Missed Opportunities:
1. They didn't say "Violent Night" a single time. No titular line?
2. There should have been a moment where right before Santa punched someone, he said, "Time to deck the halls!"Violent Night is mostly a fun and easy watch. I am not especially into action movies, but I can get down with action comedies (Rush Hour) and over the top action (Shoot Em Up). Violent Night bounced between over the top moments and more straightforward action scenes. The premise is already kind of out there, so I can see why they chose to strike a balance and dial back on the silly stuff. I just happen to LOVE silly stuff.
My favorite scene was the Home Alone sequence in the attic, and I loved every moment of Edi Patterson (the amazing Judy Gemstone). It's not enough to make this an annual holiday watch for me, but it can make a guest appearance every couple years when I want to spice up the genres.
Recently Reviewed
Jingle All the Way is an every few years while I'm doing something else kind of Christmas watch. I love Phil Hartman in it, and I love that it's Chris Parnell's feature film debut.
I have never been the target demographic of a movie more than I am for Y2K. I was in high school in 1999, and I love pop culture, Kyle Mooney, and horror comedies.
Y2K is as full of 90s references as you'd expect from a movie called Y2K, especially one co-written and directed by Kyle Mooney. All my favorite SNL sketches of his have strong 90s undertones. The soundtrack is perfect. I can't wait to watch it again and buy it on bluray and have it forever.
Favorite (Not Necessarily Best) Four From Every Year Since Birth
This might be the most depressing Christmas movie I've ever seen. I liked it though.
I crowd-sourced holiday horror movies on Bluesky, and this was one of the recommendations. I watched it first because of Keira Knightley, and then I was excited to see Roman Griffin Davis because I love Jojo Rabbit. I didn't read the plot summary, so once they were all together in the house, I fully expected it to be a holiday home invasion. It's not! The killer is climate change! (Not a spoiler, you learn it in the first few minutes.)
Despite being VERY bleak, there are some funny moments peppered in. Lucy Punch is one of those actors that makes everything a little funnier just with her expressions, and Keira Knightley has a lot of dark humor undertones to her performance. Roman Griffin Davis is definitely the high point though as a kid trying to deal with the events head-on.
I love Jason Bateman and Will Arnett together. It starts off super funny, especially with Jason Bateman doing the Gob Bluth chicken and "You dragged Sean Hayes into this?!" It loses a little steam in the middle, and I don't think it benefitted from throwing Pete Davidson into the mix at the end, but they do a Weekend at Bernies with Sean Hayes in a Santa suit. Easy breezy festive watch for my lunch break!
I'm counting this as my first Christmas watch of the season because there were a ton of Christmas trees. Almost every scene had a Christmas tree. Also they went Christmas shopping.
The first time I saw this, I was 18, and I hated it. Today I really liked the first half, but honestly once the sex party happens, it loses me. It's not in a prudish way, it's just that I'd much rather watch Nicole Kidman than listening to that piano while Tom Cruise walks around ALMOST having relations.
PS: Very excited to see Vinessa Shaw from Hocus Pocus & Ladybugs
In celebration of this classic's 12th anniversary, a follow-up to 2009's <I>The Collector</i>, the tables have turned, this time with Arkin and a team of mercenaries tracking the Collector's moves to an abandoned location (that Arkin was held in). Of course, the Collector is prepared to fight to the very end.
Throughout the film, thanks to Dunstan' signature direction, we're led through a palace of traps, many beautifully sculptured but disguised in every area. The kills (and there are plenty, mostly of random "escapees") are gruesome, putting a smile on every fan's face, but it's the storyline that continues to evolve here, especially at the end of the film (which I will not spoil).
In the first film, we follow Arkin's path to freedom from a rigged home, and here in the sequel, he's thrown back into the ring for another round, but with a more well-aware Collector and on his home turf.
If you're a fan of <I>The Collector</i>, this is a must-watch. Get to it.
<b>Final thoughts:</b>
I've seen this film a number of times, and it gets better each time, thanks to my LG OLED's Perfect Black feature. Now, we wait for the third film, <I>The Collected</i>, which is in production!
Thanksgiving tradition. 🦃
My favorite Thanksgiving watch
Shoot Em Up is SO FUN. It's insane, and it has the cheapest, cheesiest one-liners after every big action scene, and I love it. I love it so much. So many carrots! Booby-traps like Home Alone! Clive Owen puts bullets between his fingers and uses a fireplace to shoot them! This is the most out of character movie that I love.
When I worked at fye, this was categorized as a comedy. 😬
I haven't seen this in at least fifteen years. I think watching it again now that I'm older made it less sad. In my memory, this movie was very sad, but that might have been influenced by over a decade of people talking about how it twisted their insides and ruined their life. Watching it now though, I think they should have definitely broken up. Maybe they didn't need to go get a medical procedure from Mark Buffalo, but break up, yes.
Even though I find it less sad, I liked it more than I did back then. For having a sci-fi element, it stays grounded in reality with the highs and lows of the relationship. When it is at its most sci-fi during the memory erasing scenes, it maintains balance by alternating with the Lacuna employees so you never go too far one direction.
I haven't seen this very often, but it just has that comfort movie vibe where you feel like you grew up with it even if you didn't.
