Festive Foreign Film Fans

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In today’s episode, we enjoy Skenbart or “IIlusive Tracks” a black and white Swedish film set in 1945. It is a comedy, thriller, drama and love story, all wrapped up in one, along with those common elements you expect in a Christmas film – murder, adultery, and violence.  Plus, if you can believe it, it’s really, really funny.  Join the boys are we travel with the hopelessly idealistic Gunnar,...

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The boys  head north again to another Scandinavian country to fully embrace the land of Vikings, pastries, and Mads Mikkelsen.  It’s Denmark!  Yes, our own Hannibal Lecter stars in a revenge drama that has all of the elements you didn’t know you wanted for the holidays  – anger, grief and lots of violence.  And It is still feels Christmassy!  Don’t misunderstand, this is the rare film where yo...

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We are still in our post-St. Patrick’s Day reverie so the Festive Fans decide to head off to enjoy the Emerald Isle.  Mark is excited to celebrate the locale of his favorite film The Quiet Man and the home to three of his great-grandparents.  He is our resident leprechaun so he gets to present the Irish movie Kisses.  And no, it's not about that famous blarney stone.  This film follows a ...

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Don’t cry for us Argentina, you have delivered on a very meaty holiday.  And we are not just talking about the ox tongue and tuna sauce at the Asado.   Our first tour stop in South America really delivers its fireworks -- both on and off the screen.  La Noche Magica is a film that may seem dark and unsettling, but it is what Mark has described as a “must see”.  The complicated plot finds a thi...

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This reminds us of when we reviewed a film from Turkey in November, now February is Black History month in the States and we just happen to be covering our first film on the African continent.  Today we travel to Lagos, Nigeria for an entertaining Christmas rom com that features all of the classic Hallmark movie tropes - boys meeting and losing girls, misunderstandings, maternal meddling, corp...

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We’re gonna show you a movie you can’t refuse.  The boys are off to Italia -- Bob’s ancestral homeland – for a magnifica celebration of amore, famiglia, and Natale.  And don’t worry, it’s not personal, it’s business.  We review the Italian holiday film Una famiglia perfetta from 2012.  But first, we listen to Bob try to pronounce the Italian words without mistake, so he doesn’t end up sleeping...

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Vincent Van Gogh’s classic painting “Starry Night” has, through the years, inspired poets, musicians, and now another gem -- this episode’s holiday film from Taiwan.  Mark describes it as the “best film we have reviewed” so far.   It is a heartfelt story based on an illustrated novel, and the film shares the artful imagination of both the painter and the author with its stunning visuals.  The ...

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It’s a new episode, a new year, and an exciting new country for the Festive Fans!  For the start of 2024, we travel to Iceland -- a country with dramatic landscapes full of giant glaciers and fiery volcanos.  Such extreme contrasts also underscore the movie Echo.  This intimate film is equally humorous and heart-breaking.  It is a probe of contemporary Iceland at the holidays, with 56 separate...

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Merry Christmas to all of our Festive Fans!  The boys celebrate Christmas today by considering the uplifting Ukrainian song and the movie Carol of the Bells or “Schedryk”.  The story takes place in the years preceding and during World War II and features three different families who are living as neighbors in a large house.  They are different nationalities and religions, and all experience de...

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The Festive Fans embark on their plan to spread Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men this episode as they journey to Mother Russia.  It’s a sincere effort to try to find some Christmas spirit in the former Soviet nation.  We watch a movie filled with class warfare, occultism, and pick pockets.  It is set before the Bolshevik Revolution, so you will see elements of the holiday depicted in the st...

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In today’s episode we explore how true Americans celebrate Christmas – the Native Americans.  Yes, we make a visit to the American Indian nation, as a Thanksgiving Day salute to the indigenous people who saved the Pilgrim butts and got a big thank you dinner and European delicacies like smallpox and kidnapping. When we first learned to say Merry Christmas in the language of the Mi’Kmaw tribe d...

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It’s November and we are talking Turkey.  No, not those dim-witted, low-flying, tree-roosting birds that many of us plan to eat later this month.  We are talking the country of Turkey, which is the ancestral home and inspiration for Santa Claus – St. Nicholas.  Although this is a country that lies part in Asia and part in Europe, and is 99% Muslim, they do have a statue to Saint Nick himself, ...

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Happy National Christmas Podcast Day!  The theme of today’s special event is for the many different Christmas podcasts to cover a version of Charles Dickens Christmas Carol.  Since we are the Festive Foreign Film Fans, we needed a foreign adaptation and we discovered the 1953 Italian film Non è mai troppo tardi, which means “It’s Never Too Late”.   Now, we have to apologize to our listeners be...

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Boo!  It’s spooky season for our Christmas podcast.  This episode we have Pastorela, and it is devilishly good.  It is the appropriate holiday film for October as it features demons, an exorcism, and an epic battle of Good versus Evil.  What more could you want from a film that plays like a Halloween-Christmas crossover event, let alone the corruption, sex and swearing?  All that’s missing is ...

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Today is a "Bada Din" – which means Big Day in Hindi.  Mark and Bob explore the movie of the same name, which is the Indian term for Christmas. Bada Din was released in 1998 and is a holiday dance and song spectacle – it features murder, a GQ model-turned-actor, 10-minute chase scenes, and a dreamy music video with spider webs.  Merry Christmas!  

The Festive Fans totally enjoy their ...

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You need to Czech out our latest episode.  It’s heavenly!  We review the 2005 Czech film Andĕl Pánĕ and it is a hellish good time.  This festive fairy tale features Patronel, a bumbling angel; his boss God; and, a handy squad of versatile Saints, all on call.  Also, we meet Patronel’s satanic guide Urias, who observes the escalating chaos with a knowing wink and a devilsh grin.  If that is not...

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Bob and Mark ur hoachin as they tromp through the Scottish moors in kilts and tap shoes tae be tellin eh day’s good craic eh a fever dream – the Christmas Zombie Pandemic High School Musical -- “Anna and the Apocalypse”.  There’s nothing better than flesh-eating festivities eh go wae ye haggis.  It’s pure bagging!  Yin join us mate eh speak Gaelic, talk holiday scran, hold hands with Thor and ...

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You may be dying to know that for this episode, we dig up Mark's past -- and it's of grave interest.  Since his dad was the town's undrtaker, he is best suited to lay out our film for public viewing.  We explore a dreary holiday in a town entombed by its sole industry -- asbestos mining.  And Mark buries it pretty good.  But don't write our obit yet, we also enjoy the bette...