Hallmark Hugs, Biblical Bugs, And Ghostface Shrugs

A stop‑motion staple, a Hallmark sleeper, and a slasher juggernaut walk into our Sunday lineup—and only one walks out with our hearts. We kick off with The Little Drummer Boy and ask why a canonized “classic” can still feel thin: vivid Rankin/Bass textures and evergreen carols can’t quite cover for sketchy motivation or a miracle beat that never gets earned. It’s short, seasonal, and nostalgic, but our panel splits between warm fuzzies and hard passes.

Then we pivot to November Christmas, the rare Hallmark film that trusts quiet stakes. With Sam Elliott’s steady gravitas and a cast that plays grief and grace without winks, the story leans into neighbors showing up, small rituals that matter, and a hope that feels earned. We talk why sincerity with spine beats formula—and why this one belongs on your “best Hallmark Christmas movies with heart” list.

Finally, we unpack Scream 7’s hype hangover. Marketing promised a reckoning with Sidney’s past; real‑world casting shakeups forced a page‑one pivot. The result: an AI‑laced nostalgia carousel, a killer reveal with tissue‑thin ties, and performances asked to echo 1996 without the script support. We debate franchise logic, meta misfires, and the missing motive that makes a twist land. We also pitch fixes—Gale’s grief arc, a sharper family reveal, cleaner connective tissue—that would honor the rules Scream taught us to love.

If you’re choosing between comfort, tradition, or carnage for movie night, this roundtable gives you the why, not just the what. Hit follow, share this with a friend who argues their rankings, and drop your most controversial holiday or horror take—we’ll read the best on air next week.

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Transcript

Welcome, Theme, And Today’s Lineup

SPEAKER_03 0:09

Let's play it's a brand new day. Without the finish films all the way. From classics to the ones you miss. Got it back, you get the gist. It's cinema sundae. Got it, critic show. Got a story shine and the critic flow. If we cry, we break the mold. It's cinema sundae, let the critics work.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Hello everyone, and welcome to a cinema Sunday episode of The Couch Critics. I'm your host, Nathan, and on today's episode, I'm joined once again by my good friends Lexi and Taj. Hello. You like the little theme song I gave you just then?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yes. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Awesome. I'm excited because yes, this is a cinema Sunday episode, which means we did go see a movie in theaters. Unfortunately, we didn't go see it together. Lame, but we did go see a movie in.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

We were going. We were going together.

Plans, 4DX Tease, And Scream 7 Setup

Why The Little Drummer Boy Still Divides

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Yes. But then things happened and I couldn't see it at the original time. I was going to and Taj had already said he was going to go see it in 4DX, apparently. So I'm interested to hear how that was. But we are talking about Scream 7, the seventh movie in the Scream franchise. Is it good? Is it is it worth your time? We're going to talk about that at the end of the episode because before we talk about that, this is also a Christmas movie episode. So we're talking about three movies today, ending the episode with Scream 7, but we're starting with The Little Drummer Boy and November Christmas. The Little Drummer Boy is another stop motion Christmas classic, whether you like it or not. It is a Christmas classic. It is made by the same people who made Frosty the Snowman, The Year Without Santa Claus, all those other movies that we talked about already. So why not talk about this one? And then November Christmas is a Hallmark classic movie, which I had never seen before. And I'm glad I watched it. So let's talk about The Little Drummer Boy first. So before we started recording, Lexi already told me what she thought. So I'm gonna tell you what I thought. I don't think it's one of the best stop motion Christmas classic movies. Uh, I think I said The Year Without Santa Claus was the best one, or I can't remember. One of them I said I watched in the background, and the other one I really liked because it said like the origin of different aspects of Santa Claus, and I thought it was cute. And Mickey Rooney voiced Santa Claus, but that was fun. Oh, Santa Claus. This movie is based on the totally made-up Bible story. So that's first and foremost why it's not one of my favorites is because this story didn't actually happen. It was made up because of a song called The Little Drummer Boy, and in the movie, it doesn't really explain why the little drummer boy hates people so much. Like it's a he's an angry little boy who hates humans. He even says that I hate humans, which is why he hangs out with animals all the time. Never really explains why. I mean, I guess I in in that in the context of the movie, like everything going on in the world at that time. I guess you could kind of understand why he hates people, but yeah, the movie is very short, it is a very short movie, which is a a reason to like it, it's not very long, and I thought it was cute. I don't think I had ever watched it all the way through, so I didn't really remember everything about it. But again, it's not one of the best stop motion Christmas movies either. So, Lexi, let's just get this out of the way. I don't think listeners will be surprised, but what did you think of The Little Drummer Boy?

