Bah Humbug: A Christmas Movie Podcast with Helen O'Hara

A dog is, of course, for life and not just for Christmas, but they are also for Christmas in the latest Netflix seasonal offering. Based on the bestselling book by W. Bruce Cameron, this is A Dog's Perfect Christmas, and it's about a dog called Winstead, voiced by Thomas Haden Church, and the family who can't hear him because they're distracted by their own drama. Or something like that. Joining me to discuss it is film critic Clarisse Loughrey, and somehow we manage to draw comparisons between this inoffensive family film and Clayface, Godzilla Minus Zero, Primetime and Venom. Look, it will all make sense. Probably.

Apologies for some sound issues on this one, which I have tried to minimise but which may still exist especially if you're listening on headphones. Our environment for this recording was unexpectedly noisy; it won't happen again.

You can find Clarisse on Instagram @clarisseloughrey, and fortnightly on the Fade To Black podcast.

For more from Helen, you can find her on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are on sale now in all good bookshops or online, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film, remains on sale.

This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media. If you enjoyed this podcast please leave a shiny five star review on your podcast platform of choice; it really does help.
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Ho Ho ho hello! Bah Humbug is back to cover the Christmas films of 2026, and we are starting with a very charming British offering, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint! I'll be talking to its star, Game Of Thrones' John Bradley, all about the curmudgeonly character and how he learns the meaning of Christmas, as well as sitting down with writer Charlotte Harrison and actor/director David Kirkbride to share our thoughts on the film.

Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint is out in UK cinemas today!

Find more from Charlotte @sometimesmovies on Instagram, and more from David @dkirkbride2008, also on Instagram.

For more from Helen, you can find her on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are on sale now in all good bookshops or online, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film, remains on sale.

This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media.

If you enjoyed this podcast please leave a shiny five star review on your podcast platform of choice; it really does help.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A couple split up and negotiate shared custody of their dog - but when he gets depressed, they reunite for Christmas to cheer him up. It's a rock-solid premise for some light comedy, with likeable stars - Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel - and a great canine performance. But does it live up to the basic idea? And is it even Christmassy? Your host, Helen O'Hara, is joined by journalist and author Kat Brown to hash it out.

Merv is out on Prime Video now.

For more from Kat, check out her website katbrown.com here, or follow her on Bluesky here. Her book, No One Talks About This Stuff, is particularly relevant to this film and may be of help if you've been affected by infertility and childlessness.

For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale.

This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a shiny five-star review on your podcast provider of choice; it really does help. And Merry Christmas!
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Christmas is a time of miracles, and also robberies, according to Netflix's new rom-com crime caper, wherein two plucky but dodgy young people played by Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells decide to rob a department store on Christmas Eve. In defence of these bad Santas, they have both been provoked by its awful owner (Peter Serafinowicz) - and their plan may be smarter than it looks. Here to assess how well they succeeded are your regular host, Helen O'Hara, and film journalist and podcaster Amon Warmann, with bells on probably.

Jingle Bell Heist is out on Netflix now.

For more from Amon, check out his social media or listen to him weekly on the Fade To Black podcast.

For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale.

This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a shiny five star review on your podcast provider of choice; it really does help. And Merry Christmas!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's not all glitzy romances and action movies at Christmas; spare a thought for the microbudget indie movies that are also set at this time of year. Take, for example, 2014's Christmas, Again from director Charles Poekel, finally hitting UK cinemas this December with its tale of a Christmas tree salesman (Kentucker Audley) trying to shuffle through the season without too much fuss. It's been described as a mumblecore effort, so can the movement that launched Greta Gerwig also bring us a genuine Christmas classic? To figure that out, your host, Helen O'Hara, is joined this time by film journalist and author Laura Venning for a good old mumble all about it.

Christmas, Again is out in UK cinemas now.

For more from Laura, you can find her substack Mise-en-Ven here, or her site here.

For more from Helen, you can find here on Bluesky @HelenLOHara, or at helenohara.com. Her latest books, A Quentin Tarantino Dictionary and 50 Film Ideas You Really Need To Know, are available now, and Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise Of Women In Film remains on sale.

This podcast is produced and edited by Helen O'Hara with Stripped Media. For more on this podcast, and others produced by Stripped Media, please visit www.stripped.media or email producers@stripped.media.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a shiny five stars on your podcast app of choice; it really does help. And merry Christmas!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices