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

Kinda down for Scary Christmas, but let's remember to appreciate mom

·31 min·10 clips

The episode opens with the hosts catching up and immediately getting into holiday-movie business. Samantha and Aaron Lee are joined by Daniel. Great American Christmas has changed the title of Christmas at the Inn after previously calling it Cranberries and Carols. That sets off a lot of the early frustration. It feels like this has happened before, and it is annoying in exactly the way that makes a spreadsheet person feel personally attacked. The group jokes that the missing cranberries or carols may have been edited out for some practical reason. They keep coming back to how much better the old title sounded. The movie itself leaves them mixed. It is not awful. It is also not quite strong enough to justify its own setup. The pace feels a little low-energy. The conversation settles on the idea that it had potential and should have been better. From there, they pivot to other holiday offerings worth mentioning. Prime Video's Oh, What Fun? comes up. Lifetime Movie Network's Do You Fear What I Fear? gets a longer look. Danielle clarifies that it is on Lifetime Movie Network, not a standard Lifetime Christmas film, and that it is part of Slay Bells, the crime-oriented Christmas run. That distinction matters because it changes what she expects from it. The film is very predictable, but she still likes the change of pace. Sherry comes in halfway from the kitchen, starts asking questions, and tries to solve the mystery early. The panel laughs about the suspect pool because there are a lot of guys in the movie. They spend time on red herrings and on how hard the movie works to keep the viewer guessing. The episode closes out with a casual travel tangent and then a simple thank-you and goodbye. The whole thing stays breezy, amused, and very aware of how holiday movies behave when they think nobody is keeping score.

As heard by us

A breezy holiday-movie hangout built around a title swap, a crime-leaning Christmas pick, and friendly ribbing.

Great American Christmas's move from Cranberries and Carols to Christmas at the Inn gives the episode its cleanest hook, and the hosts do not waste it.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want holiday-movie chaos with a side of spreadsheet rage.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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