SPEAKER_00 4:38

I hate it, I hate it so much again. Listeners, I would never get back the 25 minutes and 38 seconds that I will spend. I feel like watching that movie. There's only 25 minutes. I hate it.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

I mean, didn't they mention something about like something happened to his parents and he blamed the people?

Ratings And Rants On Drummer Boy

SPEAKER_00 5:23

He blamed people, and everybody's his life is horrible because everyone else, not his poor decisions. I hate it. It was like victim crying one-on-one.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Yeah. Taj, have you ever seen the little drummer boy?

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Um, yeah, forever ago, because my mom really likes those old stock books movies, and they used to come on ABC Family all the time. Um, but I'd say, like, of all of them, that one I think I've seen the least. Um, so like I have like a vague image of it. Um, so like I mean, I agree. It's not one of my favorite ones of the ones that I've seen. Uh, but like, I don't necessarily remember disliking it per se. I guess I do think I think uh as far as I can remember, I think I thought it was boring when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Um it's it's not the most interesting movie in the world, and one of the weirdest parts is near the end, I guess one of his lambs almost dies. I think it does die actually, and then somebody says, Bring the lamb to the child, talking about the baby Jesus, and he does, and then the lamb just randomly comes back to life. So I thought that was kind of weird, and I mean, yes, it is Jesus, but he hadn't started his ministry because he's literally just a baby. So I thought that was kind of weird. I thought that was kind of out of place, but again, this is a movie based on a story that is not biblically accurate, it is not in the biblical text. So it literally was made because of the song The Little Drummer Boy. So, yeah, I mean it's it's harmless, it's not that bad, it's not that good either. So, this is gonna be a short but sweet review of that movie. Let's go ahead and review it, or not, we already did review it. Let's go ahead and rate it. Uh, Lexi, I'm gonna let you go first because you obviously strongly dislike this movie. What would you give the Little Drummer Boy for a Christmas movie rating? A zero. How okay, okay, okay. Hold on. How can you give the little drummer boy a zero for a Christmas rating?

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Because it is literally about Christmas and what is it, what so it's celebrating it did not make me, it did not make me feel like Christmas, and it did not make me, it did not make me feel like Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

It doesn't necessarily need to make you feel like Christmas, but does it have within the movie itself remnants of Christmas symbolism in it? Christmas, so zero.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Okay, I'll give it a negative one.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

That's that's less than a zero. I know. Oh my gosh. Okay, good based on my criteria, okay. Based on your criteria, I have to at least give it a one because it is it's Christmas is celebrated literally because it's Jesus' birthday in the movie. So I'm gonna give it, I'm gonna give it a 2.5 out of five for Christmas because it's Jesus' birthday in it, and there are symbols of Christmas, like the Christmas Star and things like that, wiseman. And I'm gonna give it a half because the Little Drummer Boy isn't the most annoying Christmas carol of all time. So um, yeah. Taj, what would you give the Little Drummer Boy as a Christmas rating?

SPEAKER_01 9:15

From what I can remember, um yeah, I'd say I'd agree with you. About 2.5. Yeah, very nice.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Yeah, okay, Lexley. We are we know how you feel. So, what would you give it as a general rating, Leslie? A negative five.

unknown 9:31

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

This is where I can I can rate it lower because it's not a movie that I'm like, you know what I feel like watching today? The little drum boy. No, so I'm gonna give it a one out of five because at least I can watch it with my kids and I can explain it to them that this is not a biblically accurate story, did not occur in the Bible, but it is about Jesus. So there's that. Taj, what would you give the little drummer boy?

SPEAKER_04 10:03

Two, two, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

I think just because, like I said, I like those movies just in general, and so like it just is a given for me to be at least somewhat like it. I just didn't recall it being like super interesting as a kid.

