Imbibe Cinema Podcast

Tricia Legat 0:00

The jingling in the background is the dog .

Jonathan C. Legat 0:02

I thought it was Christmas sleigh bells .

Tricia Legat 0:03

Yes , it's Christmas , sleigh bells and our dog . Okay , so are we doing an episode ? Sure .

Jonathan C. Legat 0:30

Greetings and or salutations , and welcome to Imbibe Cinema . The Imbibe Cinema podcast is brought to you by the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival , otherwise known as BWIF . We are currently accepting submissions for our 2025 festival . We seek independent , character driven films of all length , styles and genres . To learn more , please visit B W I F Fcom . I'm festival operations director and MC Jonathan C Leggett , along with my cohost cinema centennial program director .

Jonathan C. Legat 1:01

Tricia Leggett as well as our executive producer and the executive director of the film festival , michael Nolans . In this episode , we are going to be discussing our 2024 holiday film pick Spirited . The cocktail we'll be imbibing is called the Bob Cratchit . I know it's not Scrooge , but wait for it . Follow my TED Talk for a second . It contains Aviator Gin . Again , this is our .

Tricia Legat 1:31

Third podcast in a row .

Jonathan C. Legat 1:32

Third podcast in a row making the call back to Aviator Gin and Ryan Reynolds Aviation .

Michael Noens 1:37

Aviation , aviation . You know , Ryan Reynolds would be very upset . He would , but I'm already at least one glass in , because we've just started the podcast , so you're officially an aviator now and it's off of the same bottle , because that's a big bottle .

Jonathan C. Legat 1:49

We finished it tonight , oh really , oh , we did .

Michael Noens 1:51

Nice , cool , I have a whole unopened one still .

Tricia Legat 1:55

I believe in the rule of threes . So we drank the gin three times and we will reference Ryan Reynolds , forynolds for the third time , and then we stop no more , because after that it's stalking I thought you were going to go in a different direction .

Michael Noens 2:09

Like you know , on the third time we've referenced him three times , then does he actually appear so that would be a christmas miracle that would be a christmas miracle and what the uh ?

Jonathan C. Legat 2:23

um , guest celebrity uh appearance . Now , I mean , you know , holiday miracles , let's , let's just put it that way um , but this also has a burdo uh and triple sec . So it is essentially uh , it is very reminiscent to me . I make aina gardens first word sound a mulled wine wine for Halloween , so that I can give that out to the adults walking around with trick-or-treaters , because it is a nice warming beverage . So this is a heated wine that we have added gin and triple sec to .

Tricia Legat 2:58

Right , not that he's getting the neighborhood trashed , it's more like we live outside the Chicago area and it's cold .

Jonathan C. Legat 3:03

Yeah , and you have to walk a long distance between us and even just the next house over . So I mean , people need something to warm them up . Yeah , the recipe , as well as pictures , are available on our website , imbibecinemacom , and our mobile app . In addition to this podcast , we also offer a variety of short and feature length independent films that you can enjoy for free . Variety of short and feature length independent films that you can enjoy for free . But when you become an In Vibe Cinema member , you get access to the monthly limited releases and the BWIFF virtual experience from our week long festival . To learn more and begin your membership , please visit InVibeCinemacom or download the In Vibe Cinema mobile app , available on the App Store and Google Play .

Tricia Legat 3:44

So we started with the drink . Yes , it's a Bob Cratchit drink instead of a Scrooge drink , and I think that is awesome because we can then start with Bob Cratchit in Spirited , played by Octavia Spencer , and she's amazing she is .

Michael Noens 4:00

She is amazing in this . I think seeing the movie the second time , because I've only seen this twice .

Jonathan C. Legat 4:06

I saw it , oh , okay .

Michael Noens 4:08

Yeah , so I only saw it . When it first came out , I loved it , and then , you know , sunday .

Jonathan C. Legat 4:13

Last night for us .

Michael Noens 4:14

Perfect , yeah , and I just I really enjoyed the heart that she brings to the story , but like the struggle , the struggle , the inner struggle that she brings to the story , but like the struggle , the struggle , the inner struggle that she has , it's very modern , you know , between , uh , work life balance , yep , and uh , what I did find really fascinating was , you know , that she has been doing this for so long and still still has held on to some sort of positive force of humanity , you know .

Tricia Legat 4:48

Yeah , right which .

Michael Noens 4:49

I think is kind of amazing , because it's like , and the way that she plays is it's like this , you know , it's like just dangling by a thread and she keeps making sure that it's still intact , just so that way you know she keeps her sanity . Yeah , now I have . I'm a terrible person . I love this movie .

