Bah Humbug: A Christmas Movie Podcast with Helen O'Hara

Merv: A movie about a dog should be a slam dunk for Christmas. Right?

A couple split up and negotiate shared custody of their dog - but when he gets depressed, they reunite for Christmas to cheer him up. It's a rock-solid premise for some light comedy, with likeable stars - Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel - and a great canine performance. But does it live up to the basic idea? And is it even Christmassy? Your host, Helen O'Hara, is joined by journalist and author Kat Brown to hash it out. Merv is out on Prime Video now. For more from Kat, check out her website katbrown.com here, or follow her on Bluesky here. Her book, No One Talks About This Stuff, is particularly relevant to this film and may be of help if you've been affected by infertility and childlessness. For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale. This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a shiny five-star review on your podcast provider of choice; it really does help. And Merry Christmas! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jingle Bell Heist: It's definitely better than its title, but how much better?

Christmas is a time of miracles, and also robberies, according to Netflix's new rom-com crime caper, wherein two plucky but dodgy young people played by Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells decide to rob a department store on Christmas Eve. In defence of these bad Santas, they have both been provoked by its awful owner (Peter Serafinowicz) - and their plan may be smarter than it looks. Here to assess how well they succeeded are your regular host, Helen O'Hara, and film journalist and podcaster Amon Warmann, with bells on probably. Jingle Bell Heist is out on Netflix now. For more from Amon, check out his social media or listen to him weekly on the Fade To Black podcast. For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale. This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a shiny five star review on your podcast provider of choice; it really does help. And Merry Christmas! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christmas, Again: Will this indie film become a mumblecore seasonal classic?

It's not all glitzy romances and action movies at Christmas; spare a thought for the microbudget indie movies that are also set at this time of year. Take, for example, 2014's Christmas, Again from director Charles Poekel, finally hitting UK cinemas this December with its tale of a Christmas tree salesman (Kentucker Audley) trying to shuffle through the season without too much fuss. It's been described as a mumblecore effort, so can the movement that launched Greta Gerwig also bring us a genuine Christmas classic? To figure that out, your host, Helen O'Hara, is joined this time by film journalist and author Laura Venning for a good old mumble all about it. Christmas, Again is out in UK cinemas now. For more from Laura, you can find her substack Mise-en-Ven here, or her site here. For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale. This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a shiny five stars on your podcast app of choice; it really does help. And merry Christmas! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Family Plan 2: Mark Wahlberg leads an international criminal family Christmas - or something

What's more important: Christmas or geography? Can sexy Russian spies also be cat ladies? And is Marky Mark secretly French? All these and more questions will be answered on today's episode of Bah Humbug, the Christmas movies podcast, as we look at The Family Plan 2, Apple's Christmas-tinged sequel to the 2023 action comedy with Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan. Your host, Helen O'Hara, is joined today by Chris Hewitt of Empire magazine to look at this action classic (tbd). The Family Plan 2 is out now on Apple TV. For more from Chris, pick up a copy of Empire magazine or listen to the Empire podcast here. You can find the spoiler podcasts he mentioned here, and to come along to the live show in London on January 9th, pick up your ticket here. For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale. This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Very Jonas Christmas Movie: Are we broken or is this actually funny?

Cynical brand extension or charming Christmas adventure? Why not both! A Very Jonas Christmas Movie features pop siblings the Jonas Brothers on an epic quest to get home from London to spend the holiday with their families. Alas, Santa Claus (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) decides that the trio need a lesson in brotherly love so he sabotages their plans, forcing them to spend time together on the road. With a supporting cast that includes Randall Park, Billie Lourd, KJ Apa and Will Ferrell, it's a star-studded musical that is...weirdly charming. At least, so says your non-fan host, Helen O'Hara; does her guest, journalist Charlotte Harrison, agree? Listen and find out! A Very Jonas Christmas Movie is out now on Disney+. For more from Charlotte, look on social media @sometimesmovies. For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale. This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices