Review: Original "BLACK CHRISTMAS" is Still a Gift (In Memory of Olivia Hussey, 1951-2024)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 62 of 2024 (No. 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Black Christmas (1974)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Canada

Running time:  98 minutes

MPAA – R

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Bob Clark

WRITER:  Roy Moore

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Reg Morris (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Stan Cole

COMPOSER:  Carl Zittrer

HORROR

Starring:  Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea Martin, James Edmond, Douglas McGrath, Art Hindle, Lynne Griffin, Michael Rapport, Martha Gibson, Leslie Carlson, and Dave Clement

Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher horror film from director Bob Clark and writer Roy Moore.  One of the earliest films belonging to the horror sub-genre known as the “slasher” film, Black Christmas is the first in a series that includes two remakes.  Set during a university Christmas break, Black Christmas focuses on a group of sorority girls who are being stalked and killed by a stranger in their house.

Black Christmas opens on the campus of an unknown university located in a Canadian town named “Bedford.”  Located on 6 Belmont Street is the Pi Kappa Sigma sorority house where a Christmas party is being held.  An unseen man climbs the exterior of the house and enters it through the attic.

During the party, the house phone rings and sorority sister Jess Bradford (Olivia Hussey) answers it only to discover that it is an obscene phone call.  It is also from a person who has called before, a caller the sorority sisters have nicknamed “the Moaner.”  Jess and the other sisters listen as the caller rants and screams in a series of strange voices that range from male and female and from adult to small child.  The name “Billy” comes up a lot during this and subsequent calls from the Moaner.  The calls end the same; he abruptly threatens to kill the Pi Kappa Sigma sisters and hangs up.

Soon after the first call, the stranger who broke into the house begins killing the sorority sisters one by one, with no one in the house aware that a killing spree has begun.  Jess seems to be the focal point of the calls, and the police, led by Lt. Ken Fuller (John Saxon), believe that the caller is someone close Jess.  But the killer is closer than anyone seems to realize.

As I write this review, Sunday evening, December 29, 2024, it is two days (Friday, December 27, 2024) after the passing of actress Olivia Hussey (1951 to 2024).  Hussey may be best known for her breakthrough film role as “Juliet” in director Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film, Romeo and Juliet.  However, many movie fans remember Hussey specifically for her starring role in Black Christmas.

Directed by Bob Clark (1939-2007), Black Christmas is a seminal film in the “slasher” sub-genre of horror films.  It is apparently a direct inspiration for John Carpenter's 1978 film, Halloween, which kicks off what some consider the “Golden Age” of slash films (1978-1984).  The film has been remade twice, Black Christmas (2006) and Black Christmas (2019).  Strangely, Clark's other best known films are probably the raunchy, high school sex comedy, Porkys (1981) and the beloved Christmas perennial, A Christmas Story (1983).

Many have already written about the legacy of Black Christmas and about the individual performances and achievements that make up the film.  For instance, I want to shout out Carl Zittrer's pitch-perfect, psycho-perfect film score, and Margot Kidder's (1948-2018) scene-stealing turn as Barbara “Barb” Coard.

For this review, however, I would like to talk about Olivia Hussey.  There is a natural quality to her acting in general and to her performance here that makes this film seem more earthy than contrived and fantastic.  Jess' struggles, both with the the Moaner's phone calls and with her increasingly frantic boyfriend, Peter Smythe (Keir Dullea), come together to enrich the character drama.  Black Christmas is not just a film about a killer stalking girls, but it is also a tale that revolves around Jess and her external and internal struggles.

Here, Hussey is both vulnerable and endangered and calm and stalwart.  Watching Hussey in this film, it becomes obvious that her performance as Jess Bradford is the template for the common horror character or trope known as the “final girl,” which is the last girl or woman who survives to fight the killer in a horror film.  In Jess' final struggle, which takes her from the top of the sorority house to its very bottom, Hussey carries the film to victory.  Hussey's Jess seems so genuine and real that I found it difficult to focus on Black Christmas' nonsensical and inconsistent elements.

I was sad to hear of Hussey's passing.  I find her performance in Black Christmas to be unforgettable, and I think she makes the film unforgettable.  I watch Black Christmas whenever I get a chance because I love watching Hussey in it.  She makes me root for her Jess every step of the way.  As important as Clark's direction, Moore's writing, and the other actors' performances are, Hussey is “the Star of Bethlehem” in Black Christmas.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Monday, December 30, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: 2006 "BLACK CHRISTMAS" was Not as Good as its Trailer Suggested

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 259 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Black Christmas (2006)

Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity, and language

DIRECTOR:  Glen Morgan

WRITER:  Glen Morgan (based upon the 1974 screenplay by Roy Moore)

PRODUCERS:  Marty Adelstein, Marc Butan, Steve Hoban, Scott Nemes, Dawn Parouse, Victor Solnicki, Glen Morgan, and James Wong

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robert McLachlan

EDITOR:  Chris G. Willingham

COMPOSER:  Shirley Walker

HORROR

Starring:  Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Oliver Hudson, Macy Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Kristen Cloke, Andrea Martin, Crystal Lowe, Karin Konoval, Robert Mann, and Kathleen Kole

Black Christmas is a 2006 slasher horror film from writer-director Glen Morgan.  It is a remake of director Bob Clark and writer Roy Moore's 1974 Canadian horror film, Black Christmas.  A joint U.S. and Canadian production, it is the third film in the Black Christmas film series.  Black Christmas 2006 focuses on an escaped maniac who returns to his childhood home, which is now a sorority house, and begins murdering the sorority sisters one by one on Christmas Eve.

Black Christmas opens at Clement University in New Hampshire.  The sisters of Delta Kappa Alpha are stuck in their sorority house for Christmas Eve.  The sisters and their sorority mother find themselves receiving harassing and threatening phone calls.  The caller may a mysterious man named Billy (Robert Mann), a maniac who long ago lived in that very house.  Fifteen years earlier, on Christmas day, Billy killed his deranged parents before being institutionalized.  The sisters really don’t have clue, but someone is also stalking and killing them one by one. 

Black Christmas is a remake of the 1974 film, Black Christmas, that was directed by Bob Clark of Porkys and A Christmas Story fame.  [Clark is one of the people credited as an executive producer on this remake.]  The new Black Christmas is truly a terrible movie, and only because it actually has some really creepy atmospheric moments is it not an absolute disaster.  There are times when Black Christmas made me wonder if it were a farce – perhaps a horror movie played absolutely straight, but meant to be an outrageous comedy.  That might be giving the filmmakers too much credit, or maybe not.  This is strange flick, and it’s hard to get a bead on it, other than to get the idea that Black Christmas is more annoying than scary.

Black Christmas is gruesome enough to capture the interest of horror fans that want gore, and this has blood thrown about by the buckets.  There are so many deaths by sharp objects that it’s a wonder the MPAA didn’t rate this “NC-17.”  Writer/director Glen Morgan clearly went retro for this, as it seems like one of those grisly and macabre slasher horror flicks that came out after John Carpenter’s 1978 movie, Halloween.  In fact, much of Black Christmas seems like a pastiche or sorry homage to 1980’s horror films.  It reminded me of Happy Birthday to Me, The People Under the Stairs, and any horror movie where inbreeding and incest come into play.

The murders are ghastly, and even the sex scenes in this movie are mean-spirited and common.  The actresses who play the sorority sisters have beautiful bodies, but they play characters that are so bitchy that it makes their faces look hard and mean.  Not one of the characters is sympathetic, so caring about their demises other than as a ritual of horror movies just doesn’t happen.  The methods of their horrific murders are also as obvious as the script’s sequence of events.  That there is more than one killer is, like so much in Black Christmas, painfully obvious, and the killers are about as crummy as stepping in dog feces with really good shoes.

