the plot of Freak your Friday, without trying to spoil anything, lindsay Lohan meets another guy it's not John Michael Murray from the first one and they want to get married, but he has this daughter and she has her daughter and they're not sure the daughters don't like each other, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 2:Well, towards the end of the movie and this is when, like the emotional punch was trying to come in, the father basically admits that he doesn't want he, he puts his daughter before even himself at least that's what they're trying to portray and he's like you know, I can't go through this marriage because I don't want to hurt my daughter so much. And I'm sitting there thinking that's bull, like, yes, I love my children, okay, and this could be me semi putting my Christian hat on, but you do not put your children before yourself, you don't put your children before your spouse. Your children, they're awesome, that's great, but at the end of the day you are the adult and you make the decision, okay. So I think the emotional gut punch of the first one was more relatable because it just made more sense okay see I actually disagree with that okay, why?
Speaker 3:and sorry flag on the play. As a person who came from a blended family, who came from parents who, like my, my parents got my mom got remarried. So like I understand that, because when my mom first started dating myself, that it was like that. It was like how is Lex going to feel? Like, how are they going to feel, how is Ryan going to feel about this? And I remember her asking us like, hey, if y'all not good with this, I'm not going to put y'all through this, because putting a blended family together is a hard thing for one. And then you do never want to put your child in a position that the person they don't feel comfortable with, the person that you're marrying, because you're now adding someone into the family that was not originally there but I also have, like I said, I have a different viewpoint on it because I lived it no, no, and I I totally understand that, but my thing is about this movie is that he had already made the decision that he was going to get married to Lindsay Lohan's character.
Speaker 2:And he was going to do it no matter what, and it didn't get until the end of the movie, until things got crazy bad. That's when he was like I don't want to put my daughter through this, I can understand. At the beginning of the movie he was like you know, because they were gungung ho with it, they're like going to go for the way, like there was nothing going to hold them back.
Speaker 2:And then, because her ex-boyfriend shows up to his restaurant. That's when all heck broke loose and that's when he finally, I guess, realizes. Maybe maybe they're showing that he didn't realize how much it was hurting her before, or something, I don't know, but it just, it just didn't. I. I think what we're trying to say is it took a long time to get to that emotional gut punch, and so the the what's the word I'm looking for the reveal of it wasn't as satisfying as it was in the first one, because, right, you already knew that there was that tension there. But in this movie it didn't seem like the dad really I don't want to use the word care but like there wasn't really any tension between lindsey lowe and him. It was more so the daughters, which was the whole point of the movie that the daughters were just had to. You know, I don't know what was the point. What was the point of the movie? Like, what did they learn?
Speaker 4:It was a weird. It was a weird thing to put them in Like the whole, like they were they're going to move back to England but it's like no, we're meant to be here. I liked it, then why were you moving in the first place? It was an. It was an odd take.
Speaker 2:I'm with you there, nathan. It didn't hit the same. But I will say one thing I liked is that I was worried that this movie was going to be an exact replica of Freaky Friday. So I'm glad they didn't go in the exact direction. And I understand why she wanted to move back to England. She says it was because she wanted to go to school there and stuff. But it was because that's where she lived with her mom and that's how her mom probably passed away and so she didn't want to move somewhere else and stay somewhere else and forget about her mom. And I totally get all of that. I just I think there was just too much going on in the movie. I I wish they had focused a little more on the fact that Jamie Lee Curtis's character was very trying to be very controlling as a grandparent to Lindsay Lohan's parent character. So I wish they kind of leaned more into that. They didn't really talk about it that much in the movie.
Speaker 3:They talked about it when they weren't switched.
Speaker 2:But once they were switched they kind of just ignored that aspect of it. But I guess all that to say is it was okay. I felt the same way that I thought about Freeze Riding. I mean I thought having Chad Michael Murray in there was funny. I did think it came off a little bit more weird than it did in the first one that he still kind of had a crush on Jamie Lee Curtis's character. But I get why they did it, because it was like continuation of of the first film.