Tricia Legat 5:03

making sure that it's still intact , just so , that way you know she keeps her sanity . Yeah , now , there I have . Uh , I'm a terrible person . I love this movie , I really love this movie , but I do have one little thing that I would have tweaked that , I think , would have improved it .

Tricia Legat 5:16

Um , that slide into um bad moral judgments yeah it's not , you know , like flipping a switch , it's not uh , it like uh , scrooge , was , you know this ? Angry , hateful , like taking joy out of other people's misery , kind of uh , portrayal of the bad guy , right ? Uh , he is charming from the get-go , and so you can understand why her character would kind of go along with it . But what I would have changed is there's that scene where you go back to his past and his benevolent boss , mr Figgywig , or whatever in this who fires him because he crosses the line , and it's a small detail .

Tricia Legat 6:09

What I would have done is they talk about how he had spread a lie about something right , and it had ruined this person's life right , and that was crossing the line . I think that is going too far , too fast . I think what it should have been is he had lied about something that caused a scandal . That wasn't true . But it was about somebody who was already bad right , it was already somebody who was a monster . So if they're already a bad guy , what harm is it right ? That's an easier line to cross than to get to the part where you're then going after children , where you know you can cross that like to me , morally , that's kind of how you could slide , yeah but it's like you were always .

Jonathan C. Legat 6:51

He was already making a horrible choice in the past and being totally okay with it yeah , I'm trying to remember if , if they they established , because my brain is suddenly completely fried by wine and gin , um , but uh , yeah , this is the one where where it starts , and he like cues it up .

Michael Noens 7:11

You know , clint is doing what he does um best , which is , you know , trying to distract um yeah , and then he's like all right , stop . And he like stops the scene yes the , the guys fade away and then you know he answers his questions basically all right I'll give you these answers all right now . Shut up and like yeah , watch this scene play out yeah and so it was that scene .

Michael Noens 7:34

And then he leaves and walks over to um kimberly and , you know , asks her to join him it's not not like she just decides to do this .

Jonathan C. Legat 7:47

The boss actually pretty much gives her the nod , like go with him .

Michael Noens 7:52

It'll be better for her career-wise Correct .

Tricia Legat 7:55

My biggest hiccup with the whole story is his decline into becoming unredeemable . And he's likable from the beginning and I feel like if we just made him just a tad bit unlikable and then you get under the skin and then you're like , oh , he's really likable . You know , I don't know , there's just something there that I think could have heightened it . But again , it still is an incredible movie and the only reason I think I'm drawn to that is because we are doing a take on the Christmas Carol and because I can see Will Ferrell's journey clearly . And it's harder to see Ryan Reynolds' journey , his change from being unredeemable to redeemable Because he's always likable .

Michael Noens 8:46

I feel like Ryan Reynolds plays this character a lot . And it's somebody that if you were there with him you wouldn't like him . But because you're watching a movie you know you find him funny .

Jonathan C. Legat 9:01

Like him as Deadpool is a prime example .

Tricia Legat 9:04

He uses humor and wit , right , no , but he uses humor and wit to deflect and in fact to attack yes .

Michael Noens 9:14

So I don't really find him likable , but it's his . It's the Ryan Reynolds charisma that he brings to it .

Tricia Legat 9:21

Right , he's charming , yes , and Scrooge typically isn't charming , but that's another thing , that's .

Tricia Legat 9:31

That's one of the things that I think really makes this movie kind of um of the times and uh and uh scary in its own way is how , uh , social media and misinformation and mistruths and the outright lying . Of course , I also just watched last night Buy Now the Shopping Conspiracy documentary on Netflix , which but I mean just the incredible amount of psychology that goes into marketing and getting people to believe one thing or another , and how that can come at such a great a cost and how everybody can blame someone else for it that nobody is actually , you know , held accountable , right In today's society . Well , it's , you know , it's the company , it's not the person , it's , it's the , it's the . Or maybe you shouldn't believe everything you read , or blah , blah , blah . But again , maybe we should , I don't know , tell the truth . And the fact that he is kind of the master of lies and misinformation and he's so charming is , well , that's kind of very villainous , right , yeah , yeah , I mean , you're not wrong . My tangent over .

Jonathan C. Legat 11:07

I mean I'll call out , as you lovingly pointed out , when it comes to like corporations and whatnot , just how he manages to spin the room of Christmas tree growers into a frenzy by you know , making them feel like they are the patriotic you know lifeblood of it , yeah . And letting that self-righteousness , and then just villainizing the others , continue to rip this nation that we love apart .

Tricia Legat 11:42

By buying plastic trees .

Tricia Legat 11:43

Yeah , by terrifying , that is , and the fact that you could do that well , and any ramifications right and how it is done and how , like we have these , uh , social media wars or , um , just in general , we will , uh , as a society , get divided over something and how much and the creepy thing is well , how much of it might have been manufactured just to in to incite people and and what ?

