Christmas Creeps

Happy Redboxing Day, everybody! Last year's holiday hits are finally available to rent, so this week we're digging into one Joe has been looking forward to for quite some time: the Scottish high school zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse! The trailers describe it as "Shaun of the Dead meets La La Land" and you would be surprised to find out which half of that equation fares better. Oh, and also there's a bunch of Christmas stuff in the movie too for some reason. Anywho, come join Joe & Bradford as we break down which aspects of this film work, which ones don't, and why Search Engine Optimization is such an important factor now in the holiday film industrial complex. Fun! Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Now, I know what you're thinking. "The Christmas podcast that does swears is gonna do a Bible movie?!?" Let me state right up front that there are absolutely ways to make religious movies with the artistry to back up the message. And then there are ways to make religious movies that exclusively preach to the choir. Guess which category The Star falls into... We spend a lot of time discussing what makes this goofy little donkey film so uninspired. But fair warning: We also spend a lot of that time dropping f-bombs. If you're not cool with that, we'll see you next time. If you ARE cool with that, then I think you're in for a treat. In this episode, we discuss the possibility of gorillas at the Nativity, what a remake of The Crow starring Oprah Winfrey might look like and, of course, where The Star fits into the Winslowverse. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC

The office Christmas party is such a cliche at this point that every workplace comedy inevitably has to make that episode. I mean, there's even a whole movie built around the idea. (We reviewed it once; it's terrible.) This week, the guys take a look at the Christmas special from the original UK version of The Office. Is David Brent a sympathetic figure? How easy is it to separate the Brent persona from Ricky Gervais himself? Does this special undermine the tone of the rest of the series? These are the questions we wrestle with in this episode. Come join us! Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro: "Merry Xmas Everybody", Slade  Outro: "If You Don't Know Me By Now", David Brent

If you've listened to our show for any length of time, you'll know that we don't plan things like this. The fact that this week's film is eerily similar to the last film we covered is 100% accidental. Anyway, this week we're taking our third trip into the Air Bud Cinematic Universe with Santa Paws 2, a film whose plot bears a striking resemblance to The Christmas Chronicles, and which fundamentally skews our understanding of Buddies canon, the Winslowverse, and life as we know it. Also it's a musical. So that's fun. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

AND WE'RE BACK! Join us as we kick off SEASON FIVE of Christmas Creeps with our new January tradition: Netflix originals! Last year we got things started with the drunken sasquatch escapades of Pottersville. This year, we hitch a ride on Santa's sleigh to discuss The Christmas Chronicles, starring Kurt Russell as the world's coolest Santa/stepdad/rockstar/car thief. Also in this episode we get into found footage movies, our favorite cinematic Santas, and how this is the Chris Columbus movie to end all Chris Columbus movies. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

New Year's Eve is St. Sylvester's Day, which is all the excuse we need to watch another Sylvester Stallone movie here on the podcast! This week, Joe & J5 kick back, enjoy some Christmas Tree flavored crisps, and examine the whole "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie" debate through the lens of Stallone's 1986 action vehicle Cobra.  Why Cobra, you ask? Because it just happens to take place around the holidays, and is exactly the movie people are thinking of when they say Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie. Join us as we dig into what separates these two films, as well as how strange and oh-so-very 80s Cobra is in its own right. SEGMENT #1 (00:02:01) -  Iceland's Christmas Tree Crisps SEGMENT #2 (00:11:01) - "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?" SEGMENT #3 (00:32:03) - We finally talk about Cobra Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Merry Christmas, one and all! We finally made it to the big day, and it's time for a break. We celebrate July at Christmas here on Christmas Creeps, and this year we're discussing Team America: World Police! 2004 was a crazy time, partly because we used to think Trey Parker and Matt Stone's puppet comedy was actually a scathing political satire, and not just an angry screed at celebrities they don't like. Look, it was a simpler time, as horrifying as that is to imagine... Also on this episode, we talk about SantaCon 2018, Parker & Stone's short lived TV series That's My Bush, and whether or not E.T. could defeat Santa in hand-to-hand combat. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro: All Alone on Christmas (Darlene Love) Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

We're back to kick off the holidays in style! This week, we're bringing you a Stocking Stuffer on Johnny-5's favorite TV show: Futurama! Join us as Joe, J5 and Karyn discuss season 2's "Xmas Story" as well as the pronunciation of "Xmas", why a parrot sounds so much like a monkey, and how Santa became an avatar for evil. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Happy Hanukkah to everyone celebrating this week, and please accept our sincerest apologies for taking the opportunity to discuss an Adam Sandler movie. Music expert Libby Cudmore joins us this week to discuss Sandler's first—and so far only—foray into animated holiday musicals: Eight Crazy Nights! Join us as break the film down song by song, as well as reminisce about seeing and actually enjoying this awful film back in the day. Believe us, it has not aged well... ALSO: If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear us break down MORE movie soundtracks, Joe and Libby are about to launch a podcast alllll about that! The OST Party kicks off December 18th, when they'll be digging into the soundtracks to Clerks and Batman Forever! Follow @OSTParty on Twitter for the latest! Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! As we gather round the table and give thanks today, we have a special treat for you. Our other robot pal, PAUL, decided to give us a break and bring together the various hosts of Christmas Podcast Network shows to discuss holiday music. It's a huge topic, and this sampler goes in several unique directions. So sit back, enjoy that second helping of leftovers, and let our fellow podcasters entertain you with stories of the many traditions and avenues surrounding Christmas Music! For more info on these and other great holiday podcasts, check out ChristmasPodcastNetwork.com today! PODCASTS FEATURED IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE: Can't Wait for Christmas Christmas Past Advent Calendar House Tis The Podcast Tinsel Tunes Weird Christmas  INTRO/OUTRO: "Christmas All Alone" by Gravitycandle