Speaker 4:It in the last moment, one of the last moments spoiler when, when he introduces his girlfriend and she's dressed exactly the same way as Jamie Lee Curtis it was in the first film, I and she's dressed exactly the same way as Jamie Lee Curtis, it was in the first film I threw my head back and laughed and it took my parents a few seconds. She's like, why are you laughing? I'm like, look at her, look at her. And then when she got it and then it was like everyone was getting it a little bit later, but it was so it was a nice callback, like he was still caught up on how he felt about her. Yeah, it was interesting. I don't know.
Speaker 4:I don't know, nate, I guess I'll probably watch it again. It'll probably be one that I that I will go back to because of the nostalgia. I think it. It relies heavily on nostalgia, but I think it's backed up by good performances from lindsey and jamie, specifically the two of them, like the whole. I know it's it was a trailer line, but the whole. You know we got to go back out there or else we'll think I'm pooping, like the way she said. That was so funny. It had a lot of really funny moments in it and I think that it'll. I think it'll stand the test of time because of that and the nostalgia obviously.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Lexi. So what are your final thoughts on Freak your Friday before we go ahead and get this movie?
Speaker 3:Like I said, the only thing, I know why they felt also heavy on the nostalgic of it. I think sometimes they did it, overdone it just a little bit, but other than that I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:Well then, what are we going to rate this movie? Out of five stars, lexi, you go first, please.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm going to give it a four point five. That's pretty high.
Speaker 2:Ok, mitch, what about you? I'm going to give it a 4.5. Ooh, that's pretty high. Okay, mitch, what about you?
Speaker 4:I'm going to give it a four.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, we got a 4.5. We got a four and now we got a 3.5.
Speaker 4:We're going to give it a 3.5.
Speaker 2:Again, I wasn't as attached to it as Lexi and Mitch was, but I still enjoyed it. For what it was yeah, see image it was, but I still enjoyed it for what it was.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, that's, that's all I can really say about that. Can? I give it a 10 on nostalgia. What? Yeah, sorry, can I give it a 10 on nostalgia?
Speaker 2:yes, I mean I guess you can. I gave it a 10.
Speaker 3:If that's the case, I'm gonna give it a zero on nostalgia, because again I didn't really care as much about it as you guys did.
Speaker 2:So that is the first in our triple feature. This episode is going to be crazy long, just saying so. Our second movie is our Christmas movie from our Christmas list. We're talking about A Christmas Story and I said last time that if you've never seen this movie, I really don't know where you've been living, because I remember both TBS and TNT did a 24-hour marathon with this movie on Christmas Eve, and if you didn't ever just sit and watch the whole thing, you at least had it on in the background, because it's just a Christmas story.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to briefly go over the synopsis. Synopsis in the 1940s, a young boy named ralph and clark attempts to convince his parents, teacher and santa claus that a red rider range 200 shotgun bb gun really is the perfect christmas gift. The christmas story stars peter bingsley, melinda dylan, darren mcgavin and scott schwartz, which is hilarious because there's a character named Schwartz in the movie, but he does not play that character. He plays the character of Flick. So I gotta admit I did not rewatch this before this episode because I thought it was going to be available on HBO Max, because it used to be there and now it's not and I did not feel like buying it, even though it is a classic, and maybe one day I will.
Speaker 2:This is a classic, lexi, this movie is a classic. Okay, this movie you can call a classic, so let's just go into it right now. I love this movie. It is Quintessential Christmas for me. I believe it did flop in the box office when it first came out. I don't believe it was released around Christmas time either, so I think it was like released at a really random time. But yeah, this movie is just quintessential Christmas. It just has that feel good, like you're a kid again and you just want that toy and your parents are like you can't have that toy and it's just such a heartwarming, heartfelt. Yes, there is some language in it, so that's, that's one of the negatives, because you know, I really want to show my kids this, but there's like language in it and I'm like, really, but I get like it's yeah, whatever is fudge a bad word?
Speaker 4:fudge, it's not a bad word no, there's nothing.
Speaker 2:He says yeah, reveals what the message is. And you know you got old man saying bad words and stuff and but it's, it's such a like. Honestly, I don't think there's anything. And this is a big. This is big for me. I don't think there's really anything wrong with this movie. I think it still holds up, even though it was like what the 70s when this movie came out. It's just such a good christmas, lexi. Have you ever seen a christmas story?
Speaker 3:I did.