Tricia Legat 12:09

Uh , he says it's so scary , is he's like it's not enough to say this is why we're right . You know , we're bringing back christmas . That's the name of the song which is one of the like my favorites in the in this , in a movie filled of amazing songs , um , the bringing back christmas song about , like , how we're bringing back nostalgia and what Christmas should be and how , like this is a point of pride . But it's more than that . You have to make them hate not only the producers of your opposition , your competitors . You have to hate the consumers of those products , and that hatred is what's going to make that righteousness , is going to make profit and it's like , oh , this is so gross , but I've seen it .

Michael Noens 12:54

Yeah , and to the film's credit , specifically with that song . What I think is so amazing is even on the first viewing you get that so black and white , how clear that point is made in such a fun , happy way , and yet you're internally conflicted going oh , this guy , this fucking guy , and whether he believes any of that or not , it doesn't matter .

Jonathan C. Legat 13:24

It doesn't matter because all he's doing is whipping the people who are paying him into a frenzy so that they can help him smash and destroy the people that are not paying him and you know what his character reminds me of .

Tricia Legat 13:37

Uh , thank you for smoking aaron eckhart .

Michael Noens 13:40

Aaron , yes , thank you , uh , and he has this whole spiel .

Tricia Legat 13:42

But I was like it's not about proving that I'm right , that's never how you work , how you uh debate , it's just proving you wrong . I , that's all I have to do . I have to poke a hole in your argument . I never have to make my own , I just have to make you look bad and that's like the key .

Michael Noens 13:59

And it's scary yeah , they're uh an unlikely pairing .

Jonathan C. Legat 14:04

Thank you for smoking and spirited I mean , you know , one's a musical comedy , one's not , uh , it's a musical .

A Spirited Film Conversation

Tricia Legat 14:13

Yeah , it's a comedy question mark .

Michael Noens 14:14

Yeah , that should be a genre comedy just like , okay , flashback , uh uh block .

Tricia Legat 14:22

Do you remember going into a rental facility ? And if you do , wow .

Jonathan C. Legat 14:26

Rental facility . Holy hell , robot . Yeah , I was about to say I'm like I think you've managed to date it even worse somehow they're going to figure out that Trisha's actually .

Tricia Legat 14:38

AI . Okay , you go back in time . Now . This is only a very few people left alive , remember this . But um , jesus christ , you go in and you're like I'm looking for this movie and it's like I know it's . It's a drama and you'd find it in the comedy section after you search the dramas . And then you're like I give up on this movie and I'm gonna go over here and like why is it over here ? It makes no sense . And it's like there are some movies they just couldn't figure out , like Forrest Gump .

Michael Noens 15:06

You could find it in different locations and it's like well , I blame this on the Golden Globes , where it's like best musical or comedy and you're like and even this year there are a few where I was like . Yeah , why is that ?

Tricia Legat 15:19

a comedy show show don't get me wrong bear was good . I liked the bear . Not a comedy , it's not true . Not a comedy , yeah , but I mean yeah to john's point . Um , if christoph waltz , who I would say is the scariest villain there ever was , made me laugh so many times , but it also made me more terrified of him yes , I , I would not want to like , and it's just because of his character .

Jonathan C. Legat 15:41

I mean like I would not want to like and it's just because of his character . I mean like I would not want to encounter him in a dark alley and I'm sure he might be a lovely man , but no Inglorious Bastards , no .

Tricia Legat 15:58

No .

Jonathan C. Legat 15:59

No Pound on subscribe . I would not want to be there .

Tricia Legat 16:02

Do you mean hashtag , pound ?

Michael Noens 16:06

Well , it's the pound symbol . Yes , I know , but I like pound pound unsubscribe .

Jonathan C. Legat 16:11

Would you rather I say octothorpe , also a pound symbol alright , so scrabble guys .

Tricia Legat 16:18

Alright , so , moving back to the film , what ? Where were we ? What were we talking about ?

Jonathan C. Legat 16:23

what haven't we been talking about ? This has been a smorgasbord , so this is obviously a to the film . Where were we ? What were we talking about ? What haven't we been talking about ? This has been a smorgasbord , you're right . So this is obviously a new retelling of the Dickens classic A Crispus Carol .

Tricia Legat 16:37

What does Will Ferrell say in the Good Afternoon Song ? Kiss my Dickens son Kiss my Dickens son yeah .

Jonathan C. Legat 16:48

I mean , he's got some big dickens energy , um , uh , but I mean , you know , I I love that . You know , uh , ryan reynolds calls out . You mean , like you know , the , the bill murray , um , the , the fact that they essentially call out all of the films that we had watched growing up , and I believe that we have said this previously possibly in another Christmas , one , but your favorite incarnation of the Christmas Carol . Yep Muppets Christmas Carol .