Hallmark Detour: Introducing November Christmas

SPEAKER_02 10:19

I mean, it does give you that warm feeling inside of yeah, yeah, it gave me all this tradition, family tradition. If those are the types of movies you watched as a kid with your family, like I did watch those movies, did I? Well, I'm sorry that you were forced to watch them as a child. Moving on, speaking of movies that everyone watches every Christmas, Hallmark movies. Now, November Christmas is one of those Hallmark movies when, in my opinion, Hallmark made actually good movies. This is not your typical Hallmark movie, it's not a rom-com, it's not about a lady who is in the big city, has to go to her country hometown for the Christmas festival, and the old man in town is secretly Santa Claus. Yeah, this isn't what this movie is, it's a heartfelt, almost borderline tearjerker movie about a family who has a daughter who I'm assuming has cancer. I don't think they ever say she actually has it, but she has cancer, and the next door neighbors, who are Sam Elliott, which I love me some Sam Elliott, he's great, and the lady who played Indiana Jones's girlfriend, and was in another movie that we're going to be reviewing. Actually, the last Christmas movie we're gonna be reviewing on this Christmas list, Scrooge. She played Bill Murray's girlfriend in that movie. I don't know the actress's name, so I apologize. She is in this movie, so it's a pretty star-steaded cast. I mean, Sarah Paulson is in this as well, so she's been in a few things recently. I actually really liked this movie. Okay, I'm a cheesy guy, so I like cheesy stuff. This movie is cheesy, but it's it's just the right amount of cheese that I can tolerate it. And like I said, if you listened to my review of Prancer, which Lexi did not like, but the one of the main reasons why I like Prancer so much is because Sam Elliott is in that as well, and I think he is a very good actor. I don't I don't think I've seen him in a lot of stuff, it actually makes me want to rewatch a lot of his movies. He's like he he's mostly in westerns, I think, but every now and then he'll pick like a heartfelt movie to make, and it's just really good. He plays a really good, sympathetic, cowboy-esque guy, and this movie was great. I really, really liked it. I'm glad it was on the list. I did have to do a short free trial of Hallmark Plus to watch it, so I got that and then canceled it right after I watched it. But it was great, I really, really liked it. I'm really afraid of what Lexi's is gonna say. She's now too uh I'm gonna tell on her. I don't think she actually watched it, she read something about it, so I'm really nervous. What did you think?

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Being that what I read, and it was not a typical Hallmark movie. I actually enjoyed what I read and was planning on going to go watch it, just didn't get a chance to watch it because I when you said Hallmark movie, I thought it was gonna be your typical rom-com girl, damsel in distress, really cute guy, finds her, they fall in love, yada yada yada. It's Christmas. Oh my god, she's a princess as well. That's what I was looking for. So I did enjoy what I read about it. I was planning on watching it, I just didn't get a chance to. Um, I enjoy the fact that um, spoiler alert, Vanessa doesn't die, and like you get to see her at the end grown up.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

I was gonna say, don't spoil it. Sorry, this is one of those movies I don't I didn't want to spoil because I really do want people to watch it, it's really, really good.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Well, too late. I spoiled it.

Cast, Tone, And Why It Works

SPEAKER_02 14:41

But I mean, by it's by the middle of the movie, you kind of get that that's that's what happens because it starts with this grown woman reading a children's book based on someone's life, doesn't reveal who it is until like the middle of the movie, and it's based on her life, but yeah, it was great. I I think I thought the acting was pretty good for a Hallmark movie. Again, it wasn't your typical Hallmark cheesiness. It was just really I I really enjoyed it. I was like, man, Hallmark movies used to be really good, and now they're just all that like they're literally all the same now. Like literally, so with the same actor, yeah. That's what that's what surprised me too, because like this movie had a pretty pretty well-known cast. I mean, you have people who were like in Indiana Jones movies, and you know, starred with Bill Murray and Sam Elliott, and it was just yeah, it was I was really surprised at the cast, I was really surprised at the storyline, and I really, really liked it. Taj, had you ever heard of this movie? It was like, uh no.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

No, I've never heard of this.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

But running to watch it now.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yes, yes, indeed. Uh yeah, it was yeah. I mean, I don't watch them often, but like I like Hallblock movies. I like, I think I just like the I guess I personally I like the for one, I don't mind cheesy, but for two, I like the fact that they're not inherently negative, you know, for the most part. And so like I don't mind that they're like super predictable and like, oh yeah, big city girl goes home and blah blah blah, all that whatnot. I eat that stuff up because it's just like I'm not stressed about anything if I'm watching these. There's they're pretty stress-free for the most part, you know. And I think that's why I don't mind them.

Spoilers, Warmth, And Hallmark Then vs Now

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Yeah. I mean, it was it was at that time where I guess Hallmark was trying to find their niche, niche, whatever it's called, and they guess I guess they decided that their go-to was rom-coms, but whatever. I thought it was great. We uh my wife and I watched another classic Hallmark movie called Christmas in Conway because it's supposed to take place in Conway, South Carolina, which you've never been to Conway, South Carolina, it's a pretty nice town, so and that was another, you know, not your typical Hallmark movie, too. And so I really enjoy that. I like when they go outside of their norm and outside of their comfort zone when it comes to storylines. But I once again really enjoyed November Christmas. I would highly recommend it. So I'm gonna go ahead and rate this thing for a Christmas movie. I'm gonna give November Christmas a four out of five because it did, it made me feel warm inside, and it it was a great story, and it had a happy ending. And Sam Elliott was great. So, Lexi, what would you give November Christmas as a Christmas rating?

