Simple Faith with Rusty George

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Intro/Outro
Welcome to Leading Simple with Rusty George. Our goal is to make following Jesus and leading others a bit more simple. Here's your host, Rusty George.

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Rusty George
Hey, welcome to Leading Simple. I am so glad that you are joining us today as we are right into the Christmas season. I told you last week that would be bringing on one of my favorite people in the world and one of our favorite guests on the podcast. His name is Dan Angel. And you may not know him, but I'm pretty sure that, you know, some of the works that he has done because he is a film producer.

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Rusty George
In fact, his most recent work became one of the number one films of the year on Netflix, a family film called Rescued by Ruby. If you haven't seen that, make sure you check that out. But I talk movies all the time with my friend Dan, and I said, Hey, how about you come on the podcast and tell us what's your favorite Christmas movies?

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Rusty George
Why is that? And what are some of the most critically acclaimed Christmas movies and why we might even miss some of those? And so he's going to give us some some ones you might expect, someone you hadn't thought of and a couple you haven't even heard of. I think you're going to really enjoy this trip through LA La Land and movie land as we go through Dan's favorite Christmas movies and maybe some of these are yours.

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Rusty George
I'd love to know what they are. You can share those with me on Instagram. Rusty L George is how you find me there. I'd love to hear what your favorite Christmas movies are. Well, speaking of Christmas, we are in the middle of our Christmas at the Movies series, and it all comes together when we share Christmas at the movies for Christmas Eve, and we have a very special film we're going to be using to tell the incredible story of Jesus, which is going to be so much fun for all of us.

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Rusty George
And you can check all of that out at Real Life Church dot org. December 22nd, 23rd and 24th. Just go to the website to find out those actual service times. And if you're in the area, you can find out which location fits you best. Simi Valley, Valencia or Lancaster. They're all going to be the same and they're all going to be an incredible experience.

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Rusty George
If you've got somebody in your life that has had a rough year and needs a pick me up, tell them Come to Christmas Eve service with you. And they might say, Yeah, I'm too busy on Christmas Eve. That's fine. We're meeting on the 22nd and the 23rd. Bring them to one of those real life church to watch it online.

00;02;25;01 - 00;02;46;23
Rusty George
And there's also a Christmas special you can enjoy there as well. Real Life Church. I cannot wait for you to experience that. Can't wait for you to experience our conversation with Dan Angel. Here we go.

Dan Angel, thank you for being a second time guest on the podcast. This time it's just you and me. No, none of the talent, none of the movie stars with us.

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Rusty George
It's just it's just the guys behind the camera. Right. So for our listeners who don't know much about you, tell us a little bit about your bio. And, you know, how do you even get into to to film and to producing movies?

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Dan Angel
Well, there's a couple of things people don't know. Some people know. You know, I, I there were a lot of paths trying to find your way in. You know, I was the, you know, growing up in Orange County at that time, Newport Beach, Costa mesa was in exactly the hub of media and Hollywood. And and, in fact, the idea of going to Hollywood, even though it was a, you know, a one hour drive, it might as well have been, you know, a thousand miles away.

00;03;24;26 - 00;03;44;09
Dan Angel
It was it was tough. But, you know, I did all kinds of little things here and there and then I got what I thought was my big break. I'd started out in musical theater and high school and college, and I was acting. And then all of a sudden that that kind of went away. This switch turned off and I thought I had my big break.

00;03;44;09 - 00;04;06;24
Dan Angel
And I got this opportunity to work on this movie called Roar with Tippi Hedren. And they offered me the job to be a lion trainer. And it was unbelievable. By the way, it's still up there. It's all about Canyon. Shambala is the name of the ranch, and TIppi did a beautiful job of rescuing animals. But at this time I think I needed rescuing.

00;04;06;24 - 00;04;28;17
Dan Angel
And it was six months of my life they put me in a cage with like ten grown male lions and said, If they like you, you got the job. And I didn't get eaten that day. So I got hired on that movie. And insanity began. It was just crazy. And if you go look at I recommend everyone go look at the trailer of the movie Roar.

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Dan Angel
And one of my favorite lines is No animals were hurt in the making of the movie, but plenty of humans were. And it's true that it was Melanie Griffith and Tippi Hedren, and yeah, it was. It was crazy. And that's how it started. Wow. You know, it's like and it wasn't my big break. It it was risky and scary and exciting.

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Dan Angel
And I got paid. I think I got paid 150 bucks a week.

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Rusty George
To just try to survive.

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Dan Angel
Just to survive. Yeah. Yeah. And and what, you know, part of the thing that was happening is I won't bore everyone with the plot because I'm going to run out and see the movie. But, um, you know, it was a, a doctor and I become a veterinarian in a, in Africa, but he, he loved animals, so he had the animals.

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Dan Angel
So we had to mix lions and tigers and cheetahs and panthers and, you know, cougars. I mean, these animals don't naturally mix. So when you do that, let's just say it goes crazy. And we were part of the team that had to try to break up the crazy. So yeah, that's.

