12 Days of Christmas Movies, Day 7: Klaus

December 10, 2019 Emily

We’re entering the second half of 12 Days of Christmas Movies with a cute little Netflix movie called Klaus.

This is a Santa Claus origin film. It’s not the first Santa Claus origin film ever, but it’s definitely a new take on what I am dubbing the Santa Claus Origin Film Genre (TM). So how does this story of a postman who inadvertently invents the Santa Claus tradition fare in comparison to other takes on the Santa Claus origin film genre? We’ll have to run it through my patented (not really) Christmas movie rating system to find out.

True Life: I Puke When I'm Nervous and Knives Out Made Me Feel Seen

December 9, 2019 Kelli

When I was in high school and spending way too much time at my local Barnes and Noble, one of the most memorable books I picked up to read was It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. What makes it stand out in my mind is not necessarily the writing style or the plot or even the characters, but the fact that it was the first time I’d ever encountered a description of something that up until that point, I was almost certain I was alone in experiencing: chronic anxiety-induced vomiting.

Apparently, we’ve come a long way since 2006. Several of this year’s biggest films feature main characters suffering from this same affliction, including Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers, Elizabeth Banks’ Charlie’s Angels reboot, and Rian Johnson’s spectacular whodunnit, Knives Out. In particular, Knives Out takes the concept and poses a hypothetical I’ve never even considered: what if my unfortunate physiological response to anxiety was actually useful?

(CW: anxiety, depression, puke.)

Survivor S39: e12 Recap

December 7, 2019 Todd & Mary

Hello again! We have returned from Thanksgiving and have put on our Survivor-watching pants. They are like our regular pants, except they are a button-fly. Last we met, Lauren seemed to be running things, but Karishma flipped everything on its head when she played her hidden immunity idol and Elizabeth was sent home. Will Karishma be able to build on her power play and stay in the game? Or will something entirely different happen? There is, as always, only one way to find out! Let’s get into it…

12 Days of Christmas Movies, Day 6: The Knight Before Christmas

December 5, 2019 Emily

According to this Christmas countdown, we’re halfway to Christmas everyone!

Congrats on taking this journey with me and making it this far. Today on 12 Days of Christmas Movies, we return to some comfortable favorites: It’s Netflix. It’s Vanessa Hudgens. It’s a Netflix Vanessa Hudgens Christmas movie. There is time travel. And a knight. Okay, those last two parts are new, but everything else about this movie makes it almost exactly The Princess Switch — well, okay, not EXACTLY, but close enough. You get me.

How did this second go at a Vanessa Hudgens Netflix Christmas movie go? We’ll only be able to tell after running it through our handy dandy Christmas movie rating system.

His Dark Materials S1E5: We’re Going to Win This One, Aren’t We?

December 4, 2019 Emily

His Dark Materials is moving so fast that each episode almost seems like a different genre. What genre is this episode? I’ll let you decide at the end.

This episode is also the episode where we start truly delving into book 2 material. Part of me is like, “WHOA SLOW DOWN,” because I really wish this show was going to be three seasons instead of two. But part of me is SO EXCITED because The Subtle Knife is my favorite of the three books. So getting to meet Will Parry and be introduced to that part of the story is super cool, especially because this material has never been adapted for the screen before. But I could have waiting a bit longer for that payoff. I don’t know. I’m so excited I don’t know how to feel.

I’ll try to anyway, I guess.

BSG #35: Franklin Agrees / American Spy

December 2, 2019 The Squad

BSG #34: Franklin Agrees / *American Spy*

Grab your night-vision goggles and discrete compact because it’s time for some espionage! This week, the #BookSquad covers American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. We talk about the novel’s epistolary form, racism and sexism in America, questions of loyalty, and the romance at the center of the story. Then we get into some listener feedback about Evvie Drake Starts Over, Circe, and the Memory Police. Check out the #BookSquadBlog for television recaps, holiday-themed posts, and Emily’s 12 Days of Christmas Movies series! Join us on 12/16 for our Best of 2019 / Secret Santa #othersode, and read along with us for our next #bookpisode on Nature Poem by Tommy Pico -- available 12/30.
Special Offer for BSG Listeners! Get 20% off the 2020 Refresh Weekly Planner by Workspacery when you enter the code BOOKSQUAD at checkout at www.workspacery.com!

Click through for summary, table of contents, and show notes!

12 Days of Christmas Movies, Day 5: Pooka!

December 1, 2019 Emily

In an effort to get back into Hulu’s Into the Dark scary movie series, the next movie we’ll be discussing for 12 Days of Christmas Movies is last year’s Pooka!

This film was the third installment of Hulu’s Into the Dark series. The series is a holiday-themed scary movie anthology that covers all the important milestones of the year, Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day, the 4th of July… you get the idea. It’s a series I always mean to watch and then shy away from because every “episode” is actually a full on movie. Which… I don’t get this, but for some reason watching a WHOLE MOVIE seems so much more daunting than marathoning an entire television series. Where is the logic?

This particular episode is directed by Nacho Vigalondo, director of other weird movies such as Colossal and Extraterrestrial. The premise of this movie is simple enough, but in keeping with the style of this particular director, it gets weird real quick, so I won’t give away any of the plot details that should remain surprising. Especially since, not gonna lie, there were several points in the movie where I was like, “I’m not sure I get what’s happening.” I think by the end it will all make sense though.

Survivor S39: e11 Recap

November 30, 2019 Todd & Mary

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Last week, both Missy and Aaron were sent home. Who will be sent packing this week? And will it feel as cathartic as last week? Only one way to find out! On to the recap!

12 Days of Christmas Movies, Day 4: Noelle

November 29, 2019 Emily

For our next Christmas movie of the series, we’re heading over to Disney+ land!

Yes, Disney+, home of Baby Yoda and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. But also! Original Christmas content like Noelle, a film directed by Marc Lawrence, starring Anna Kendrick, Shirley MacLaine, Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Billy Eichner. If not ground-breaking, it at least seems like with this cast, the movie should be a lot of fun, right? Uh… well.

The premise of this movie is pretty simple. Santa is dead, and his son Nick (Hader) will have to pick up the reins (pun intended). The only problem? Nick doesn’t really feel like he has a knack for the whole Santa Claus thing. His sister Noelle (Kendrick), on the other hand, loves Christmas more than anything in this world and is in Nick’s corner trying to encourage him to be the best Santa he can be.

When that fails, she suggests he takes a little vacation so that he can come back and be in the Christmas spirit in time to do his Santa-ly duties. But Nick ends up loving being a yoga instructor in Phoenix, Arizona so much that he wants to stay. Whatever will Noelle do? I feel like you know. But I won’t spoil it for you all the same.

His Dark Materials S1E4: Who is Lyra Belacqua?

November 28, 2019 Emily

Ooo boy… it’s panserbjørne time!

But before we get there… I have one quick thing to say. I just read that His Dark Materials is meant to cover the three books of the series in two 8 episode seasons. Say what? I feel… unsure about this decision. Here I was thinking we’d get about one season per book. But no, we’re just going to get this thing done, huh? I guess that explains the pacing (and the additional storylines that take us into book 2 territory) thus far. But still, I was really liking the parts of the story that the television show was adding. Hearing that they are cramming three books into two seasons means less room to do some of that additional world-building.

Oh well. It is what it is. I guess let’s talk about what happened this week. And let’s meet some armored bears, yeah?

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