2 of 10

D

★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, December 30, 2006

EDITED:  Saturday, December 28, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Comics Review: "ARCHIE Christmas Spectacular" 2024 Edition is the Thought That Counts

ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR (2024)

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Ian Flynn; Ron Cacace; Tom DeFalco

PENCILS: Holly G!; Rex Lindsey; Steven Butler; Pat Kennedy

INKS: Jim Amash; Lily Butler; Bob Smith

COLORS: Glenn Whitmore

LETTERS: Jack Morelli

EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante; Vincent Lovallo; Stephen Oswald

EiC: Mike Pellerito

COVER: Dan Parent with Rosario “Tito” Peña

VARIANT COVER ART: Kubert School

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (January 2025; on-sale December 4, 2024)

Rating: All-Ages

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in “Revenge Gifting”

Eternal high school student and teenage boy, Archie Andrews, and his friends made their debut in M.L.J. Magazines' Pep Comics #22 (cover dated: December 1941), and before long, Archie was the publisher's headliner character.  In 1946, the company changed its named to Archie Comic Publications, also known as “Archie Comics.”

Archie Comics frequently publishes holiday themed one-shot comic books featuring Archie's characters (sometimes referred to as “the Archie Gang”).  The latest is the Archie Christmas Spectacular, 2024 edition.  It features one new story and four reprint stories.  The new story is a humorous tale tied to the (very dark) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series and is entitled, “Revenge Gifting.”  The story is written by Ian Flynn; drawn by Holly G! (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in “Revenge Gifting”:

Amber Nightstone is the fiercest magical rival of Sabrina Spellman, a.k.a. “Sabrina, the Teenage-Witch.”  Now, Amber is on a mission to get Sabrina... the best Christmas gift ever?!

In her own unique way, Amber has... convinced Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead to help her find a gift for Sabrina.  Why would Amber buy her sworn enemy a gift?  Well, in the spirit of the holidays, Sabrina gave Amber a gift made of real amber.  Not one to appreciate the thought that counts, Amber is determined to outdo Sabrina and give her an even better gift.  But can you get the perfect gift for someone you really haven't taken the time to know?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been reading comic books, on and off, for decades.  I have sporadically read Archie Comics titles over that time.  For many years now, Archie's marketing department has been sending PDF copies of some of their titles for review.  Archie Christmas Spectacular is the latest.

Even if you have only read Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1, you know that as a “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” tale, “Revenge Gifting” is really an “Archie & Friends” story, and it is a nice one.  Writer Ian Flynn offers up that perfect kind of holiday comics story that captures the true meaning of Christmas.  The art team of Holly G! and Jim Amash brings out the humor in Amber Nightstone in the wake of her misfortune in the Josie Annual Spectacular, No. 1.  Their art finds the fun in her.

The rest of this issue features reprints of classic-style Archie Christmas and holiday stories.  There are guest appearances by several Archie Comics superheroes, including the “Ralph Hardy” and “Ivette Velez” versions of the Archie Comics' superhero, “The Jaguar.”  The Shield and The Mighty Crusaders also appear.

Dear readers, I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics, especially when it comes in Christmas packaging – anytime of the year.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want to find a copy of Archie Christmas Spectacular.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8914136-archie-comics

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----------------------

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Review: Netflix's "HOT FROSTY" is a Warm Cup of Christmas Cheer

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 51 of 2024 (No. 1995) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hot Frosty (2024) – TV Movie

Running time: 90 minutes

Rated: TV-PG

DIRECTOR:  Jerry Ciccoritti

WRITER:  Russell Hainline

PRODUCERS:  Michael Barbuto, Shane Boucher, and Joel S. Rice; Aren Prupas and Jonas Prupas – executive producers

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Eric Cayla

EDITOR:  Julia Blau

COMPOSER:  Ari Posner

ROMANCE/COMEDY/CHRISTMAS

Starring:  Lacey Chabert, Dustin Milligan, Lauren Holly, Chrishell Strause, Dan Lett, Katy Mixon Greer, Sherry Miller, Bobby Daniels, Shiloh Obasi, Sophia Webster, Allan Royal, Jennie Esnard, Joe Lo Truglio, and Craig Robinson

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Hot Frosty personifies both the silly scenarios and frothy goodness of Christmas television movies, which should please fans of holiday movies

--Hot Frosty is an ode to the joy of life and to enjoying life – at Christmas time and beyond

Hot Frosty is a 2024 American romantic-comedy and Christmas television film from director Jerry Ciccoritti.  The film is a “Netflix Original” and began streaming on the service Wednesday, November 13, 2024.  The film focuses on a widow who magically brings a snowman to life as a real man who promptly brings light back into her life.

Hot Frosty introduces Kathy Barrett (Lacey Chabert), who owns and operates Kathy's Kafe in the downtown section of the small town of Hope Springs.  The cafe is mainly the focus of her life, and her home life, including her house, is slowly falling apart.  Kathy is a widow and she mourns her late husband, Paul, a handyman who kept the house repaired and her heart whole.

It is Christmas time, and Kathy isn't feeling the holiday spirit or cheer.  However, some of her friends want to change things.  Mel (Sherry Miller) and her husband, Theo (Dan Lett), own and operate a clothing shop, “Reclaimed Rags.”  This year, they give Kathy a red scarf, one that is “destined” to help her to seek happiness after her bereavement.

Hope Springs is also in the middle of its “Annual Snow Sculpture Competition.”  On her way home one night, Kathy walks by the entries in the snow sculpture competition.  One of them is of a seemingly naked, muscular young man.  Not feeling the magic of Mel and Theo's red scarf, Kathy drapes it over the sculpture.  Later that night, that snow sculpture (called “the Snowman”) comes to life.  Calling himself, “Jack” (Dustin Milligan), the suddenly alive snowman finds his way to Kathy.  Doubtful at first, she believes that Jack is indeed the snowman upon which she draped the scarf.  Before long, his innocence and boundless joy are breaking down the barriers Kathy put up to protect herself.  But she soon realizes a painful truth:  Jack is doomed to melt.

Lacey Chabert is a former child actress with a long career in film and an even longer career in television, which includes voice-over work.  I keep forgetting that she appeared in the original Mean Girls (2004).  Now, audiences know Lacey for her near constant presence on the American cable television network, the “Hallmark Channel” and on its sister network, “Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.”  In addition to series work, Chabert has appeared in over thirty television films for the network, as of this writing.  One of those TV films, Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas (2020), is one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies.

So about Hot Frosty:  Netflix is in the middle of releasing several Christmas-themed films.  I don't know if they have done this in previous years, but some of the 2024 releases intrigue me.  Hot Frosty immediately caught my attention.

Honestly, I have to admit that I think that Hot Frosty's screenplay, written by Russell Hainline, could be adapted, with a few changes, as a gay-themed romance.  Magically bringing an ice sculpture of a muscular man to life and falling in love with him seems like it could be a gay fantasy, gay fan fiction,a gay daydream... or wet dream.

Obviously, Hot Frosty's scenario is preposterous, but this is a Christmas movie.  That genre has a lot of leeway so that such films can simply be feel-good and spread Christmas cheer or at least lay down a foundation for that.  I have to give director Jerry Ciccoritti credit in assuring that Hot Frosty does have some substance.  Basically, the film is the story about two characters.  First, there is Jack, an object brought to life by magic, and he really wants to live and to enjoy that life.  The tension and conflict in the story comes from the human lead, Kathy, who is just going through the motions of life everyday and who seems disinterested in life.  Jack has to show Kathy that she can find love and happiness, again... if she really wants that.