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Rusty George
How did you ever get did you get bit by a lion?

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Dan Angel
I did not. Thank God, John. The barn was great, great. DP He was you know, he was the DP on that movie, the beginning of his career. And I know he got injured really bad. Tippecanoe Injured really bad. No. Marshall Her husband was behind the whole thing got injured. I mean, a lot of people got injured really bad.

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Dan Angel
Melanie Griffith But, you know, I got like clawed in the finger once by a kidder, but that was about it. And yeah, I'm a long winded way of saying, how did I get in? Well, that's how it started. So I was Daniel in the lion's den. Don't I need to go there?

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Rusty George
And that's beautiful. I did not know that part of your story.

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Dan Angel
Yeah. God, let me go in and he let me survive. So it was very biblical for me. And I came out of that and, you know, my first my first movie was I started in horror with John Carpenter, a movie called Body Bags. I went back to film school late. I was the old guy at 27 at UCLA Film School and then had a great partner, Billy Brown, who I wrote this with and we got sold.

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Dan Angel
That whole story is insane, but we got it out of John Carpenter and got that movie made. And that that was 1990, 91. And that began a 30 year ongoing career. The minute I got that made, I'm not saying it was ever easy, but, you know, was off to the races.

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Rusty George
Wow. So you start off in a lion's den. Then you do a horror movie and you have an affinity towards movies that are scary. And that led you into the zone of, I think you call it safe scare, where you create these scary family films and you've done that with the Goosebumps series and The Haunting Hour. Tell us a lot about that.

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Dan Angel
Yeah, it's it's so much fun. I would say goosebumps. And then the follow up, haunting hour with two of the best times of my career. And, you know, we had a rule and, you know, obviously Goosebumps was a massive, you know, book property. And I was really that was a blessing because it could have gone to anyone. And to be able to get that opportunity was great.

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Dan Angel
And kind of that lesson was to always keep relationships because when I was trying to sell body bags, I met this wonderful gentleman, Bill SIEGLER, at ABC. He optioned it. We ended up not making it, but I kept in touch with Bill and we became friends. And about five years later he called me up and said, Hey, I've got the perfect project for you and your partner.

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Dan Angel
We're doing this thing called Goose Bumps. I'm the producer on it, and I need a, you know, creative producer, showrunner, and you're the guys. And that whole thing happened because of our relationship with Bill. And it just it was a blast because we, first of all, created safe scare, as you pointed out, for families. Safe, scary. Yeah. And and it was the here are the rules.

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Dan Angel
You take your kids, you know, like Magic Mountain. Let's talk about magic that's nearby. You know, you got a roller coaster. You go with your kids. The kids are in line. The movies, they're afraid. They don't want to go over. You get them on the ride, they scream, they yell, they go and they get off. And then what's the first thing they say?

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Rusty George
Let's go again.

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Dan Angel
Let's go again. That was good. So we knew we were going to scare you. No sex, no language, no violence, no gore. But we're going to scare you. And it's going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be a roller coaster ride. And it worked. We had a blast. We don't have a lot of money. So we had to, you know, do all these creatures and monsters on a shoestring and, you know, hired, you know, your chance to find a great guy who was a kid who, you know, loved to make creature monster masks, you know.

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Dan Angel
And we gave him a break and we were off to the races. And it was what I can't believe is it's been almost 30 years, but 95 to talk. Yeah, 27 years later, it's still going strong on Netflix plays in a lot of places. Obviously they ended up making the movies, but you know, to this day I have people come up to me and say, you changed my life.

00;09;45;21 - 00;10;13;01
Rusty George
So there's a lot and you scared me to death as a child. Okay. So I mean, those those were great. Then you have some great award winning documentaries. Door to door, gifted hands, just some incredible things. But then your latest one is this Netflix movie that was like number one in the world for several weeks. Rescued by Ruby.

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Rusty George
For our listeners that haven't seen that, I can't imagine there's there's many that haven't because so many saw this film. Tell us a little bit about that and what attracted you to this story?

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Dan Angel
Well, I love making movies, as you pointed out, about true life stories and amazing people who have accomplished amazing things. So obviously, you know, door to door with the salesman, cerebral palsy became the you know, the number one salesman in America. And, you know, when those gifted hands and Ben Carson story of a boy in poverty with his incredible mom, it became one of the greatest surgeons in the world.

00;10;48;03 - 00;11;18;09
Dan Angel
And you know, I Squier and Louise, who had created the God Wing's books and franchise, which I was fortunate to be able to create that franchise for Hallmark. Then they decided to do a franchise called Dog Wings, which would be great stories about dogs. And so they shared with me what this story was. The story of Ruby and this police officer who dream in Rhode Island was to become a K9 officer.

00;11;18;26 - 00;11;33;05
Dan Angel
And they shared the story with me. And I, I just couldn't first of all, I love dogs. You know, there was a moment in time. I think even I wanted to be a police officer. I, I could just there was something about this I loved and I can't tell you if no one's seen the movie. I don't want to tell the ending.

