This weekend, WAMG had the extreme pleasure of attending the White Christmas Sing-Along at the Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles.
For anyone that is a fan of this movie like we are, this was a glorious presentation, Normally known for live concerts because of its pristine acoustics, the Disney Concert Hall was transformed into a classic movie house, complete with big screen and all the holiday decorations one could ask for. Fans came dressed in their holiday best to celebrate the pre-Christmas eve festivities, complete with holiday drinks in the lobby lounge and carolers performing. It was a great day for the whole family.
The 1954 Paramount Pictures classic musical was a delight to see on the big screen. The film was the first to be shot using Paramount’s new Vista Vision process, with color by Technicolor. And just when you think a 64-year old movie is not going to hold up, it transports you back to a golden era of not only Hollywood, but America in general.
Stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye have a spot-on comic chemistry, along with the incredible singing talents of Rosemary Clooney, and the “Fred and Ginger” caliber dancing from Vera Ellen. (Fun Fact: Vera Ellen was not a singer, so Rosemary Clooney dubbed all of her singing parts resulting in Clooney singing with “herself” on the duets!)
The final spectacle of the afternoon came at the end of the movie where it begins to snow at the Columbia Inn in Pine Tree, Vermont. As it began to snow on screen, it began to snow in the theater, to the squeals and applause of delight from the audience. It was the perfect way to ring in Christmas 2018 in Los Angeles.
Fom 20th Century Fox, DIE HARD is getting the Ultimate Christmas Makeover with All-New Festive Trailer for the Holiday Season.
‘Twas the night before Christmas, at Nakatomi Plaza, The office party was festive, but soon interrupted by drama. Hans Gruber and his men, had forced their way in, And taken everyone hostage, trapping them within. But how could they know, there was a cop up above, John McClane had arrived, to win back his wife’s love. He would take them all out, winning everyone’s praise, Welcoming Christmas Day, with his favorite catchphrase.
YIPPEE KI YAY!
Bruce Willis is John McClane in the film that launched the billion-dollar action franchise, DIE HARD. McClane, a New York City cop, flies to L.A. on Christmas Eve to visit his wife at a party in her company’s lavish high-rise. Plans change once a group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), seize the building and take everyone hostage, McClane slips away and becomes the only chance anyone has in this beginning-to-end heart-stopping action thriller.
The DIE HARD – CHRISTMAS EDITION is now available on Blu-ray™ and Digital. All five DIE HARD films are also newly available on 4K Digital.
“I wanna wash my hands, my face, my hair with snow!”
The spirit of Christmas is alive and well at The Hi-Pointe Theater here in St. Louis. IT”S A WONDERFUL LIFE played last weekend to a nearly-sold out crowd – and that’s a big theater!
This Saturday, December 16th at 10:00am, head over to the Hi-Pointe for a WHITE CHRISTMAS
WHITE CHRISTMAS was made in 1954 (exactly 20 years before BLACK CHRISTMAS!) and was directed by Michael Curtiz. Bing Crosby teamed up with madcap funny man Danny Kaye and partnering with those two show biz pros as sisters were Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. One of the most popular films of 1954, WHITE CHRISTMAS opens and closes with the title song, while in between it’s filled with one great musical number after another. Crosby and Kaye play entertainers who went through W.W.II together and decide to host a fundraising event at the Vermont Lodge of their old commanding officer Dean Jagger. Apparently, Jagger’s lodge isn’t doing great business and is about to close. A high profile fund raising event is just the ticket to draw national attention to Jagger’s Vermont lodge and thereby, save the day! Not real complex plotting but watch it instead for the fifties fluff, lots of Technicolor being splashed about, each of the performers getting to do their schtick, and course, the required holiday finale at the end of the movie. And who can forget that dead girl in the attic with that plastic bag over her head (oh wait – I’m getting it confused with BLACK CHRISTMAS!)
WHITE CHRISTMAS is the third and final film of Hi-Pointe’s Classic Christmas Film Series (after HOME ALONE and IT”S A WONDERFUL LIFE) This Saturday morning (December 16th), you and your family will have the opportunity to see WHITE CHRISTMAS on the big screen when it plays at 10:00am at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe.