Michael Noens 17:16

Oh yeah , we talked about it last week Yep . Yeah , Was it last week ? I think it was last week and I it hit the cutting room floor . Oh but yes , we did talk about it also in jacob episode jacob marley in this uh film is uh .

Tricia Legat 17:31

I think he's really the representative that gives you . He gives you that whole , like charles dickens feel yes he is from that era . It doesn't seem like he's changed much .

Jonathan C. Legat 17:40

Yep patrick page , and one of the things that I actually want to understand about this this , this telling of it . You know Scrooge . For those who have not watched this movie , please watch this movie . Drink the drink that we are drinking , enjoy the movie , enjoy the drink and then come listen to us , because we kind of spoil things . Sure do . Will Ferrell , who plays the ghost of Christmas Present , was an unredeemable . He was , in fact , scrooge . And they talk about the fact that , okay , so you can retire and go back to Earth and live out your days . Now , what I find fascinating about this is , if we go with the original Dickens story , Scrooge knew Marley in life , that they were partners . Why is it that Marley dies and becomes this entity who now has three ghosts who go and do this ? And then now this is like essentially a corporation , that they do this every year . They pick a being whom they need to haunt and do this , and my personal favorite is Dolly Parton is on the wall .

Jonathan C. Legat 19:02

Oh my God , that was so hard that they they're the reason . Thank you that Dolly Parton is the amazing humanitarian that she is . We love you , dolly .

Tricia Legat 19:11

The national treasure .

Jonathan C. Legat 19:13

Yes , the absolute national treasure that is Dolly Parton . But so you know . But why is it that Marley- .

Tricia Legat 19:19

Don't forget , they save Karen . That's how we open the movie . Yes , they save a Karen . They save a Karen , save a Karen A .

Jonathan C. Legat 19:24

Karen Hashtag save a Karen .

Tricia Legat 19:26

Octothorpe .

Jonathan C. Legat 19:27

Octothorpe . Save a Karen Well played . But why is it that Will Ferrell has an option to retire and go back to Earth ? He was in the mail room , essentially , I think . Oh , okay , I know , we have the real , I know Trish , yes .

Tricia Legat 19:47

Because Marley explains in Christmas Carol the chains he forged in life or the ones that he carries in death . When he pretty much says I was like really , really bad and you're on your way , he deliberately shuts down a mine so that all the people that work there will be too broke to pay their mortgage .

Jonathan C. Legat 20:09

So he can like- Buy those houses at really cheap .

Tricia Legat 20:13

Right , and he can explain all this to a small child begging for his father's job and you're like , wow , that is evil . Like before I always knew Scrooge was bad , but damn .

Michael Noens 20:22

Right , Even Clint is like yikes , that is cold .

Jonathan C. Legat 20:26

Yeah , and so did you manage to stay , you know good , for the rest of your life , or was it only three and a half weeks ? Yeah , there was . The leading cause of death of that period was called January .

Tricia Legat 20:41

Yes , but then yeah , there's a lot of back and forth about today versus 200 years ago and the indoor plumbing and all the other things that have changed . How like holding hands was third base back then .

Jonathan C. Legat 20:53

Yeah , Can I ? Can I take a shower every month ? Look out New York . I'm going to take a shower every month .

Michael Noens 21:00

Look out New York . I'm going to take a shower every month . Yeah , one of the moments in the movie , also relating to the Dickens story , that really made me laugh out loud was when he's trying to remember Tiny Tim's name . Yes , that's right .

Tricia Legat 21:14

Little Larry , super Small Steve , yep , super Small Steve , micro Mike yeah .

Michael Noens 21:20

It's one of those where you're like was this like multiple takes ?

Jonathan C. Legat 21:24

and just coming up with whatever , and you can only imagine your objective is it's Tiny .

Michael Noens 21:30

Tim . That's Ryan Reynolds' objective . It's Tiny Tim and Will Ferrell is like it's any other name than that .

Jonathan C. Legat 21:36

Which could you imagine being one of the background artists in that elevator ? Oh , my god , how many takes were ruined you have to .

Michael Noens 21:44

You have to be like a background artist . That's like I .

Jonathan C. Legat 21:47

I don't break you either have to be a background artist that says I don't break , or you have to be listening to like death metal in like earbuds , uh , and and just not know , like at 11 . Because you're deaf , right , right .

Tricia Legat 22:04

Okay , so All right . One of my favorite parts of this movie that I'm very excited that we get to talk about this movie in regards to filmmaking in general , is the choreographer . Regards to uh , filmmaking in general , is the choreographer ?

