For A Few Movies More

‘Tis the season — to watch movies that is! Whether you’re sweatin’ out the Christmas, or freezing your ass off, chances are you got some time off from work/school. So what better way to put that downtime to use than to catch a movie or two (or ten). We all have different ways we spend holidays or special occasions, and it’s my firm belief that you can always find a movie that will fit right in with whatever feast you have, with whatever crowd you have (be it family or friends), or with whatever cause you’re celebrating.

You might be after some sentimental yuletide spirit, or you might actually be ready for the 26th already, but either way, a good Christmas movie will almost guarantee an improvement on the day. So this year, after you pig out on your Christmas lunch or dinner — or even any time during the day really, because we don’t have to celebrate Christmas to enjoy a Christmas movie! — sit back on your sofa as you loosen your jeans, gather your loved ones, and check out one of these flicks. Judging from this year’s picks though, there won’t be no silent night in your house… Merry Christmas from A Few Movies More!

When most of us think of Santa Clause we picture the familiar image of a jolly fat man in red overalls, squeezing down chimneys so he can bring presents to all the good boys and girls all over the world. However the schlocky, Christmas-oriented slasher flick Silent Night, Deadly Night attempts to soil that image with its own unique interpretation of Santa. Instead of delivering toys and bringing cheer to those around him, SNDN’s Santa prefers far more unsavoury activities, namely mass murder. So controversial was the film’s depiction of a deranged Kris Kringle obsessed with punishing the ‘naughty’, that angry parents actually picketed out the front of movie theatres playing the film in an attempt to have it banned. I guess parents didn’t want their children to grow up under the mindset that if they misbehaved Santa would lop off their heads with an axe. I can understand in theory why that would upset some sensitive folks, however the beauty of Silent Night, Deadly Night is its ability to turn into a tongue-in-cheek comedy in the blink of an eye. The film is frequently so absurd that it’s impossible to take seriously even for a second.

Poor little Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) is one seriously messed up kid. But who can blame him. Like every other eight year old, his innocent love for Christmas is only matched by his desire to catch a glimpse of Santa himself on Christmas Eve. Well, unfortunately he gets more than he bargains for when a deranged murderous thief dressed in a Santa Clause outfit murders his parents in cold blood. Billy is lucky enough to escape intact, but after witnessing this horrid event, he’s understandably distraught. Things only get worse for poor Billy when he’s placed in an orphanage run by the iron-fisted Mother Superior, whose harsh methods of punishment teach Billy a powerful lesson — the naughty must be punished… Cut to ten years later and Billy, now a fully grown eighteen year old with the build of a professional wrestler, seems to have been cured of his disturbed mindset and is now happily working in the storeroom of a toy store. Things are looking up for Billy, that is until the lead up to Christmas begins its rapid approach. It seems Billy hasn’t left his demons completely behind. Flashbacks to his parent’s murders start plaguing his mind once more and leave him feeling scared and on edge. All this pent up fear and rage is finally unleashed when Billy’s boss makes an innocent yet colossal mistake, asking Billy to dress up as the store Santa. This is the final straw for Billy’s already fragile mind, it doesn’t take long for his mind to finally crack after donning the iconic Santa suit. Now thanks to his troubled upbringing, Billy truly believes he is St Nick himself, only instead of bringing happiness and joy to those around him, he has another single minded goal; to punish the naughty with extreme force.

We all have that moment (or gradual acceptance period) in our life when we realise the horrible truth that Santa isn’t real. Like one of the rights of passage out of childhood and into the teenage years – hopefully by thirteen/fourteen you have realised – it is an acceptance that the world isn’t quite so magical and innocent. Instead it begins to form as this land of half truths, hard lessons and harsh realities. We learn to rebel and to doubt and often the seed planted from losing faith in Santa grows into a distrust of more holy religious figures. But fear not, this is no philosophical diatribe on growing up. Tis the season and I would prefer look at how Hollywood repeatedly transcends the linear progression to adulthood by tempting us back into believing in that Jolly Fat Man who brings so much happiness once a year.

I was channel surfing the other day and stumbled upon a cheap TV-movie-looking movie on TV. It was the 1989 film Prancer in which a girl finds an injured reindeer and, believing him (her?) to be the Prancer she attempts to hide him away in her barn until she (definitely she) is once more able to line up next to Vixen. It was a terrible, terrible movie and I continued surfing on the second ad break but not before it got me thinking about the tendency in film to allude to Santa as a reality. And beyond that: as a reality in a realistic world such as our own which has grown so disbelieving of the concept. A world where everybody has grown up.

It’s a funny thing when one minute a certain element of pop culture is all the rage and then suddenly it is not so hot. But it isn’t really a sudden swing; it just becomes apparent that a counter culture has long been in the works looking to undermine the popularity of whatever the masses are celebrating. The backlash is like the evil twin of the cult fanbase. When a movie is undeservingly dismissed or overlooked there are a special few who stay dedicated to bring this joy to the world; while the backlash is spawned out of spite and jealousy and self righteous opinions.

That’s what I thought before researching this article (i.e. asking my friends for examples of a backlash) but I think most of the time the backlash is a self induced phenomenon or a corrective procedure for the plastic surgery of cinema – hype. Either way it is funny to watch the evolution and devolution of popularity in the business that desires it above all other things, so I have listed a few different noteworthy backlashes…Enjoy.