Admission is just $5.
Hi-Pointe Theatre is located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117
“Santa, you will never return to Earth, you belong to Mars now.”
SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS screens Thursday December 7th at 7:00pm at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue Maplewood, MO 63143).
What on Earth would we do if martians invaded and kidnapped Santa Claus for their own? Find out Thursday November 7th at Schlafly Bottleworks when The A Film Series presents a screening of the 1964 Christmas classic SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS!
Even though SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS is often listed as one of the ‘worst movies ever made’, it’s not as bad as you would think. The story is simple: Santa Claus is kidnapped by Martians to provide joy and toys to the children of Mars when they become overly depressed. Sounds like an ingredient for one of the worst movies of all time, right? Wrong! This movie is pure entertainment from beginning to end! It doesn’t ever get REALLY boring, instead having long stretches of goofy comedy that isn’t funny for the right reasons. The acting is mediocre at best, but I did like the sets they used. Very surrealistic, in my opinion. There is plenty of great dialogue to laugh at (i.e, “I wasn’t sleeping! I just haven’t been able to sleep these past few nights…I forgot how! So I was just practicing!”), most of it coming from clumsy Droppo, “the laziest man on Mars!”. The little children who are kidnapped by the Martians are a mix of wooden and dedicated. Of course, some scenes’ inadequacy are inexcusable! The polar bear costume is obviously fake and the Martian guns are Whammo Air Blasters that freeze people (who manage to keep moving and blinking, for some reason)! And it stars a 10-year old Pia Zadora as ‘Girmar’!
Scenes to watch for: the Martians use the robot Torg to kidnap Santa, but Santa makes him into a toy!; the ‘suspenseful’ space door scene; the ‘amazing’ toy conveyor belt; Droppo passing as Santa (antennae and all); and the final showdown between Voldar and Santa, utilizing bubbles, water guns, soldiers, and other conveniently placed toys! SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS is pure entertainment, in my opinion, and all those who speak against should be sent to Mars!
Don’t miss SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS December 7th at Schlafly Bottleworks
A Facebook invite for the event can be foundHERE https://www.facebook.com/events/128635064508094/
$6 for the screening. A yummy variety of food from Schlafly’s kitchen is available as are plenty of pints of their famous home-brewed suds.
“Culture Shock” is the name of a film series here in St. Louis that is the cornerstone project of a social enterprise that is an ongoing source of support for Helping Kids Together(http://www.helpingkidstogether.com/) a St. Louis based social enterprise dedicated to building cultural diversity and social awareness among young people through the arts and active living.
The films featured for “Culture Shock” demonstrate an artistic representation of culture shock materialized through mixed genre and budgets spanning music, film and theater. Through ‘A Film Series’ working relationship with Schlafly Bottleworks, they seek to provide film lovers with an offbeat mix of dinner and a movie opportunities.
“That’s all he ever wanted out of life… was love. That’s the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.”
CITIZEN KANE was supposed to screen at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series but becasue of the weather, it’s been pushed back a week. It’s now Saturday, January 20th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for KMOX. Admission is only $5
Is CITIZEN KANE the greatest film ever made? On a technical level, it may as well be. It’s at least the most groundbreaking film ever made. On a storytelling level, it’s an amazing achievement itself in that Orson Welles used such avant-garde techniques yet maintained an engrossing story. It’s a film full of contradictions and works perfectly because of them. Its over-the-top yet subtle, experimental yet accessible, quickly paced yet requiring of patience. Its considered the greatest film because of how it incorporates all these trademarks and the fact it basically reinvented the rules on how to make a movie. This must be credited to both Gregg Toland’s cinematography and Robert Wise’s editing as much as Orson Welles’ direction. This is probably the first film that could be considered so visually dense it required multiple viewings.
