We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Matt Walsh Reviews CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Matt Walsh Reviews CHRISTMAS MOVIES

2024/12/23
logo of podcast The Matt Walsh Show

The Matt Walsh Show

AI Deep Dive AI Insights AI Chapters Transcript
People
M
Matt Walsh
Topics
Matt Walsh: 我将评选出我心目中最好的两部圣诞电影和最被高估的圣诞电影。首先,虽然《查理·布朗的圣诞节》、《圣诞怪杰》和《鲁道夫》都很棒,但由于它们并非长篇电影,因此不包括在最佳圣诞电影的评选中。 接下来,我将介绍我心目中最好的两部圣诞电影。排名第二的是《圣诞故事》。这部电影完美地捕捉了童年圣诞节的魔力,每一代孩子都能与拉尔夫和他对红骑兵BB枪的追求产生共鸣,而成年人也能在观看时感到怀旧。这部电影的剧情始终围绕个人和家庭展开,而不是像现代圣诞电影那样变成全球性的危机。 排名第一的是《美好的生活》。这部电影不仅是伟大的圣诞电影,也是影史上的经典之作。虽然男主角有点像共产党员,但这并不影响电影的伟大之处。这部电影完美地展现了圣诞精神,并加入了超自然的元素。 然而,我的妻子不喜欢这部电影,这让我非常伤心。 至于最被高估的圣诞电影,我认为1994年之后制作的所有圣诞电影都很糟糕。它们缺乏圣诞精神,剧情也过于夸张。例如,《精灵鼠小弟》只是个被拉长了的搞笑短剧,而现代圣诞电影中常见的城市大场面也缺乏吸引力。 当然,也有一些例外,例如《极地特快》。总的来说,我认为我们不需要更多新的圣诞电影,因为已经有足够好的两部了。

Deep Dive

Key Insights

What are the two greatest Christmas movies of all time according to Matt Walsh?

The two greatest Christmas movies are 'A Christmas Story' and 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

Why does Matt Walsh consider 'A Christmas Story' a perfect film?

'A Christmas Story' perfectly captures the magic and wonder of Christmas as a child, with personal and contained stakes, unlike modern Christmas movies that often escalate to global crises.

What makes 'It's a Wonderful Life' the top Christmas movie for Matt Walsh?

'It's a Wonderful Life' is considered the greatest Christmas film due to its iconic status, perfect execution, and the way it captures the Christmas spirit, including the supernatural element of the holiday.

Why does Matt Walsh believe modern Christmas movies lack the essence of Christmas?

Modern Christmas movies often focus on global crises and lose the personal, intimate stakes that make classic films like 'A Christmas Story' relatable and nostalgic.

What is Matt Walsh's opinion on 'Elf'?

'Elf' is seen as an overstretched SNL skit idea that loses its charm quickly and lacks the Christmas spirit found in classic films.

When did Matt Walsh believe Christmas movies started to decline in quality?

According to Matt Walsh, the decline in Christmas movie quality began after 1994, with 'The Santa Clause' being the last decent film of that era.

What is Matt Walsh's stance on 'Jingle All the Way'?

Matt Walsh considers 'Jingle All the Way' as the point where Christmas movies broke, blaming Arnold Schwarzenegger for killing the genre with that film.

Does Matt Walsh find any modern Christmas movie worthy of praise?

Yes, 'The Polar Express' is an exception that Matt Walsh considers decent, though not great, as it does have some Christmas spirit.

Why does Matt Walsh prefer classic Christmas movies over modern ones?

Classic Christmas movies like 'A Christmas Story' and 'It's a Wonderful Life' maintain personal stakes and capture the true essence of Christmas, which modern films often miss.

How does Matt Walsh feel about his family's reaction to 'It's a Wonderful Life'?

Matt Walsh's family, particularly his wife, does not share his enthusiasm for 'It's a Wonderful Life', calling it boring and preventing their children from watching it.

Chapters
This chapter explores the speaker's personal top two Christmas movies of all time: A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life. He highlights their unique qualities, including relatability, personal stakes, and the perfect capture of the Christmas spirit.
  • A Christmas Story is a timeless film capturing the magic of Christmas for every generation.
  • It's a Wonderful Life is considered one of the greatest films ever made, perfectly capturing the Christmas spirit and incorporating a supernatural element.
  • The speaker's wife's dislike for It's a Wonderful Life is a source of marital conflict.

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

Hello everyone, it's your favorite president, Donald J. Trump, here to introduce something really special. You're going to love it. My new Trump watches. It's one of the best watches made. Go to GetTrumpWatches.com. It's Trump time. Go to GetTrumpWatches.com now to get your Trump watch before they're gone. Don't miss your chance to own a piece of history. See GetTrumpWatches.com for details. Trump watches are not intended for investment purposes.

Hurry, go now to GetTrumpWatches.com. All right, we have some more content for you today. It's important that we keep churning out content. If you go a day without content, then the world will explode. Merry Christmas, you filthy animal. That's what I've been told anyway. So anyway, so today we're going to talk about Christmas movies. You may have noticed that it's December, which is why we've chosen this very topical subject. I don't know what to say except it's Christmas and...