Tricia Legat 22:24

um , because the incredible amount of uh , they go all out yes for the dancing in every number , but it's like every number one ups the next in going above and beyond . They're all like broadway show stopping ridiculous , incredible numbers . And then , uh , I had to look up , because not just the special effects , like the stuff they do with the flashlights , the stuff they do with the water , the stuff they do with the uh , acrobatic- people .

Michael Noens 22:50

There's like this whole thing where they're dancers on like pogo sticks at the very , very end the other thing , uh , with the choreography that I particularly enjoyed . Uh , the use of tap . There's a lot of tap in this , and even the call out to tap after a good afternoon is just so funny . You know like it's such an expressive medium .

Tricia Legat 23:11

Oh yes , well , no , and the fact that they did they like , they took tap , they trained to be in this film . But it's more than the effort uh that they uh put in the and by they I mean the leads uh put into the dancing .

Tricia Legat 23:26

It's the incredible amount of uh dancers yes , in the film and I believe , in looking up uh uh chloe's um background , she is , like in like an acclaimed , like world-renowned tap dancer , but but she's also other things . She's got a pretty diverse background as far as , like , directing , producing , like she's got other credits . This was just like I have to look up this person because they have like I'm now a huge fan and need to see more now a huge fan and need to see more .

Michael Noens 24:03

Well , and it's , it's , it's , um , it's also , I think , uh , a compliment , I mean to the whole production team , because I think that , uh , specifically the way that they did all of the cinematography because you know , like like old classic Hollywood , where we like back off and we just we let the choreography tell the story Um , like you would see it on stage , and I feel like there's a lot of musicals where we get really close and we're only seeing bits and pieces and so you can't see the big picture , except for those specific shots that you see the big picture , because it's like , oh , this was a really cool movement or this was a really cool thing .

Michael Noens 24:38

You know , it's like they're thinking like filmmakers , not like filmmakers Establish yeah .

Tricia Legat 24:41

And I love that they did this , where we got to see these incredible dance numbers . And then they also said , when I read up about Chloe , was that for this film the dancers ranged in age from children . Children to like in the 70s , in people's 70s . Like it was a very diverse dancing crew . Like they're from all over and all different ages and shapes and sizes , and it made more for the realism of it that everybody doesn't look like a dancer .

Michael Noens 25:17

Right .

Tricia Legat 25:17

Straight off from like your stereotype of what dancers look like . One of my favorites is that the training crew like I guess they're like newbies or whatnot to working in the afterlife and they have like some sort of I don't know supervisor that guides them around .

Michael Noens 25:35

They're like on a tour the entire time and in the beginning .

Tricia Legat 25:38

In the beginning it's like , oh , my God , god , why are we ? Why , what are they doing ? Oh , it's a musical . The afterlife it's . It's a musical . We just call it out right away . And uh , and one of them , uh , he's , he's like , oh , I'm not gonna , I'm not , I'm not gonna do in the end you don't dance , no . And then in the next big dance number , he's in the center and he's , he's killing it . And after that , like , you'll find him dancing and it's great . No , you didn't see that .

Jonathan C. Legat 26:04

No , oh yeah , watch it again . I must have missed him , actually , because I thought he just continued just like no .

Michael Noens 26:11

It's during the course of the year when they're doing like . At least that's when I remember noticing him .

Jonathan C. Legat 26:16

Right , it's during , like that montage where we're going month to month to month , oh , and they're planning how to haunt him . Yes , Okay . I'll have to rewatch .

Tricia Legat 26:24

No , what's also great about that is like the montage of them doing their research , Like it's a John Oliver , Like we have to do all our research before we can haunt you . We have to know everything and it's you know , the big board with all the pictures and the lines . But then at the same time we have tap dancers that are practicing at all times and their tapping is getting more elaborate because we're doing more research .

Jonathan C. Legat 26:47

Awesome . We are going to take a few minutes here to fill our glasses and get ready to imbibe more after this . The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival exhibits short and feature-length motion pictures that utilize story elements in a new and exciting way . Our official selections are a carefully assembled blend of imaginative , sophisticated and full-bodied stories . This is what our name represents BWIF . Audiences expect to experience character-driven , independent cinema that is fueled by the filmmakers' passion for the art of visual storytelling . Filmmakers can expect an intimate festival experience where their personal story is valued as much as the one projected on the big screen . I'm Jonathan Sealeget and I am here along with Michael Nunes and Tricia Legget , and we are discussing Spirited , Enjoying this podcast . Please subscribe and or follow us on all of your favorite podcast providers to get the new episodes as soon as we release the MeTweak Rate and leave us a review to help the show reach that larger audience . And you can also follow Imbibe Cinema on Facebook , Instagram and the threads the threads .