The joy in Hot Frosty is not in its lack of realism or even in its overwhelming nonsensical nature.  The joy is in watching Jack discover the joys of life and in turn, showing Kathy that she can enjoy life after loss – in spite of her determination not to enjoy life.  I say, “Pshaw!.” the cynicism.  Hot Frosty is not a great movie, but it is great entertainment.  Dear readers, I can't imagine a Christmas season in which Hot Frosty won't feel like a welcomed warm chocolaty drink.

 

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, November 23, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Prime Video's "CANDY CANE LANE" is an Unexpected Delight

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 52 of 2023 (No. 1941) by Leroy Douresseaux

Candy Cane Lane (2023)

Running time:  117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)

MPA – PG for language throughout and some suggestive references

DIRECTOR: Reginald Hudlin

WRITER:  Kelly Younger

PRODUCERS:  Brian Grazer, Charisse M. Hewitt, Karen Lunder, and Eddie Murphy

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Newton Thomas Sigel (ASC)

EDITORS:  Kenny G. Krauss and Jim May

COMPOSER:  Marcus Miller

COMEDY/FANTASY

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Genneya Walton, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Madison Thomas, Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, Robin Thede, David Alan Grier, Ken Marino, Timothy Simons, Danielle Pinnock, and D.C. Young Fly

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

• I watched “Candy Cane Lane” on a lark, and I did not expect much from it.  Boy, am I surprised. It is so shockingly charming and endearing that this must be some kind of Christmas magic.

• Eddie Murphy is quite good in family-oriented films, and even his fans who don't ordinarily like Murphy's family films will probably find something to like in “Candy Cane Lane”

• The story is ridiculous at times, but “Candy Cane Lane” is the best Christmas movie I have seen in a long time.  I recommend it without reservation.

Candy Cane Lane is a 2023 comedy, fantasy, and Christmas film directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Eddie Murphy.  The film is an Amazon “Prime Original” that began streaming December 1, 2023.  Candy Cane Lane focuses on a man who is so determined to win the neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest that he makes an unwise pact with a rogue elf.

Candy Cane Lane introduces Chris Carver (Eddie Murphy), a husband and father who crafts his own hand-carved Christmas decorations.  Every year, a local television station hosts the “Candy Cane Lane Spectacular,” a contest to judge the best decorated house.  Chris has never won, and he is jealous of his neighbor, Bruce (Ken Marino), who has won several times.

Shortly before Christmas, Chris' employer, the industrial plastics firm, Sydel Twain, lays him off.  When Chris learns that this year's Candy Cane Lane prize is $100,000, he becomes desperate to win the money for his family, although he wife, Carol Carver (Tracee Ellis Ross), has a very good job.  Chris is also oblivious to the lives of his two older children, Joy (Genneya Walton), a high school senior and track star, and Nick (Thaddeus J. Mixson), a tuba player and budding musician.

Looking for Christmas decorations and supplies, Chris and his youngest child, daughter Holly (Madison Thomas), stumble across “Kringle's,” a mysterious Christmas shop filled with all kinds of beautiful decorations, including model buildings, ceramic figures, and a strange Christmas tree.  Chris is so enchanted by all that he sees, believing that these decorations could help him win Candy Cane Lane.  He unwarily signs a deal with Kringle's eccentric shopkeeper, Pepper (Jillian Bell).  However, Pepper is more than she seems, and so is the receipt Chris signs.  Soon, he will need all the help he can get from his family and from a trio of diminutive new friends in order to keep himself out of Pepper's clutches.  And he also has some Christmas lessons to learn.

Audiences first came to know and love Eddie Murphy from his stand-up comedy career; his stint as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (1980-84); and his R-rated comedy films, such as 48 Hrs (1982), Trading Places (1983), and Beverly Hills Cop (1983).  Much to the chagrin of the those fans, Murphy's film career as an A-list star eventually led him to make innocuous family-friends films, especially Dr. Doolittle (1998), Shrek (2001), and Daddy Day Care (2003).

Those fans will not be pleased with Candy Cane Lane.  It is a family movie, an absurd fantasy film, and a Christmas movie full of holiday lessons to learn.  For me, Candy Cane Lane is one of the best absurd movies that I have ever seen.  Its concepts and ideas are as imaginative and as inventive as they are ridiculous and preposterous, yet I find the film endlessly lovable.  Every time I tried to dismiss it, I found myself drawn ever deeper into its delicious, addictive fluffiness.  Candy Cane Lane is a true feel-good movie.  It shouldn't work, yet it works to perfection.  Considering director Reginald Hudlin's past directorial efforts, I was (and still am) shocked that he could pull of this kind of Christmas movie, which is, for the most part, a warm cup of cocoa.  If anything, Candy Cane Lane suggests that screenwriter Kelly Younger is certainly inventive.

Nick Offerman, Chris Redd, and Robin Thede are a delight in their voice roles, and David Alan Grier is sly and smooth in his surprise role.  Jillian Bell is nearly perfect as Pepper, except for a few moments that are too over the top.  I think Madison Thomas needed more screen time as Holly Carver, and Timothy Simons and Danielle Pinnock are a winning pair as TV co-hosts, Emerson and Kit.

Eddie Murphy barely breaks a sweat as Chris Carver, and neither does Tracee Ellis Ross as Carol Carver.  Still, they work well together as a screen couple at the center of this delightful family fare.  Despite what some fans may think, Eddie Murphy has the magic touch when it comes to family films.  Murphy passes on the lessons that Chris has to learn with a knowing wink and a nudge, and I was willing to buy it all.  I think I'll be watching Candy Cane Lane again, if only because, for two hours, it made me believe in that Hollywood bullshit called “Christmas magic.”

B+

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, December 10, 2023

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Comics Review: "ARCHIE Christmas Spectacular" is Filled with Holiday Cheer

ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR #1 (2023)

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Tom DeFalco; Frances Bonnet; Dan Parent; Bill Golliher

PENCILS: Holly G!; Bill Galvan; Dan Parent; Bill Golliher

INKS: Jim Amash; Bob Smith

COLORS: Glenn Whitmore

LETTERS: Jack Morelli

EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante; Vincent Lovallo; Stephen Oswald

EiC: Mike Pellerito

COVER: Steven Butler and Lily Butler with Rosario “Tito” Peña

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (January 2024; on-sale December 6, 2023)

Rating: All-Ages

“Christmas Chaos!”

Eternal high school student and teenage boy, Archie Andrews, and his friends made their debut in M.L.J. Magazines' Pep Comics #22 (cover dated: December 1941), and before long, Archie was the publisher's headliner character.  In 1946, the company changed its named to Archie Comic Publications, also known as “Archie Comics.”

Archie Comics frequently publishes holiday themed one-shot comic books featuring Archie's characters (sometimes referred to as “the Archie Gang”).  The latest is the Archie Christmas Spectacular.  It features one new story and four reprint stories.  Entitled “Christmas Chaos,” the new story introduces Archie Comics' newest characters: Jangles, Sourplum, and Grumpus.  The story is written by Tom DeFalco; drawn by Holly G! (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.

Archie and the Gang in “Christmas Chaos”:

The story opens at Riverdale High where Archie, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the gang are decorating the gym for the annual big Christmas party, “the Riverdale Holiday Happening.”  They are waiting for the arrival of their friends, Jingle the Christmas Elf and Sugar Plum the Christmas Fairy.

However, the two have mistakenly teleported inside the “Eyegor Estate,” and now, they are the prisoners of Grumpus.  In their stead, Grumpus sends Naughty Christmas Elf Jangles and Sour Plum to Riverdale High.  Will the mischievous pair keep the Holiday Happening from happening, or can right magic make everything right again?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been reading comic books, on and off, for decades.  I have sporadically read Archie Comics titles over that time.  For many years now, Archie's marketing department has been sending PDF copies of some of their titles for review.  Archie Christmas Spectacular is the latest.