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Based off what I've read, I'll give it a strong 3.5. I probably would have scored higher if I actually seen it.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Very nice, Taj. Just for fun, based on what we've talked about, what do you think you would give November Christmas for a Christmas rating?

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Probably a four four point five. I love you so much.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Just make me smile. All right, and for a general rating, November Christmas, I'm gonna give it a four out of five. Mostly because once again, Sam Elliott, his acting is just so good in this movie. Everyone's acting is very good in this movie. I was very surprised because usually you don't see that. So, Lexi, for a general rating, just based on what you read, what would you give it?

SPEAKER_00 18:53

I think I'll just take a 3.5.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Very nice. Based on what you just heard all of us talk about, what would you give November Christmas?

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Four.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

Very nice.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

I like Sam Elliott too. Nice.

November Christmas Ratings Round

SPEAKER_02 19:13

All right, friends, those are the Christmas movies. Now for the movie you've probably all been waiting for. Scream 7. So when this movie was first announced, people already had mixed feelings because Melissa, whatever her last name is, was fired because of some things she said during the Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, all that stuff going on. So she was fired, and the storyline that they were going to continue with her was officially canceled, and Jenna Ortega left the movie, and also the person who was going to direct that next movie also left. So they brought Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original Scream. They brought him in to write and direct, and he basically overhauled everything and was the driving force to bring Nev Campbell back to play Sidney Prescott, now Sidney Evans. Yeah, I went to go see this. I was actually really excited, and the reason I was so excited is because the way they marketed this movie. And they said, you know, they have those trailers like it all it all led down to this. And Sydney faces her past and little sound clips of Stu saying lines from the first movie and all this stuff. And you're like, holy crap, what are they about to do in this movie? I cannot wait. I need to see it opening night, and I did. I saw it opening night. I was gonna see the fan event where I was gonna get a poster, but I had to change my time, but I still got one of the scream cups with one of the toppers, and I sat in my theater and I watched one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life. It was so bad, it was so bad, and I don't even care about the whole firing of the Melissa girl. Yes, I was interested to see where her story was gonna go because of what they introduced with her character. I was interested, and then I read some stuff about how Scream 4 was supposed to end, and I was like, holy crap, that would have been really cool. Yeah, this movie was bad. It was just the acting was bad. The the way they so before we talk anymore. Spoiler alert. We will spoil this movie. We're going to because I don't want people to go see it. Because how bad it was. It was so bad. So they bring Stu back. They do. And I love Matthew Lillard. I like him in Five Nights at Freddy's. His acting was just bad. He was just because he was trying to channel the Stu character, which I get to a certain extent, but it just came off as so stupid. And then you realize later why it came off so stupid. And that makes it even more stupid. And just I'm gonna let you guys talk about it too. Well, first, Taj, I want to know. And Lexi, did you go see it in 4DX with Tosh? Okay. Taj, I want to know. Well, they just shook their heads no. This is a podcast, you can tell me now. Um, no one no one can hear you just shake your head no.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Hey, my bad. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Okay, so Taj, I want to know just based off the 4DX experience, how was how is Scream 7 just for the 4DX?

SPEAKER_01 23:22

I liked it. Um, as someone that's gone to like a bunch of 4DX movies, uh, it wasn't like the best 4DX experience I've ever had, but like I thought it was fun. Um, I was really looking forward to seeing a scary movie in 4DX because the only other one that I've seen so far was uh Abigail. So like this is like the second one, and like that one was a scary movie, but like a different kind of scary movie, and so like I was looking forward to like seeing a something more like a uh slasher, yeah.

Scream 7 Hype, Firings, And Course Change

SPEAKER_02 23:51

The one with the little vampire girl, but um which was actually directed by the same people who did Scream Five and Six, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Interesting, huh? I did not know that. I no, I thought they did ready or not.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Well, then I know they did ready or not, some somebody, some maybe some like that. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, but it was one of the scream people that did Abigail, huh?

