Sleigh Bell Cinema

Merry Christmas! Mike Westfall (Advent Calendar House) joins Michael May to wrap up this season of the podcast with a discussion of the classic Miracle on 34th Street starring Maureen O'Hara, Natalie Wood, Edmund Gwenn, and John Payne. It's a beautiful movie and a great way to finish the year.  Stay tuned to the end of the episode for an announcement about the future of Sleigh Bell Cinema. 

Michael is joined by his wife Diane to talk about the modern Christmas classic Elf, why it hasn't been a part of their annual Christmas watching, and how it maybe should be.

Dan Taylor joins Michael for a Christmas turkey of a movie featuring young Pia Zadora, a killer robot, and more stock footage than you can shake a fake polar bear at. But is Santa Claus Conquers the Martians as bad as its reputation? What would it take to fix it? Dan and Michael figure it out in the most serious discussion ever of the silliest Christmas film.

Michael spends some holiday time with his brother Mark May talking about Bill Murray getting whacked in the head by Carol Kane in Richard Donner's irreverent riff on A Christmas Carol.  

Last year on the show, Michaels DiGiovanni and May talked about Christmas Vacation and discovered that there was a TV movie sequel focused on Cousin Eddie and his family. With some encouragement from Paxton Holley, the three friends decided to watch it and talk about it this year... and then re-evaluate their life choices.

Rob Graham visits to talk about Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum's Holiday Affair, also starring Wendell Corey and (ever so briefly) Harry Morgan. Find out who's #TeamCarl and who's #TeamSteve in this complicated Christmas courtship.

Noel Thingvall drops by the farmhouse to talk about Arnold Schwarzenegger's directorial debut, the 1992 remake of Christmas in Connecticut starring Dyan Cannon, Kris Kristofferson, Tony Curtis, Richard Roundtree, and Jimmy Workman.

If you're most familiar with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray from their film noir classic Double Indemnity, you may be surprised by their falling in love over Christmastime in Remember the Night. Michael and Siskoid (Siskoid's Blog of Geekery, The Fire and Water Podcast Network) talk about the romance and how deftly it avoids both melodrama and romcom tropes. It's a movie worth seeing and a discussion worth listening to.

Nerd Lunch's Jeeg joins Michael for a heartwarming movie about getting along with family during the holidays, healing relationships, complicated burglar traps, drunk Santas, fruitcakes, and above all... hilarious rants. It's The Ref starring Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Glynis Johns, and Christine Baranski.

Michael May is joined by Carlin Trammel of the Nerd Lunch and Pod James Pod podcasts to talk about that most Christmasy of James Bond movies, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, starring George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, and Telly Savalas.

Season Three of Sleigh Bell Cinema kicks off with a tangential Christmas movie that's not as tangential as it seems. Michael May welcomes his son David to talk about the big screen adaptation of one of their favorite superheroes. It's Shazam! starring Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Mark Strong.

Michael May and guest Erik Johnson chill out during the week between Christmas and New Year with a favorite movie set during that time. It's Jon Turteltaub's romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, and Jack Warden.

Merry Christmas! However many celebrations you have today, we hope you'll enjoy Michael and his son David discussing this Seth Gordon comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Kristin Chenoweth, Sissy Spacek, and Jon Voight.

Finishing this season's trilogy of Christmas Carol episodes, Michael and guest Carlin Trammel (Nerd Lunch) visit a relatable Ebenezer Scrooge as played by George C Scott in director Clive Donner's British production. 

Continuing this season's trilogy of Christmas Carol episodes, Michael and Diane May discuss the Christmas 1956 episode of the live anthology show The Alcoa Hour: a musical version of Dickens' classic story starring Basil Rathbone as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Michael May and Paxton Holley (Nerd Lunch, Hellbent for Letterbox, Cult Film Club, I Read Movies) kick off the first of three Sleigh Bell Cinema episodes this season covering Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. They talk about what makes Mickey's Christmas Carol a good adaptation, how it's different from other versions, and even how they might recast a character or two.

Michael May and Noel Thingvall (Masters of Carpentry, Schumacast, Greystoked, Thundarr Road) take a sleigh ride to New England and spend the hunky-dunky holidays flippin' flapjacks with Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Una O'Connor, and SZ Sakall.

Michaels DiGiovanni (Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit) and May consider Clark Griswold and his slapsticky attempt to create Christmas memories for his family. Is it just dumb fun or is something shockingly profound going on? 

Siskoid (Siskoid's Blog of Geekery, The Fire and Water Podcast Network) introduces Michael to the French-language musical (and La La Land inspiration), Les Parapluies de Cherbourg starring Catherine Deneuve. 

Shawn Robare (Cult Film Club, Branded in the '80s) and Michael put on their top hats, pop the yule log tape in the VCR, and examine an '80s classic: Savage Steve Holland's absurdist comedy starring John Cusack, Diane Franklin, and Curtis Armstrong.