Oddly enough, in spite of the vast array of technical advances introduced in this film, it’s the story that one remembers. Welles is so often praised as a director, it’s easy to overlook the fact he was an accomplished actor also. Because of his multi-layered performance, Kane is a sympathetic individual instead of a cold hearted capitalist stock character. The screenplay by Herman J. Mankiewicz is so superb many argue he deserves as much credit as Welles. The hype on this one is really deserved. It really may as well be the greatest film of all time and now you’ll have th opportunity to see it on the big screen when it screens this Saturday morning (January 14th)
As we head into the holiday season, WAMG brings you our list of the Best Non-Traditional Christmas Movies to watch after the Holiday ham, pretty presents, and multiple viewings of WHITE CHRISTMAS, HOME ALONE and MIRACLE ON 34th STREET are a thing of Christmas Past.
Our choices are filled snarky mistletoe carnage and crafty comedy – Geek style. Santa Claus is coming to town in these “More Naughty Than Nice” films.
We’ve made a list and checked it twice with our lineup of not just the 20 Best holiday films but the Top 21 Non-Traditional Christmas Movies. After the success of KRAMPUS, we just had to add it!
We kick off our list with our Honorable Mention –
JINGLE ALL THE WAY
Christmas; It’s the most magical time of the year. High powered businessman Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger), is hard at work taking last-minute orders from customers to whom he just can’t say no; like his son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd), asking for the hottest action figure of the season — Turbo Man! Unfortunately, Howard is facing one BIG problem: It’s Christmas Eve, and Turbo Man has been sold out since Thanksgiving! Howard’s down-to-the-wire trek to find Turbo Man quickly turns into an odyssey wilder than he could have ever imagined. In the course of his seemingly endless Yuletide misadventures, he finds himself in a no-holds-barred fight-to-the-finish with a crazed postman named Myron (Sinbad), who is out to claim the last Turbo Man for his kid. It’s enough to scare away even the bravest of men. But to Howard, this is war — and he’s determined to win…no matter what!
20. SANTA’S SLAY
‘TWAS THE FRIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS… Hate to be the bearer of bad news — especially at Christmas but you’ve all been lied to… Santa (former WWE star Bill Goldberg) is not a jolly old man with a big smile handing out toys to good children, he’s the son of Satan who lost a bet 1,000 years ago and was forced into spreading Christmas cheer. Now his 1,000 years are up and he’s after one thing…REVENGE. Finally, his true colours are showing, and he’s taking out his anger on the residents of a small American town.Teenager Nicholas Yuleson finds out that his grandfather is actually the angel who won the bet and now that it is over, Santa Claus wants payback. Nicholas and his girlfriend Mary (Lost star Emilie De Ravin) try to escape from the Killer Claus and find a way to stop his reign of terror before it’s the end of Christmas as we know it.
19. SILENT NIGHT (2012)
In 1984, the slasher classic Silent Night, Deadly Night stunned audiences, was banned across America, and remains the most notorious Christmas movie in history. Now, Santa is back, and he’s got a brand new bag of tricks.
As their small Midwestern town prepares for its annual Christmas Eve parade, Sheriff (Malcolm McDowell of Halloween) and his deputy (Jaime King of My Bloody Valentine 3-D and “Hart Of Dixie”) discover that a maniac in a Santa suit is murdering those he judges as “naughty.” Their sins? Porn, adultery, greed… And he will make sure they rest in heavenly pieces. Donal Logue (Shark Night 3D), Ellen Wong (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Lisa Marie (The Lords of Salem), and Brendan Fehr (“CSI: Miami”) co-star in this brutal and darkly humorous tale of Christmas gone bad.
So you better watch out!!
18. DIE HARD 2
“Ah, what the hell; it’s Christmas!”
Bruce Willis returns as John McClane, an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time in DIE HARD 2. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife’s plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system. It’s now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.
“Just once, I’d like a regular, normal Christmas. Eggnog, a f****n’ Christmas tree, a little turkey. But, no. I gotta crawl around in this motherf****n’ tin can.