SPEAKER_01 24:13

I didn't know that. That's cool. I could be wrong. I took if you're listening and you know, put in the comments, but yeah, um, but yeah, like I thought it was I thought it was cool though. Um I think like the only thing that was missing, which just like the movie couldn't too much do that just because that's just not the world, is like in a lot of like the great 40x movies is like some really, really big set piece where like things go really, really crazy, and it's just like that's just not the nature of the world of that movie. So like you can't have some big storm or like some long ongoing sequence of something that's gonna be like really really jarring and stuff, just because like that's just not the nature of the world, but like nonetheless, it's fun, it's fun. So, as a movie itself, what did you think? As a movie itself, I liked it again. I mean, 40x always enhances everything for me, so because I have never seen anything bad in 40x. I think that it was um, I mean, also the we had a really good crowd too, so like that always for me it always enhances movie experiences and stuff like that too. But uh, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I think I definitely think that it would have been better with I don't obviously I don't know exactly what they had written, but I definitely think it would have been better had things not transpired the way that they did as far as like casting and stuff like that. I think if those people had stayed on and they had continued with whatever storyline they were doing, I think that would have been cool. Um, and probably would have led to a better movie altogether. And I think to that that would have shifted somewhat the dynamic of Matthew Lillard returning. Um that would have definitely, I think, helped with that. But like for me, I I don't think I think it was more for me, I don't necessarily I don't disagree with you that it was like a little bit weird as far as like uh his performance, but I don't think that I I think for me because of what it was, I didn't think it was bad or whatever. I think it was considering the context of it, it didn't bother me because I was like, oh well, it shouldn't be good, so to speak, because of what the actual context was. His performance from that perspective wasn't necessarily supposed to be, all things considered. But I think, yeah, the biggest thing for me was which I'm sure we'll get to later. I think the biggest my biggest gripe, if you will, was the reveal, but we'll we'll touch on that later.

SPEAKER_02 26:39

Oh yes, yes, we will. What did you think of this abomination of a movie?

SPEAKER_00 26:49

I hate it. Yeah, look, look, I think this is the first time you and I can agree. The last time we agreed on hating the movie was Smurfs.

SPEAKER_02 26:59

So I think okay, so quick question which is worse, this or Smurfs?

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Oh, so who I actually hate this one more.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

I think I hate this one more too, because I was expecting much more.

4DX Experience vs Movie Quality

SPEAKER_00 27:16

I was expecting much more. They hyped the the trailers up. I'm not a horror movie person, I actually don't like them. However, I was like, I will go see this because the screen screens a slasher. The only thing good about it was the first five minutes with the house fire and everything else fell flat. Yes. Um, the the big reveal didn't make sense. No, and it could have made it better if she was his sister, especially with them using like AI stuff, could have made some family relative just a freaking neighbor.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

What? And then the other guy, I think we saw him for like all the five minutes.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

And you know what was weird about that guy before before we reveal who these people are. What was weird about that guy is the actor who played him, it just it made me feel weird that I knew who he was because he was in. I don't know if you've ever seen the classic 90s Jennifer Love Hewitt rom-com, I can't hardly wait. He's in that. He plays Her Love Interests, and he was in that thing you do with Tom Hanks about the boy band. And when I noticed who it was, I'm like, that is so weird that he is playing a bad guy, and he just looks he he looks vaguely like himself, which is what which is kind of what took me out of the fact that he was who he ended up being. But yeah, this movie, like like you said, the opening, and usually the openings of a screen movie are like really, really epic. But I have to I have to ask this though, Taj, and I'm gonna ask you this too, Lexi. Have you seen every single screen movie?

SPEAKER_01 28:57

I have not seen five and six, but I watched like a complete recap video on both of them before I saw seven.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Okay, Lexi, have you seen every single screen movie? I haven't seen five.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Okay, so you guys okay, so you've seen like the core potential ones connected to because the first one, second one, the movie theater was the opening kill, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:21

Yeah, the second one, yeah, with Jada Pickett.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

Uh third one was the the mansion, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, yeah, I've seen all of them, but the fifth one, I think.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Five out of seven for me.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Which one ever the one that had this girl in is the one I didn't see, I think.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

So the one the one where they killed Dewey off.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

No, I saw that one, so I missed the one after that again. Six.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yeah, I think yeah, the fifth one was when they killed Dewey off because I missed up for that one. Sydney was not in the sixth one. That's it. But anyway, um, yeah, this movie was bad, and the reason it was so bad is it it's it in in today's society of of movies and trailers and stuff, they tend to hype up movies so much that they kind of make you have nothing but extreme high expectations when you walk into a movie. And I think if I had not seen any of the trailers, if I had not seen any of the stuff about this movie and I walked in, I still think I wouldn't have liked it, but I may have given it more of a chance than I did walking into it after hearing and seeing everything leading up to it.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

I think that's probably why I liked it. I didn't see the trailers.