Specifically, what I'd like to do is pass down from on high the official list of the top two Christmas movies. There are only two. And then, because this wouldn't be a Matt Walsh video without complaining about something, I'm also going to officially declare which Christmas movies are the most overrated. So we're going to do, you know, positive and negative, both ends of the spectrum. Let's begin with the top...

Christmas movies. And there's one important stipulation here, this is very important. Charlie Brown's Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the cartoon, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer are all delightful. I watch them with my kids every year. They're great.

They are not feature-length films, so they are disqualified from consideration. If we're doing a video about the best Christmas TV episodes or short films, it would have only three titles on it, and it would be the three I just mentioned. But that's not the video we're doing here. As for great Christmas films, there have been two. Only two. Tis the season to be merry. There have also been some decent Christmas movies. There have been some good ones. There have been some passable ones. But the two great ones are these. And we'll go down the list, starting at two. Number two, A Christmas Story. I should do

You'll shoot your eye out, kid. Now, there are some people who argue that A Christmas Story is overrated. And those people are Philistines and scoundrels. A Christmas Story is a movie that I've seen probably 30 times in my life, if not more. I enjoy it every time.

No movie has ever captured the magic and wonder of Christmas as a child like A Christmas Story does. It's a timeless film in that every generation of children can watch it and relate to Ralphie and his quest for the Red Ryder BB gun, just as every generation of adult can watch the movie and feel nostalgic even though we didn't grow up in the 50s. Fragile!

It must be Italian. It is in many ways a perfect film. You know, there isn't any change that I would make to any of the performances, the script, everything about it. You know, the movie perfectly accomplishes what it wants to do. A movie like The Princess Bride is in a similar boat. These are perfect films. They're perfects,

Not top 10 or top 20 films ever made, but they're still perfect. They're perfect at doing the thing that they're trying to do. - There's a shortage of perfect films in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours. - And one thing I love about the movie and something that modern Christmas movies and modern movies in general, I think, get wrong is that the stakes in the story of a Christmas movie, the stakes remain very personal and very contained. Now, in modern Christmas movies,

And I've seen a lot of those too with my kids, unfortunately. Like every single one, there's always the thing at the end where somebody has to rescue Santa or whatever from somewhere or something because if they don't, you know, there will be no Christmas for anyone ever again. It becomes this like global thing.

A Christmas story doesn't do that. The story remains intimate and personal. The stakes are that the kid wants a BB gun. That's it. It never becomes a planetary crisis. And for that reason, the movie feels nostalgic and charming and relatable. It feels like Christmas in a way that many modern Christmas films don't. Okay, so that's number two. Number one, the top Christmas movie of all time, hands down, no contest, not a competition, is It's a Wonderful Life. Yes!

Now this is in fact one of the greatest films ever made, not just Christmas film, but films in general. It's one of the all-time, probably top 15 films ever made. It is iconic, it is perfect. Again, there's not one beat or frame or moment or performance or anything that I would change. What is it you want Barry? What do you want? You want the moon?

Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. It cannot be topped. It cannot be remade. If anybody ever tries to remake it, they should be boiled alive in hot oil and then buried in the desert in an unmarked grave. I'm not kidding. I mean, for YouTube's sake, I am, but...

No, I'm not. Anyway, It's a Wonderful Life captures the Christmas spirit better than any other film, and it brings in the supernatural element of the holiday in a way that the Christmas story does not, which is why it gets edged out on the list by It's a Wonderful Life. Now, yes, yes, George Bailey is a bit of a commie. Sure, he is a bit of a commie. But, you know, the film is still great. I don't know. It's able to overcome that. That's how great the film is. Now, on a personal note, I will say that the major challenge in my marriage

is that I don't want to air get into airing dirty laundry especially not uh in my own family my marriage but this is a major challenge is that my wife refuses to watch this movie with me she won't watch it we go through this every year she calls it boring every time she says that it cuts cuts me

It cuts me to my core. I weep hysterically. In my heart. I mean, not physically, but in my soul, I'm crying. So not everybody appreciates this movie. Sometimes in a tragic situation, there may be people close to you who don't appreciate it, but they're wrong. This is the greatest Christmas film of all time, period.

I mean, that's it. Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and devastating, folks. From the Maui fires to Hurricane Helene, we're seeing entire towns wiped out in 24 hours with barely any warning. And what happens? People are left without basic resources scrambling to survive. Now, I know what you're thinking. It won't happen here. Well, that's exactly what everyone thinks until they're in the middle of a catastrophe.

Being prepared isn't just smart, it's essential. That's where the Wellness Company's Emergency Kit comes in. These aren't your run-of-the-mill first aid kits. We're talking about a personalized mini pharmacy right in your own home. No more relying on overworked doctors or understocked pharmacies when disaster strikes. Bacterial infections, staph, bite wounds, UTIs, strep throat, respiratory illnesses. These kits have you covered. It's like having a doctor in your pocket, minus liberal indoctrination from med school.