It's Thanksgiving week here in the US, and you know what that means: We're celebrating Shane Black Friday! On this episode, Breaking Mayberry host Martin R. Schneider joins us to discuss Shane Black's Iron Man 3, the only movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that even exists in the ballpark of holiday cinema. Stay tuned for a special second episode this Thursday! Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com!

Home For The Horrordays continues this week, as Karyn-5 returns to discuss one of the most notoriously terrible slasher films ever made: Silent Night Deadly Night 2! While the original is a fairly straightforward little slasher film, the sequel cranks things to 11 with a half hour of needless flashbacks and one of the most baffling lead performances ever committed to film. But as we discover, that's exactly what makes the film so damn entertaining! Also on this episode: We discover a universe in which Two & A Half Men is the greatest TV show ever made, and we plead with the WWE for a big budget remake. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

It’s October, everybody! Grab your pumpkin spiced beverages and your candy corn flavored whatnots, because it’s time to go Home For the HorrorDays! This week, we’re discussing the indie/Aussie holiday horror film Better Watch Out. This film features a couple twists and turns that get us very riled up, so we encourage you to hunt down a copy to watch before diving in to join us. Then again, if holiday slashers aren’t really your thing, we do pretty much spoil the whole movie and then some. So we got your back! Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

On this week's Stocking Stuffer, Joe & Bradford travel to the Land of Ooo and discuss "Holly Jolly Secrets", from the third season of Adventure Time. Finn and Jake discover the Ice King's secret box of videotapes, and a Christmas tradition is accidentally born. Also in this episode, we talk about having fun in the era of camcorders, the paradigm shift between 1990s cartoons and 2010s cartoons, and more! Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Hurricane Florence scuttled our regular recording plans, but never fear! Stocking Stuffers are here! On this episode, Joe & Bradford discuss "Doug's Secret Christmas", the only episode of Disney's Doug to air in prime time! The guys are forced to look on as Doug has The Talk with his dad, discover how Doug is somehow more progressive than Ed, Edd & Eddy, and Joe comes to the realization that he's been celebrating Christmas of 2015 for the past four years. Stuff gets real in this episode, y'all... Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Happy September, gang! Labor Day has come and gone, summer is unofficially over, and we're beginning the long, slow wind-up to the holiday season! This week on the show, the guys tackle the 1999 drug-fueled teen crime comedy GO. We got a creepy techno robot Santa, we got beater cars decked out in Christmas lights, and we got Joe being wrong about absolutely everything. Join us as we sample some of the latest holiday candies, discuss the separation between rave culture and anime culture, and sort out what makes this film tick! Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.com Tweet us @ChristmasCreeps Visit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro: Gangster Trippin (Fatboy Slim)Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

We're wrapping up Travel Month this week with a cross-country road trip to California! Film critic Alonso Duralde joins us to discuss the 1985 teen sex comedy The Sure Thing, starring John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga! Duralde is the author of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, a compendium of holiday cinema goodness, so we trust him when he says Rob Reiner's sophomore feature is definitely a Christmas movie. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.com Tweet us @ChristmasCreeps Visit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Welcome to part one of a new investigative series we're calling Finding Creepy Santa. Libby Cudmore swears there is a deleted scene from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas which has been lost to the sands of time. It first appeared on the film's original DVD release and has since apparently been left out of all subsequent editions. Libby has turned to us to help her unearth this lost piece of holiday cinema history. In this episode, Libby and Joe discuss the scene, and it's last known whereabouts. If you have any information regarding this scene, let us know on Twitter! @LibbyCudmore @ChristmasCreeps Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Carol of the Bells (myuu)

August is Travel Month here on Christmas Creeps, and this month we've got two travel-themed episodes lined up just for you! This week, we're jetting off to Europe to discuss Martin McDonagh's 2008 murder comedy In Bruges. Join us as we follow hitmen Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson on a trip to a sleepy little town in Belgium, where we discuss the works of Hieronymus Bosch, consider Post-Tarantino crime films, and read negative Yelp reviews of Belgian bowling alleys! CONTENT WARNING: Lots of talk about the film and its depiction of violence against minors in this episode. It’s kind of hard to talk about the film without it. Listener discretion is advised. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.com Tweet us @ChristmasCreeps Visit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro/Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

On this week's Stocking Stuffer, Joe & Bradford giggle like idiots as they discuss "A Very Sunny Christmas", from season 6 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. We got your Radio Shack robots, claymation raisins, and more depraved insanity than you can shake a stick at! It's terrible and gross, but kind of lovely all the same. Questions/Comments? Email us at XmasCreeps@gmail.comTweet us @ChristmasCreepsVisit us on the web at ChristmasCreeps.com! Intro: "Temptation Sensation (Haute Couture)" (Heinz Kiessling) Outro: Happy Christmas, You Guys! (Simon Panrucker) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0