Performances, Meta Swerves, And AI Twist

SPEAKER_02 30:42

And Taj is really good about not watching trailers, like especially when it comes to like Marvel stuff. Like he's like, Nathan, please don't tell me anything about the three trailers that they released before all these movies. And I didn't because I'm a nice, I'm I'm a good friend. But this movie, like it the people that ended up being the killers, it made almost zero sense. And it's kind of like what Lexi said there's real there's really no real connection to Sydney with the people who end up being the killer. It's it's based off of the fact that one of the people who is her neighbor read her book and grew a connection with her and because Sydney went away for a little bit, which I guess was like a dig at the fact that she wasn't in the sixth scream movie, but they weren't saying that because she went away, like she didn't have that connection anymore, and I don't like it didn't make any sense, like me just talking about I'm trying to make sense of it, and it doesn't make any sense. And then the male bad guy is the head of the mental institution. Now, my real question is was Stu ever really at that mental institute institution, or were they just making that up to make Sydney think that it was Stu?

SPEAKER_01 32:12

I they were making it up because he says something about it in the the big reveal because and it was a jab at the fans because you know the movies can be just as a whole are pre-meta. And he said something about Stu being alive, he'd be like, Yeah, that'd be stupid. That's stupid, or whatever, because everyone had been having the theory that he was alive for so long.

SPEAKER_02 32:31

So here's the thing, though, and so and and and someone said, like a lot of people were like people who were justifying that this movie was really great, is that it would have been far-fetched for Stu to be alive, right? And my thing is okay, this is coming from a movie where Sidney Prescott, in almost every single movie, has been stabbed multiple times. Dewey, the the sheriff, had been stabbed multiple times, Gail Weathers has been stabbed multiple times, shot multiple times, and yet has somehow survived up until this point. The guy, the guy uh who who him and his sister show up with Gail Weathers in the van. If you had seen, I think the sixth one, which I did watch every single one leading up to this movie, just to rewatch, yeah, he got stabbed a ton of times.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

It was at least 11 times, and he made it.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

Yeah, so I don't care how far-fetched they think it would have been for Stu to come back. I I no, I'm sorry, I don't care. And the fact that in every Scream movie, these people get like the bad, even the bad guys get stabbed multiple times and they always come back, which is why they invented that unspoken rule of well, not unspoken, they literally say it over and over again that you need to shoot them in the head to make sure they're really dead. So I uh like to tell me that it would be far-fetched for Stu to be alive, I say poo-poo to that.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

I think I think it's to me, it's not that it's far-fetched that he's alive, it's more that it would be ridiculous because the first one was 30 years ago, and even in the world of Scream, still 30 years ago, roughly, it would be ridiculous for him to have sat back with everything that's happened for him to just now come back and decide to to get back at her 30 years later.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

I think that's what's and if they was gonna do if they was gonna do that, you would have you need a different script than that. Like you would need to play up 30 years, yada yada yada, for it to for it to work. I didn't like it because it's not that they couldn't bring him back. I feel like you could you would have brought him back so sooner than that.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

But but here's the thing e even but like so.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

I wasn't the type of person that was like, oh man, I I 100% hope it's Stu. I did think they were gonna bring him back somehow, maybe at the beginning of the movie, and I would have been fine if they like killed him off at the beginning of the movie, whatever. I thought it would have been cool, and they kept on hinting, which they always do, they always give you little hints here and there of who it might be, whatever. I thought it would have been cool, and and but then when I thought about like no, because of all the stunts and stuff that the that the ghost face people were doing, but then coming to find out, no offense to women, that one of the killers was like this blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman at the end of the movie. I thought it would have been kind of epic and really sad at the same time if one of the killers was Gail. And they were hinting at it with all the shaking of the hand, and because she herself asked, Sydney, where did you go? Where have you been? Why did you leave? All this stuff. So, like it would have been really sad, but it would have made more sense if she had like snapped because Dewey died and Sydney wasn't there for her in New York to come for her and all this stuff. That would have made more sense. But this movie made no sense.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

The do you think that could have been a thing if I know what she did last summer didn't technically already do that?