I like Archie Christmas Spectacular, especially because there is a bit of pop Gothic in this story, especially that one panel that features the Eyegor Estate.  The story has a sweet Christmas slash Happy Holidays ending.  I can like a comic book that makes me jealous because I can't attend its admittedly fictional party, but damn, the Riverdale Holiday Happening looks like a blast.

The rest of this issue features reprints of classic-style Archie Christmas and holiday stories.  Dear readers, I will always recommend classic-style Archie, especially when it comes in Christmas packaging – anytime of the year.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want to find a copy of Archie Christmas Spectacular.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://archiecomics.com/

https://twitter.com/archiecomics

https://www.instagram.com/archiecomics/

https://www.facebook.com/ArchieComicsOfficial?ref=tn_tnmn

https://www.youtube.com/user/ArchieComicsOfficial

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8914136-archie-comics

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------------

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Review: Crosby and Astaire Keep "HOLIDAY INN" Open with Crooning and Hoofing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 73 of 2021 (No. 1811) by Leroy Douresseaux

Holiday Inn (1942)
Running time:  101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Mark Sandrich
WRITERS:  Claude Binyon-screenplay; Elmer Rice-adaptation (based on an idea by Irving Berlin)
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  David Abel (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Ellsworth Hoagland
COMPOSERS:  Irving Berlin (songs and music); Robert Emmett Dolan (musical direction)
Academy Award winner

MUSICAL/COMEDY/ROMANCE

Starring:  Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale, Walter Abel, Louise Beavers, Irving Bacon, Marek Windheim, James Bell, John Gallaudet, Shelby Bacon, and Joan Arnold

Holiday Inn is a 1942 musical, comedy and romance film from director Mark Sandrich.  The film is based on an idea by legendary American song writer and composer, Irving Berlin, who also wrote twelve songs specifically for this film.  The most famous of the film's songs is “White Christmas,” which went on to be the biggest hit record in the career of one of Holiday Inn's stars, Bing Crosby, and also the best selling record of all time.  Holiday Inn is set at an inn that is open only on holidays, and the story focuses on a love triangle involving a singer, a dancer, and a beautiful up-and-coming young female performer.

Holiday Inn opens on Christmas Eve at the Midnight Club in New York City.  Crooner (singer) Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby), hoofer (dancer) Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire), and signer-dancer Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) have a popular musical act.  Jim plans for tonight to be his last performance.  He is retiring and moving to Midville, Connecticut where he will be a farmer.  Jim wants Lila to retire with him, and she has previously accepted his marriage proposal.  However, she has fallen in love with Ted and wants to continue working as his partner in a new act.  Jim accepts this and bids them goodbye.

Over the next year, Jim does not have much success running a farm.  So on Christmas Eve, a year after he retired, Jim is back in NYC.  He tells Ted and his agent, Danny Reed (Walter Abel), that he wants to turn the farm into an entertainment venue that opens only on holidays.  He has named it the “Holiday Inn.”  Ted and Danny are amused at the idea, and Ted is not interested in performing there.

However, Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds), an aspiring young singer and dancer, does find her way to the Holiday Inn.  There, she finds Jim, his African-American housekeeper, Mamie (Louise Beavers), and her two small children, son Vanderbilt (Shelby Bacon) and daughter Daphne (Joan Arnold).  The homey feeling that permeates the Inn and Jim's new song, “White Christmas,” convince Linda to stay.  But old rivals are conspiring to return and ruin Jim's plans again.

First, I have to be honest with you, dear readers.  I never really watched very much of those Bing Crosby holiday television specials that ran decades ago and now, still occasionally pop up on vintage TV channels.  I do, however, love to watch the films in which he appeared.  The man dazzles me, and I just love his singing voice.  He doesn't need to try hard; he seems to be amazing just naturally.

Watching Holiday Inn for the first time just recently also gave me a chance to really start to appreciate Fred Astaire.  He's amazing on film, and now, I see why the late “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, was such a fan of his.  It's the same as Crosby – he doesn't even have to try hard.  Astaire just seems naturally an incredible dancer and performer.

The production values on Holiday Inn are beautiful, obviously so even in black and white.  In fact, Holiday Inn features some of the most beautiful and sharp black and white photography that I have ever seen in a Golden Age Hollywood film.  Director Mark Sandrich, a highly respected director in his day, makes this simple story, with its nonsensical plots and narrative, seem like it is almost high art.

Crosby and Astaire's co-stars, Marjorie Reynolds (as Linda) and Virginia Dale (as Lila), are also delightful, especially Reynolds in a larger role than Dale's.  Reynolds makes Linda seem like the equal, in terms of stage performance, of both Jim and Ted.  They bring Irving Berlin's wonderful songs to life with the kind of professionalism and skill that makes such songs into hits or at least into memorable tunes.  Besides the great “White Christmas,” there are a number of stand-out songs in this film, such as “Happy Holiday” and “Be Careful, It's My Heart.”

Like some Hollywood films from the first half of the twentieth-century, Holiday Inn has characters in “blackface,” which is when White actors blacken their face to play racist and stereotypical caricatures of Black people.  In this film, it occurs during the “Lincoln's Birthday” holiday performance when Crosby's Jim and Reynold's Linda perform a song called “Abraham.”  Crosby's blackface makeup is not the worst that I have seen, but Reynold's get-up, a sort of female “picaninny” with fake ponytails radiating from her head like sunbeams, is horrible.  However, the song “Abraham” is weak, and the sequence in which it is performed is forgettable.  Honestly, I had forgotten the song, the performance, and the blackface less than a minute after it finished.

For me, Holiday Inn is a magical Christmas movie.  No, the film does not depict all 15 holidays that Jim plans to celebrate at the Holiday Inn, but the ones that really count seem to be Christmas Eve-Christmas and New Year's Eve-New Year's Day.  And in these moments, the film is most lovable and at its most enchanting.  Holiday Inn is not my favorite Christmas movie.  That would be the Holiday Inn semi-remake, 1954's White Christmas (also starring Bing Crosby), which takes its inspiration and title from the beloved song.  Still, Holiday Inn is special because it introduced the biggest Christmas song of all time, Irving Berlin's “White Christmas.”  For that reason, I will always try to find my way back to Holiday Inn … especially during the Christmas season.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, December 25, 2021


1943 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Music, Original Song” (Irving Berlin for the song “White Christmas”); 2 nominations: “Best Writing, Original Story” (Irving Berlin) and “Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture” (Robert Emmett Dolan)


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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A Negromancer Christmas Pudding

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Negromancer.  Season greetings to the world of movie, comic book, and Star Wars lovers.

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Review: "A MADEA CHRISTMAS" is a Funny and Odd Christmas Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas (2013)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual references, crude humor and language
DIRECTOR:  Tyler Perry
WRITER:  Tyler Perry (based on the stage play, A Madea Christmas, written by Tyler Perry)
PRODUCERS:  Ozzie Areu, Tyler Perry, and Matt Moore
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Alexander Gruszynski (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Maysie Hoy
COMPOSER:  Christopher Young

CHRISTMAS/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring:  Tyler Perry, Larry the Cable Guy, Anna Maria Horsford, Tika Sumpter, Eric Lively, JR Lemon, Kathy Najimy, Chad Michael Murray, Alicia Witt, Noah Urrea, and Lucy Whelchel

A Madea Christmas is a 2013 comedy, drama, and Christmas movie from writer-director Tyler Perry.  The film is based on Perry's musical play, A Madea Christmas, which was first performed in 2011.  A Madea Christmas the movie finds Madea in rural Alabama after being coaxed into helping a relative pay her daughter a surprise visit for Christmas.

