Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The boys are going Dutch this episode and exploring Christmas in the land of tulips, windmills, and hole-y dykes. Grab your wooden shoes, we are heading to the Netherlands for St. Nicholas Day! We also examine a surprisingly dated film from 2007, Alles is Liefde, and discuss whether the same film could be mad…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) In today’s episode, we enjoy Skenbart or “IIlusive Tracks” a black and white Swedish film set in 1945. It is a comedy, thriller, drama and love story, all wrapped up in one, along with those common elements you expect in a Christmas film – murder, adultery, and violence. Plus, if you can believe it, it’s real…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The boys head north again to another Scandinavian country to fully embrace the land of Vikings, pastries, and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s Denmark! Yes, our own Hannibal Lecter stars in a revenge drama that has all of the elements you didn’t know you wanted for the holidays – anger, grief and lots of violence. And It…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) We are still in our post-St. Patrick’s Day reverie so the Festive Fans decide to head off to enjoy the Emerald Isle. Mark is excited to celebrate the locale of his favorite film The Quiet Man and the home to three of his great-grandparents. He is our resident leprechaun so he gets to present the Irish movie K…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Don’t cry for us Argentina, you have delivered on a very meaty holiday. And we are not just talking about the ox tongue and tuna sauce at the Asado. Our first tour stop in South America really delivers its fireworks -- both on and off the screen. La Noche Magica is a film that may seem dark and unsettling, bu…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) This reminds us of when we reviewed a film from Turkey in November, now February is Black History month in the States and we just happen to be covering our first film on the African continent. Today we travel to Lagos, Nigeria for an entertaining Christmas rom com that features all of the classic Hallmark mov…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) We’re gonna show you a movie you can’t refuse. The boys are off to Italia -- Bob’s ancestral homeland – for a magnifica celebration of amore, famiglia, and Natale. And don’t worry, it’s not personal, it’s business. We review the Italian holiday film Una famiglia perfetta from 2012. But first, we listen to Bob…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Vincent Van Gogh’s classic painting “Starry Night” has, through the years, inspired poets, musicians, and now another gem -- this episode’s holiday film from Taiwan. Mark describes it as the “best film we have reviewed” so far. It is a heartfelt story based on an illustrated novel, and the film shares the art…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) It’s a new episode, a new year, and an exciting new country for the Festive Fans! For the start of 2024, we travel to Iceland -- a country with dramatic landscapes full of giant glaciers and fiery volcanos. Such extreme contrasts also underscore the movie Echo. This intimate film is equally humorous and heart…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Merry Christmas to all of our Festive Fans! The boys celebrate Christmas today by considering the uplifting Ukrainian song and the movie Carol of the Bells or “Schedryk”. The story takes place in the years preceding and during World War II and features three different families who are living as neighbors in a…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) The Festive Fans embark on their plan to spread Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men this episode as they journey to Mother Russia. It’s a sincere effort to try to find some Christmas spirit in the former Soviet nation. We watch a movie filled with class warfare, occultism, and pick pockets. It is set before t…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) In today’s episode we explore how true Americans celebrate Christmas – the Native Americans. Yes, we make a visit to the American Indian nation, as a Thanksgiving Day salute to the indigenous people who saved the Pilgrim butts and got a big thank you dinner and European delicacies like smallpox and kidnapping…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) It’s November and we are talking Turkey. No, not those dim-witted, low-flying, tree-roosting birds that many of us plan to eat later this month. We are talking the country of Turkey, which is the ancestral home and inspiration for Santa Claus – St. Nicholas. Although this is a country that lies part in Asia a…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Happy National Christmas Podcast Day! The theme of today’s special event is for the many different Christmas podcasts to cover a version of Charles Dickens Christmas Carol. Since we are the Festive Foreign Film Fans, we needed a foreign adaptation and we discovered the 1953 Italian film Non è mai troppo tardi…

Por Bob & Mark

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Boo! It’s spooky season for our Christmas podcast. This episode we have Pastorela, and it is devilishly good. It is the appropriate holiday film for October as it features demons, an exorcism, and an epic battle of Good versus Evil. What more could you want from a film that plays like a Halloween-Christmas cr…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Today is a "Bada Din" – which means Big Day in Hindi. Mark and Bob explore the movie of the same name, which is the Indian term for Christmas. Bada Din was released in 1998 and is a holiday dance and song spectacle – it features murder, a GQ model-turned-actor, 10-minute chase scenes, and a dreamy music video…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) You need to Czech out our latest episode. It’s heavenly! We review the 2005 Czech film Andĕl Pánĕ and it is a hellish good time. This festive fairy tale features Patronel, a bumbling angel; his boss God; and, a handy squad of versatile Saints, all on call. Also, we meet Patronel’s satanic guide Urias, who obs…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) Bob and Mark ur hoachin as they tromp through the Scottish moors in kilts and tap shoes tae be tellin eh day’s good craic eh a fever dream – the Christmas Zombie Pandemic High School Musical -- “Anna and the Apocalypse”. There’s nothing better than flesh-eating festivities eh go wae ye haggis. It’s pure baggi…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) You may be dying to know that for this episode, we dig up Mark's past -- and it's of grave interest. Since his dad was the town's undrtaker, he is best suited to lay out our film for public viewing. We explore a dreary holiday in a town entombed by its sole industry -- asbestos mining. And Mark buries it pret…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) What nationality is Santa Claus? North Polish! Ha, we are starting this episode's summary with a (Gran)Dad joke to celebrate the birth of our new podmast-cot (and Mark's granddaughter) Layna "Festivus Fania" Chandler. In fact, mark your chanlenders because his family is all over this show. They are the Pole-y…

Por Bob & Mark

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) It's a colorful challenge, but Mark and Bob are just the two-dimensional, cartoonish guys to tackle this episode's first animated film Tokyo Godfathers. Mark goes deep, but Bob -- he's here for the anime pillows, electric eels, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. All that's missing is Pokemon and Hello Kitty! Yes, Ma…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) This time the boys are off to the unofficial home of Santa Claus -- Finland -- and boy, what a Santa! He's not exactly your jolly old fat man. Take that Coca-Cola! Bob and Mark venture into that unique festive niche, the holiday horror film, and discuss the film Rare Exports. They also discover one of the hid…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) It's the second episode of Festive Foreign Film Fans. We have shortened the name to “4F” which is an acronym that we only divulge to our closest friends. Shhh! This show we travel to one of the few Asian countries that celebrates Christmas as a national holiday -- South Korea! Bob and Mark first discuss the C…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) This is our first episode of Festive Foreign Film Fans. Just the name is a mouthful -- imagine what the show is like. Bob and Mark travel to France to review the French film Les nouvelles aventures d'Aladin. Neither one speaks the language or has even travelled to the country (first mistake), so they offer gr…

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message) This is the trailer for the podcast. Email Address: festivefans@gmail.com Linktree: https://linktr.ee/festivefans?utm_source=linktree_profile_share 4F Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2QIjYWNP1TS0hC2OFeBXqO?si=8791632a966d4f53 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092522416848 4…