Podcast in a Pear Tree: Christmas Movie Reviews · Aaron Lee Harvey, Danielle Espino, Samantha Gifford

Kicking off with royals, comets and large airport bathrooms

·28 min

The hosts return well into November and sound genuinely glad to be back in Christmas-movie mode. They start by checking in on what everyone is looking forward to this season, and Mario Lopez comes up right away because of how often he shows up on the network. They note that he has two movies coming out, including one he executive-produced with his son, with one arriving over Thanksgiving weekend and the other right before Christmas. The title The Christmas Spark brings up a bit of holiday trivia because they remember a similar title from a Jane Seymour movie. From there the conversation shifts into the stack of movies they have already watched. They talk about a royal romance and a mystery built around stolen Christmas decorations. A journalist and a lead detective end up at the center of that one, and the panel likes that the actress is not cardboard. They rank Royal Icing Christmas, Christmas and Midnight Clear, and A Very Curious Christmas against one another. Christmas and Midnight Clear gets extra credit because it actually held attention, and its ending feels looser and less forced than the more predictable rival. Christmas of Giving lands at the bottom for one host because it became too much to sit through. The hosts are blunt when a movie is not working. They keep circling back to whether a title is merely familiar or actually worth the time. They also tease another upcoming watch, including a Candace Cameron Bure and Paul Green reunion for a time-travel movie. A Disney+ holiday title with Chad Michael Murray gets a mention as well. The episode closes with the show’s usual playful goodbye and a reminder to rate and follow.

As heard by us

A loose holiday-movie kickoff that tracks attention, endings, and recycled setups.

The panel eases back into Christmas movie season with the same loose, talky energy, even if they are starting a bit late in November. They spend time on Mario Lopez's holiday output, including the movie he executive produced with his son, and they also work through the familiar…

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a brisk Christmas-movie check-in and a few clear rankings.

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