Speaker 2:I've seen it okay, so what do you think? You don't sound as enthused as I do yeah, are you ready?
Speaker 3:you wanted me on this episode. I hate this movie, oh why do you hate this? Movie. My god, I hate a christmas story. It's good it could possibly be. I have seen it too many times so I have grew a hatred for this movie. But I cannot stand it. I hate the whole thing about how he really wanted that little toy gun. It was not that big of a deal. I cannot stand a stupid lamp. I hate this movie. Okay.
Speaker 2:So you're saying that you don't understand the passion that a child has when they really want something for Christmas? They really want a toy and everyone around them is telling them that you're probably not going to get this thing for Christmas. You don't understand that mentality. No, because I'm spoiled.
Speaker 3:I got everything I wanted.
Speaker 2:Well, good for you, lexi, Good for you. Not everyone's as blessed as Lexi, everyone. Okay. Well, that review. I was not expecting, mitch, what do you think about Christmas Story?
Speaker 4:All right, going back to my first interaction with Christmas Story, it was not one that I grew up with. It was brought up to me in high school when we were doing God Spell the Musical. They wanted my brother, patrick, and I to do the slide scene where he turns around. And we're like we don't know what that is. And everyone was like, oh, you have to watch it. And this was like in March or something. So they let us borrow it and we put it on at like nine, 30 at night and I was 17 and stupid at the time and I fell asleep watching it and I took it back and we're like no, we didn't like it. Then everyone like attacked us about it. They're like you don't understand, you don't get it. So we. So then we I bowed up and started. We were like you know what? We don't like the movie.
Speaker 4:And it took me until I married brooke she loves the movie and I was like I'm like no. And she's like I'm like no, I don't like this. She's like have you ever finished the movie? Pause, and I went no, and she's like well, you're gonna watch it. And nathan you, you have said this to me in the past, guys, it's. It's always good to like admit when you're wrong. Nathan has always said to me if you haven't watched it, you don't got an opinion on it, period. And he's absolutely right, because after I sat down and watched this with my wife and I don't know, maybe being a little bit older now I was wrong, a thousand percent wrong. This movie does so many things right and, yes, it is a classic. It can. It is on the mount rushmore of perfect christmas movies because it is lexi. I'm sorry, but it is there. There are so many. There are so many good things about this movie.
Speaker 2:The narration from forget the author's name, but they're straight from this book, I think yeahepard, I think yeah, and he's like and we forgot to mention this is based on a book and so it's written by John Shepard and it's narrated by the author and it's just such. I mean, go ahead, mitch, I'm sorry, it's just so weird.
Speaker 4:No, you're fine. No, you're absolutely right, I was. I'm trying to look for some of the lines, just because I don't want to throw them up.
Speaker 2:I'm going to guess the reason you hate it so much, and you've already said it you've probably just watched it so many times. Because here's the thing I don't think I ever really sat through like a 24-hour of a Christmas story and watched it more than once, and so I can understand if you've seen it like a million times. There are moments that can be kind of annoying and a little bit, maybe too much, but I think it does a really good job at capturing being a child, and especially being a boy you know like, and having siblings, what Maybe I just don't have the attachment to it that y'all did, because I would rather watch paint dry on a wall than a Christmas story.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, you're never going to invite me back.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, no, I mean this is what this show is about. We're not supposed to invite me back. I'm sorry. No, I mean, this is what this show is about. We're not supposed to agree on everything.
Speaker 4:It may be a boy versus a girl thing. There were several toys that were the red rider for me. By gosh I mean Nathan. We grew up in the time like the Talkboy. I had to have the Talkboy. When that came out, my God, I needed that dang Talk boy. A lightsaber, oh my gosh, like if I did not. If luke's, if luke skywalker's green lightsaber was not under that tree, I would have been crushed. It was there. But yeah, I mean when you relate it that way, yeah, it's, it speaks on that level and then on a separate level. Fun fact Ralphie asks everyone except one person. He never asks the old man. And guess who gets it for him?
Speaker 2:The old man.
Speaker 4:I mean Nathan, you're a father of two now.
