Morning Guru’s! If you’re like me, you’ve watched 80 Christmas movies by now. Every once in a while I hear the age old argument of “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” Personally I think it’s nonsense, as soon as I heard Christmas in Hollis in the first few minutes, it became a Christmas movie.

TODAY’S ACTS:

Hallmark may not own Christmas, but they sure bought up a lot of land. Hallmark movies are everywhere. Multiple friends have told me when they go home for Christmas, their families watch Hallmark movies nonstop. It’s just part of many folks Christmas.

If you want to create A Christmas to Remember and let out your Christmas Spirit and churn one of these out perhaps The Knight Before Christmas, you better play by the rules. Hallmark as very strict rules.

Sometimes I think these rules are crazy! Kids are always happy? Do they know kids?! Kids don’t have the emotional regulation for 5 solid minutes of happy.

Even though these rules might seem strict audiences flock to Hallmark movies in droves. Netflix and Hulu have competing features because it’s so lucrative. There’s another reason why Hallmark has these rules: to many… life sucks!

Life is hard. My neighbor is an older woman with the early stages of Alzheimers and her son is refusing to acknowledge her. Another neighbor is crippled with child support payments and the mom is threatening to move a few states away. My sister’s been jobless for months and her teenage son has to help cover rent. Damn!!!! I get it. Sometime’s I wanna just turn the tv on and show me a dog that doesn’t bark at the wind.

That’s Hallmark!

Aaron Sorkin has said in multiple interviews that he worships at the alter of Intention and Obstacle. He defines it as: “Somebody wants something, and something is standing in their way of getting it.”

He’s written some bangers and if he boils his advice down to a pithy phrase, you know it’s worth taking to heart.

What is it? Basically, it’s fundamentals. Everything is fundamentals!

Intentions can be anything; get away, escape, get a promotion, finish a book, save the planet, sell a piece of shit 1994 Subaru Legacy (please reach out if you’re interested - 260k miles asking $800 but will accept $799).

Obstacles can be anything too; monster is tracking you, terrorists are holding you hostage, the CEO hates you, you go blind, you lose your powers, or in the case of selling a piece of shit 1994 Subaru Legacy you have to push it to a gas station because the radiator blew the moment you listed it.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

That’s the macro but movies are a series of scenes.

NOTES: The intention lays out what we expect to happen at the end whether it’s a whole movie or the scene. The trick to NEVER give exactly what we expect. That’s boring.

Aaron Sorkin lives by what he says. His characters want things. Things get in the way. If you’ve got the time, check out this episode of The West Wing below.

West Wing Ep 204

Macaulay Culkin stars as the

followed suit in the unhinged remake of The Shining.