Michael May's Blog, page 10

Hellbent for Letterbox | 3 Godfathers (1948)

In this special holiday episode, Pax and I watch John Ford's adaptation of Peter B Kyne's Christmas Western novel, The Three Godfathers. Starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr.

Pax also watches a variety of Christmas episodes of TV Westerns and I catche up on a spooky Western, From Hell to the Wild West (2017), as well as Walter Hill's new film, Dead for a Dollar.

After Lunch | A Christmas Carol (1910) and Scrooge (1935)

Rob and I welcome Mike Westfall from the Advent Calendar House podcast to discuss a pair of the oldest adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. From 1910, it's the silent version from Thomas Edison's production company. And then we talk about the 1935 film starring Seymour Hicks.
And be sure to check out Mike, Rob, and my Advent Calendar House discussion from earlier this season about the 1971 cartoon that brought back Alastair Sim as the voice of Scrooge.

After Lunch | Christmas Movie Menus

In a completely original idea - Nerd Lunch definitely did not do this exact same topic on Episode 320 of their show - Rob and I welcome Evan Hanson, Paxton Holley, and Michael DiGiovanni to help a few restaurants create special menus inspired by Christmas movies.
Download here.

After Lunch | Die Hard (1988)

This is the final rerun of Tangential Christmas Movie discussions from the old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast and it seems appropriate to close with the poster child for these kind of movies. People love to argue about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, so if you haven't heard the episode yet, I wouldn’t dream of spoiling where Jeeg and I fall on that topic.
Download here.

After Lunch | The Ref (1994)

Today we’re wrapping up Week 2 rerunning discussions of Tangential Christmas movies from the Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast. We’re actually not quite done yet, because there’s one more on Monday and it’s a doozy. But first, Jeeg and I talk about the Denis Leary vehicle, The Ref, from 1994. 
And if you want to hear even more on The Ref on this very feed, check the old Nerd Lunch Extra Helping episode from December 2012 where Jeeg talks about it with Carlin Trammel.
The 2022 EpisodeThe 2012 Episode

After Lunch | It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Long before there was ever such a movie as Die Hard, the idea of Tangential Christmas movies was introduced by It’s a Wonderful Life. It gets played at Christmastime and has an important Christmas scene, but is it a Christmas movie? In this rerun from my old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast, Carlin Trammel and I talk about that very question.
Download or listen to the episode here.

After Lunch | Holiday Inn (1942)

We’re still doing reruns about Tangential Christmas movies from the old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast and on this episode I talk with Lizzie Twachtman about a Bing Crosby classic. With Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds, it’s 1942’s Holiday Inn.
Download or listen to the episode here.

After Lunch | Remember the Night (1940)

Continuing our reruns about Tangential Christmas movies from my old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast, this episode welcomes back Siskoid to talk about a movie that he mentioned in our discussion of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. From 1940 and starring the legendary team of Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, it’s Remember the Night.
Download or listen to the episode here.

After Lunch | The Thin Man (1934)

Kicking off our second week of reruns about Tangential Christmas movies from the old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast with a discussion I had with our friend Kay about the 1934 classic whodunnit, The Thin Man starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Download or listen to the episode here.

After Lunch | The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

Wrapping up this first week of reruns about Tangential Christmas movies from the old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast, Siskoid introduces me to an excellent French film, Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, starring Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo. If you’ve never seen it, we highly recommend it, but you don’t need to have seen it to enjoy the discussion.
Download or listen to the episode here.