17. BLACK CHRISTMAS
BLACK CHRISTMAS (the 1974 version of course), generally acknowledged as the forerunner of the ‘slasher’ genre, is so graphic in its imagination that you don’t even need to see any gore or murder. BLACK CHRISTMAS, which holds up spectacularly well after almost 40 years, tells the tale of a group of sorority sisters that are hounded and harassed by a mysterious obscene crank caller. Circumstances take a disturbing turn when one of the poor gals winds up missing (She’s the one up in the attic throughout the movie! With the plastic bag over her head!). Up next is an investigation and the appearance of a few more dead bodies, ultimately leading up to a finale that will forever be etched in your mind when you tuck under the covers and prepare for sleep (which may actually never come). BLACK CHRISTMAS sports a stellar cast that includes Olivia Hussey (ROMEO AND JULIET), Margot Kidder (acting drunk and slutty), John Saxon (acting drunk and studly), Keir Dullea, and Andrea Martin (who would play the house mother in the forgettable 2006 BLACK CHRISTMAS remake). Add to the mix director Bob Clark, one of the most eclectic independent directors ever, and a born storyteller (the man was responsible for A CHRISTMAS STORY, PORKY’S, and CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS). No doubt, if Bob Clark could’ve copyrighted the slasher movie concepts and cliches that he created, he would’ve been just as famous as John Carpenter or Wes Craven, maybe even more.
16. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT
SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, the poster child for Holiday horror films, caused a huge stink when it was released back in 1984. Influential film critic Gene Siskel especially despised the film, going as far to list, on his syndicated TV show, the film’s producers by name and, wagging his finger like a sweater-vested church lady, wailed “shame, shame, shame” after each name. What got Siskel’s holiday hackles up was the distasteful idea to have a slasher film featuring Saint Nick as its bloodthirsty villain. It wasn’t even the first ‘killer Santa’ movie – CHRISTMAS EVIL from 1980 has that distinction) but SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is the most notorious because it had the balls to be released during the Christmas season and its holiday television ads attracted the ire of overly-sensitive parents, some of who actually went out and picketed various theaters in protest of it. Outraged moms and dads wrote letters to the film’s producers (“My little Billy is afraid to sit in Santa’s lap because of a TV commercial he saw for your disgusting film”). Consequently, the flick got pulled out of the cinemas and in some markets, including St. Louis, it was never shown theatrically at all. It eventually did find a big audience when it was released to video stores and several increasingly inferior sequels were spawned (though the great Monte Hellman directed part 3!). Lost in the controversy is that SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT was actually a pretty solid and scary horror flick. Of course it was never meant for kids, who would likely have been scarred for life if they had seen the opening sequence where an escaped criminal in a Santa suit rapes and kills off a kids mom while the child looks on. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT has plenty of fun bloody death scenes and some great one-liners.
15. ELVES
They don’t work for Santa anymore!
A Nazi doctor obsessed with eugenics decided to create a hybrid race of elves who terrorize a small town during Christmas. The only one who can save the day Christmas is Mike McGavin (Dan Haggerty of TV’s “Grizzly Adams”), the renegade Santa Claus.
14. BAD SANTA
Here’s probably the raunchiest comedy to be set in the holiday season. Thorton’s the most, vile ill-tempered mall Santa ever. He and his “elf” Marcus (Tony Cox) are casing the place for a Christmas Eve robbery for goodness sake! Luckily one of the original “kings of comedy” Bernie Mac as the place’s security chief is on to him. BAD SANTA was the last live action feature film work from John Ritter (who hires the two cons) and the movie’s dedicated to his memory. Also memorable is TV “Gilmore Girl” Lauren Graham as a gal who really, really likes ole’ St. Nick! Really. This was the second fiction feature directed by acclaimed documentarian Terry Zwigoff (CRUMB).
13. RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE
Rare Exports tells the tale of Pietari Kontio played by Onni Tomilla and his widowed Father, Rauno (apparently played by his real life father Jorma Tomilla) and their adventures on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in their tiny village that sits right next to the Russian border. Pietari and his friend cut through the fence separating the two countries to observe an American drilling crew who has arrived in secret (don’t American’s always have something to hide?) to bore a hole into a huge mountain that is actually a burial mound.
