Incredible video! I hadn't made this connection whatsoever, so I was really curious when I saw this in my recommended videos. Brilliant execution, adds so much needed context for this film.

Great take! The second half makes more sense now

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has watched this movie 10 times since it came out. A really fantastic essay on this movie. It gave me a new perspective. Time to re-watch lol

Dude it’s scary that if there was another war that involved the US (God Forbid!) and required a draft, I WOULD BE SHIPPED TO FIGHT IT!

Have you already watched Ken Burns' Vietnam War documentary series? It's amazing

also decorate that tree behind u!!

Amazing video

I really enjoyed this video! Love how you explained the importance of the vietnam war on the film

I must salute you for this exceptional video and analysis. "The Holdovers" is probably my favorite film of the last few years that doesn't feature an animated Spider-Man. I have watched it several times and loved it, and you have just shed a new light on it for me. Obviously the Vietnam War casts its shadow over the story of Mary's son, Curtis, but I had not realized how the reality of the ongoing war permeates the rest of the film. It had not occurred to me that for Angus, being sent to military school was the equivalent of being sent to Vietnam. Knowing that, I find so much more depth to Prof. Hunnam's sacrifice at the end. From its first frame, I loved how authentically '70s this film was. It truly played like a lost Hal Ashby film that would have been made in between "Harold and Maude" and "The Last Detail." Although I don't believe the word "Vietnam" was uttered in "Harold and Maude," the war is a strong presence throughout the film, and you have made me see a stronger link between the two films. There are many similarities between "The Holdovers" and "The Last Detail" (reluctant guardian bonding with an immature charge), and I urge you to watch "The Last Detail" if you haven't. It is one of the great films of early '70s cinema, but unfortunately has been a bit forgotten. It is powerful and bleak and also has a lot to say about the interplay between the military and the class system in America. After watching this video, I subscribed to your channel. I look forward to gaining more insights from you. 🙂

Yep, it makes COMPLETE sense.

The movie reminds me of Hal Ashby’s 1970’s movies. You should check out The Last Detail

You sure it wasn't just your school? I'm 30 and we learned all about the draft, and I went to a shitty public school.

This is really not the kind of movie I usually watch, but for whatever reason I watched it (I do love Paul Giamatti), and really liked it. "... Curl your toes!!" lmao

They all are

Maggie I sent my gen x dad this video after having watched the movie with him and he said it was fantastic. lol you don’t understand how high this praise is coming from him

Mary had a little Lamb, and his name was Curtis.

This is such a brilliant video, great work! Also love the fork mic. I am a proud new subscriber now 🙂

Incredible video, I always said the Holdovers was the prefect December 26th movie. I love the perspective of Vietnam war included in the devotion to others. I always could explain that this was a film about devotion to others, but the Vietnam war really compels this argument further.

Oh, i love that concept!

thank you for making this video. i'll give the movie another chance with this perspective

Amazing analysis! Makes me love this movie even more than I already did.

Funny, I might need to watch the movie again. Cause when I saw it, it just made me want to off myself more. I understood why Payne was nauseated by people calling it cozy. But I'm in a slightly better mental space generally than I was the first time I watched it, so maybe I should give it another shot.

Wow. Great essay. Subscribed. My recent meanderings led me to a doc called Helter Skelter. I’m fascinated with the psychological history of America at that moment cause I was just a little kid.

I love when students that didn't pay attention in school act like they weren't taught things in school. Classic anti-establishment behavior out sheer ignorance because you pissed away your learning experience.

awesome video!!!

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I love this movie. The Movie is about a lot of things, the war is a vehicle used to discuss one of the central themes: class. How Those born rich how it easier than those not. Shown through the 2 vets and the cooks son. They were the disadvantage, the disenfranchised who fought the war. The rich as the professor mentioned got to avoid it. I could write multiple essays about this movie. Some how I didn’t even think about helping senti military school might send the kid to war when I watched the movie (I have seen it twice) can’t believe I missed that

Love this analysis. Never loose the fork mic. Fork mic is your X factor.

Would recommend Superior with you enjoying The Holdovers and Sound of Metal, it is a smaller project that Shopmaker worked on and the crew of 20 and 30 somethings put their hearts into it when we worked on it in upstate New York.

I loved this video! The Holdovers instantly became a holiday classic for me, and was in my top five 2023 releases. These are aspects of the film that I noticed, but maybe didn't quite piece together in as complete of a way as you did. I also enjoy seeing content about cinema that isn't one minute tiktoks or multiple-hour video essays haha!