Michael Noens 28:16

Because it's no longer the Twitters , it's the threads .

Jonathan C. Legat 28:19

Yes , Got it . Also , you can now send us a text Look for the link to text us in our show notes , and you can send us a comment or a question and we will try to make some time after the break to address those texts which we have received from the previous week , received from the

Musical Analysis and Appreciation

Jonathan C. Legat 28:41

previous week . So , uh , during the break , we we lovingly pointed out and or realized , uh , that this is the first musical with which we have uh , um , and , and I will state that that is actually interesting to me , only in my mind . It is interesting to me , and yet it's not interesting to me the fact that , I mean , technically , there's not going to be a lot of independent film musicals , let alone major motion picture films , musicals . But we , given our backgrounds in theatricus , theater , Theatrics Shh .

Michael Noens 29:11

How's that Shh ?

Jonathan C. Legat 29:12

All right , given our background in theater and whatnot . I mean I love musicals in the sense that what a wonderful world . Bad guys have bad things happen to them . For the most part , everything ends up the way that it should , oh yeah right , except for South Pacific and Carousel .

Tricia Legat 29:35

Oh yeah , right , good things happen , except for South Pacific and Carousel , and wait .

Michael Noens 29:39

That was a dark era .

Jonathan C. Legat 29:40

What other ones ? Sumitag ? Very dark era in theatrics .

Tricia Legat 29:45

Yeah , right , you sound like . What is the name of the musical television show you ?

Jonathan C. Legat 29:50

know the .

Tricia Legat 29:51

Apple one Schmigadoon , schmigadoon , schmigadoon . We're like in season two .

Jonathan C. Legat 29:59

They're like all the dark musicals where it's like nobody ends happily ever after Correct , and yes , what a great show that was . Oh , it's a great show , oh , so good .

Tricia Legat 30:05

But this , as far as musicals go , is very upbeat Even in its scariness , huge musical numbers . There are one or two softer kind of ballad type songs . Right , there are one or two um , softer kind of ballad type songs , Right , Uh , but for the most part some really uh , energy filled , uh joyous yes Numbers , Um , and they rank them in Collider .

Michael Noens 30:33

Yeah , uh , before we do those , I'm just curious , cause I think it would be interesting to see how they measure up Um , um . Can you guys identify what your favorite song was from it , because then we can see where it ranks .

Jonathan C. Legat 30:46

Oh okay , so we're saying favorite song is in the song itself or including choreography , because I know that there's two that were like .

Michael Noens 30:55

I think you have to do all of the weighing yourself .

Tricia Legat 30:59

Oh , yep , yes on your own time .

Jonathan C. Legat 31:02

On your own time . So I mean my , I think , visually favorite was Unredeemable Visually . I say that because the choreography utilized flashlights in a way that it just looked like lasers and whatnot . It was on people's arms , and how they managed to do that , I'd say from the if you're saying the most toe-tapping e , uh , I would say that the number one is probably going to be good afternoon where I really loved bringing back christmas as far as uh , the tune with uh and uh and choreography was really good , yes , and what they did with the tables , yes , how they utilize the tables in several different ways was incredible , but then , as far as like the visual was a little reference to me um uh for uh uh .

Tricia Legat 32:00

Indiana jones , indiana Jones , because stay with me .

Jonathan C. Legat 32:05

Follow her TED talk .

Tricia Legat 32:06

Okay , so Ripple is a cut song . So you see it at the end in the credits and I think visually it's incredible . And they use the water in that with the dancing . That is just amazing and that is just a great , great number . However , because it is a cut song in the film , there is a little bit of it in the beginning and then there's a little bit of it like of the chorus that kind of shows up a little bit .

Tricia Legat 32:34

that is not cut so that it indicates there is a number , but we've cut like , but it doesn't feel like there's a hole or anything . The editing is done very very well , yes but it it's that in the beginning , uh where uh will ferrell character president , yes , present is arguing with marley about taking out who we take on this year .

Tricia Legat 32:58

Who's who's going to be the one we redeem ? And he wants clint . And uh , marley's against it because he's unredeemable and we can't spend all his effort to turn somebody and change somebody . That is somebody that can't change and it's a waste of time and resources . So scrooge decides he's going to change marley's mind by singing to him and marley hates all , all the singing all the singing .

Tricia Legat 33:24

And so he he like , just starts just a little bit . And he's like , if I say yes , will you stop singing ? And he's like , yes , and that was the end of it . And it to me it reminds me of like the big uh fight in indiana jones , where it just it was supposed to be this giant choreographed scene of a fight and instead he just pulls out a gun and shoots him because he was sick .