Shortly after the drilling starts children start to disappear and weird voodoo looking dolls are left in their place. The reindeer herd upon which the village depends has almost all been slaughtered, and eaten, by what appears to be humans, barefoot humans!
Two words… Gary Busey. Need more? How’s this… Gary Busey as a convicted killer named Millard Findlemeyer sent to the electric chair, only to return as a gingerbread man cookie with a vengenace! Something as dreadfully awesome as this could only come from the mind of low-budget, genre-schlock-meister Charles Band. The writer and director also even wrote and performed an original song for this modern cult Christmas classic. Put on your PJs, grab a glass of milk and fill yourself with the holiday spirit as a questionably sane Gary Busey plays an insane homicidal gingerbread man hellbent on killing the woman who had him killed. Merry Christmas!
11. SUSAN SLEPT HERE
This 1954 holiday set romantic comedy is actually narrated by an Oscar statuette! A struggling veteran screenwriter, played by the former baby-faced tenor of 30′s musicals Dick Powell, is surprised to find a spunky juvenile delinquent under the Christmas tree. It’s Debbie Reynolds, Queen Organa herself (yup, Carrie Fisher’s Mom) just a couple of years after the classic SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN. Also in the cast are future TV stars Anne Francis (“Honey West”) and Alvy Moore (Mr. Kimball on “Green Acres”). This is one of the early feature films directed by former Loony Tunes animator/director Frank Tashlin. Later he would guide the movie careers of Jayne Mansfield and Jerry Lewis.
10. DIE HARD
“All right, listen up guys. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except… the four a**holes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation.”
Warms the holiday heart, doesn’t it? NY cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is invited to his estranged wife’s Christmas Party “by mistake” and goes up against Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.” While not exactly your traditional holiday movie, this 1987 actioner will add a little spike to your glass of eggnog.
9. BETTER OFF DEAD
Sure, getting dumped for someone “more popular” doesn’t exactly set the mood for the holidays… But Lloyd doesn’t let that, or a crazed paperboy stop him from becoming a winner on the slopes! Well, except for the creative ways that he imagines killing himself… That slows him down a bit. There’s no better time for a dark John Cusack comedy than the holidays!
8. JACK FROST
A snowman might not be my first choice for reincarnation, but in Jack Frost, but that’s the card Jack, a father who is too occupied with his band than his family, is dealt after his untimely death in a car accident. As a snowman, he now has the opportunity to make things right with his son before returning to the afterlife. This snowman tale is sure to warm your heart this holiday season.
7. CHRISTMAS EVIL
John Water’s favorite Christmas movie is the 1980 oddity CHRISTMAS EVIL . After suffering a traumatic childhood experience involving his father in Santa Claus outfit, a disturbed toy factory worker fixates on Santa Claus in an unhealthy way. When Christmas cynicism pushes him over the edge, he takes on the role one Christmas eve to reward the good boys and girls – and to murder the cynics. So when he spies a little girl playing with her doll, that’s fine, she’s being nice – when he sees a little boy reading Penthouse, that’s a different matter.
CHRISTMAS EVIL is a suitably surreal entry in the Christmas horror sub-genre and John Waters described it best: ”CHRISTMAS EVIL has a grubby look and mucky atmosphere, as if it were shot using the same crap film they used to shoot those 1970s drive-in concession-stand ads where the food came out looking wretched when its intention was to lure patrons to the snack bar!” CHRISTMAS EVIL is like a murky, clumsily violent dream an alcoholic stepfather is having during the holidays while passed out in his recliner, translated to shoddy film stock – and that isn’t an effect commonly or easily achieved by any movie. A masterpiece.