As A Madea Christmas begins, Mabel “Madea” Simmons (Tyler Perry) is working at Tifton's department store for some extra Christmas cash, thanks to her niece, Eileen Murphy (Anna Maria Horsford), who works at the store.  Eileen is sad that her daughter, Lacey (Tika Sumpter), is living in the small town of Bucktussle, Alabama, and she wants to visit her.  Eileen coaxes Madea into accompanying her for a surprise Christmas visit.

What Eileen does not realize is that her daughter is now Lacey Williams and is married to her college sweetheart, Conner Williams (Eric Lively).  Lacey is not ready to tell her mother that she is married to a White man, but may be forced to when Eileen and Madea arrive.  Also arriving at Lacey and Conner's doorstep are Conner's parents, Kim and Buddy Williams (Kathy Najimy and Larry the Cable Guy).

A Madea Christmas is an odd entry in Tyler Perry's Madea film series.  First, the film deals, in a fluffy way, with racism, and is also set in a town and area that is largely white.  With its mushy sentiment, soft-focused racial harmony, and easy pace,  A Madea Christmas seems like an original holiday movie for either the Lifetime or Hallmark cable networks.

I found this film enjoyable and comfy, and although Madea does dispense her usual unique brand of wisdom, the film is not as preachy as previous Madea films.  A Madea Christmas' dominant theme seems to be that parents should accept that their children will live the lives the children choose and not the ones the parents want.  There is also a subplot about a sensitive and talented boy, Bailey McCoy (Noah Urrea), whose father, Tanner McCoy (Chad Michael Murray), is a racist and a bully (but not really in an especially offensive way).  This subplot encapsulates how A Madea Christmas goes out of its way not to offend or scare white audiences.

I don't think that A Madea Christmas will be a Christmas classic, but it is definitely a different kind of Christmas movie.  I found it to be quiet funny at times, and I plan on seeing it again.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, December 23, 2014


NOTES:
2014 Razzie Awards:  1 win: “Worst Actress” (Tyler Perry); 4 nominations: “Worst Picture,” “Worst Supporting Actor” (Larry the Cable Guy), “Worst Screen Combo” (Tyler Perry, Larry the Cable Guy, Tyler Perry & EITHER Larry the Cable Guy OR That Worn-Out Wig & Dress), and “Worst Screenplay” (Tyler Perry)

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Christmas Greetings from Negromancer

To everyone:  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Seasons Greetings.

Review: "A CHRISTMAS STORY" is Truly Timeless

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Christmas Story (1983)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR:  Bob Clark
WRITERS:  Jean Sheperd, Leigh Brown, and Bob Clark (based upon the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash)
PRODUCERS:  Bob Clark and René Dupont
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Reginald H. Morris (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Stan Cole
COMPOSERS:  Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer

COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley, Ian Petrella, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Tedde Moore, Yano Anaya, Zack Ward, Jeff Gillen, and Jean Shepherd (also narrator)

The subject of this movie review is A Christmas Story, a 1983 Christmas movie from director Bob Clark.  Although it was produced by an American film studio, MGM, some of the movie was shot in Canada.  A Christmas Story won two Genie Awards (then, Canada’s equivalent of the Oscars) for its direction and screenplay and was nominated in seven other categories, including “Best Motion Picture.”  In the film, a nine-year-old boy tries to convince his parents, his teacher, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is an appropriate gift for him.

Writer/director Bob Clark turned humorist Jean Shepard’s nostalgic view of the Christmas season in 1940’s Indiana into a classic holiday movie, A Christmas Story.  All nine-year old Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) really wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder 200-shot range model air rifle – a BB gun.

The adults in his life, even Ralphie’s parents, Mrs. Parker (Melinda Dillon) and The Old Man aka Mr. Parker (Darren McGavin), think that the Red Ryder BB Gun is not a safe toy, or as they keep telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out!”  While waging an all-out campaign for his BB gun, Ralphie dodges bullies and deals with his little brother, Randy’s (Ian Petrella) food issues.  Even Mr. Parker has his struggles as he fights a series of never-ending battles with his neighbor’s large pack of dogs, his home’s troublesome furnace, and an endless number of blown fuses.

I’m not sure why this delightful little Christmas movie works, but it does.  The narration isn’t always good; sometimes it sounds unprofessional.  The directing is exceedingly ordinary, but that adds a certain realism to movie.  Perhaps, A Christmas Story’s success is based on how real and authentic it seems.  Although set in the early 1940’s, A Christmas Story feels timeless.  Set in a town based upon Hammond, Indiana, where co-screenwriter Jean Shepherd grew up (but filmed largely in Cleveland, Ohio), the movie looks like it could take place in “Anytown, U.S.A.”

Wonderful performances help create the ambience.  Darren McGavin, who plays The Old Man, is always a welcomed sight, and Melinda Dillon is pitch perfect as the ideal middle-American mom.  What is really surprising is how good the child actors are, especially the leads Peter Billingsley and Ian Petrella.  Maybe, it’s because the child actors in this movie are real kids who act like real kids, while child actors often seem to struggle with portraying what they actually are – children.  As Ralphie Parker, Billingsley personifies the kid who just wants one thing for Christmas so badly, knowing that he might not get it.

In the end, maybe Billingsley’s performance is what makes A Christmas Story an indispensable Christmas movie, but there’s also much more in this gem of a yuletide flick to love.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, January 6, 2007

NOTES:
2012 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  National Film Registry

Updated:  Monday, December 23, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "RISE OF THE GUARDIANS" Rises with Jack Frost

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG for thematic elements and some mildly scary action
DIRECTOR: Peter Ramsey
WRITER: David Lindsay-Abaire (based on the book The Guardians of Childhood by William Joyce)
PRODUCERS: Nancy Bernstein and Christina Steinberg
EDITOR: Joyce Arrastia
COMPOSER: Alexandre Desplat
Golden Globe nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ACTION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voice) Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Khamani Griffin, Kamil McFadden, and Georgie Grieve

Rise of the Guardians is a 2012 3D computer-animated, fantasy film from DreamWorks Animation. The film is based on The Guardians of Childhood books series by William Joyce and is also inspired by Joyce’s animated short film, The Man in the Moon. Joyce and Guillermo del Toro are among the film’s executive producers. Rise of the Guardians is also the first big-budget, computer-animated (CG-animated) film to be directed by an African-American, Peter Ramsey.

Rise of the Guardians is apparently set 300 years after the book series. The movie focuses on a newcomer caught in a battle between immortals that protect the innocence of children and an evil spirit that launches an assault on Earth.

Tooth Fairy or Tooth (Isla Fisher) is the mythical tooth collector and Guardian of Memories. E. Aster Bunnymund or Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) is the fabled keeper of Easter eggs and Guardian of Hope. Sandy or Sandman (who does not speak) is the Guardian of Dreams and the oldest of the Guardians. Nicholas St. North or Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin) is the Guardian of Wonder and the leader of the Guardians. The Guardians watch over the children of the world and keep them safe; the Guardians also bring wonder, hope, and dreams.

Pitch Black (Jude Law) is The Boogeyman, the essence of fear known as the Nightmare King. Pitch announces to the Guardians that he is going to destroy children’s faith in them as an act of revenge because children no longer believe in him. The Man in the Moon tells the Guardians to induct a new member, Jack Frost (Chris Pine), in time for their struggle with Pitch Black. Jack declines the offer, as he has spent centuries in isolation because children do not believe in him. However, as Pitch’s threat looms, Jack finds himself dragged into the conflict and forced to find himself and his place.

Rise of the Guardians reminds me of DreamWorks Animation’s 2010 surprise CG-animated hit, How to Train Your Dragon. Dragon had two great characters, the Viking teenager, Hiccup, and his partner, the Night Fury dragon, “Toothless.” When Dragon focuses on Hiccup and Toothless, the film soars, but everything else about the movie, from characters to plot, is inconsistent in quality.