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Dan Angel
But obviously it's an incredible story of of an opportunity where this officer, through circumstances, is able to save this dog on the day that it's going to be put down and on his very own, against all odds, able to turn him into and pass the test to become his K-9 officer and partner. And it is it was so moving to me.

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Dan Angel
And then what happened was I went to this meeting at Netflix and I was going to introduce them to my company, Fezziwig studios. And I'm setting up my computer. And while I'm plugging in the executive, Christina says, Do you have a dog story? And I'm like, I do have a dog story. So I proceed to give the three minute version of the story rescued by Ruby and everyone is crying.

00;12;24;05 - 00;12;38;24
Dan Angel
Told they wanted the movie. I said so yeah. I like unplug dog, go. That's it. Okay. You know, it's like, drop the mic time. Like, you know that Seinfeld that was like, you know, okay, you walk in the room and they say, okay, and no reason to talk about anything else because they might hate something, you know.

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Rusty George
Walk out the room.

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Dan Angel
And it was an incredible experience. They were very supportive of the movie. And then, you know, you know, once we got, you know, Karen Janssen wrote and beautiful script and then we were able to get Grant Gustin, who was our first choice, The Flash. And he did an amazing job, Scott Wolf. Amazing job. We just had an incredible cast.

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Dan Angel
And and, of course, the real heroes of that movie were our trainers and we found two incredible dogs that were rescued also close to the time they were going to be put down. And we made them stars.

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Rusty George
And you had to you had to, like, die their their hair. Right. Because these are German shepherds. I don't know if you call it fur.

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Dan Angel
Oh, no. These were well well, normally it's a German shepherd. These they weren't Ruby was not a German shepherd. It was these were more of of collies, you know, shepherd sheep mix. You know, it was definitely a mutt.

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Rusty George
Okay.

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Dan Angel
Yeah. Ruby did not get the full bred. That's what was so fun about Ruby. Definitely not one of the gang.

00;13;45;07 - 00;14;10;10
Rusty George
Well, I loved it. My wife and I, we've seen it a several times. We've we laugh, we cry. It's it's amazing and a great watch for people on Netflix. So you drop just a hint for us a second ago about the name of your company, Fuzzy Wig. And I want you to tell our listeners the story of why that name, which I think will segway very well into what we want to talk about today, which is Christmas movies.

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Rusty George
So tell us a little bit about Fezziwig.

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Dan Angel
Okay. Well, it's probably to my family, it's no secret that I'm a huge Dickens fan. And my favorite movie is Scrooge The Musical, and we'll talk about it a little more. But I love the Christmas Carol story. I think it's an incredible story of redemption, obviously, you know, watching that. Okay. So I was going to talk about this, but this is all part of how the name came up.

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Dan Angel
I'm 11 years old. My sister takes me to see Scrooge the musical with Albert Finney, and that definitely was a magical moment in a movie theater where not only did I love the movie and I was influenced by the movie and the music and the musicals, but that was the movie that made me realize I have to make movies.

00;14;56;08 - 00;15;17;25
Dan Angel
You know, I grew up in movie theaters with my parents, who took us all the time. We went on movie runs. We'd go to three or four movies on a day while my parents and yeah, it was so, so much fun because of course I'd have double feature. So we do the, you know, the 11:00 till like, you know, two one, go eat lunch, come back and you know, do the 3 to 7 or eight at night.

00;15;18;25 - 00;15;40;22
Dan Angel
And, you know, obviously Scrooge was appropriate. That was great. My parents were fantastic. They you know, they gave me this this excitement of watching movies with no filter. So, you know, one of my great memories and terrors was when they took me to Rosemary's Baby. And I think I was six. So I, I was traumatized from that, of course.

00;15;41;01 - 00;15;57;14
Dan Angel
But it also I think so it also I was such a chicken and I was so afraid of so many things when I was younger. You know, I think I when I was 16, I finally got out of watching a scary movie and sleeping with my parents. So, you know, then it was my turn to try to make scary movies and make other people sleep with their parents.

00;15;57;14 - 00;16;17;02
Dan Angel
So so this whole movie, Scrooge the musical and A Christmas Carol, where I'm on my own now and I want to open my company. And of course, my kids are all grown and they know we did the same thing with my kids, made them go to see every movie and we're sitting around saying, okay, what are you going to call your company?

00;16;17;13 - 00;16;34;13
Dan Angel
And you know, of course, you start with what's our favorite movie? And then we got to Scrooge the musical and that didn't help because we're like, I can't call my company Scrooge. And, you know, we're trying to think about it. And then we went back and read the story and what I forgot. So every time, just a little backstory.

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Dan Angel
Every time I do a TV show or movie, I sit with the crew and and I just in my heart and this is what God wants me to do. I want to be that light and I want to learn everyone's name and I want to make sure they get paid as well as they can get paid. And at the end of this process, I want it to feel like it was the best time they ever had.