6. THE ICE HARVEST
THE ICE HARVEST a great example of modern film noir set, naturally, on Christmas Eve in Wichita, KS. Everybody in the film, including the people you’re supposed to be rooting for, shows an unsavory side. Billy Bob Thornton showed his with equal parts of passion and cunning. John Cusack, playing a mob lawyer involved in a plot to swindle his employer and the local mob out of some money, played his role with enough subtlety that he passes for an attorney, and with enough venom to let us know life has treated him wrong (and he has returned the favor). Everyone else runs the gamut from fawning to mischievous to I-can’t-believe-I’ve-gotta-spend-the-holiday- doing-this angry. It’s no spoiler to reveal that the plot had enough twists to keep any mystery lover happy, but THE ICE HARVEST, based on the novel by St. Louisan (and Wichita native) Scott Phillips, carried far more laughs than the usual December comedy and was a dark, dark way to spend Christmas in 2005.
5. SANTA CLAUS (1959)
Badly dubbed over in English, the madcap Mexican import SANTA CLAUS from 1959 is a peculiar pinata packed with pagan ritual, Arthurian legend and Western malarkey. SANTA CLAUS was one of those whacked out K. Gordon Murray hybrid specials that the famed showman would purchase from Mexico, redub, and unleash to kiddie matinees. As weird as the original version of this film probably was, what with the wind up reindeer, and Satan (called Pitch), and Merlin, and the Chucky doll wearing the cowboy hat, and the Rolling Stones giant lips on the wall and the radar dish with the human ear in the center…you can just lump that all into the category of ‘cultural differences’. I am pretty sure that the original version was a harmless, if somewhat trippy, kid’s film. But once the “English Version” editors got done with it, the results defied description. SANTA CLAUS is aMexican fever dream of a kid’s Christmas movie, made by people who obviously hate children,
4. REINDEER GAMES
Get ready for the jingle bells. After being imprisoned for six years on a grand theft auto charge, Rudy Duncan and his cellmate Nick are finally going to be paroled. After hearing endless stories during his incarceration of Nick’s romantic correspondence to a woman named Ashley he has never met, Rudy is looking forward to returning to his family. When Nick is killed during a prison riot, Rudy decides to assume Nick’s identity and meet up with the unknown woman. Burdened with knowledge of Nick’s Indian casino employment past, Rudy finds himself in too deep with Ashley’s brother Gabriel and is forced to cooperate with a casino robbery that Gabriel and his gang have been planning with Nick in mind. Hold tight to that mug of hot chocolate – it’s going to be a bumpy sleigh ride.
3. REMEMBER THE NIGHT
This little known 1940 Paramount gem is slowly becoming a Christmas perrenial on the TCM (Turner Classics Movies) cable channel. Four years later stars Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck would team again for the landmark film noir DOUBLE INDEMNITY for director Billy Wilder. In this Preston Sturges story, Stanwyck’s once again is on the wrong side of the law. She’s a shoplifter in the custody of criminal prosecutor MacMurray who ends ups taking her with him to his family home for Christmas. Both actors would have great success in television decades later, Stanwyck with the western drama “The Big Valley” and MacMurray with the long-running family sitcom “My Three Sons”.
2. 3 GODFATHERS
This Western take on the Nativity story was filmed previously as a silent in 1916 and an early black and white “talkie” in 1936. This color version directed by movie master John Ford and starring his frequent collaborator John Wayne in 1948 is perhaps the best remembered. Three outlaws on the run come across a woman dying in an abandoned wagon alongside her infant. After she passes they take her baby and vow to travel across the merciless desert and deliver the child to the nearest town (at the risk of being caught by the law). Wayne’s two cohorts are Pedro Armendariz and Harry Carrey,Jr. (Senior starred in the 1916 film). Also in the cast are Ford stalwarts ward Bond, Ben Johnson, and Mildred Natwick.
1. EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
There is no wrong time to watch Edward Scissorhands! Tim Burton’s imagination combined with a score by Danny Elfman sets the tone for magic that is sure to brighten the holidays. Johnny Depp is wonderful as the sensitive, creative character of Edward… who is just a bit misunderstood. Oh, and try not to smile with delight as Edward makes it snow for the first time in their small town. It’s nothing short of spectacular!