Speaker 2:I mean Again, yeah, and again, being a father of children, it just speaks differently, and so I mean we can talk about how great this movie is all day. I know lexi could probably talk about how not great it is all day and again there are aspects of it that I wish were different because I, like I said earlier, I want to be able to show my children, but the fact that there is adult language in this movie, I just don't see myself showing it to them anytime soon, which, again, is a shame because it comes on 24 hours, because to me talking about kind of going straight for ratings because, again, we could talk about this all day this is the movie that when I say if I don't watch this during Christmas, it doesn't feel like Christmas. That is the definition of that version To me. Lexi, you know people are listening to this so they can't see our faces, but Lexi keeps on making really mean faces. When I say really good things about this movie, I'm not making mean faces.
Speaker 3:It's really good things about this movie.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying mean faces, it's me it's very mean, because it is.
Speaker 3:I'm going to blur my screen now it's not Christmas until Ralphie Streets.
Speaker 2:Isaiah, it's not Christmas. So that's what I mean by. If you don't watch this movie, does it feel like Christmas. That's where the christmas rating kind of it came from. So I'm gonna go ahead and already give you my christmas rating. If you can't already guess, I'm gonna say this movie is a five out of five, perfect christmas movie. I I just I can't say anything more about it. Lexi, what? What is your Christmas rating for this movie? It's Christmas rating, not how you really feel about it. Christmas rating.
Speaker 3:Okay. So as a Christmas movie I still don't like it and I'll give it a two. It has me being nice.
Speaker 2:I mean, that is you being nice. I'm surprised you gave it a two.
Speaker 3:I'm surprised you gave it a two, I wanted to give it a zero, but I can't do that, so y'all I feel like I mean you could, it's your opinion, I mean okay. Well, I want to get zero.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry, that's fine, that's fine yeah mitch, what do you think christmas? Okay, quoting, quoting adult ralphie. I have to. This has to be said because it's just a small snippet of how wonderful the words are in this film. My father worked in profanity the way other artists might work with oils or clay. It was his true medium, a master. That's the whole movie, the way he said the words. It's a five out of five. In the Christmas, in Christmas, it's a perfect Christmas movie.
Speaker 2:General rating. Lexi, I'm going to let you go ahead and give the obvious one for you. I think so. I think you're right 100.
Speaker 3:There you go.
Speaker 2:So the fact that this movie is so quotable it's so memorable. The characters are memorable, the cast is memorable. They're so memorable that this last movie we're about to talk about they bring back almost everybody they can from the original in the sequel that we're going to talk about. But again, I'm not going to give it a perfect five because I cannot watch this with my children and it hurts because it's such a quintessential Christmas for me. So I'm going to give it a four out of five. I'm going to give it a four out of five for general Mitch. What are you going to give a Christmas story?
Speaker 4:General rating in general, I'm going to agree with you, for my reasons being like yes, I love this movie. Yes, yes, it is a classic, perfect Christmas movie. It is not my. It is not my favorite, nor is if we're looking at it from a film perspective. There are some, there are some things about it, not not every. You know. No movie's perfect really. We've talked about that. So I would say I'd give it a four as well all right.
Speaker 2:So those are our thoughts on freakier friday and christmas story and, to end things off, on this triple feature epic episode because seriously this episode's gonna be really long we're talking about a christmas story christmas. This is the good sequel, because they try to make a sequel of a christmas story with a christmas story. To direct a dvd with none of the original people, because they probably read the script and they're like this is crap and I never watched it, to be honest, and I never will, because I ain't got time for that. But I do have time for this one. A Christmas Story, christmas. It came out in 2022. Here is the synopsis.
Speaker 2:This movie follows the now-adult Ralphie as he returns to the house on cleveland street to give his kids a magical christmas like the one he had as a child, reconnecting with childhood friends and reconciling with the passing of his old man. That's right, old man passes away in this movie because obviously, the actor who played him in real life had already passed away. This movie stars peter bingsley, aaron hayes, river drosh, juliana lane and, like I said, it does feature a lot of the original people and I didn't do this for the other movies, but there is a bit of trivia. For this one, they did reach out to the actress who played his mother and she declined to return. She had, apparently she had retired from acting in 2007, so when they reached out for her to play this part, she declined. But I do think that this movie would have been her last film if she had accepted the role, and it would have been because the actress passed away two months after the film's release so this would have been her final role if she had accepted it.
