Badder Santa (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: The greatest christmas movie ever!!! (for adults of course)
Review: Forget Billy Blanks and 8 minute abs, just watch Bad Santa and you are guaranteed abs of steel. This is a well rounded movie it made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt...and it made me cry becuase I laughed so hard. This movie is a wonderful change in the genre of Holiday movies, a Darker, foul-mouthed change, and it is great. Billy Bob thorton plays kind of a super hero who is a drunk, profanity spouting mall santa by day the day and a Safe-cracker by night. In this Dark Comedy you will see santa doing things that you would never, and could never picture him doing, like beating up kids, little people (midgets)and drinking and having sex when ever and where ever possible. The co-stars are hillarious, and the story is great. Honestly, I watched 6 movies in the past 3 months and Bad Santa was 3 of them. Women enjoy this movie too, as a matter of fact my girlfriend introduced me to the film and she loved it soooooo much she watched it 4 times. Bottom line if you like dark comedies, enjoy laughing at other peoples misfortune, or just want to work on your sixpack, you will love bad Santa. If you did'nt see it yet, go see it, if you did than see it again (as if you already have'nt). I have'nt laughed that hard in a long time. I cant wait for this to come out on DVD so that I can own it forever!!!
~Savage Mowan

Rating:
Summary: Yes, I get it--it's not funny
Review: I have no problem with foul language, sex, etc. (I'm a huge Tarantino fan), but I AM offended when a Rated-R movie relies so heavily on 4th grade humor. When "Santa" swears at kids, it's funny once...maybe twice, but this movie pummels the joke into the ground.

The positives of this movie--John Ritter is actually funny (for once) in his role as the uptight store manager, and Bernie Mac is intermittenly good as the store detective. Other than that, there are maybe 2 or 3 laugh-out-loud moments (unless you're VERY easily amused by foul language in and of itself--in that case the movie would be a laugh-fest).

The negatives--Where do I begin? Most of all, there is so much that's just not believable, and nothing about the film made me willing to suspend my disbelief. One example (of many) is that Lauren Graham's character is just crazy about Billy Bob's pathetic drunk loser of a character (it starts b/c she's got a Santa fetish, okay, but why does she STAY with him??). And again, the one-trick pony of Santa swearing at kids--not funny the last 42 times.

To be clear, I love irreverant humor--GOOD irreverant humor, such as early Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy), South Park (the movie and the show), George Carlin standup, Family Guy and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Bad(der) Santa is just not funny enough.

Overall, I think this movie would appeal most to kids age 8-11 (or certain adults--you know who you are), for whom all that is needed to induce laughter is mention of a naughty word, or a kick in the crotch. Otherwise, there are much better ways to spend 90 minutes.



Rating:
Summary: Lighten up people - this movie is GREAT!
Review: I just rented this movie & intend to buy it.

It is well worth seeing if you like to laugh!
However, I wouldn't let children
watch it.



Rating:
Summary: FOR THOSE WHO LOVE DARK COMEDY
Review: If you love comedy, especially dark comedy then this is the movie for you. When I first saw the commerical on TV I knew I had to see this movie and I was right- it was excellent. Movies arent meant to be the same and I have never seen a Santa like this before!!!! It's a collectible item if you ask me and a must have. People with a sense of humor shouldn't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: My kind of Christmas movie
Review: In a season of sugary crap, there is finally a choice of watching something that is not covered in molasses and served w/ a bow on top. This is a crude, rude, totally messed up, and absolutely hillarious film. I think I'll have it running on a permanent loop for years to come. Until I have kids that is, then I'll have to watch it really late at night :)

Rating:
Summary: A Funny Contrast to The Christmas Story
Review: It's true, most reviews I have seen, they have described "Bad Santa" as a Christmas movie for cynics. Billy Bob Thornton takes a huge risk with the leading role, as a hard drinking, swearing, unkempt department store Santa with a fetish for plus-size women.
Let me be completely frank...although I admit most kids nowadays have been seasoned with the F-word, I think the language in the movie alone would dissuade most parents from screening it for young children. This is for adults, folks. Anyway, Bad Santa teams up with his partner, Marcus (who masquerades as a black elf) to rob department stores every Christmas. They have an interesting modus operandi..get jobs at the mall at Christmas time as Santa and elf, break in after hours, and abscond with the store's safe contents and assorted loot. Next season, different city, different mall, and so on. Thornton's Santa, real name Willie, is portrayed with no redemptive qualities. He is talked every year into the robbery scheme by his diminutive partner Marcus. Let's face it..Willie is only good at two things..drinking and safe cracking. The fact that Willie can barely tolerate people and hates children creates a great deal of comedy in itself. His exchanges with the children who sit on his lap and the department store manager (well played by the late John Ritter)are both shocking and funny in their audacity.
Anyway, through a bizarre set of circumstances involving a young boy (it was a stroke of genius for the director to cast the child as a fat, socially inept stalker) and a kinky bargirl who has a fetish for Santas, Willie goes through a slight reformation..sort of. Don't get me wrong..there are no "It's a Wonderful Life" brush strokes of cinema in here. "Bad Santa" knows why some people spend Christmas in bars..and gets more than a few twisted laughs from its observations.