And finally, our newcomer…
KRAMPUS
Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, a darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul, reveals an irreverently twisted side to the holiday.
When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.
All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.
The horror-comedy also stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Stefania Lavie Owen and Krista Stadler.
Krampus and his mischievous underlings have been created by the combined efforts of Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, both renowned for their epic work on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and King Kong, among many others.
Written and directed by Michael Dougherty (Trick ’r Treat), Krampus is co-written by Zach Shields and Todd Casey and produced by Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia and Dougherty.
The terrific score is by composer Douglas Pipes. (Interview)
DIE HARD Screens This Friday Night, December 23rd, at Midnight at The Hi-Pointe Theater ( 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117). Admission is only $5.
DIE HARD (1988) is one of the best and most iconic action films from Hollywood. Bruce Willis starred as NYPD Officer John McClane, who tries to save his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) and several of her co-workers and friends after being taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman )and his henchmen during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Willis’ witty and deadpan delivery personality, coupled with his never-say-die attitude and relentless attacks on the villains made him a force to be reckoned with, giving us a tough yet comedic performance. Most of DIE HARD takes place inside the Nakatomi Plaza, where you will find all the heart-pounding action as Gruber terrorizes his hostages and tries to rob the treasures within the building the process, while McClane takes on his henchmen one-by-one.
Alan Rickman did a wonderfully devious performance as Gruber, calm and crafty but cold enough to generate no sympathy. Bonnie Bedelia did a great job as Holly Gennaro – gentle, yet fearless. And, Reginald VelJohnson was memorable as Sgt. Al Powell. Highlights are Powell communicating with McClane inside the building, giving him the will to stay tough with all the bad guys around him. With DIE HARD, Director John McTiernan gave us a sly, witty, realistic and sometimes dramatic action-thriller that is just as intense and riveting today as it was in 1988 and better than most or all of the big-class mimickers that have been released since.Don’t miss it when it screens December 1st at Schlafly Bottleworks.
Hi-Pointe Theatre is located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117
“Only I didn’t say fudge… I said THE WORD. The big one. The queen mother of all dirty words… the F-dash-dash-dash WORD!!!!”
A CHRISTMAS STORY(1983) is screening at 7:30pm Thursday December 22nd at Schlafly Bottleworks – 7260 Southwest Ave St Louis, MO 63143. Doors open at 6:30pm. It’s a fundraiser for Helping Kids Together. The film will be introduced by We Are Movie Geek’s own Tom Stockman!
I used an air rifle I got one Christmas growing up, but I never had a mail-in decoder ring which required me to consume mass quantities of Ovaltine, I never ran into bullies with yellow eyes, and I never took a dare to stick my tongue to an aluminum pole in the middle of winter. Of all the holiday films that have been released in the last thirty years, did anyone envision that the sleepy low budget film from 1983, generically titled A CHRISTMAS STORY, would be at the top of the almost everyone’s list? It actually bombed when first released in theater (though I saw it there twice) but has developed such an enormous following over the years, mostly through cable TV airings, that it probably is #1 on more favorite Christmas movies list than anything. Who would have thought Bob Clark, director of terrifying low-budget horror movies such as BLACK CHRISTMAS and DEATHDREAM (as well as the raunchy comedy hit PORKY’S) could capture such an innocent and nostalgic slice of life?
A CHRISTMAS STORY captured the idealism and–yes—the sadism of being a kid. Childhood is a crazy mix of hero worship, toy envy, survival of the fittest, daily fear of something, extreme innocence, and the desire to be treated as a grown-up without having to actually put up with being one. A CHRISTMAS STORY captures all these elements with sardonic poignancy. One of the greatest things about A CHRISTMAS STORY is ‘the Old Man’ played by Darren McGavin (61 when the film was made), who is constantly busy throughout the film, whether it’s battling the *#&*#@! furnace or trying to get his *#&*#@! car started or any other number of task that he becomes occupied with and cause him to cuss. He has very little dialog with Ralphie, yet it is he who in the end gets him his BB gun.