00;16;54;20 - 00;17;10;08
Dan Angel
They had fun, they got paid. And if it isn't the best experience they had in the movie business, I didn't do my job. What I forgot is that that's what Facebook told Scrooge, and that's the only time he was happy and he found love before he decided to trade it in for money and ruined things for a while.

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Dan Angel
And my family and I sat with each other and I went, That's it. As the week studio's bringing great stories to light.

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Rusty George
Wow, that's beautiful. Okay, so that leads us into Christmas movies. We're in the holiday season. There's so much out there. There's the Christmas movies we grew up with. There's a Christmas movies that are new. There's the Hallmark movies that make everybody feel good and are fun to play. Hollywood are Hallmark Bingo with along the way, which is a real thing and hilarious.

00;17;42;23 - 00;18;13;18
Rusty George
So let's start with this, Dan. You know, there are movies we enjoy. You know, I'm a huge Batman fan. I love the Batman movies, but by and large, they're not critically acclaimed now. A couple of them are, but for the most part, no. I like comedies, not critically acclaimed. What are the the movies that are widely regarded as critically stellar, that are the standards for they're great movies whether they're Christmas and feel good or not give us a few of those for all of us that are interested in that.

00;18;13;26 - 00;18;35;04
Dan Angel
Well, I think you have to go with It's a Wonderful Life. We have to start there because you know, this is a movie that is, what, 75 years old? I think it's 75 years old this year. And this is a movie that I think and this would also be on my top movies when we talk about top movies.

00;18;35;18 - 00;19;01;14
Dan Angel
But, you know, this is a movie that talk about a movie that you laugh, you cry, you go to the darkest of dark places and come back to the lightest of light places. I think what's crucial about it is that when he is at his lowest point and I mean, obviously the cast, James Stewart was incredible. You know, that whole cast was amazing.

00;19;01;24 - 00;19;25;05
Dan Angel
But when you get to this character and you watch him get to his lowest point, it's how everyone rallies after he's gone through the horrors. And what would life be like without him and what if he hadn't? You know, and we see all that in bed four falls, but it's everyone rallying to be generous and kind and come together and give him, you know, hope.

00;19;25;05 - 00;19;53;15
Dan Angel
And in the end, to save him as a you know, everyone in Bedford Falls comes to his aid. And I think that that kind of story was so incredible. But even more incredible today, it's clearly stood the test of time. It's clearly what we need in this time. Right now, we're so divided. We need a lot of more a lot more Bedford Falls in America and around the globe and I'm hopeful that that happens, you know, and we can all be reminded of it.

00;19;53;25 - 00;20;12;10
Dan Angel
But I think everything about that movie, I mean, you've got this incredible director like Capra, right? You got this incredible guy like Jimmy Stewart. And the other thing I don't think people know and I didn't know until recently, they both had just come out of you know, they'd come out of World War Two. And, you know, he was a Jimmy Stewart was a fighter pilot.

00;20;12;25 - 00;20;35;01
Dan Angel
Capra was a photographer worth war four, you know, war photographer. You can imagine how petty that would have been for both of them. And they were at the bottom of their, you know, Joy, when this opportunity came. This is the movie that really brought them back home. And I think that's I think that's incredible. And I think for all those reasons, you know.

00;20;35;05 - 00;20;49;09
Dan Angel
Oh, and by the way, not to mention that they would never make this movie today. You know, you could never walk into a network or a studio and say, hey, I want to make this movie. It's going to be amazing. And this guy's this great guy in the small town, and then he gets depressed and he's going to kill himself.

00;20;49;19 - 00;21;19;06
Dan Angel
And then what? He commits suicide? Yeah. We're not making that movie. And that makes me so sad because I'm even going to that on the project now. Now that 13 reasons why was made, no one will make this project that even mentions the word suicide. And it's, you know, it's a small piece of the project and people are so afraid and so fearful and I'm so grateful that it's a wonderful life not only got made and I think it's critically one of the best movies ever made at Christmas, but that it has stood the test of time.

00;21;19;06 - 00;21;24;15
Rusty George
Hmm. That's a great story. I did not know the background on that. That is fantastic. Okay, give us another one.

00;21;25;10 - 00;21;51;22
Dan Angel
Well, we talked about Scrooge, and I think that was amazing. Boy, I'm trying to remember, I'll be honest with you. I'm trying to remember if this was or wasn't critically acclaimed at the time. Yeah. You know, I have a short list here, like trading places, Edward Scissorhands, I'm trying to remember. I mean, I loved Edward Scissorhands and I'm trying to remember Edward Scissorhands was critically acclaimed.

00;21;51;22 - 00;21;52;14
Dan Angel
I don't remember.

00;21;52;21 - 00;21;54;13
Rusty George
But is that a Christmas movie?

00;21;54;13 - 00;22;19;04
Dan Angel
Yeah, they had they released it and it's considered a Christmas movie. And I think, again, when you look at I'm leaving out all those great comedies and things like that because they never get critically acclaimed, right? Even to this day. But, you know, the ones that feel like they were critically acclaimed and I have to even look back before this call and before our talk.