Rating:
Summary: Black Comedy At Its Best
Review: Not for the faint of heart -- but Billy Bob Thornton is a genius at portraying the low life Willie who indeed discovers that he has a heart of gold despite himself, and John Ritter is truly marvelous as the store manager. I particularly loved the ending, and Chloris Leachman as the addled granny, and the scene when they are decorating the Christmas tree, and the scene where Willy is setting up the lumeria, and the scene where the little kid discovers the aspirin in his Advent calendar..... I wouldn't recommend this to my mother or anyone else's mother, and probably wouldn't admit to most of my coworkers that I thought it was funny from beginning to end (yes, even the nasty parts).

Rating:
Summary: You smell like a bum's nut s__k
Review: Terry Zwigoff (Crumb) directs this masterpiece. Though the movie was one long curse, there was a lot to be gained from this movie. One, it was non-stop hilarious. Two, the acting was done so well, I mean Billy Bob could have played that role better?!?!?! How? John Ritter couldn't have played that up tight serious role better either.

Speaking of John Ritter, his two movies with Billy Bob Thornton are marvelous, Bad Santa and Sling Blade, absolute perfect 10 movies. I must say I was surprised by Ritter's role, but he played it excellent. Bernie Mack, again, magnificent performance. He played a corrupt manager, in charge of security. He played a very serious character, but again, he could have played it any better.

Now Tony Cox, drop dead funny, almost every single line. The part where Cox and Billy Bob were sitting at the bar, and Billy Bob tells him he can't drink for s__t. Cox looks at him and says, I weigh 92lbs you d__k. I almost fell off the couch laughing.

This is far from a film for the whole family. Yes it is funny because of the cursing, and the situations Thornton causes for himself. However, it is a cleaver movie in its own way, and deserves at least 1 solid rental. Though I would recommend to most to just buy the movie.

Grade: A-


Rating:
Summary: Boo! Hiss! Puke!!!
Review: This film makes American Pie look like Citizen Kane!! How could anyone give this anything higher than one star!! Apparently, there are more people than I could have imagined living in mom's basement!! How could anyone find a film about a grown man using fairly constant hardcore profanity in front of children entertaining? Personally, it was "creeping" me out in a "bad touch" kind of way (if you get my meaning)! Forget all the controversy regarding the degrading of Santa; this was obviously just a bad case of celluloid abuse, period, end of story!! When did we as a society finally give up and decide that neurotically dysfunctional abusive people were now to be considered a form of entertainment?? I hate to sound preachy but I see film as an art form that should be entertaining, artistically edifying and relevant! This is none of those! Don't get me puritanically wrong, I thought a film like "The Big Lebowski" was hilarious at times! Sure, it wasn't a masterpiece but it did tickle our mental bone and pushed our surreal buttons once and a while!! Bad Santa, one the other hand, caters to the basest areas within human nature and it is neither funny nor entertaining!! Actually, it is kinda sad!!

Rating:
Summary: The greatest christmas movie ever!!! (for adults of course)
Review: This is a well rounded movie it made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt...and it made me cry becuase I laughed so hard. forget Billy Blanks and 8 minute abs, just watch Bad Santa and you are guaranteed abs of steel. Billy Bob thorton is genius, the co-stars are hillarious, and the story is great. Honestly, I watched 6 movies in the past 3 months and Bad Santa was 3 of them. Women enjoy this movie too, my girlfriend watched it 4 times becuase she loved it soooooo much. The Bottom line is if you like comedies than you will love bad Santa. If you did'nt see it yet, go see it, if you did than see it again (as if you already have'nt). I have'nt laughed that hard in a long time. I cant wait for this to come out on DVD so that I can own it forever!!!
~Savage Mowan