Just in case you didn’t already know this, Easter eggs are complex things.

Yes, Easter eggs are also sometimes called Paschal eggs, but that’s not what I wanted to surprise you with creative cuties.

Easter eggs are decorated eggs used to symbolize fertility and rebirth, and in Christianity they symbolize the empty tomb from which Jesus resurrected.

And that’s not the surprise either. Also, Easter eggs can sometimes be chocolate eggs or plastic eggs filled with treats, but again, not where I’m going with this.

The definition that I’m thinking of, and which often applies to art (film in particular) is where an Easter egg is an intentional inside joke, a hidden message, or a secret feature of a digital piece of work.  So yeah, whoever came up with this name obviously took it from the tradition of the Easter egg hunt, but it’s moreso about referencing that which is NOT obvious.

And in light of the upcoming holiday, this episode of Cross Talk is brought to you by Easter.

Eggs And Christmas Movies

This is an eggsellent episode dear readers. And I’m #sorrynotsorry for the bad joke.

But today we discuss the films which are riddled with easter eggs, and spoiler alert, the horror genre, directors with large catalogues, yes I’m looking at you Steven Spielberg), and big movie companies like Disney are great proponents of this staple of culture. You’ll also be happy to know that one of my favourite films has some great easter eggs in it, and we’ll spend some time righting wrongs when it comes to cameos being considered easter eggs themselves. So what is the topic today? Well I hope it’s clear by now, but we’re looking at examples of movie easter eggs, and their effect on film watching.

We seriously had a lot of fun each doing research and then coming back to the couch to hash out what we uncovered. But I think my personal favourite was one that you’ll find in the ever popular Christmas movie – Gremlins.

Bet you don’t know what I’m talking about, because both Chris and I were shocked to uncover it ourselves, and we’ve seen this movie countless times. This is epside twenty one of Cross Talk. Let’s toss some eggs around!

With that shared, I’m looking forward to sharing some further insights on genre defying films this month on Cross Talk, plus my Easter specific post, and most importantly, the set up for a brand new weekly show called Watch Culture.

But what did you think of the episode? Were you impressed by Chris’ big list of horror movie easter eggs? What about that tidbit from The Departed? Or Fight Club? We could have listed hundreds more, but these were some of the really fun ones. So I have to wonder, would you have suggested something different? We want you to join in on the conversation and let us know what you thought!

Please comment, subscribe, and share this video with friends. As always, be excellent to one another!

Tim!