The Backlash Hypocrisy – Avatar

This movie had more hype than any movie could ever possibly have ever. Ever! A director with an impeccable history of blockbusters; an incredible history of groundbreaking technology; a story 15+ years in the making; an epic budget; a revolutionised format of film making. This was the movie that everybody in the world must see – and apparently we all did.

Initial reactions were almost unanimous: That was AWESOME! This carried through on a wave of unflinching box office success and culminated in a Golden Globe for James Cameron. But during this time there was a hint of an undertone of a rumble of disgruntled viewers. I’ll admit I was a little jaded when someone pointed out the likeness to Pocahontas and other stories and sure, Cameron called the stuff Unobtainium like he had lost a bet or something but I just have to think about the crazy visuals, the spirituality of the Na’vi and the badass army commander.

But alas, it started to become cool to flip sides and be on the counter culture of Avatar. The backlash had begun. People seemed to hate on Avatar because it was too popular. They then folowed the trend of rebellion. They were like Goths who try to break conformity by all dressing the same. In the end the backlash was so timed that it lost Cameron the Oscar. But at the same time it may just live fonder in our memories for not winning what it deserved.

I’m not going to lie, I was not looking forward to checking out Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. I thought the first film was a completely forgettable experience, and the second was even worse. So in other words, I had absolutely zero intentions to check out this latest instalment. To me this franchise comes off as a — forgive me for a lack of a better word — pussified Lord Of the Rings clone. I know that despite their fantasy setting they’re both fairly different series from each other. Only I can’t help but to think that since LOTR was a total game changer in the genre, wouldn’t films of a similar calibre try their best to bring their A game too? Judging by Narnia 3, apparently not. The film continues along its underwhelming and unexciting path left by its predecessors to deliver a film that barely raises ones pulse. Sure, there may be an exciting battle here or random adventure there, but for the most part, Narnia 3 is to put it bluntly, a total bore.

Usually when I sit down to write a review I don’t have any trouble recalling any plot details, although I’ll still do a touch of research just in case I forgot to include any of the finer points I might miss. In Narnia’s case, just to illustrate just how shoddy the film’s narrative is, I want to attempt to recall the film’s plot from memory. The reason being when I look back upon the film, there literally seems to be little purpose or motivation for the latest journey to Narnia land. And instead of some sort of evil wizard or dark lord sitting inside his fortress of evil while he tries to enslave the world’s inhabitants, the villain of the piece this time around is green smog… Yes, you heard me, the villain is smog. Why? Because it’s evil of course. Why is it evil? I have no idea.

It’s no secret that M Night Shyamalan hasn’t been having a very good run lately. He’s delivered a string of gradually worsening films that reached a new low with the hilariously awful The Last Airbender (seriously, it’s really fucking bad).  So when the trailer for Devil first surfaced online, the backlash was deafening. I don’t think most people even knew that he didn’t actually direct it, all they saw was “from the mind of M Night Shyamalan ” and that was enough for them to pre-emptively judge the film. This is kind of a shame really, since if anything, Devil has actually raised my opinion of the troubled filmmaker. Sure, he may have only have come up with the story, hell, he may have just blurted out “five guys in an elevator and one of them might be the Devil!” and then just grabbed a check and ran from the room laughing manically. But I’ve always thought the guy has a knack for interesting stories, although the same just can’t be said about his writing and directing skills. So in this case, I respect the man for stepping aside and allowing director John Erick Dowdle (Qurantine) to bring this intriguing idea to life in is the first instalment of The Night Chronicles. Anyway, excuse the M Night ramble and let’s get on with the review!

High concept thrillers seem to be all the rage in Hollywood right now. We’ve already had people stuck on a chairlift in Frozen, Ryan Reynolds stuck in a box in Buried, and the forthcoming 127 Hours promises us James Franco stuck under a rock. Devil continues this current trend with its five strangers (Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green and Jenny O’Hara) stuck in an elevator premise. Only to make matters worse, and to add a unique twist on this already claustrophobic setting, the trapped individuals may possibly be sharing their close confines with the Devil himself. And when the lights go out, one by one these unlucky strangers feel the horned one’s merciless and murderous wrath… The tight narrative Devil posseses allows for an effectively taught and briskly paced thriller, packed with enough twists and turns to leave you guessing right up until the very end. The film feels like it was written with ‘fun’ stamped all over it, as it never tries to do anything other than entertain the audience. And in this respect, the film succeeds where most Hollywood blockbusters have failed as of late.

Film in general is a storytelling medium, whether it be the regular formulas of blockbusters or comedies, or the typical Hollywood drama. But every now and then I reach a point where I watch so many of these story-based movies that I am caught off guard by a movie like The American which doesn’t aim to satisfy the typical triggers of the movie goer, and instead focuses on depicting a character over a story. The first time I saw a movie like this was Taxi Driver – I was completely spellbound by the concept and journey of following a character through a pivotal moment in his life. But before you think I am likening these two movies in quality I should say that The American, while having its bright spots, just didn’t quite do it for me.

The American is a slow burning character piece. It follows Jack (George Clooney), an aging assassin, from a romantic getaway in Sweden to a new job in Italy. His new job, designing a modified weapon for another assassin’s job, is a step back from the front line combat he usually handles but he still struggles to avoid the heat as old enemies continue to stalk him. He finds that the career, which has been his life, is finally starting to catch up to him. He is running out of time to find something real in his life and a woman is a big part of this.