The Killer Reveal Problem

SPEAKER_02 36:09

But but with this movie, it would have made more sense, and I would have I would have been okay with it.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

I would say that made more sense than I know what you did last summer.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

Yeah, the justification of I know what you did last summer was dumb. Like, oh, they erased our everything that happened to us. This is stupid. This would have made more sense. Like, Sydney, my husband died, and you just left. Like you were there for like two seconds and then you left. It was just dumb. And like I really I really liked what they did in five and six. I know a lot of Scream fans didn't because they're kind of going away from Nev Campbell, which I thought it was okay because they're going in in a different direction. I just thought this movie was dumb. I was really upset that how dumb it was. I kept on making faces the entire movie. I kind of wish I had seen it with one of you guys, just have been like, that was so stupid. And then Taj would have been like, What are you talking about? That's great.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Yeah, I think you would have a different tune if you saw it in the theater that I saw it in.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

And then, like, I mean, maybe you know, you know, maybe that would have helped. And the fact that by the end of the movie, I think uh Lexi already touched on this, is that it was AI the whole time, and I guess that was trying to be meta too, like everyone's using AI nowadays, and that's how they brought back spoiler alert, Dewey and Roman and Mrs. Loomis. And I don't know, did they show Billy? I don't even know if they showed Billy.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

No, they showed Billy in the the sixth and six.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Yeah, yeah, that's why I was thinking I think that this just would have it would have hit very differently and like been so different because like you can't have Billy because of how you inserted Billy in the last two movies with him being in his daughter's head and like being a treatment of her imagination.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

I I still think I still think that was a brilliant thing to do to make her the daughter of Billy Loomis. And apparently in this one, she would have gone crazy and went full Billy Loomis in this movie, and she would have been the killer.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

Yeah, yeah, that was I figured.

SPEAKER_02 38:10

And yeah, it was just a missed opportunity, and I felt like this to me, it just felt like an abrupt U-turn, and they felt like they had to do it because of quote unquote for the fans, and no, the fans didn't want that, but and like the Rotten Tomato score is awful with the critics anyway. It's pretty high for audience, I think. So let's go ahead and rate this thing really quick because we have not a lot of time left, less than a minute. Quick rating, Lexi. What'd you think? One one Taj, what'd you think? 4.1 4.1. I'm gonna give it a 1.5 anyway. I thought it was stupid, it was a waste of time. And that our that are that are our thoughts on Scream 7. The worst scream in the in the scream franchise, which is surprising because a lot of people didn't like Scream 3. But after re-watching all of them, I actually liked Scream 3.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

I didn't think it was that bad. Scream 3 has one of my favorite villains in it.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

The who ended up being spoiler, the brother. Yeah, I thought it was I mean, yeah, I didn't think it was bad. Scream 4 was okay, but and did you know that scream 4 was supposed to go in a different direction after that movie? That her her niece, it was her niece, right? Her cousin cousin, her cousin was supposed to get away with everything. And the fifth movie was gonna be her going off to college, and a new ghost face killer who knew about everything was gonna start going after her. That would have been cool, actually. So there's plans to go away from Nev for away from Sydney for a while.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Jill Roberts is actually one of my favorite films. Never mind, she was my favorite, she's one of my favorites. A lot of people don't like her. I like her because you weren't expect see because you weren't expecting it. I also grew up watching her on Disney channel. So to know her as a good smiley singing person to see her pull off what she did in a scream, I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

And yeah, it just it it would have been it would have been good, it would have been a good movie. And speaking of things they could have done, and you would not have expected it. How cool would it have been if her husband and her daughter Oh, I thought it was her daughter for like half the movie. The killers.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Yeah, I was hoping it was her daughter, and I thought it was her daughter because spoiler alert, which we already said that we're spoiling it, but I thought it was her daughter because in the beginning, when it when Ghostface was in the house um and was holding the daughter hostage, I was like, Ghostface doesn't take hostages, ghostface just kills people. So the fact that Ghostface was holding the daughter hostage and making them put the gun down as if there was some sort of negotiation thing was crazy to me. Um and so I was like, Oh, she's in on it. And then also with the attitude, because I thought it was absolutely flipping absurd that she had any sort of attitude for her mom and was like, and you don't tell me anything, and it's just like I guess I can understand wanting to know more, but like considering in their world, those stab movies are literally about her mother. It's just like the audacity for you to have any sort of attitude, considering because she was not in six, so like at max five was like five years ago, at max in their world. And so it's like you would have been if she's like 16, 17 in this one, you would have been like all of 10-11. So you were you were you were very much cognitive when your mom last time went through the the hell that is what happens with ghost face murders, and so it's just like for you to to be on this whole I don't like you, I don't understand you, blah blah blah, you're so protective, it's so stupid thing, is nuts, absolutely nuts. Meanwhile, your next door neighbor and friend of yours is obsessed with your mother and knows more information somehow than you do, which means that the information is there, you just choose to ignore it. I mean, now granted, obviously he's a hardcore fan because he wants to do a podcast, but nonetheless, like the information is like very readily available. So, like you being oblivious and you thinking it's okay to to sneak out when your mom has literally been witness to countless murders over the last 30 years is absolutely ridiculous. And for me, one of the only ways that you could justify that is her being a killer, and I think that would have been great. I would have been bad, but like mad.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

