DZ-115: A Christmas Special - Rewatching & Rituals

Listen if you want to understand what makes holiday films enduring parts of our seasonal rituals!

In this “backmatter” episode of Draft Zero, Stu, Chas, and Mel Killingsworth embark on a festive exploration of what makes holiday films so engaging and so re-watchable that they can become part of our rituals. To that end, we breakdown the charm of of Christmas films like KISS KISS BANG BANG, RIDERS OF JUSTICE, and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

We discuss what defines a holiday movie, the power of nostalgia, the importance of ensembles to a sense of family, and how voiceover, snappy dialogue and intricate plots can make something rewatchable. For each of us, we see these films as gateways to introspection and shared experiences during the holidays.

And we are briefly joined by filmmaker (and friend of the podcast) Damien Cassar who talks us through the meaning of nostalgia and it’s relationship with the “pain of homecoming”, and how Christmas/Holiday films provide comfort and a sense of belonging amid ever-changing societal dynamics.

Merry Christmas!

This episode brought to you by (drum roll) ArcStudio: go to https://www.arcstudiopro.com/draftzero for $30 off a pro subscription!

Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

What makes it rewatchable is not the Christmas elements. Like that's sort of what makes it rewatchable are all of the structure. The fact that like a lot of good noir mysteries, you forget exactly how things get solved.

— mel

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→ Read the transcript for this episode.

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CHAPTERS

• 00:00:00 – Cold Open
• 00:01:00 – What do we mean by Holiday Movies?
• 00:18:52 – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• 00:41:16 – Riders of Justice
• 01:03:45 – Sponsorship: Arc Studio Pro
• 01:06:30 – It's A Wonderful Life
• 01:48:37 – Wrap up & Key Learnings
• 01:51:03 – On Nostalgia
• 01:54:28 – Many thanks to our Patreons

FILMS

• KISS KISS BANG BANG (2005) — (w) Brett Halliday, Shane Black (d) Shane Black
• RIDERS OF JUSTICE (2020) — (w) Anders Thomas Jensen
• IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) — (w) Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra (d) Frank Capra

SCRIPTS

• Study the script: KISS KISS BANG BANG (2005) — Brett Halliday, Shane Black
• Study the script: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) — Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra

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Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-115/