Since Christmas was yesterday, Happy Holidays to all of you out there in internet land by the way, I’ve chosen the immortal classic Silent Night Deadly Night 2 for BAD MOVIE MONDAY. Kind of as my gift to everyone who bothers to read this silly little column. It’s my way of both thanking you for listening to the insane ramblings of my diseased brain and of introducing you to the Silent Night, Deadly Night series of films. A series that I feel is rather unique by the fact that every entry goes more and more off the rails as it progresses. Parts 3, 4 and 5 get REALLY wild, but that’s for another time Continue reading
Tag Archives: Dark Comedy
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Benoit Blanc and the “Knives Out” franchise is the movie series that Gen Z and Millennials have been waiting for, for a long time. For years, there were so many great series and movies with ensemble casts concerning a murder mystery or mysterious death, and we missed out on that great sub-genre. That is until Rian Johnson offered his deliciously entertaining “Knives Out” in 2019. He follows that up with “Glass Onion,” a movie that is a continuation but is by no means a repeat of the original film. Johnson absolutely thrives on subverting expectations while delivering some great social commentary right down to the literal Glass Onion.
Violent Night (2022)
Every now and then we need one of these silly, slapstick, self aware action adventures, and “Violent Night” fits the bill. It watches like a sketch on SNL, adapted in full length form. From minute one, it never forgets what kind of movie it is and paints a crude stroke over the Christmas spirit. For its intended audience, it’s a refreshing antidote to typical holiday fare. Tommy Wirkola’s “Violent Night” is “Die Hard,” and Michael Dougherty’s “Krampus,” meets “Bad Santa,” with full shot of Christmas adrenaline.
It also props Santa Claus up as something of a major bad ass.
BAD MOVIE MONDAY: BLACK CHRISTMAS (2006)
Want to hear something funny? As I was sitting here, getting ready to write this review, I only just this very second realized that “Black Christmas” is a play on words. Specifically, it twists around the cheerful upbeat title of the 1954 movie White Christmas starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. In my usual clueless chimpanzee-like way I had never made this connection even though I must have seen the original Black Christmas thirty times in the last thirty-five years. Anyway, that’s my way of introducing today’s movie. Which is not the original, but instead the 2006 remake starring Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Hudson, Lacey Chabert, Kristen Cloke, and Andrea Martin. It was directed by Glen Morgan, who was a brilliant writer on The X-Files and a not so brilliant writer on the most recent incarnation of The Twilight Zone.
BAD MOVIE MONDAY: SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT (1972)
I would have bet anyone a thousand dollars that 1972’s SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT directed by Theodore Gershuny had been renamed to its current title for a home video release around 1984 in order to cash in on the then new Silent Night, Deadly Night, and I would have lost that bet. “The film was given a limited release in the United States under the title Night of the Full Dark Moon through Cannon Films, beginning November 17, 1972. It was subsequently released as Silent Night, Bloody Night in the spring of 1973 and continued to screen under this title through December 1973.”
Murder, Anyone? (2022) [FilmQuest 2022]
A duo of playwrights works on their next play, discussing changes and developments for their characters, and the play itself comes to life for the viewers as they write it.
Streaming Sundays: Vengeance (2022)
One of the most poignant films of the year, Vengeance (2022) is a dark comedy/thriller written, directed by and starring B.J. Novak; if you missed it in the theaters, do yourself a favor and stream it on Peacock.