Look, you keep a fire extinguisher handy, right? Well, consider this your medical fire extinguisher. It's not paranoia, it's preparedness. Here's how it works. Just fill out a form online, a pharmacist reviews it, and boom, the kit arrives in two weeks. It even comes with a medical board-approved guidebook.

It's that simple. And right now, when you go to UrgentCareKit.com/Walsh and use promo code Walsh, you'll save 60 bucks plus get free shipping. That's UrgentCareKit.com/Walsh to save $60. This is preparedness simplified. Invest in your family's self-managed insurance plan today. UrgentCareKit.com/Walsh, USA residents only. Now, as for the most overrated Christmas films,

And I'm not going to get into listing actual titles. Because the most overrated and the worst Christmas movies of all time, those are every Christmas movie made after the year 1994. No shit. Every single one, without exception. The Santa Claus in 1994 was the last decent Christmas film. Not great, not great, but decent.

Home Alone was a couple of years before. I think it was 1992 or something. That was good. Better than decent, not great. Flemwad. Everything after that, everything after that has been trash. It has all been bad. Same for Christmas songs, too, by the way. This is also the cutoff for Christmas songs. 1994, no good Christmas song or movie has been made after that. I don't know why, but that's it. Exactly 30 years ago.

Don't come to me talking about Elf. - Drop the whole Elf thing. - Okay, I can already hear some of you people. "What about Elf? Elf came out of..." Elf, no. - You disgust me. How can you live with yourself? - No. I just watched Elf again with my kids. Like pretty much every Will Ferrell movie during that run,

Elf was a funny idea for an SNL skit, maybe, stretched out about 20 times longer than it should have been. It wears out its welcome midway through the first act. And by the third act, whatever charm it had has long since died, along with my Christmas cheer and my hopes for the future.

All of it is dead by the end of that movie. You also see in Elf, this thing that they do now in Christmas movies, where by the end of it, it's like, whatever, they're out in the city and all the people are there and they're all watching and there's some big, you know, dramatic scene unfolding and all that kind of stuff. It's just not, it's just not good.

What else is there? I mean, don't you dare suggest the Jim Carrey Grinch abomination. The Grinch! I certainly don't want to hear about whatever bullshit The Rock just put out. We got snowmen! You know, every year it's stuff like that now. The Rock is playing whoever and Santa's an action hero now. Time for some season's beatings.

It's all bad. All of it is bad. It's all terrible. Hollywood for the last 30 years has forgotten how to make Christmas movies. Even the mildly entertaining ones are still missing something, okay? They're missing the essence of the Christmas film. They're missing Christmas spirit. I'm gonna stick my whole fist up your ass. That's what they're missing. You can't... It's unquantifiable, but you can't quite...

Figure it out. It's like it's it's just not there for summer. There's something it's just not there It's the same with the Christmas songs They just don't have that spirit you listen to a Christmas song that was made in the 40s or the 50s All of them have Christmas spirit and you listen to the songs you're like that's a Christmas on so the Christmas was supposed to sound like it feels like Christmas every single song in the last 30 years doesn't feel like Christmas just doesn't feel like So they're all bad. That's not up for discussion, but it's okay because we don't need

new Christmas movies. We have the two greatest, which you can watch every year as we do in our family. Well, I... It's a Wonderful Life I have to watch alone. I have to sit and watch it alone because nobody watches it. My kids have been poisoned against this movie by my wife. She's told them all it's... I almost got them to watch it the other day and I put it on

And then my son goes, oh, it's black and white? Yes, it's black and white. Okay? You don't need... The story is what colors it in. You won't even notice that it's black and white when you start watching it. It's so magical that it doesn't need to be in color. That's what I said. They didn't want to watch it. They didn't want to watch it. It's black and white. Anyway, you don't need any other Christmas movies. You have two. That's all you need. Don't be greedy, you brats. Also, Merry Christmas.

Hey Matt, I have a question for you. Actually two. What about Jingle All the Way? That was in 96. How do you fall on that? Jingle All the Way? Are you kidding me? Is that a serious question? Okay. That's actually, that's where Christmas movies, well I'm glad you brought that up, but that's where Christmas movies, that's where they broke. Put that cookie down! Now! Arnold Schwarzenegger killed Christmas movies. Okay, and then what about Polar Express? When did that come out? 2004. 2004.

Look, there are exceptions to every rule, I guess. That one has it. Yeah, that one does have the Christmas spirit. It's not great. It's decent, so... Whatever. So there's been one. There's been one in 30 years. Okay, great. I'm glad we got a clarification. Okay, good. Bye.

When it's PCS time, you know the drill. Pack, research to new base, get the kids in school, because family supports family. At American Public University, we support military families with flexible, affordable online education that moves with you. As a military spouse, your tuition rate is the same as your partner's, just $2.50 per credit hour. American Public University, education that moves with you.

Learn more at apu.apus.edu slash military.