Movie Review: Violent Night

Violent Night (2022) 

Directed by Tommy Wirkola 

Written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller

Starring David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Leah Brady, Alexis Louder

Release Date December 2nd, 2022 

Published December 2nd, 2022 

I've long had an aversion to Christmas themed horror movies. I'm a big fan of the innocence of Christmas. I love that I was part of maintaining my Goddaughter's belief in and love of Santa Claus which has continued long after many other kids lost their sense of magic. Santa Claus is sacred to me and thus I have a strong distaste for movies that score points on making Santa look bad. It's one of the rare places in popular culture where I become a pearl clutching media watchdog. I worry about little kids who might see Santa portrayed as a murderer and lose their sense of his magic. 

Thus, my initial reaction to hearing about the new movie Violent Night, was a pit in my stomach. Here is a completely mainstream movie that was set to place Santa Claus, played by Stranger Things star David Harbour, an actor beloved among a relatively young audience, in a bloody, violent, horror movie context. I was more than just skeptical of Violent Night, I was worried that it could be a watershed moment in the horror portrayal of Santa Claus. That makes this review a bit of a catharsis for me as my worries have been allayed by seeing the movie. Violent Night may place Santa in a violent and bloody story but at least he's the hero in this story. It's a little thing, but it made it easier to take and even enjoy. 

Violent Night introduces us to a Kris Kringle who has lost his smile. As we meet Santa on Christmas Eve, he's getting very, very drunk before heading out for his night of delivering presents to kids. Meanwhile, the gears of the story begin to turn as we meet the Lightstone family. Dad, Jason Lightstone (Alex Hassell), and mom, Linda (Alexis Louder), are spending Christmas together for the sake of their daughter, Trudy (Leah Brady). Mom and Dad have split up but Trudy is hopeful they can be reunited. In fact, mom and dad are at the center of Trudy's Christmas wish for her family to be whole again. 

The family is reuniting for one final Christmas with the uber-rich Lightstone family. Jason is planning to abandon the family business and has concocted a convoluted plan. Also attending the Lightstone family Christmas are Jason's greed addled sister, Alva (Edi Patterson), Alva's airhead, movie star boyfriend, Morgan Steele (Cam Gigandet), and Alva's influencer son Burt (Alexander Elliott. Overseeing the whole Christmas get together is the imperious mother of the Lightstone clan, Gertrude (Beverly D'Angelo), a corrupt businesswoman who may or may not have $300 million in cash stored in her basement. 

That would explain why the Lightstone Family Christmas is overtaken by terrorists led by Jimmy Martinez (John Leguizamo), codename Ebenezer Scrooge. Jimmy and his team infiltrated the family Christmas under the guise of caterers and are in place for a violent takeover once the family is all in the same room. What they don't know is that someone else is crashing Christmas, a drunk Kris Kringle is has dropped in and it's no surprise that Jimmy and his entire team are on Santa's naughty list. 

Read the complete review at Geeks.Media 

Classic Movie Review Jeanne Dielman 23 Commerce Quay 1080 Brussels

Jeanne Dielman 23 Commerce Quay 1080 Brussels (1975) 

Directed by Chantal Akerman 

Written by Chantal Akerman 

Starring Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Jacques Doniol Valcroze 

Release Date May 14th, 1975 

Published Unknown 

Jeanne Dielman stars Delphine Seyrig as the title character, a housewife, mother and sex worker named named Jean who lives in Brussels. Jeanne's life consists of a very specific routine. She has sex with anonymous men in the afternoon, for exactly the length of time it takes for potatoes to properly boil. The men pay her and leave and she cleans up in the shower before finishing the preparation of dinner just in time for her son, played by Jan Decorte, to arrive home. The following day we see more of the routine as Jeanne wakes before her son, makes breakfast and shuttles him off to school. She makes the beds, cleans up around the house and for maybe an hour, she watches the baby of her chatty neighbor. 

