Don't believe what you hear about "Bad Santa." You know, the people who formed an opinion without evidently bothering to see it first. All those critics' knee-jerk reactions -- what an outrage!
You might think I'm referring to the puritans who criticized it sight-unseen for polluting the minds of impressionable youngsters. Oh, those critics are asses, alright. But I'm speaking instead of guys like the usually reliable Roger Ebert and the seldom reliable Elvis Mitchell, both of whom gushed over the crappiest movie I've paid to see in roughly ten years. Ebert even hints at ulterior motives, claiming not to be swayed by the movie's hipster quotient. I'm a fan of Terry Zwigoff's last two movies, Billy Bob Thornton doesn't bug me the way he does some people, and I like Bernie Mac a lot. But they were working from a shockingly bad script, which the Coen Brothers themselves (who co-produced the film) polished up. I shudder to think how bad it was before they got hold of it. The half-baked social commentary -- which boils down to "Christmas is hypocritical" -- doesn't make up for a nearly total absence of laughs. The critical praise of this movie is wishful thinking, or else simple shilling on behalf of a promising underground director. Almost makes me wish I'd seen "Elf" instead.
Posted by Vernam at December 2, 2003 10:50 PM | TrackBackWurd. I saw it because it was supposedly so "dark" and "cynical" and, egads "subversive." I read the same two reviews and left sorta scratching my head. It was paper-thin and lame. Maybe it's subversive in, I dunno, Iowa?
And deano, "Slingblade" features an appearance by Vic Chesnutt. What more can a boy ask for?
I must be 'some people.' We finally rented a copy of Slingblade. What is all the fuss about? I've honestly never heard anyone who actually speaks like that. It sounded like an 8th grader, doing a 'spooky voice.'
thankfully, I haven't heard any of his music.
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And on Ringo, it's a shame he didn't understand that his participation is supporting the military propaganda machine. Humanizing our war infrastructure.
I guess he just got wrapped up in the Christmas spirit. He's got more than his share of holiday tunes out there; he might be thinking only about the kiddies.
Hmmm, wonder if there is a forum page on his website. Maybe we can influence him to rethink.