Rise of the Guardians is similar in that aspect. Jack Frost is a truly spectacular animated character. The rest of the film, from characters to action, ranges from good to mediocre to tolerable. Pitch Black, the villain, is merely a jumped-up stage villain full of typical grudges and complaints, and Jude Law’s voice performance does little to lift the character. And what the hell was Alec Baldwin doing as Santa Claus? This film’s concept, plot, and screenplay are an exercise in ups-and-downs and hits and misses. Attempts to give the story heart and meaning sometimes seem contrived, and when the story does have depth, it occasionally comes across as sugary or even fake.

On the other hand, Jack Frost is a treasure. This is his movie and his story – the journey of a hero, and Jack’s internal dilemmas and outward struggles ring with authenticity. He is the star, and the other Guardians are his supporting cast. Chris Pine delivers his finest performance as actor… in a voiceover role, but he brings Jack Frost to life with verve and depth. Pine left me wanting more.

Director Peter Ramsey does a good job of making the action in Rise of the Guardians rise above the defects in plot and narrative. Rise of the Guardians moves like an action movie, but it is imbued with something classic Walt Disney animated films, like Cinderella and Snow White, have. That is the sense of a fantasy movie that is really like a fairy tale, filled with magic and enchantment. CG-animated films don’t really have that sense of the supernatural because, as art created largely by computers, they feel more like technological marvels, but Rise of the Guardians has that old animation magic.

It is both this sense of magic and the magical Jack Frost that help Rise of the Guardians rise high above its shortcomings.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2013 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Film”

2013 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Director” (Peter Ramsey)

2013 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture-Theatrical or Television” (Peter Ramsey)

Sunday, March 17, 2013

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The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause - Well, I Like It

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 227 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: Michael Lembeck
WRITERS: Ed Decter and John J. Strauss (based upon characters created by Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick)
PRODUCERS: Robert F. Newmyer, Brian Reilly, Jeffrey Silver, and Tim Allen
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robbie Greenberg
EDITOR: David Finfer
COMPOSER: George S. Clinton

FANTASY/FAMILY/COMEDY

Starring: Tim Allen, Martin Short, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Lloyd, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Spencer Breslin, Liliana Mumy, Ann-Margret, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Art LeFleur, Aisha Tyler, Kevin Pollack, Jay Thomas, Michael Dorn, Peter Boyle, and Charlie Stewart

Walt Disney Picture’s 1994 holiday smash, The Santa Clause, was a delightful surprise. Eight years later, the 2002 sequel, The Santa Clause 2, was entertaining but didn’t have the same magic or sparkle. Four years later, Walt Disney Pictures drops The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause – a riff on Frank Capra’s classic Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. While this new Clause doesn’t quite recapture the magic of the original flick, it certainly looks like a Christmas movie.

Christmas is approaching and Santa Claus (Tim Allen), the former Scott Calvin, not only has to get ready for delivering Christmas presents to children all over the world, but he and Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell), the former Carol Newman, are preparing for the arrival of a baby Claus. At the risk of giving away its secret location, Scott invites his in-laws, Sylvia and Bud Newman (Ann-Margret and Alan Arkin) to the North Pole to be near their daughter Carol at this special time. Scott also invites his extended family: son Charlie (Eric Lloyd), ex-wife Laura Miller (Wendy Crewson), her husband Neil (Judge Reinhold), and their daughter Lucy (Liliana Mumy) for the holidays.

Scott, however, doesn’t have much time for them, as he and head elf Curtis (Spencer Breslin) have their hands full with last minute details for Santa’s magical Christmas Eve sleigh ride. Offering his assistance at this busy time is Jack Frost (Martin Short), but Jack is chillingly envious of Santa. While Santa juggles family strife and a workload crunch, Jack is plotting to change time and take over Santa’s holiday. Who amongst his extended family will help Santa save the day?

Early in The Santa Clause 3, Allen appears listless, as well as seeming burdened by the 75-pound Santa suit he wears for the title role, but Allen springs to life when facing Martin Short as Jack Frost. A shameless ham, Short is the classic entertainer, always hungry for attention – happy as a pig in mud to get applause anywhere he can, so he’s been on TV, in movies, and on stage, as well as being an animated television character. Short gives every inch of his body to the physical performance of being a sneaky and lanky villain – twisting and hunching his body and contorting his eyes as he builds the kind of gentle bad guy that would fit perfectly on Saturday morning TV.

There’s no real edge to the rivalry between Allen and Short’s characters, but they make The Escape Clause’s unyielding holiday sentiment work. The concept and subsequent script are shallow, but it’s the stars that convince us of what the story is trying to sell. Allen and Short’s battle decides the fate of the real soul of the Christmas holidays and The Santa Clause 3 – putting up with your family and accepting your place in it.

Director Michael Lembeck, a veteran of TV comedies (and the director of The Santa Clause 2), doesn’t wow us with a virtuoso display of directing, but he knows how to sell sentiment, which TV does so well. Lembeck smartly captures all the visual splendor that Disney money can buy. It’s the technical staff: director of photography, the art director and set decorator, the costume designer, and the special effects wizards and their crew that give TSC3 its visual magic. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause looks and feels like a Christmas movie, and a glittery, colorful, and pretty Christmas flick, at that. For a little under two hours, this movie fooled me into believing that on a mild day in mid-Autumn, I was really home at the North Pole for Christmas. I can’t ask a Christmas movie for anymore than that.

6 of 10
B

Sunday, November 5, 2006

NOTES:
2007 Razzie Awards: 5 nominations: “Worst Actor” (Tim Allen – also for The Shaggy Dog-2006 and Zoom-2006), “Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment,” “Worst Prequel or Sequel,” “Worst Screen Couple” (Tim Allen and Martin Short), and “Worst Supporting Actor” (Martin Short)

Tim Allen Carries Sappy "The Santa Clause 2"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 228 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: Michael Lembeck
WRITERS: Don Rhymer, Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio, and Ed Decter & John J. Strauss (based upon the characters created by Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick)
PRODUCERS: Robert F. Newmyer, Brian Reilly, and Jeffrey Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Adam Greenberg and Craig Haagensen
EDITORS: David Finfer and Edward A. Warschilka
COMPOSER: George S. Clinton

FANTASY/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell, David Krumholtz, Eric Lloyd, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Spencer Breslin, Liliana Mumy, Danielle Woodman, Art LaFleur, Aisha Tyler, Kevin Pollack, Jay Thomas, and Michael Dorn

The subject of this movie review is The Santa Clause 2, a 2002 romantic comedy, fantasy, and Christmas movie from Walt Disney Pictures. It is a sequel to the 1994 film, The Santa Clause.

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) has been Santa Claus for eight years, and his elves consider him the best ever. But The Big Guy isn’t without problems. When he starts mysteriously losing weight, he learns that there is another Santa clause – Santa must have a wife. Scott has to leave the North Pole to find Mrs. Claus, or he’ll be forced to give up being Santa. Scott leaves a scheming elf named Bernard (David Krumholtz) in charge, and Bernard promptly builds a toy Santa (played by Allen in makeup) to double for the real Santa. After reading the rule book, the toy Santa comes to believe that the real Santa isn’t doing his job right, so the mechanical St. Nick starts making changes that don’t seem right.

Meanwhile, Scott discovers a second area of trouble. His son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), is in trouble in school and is also on Santa’s “naughty” list. A visit to Charlie’s school leads to a chance meeting with the lovely Principal Carol Newman (Elizabeth Mitchell), and Scott realizes she would make a great Mrs. Claus. Will Scott’s secrets, family strife, and Charlie’s misbehavior cost him a chance with Principal Newman? And can Scott return to the North Pole in time to save Christmas from his toy double?