Tricia Legat 33:45

Harrison ford had a stomach bug and he couldn't do it , and so , rather than shoot it , they just had him shoot the guy , and it was brilliant , it was so funny and it was slow . Yeah , it was such a twist , but to me it's like it's this build-up for something that doesn't happen , and because it doesn't happen , it it's really funny . Yes , and then , but we're not denied it because we get it in the credits and it is this incredible number .

Michael Noens 34:10

Yeah , so that's and that's nice that they did that where they found a way to still include the song in the credits and actually really keep the audience , you know , there to see something they hadn't yet seen . Yeah , throughout the credits , instead of just like a , a reprise and that's not as they argue in the movie .

Tricia Legat 34:30

Is it a reprise , right ? And we all wonder ?

Michael Noens 34:33

so , yeah , mine is um , I was , I was back and forth between good afternoon , um , but I think I'm going to go with do a little good okay um , that's the big shows , that's a big number at the end and it's , it's um , I mean it is just , it lives up to like the big climactic song . It is , um , there's a lot going on . There's . I mean you have basically everybody coming in off off the street of new york , um , dancing the streets . You got snow , you got people are dancing up on the scaffolding . Uh , great use of tap too . Um , they're um , the the pogo stick dancers .

Michael Noens 35:12

I mean like it was , yeah , and I , I , I enjoyed , thematically and story-wise , what was happening throughout that song . I know , like I know people who don't like musicals because they feel like the plot not plot , but story is going and then all of a sudden we get to a song and it's like we pause for five minutes so we can sing about that moment and then move on . And I think that is an oversimplification of musicals . There's lots of musicals that tell the story throughout the song and I felt like , yes , there are moments where we do that in this movie , but there are definite moments where we're revealing throughout the entire song .

Jonathan C. Legat 35:52

Correct , right , I was going to say the director for the , the , the musical that I was just cast in , uh uh , talked about the sheer fact that there there comes a point in a musical and as long as the musical is written well , it does make sense that simple words do not convey the meaning or what is going on at that moment , and the only way to convey that is through this song .

Tricia Legat 36:19

Right , and I think Schmigadoon does an amazing job of explaining

Musical Film Analysis and Criticism

Tricia Legat 36:23

that . When you get too emotional to speak , you have to sing . And when you're too emotional to sing , you have to dance . And he's like okay . So when you get full circle , like if you're too emotional to dance , can we talk again ?

Michael Noens 36:37

It's true , it's funny .

Jonathan C. Legat 36:39

I want to give one special call out to that Christmas morning feeling . I love these instances where productions do this . I want to say that Bring it On , did something similar . That Christmas morning feeling is the curtain call . Yeah , and call it's . You know as essentially the fact that they have the foresight to , um , you know , each day , as they're wrapping a set , have a particular song play and let the the , the actors , in the makeup or or scene or camera angle that they're in , do this song is just fascinating to me because you're able to compile this and edit it all together . At the end , the curtain call is everybody's taking their bows , essentially , and just what a wonderful thing that is to see .

Tricia Legat 37:37

My favorite part is when we turn from the backstage crew , the , uh , the backstage crew which is really like the people that are doing like the uh uh scourging staff . I should say the bad , the the scourging staff to the actual crew for the film . For the film where you switch from that and that I love that the whole bit where , uh , when he , when they're haunting , they have like cue up this scene , cue up this scene , or the transitions . We have a whole team . They work really hard on these transitions .

Jonathan C. Legat 38:12

Yeah , couldn't you have just walked me over here ? No , no , no .

Tricia Legat 38:16

You understand , and then like when he will do something that's not on the schedule , and it's like no , I need to call out this scene . They're like but we , I , I know and you have , you see the , the people like pulling the the walls and uh and and stuff in to like and it's like thanks , bob so , uh , yeah , trisha , now that we've done that , like what is colliders called out ?

Michael Noens 38:40

oh , yes , okay , sorry because I interrupted you .

Tricia Legat 38:43

No , no , no , so they had ranking 10 songs . Ah , my two were in the bottom . What yeah ?

Jonathan C. Legat 38:53

Oh really .

Tricia Legat 38:53

Yeah .

Jonathan C. Legat 38:55

Bottom five .

Tricia Legat 38:56

Yeah , so nine was Ripple . Okay , bringing Back Christmas was eight . Those were my two .

Michael Noens 39:03

Yeah , those are way too low on the list .

Tricia Legat 39:05

And the View From here .

Michael Noens 39:08

That's a good one .

Jonathan C. Legat 39:09

Okay , Do A .

Tricia Legat 39:10

Little Good was number three .

Michael Noens 39:11

Oh okay .

Tricia Legat 39:13

And Good Afternoon was number one .