Speaker 2:Obviously you have to respect the fact that she had retired from acting, so she didn't want it, she didn't want to come back for it, but it really would have been. It would have been great to have had her in this movie. Yeah, it was. It would have for sure.
Speaker 2:Let me just say, on the right off the start, that was one of the things that kind of took me out of the film was the fact that it was just another actress playing his mom, because the whole point of this movie is the loss of his father and him having to basically choose to grieve over it and the way he chooses to grieve over it and and just everything connected to the original. It kind of felt weird that all these other people from the original movie came back and the wasn't there, and again, it's because and it's just because of how important his family was to the story of this movie. But other than that, I'm not gonna tell all my thoughts, but I'm going to let Lexi go first. I don't know if I should. Lexi, first of all, have you seen A Christmas Story at Christmas?
Speaker 3:Like a crazy person. Yes, I've watched it.
Speaker 2:Okay, you're not a crazy person. What did you think of this one?
Speaker 3:I don't like it and I may just not be a fan of the franchise. A christmas story, and that's okay. I will say I did enjoy them, bringing all the older people back. Now that you told me the trivia behind why the mom was the different, it makes sense now because that was one of the things I remember saying like why did they bring everybody back and not the mom? Yeah, and I was like if they won't go bring her back, they should have killed her off. Versus like that was like my thought process. I was like okay, well, that was the thing.
Speaker 2:I think the actor who played the old man had passed away like years, years ago and I I liked I I mean I know a lot of people poo-poo nostalgia and all that stuff but this movie did a really good job. At all the callbacks, I do think there were times that they did a little too many flashbacks, like daydream kind of things. I can't remember how many they did in the original one to kind of compare and contrast. I do feel like they did a little too much with it. But I also thought it was cool.
Speaker 2:I read something else on IMDb that Peter Bingsley, who plays Ralphie, he purposely kind of altered his voice when he was because he's the narrator in this one. He kind of altered his voice a little to make it sound more like the original narrator from the A Christmas Story, and so I thought that was really cool. They did such a good job, because Going back to A Christmas Story 2. Number one no one asked for it. Number two the one redeeming factor that might have Could have been in that movie Is the fact that I love Daniel Stern. I think he's great. He played, he was in home alone and he was the. He was the narrator. I don't know if you know this, if you've watched wonder years. He was the grownup Kevin Arnold he's the one that narrated, narrated that entire show of a wonder of wonder years. So Daniel Stern like I love him.
Speaker 2:I think the one that narrated narrated that entire show of a wonder of wonder years. So daniel stern, like I love him. I think he's great. He plays the old man in a christmas story too. Again, I never watched it so I don't know how well he does, but you can't beat the actor who played him in the original movie. No, and yeah, I just. I mean, it's kind of like with the Christmas story. I think this movie is great too.
Speaker 2:I think they just did a really good job at paying honor to again, lexi doesn't agree with this, but they paid a lot of honor to what I think is a quintessential Christmas movie and the fact that you could tell it was a passion project of peter bingsley, like the fact that he wanted to come back you. I think he had wanted to do this for a really long time, but I guess they couldn't get everybody back together, and so, with the fact that they're finally able to do this and I did find myself getting emotional, especially at the end, which I don't want to spoil too much, but the connection with the old man at the end of the movie totally got me emotional I thought they just did such a great job and the only thing is that they kind of try to play it that the father was the reason why Christmas was always so special. But it also makes sense because of what you said, mitch, about the original movie, which I never put that together was the fact that he told every single person what he wanted for Christmas, except his father. And then his father was the one who got him to be vegan. And so I mean I'm not saying that the father never heard that he wanted it or whatever, but I'm pretty sure you're right that he didn't. He never outright told him what he wanted for christmas, right, and so knowing that and connecting that makes the ending of a christmas story christmas even more, because, like, it's basically the exact same ending of the original.
Speaker 2:You know, without going too much into detail, what happens in the movie they, they wake up christmas morning and there's extra presents under the tree and they don't know where they came from. And then it's revealed where they came from and I remember the first time I think the first time I watched it I did cry. I did cry because I did cry Because it's again. And now I'm surprised. I didn't because I'm a father now, but like it's such, they just do such a good job at paying honor, even to the point that the very end is the father surprising them with presents, and that's exactly what he did for Ralphie.
