The All-Encompassing 2024 Holiday Thread

[Kane52630]

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

I'm gonna insinuate that Granny was probably at the March on Washington with MLK based on that huge ass framed portrait of him.

What a weird vibey sequel that at times feels like David Lynch made it in secret. It's definitely more put-together filmmaking-wise than the last two movies despite it not being a typical slasher and the blind final girl being pretty awful performance-wise. You definitely feel the late 80s/monochrome of it all with how everybody looks in this. There's a point early on that I thought this was gonna be more like Dream Warriors and that didn't even come into play like I hoped. They changed the actor who played Ricky to Bill Moseley and it really shifts the vibe to be more real and sinister even if they don't do as much with him. Samantha Scully plays the blind clairvoyant final girl who looks like a Jennifer Connelly clone and she could not act to save her life... but it also weirdly adds charm to it all because of how bad she is. Overall, this is probably gonna be sacrilegious to say but this might be my favorite so far just based on vibes.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

 

[blueharvest]

Which movie is that from?

 

[Kane52630]

Which movie is that from?

Silent Night, Deadly Night

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Kane52630]

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation

Damn, they really wanted us to be disgusted about eating pitted dates.

I guess this is the Halloween III of the series because they pivoted the story in a completely different direction. This definitely feels like they had an unproduced script about a coven of witches they bought and changed up a few things like having it set during Christmas and making Ricky the lackey of the group. If this wasn't attached to a murdering Santa Clause franchise, this would maybe get a better reception because I thought some things were pretty interesting and it's funny seeing this and knowing movies like The Craft would come out a few years later. I thought the best thing about this movie was Neith Hunter as Kim Levitt. I also thought some of the effects were pretty gnarly and some moments were campy fun. They also changed actors again for Ricky and this time they got Clint Howard to play him and while I thought he was not bad, they definitely neutered the character into a simple lackey. It was also cool seeing Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm series in this even though he's not in it a lot. Overall, as a Silent Night Deadly Night film, it's super disappointing but as an early 90s cheesy coven horror, it was not bad.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker

There's a toy maker named "Joe Petto" who runs a toy shop with his son... "Pino Petto"... Need I say more?

This yet again shifts from the last film into something almost completely different but this time it fits in with the Christmas theme more. It's basically movies like Small Soldiers and Pinocchio's Revenge before either of them were even a thing. It's by far the most 90s horror of the series for obvious reasons and while they do bring in Neith Hunter & Clint Howard from the last movie, they don't at any time bring up what they did before, it's as if they were brand new characters which was weird. The new family this story follows weren't as interesting as they hoped but I thought Mickey Rooney as Joe Petto & Brian Bremer as Pino Petto were easily the best part. The first hour was honestly kinda generic even for this series, but the 3rd act is where it really hits off and the special effects were really well done. Overall, while I probably rank this last in the series, it's got some really wild moments towards the end that saves this movie.
3.5/5

 

[Sawyer]

Jesus, they made five of those…?

Anyway, I watched Scrooged for the first time last night. I think I might be a little ambivalent about Bill Murray outside of Ghostbusters, because it didn’t do much for me.

 

[Lily Adler]

I tried to watch A Christmas Story at least once. I don't need a 24/7 marathon, TBS. Same with It's A Wonderful Life.

 

[Drizzle]

I watched Red One yesterday.

Other than a Krampused-out Kristofer Hivju and maybe Nick Kroll doing his usual schtick, nobody looked like they wanted to be there at all. It also didn't help that it just looked terribly artificial. But hey, at least it's got a long shelf life with multiple verticals.

 

[Lily Adler]

@ComicChick

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Kane52630]

I watched Red One yesterday.

Other than a Krampused-out Kristofer Hivju and maybe Nick Kroll doing his usual schtick, nobody looked like they wanted to be there at all. It also didn't help that it just looked terribly artificial. But hey, at least it's got a long shelf life with multiple verticals.

Ah I remember the days when I really disliked Red One... until I saw Jack Black in Dear Santa.

 

[Drizzle]

Ah I remember the days when I really disliked Red One... until I saw Jack Black in Dear Santa.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Sawyer]

I tried to watch A Christmas Story at least once. I don't need a 24/7 marathon, TBS. Same with It's A Wonderful Life.

It’s a Wonderful Life >>>>>>>> A Christmas Story, tho

 

[Drizzle]

Sorry, my Paramount+ subscription ends tomorrow and I only have enough time to watch The Big Short.

 

[Lily Adler]

It’s a Wonderful Life >>>>>>>> A Christmas Story, tho

Unless it's the edited version for Liberty University.

 

[Sawyer]

 

[Lily Adler]

Yippee ki yay, Mr. Marmalade.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I watched about half of It’s a Wonderful Knife the other day. Granted, they were trying to make a schlocky, trash horror film but even by those standards it was awful. Justin Long not only delivered the worst performance of his career, but seemed to be aiming for the worst performance of any actor ever. The concept is almost clever (they basically do the whole “what if you never existed” thing) but honestly, Beavis & Butthead did it better 30 years ago. Watch that instead.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[DarkKnight88]

Smart man.

 

[Ninjablade]

Totally forgot to update this as we came to a close on the Christmas season.

NB's 25 Days of Christmas
1. The Princess Switch
2. The Princess Switch: Switched Again
3. The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star
4. Hot Frosty
5. Christmas Island
6. The Santa Clause
7. The Santa Clause 2
8. Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
9. The Knight Before Christmas
10. Operation Christmas Drop
11. Haul Out the Holly
12. Christmas Inheritance
13. A California Christmas
14. Holiday Engagement
15. Christmas with a Kiss
16. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
17. Home Alone

18. Holiday in the Vineyards

Josh Swickard has become one of my favorite Hallmark heartthrobs to watch. Basically playing the same character from California Christmas, but it's still charming as ever. Gif courtesy of General Hospital.

19. The Holiday Calendar

Maybe next year I should also get an advent calendar for Christmas to help me with finding love.

20. Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up

Not as cute as the first, but still thoroughly enjoyable. Can't remember the last time a movie gave me such second-hand embarrassment. I need a third one in my life. Give me a rival Christmas town or something.

21. Christmas in Notting Hill

Seems like High King Peter made out just fine after being banned from Narnia.

22. Die Hard

John McClane isn't special. I could've done all this too.

23. Eyes Wide Shut

I mean it's Kubrick. It's perfect in every facet of filmmaking, but most importantly it captures Christmas better than any other film on my list. Existential crises are the backbone of the holiday.

24. A Christmas Story

It's not Christmas Day without this playing on cable in the background throughout the day. My personal favorite Christmas movie. Very heartwarming and filled to the brim with quotability.

25. It's a Wonderful Life

Another Christmas Day essential. The perfect feel good movie that makes me cry every time.

 

[Lily Adler]

Y'all didn't break out this gem: