205 - The Christmas Tree / Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Definitely an all time favorite episode!

“Part of cinema is taking an audience and manipulating them to have emotions they can have in a safe way that would be too devastating to have in real life, and they get to vicariously experience the highs and lows of the movie characters, and if you do it with the right kind of velvet glove, that kind of crying and emotional out-leak can be fun, it can actually be pleasurable and cathartic.” - Q.T.

it's pretty incredible what he says about the mpaa & freedom of speech is still true today... if you don't like it you don't have to watch it doesn't mean you should block it or censor it... very interesting

I’m late as had to wait for my Video Cassette Sales inc tape of The Christmas Tree to be shipped. Excellent episode! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! 🎥

Quentin abiding by the “wtf” for the wolves, was such a delight

Great podcast, I like Quentin so much more than I did, always did but feel like we know him more and he’s a very humble cool dude, love Roger and Gala too. You guys should shoot video and you can always keep using the audio but at least the video is in the archives and you could always have the option to release again. Quentins video interviews etc I find as infectious as watching William Friedkin interviews. My parents owned a video store in the 80’s in NZ and my father hired a Brit cinephile to run it, as a little kid he taught me so much about films…. I used to love video stores, I’d drive miles to different stores, join them just to get a film I couldn’t get elsewhere, great days I’d spend hours in a store choosing a movie sometimes walking out empty handed but I’d leant so much from reading the cover art… a moron friend of mine used to rent pornos open up the reels and swap them with blank cassette reels return them to the store he hired from and tell them they were blank cassettes until they started putting a tamper proof sticker on the reels by that time he was busted… good times. We used to hire Charles Band movies because they were so terrible but they made us laugh, metalstorm the destruction of Jared syn maybe being my favourite worst film of all time I can still rattle off “ who did this to you… “ a man with a metal arm” BALL Jared syns son. RIP Kelly Preston

Wow.. Cool, I never knew Quentin was that much into Rockabilly .. I was hangin’ out in Rockin’ clubs in Hollywood early 80’s… I wonder if we were ever in the same ones…

I hope there is more fun “interviews” with old Hollywood celebrities throughout VAP.

Such a touching and jolly holiday episode. So genuinely sweet.

Wait. Hold on. Did I miss something? That William Holden interview is not real. Right? It sounds like QT has taken an interview and recorded his question to match the answer Holden gave in some generic EPK. He doesn’t address any of the specifics of QT’s question. Just the broad idea behind it. I’m calling shenanigans on this. QT’s voice does not sound like a 15 year old kid. Was this suppose to be a bit and I just missed that? Because there is no way that interview happened lol

Watched a screening of Hardcore at Roxy in NYC this weekend. It’s a Christmas adjacent movie also. Really appreciate George C Scott after seeing this, Last Run and They Might Be Giants.

Do any of these episodes come with video? Or all traditional audio podcasts?

I’m grateful for your suggestions! I probably never would’ve given Little Darlings or Ice Castles a chance, but now I think they’re dynamite. And thanks for introducing me to spectacular films that I never even heard of like The Fool Killer and Amphibian Man. And I now cherish the extraordinary The One-Armed Executioner! So, thank you!! Perhaps one day you guys will discuss my favorite Christmas film: All Mine to Give starring Cameron Mitchell. It’s plenty turgid!! Cheers and happy holidays!!

One of the best episodes ever. A slight correction-- "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921) was shot in Los Angeles, not at Victorine Studios* in Nice. Director Rex Ingram had ownership of the studio only from 1925 - 1927 -- AFTER he had made "The Four Horsemen" in Los Angeles. Ingram did, however, shoot four of his last five films at Victorine, starting with "Mare Nostrum." His last, "Baroud" (1933) was shot in Morocco. I've made a Letterboxd list (below) of all titles produced at Victorine prior to the occupation of Nice by the Nazis in 1943, for any who may be interested (which is probably nobody :)) https://letterboxd.com/damionmatthews/list/filmed-at-victorine-studios-nice * The studio, an attempt to create the "French Hollywood," began in 1919 at the site of the charming 19th century residence known as "La Victorine" (named after the original owner's daughter, Victoire, The Duchess of Montesquiou-Fezensac, who died a year earlier.)

Merry Christmas from the edge of the North Atlantic, Newfoundland and Labrador! Love the festive episode, even those the first isn’t really a Christmas movie haha But now I gotta see it! Cheers folks!

Loved the episode. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to the VA crew!

The Medveds infamous 50 Worst Movies book listed this as one of them. Totally disagree. I was 6 when my Aunt and her brother, my Dad, took me to Radio City Music Hall to see this...in October on my birthday. Love this episode. Was Virna Lisi not one of the most beautiful actresses ever?

Fuck yea

Here's the great "Christmas Warning" Grandpa monologue from Silent Night, Deadly Night - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G94lC__HkFs

Merry Christmas from the blustery west of Ireland, have a wonderful holiday and prosperous new year!!

THE CHRISTMAS TREE episode pole-vaults ahead of the STAR ‘80 discussion as the greatest episode so far. Now I’ve gotta actually see it. 🫠

Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 to the V.A Crew !!

Listening now and loving it - especially QT’s shoutout to the CBS Friday Late Movie! I mentioned this in the Archives chat, but there’s a trailer they showed that scared the hell out of me as a kid. A woman walking at night turns to see like 20 hands bursting from the ground. Could’ve been a NIGHT STALKER episode - they showed ‘em in that time slot - but I’ve never been able to identify. If Quentin can name the movie it’s the best Xmas ever! 😂

who sings to end the show? what song is that?

2018

Merry Christmas VAP family!

On the subject of how strong horses can be check out the scene in “international velvet” where the horse goes “crazy” on a airplane during mid-flight.

Thanks for another great episode! Merry Christmas from Norway :-)

Merry Christmas, Movie Rental House!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I look forward to hearing more Clarence pool tapes throughout the rest of the season.

Bourvil was in some Melville films. But he was also in a film I'm surprised you guys haven't seen, The Brain with Belmondo, Niven and Wallach, which is a crazy film.

Merry Xmas Quentin, Roger, Gala, Josh … and all VAP fans!

Why was there a trailer for The New Centurions?