Speaker 2:It's just, oh my God, so good, and so, mitch, I need to know what your thoughts are.
Speaker 4:I think the movie succeeds because I think that it was a good. The storyline was good, him trying to capture the magic that he had growing up for his kids, which is what all parents want and what all of us want at Christmastime that's a time of the year where we all want to just kind of be back into that and he takes in the whole movie. And, yes, by the time you get to the ending there's the old man doing it again Because Christmas meant so much to him. You know he worked a lot. He was the old man doing it again because Christmas meant so much to him. You know he worked a lot. He. You know he was the old man, you know the furnace, all that stuff, but he was angry the whole movie going back to the first one. Then the dogs come in and, you know, eat the whole dinner. And he's like you know what we're going out. That's you know. And I think you get what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but going off of that. Another thing, and I kind of understand why they didn't do this, because today's society, you know, we've got to be careful not to offend people, like because if you watch the original movie they even say when the dogs ruin Christmas dinner that from that Christmas on that's what they did every Christmas and they did not go to the Chinese restaurant for Christmas and they made it seem like that was the tradition. And again, I understand why they didn't do it, because it was slightly offensive what they did and so I can understand. I don't know if, like after the whole casserole, I couldn't tell if she had made duck for Christmas dinner. I couldn't tell. It looked like a smaller than a turkey bird.
Speaker 2:So I didn't know if she had made duck for Christmas. But so we talked about again me and Mitch talked about how much we liked it and what was great about it, and Lexi just poo-pooed it. So what are some specific reasons? Give me some specific reasons that you did not like this movie. I just don't think I like the franchise. What are some specific reasons that you did not like this perfect sequel?
Speaker 3:I mentioned one. I did not like them not bringing back the mom. I understand why Respect was respect. I didn't like that, Just like when we talked about Freaky or Friday. I felt like it kept calling back to the original movie a lot and I was like, if you're going to make it a second part, it felt too much like the first one and that's the best way I can say it and not in a good way for me and it could have went in a different direction and I may would have liked this more Than I liked the original.
Speaker 2:Okay, so what direction Do you wish it had gone in?
Speaker 3:I don't know, maybe I don't know. I don't like it. I don't know, I don't know. Maybe I don't know, just something different.
Speaker 2:Well, can I say, can I say that, of all the movies that have had a lot of nostalgia tied to it, this movie needed to have that. Now, again, I will give you the fact that they did a lot of the daydream stuff that they did in the original and I do feel like they did it a little too much and I think that would be the only nostalgia driven thing that I I didn't like about it. But I think the fact that they were using his father's passing as basically the whole drive of the movie. They had to have callbacks to his father and with the lines and all that stuff, and with, you know, going to visit santa, because that's something his dad always did, you know, taking him to go see santa, and and all those, all those little moments that were important because of who his dad was to him and so he felt like he had to, you know, repeat some of what his dad did.
Speaker 2:And the thing with his car. I mean, yeah, he had had a beat-up car, just like his dad did. But yeah, I do agree that out of all the things they could have maybe done one or two less of the daydream sequences, I do think that, out of all of them, my favorite one was the callback to his nemesis when he was like that Western character when he was a kid. I thought that was funny that they brought that back, and so I think they could have just done that one, and it would have been fine. But, mitch, was there anything about this one that you didn't like?
Speaker 4:I think it runs on. It's a little long, I agree with you. I think it does play into some of the see what they did there, see what they did there, see what they did there. It leans into that a little bit. It it's a great sequel but, yeah, I think it goes on a little long and I think that there are some. There are some key moments, like with the mom being different. I think it. You know, we're all saying it, we've all said already yes, respect to her for not wanting to do it, but if she was there, if the original mom was there, I think it would have been the cherry on top of the whole movie. It would have really like, placed it all together. So it's just those small, those small details, that kind of like don't make it as impactful as the first one. But you know, all sequels are like that.
Speaker 2:I mean, in some degree yeah, and, and the fact that she passed away just two months after this movie was released, I think, yeah again, that that would have been. It would have been epic if she had been in this movie playing mom but again, I do said multiple times if you want to retire from acting.
