WheelyCurious wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:41 pm Well, being as how it was Christmas, I figured it was a good day for a Christmas movie, so the GF and I went out for Chinese, and then went to see Violent Night... It was as advertised quite violent... A few implied groin injuries and one scene involving threatening a hostage with applying a nut-cracker at it's name-sake... Humor was not a strong suite, it had it's moments but was mostly low key or in the 'Three Stooges' sort of bad things happening to deserving bad people...

I enjoyed it, and it was good to be able to have the GF try out watching a movie w/ descriptive audio (she is legally blind) but overall I'd say wait for it to hit the (discount) video market...

WheelyCurious

And I then assumed that the music of the ballet "The Nutcracker" is better suited for Christmas!

(Where the harmless doll appears and there are no threats to the hostage with the help of nutcrackers

... ...

WheelyCurious wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:41 pm in the 'Three Stooges' sort of bad things happening to deserving bad people... ...

WheelyCurious

'Three Stooges'

Sorry, I watched everything and could not tear myself away!

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The Three Stooges Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb (1938)

Paolo wrote: Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:59 pm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

17BwZGaqyQg

'Three Stooges'

Paolo wrote: Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:59 pm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

pAEU0V28U_0

The Three Stooges (FULL COLOR)

Paolo wrote: Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:59 pm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

0Tz5S6OW63Q

The Three Stooges (Full Episodes)

Paolo wrote: Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:59 pm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

C1YXMYjPYfc&list=PL21m2qFVm0Kwy7XlXwObK1I8ZVV-S5p-Z

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The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Stooges

Violent Night never came to the local theater here, and I didn't want to drive 30-40 miles to see it. However, I was able to get a hold of a copy online, which seems to be unedited.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Overall, the movie did not disappoint. Not exactly family viewing for Christmas Eve! There were a few parts where it dragged, but the payoff in body count more than made up for it.

The movie opens with Santa stopping off at a pub somewhere in the UK. He leaves, going out the door to the roof. The barmaid follows him, and sees him taking off in the sleigh. She is filled with the wonder of Christmas, has the gift for her grandson which Santa asked her to drop off, and as she is watching Santa fly away into the sky, he leans over the edge of the sleigh and throws up... on her head! I was hooked. The writers were brilliant!

Also, Santa is not immortal or indestructible in this movie. He can be hurt, and it's implied that he can be killed. This is the hope of the main bad guy, who says, "When you're gone, this whole miserable holiday will be gone for good!" Or something like that. I forget the line. You get it, I'm sure.

While we don't get to see it, he reveals that as a child, his dad lost his job. Dad was wild about Christmas every year, but that year, they had no Christmas due to no job. The boy, being jealous, decided to pull a "Grinch" move and steal it from some neighbors. In the process, he accidentally killed an old man who caught him, in that the old fellow fell down the stairs and died. True? Maybe, maybe not. The boy was sent off to juvenile hall, and then later, prison, thus making him hate Christmas.

Naturally, the family they decide to rob is filthy rich. Blood and gore and body flying everywhere then ensues.

All the while, the rich family airs their dirty laundry while being held hostage while the thugs look for their stash of cash, which isn't to be found in the vault.

More murder and mayhem from Santa.

It's also noted that when Santa tried to leave, by laying a finger aside of his nose, he cannot "beam out" and up the chimney, as he is wounded, and his magic seems to have given out. He also states that even after 1100 years, he doesn't fully understand how it works. Also, the reindeer abandon him.

One of the bad guys gets his balls shot off, but then Santa puts him out of his misery with a sledge hammer. In fact, Santa is very good at using a sledge hammer. It's his weapon of choice, as we see in a flashback, Santa used to be a horrible, evil, greedy warrior before (not explained) he became Santa.

Of course, the nice little girl is saved, Santa goes on to deliver toys, and all's well that ends well.

If you like a lot of blood and violence, this is the movie for you. David Harbour (Stranger Things) is great in the role, but the writing for the dysfunctional, rich family leaves a lot to be desired. Even in his brief bits, the teenage blogger boy is so unlikable that I was hoping they'd kill him first. Beverly D'Angelo plays the rich grandma, and she's unrecognizable from her role as the long-suffering Ellen in "Christmas Vacation".

Be warned, the movie also rips off "Home Alone," which the nice little girl was finally allowed to watch that year. Those bits, I could have done without.

While not Oscar-worthy fare, if blood and gore is your thing, this is the movie for you.

Good review... I agree the boy was an obnoxious brat, but I can't blame him as he seems to have learned it from his parents...

The little girl gets serious points for cuteness and seemed to have more brains than the rest of the family combined... I thought the 'Home Alone' rip was somewhat funny and think it was cool the way they gave credit to the original, and didn't just rip it off.

The other thing that I thought was interesting and nice was that her parents were an inter-racial couple, and absolutely NOTHING was made of that. It may have been a token gesture of political correctness, but they didn't rub our noses in it.

While it couldn't totally avoid the happy ending schmaltz that is required of a Christmas movie, it wasn't overwhelming, and the body-count compensates.... It will be interesting to see if it ends up in the collection of traditional Holiday Movies that gets inflicted on us - probably on late night cable...

WheelyCurious

I had high hopes for those nutcrackers, but was sadly disappointed.

That is a horrible movie. Despite computer enhanced reality I prefer to watch real killings videos from Ukrainian war which scenes might not be as graphic or dramatic as in this Christmas movie, but at least I know that a real person was blown up, or fell because of real shrapnel or bullets, not faking for the scene. How the hell kids will tell apart what is real and what is not while they truly believe in bloodthirsty ghosts and are afraid of monsters in the darkness they had seen in the movies.

erikboy (imported) wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 4:23 pm That is a horrible movie. Despite computer enhanced reality I prefer to watch real killings videos from Ukrainian war which scenes might not be as graphic or dramatic as in this Christmas movie, but at least I know that a real person was blown up, or fell because of real shrapnel or bullets, not faking for the scene. How the hell kids will tell apart what is real and what is not while they truly believe in bloodthirsty ghosts and are afraid of monsters in the darkness they had seen in the movies.

Please get help. Soon.

I wish I were kidding.

I really hope that's sarcasm, erikboy.