Michael is joined by Lizzie Twachtman (Random Chatter, The Thrifty Duckling) to talk about a movie that's so full of holiday spirit, Christmas alone can't contain it. They break down Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and the many positive aspects of the film while also talking about its troublesome approaches to gender and race. 

Michael is joined by William Bruce West to examine the set-at-Christmas Iron Man 3. Is it a good Christmas movie? Is it a good Iron Man movie? Remember that game, Barrel of Monkeys? This is more fun than that.

It's time to put this baby to bed once and for all. Michael is joined by Nerd Lunch's Jeeg to officially declare whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Maybe. If they can agree on it. But whatever their opinions about its seasonal suitability, they 100% agree that it's one of the greatest action movies of all time. And they're 100% happy to discuss why that is.

Since Sleigh Bell Cinema kicks off the day after Halloween, the second season opens with an '80s horror classic. Michael is joined by Chad Young from Horror Movie BBQ to talk about a Christmas nightmare that makes Phoebe Cates' sad dad story from Gremlins seem like a Rankin-Bass special. 

Merry Christmas! It's Christmas Day, so to celebrate that and complete this first season of Sleigh Bell Cinema, Michael is joined by the very funny Jeff Somogyi to talk about the very funny Ernest Saves Christmas. And Christmas Tree buying. But mostly Ernest, Santa, a homeless girl, a polite TV host, and the world's greatest agent.

Michael is joined by Evan Hanson (Mystery Movie Night) to talk about this holiday horror flick starring Adam Scott, Toni Collette, and Emjay Anthony. Evan explains how it's a deeper movie than you might think, so listen and hear what it has to say about Christmas and how it relates to Mr Rogers. 

Michael is joined by his son and frequent podcasting co-host David May (Dragonfly Ripple, Mystery Movie Night, Thundarr Road, 'Casting Off) to talk about the film that made a star of Macaulay Culkin and signaled the end of John Hughes' reign as the King of Teen. Is Home Alone just slapstick shenanigans or something more?

Michael is joined by his friend and Hellbent for Letterbox cohost Paxton Holley (Nerd Lunch, Cult Film Club, I Read Movies) to chuckle over Jean Shepherd's nostalgic Christmas classic starring Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, and Melinda Dillon.

Michael is joined by the very funny Rob Graham to talk about the Ultimate Romantic Comedy. Love Actually can be a divisive movie, but Michael and Rob are united in their actual love of it. 

Michael is joined by his wife, Diane, to talk about a holiday tradition for their family, the Michael Curtiz classic starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. We talk about our favorite characters, music, and dance numbers as well as a few things that don't quite work or hold up.

Special guest Dan Taylor (Planetary Union Network, 2 MAN Podcast) makes Santa's censors work overtime to avoid the Explicit tag on this episode as he and Michael cover Terry Zwigoff's irreverent comedy about an ill-tempered safecracker who poses as a mall Santa to rob department stores. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Bernie Mac, and John Ritter.

Michael is joined by his friend (and Greystoked and Thundarr Road co-host) Noel Thingvall to talk about Nora Ephron's Christmas comedy starring Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Juliette Lewis, Liev Schreiber, Adam Sandler, and so many more people.  In the process of discussing the film, Noel and Michael also get into a general discussion of bedroom farces and screwball comedies, talking about what does and doesn't work for them in those genres.

Michael is joined by Kay from the Hyperspace Theories podcast, FanGirlBlog, and Geek Fashion Galaxy to talk about one of their favorite movies. What makes Nick and Nora Charles so great? Is The Thin Man a good mystery? And how does it capture the Christmas experience in a way that many bona fide Christmas movies don't?

Michael talks with Jeeg from Nerd Lunch about Joe Dante's Christmas horror-comedy, Gremlins. How well does it walk the line between snickers and scares? And what are some other holiday horror movies we like?

Michael is joined by Carlin Trammel (Nerd Lunch, Dragonfly Ripple) to talk about Frank Capra's classic Christmas movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. After discussing what makes a Christmas movie (and why this film is one), the fellas take a close look at George Bailey, his friends, his family, and his wonderful life.

Welcome to Sleigh Bell Cinema, a seasonal podcast about Christmas movies! In this first episode, host Michael May is joined by Mike Westfall, whose TV-focused Advent Calendar House podcast is a direct inspiration for this show. After a quick conversation about the Muppets' relationship with Christmas in general, the two Mikes talk about one of their favorite Christmas Carol adaptations, The Muppet Christmas Carol. What makes it a good adaptation? How does it rank with other Muppet films? Did it get the casting right? Is there anything that it doesn't do so well? Tune in for more fun than falling down a chimney and landing on a flaming hot goose!