The Santa Clause 2 is so top-heavy with maudlin sentiment that it’s almost crippled. The treat is, as always, Tim Allen in his 75-pound Santa suit or even dressed as an ordinary man trying to be a good father and just maybe a good husband. It’s Allen’s spin on Christmas comedy that makes this a worthwhile family flick.

5 of 10
B-

Sunday, November 5, 2006

"The Santa Clause" Still a Christmas Treat

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 226 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Santa Clause (1994)
Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: John Pasquin
WRITERS: Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick
PRODUCERS: Robert Newmyer, Brian Reilly, and Jeffrey Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Walt Lloyd
EDITOR: Larry Bock
COMPOSER: Michael Convertino

COMEDY/FANTASY/FAMILY

Starring: Tim Allen, Wendy Crewson, Judge Reinhold, Eric Lloyd, David Krumholtz, Larry Brandenburg, Mary Gross, Paige Tamada, Peter Boyle, and Judith Scott

The subject of this movie review is The Santa Clause, a 1994 fantasy film, family comedy, and Christmas movie starring Tim Allen. The film follows a divorced father who must become the new Santa Claus.

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is a divorced father who has found that his young son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), is reluctant want to spend Christmas with him. He’d rather be with his mom, Laura Calvin Miller (Wendy Crewson), and her new husband, Dr. Neal Miller (Judge Reinhold), a psychiatrist and a very good stepfather to Charlie. While Scott and Charlie are spending a dreary Christmas Eve together, Santa Claus arrives, and Scott accidentally kills him. Panicked and encouraged by Charlie, Scott temporarily dons Santa’s suit so that he can deliver the rest of the gifts. The snow really hits the fan when Scott discovers that there is a Santa Clause about putting on the suit. By killing Santa and donning the suit, Scott has magically recruited himself to replace the deceased St. Nick. Although he was a Scrooge, Scott finds himself growing into the role of Father Christmas, but it may cost him his relationship with Charlie.

The first 70 minutes or so of The Santa Clause are brilliant – in a goofy, affable way that makes it a charming, heart-warming, Christmas film. The screenwriters came up with a novel way to juxtapose Scott’s struggle as a father to reconnect with his son Charlie, who is disappointed in him, with Scott’s struggle to live with something he must to accept, The Santa Clause. Fatherhood and career (even one forced on him) clash and blend with surprisingly funny results. In a way, being Santa is the best thing that ever happened to Scott and Charlie’s relationship, but it could also destroy it.

The movie withers when the narrative tries to modernize Santa or rationalize Santa Claus through science, because Santa is magic – pure and simple. For instance, why would Santa need a fire-proof suit when he comes down a chimney because its magic that protects him from fire, not to mention that it’s magic that allows Santa to do his job. The ending is also too long and phony, filled with forced emotion and saccharine level sentiment.

Still, about 80% of the film is an excellent fantasy comedy, and The Santa Clause would probably make any short list as one of the great Christmas comedies. I know that I want to put it on my annual Christmas list.

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, November 5, 2006

Review: "The Holiday" is So Lovable (Happy B'day, Nancy Meyers)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Holiday (2006)
Running time: 138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers
PRODUCERS: Bruce A. Block and Nancy Meyers
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dean Cundey (director of photography)
EDITOR: Joe Hutshing
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach, Rufus Sewell, Edward Burns, and Shannyn Sossamon

The subject of this review is The Holiday, a 2006 romantic comedy film from writer-director, Nancy Meyers. This Christmas/Holiday-themed film focuses on two women who trade homes after each suffers some romantic heartbreak.

Two women who live 6000 miles apart and have never met find their lives in the same place. In Los Angeles, Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who directs movie trailers, realizes that her live-in lover, Ethan (Edward Burns), has been unfaithful. In London, newspaper writer Iris (Kate Winslet) has been in love with Jaspar (Rufus Sewell) for three years, and now he’s about to marry someone else. Amanda and Iris meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the (Christmas) holiday.

Iris moves into Amanda’s large house in sunny California. She befriends Amanda’s neighbor, Arthur Abbot (Eli Wallach), a legendary screenwriter, now retired, who peps up her spirit and encourages Iris to befriend Miles (Jack Black), a film composer and acquaintance of Amanda’s. Meanwhile, Amanda moves into Iris’ small cottage in the snow-covered English countryside where she finds herself charmed by Iris’ handsome brother, Graham (Jude Law). However, both women soon find old issues creeping into their holiday cheer.

Nancy Meyers, writer/director of the delightful chick flick Something’s Gotta Give, delivers The Holiday, another fluffy film confection best served on a holiday winter evening. After an awful start in which Kate Winslet babbles a dry opening narration, The Holiday rights itself with lovable characters. To that end, the four leads don’t so much deliver great performances as they deliver great big dollops of charm every time they appear on screen.

The Holiday plays to the female audience, but this is also the kind of pure gooey entertainment that, during the holidays, can ensnare the unsuspecting heart of any guy who is a romantic at heart.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

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Review: "Trading Places" is Timeless (Remembering Denholm Elliot)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 83 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Trading Places (1983)
Running time: 116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: John Landis
WRITERS: Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod
PRODUCER: Aaron Russo
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Paynter (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Malcolm Campbell
COMPOSER: Elmer Bernstein
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY

Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliot, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristin Holby, and Paul Gleason

The subject of this movie review is Trading Places, a 1983 comedy film and satire from director John Landis. The film stars Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy as a snobbish commodities trader and a streetwise con artist, respectively, who plot revenge against two conniving millionaires who cruelly use them in a personal wager.

Rare is the comedy film that enjoys success across a broad spectrum of viewer types and still remain popular even two decades after its initial release. That is exactly the case with director John Landis’s buddy, comic caper Trading Places.

Mortimer (Don Ameche) and Randolph Duke (Ralph Bellamy), millionaire commodity brokers, have made a bet. Randolph believes that he can take a common criminal off the streets, Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy), and make him into a successful businessman, the old nature vs. environment/nurture. Mortimer disagrees, siding with nature, and the brothers bet one dollar to whoever wins. To learn if even a man who has been brought up in the right environment and has gotten everything he wants can go bad, they pick their hand-chosen successor at Duke and Duke, the snobbish Louis Winthorp III (Dan Aykroyd), and frame him for a few crimes. He loses his job and winds up in jail. The Dukes give Billy Ray Louis’s home and job at Duke and Duke. When Billy Ray accidentally discovers the wager, the wily young con artist joins Louis, Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) a hooker with a heart of gold who has befriended Louis, and Louis’s butler Coleman (Denholm Elliot) to turn the tables on the two callous Duke Brothers.

One of the things that makes this film so much fun is that it plays upon broad socio-economic stereotypes that are very familiar to audiences. What makes these almost stock characters work so well is a combination of excellent comic actors and a good comedic script. Dan Akyroyd is a very good actor, but he is mostly known as a comedian; combine good acting with a great sense of comic timing, and you have a great performance.

Eddie Murphy’s star as a movie actor was rapidly rising at this point in his career, but he was already a quite accomplished player in the cast of “Saturday Night Live.” The Murphy here is still the brash, streetwise, fast talker bursting with the kinda of “black comedy” that both black and white audiences love – you know, the sassy and mouthy Negro who always has a come back or something smart-alecky to say. That Murphy is mostly gone and rarely makes a film appearance now almost 20 years into Murphy’s film career, but looking back, one can see that he makes Billy Ray Valentine both hilarious and loveable – the guy you can root for and with whom you can almost identify.

Kudos also go to longtime screen veterans Bellamy, Ameche, and Elliot for bravura performances that take stock characters and give them flavor and delightful personalities. We also get the added gem of seeing Ms. Curtis in a role that didn’t require her to run from a knife-wielding murder. Up to this point in her career, Ms. Curtis had become the new "Scream Queen" of horror films.

If you haven’t seen this film, you don’t know what you’re missing. If you’ve seen it once before, you should be at least on your tenth viewing.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1984 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score” (Elmer Bernstein)

1984 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Supporting Actor” (Denholm Elliott) and “Best Supporting Actress” (Jamie Lee Curtis); 1 nomination: “Best Screenplay – Original” (Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod)

1984 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (Eddie Murphy)

Review: Naughty "Bad Santa" is Quite Nice (Happy B'day, Billy Bob Thornton)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 170 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Bad Santa (2003)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, strong sexual content and some violence
DIRECTOR: Terry Zwigoff
WRITERS: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, with contributions from Joel Coen, Ethan Cohen, Arnie Marx, and Terry Zwigoff
PRODUCERS: Sarah Aubrey, John Cameron, and Bob Weinstein
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jamie Anderson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Robert Hoffman
COMPOSER: David Kitay

COMEDY/CRIME with elements of drama

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Bernie Mac, John Ritter, Ajay Naidu, Octavia Spencer, and Ethan Phillips

The subject of this movie review is Bad Santa, a 2003 crime comedy and Christmas movie from director Terry Zwigoff. Although Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are credited as the film’s only writers, Joel Coen, Ethan Cohen, Arnie Marx, and Terry Zwigoff performed various rewrites of the script, with the Coen Bros. also credited as executive producers on the film. Bad Santa was the late actor John Ritter’s last film appearance.

Some bovine in the media have already asked, “Is nothing sacred?” in response to director Terry Zwigoff’s (Ghost World) new Christmas movie, Bad Santa. They can get over it. Bad Santa is the Christmas movie for the rest of us – those who don’t buy all the must-be-happy hype, over consumption, and phony religious tradition. Besides, it’s so damn funny.

Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is a department store Santa. He’s also a lecherous, nympho-manical alcoholic. For the past several holiday seasons, Willie and his dwarf partner, Marcus (Tony Cox), play Santa and elf in department stores. They case the businesses and eventually rob the store safes of tens of thousands of dollars. They move to Arizona for their next big heist, but they run into a few problems. One is fastidious store manager (John Ritter in his final film role). Another is a sly store dick (Bernie Mac) who discovers their scam and wants in on the action. The biggest stumbling block is when a lonely, strange boy (Brett Kelly) whom Willie calls The Kid, latches onto Willie for friendship.

The movie has a few rough and dry spots, but otherwise it’s hilarious. Bad Santa is dark, foul, and vulgar, but it’s not cynical. Many of the characters are just not the kind usually found in holiday fare. These are people who live on the periphery of society, lonely people, and criminals. Willie is depressed and suicidal. The Kid may not be mentally handicapped, but he’s a bit of a retard – euphemistically speaking. As dark as it is, however, Bad Santa is quite hilarious in the way it deals with frank sexual matter, people who are frankly sexual, and conniving criminals who’ll do whatever it takes to get what they want. Maybe the most frightening thing for many people is how much profane language is directed at children in the film. Willie consistently curses at The Kid, and as Santa, at children who come to the store to sit on his foul lap.

But Thornton is a fine actor with grand talent. His Willie is a living, breathing, and believable person whose life is falling apart. He and Zwigoff handle Willie’s transformation with subtleness and a kind of brazenness that surprises the viewer at each turn. In fact, Zwigoff masterfully directs the film, knowing, except for some poor moments, just when to hit the viewer on the head with blunt coarseness and when to gently splash the mire in our faces. Zwigoff pulls off the trick of making this film roughly anti-sentimental and sentimentally rough. In a way, Zwigoff does manage to make the typical Christmas movie, and it’s good that he does it the way he does.

I heartily recommend Bad Santa to anyone who can take it. This film also has one of the better Bernie Mac performances. This is the moment he proves that he is a comedian and an actor, and it’s in performances like this that he can find the road to being both a good comic and dramatic actor. Good Bernie Mac is always reason to see something.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2004 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Billy Bob Thornton)

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Review: Visually Splendid "Batman Returns" is not Wholly Splendid

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Batman Returns (1992)
Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR: Tim Burton
WRITERS: Daniel Waters; from a story by Sam Hamm and Daniel Waters (based upon the Batman characters created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger)
PRODUCERS: Denise Di Novi and Burton
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stefan Czapsky
EDITORS: Bob Badami and Chris Lebenzon
COMPOSER: Danny Elfman
Academy Award nominee

SUPERHERO/CRIME/ROMANCE with elements of action

Starring: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, Michael Murphy, Pat Hingle, Vincent Schiavelli, Paul Reubens, and Diane Salinger

The subject of this movie review is Batman Returns, a 1992 superhero film directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne. It is a sequel to the 1989 film, Batman, which was also directed by Burton.

When The Penguin (Danny DeVito) rises from the sewers of Gotham City, Batman (Michael Keaton) must battle him and as nefarious cohorts, the conniving industrialist Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) and the feminist empowered Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), as they help Penguin run a very popular candidate in the Gotham mayoral race.

Unlike his first Batman film, Tim Burton had more control over Batman Returns, and it’s quite obvious. Stylistically, Batman Returns is closer to Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands than Batman is, which was Burton’s first film after Beetlejuice. However, Batman Returns has more rank humor than the original, and the sexual innuendo ranges from juvenile to forced. Batman was sly and occasionally witty; it was dark but not morbid as Returns is.

Still, the combination of Burton and screenwriter Daniel Waters (a writer with a darkly humorous and imaginative sense) create a Batman film like no other. This one is a dark fairytale immersed in issues of identity, empowerment, abandonment, class privilege, social and gender discrimination, and sexual politics. The story has a lot of nice ideas, maybe too many. It flits from one to the other, leaving one half developed or dismissed, only to be cobbled up later and still make little sense. It’s as if Batman Returns needed a rewrite or received too many in an attempt to make it less complicated and more like the summer blockbuster geared towards selling merchandise that it was supposed to be.

I like it more now than I did when I first saw it in 1992, when I thought it was an over produced mess; now I think it’s over produced and a bit messy. The production designs of Bo Welch (Beetlejuice), art decoration by Rick Heinrichs, and set decoration by Cheryl Carasik look beautiful and exquisite, everything from the abandoned zoo to Gotham’s many store fronts, each one of them decorated for the Christmas season. The cinematography by Stefan Czapsky (He would later shoot Burton’s masterpiece Ed Wood) is drenched in gorgeous blues, luminous white light, and slinky shadows that cover the town like sensuous drapery. Batman Returns looks like a children’s storybook painted by a master.

But in the end, Batman Returns is clunky in spirit and execution. It doesn’t flow or have a rhythm, and the acting is also too hit or miss. That goes for everyone, especially the villains. Burton publicly acknowledged not really caring for the Batman character, and it shows. For much of his film, the hero is an afterthought or merely window dressing, only there because the studio demands it. How else can you sell Batcrap if Batman’s not in the movie. Oh, well. I’ll look at this as a beautiful misfire and a brilliant mistake. I’ll watch it again, if only to pine away at what could have been.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
1993 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (Michael L. Fink, Craig Barron, John Bruno, and Dennis Skotak) and “Best Makeup” (Ve Neill, Ronnie Specter, and Stan Winston)

1993 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Make Up Artist” (Ve Neill and Stan Winston) and “Best Special Effects” (Michael L. Fink, John Bruno, Craig Barronm, and Dennis Skotak)

1993 Razzie Awards: 1 nomination: “Worst Supporting Actor” (Danny DeVito)

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