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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   Edited 1yr ago   2503 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 6, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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As a counterpoint to the lackluster movie reviewed just below, Violent Night was surprisingly good. I took the kids to see it as their first R-rated movie, and we ended up liking it so much I bought it On Demand, and watched it another half dozen times over the holidays.

The movie itself is like a tongue-in-cheek mashup of Die Hard, Home Alone and Bad Santa. It was the best execution of a dumb concept I can think of. The script was surprisingly tight, and basically everyone on screen went above and beyond with the material they had to work with, especially David Harbour and John Leguizamo.

IMO, the acting by everybody, except David, John, and the little girl, was sub-par. Beverly D'Angelo was rough to look at, but I guess she suited the character. Other than that, this was a great movie. I kind of wanted more of Santa's origins, but maybe we'll get a sequel. Though I hope a sequel doesn't become 'we have to find even more violent, over-the-top ways to kill people' because that will wear thin quickly.

Like you said, the script was tight. Should easily become a classic. I wonder if it'll get cut down to a PG/PG-13 for television.

I thought almost all the supporting cast walked a fine line between hammy and caricature and playing it straight that really worked for that kind of absurdist dark comedy. The only real exception was Alexis Louder, but her character was closer to being the straight man contrast to everyone else.

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