00;22;19;04 - 00;22;37;10
Dan Angel
But, you know, I remember things like love, actually. I mean I mean, love actually is just an unbelievable movie. And again, you know, in some ways it's like I mean, how do you tell, what, five stories in a movie? And they did it beautifully. And I have the sense it was critically acclaimed.

00;22;37;10 - 00;22;55;17
Rusty George
Not for the kids, by the way. Not for the not for the kids. Yeah. Hey, let me interrupt this podcast for just a second to remind you, this Christmas, check out one of our Christmas services, Real Life Church Dawg for service times. Love to see you there. Now back to the show. You know what's interesting about Edward Scissorhands?

00;22;55;17 - 00;23;18;05
Rusty George
And I didn't know those till I moved to Valencia, California, but apparently Tim Burton went to CalArts, which is here in Valencia, and he considers Edward Scissorhands. His homage to Valencia because the town in which Johnny Depp's character Edward lives is what he always viewed Valencia to be this perfect little town that didn't know what to do with a misfit, which is how he thought of himself.

00;23;18;18 - 00;23;23;02
Rusty George
Which was it made a lot of sense for me after having lived here and seeing that, it was pretty fascinating.

00;23;23;14 - 00;23;28;06
Dan Angel
Well, that makes it credit. That story I did not know. And that makes it critically acclaimed for me.

00;23;28;16 - 00;23;32;01
Rusty George
Wow. I shared something with you. You didn't know about movies?

00;23;32;01 - 00;23;33;10
Dan Angel
I did not know that.

00;23;33;15 - 00;23;54;13
Rusty George
I'm stumped. Okay. All right. Well, so there's obviously some that are critically acclaimed. It's A Wonderful Life, a Christmas Story, those kind of things. But tell me your favorite. You're a filmmaker. I've been in the movies with you. You see things differently than I do. We walk out of a theater and I say, That was fine. And you say a lot of holes in that story.

00;23;54;22 - 00;24;08;14
Rusty George
Now I see you've ruined me. I now see all the holes in the story in storytelling. So you're watching these movies you're looking for what makes it really a joy for you. Tell me some of your favorite Christmas movies everybody has to see.

00;24;08;18 - 00;24;34;13
Dan Angel
Okay. Well, first off, I am sorry if I've blown some holes into some of the movies. I apologize. But the ones I'm going to talk about, you know, there was a time and a lot more when when I was younger into my even younger adult time than now, where you would go to the movie and you wouldn't think good, bad, and you escape in these movies and just have fun.

00;24;34;18 - 00;24;51;20
Dan Angel
Yeah. And the experience of escaping and that's what we all love. Right, right. You for for 2 hours. You don't even know that there's a world outside because you're in this world. And that's what I love about movies. So all the ones I'm going to mention did that for me. I don't care what the critics or anyone said and you know, I wouldn't punch all.

00;24;51;20 - 00;25;13;10
Dan Angel
It was the experience, right. And part of it also was not just for me, it was for my kids because I started taking my kids to these movies on some of these. Okay. And I won't in no certain order because they're all great in different ways. So we talked about It's a Wonderful Life. We talked about Scrooge and A Christmas Carol, and those are at the top Home Alone.

00;25;14;07 - 00;25;27;26
Dan Angel
I mean, Home Alone is such a first of all, I think a perfect movie and holds up as well today as it did. How long has it been? 30 years ago. Yeah, yeah. It's been like 32 years.

00;25;27;26 - 00;25;28;08
Rusty George
I think so.

00;25;28;08 - 00;25;48;05
Dan Angel
I can't believe that. And when I think about, you know, just what it was about, how fun it was on the cast and you know, I'm watching and we none of us really knew who Macaulay Culkin was. But what an amazing kid. And Joe Pesci. And then I mean, and and now when I watch the movie, it all builds to that last 20 minutes.

00;25;48;13 - 00;25;58;02
Dan Angel
You know, when he turns on the on the bad guys and, I mean, it is just such a blast. So, I mean, you know, it just gets me in the I love it.

00;25;58;16 - 00;25;59;02
Rusty George
I agree.

00;25;59;13 - 00;26;27;03
Dan Angel
Else I mean, probably one of the best out of water movies ever made. One of my favorite comedies, period. I just love that movie. And you know what's so amazing about, well, Will Ferrell's, you know, his performance is he's so unbelievably childlike and likable and joyful. And it's just I think it represents what we all had when we were young and then we lose it.

00;26;27;15 - 00;27;01;14
Dan Angel
And he doesn't lose it as a grown up. And to watch that and how he affects all the adults around him, especially James Caan, it's just it's just a classic, you know, so great. It is so great. A side note. So Ed Asner plays Santa, right? And when Ed Asner passed away and obviously I was a huge Ed Asner fan excuse me and Asner fan on Mary Tyler Moore and many things that he did.