Then Jeanne runs errands. She may stop for a cup of tea but then it is back home for her client, her shower, dinner and a clipped and brief conversation with her son. And on, and on, and on, the routine is laid out with some of the most mundane tasks of Jeanne's life, such as her shower routine or the peeling of potatoes, or the attempt to have one nice cup of coffee. These scenes play out in real time, of sorts and you are asked to either observe the mundane nature of these actions or let your mind wander into these scenes and find a story or a way to amuse yourself. 

Through the forces of visual filmmaking director Chantal Akerman tells us that the protagonist of Jeanne Dielman is a sex worker. We see her with an older man, they are familiar but not particularly intimate. He says he will see her next week as he hands her a handful of bills. There is no need for us to have seen them have sex or make the arrangements for the sex act, a hand full of bills and minor pleasantries, in the hands of a great filmmaker, can be all it takes to tell a story that introduces a character. 

Then it is off to the bath. This isn't presented in a way that caters to the male gaze, Jeanne is seated in the tub, mostly obscured, this about the act of cleaning, not eroticism. This extends to a jump cut when it is time for Jeanne to get out of the bath. The jump cut from Jeanne seated in the bath, to Jeanne nearly finished dressing is visually important here. The jump cut prevents ogling or fantasizing. The way Jeanne cleans up after work is intended to show you how this is just an aspect of her job, the lack of specific nudity, the jump cut, are a visually dynamic reminder that this isn't intended as anything other than part of a work a routine.  

Jeanne's life is an example of the expectation of extreme patriarchy, the expectations placed on a woman in an extreme idea of patriarchy, one where a woman's life is dedicated to what men want or expect. The casual misogyny of this idea is portrayed in a conversation between Jeanne and her son, Sylvaiin (Jan Decorte). He says, "If I were a woman, I could only make love with someone if I were deeply in love." She replies, How could you know? You're not a woman." Sick burn. He doesn't appear to know that his mother is a sex worker, he's reacting to the rather matter of fact way she referred to her late husband, his father. He doesn't understand yet that men like him have dictated to women like his mother who their sexual partners should be, how a woman is intended to cater to the needs of men, regardless of their desires. 

Click here for my full length review

Movie Review Darby and the Dead

Darby and the Dead (2022) 

Directed by Silas Howard 

Written by Wenona Wilms, Becca Greene 

Starring Riele Downs, Auli'i Cravalho, Chosen Jacobs 

Release Date December 2nd, 2022 

Published November 30th, 2022 

Darby and the Dead posits the story of a child being able to speak to the dead as something non-traumatic. By the logic of this movie, Darby gained the gift of speaking to the dead following a near-death experience as a young child. That same day she also lost her mother though she didn't get to talk to her after death. Since that young age, Darby has made it her mission to help the dead move on to the afterlife by wrapping up their unfinished work on Earth. 

This entails talking to living family members and facilitating reconciliations or resolving disputes. A final goodbye or an I'm sorry or an I love you, is often all it takes to help the dead to their final resting place. But, what if someone dies and has no idea what their unfinished business on Earth is? That's the case for High School Queen Bee, Capri (Auli'i Cravalho) dies in truly stupid fashion while bullying Darby. As a ghost, Capri has no idea what her unfinished business is supposed to be. 

This means that she must convince Darby to help her, despite Capri having treated her poorly while she was alive. Her first idea is that she needs a spectacular Sweet 16 party. Capri is convinced that if she has an epic party in celebration of her that this will send her off to the afterlife. However, for Darby to pull this off, she will need to convince Capri's popular girl entourage, still mourning their Cheer Captain and friend, to throw this amazing party. 

Obviously, these popular girls are not about to listen to dorky Darby tell them to have a party for Capri. So, Capri sets about turning Darby into a popular girl. This includes a makeover montage and convincing Darby to become a cheerleader, something she used to do before her mother died. After a lot of convincing, involving annoying the heck out of Darby with insistent yakking, Darby agrees and the plot of Darby and the Dead works through the gears of teen movie clichés. 

Click here for my complete review of Darby of the Dead at Geeks.media