Speaker 3:You want to retire from acting and you don't want to do it anymore.
Speaker 2:So I think if you're a fan of A Christmas Story, I think this is like required watching A Christmas Story Christmas. If you're not a fan of A Christmas Story like the few like Lexi you obviously won't like it, because they do bring people back that you probably didn't like in the first one and the storyline is somewhat similar, with obvious differences, with the father passing away. I I also thought it was awesome that they brought back scott farkas and I was like what, what about his little friend? But in a kind of in a flashback kind of thing, they they brought back his little friend and they had like the whole punching of the arm and just another nice little callback. That I appreciated because, again, I think A Christmas Story is quintessential, perfect Christmas movie. So, all that being said, what are we going to give A Christmas Story Christmas as a Christmas movie? Lexi, I have a feeling I know what you're going to give it, but you know, just for fun, let's see.
Speaker 3:A one. What? That's higher than a Christmas story. Okay, so fun fact, Even though I dislike this movie. I dislike this one a little bit less than the original.
Speaker 2:Oh my god, okay, mitch, what would you give a Christmas story, christmas as a Christmas movie.
Speaker 4:I'm going to watch it every year. You're going to get a five from me on Christmas movies when it comes to that. If it helps get me more in the Christmas mood, you know, if I'm sitting down after Thanksgiving dinner and I'm like you know what, what's the first movie I'm going to put on? It might make it in the rotation. Honestly, it's that good.
Speaker 2:It is very good. I don't know if it's as much of a. If I don't watch it, it's not Christmas as a Christmas story. I don't know if it fits that bill, but I still think it's the perfect, because usually with sequels they go downhill a little bit, they're not as good, and the fact that lexi was able to give it a one as opposed to a zero, that proves that that movie does do this to a certain extent. So I'm going to give a christmas story, christmas, a five out of five for a christmas movie. So for a general rating, lexi, what would you give a christmas story?
Speaker 3:christmas you're about to be so shocked if I take it out of the franchise of a christmas story and I take it out of the franchise of A Christmas Story and I take it out of A Christmas Movie and if they would have had the freaking mom, I would have given a solid 3.
Speaker 2:I am very surprised, yes, very surprised indeed. Mitch, what are you going to give it as a general rating?
Speaker 4:I'm going to give it a 3.5 because it is not as good as the first one, and that's the only reason.
Speaker 2:See, I'm going to give it a four out of five. I gave a Christmas story a four out of five. I'm going to give this one a four out of five because that ending alone is worth the whole movie. Just what they did. And yeah, and I don't want to, I mean I kind of gave it away already, but it's just, they did such a good job at kind of tying everything together and making it again all about his family christmas and it's just. It's just a very, very good way to end that movie.
Speaker 2:so, folks, that is the end of probably one of the longest episodes in the history of this entire podcast, and you know what I'm okay with? Because I got to hang out with two pretty awesome people and talk about three pretty awesome movies, even though Lexi hated two of the three. And that's okay, because this show's all about our opinions, which are okay to be wrong sometimes.
Speaker 3:That's right. Okay, maybe next time. It's like when Taj was all for that one movie that we wasn't.
Speaker 2:You know Taj usually like me and him. We usually hate movies, like I like it and he hates it, he hates it, I like it. So him and I have been hardly ever the same on movies and he should come on an episode sometime. I miss him. So that is A Christmas story, a Christmas story, christmas and freakier Friday. I promise to try my best to never miss an episode release again. Maybe I just need to, you know, record weekend episodes by myself so I'd never miss an episode. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:But this next one, this next Cinema Saturday, probably will be my, probably will be by myself, because I don't think anybody else is going to go see this, because probably no one saw the first one. So I'm going to be reviewing Nobody 2, the sequel to the movie Nobody, and by the look of Mitch and Lexi's face they have no idea what I'm talking about. So I'm probably going to be talking about that by myself. And then the first Tuesday episode of September is a movie that I'm really scratching my head on why it's on my Christmas list. Catch Me If you Can.
Speaker 3:Really.
Speaker 2:With Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. I don't know why it's on this list, but I guess I'm going to find out On the Couch Critics, where every movie gets its close-up.