I would I see I would have I would have thought that was freaking brilliant. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, because the whole the whole the whole point of this movie is number one, they advertise it as Cindy coming face to face with her past, which she technically did, I guess, through AI, whatever. They were so so my thing is that they advertise it like that on purpose to mess with the fans, because that's what this movie does. It becomes so meta that even the trailers and the advertising mess with the fans so much that it makes them want to go see it. Because then people are like, Oh, you see how much movie this movie uh how much money this movie made this weekend. I'm like, just because a movie makes a lot during its opening weekend does not make that movie good. It just means a lot of people wanted to go see it, which is why they spent their money. And the majority of the people who go see it are saying it's a bucket of suck. A lot of people are saying it's not good. I'm just saying, yes, that's a bucket of suck. Well, the rise of what wasn't it? It was the

SPEAKER_01 44:00

At Skywalk, no both last Jedi was the one that became top was one of the highest grossing movies ever.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

Yeah. So I mean, just because a lot of people go see a movie and it makes a lot of money opening weekend is not me in that movie.

unknown 44:12

Disgusting.

Franchise Logic, Missed Arcs, And Fan Theories

SPEAKER_02 44:13

Yeah, I thought she, I thought the daughter could have been the killer. I thought Joel McHale, because Joel McHale was in this movie. How random was that? Like question because I didn't rewatch the movies. Was he Patrick Dempsey's character or was he a new? I don't know because yeah, because that's what people were saying. Wasn't Patrick Dempsey's character named Mark? Yes, it was. Didn't he start liking Sidney Prescott's character? Yes, he did. And then he doesn't show up again. Um I think I think he said he was he was like talked to about being in it, uh-huh, uh scheduling conflicts and stuff, so nothing ever came of it. So we got freaking Joel McHale, which I love Joel McHale. Yeah, but I think that would have been interesting if he was the killer.

SPEAKER_00 44:55

I'm kind of glad her husband wasn't the killer.

SPEAKER_02 44:58

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 44:59

I would I would I would have rather it'd been her daughter, yeah. Or like I said, I would have if it was going to be Jessica, sorry, spoiler. I would have rather she had some more connection to make her face her face her past, but like the connection wasn't there. So how did she face her past other than AI? But I'm kind of glad it wasn't him only because I was like, give a girl a win somehow. I would have been, I honestly wanted to be Gail. Now I predicted it was gonna be Jessica before we went in, but that was just based off the poster.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Because she was on the poster, and then the creepy, the other guy is on there too. Mm-hmm. It was just and the poster was just it was just misplaced for me for some reason. Yeah, it was just I was very I was just I was just very disappointed. I had very high expectations, and it just it really disappointed me. I was very mad about how much I did not like this movie, but it is what it is. You know, you can't always get what you want, but you find sometimes you just might you get what you need. So that is the first cinema Sunday slash Christmas movie episode of March. We just celebrated my son's fourth birthday. Happy birthday, buddy. Happy birthday and so next Sunday, we'll be talking about Trolls holiday special and the nightmare before Christmas. And I'm already gonna tell you what our cinema Sunday for March is gonna be. The Pixar movie Hoppers. It's one of those movies where I saw the trailer and I was like, I think I have to watch this to see to see what Pixar does. Um Disney does over the edge. I'm uh I'm slightly cautiously optimistic about what this movie's gonna be about. So we'll see. So that is the cinema Sunday episode of March. So look forward to that, and many more. Hopefully, you know, Mitch and Katie and the other cash critics join us, Thomas. But I love talking to Taj and Lexi, it's always a good time. And maybe Ryan Lynx might join an episode too, because she's on the she's on the logo too.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

But yeah, I just hate all the movies, that's all.

SPEAKER_02 47:31

Yeah, Lexi just hates everything, and Taj loves everything that I hate and hates everything that I love, and that's just the way it is. On the couch critics, where every movie gets its close-up.

SPEAKER_03 47:45

It's cinema sundae with a duck begin. The couch critics got that.