Truly, an enjoyable spectacle of a corporeal truth.

Incredible analysis and commentary. Thank you.

It is so shocking that education is so lacking in the history department. The more history that is learned the more depressing our lack of evolution becomes. I think that is why it is conveniently ignored.

More reasons for me to love this film, great video!!

Thank you very much for the video. Now I want to drive up North and chill with my best bud and maybe (re)watch this movie with him.

I just made the connection that’s Curtis’ last name is LAMB. He’s literally a lamb lead to slaughter

Such an insightful video!! I love the holdovers dearly and took it as a film of hope. I see it in a whole new light thanks to this, thank you!

crazy how this all went over my head upon watching, I will have to go back and watch through this lens.

great video, such a good analysis of a beautiful movie <3

“EXCEPT for Curtis Lamb” really broke my heart. Truly

The Holdovers was a movie I had seen at least a dozen times before, and not done particularly very well. It was like eating a sandwich made with stale bread and ingredients on the cusp of going bad. Everyone was so acting flipping earnest, it hurt.

I liked it:D

You have the best microphone ever!!!

It’s important to me that people learn about the Kent State anti-war protests! Students at this state school were drafted into the war, their friends died for no reason. Two of the people who died in the protests were just walking to class. Use your rights!!!

This is great. I loved this movie and it's nice to hear how much others did also.

I didn't know it was possible to love this movie more than I already did! Excellent breakdown, I can't wait to watch it again with this new perspective.

Lovely video! I love this movie so much! Tim O'brien has a collection of short stories about the Vietnam War called "The Things We Carried." I only read one of them for class, but the rest of the book is on my TBR. Just if anyone wants to read more fiction on the subject. I also love the songs Johnny Cash sings about it. "Drive On" and a couple others off the "Songwriter" collection that came out last summer are really awesome.

I’d like to throw out an observation I’ve had in the past about the rate of awareness regarding the psychic atrocities we committed against our own soldiers during the Vietnam War era. As a young man growing up in America, I’ve observed that men are for more likely to be aware of the exploitative nature of recruitment to Vietnam and of the damage it did to the boys who served. I’d say that for every one woman who is aware, there are eight men who are. I think this has a lot to do with the nature of the issue and who it affected and in many ways still affects most directly: young men. That said, it’s cool to see it talked about, because the amount of times I’ve brought up the damage done to young boys and had to face something like, “Why do you expect me to feel sympathy for murderers?” Is astonishing. (The answer, by the way, is that before they were murderers, they were boys. And the overwhelming majority only became murderers because a country and a class which had an overwhelming degree of power over them demanded that they do so. The military industrial complex, then and now, is one that sacrifices young people to a state machine in order to manufacture monsters.)

Nixon is largely responsible for the majority of the deaths in the Vietnam War, particularly because the war could have ended in 1968 if not for his intervention. Under orders from Nixon, Henry Kissinger met with South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and promised him that Nixon would send more troops to Vietnam. He also assured Thiệu that he would become the president of a united Vietnam, provided that Thiệu refused to recognize Ho Chi Minh and North Vietnam as a legitimate nation. Thiệu ultimately agreed to this, which effectively derailed any chance for peace talks in 1968. The result was the continued escalation of the war, which saw the majority of the 40,000 deaths in Vietnam occur between 1968 and 1975. Nixon's motivation for prolonging the war was largely political-he believed that a strong stance on Vietnam would help him secure a victory in the 1968 election against his opponent, Hubert Humphrey.

I find it fascinating hearing about how different an American education about the Vietnam war was compared to my education about it as an Australian. Some of our most well-known popular music in that era and afterwards was very proudly anti-Vietnam-war. The story about the vet recalling his experience and guilt from being a 19-year-old kid reminded me of the song ‘I Was Only 19’ which is an incredibly well-known song even to younger generations. I think because nearly nobody in Australia felt it was our war, we had and have continued to have a very bitter attitude towards it as a nation, with perhaps some very vocal exceptions from certain politicians. Side note; my dad was a teenager with several older brothers whilst conscription was still happening, and to avoid being conscripted, he and a few of his brothers didn’t sign on to the electoral roll. He voted for the first time in 2019 at the age of 61. His attitude and the attitude of many his age about the Vietnam war is pretty commonly-shared, I’ve observed.