A CHRISTMAS STORY has a kind of timelessness that makes such a beloved piece of art, one we watch over and over and never get tired of it. Now you’ll have the chance to shoot your eye out and see A CHRISTMAS STORY in all its big screen glory and with an audience of fellow merrymakers when it plays 7:30pm Thursday December 22nd at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood (7260 Southwest Ave St Louis, MO 63143). Suggested admission is $6 but all of that money will support production of A FIT KID, an active lifestyle development program produced by Helping Kids Together (http://www.helpingkidstogether.com/), a St. Louis based social enterprise dedicated to building cultural diversity and social awareness among young people through the arts and active living.
Sponsored by Karl & Beckie Heinz
A yummy variety of food from Schlafly’s kitchen is available as are plenty of pints of their famous home-brewed suds. The bartender will be on hand to take care of you.
We hope to see everyone December 22nd! It’s better than sticking your tongue on frozen pole!
THE FACEBOOK Invite for the event can be foundHERE
“I wanna wash my hands, my face, my hair with snow!”
The spirit of Christmas is alive and well at The Hi-Pointe Theater here in St. Louis. IT”S A WONDERFUL LIFE played last weekend to a nearly-sold out crowd – and that’s a big theater!
This Saturday, December 17th at 10:30am, head over to the Hi-Pointe for a WHITE CHRISTMAS
WHITE CHRISTMAS was made in 1954 (exactly 20 years before BLACK CHRISTMAS!) and was directed by Michael Curtiz. Bing Crosby teamed up with madcap funny man Danny Kaye and partnering with those two show biz pros as sisters were Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. One of the most popular films of 1954, WHITE CHRISTMAS opens and closes with the title song, while in between it’s filled with one great musical number after another. Crosby and Kaye play entertainers who went through W.W.II together and decide to host a fundraising event at the Vermont Lodge of their old commanding officer Dean Jagger. Apparently, Jagger’s lodge isn’t doing great business and is about to close. A high profile fund raising event is just the ticket to draw national attention to Jagger’s Vermont lodge and thereby, save the day! Not real complex plotting but watch it instead for the fifties fluff, lots of Technicolor being splashed about, each of the performers getting to do their schtick, and course, the required holiday finale at the end of the movie. And who can forget that dead girl in the attic with that plastic bag over her head (oh wait – I’m getting it confused with BLACK CHRISTMAS!)
WHITE CHRISTMAS is the third and final film of Hi-Pointe’s Classic Christmas Film Series (after HOLIDAY AFFAIR and IT”S A WONDERFUL LIFE) This Saturday morning (December 20th), you and your family will have the opportunity to see WHITE CHRISTMAS on the big screen when it plays at 10:30am at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe.
Admission is just $5.
Hi-Pointe Theatre is located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE plays on the big screen at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, December 10th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117. Admission is only $5. Other Christmas films in December are WHITE CHRISTMAS at 10:30am 12/17 and DIE HARD at midnight 12/23.
“Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
It wasn’t until the 1980s when IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE became the perennial holiday favorite it’s known as today. The ultimate feel-good classic from director Frank Capra was a box-office disappointment when it was initially released in 1946. Due to a clerical error in 1974, the film went into public domain and was then shown on every low-rent local access channel in varying degrees of quality for years and was released on VHS by a variety of fly-by-night home video companies – including the infamous colorized version. In 1993 Republic Pictures enforced its claim to the film’s copyright. It stopped being televised as often but by then everyone had fallen in love with its charms and taken to heart its message: It’s not so much about what you leave behind when you die, but it’s more about how you use your life while you live.
This Saturday morning (December 12th), you and your family will have the opportunity to see IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE on the big screen (not the colorized version though) when it plays at 10:30am at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater as part of their 3-part Christmas Classics Movie Series. ( the final film – WHITE CHRISTMAS with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye – plays December 19th).
Admission is just $5. KMOX’s Harry Hamm will introduce the film.
Hi-Pointe Theatre is located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117
