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How a Skeptical Critic Came to Love Bad Christmas Movies

Hallmark Christmas movies are corny, predictable and just what our critic needed to embrace the holiday spirit. The story of how a big-city culture critic, Amanda Hess, found love where she least expected it — in the monotony of Hallmark’s Christmas movies.
Duration
31m
Broadcast on
24 Dec 2024
Audio Format
other

Hallmark Christmas movies are corny, predictable and just what our critic needed to embrace the holiday spirit.

The story of how a big-city culture critic, Amanda Hess, found love where she least expected it — in the monotony of Hallmark’s Christmas movies.

Guest: Amanda Hess, a critic at large for the Culture section of The New York Times

Background reading: 

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For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. From New York Times, I'm Michael Bobaro. This is The Daily. ♪♪ Today, the story of how a big city culture critic, Amanda Hest, found love where she least expected it in the monotony of Hallmark's Christmas movies. ♪♪ It's Tuesday, December 24th. ♪♪ Amanda, thank you for coming into the studio. Thank you so much for having me. This is your first time on the show. This is the thing we get to do at the end of the year. We get to bring on everybody who's never been on the show, but who we secretly have wanted to be on the show. This is my Christmas wish. Come true. You write about culture, for the times, you're a critic. And you're here today to talk about a subject that I'll be honest. I don't think I or many of us on the show ever imagined might be an episode of The Daily. You are going to be providing an exploration, a meditation, whatever you want to call it, a kind of study of the made-for-TV Christmas movie, which you contend has not quite gotten the critical attention that it deserves. And specifically, you're going to be talking to us here about that most familiar brand of made-for-TV Christmas movie, the Hallmark channel Christmas movie. That is our subject today. Yes. How do you justify that? ♪♪ I wasn't always this way. I think I was always... I was always interested in Hallmark Christmas movies on a meta level, but I was not interested in sitting down and watching them

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Hallmark Christmas movies are corny, predictable and just what our critic needed to embrace the holiday spirit. The story of how a big-city culture critic, Amanda Hess, found love where she least expected it — in the monotony of Hallmark’s Christmas movies.