We did the holiday thing last week, so this Christmas Eve episode of Someone Else’s Movie offers a different sort of celebration as Vera Drew — the writer, director and star of the instant cult hit The People’s Joker — joins me to discuss the 2001 unicorn that started her on her own artistic and personal journeys: John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Just like the movie, it’s a warm and welcoming conversation about some of the heaviest things a person can consider: Who we are, what we want, and where our hearts lie. I’ve been hoping to get Vera on the show for two years now, ever since The People’s Joker premiered at TIFF … so this is my Christmas present to myself, I guess. And to all of you, too.

You can find the episode in the same places as always: Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts, your podcatcher of choice — or you can download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while writing the song that will define you forever … unless your boyfriend makes off with it, of course.

And then you should catch up on Shiny Things, because I’ve been  busy! Last week I reviewed the new releases of Joker: Folie a Deux and The Beast and the new 4K editions of No Country for Old Men and Demolition Man, which don’t really have anything in common but still line up in interesting ways. My lists of the best discs and movies of 2024 are coming up this week; you’re subscribed, right? Wouldn’t want to miss those.

… oh, and check this out: I wrote a thing about the Wicked sing-along screenings for Village Media’s Toronto Today, my first news piece in almost three years. Journalism! I missed it!

Anyway, that’s everything. Let’s meet back here on New Year’s Eve, shall we? Dress warm.