00;27;01;28 - 00;27;20;02
Dan Angel
And he passed away. And my daughter in law's family calls us Cassini and I and says, Do you guys need a piano? We already mean do we need a piano? They said at Asner's piano, we want to give it to you. So I now am the proud owner of Ed Asner Piano. And that's exciting to me.

00;27;20;15 - 00;27;22;08
Rusty George
Which you taught your dog how to play.

00;27;22;23 - 00;27;42;17
Dan Angel
And yes, I don't play it. Zoe, my beautiful pug, plays the Ed Asner piano. All right. And by the way, a lot of these movies we're talking about, clearly there's a theme of comedy because there were a lot of good comedies. We have to talk about Christmas vacation.

00;27;42;29 - 00;27;43;22
Rusty George
Absolutely.

00;27;44;00 - 00;27;55;26
Dan Angel
I mean, that's a I can't describe the feeling I had when I first saw it and I can't describe the feeling I have every time I watch it because it's just so funny.

00;27;56;00 - 00;28;19;20
Rusty George
And it's not only and all these movies have they're they're hilarious, but they have a heart. And I remember watching Christmas vacation in a movie theater. It's my first Christmas away from my home because I'm at college. And when he's up in the attic watching the old Christmas, you know, films, the real trials of family Christmases, I just start losing it.

00;28;19;20 - 00;28;24;04
Rusty George
I mean, you know, it's it's emotional. And then it's just absolutely hilarious.

00;28;24;05 - 00;28;28;28
Dan Angel
Until until his wife, you know, decides to take it to the staircase. Yeah, it's fantastic.

00;28;28;28 - 00;28;30;07
Rusty George
That's right. That's right.

00;28;30;07 - 00;28;34;08
Dan Angel
And and who cannot fall in love with Cousin Eddie and.

00;28;34;08 - 00;28;34;27
Rusty George
Oh, of course.

00;28;34;27 - 00;29;02;21
Dan Angel
I mean, that scene where he's emptying the crapper. Hmm. I think they called from the house, but in the dinner scene, I mean, my wife and I still have the dogs yakking on a bone. I mean, that scene. And yet. And yet that scene was still reminiscing as crazy as it got of all of our we can all relate to it, even if even if we're not having, you know, turkeys imploding and squirrels running through, you know, whatever went on in that movie has gone on in all of our lives.

00;29;02;21 - 00;29;07;04
Dan Angel
And I think, you know, that was amazing that they managed to your point to say that, you know.

00;29;07;22 - 00;29;26;13
Rusty George
Well, and we all have those relatives or we are those relatives, you know, whether it's the grandma or, you know, just the tension of family, I'm always amazed at how much time they spend together. I mean, they show up on like the 11th of December and stay through Christmas. It's I mean, it's just crazy.

00;29;26;13 - 00;29;32;27
Dan Angel
Oh, my gosh. It's really it is crazy. Are we allowed to say die hard? I know this is a debate.

00;29;33;03 - 00;29;35;20
Rusty George
Oh, that's that's a Christmas movie. Absolutely.

00;29;35;20 - 00;29;52;00
Dan Angel
I don't think yeah, I don't think it came out near Christmas, but became a Christmas movie. And there's a whole bunch of writings about why it's a Christmas movie from obviously taking place at the time, the Christmas music. But I mean, I mean, that's another one. That's just amazing. One of my favorite Bruce Willis movies.

00;29;52;06 - 00;30;13;18
Rusty George
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So these are these are some of your favorites. And I think everybody would probably not along with some of those. I know that some of your favorites are not always just because they're about Christmas, but because they were released on Christmas. This was kind of an unheard of thing for many, many years. Christmas Day was a family day.

00;30;13;18 - 00;30;29;16
Rusty George
Everything was shut down. But at some point, the movie makers began to figure out by the by the evening, people are ready to get out of the house and do something. So they started showing movies and it was a big part of your of your life. So tell us some of the some of your favorite movies you saw on Christmas, even if they're not a Christmas movie.

00;30;29;25 - 00;30;48;23
Dan Angel
Yeah, I love it was probably one of my favorite movie going experience is because we we did it all the way back. I mean, I'm going back to the earliest I'll talk about one of the earliest ones, but and that would have been 40, 50 years, almost 50 years ago. I can't believe it. But yeah, no one was doing this.

00;30;48;23 - 00;31;06;14
Dan Angel
We would go to the movies on Christmas Day and there was no one there. Right. And we, you know, it's like having the theater to yourself practically. And now, of course, you can't even get in. It's a and I'm trying to remember when that changed. I don't quite have a memory of when that changed, but it clearly caught on through the years.

00;31;07;16 - 00;31;30;08
Dan Angel
But one of the early memories was The Sting, and that came out in 73. And I had already, and to this day probably still feel that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was one of my favorite movies. So here, here comes Paul Newman and Robert Redford again in this incredibly wonderful movie. And no one saw that ending coming.

00;31;30;16 - 00;31;56;15
Dan Angel
They got all of us, really, you know, we all were stunned watching that movie. And that was an amazing feeling walking out of that theater. I don't think anyone had ever experienced that, you know, a story like that and so it was very, very joyous, going probably a little, you know, more recent. And again, I guess it's my love for dogs, but Marley and Me was a, you know, a big Christmas release.