Jonathan C. Legat 39:15

See , okay , called it . Yeah , called my shot , called your shot , uh-huh .

Michael Noens 39:20

Wait , and what was ? There was one other one .

Tricia Legat 39:26

It was wait . And when , what was ? There was one other , one , number two , what was an and what was unredeemable uh , unredeemable was six , okay , oh , so that's in the bottom .

Jonathan C. Legat 39:30

Five also in the bottom , yeah yeah , but look at those flashlights yeah , no , the whole flashlight thing and the fact that they were each , yeah , independently , with each hand , turn on and off , just cover it made me think of .

Michael Noens 39:43

it made me think of uh , that whole sequence , for whatever reason , just brought me to Barbie . Oh yeah , you know , I just I think a lot of this could be brought to Barbie because of how much realistic it's .

Tricia Legat 39:59

not green screen , all of it is everybody's there in person .

Michael Noens 40:03

It's like an old Hollywood musical . No , all of it is everybody's there in person . It's like it's like an old hollywood musical the . The scale of it is huge and it's all there yeah , all there on the soundstage making these practical effects happen yep you know , maybe enhancing them later in post , but like we're really there doing that , um yeah uh , yeah , so people can change and and , and .

Michael Noens 40:29

So let's , let's see if the critics agree yeah , or if we can change these critics minds yes , because we're only going to talk about the bad ones yeah so this movie does have a 70 percent um only which is yeah it's actually surprising good um , but yeah , there there are a lot of um naysayers on um yeah scrooges uh . Alternate ending says the yep , that's okay , that is the name of the uh publication . Alternate ending summarizes the film , um , as a horrifically bloated 127 minutes . They don't like musicals . Wow , yeah , probably .

Jonathan C. Legat 41:13

That's probably what it comes down to my boss maybe watch this again , this is one of those instances where , like I , I appreciate what the the film did in retelling a story that we have seen over and over and over and over and over and over and over again , in a way that is not , uh , an active retelling . It is even a continuation of , and modernizing it in a way that is taking into account social media and , uh , trolls and all these other kinds of I . You're bloated .

Michael Noens 41:54

Arts Atlanta or arts ATL um says . Now I'm not sure if this is , uh , really a criticism or a compliment . It's a big , obnoxious and has , in parentheses , shutter a lot of musical numbers delivered with outrageously enthusiastic choreography .

Tricia Legat 42:17

Oh right , so it's a musical . I feel like these people don't like musicals .

Michael Noens 42:22

Yeah , it is obnoxious , it's supposed to be . Yeah , it has musical numbers that are delivered with outrageously enthusiastic choreography . Where's the problem ?

Jonathan C. Legat 42:33

No Other than somebody who is a cinephile , who does not believe that musical theater either exists or should exist in film . It is a medium that still manages to tell the story in a compelling fashion , and I think that all of the songs speak for themselves and are wonderfully choreographed and extremely well written to keep the audience engaged .

Michael Noens 43:00

Tilt Magazine . So this is just slightly different . Tilt Magazine summarizes their review , a colossal dud one , tragically short on laughs and unable to do anything interesting or constructive with its source material okay .

Tricia Legat 43:16

So this is , uh , somebody who didn't actually watch the film and had to write a criticism . You couldn't totally tell it's like um , I have to do my homework but I'm just gonna fudge it . So in the civil war we fought the germans and you know like they ? Just no , I don't think , I don't believe they watched the movie well , and if they watched it by themselves at home , like this ? Is on a plane on their cell phone this is .

Michael Noens 43:39

this is I will actually say say this because I I think it did have a relatively limited release in theaters and this was like a theater movie .

Tricia Legat 43:48

Yeah .

Michael Noens 43:48

Like 100% . Oh yeah , A big musical like this is meant to be seen on a big screen , I mean . I enjoyed the hell out of it at home , but if you are watching this at home by yourself , it's just . I could understand it not being as thrilling because you don't have that energy , and we've talked about that in the past there you have it .

Tricia Legat 44:09

Any last thoughts ? I hope everyone else liked it . I mean , it's a great movie , it's a feel-good movie , and Christmas should be about feel-good movies sometimes .

Michael Noens 44:20

Yes , yeah , not horror movies . What is with the horror movie trend on Christmas Day ? We're just trying to normalize the fear .

Jonathan C. Legat 44:28

Oh , oh , oh . We greatly appreciate our listeners Hashtag , crambo , yeah shit . We greatly appreciate all of our listeners for choosing this podcast supporting independent films and the blue whiskey independent film festival . This is our last episode for this fiscal year , uh , but we'll be back on January 8th with another episode . So I am Jonathan C Leggett and thanks for imbibing with us . Happy holidays , cheers . Thank you .