Mainlining Christmas

When I heard an ad for a podcast from Business Insider, I wasn't initially interested. Then the ad mentioned that there was an episode about the connection between KFC and Christmas in Japan, and I was immediately searching for the download button.

Unfortunately, the episode didn't tell me much that I didn't already know, but the story was told well and the episode was overall a lot of fun.

If you aren't interested in Japanese culture or the minutiae of the holiday, you might not know that Kentucky Fried Chicken is closely associated with Christmas in Japan. While that might seem strange to Americans at first, the surface-level reasons are those that you might come up with if pressed: Western holiday - Western food, chicken is close to the traditional (i.e., Dickensian) turkey, and Colonel Sanders bears a decent resemblance to Santa Claus.

I was hoping for some deeper revelation or twist, but the reporter on the podcast says that's most of it, although how the co…

In the final episode of 2018, we debate whether or not violent films like Die Hard should be considered "Christmas movies."

Listen above, or on Soundcloud, Stitcher, iTunes, or almost any podcast app.
References:Die HardCash on Demand2018 Morning Consult/Hollywood Reporter Survey2015 Mainlining Christmas Article: The Borders of Christmastown: Some Thoughts on what are and are not Christmas MoviesThe DetectiveNothing Lasts Forever, by Roderick Thorp Transcript: Erin: Yes.

Lindsay: What?

Erin: Sorry - this episode is called “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?”, and I was answering the question.

Lindsay: Oh, in that case, the answer is, “Hell, yes.” Obviously. Are we still really going through this? I thought this was settled.

Erin: Apparently not. A survey conducted this year by Morning Consult and the Hollywood Reporter found 62% of Americans don’t consider it a Christmas movie.

Lindsay: Wow. 62% of Americans are idiots.

Erin: I’m choosing to believe most of these people either …

It's time for another full-length episode!

Why are Christmas spy movies abnormally good? Mainlining Christmas investigates.

References: Movies/Shows: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)The World is Not Enough (1999)Three Days of the Condor (1975)The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)Ronin (1998)Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)The Avengers: Too Many Christmas Trees (1965)Get Smart: Our Man in Toyland (1965)Kim Possible: A Very Possible Christmas (2003)Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation: N.A.U.G.H.T.Y. (2005)Danger Mouse: The Snowman Cometh (2015)Prep and Landing (2009)
Research:
Sydney Pollack on abandoned Bond tone for Three Days of the Condor. Shane Black on ChristmasSam Jackson on his all-time favorite role (Long Kiss Goodnight).Great article on Long Kiss Goodnight, including some details of earlier drafts.Geena Davis’s Wikipedia page, mostly because it highlights the fact that her incredible acting career is still somehow the least impressive thing about her. Review of Ronin con…

Mainlining Christmas reviews the surprisingly good Netflix Original movie, The Christmas Chronicles, starring Kurt Russell.

References:Get Santa Transcript:
Erin: Welcome to a very special Black Friday’s Eve installment of the Mainlining Christmas podcast. As always, I’m Erin…

Lindsay: And I’m Lindsay. This is going to be a mini-episode looking at the new Netflix live-action movie, The Christmas Chronicles, starring Kurt Russell as Santa Claus.

Erin: Let’s cut to the chase - I think I love this thing.

Lindsay: Yes, absolutely. The trailers were fun, but I really didn’t expect it to be this good. It might be the best American made live-action movie about Santa Claus I’ve ever seen.

Erin: I wouldn’t go quite that far. I enjoyed this a lot, but I wouldn’t rank it above Elf, and I certainly wouldn’t say it’s better than Miracle on 34th Street.

Lindsay: Well, you know I’m not a huge fan of either of those. I’ll take Kurt Russell over Will Ferrell any day.

Erin: We’ll save this for a futur…

Mainlining Christmas tries to decide whether there's any merit to the new Grinch movie.

References:How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) Transcript: Lindsay: Welcome to another movie review on the Mainlining Christmas Podcast. As always, I’m Lindsay…

Erin: And I’m Erin. Today, we’ll be talking about The Grinch, the new animated remake of a 52-year-old adaptation of a 61-year-old classic children’s book by Dr. Seuss.

Lindsay: Not to be confused with the theatrically released live-action Jim Carrey vehicle from 2000.

Erin: Oh, I disagree. This is destined to be confused with the 2000 movie for decades to come.

Lindsay: You’re probably right, and that’s a shame. Because this one is better. It’s a lot better in fact.

Erin: No argument there. I’m not sure I’d call the new movie “good,” but it’s about as good as a feature-length production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas actually can be.

Lindsay: There are definitely things to like about this. The…

Mainlining Christmas reviews the surreal new film, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.

References/Background: Nutcracker Fantasy (Now Available on DVD) The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
Transcript:
Erin: Welcome to the first ever mini-episode of the Mainlining Christmas Podcast. We just got back from watching The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, the new holiday-themed fantasy film from Disney.

Lindsay: For those of you who missed the advertisements, this is the live action sequel to the animated Disney Nutcracker movie from the 60’s that doesn’t… actually… exist.

Erin: It’s weird because it’s structured as a sequel in the exact same way Tim Burton’s live-action Alice in Wonderland was.

Lindsay: Like, the EXACT same way.

Erin: But Disney never actually adapted the original, unless you count those segments in Fantasia.

Lindsay: The makers of Four Realms certainly seemed to. There’s an extended homage to Disney’s Fantasia in the middle of the movie and a callback during the end credits.

Er…

Just in time for Halloween, Mainlining Christmas explores one of Christmas's most infamous horror icons: Kevin McCallister.

Listen above, or on Soundcloud, Stitcher, iTunes, or almost any podcast app.
References:Home AloneHome Alone 2 The Good SonBetter Watch Out:DRYVRS Ep. 1 "Just Me In The House By Myself" starring Macaulay Culkin & Jack DishelScreen Junkies: Honest Action [i.e.: Marv and Harry body count]Washington Post review for Home Alone 11/16/1990 complains about violence, but doesn’t tie to Kevin directlyNYT review of Home Alone 11/16/1990 describes it as a “black comedy for children”Entertainment Weekly 07/25/2007 complains about violence in Home Alone 2Roger Ebert's review of Home Alone 22015 Mashable article arguing Kevin is a sociopath2015 Entertainment Weekly interview with Home Alone director, Chris Columbus. Includes reference to how frightening it was filming the stunts.Article from The Independent on The Good Son’s trek through development Hell…