00;31;57;03 - 00;32;12;11
Dan Angel
And that was very, very wonderful. And I look at some of these The Aviator. I mean, I love that movie. That was a Christmas release. Galaxy Quest. Well, a lot of people don't remember that. That was I mean, I love that movie.

00;32;12;14 - 00;32;13;12
Rusty George
That was a great movie.

00;32;13;16 - 00;32;31;19
Dan Angel
Look at these like Patch Adams. I loved Tombstone and I love Tombstone. Yeah. Catch me if you can. There were just some great ones. I didn't remember that American Sniper was a Christmas release, but again, that was.

00;32;32;01 - 00;32;32;19
Rusty George
That's right.

00;32;32;19 - 00;32;48;20
Dan Angel
Yeah. So when you look at the range all the way to Clint Eastwood's Magnum force, I mean, look, clearly there was no gauge as to what the genre was going to be, but some big movies came out of Christmas and and you probably know some other ones.

00;32;49;02 - 00;32;52;05
Rusty George
Godfather three, that was one of the first ones I saw on Christmas Day.

00;32;52;06 - 00;32;53;01
Dan Angel
Amazing.

00;32;53;01 - 00;32;58;08
Rusty George
Which obviously doesn't hold up versus one and two. But every time I watch, it gets better. But I'm a I'm a big Godfather fan.

00;32;58;08 - 00;33;02;14
Dan Angel
So and by the way and by the way, don't hate me for going backwards for a second.

00;33;02;14 - 00;33;03;04
Rusty George
I'll tell us.

00;33;03;09 - 00;33;23;27
Dan Angel
One of my favorite Christmas movies that no one saw was just friends with Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris and Amy Smart and Chris Klein. And I'm telling you, we laughed so hard at this movie. We went at one in the afternoon and then grabbed our friends and went back at seven at night after dinner and saw it twice in one day.

00;33;24;23 - 00;33;40;22
Dan Angel
And it is oh. Julie HAGERTY plays his mom two from Airplane. I mean, oh, yeah, this movie is a highly recommended for anyone who just loves crazy comedy. And I would put it right up there for me with Christmas vacation. I mean, we watch it every year.

00;33;40;29 - 00;33;50;08
Rusty George
Wow. Okay. Well, see, I just made a note of that. You told me about it yesterday. I wrote it down today because when everybody's home, we're going to be watching that one. Okay.

00;33;50;08 - 00;33;53;22
Dan Angel
So I feel a little language. There might be a few things, but it's.

00;33;53;26 - 00;34;13;17
Rusty George
Well, that's right. And I should say not everything mentioned on this podcast is supported by Real Life Church or Rusty George. But just FYI, I use caution. Okay. I got to ask you this before we go, and that is over the last probably five or six years, it seems to me the Hallmark Christmas movies have just taken off.

00;34;14;03 - 00;34;38;12
Rusty George
It started as kind of a, you know, a few movies in December, and now they kick them off early in November, right after thing right after Halloween. They're so predictable but so loved. What is it about those that we just love so much and we as a as a large, you know, oversimplification, not everybody loves them. A lot of guys are just loathing the fact they have to sit through them and they watch the game on their phone.

00;34;39;01 - 00;34;42;13
Rusty George
But why do we like this?

00;34;42;13 - 00;34;42;25
Dan Angel
Well.

00;34;43;03 - 00;34;47;11
Rusty George
You've you've made some of these. So tell me why why we like these films.

00;34;47;12 - 00;35;12;08
Dan Angel
Yeah, I've done about ten of them. And I, I think it's an incredibly wonderful question. I think the first thing is, first of all, the core audience, I hope I don't get this wrong if all the hall markers are listening, but I think the core audience is actually kind of the 50 and older 45 and older women. It might skew even a little younger for some of the wives.

00;35;13;00 - 00;35;27;20
Dan Angel
But you're right, it's not you know, the husbands and the men are not flocking. They're they're they're being dragged, you know, to the to the TV and I think a few of them closet. We secretly do like them, but they could never admit it.

00;35;27;25 - 00;35;28;10
Rusty George
That's right.

00;35;28;10 - 00;35;49;06
Dan Angel
But but, you know, I think the biggest thing is, you know, it's a lot of it's a lot of Christmas. I cannot tell you even on these limited budgets, how we have to go nuts on the Christmas. So, you know, there isn't a shot in the movie probably that doesn't have Christmas decorations. That's what we have to do when we're making them.

00;35;49;06 - 00;36;10;08
Dan Angel
So it definitely helps get you in the Christmas mood. Just the fun of seeing all the lights and the color and the, you know, the way it's designed. The stories are, a lot of them the same as you know. But it's always about, you know, fall in love. You know, it's about someone you're rooting for. They probably will end up looking like they're not going to get together.

00;36;10;08 - 00;36;29;20
Dan Angel
They do. And they always have to kiss in that last frame. But I think what's really important to people watching them and loving them is they just are longing for something that feels good, that's positive, that's going to end happy and they can leave and feel safe. Yeah, and I think that's the biggest thing going on with the Hallmark movies and the Hallmark Channel.

00;36;29;20 - 00;36;51;23
Dan Angel
Yes, and it's been hugely successful for that reason. I will tell you, if I can tell you about one of the movies I did, and it's really a credit to Hallmark years ago because it it checked all those boxes. But if I had any criticism, I would say you don't always have to make the same movie. Right. And the audience will still be there.

00;36;52;04 - 00;37;02;16
Dan Angel
So years ago I was able to sell them Christmas. CONAN And it's still one of my favorite movies that I've made. I would definitely put it up there as one of my favorites.

00;37;03;04 - 00;37;04;16
Rusty George
And it was mine as well.

00;37;04;16 - 00;37;29;23
Dan Angel
Yeah. Oh, thank you. And, you know, Donald Davenport wrote the book and wrote the script, and it was based on Kenny Rogers and his childhood growing up in Cain in Texas. And when I read that book and I met Donald and I met Kenny, and I was like, I have to make this movie. And I'm reading the book and the opening scene is this black boy sitting on the back of a bus reading Catcher in the Rye.

00;37;30;03 - 00;37;53;04
Dan Angel
And this white boy comes up to him, rips up the book, and they start fighting. And these are these kids are like, you know, middle school. So now they get sent to the principal's office and dad arrives. The White boy's dad, and says, I refuse to have a racist for a son. So now you will live with this black boy and his grandmother for a week.

00;37;53;14 - 00;38;19;03
Dan Angel
And then this black boy is going to live with us for a week. And thus began the most incredible friendship. And eventually the grandmother passes away and they adopt the black boy and flash forward to their older, now best friends. And now they're fighting all the racism that's going on in the town. And I just the minute the minute the movie opened and the book, you know, same as the book, I just I had to make this movie.

00;38;19;13 - 00;38;38;17
Dan Angel
And one of the things I did, which I was really proud of was I grew up on, like Little House on the Prairie. And, you know, I mean, you know, Lorne Michaels, who's our favorite actor, right? Yeah. And you look at him and I needed that. I needed that kind of a dad. And Billy Ray Cyrus is who I wanted.

00;38;39;01 - 00;39;00;13
Dan Angel
And I was able to get Billy Ray to say yes. And he did a beautiful job. He was that likable, lovable father who cared. And it really came across. And I was so proud of him and very proud of the movie. So there you go. I mean, people say that Hallmark, they got in trouble. They're all they do too much white.

00;39;00;14 - 00;39;28;22
Dan Angel
They don't have color. They don't have diversity. Well, we had a movie about racism and with diversity and at that time, to the audience's credit, highest rated movie in the history of Hallmark, at that time. And they even screened it in special screenings at the Academy of Television. And I don't know why Hallmark doesn't still do that. And I think they're trying and Hall of Fame was the you know, obviously the jewel in the crown.

00;39;29;03 - 00;39;37;13
Dan Angel
And many of those movies were incredible and deep and rich and story and diversity. So it's there and it's in their DNA, and I'm glad I got to do one of them.

00;39;38;00 - 00;39;59;02
Rusty George
Well, it is a great film. Everybody should see it. Christmas in Kanan reminds you a little bit of code of many colors. The Dolly Parton story, that kind of a feel, it's a great family film will bring a lot of great conversation. And you're right, Billy Ray does do a great job. He's more than just Hannah Montana's dad is more than just Achy Breaky Heart.

00;39;59;12 - 00;40;21;24
Rusty George
He does a great job in this movie. Well, Dad, this has been fun. I could talk movies all day, and I'm sure we'll go see some relatively soon. But thank you for not only just the conversation, but for your contribution. Christmas is king and movies like that rescued by really just continue to impact people. So I appreciate that and appreciate your time today.

00;40;21;24 - 00;40;34;14
Dan Angel
Well, I thank you. And I thank God for the opportunity. It's never easy to get it made and it's a blessing when they get made. And that's the biggest battle, you know, trying to get the next one made and hoping and praying God will open those doors faster.

00;40;34;14 - 00;40;52;06
Rusty George
That's right. Amen, brother. And we pray with you. All right, Dan, thanks so much for being on the podcast again. Well, that was so much fun. I love Dan and I love what he has to say. And maybe something was said today that's going to encourage somebody or will just be interesting to somebody that you might want to pass on with somebody.

00;40;52;06 - 00;41;13;20
Rusty George
So make sure you share this with them. Make sure you subscribe. Leave us a review for the podcast. We so appreciate you helping us get the word out. Hey, next week we'll be back. It's Christmas and we are going to share our Christmas Eve service via the podcast. I think you're going to love it. Hope you have a happy Christmas and I cannot wait to see you the week after.

00;41;14;14 - 00;41;30;21
Intro/Outro
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