I like Billy Bob. The ads are funny. I'd like to go see this movie. Is it any good? Anyone seen it? (And is that that late John Ritter I see in the ads? Is he in it?)
I like Billy Bob. The ads are funny. I'd like to go see this movie. Is it any good? Anyone seen it? (And is that that late John Ritter I see in the ads? Is he in it?)
It's getting either "It's great!" or "It's awful!" reviews. Which probably means it's pretty good.Originally Posted by Mark Asher
It's apparently very dark, tasteless, and yes, it has John Ritter in the straight man role.
Doug, I, and 2 other friends are so psyched to see this.
I haven't seen the movie but yea John Ritter is definitely in it
I saw it tonight. Let's just say it's motherfucking funny as shit, which is keeping in the spirit of the film.
It's a great, black-hearted comedy. Billy Bob Thornton is great. It has Bernie Mac, who's like the new Bill Murray in that he makes everything funnier than it probably really is. And there's a lot of swearing. And Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls with a Santa fetish.
Interestingly enough, I just watched the trailer and the opening scenes aren't in the final film; no Sarah Silverman at all.
Good. I'll go see it this weekend I think. Thanks for the sixty second review.
This is the funniest movie I've ever seen in a theater. The three Bs are a classic line, as is "I just beat the shit out of some kids."
This is the most pleasantly surprise I've ever had from a movie. My girlfriend wanted to see it more than I did, but Jesus, it is just jaw-droppingly funny from beginning to end.
I laughed a couple of times, but for the most part didn't find it that funny at all. I was surprised at how poorly constructed it seemed, and the film-makers seemed unable to decide if they were going to go for the normal Hollywood-style redemptive resolution or not, and so they went for a compromise which ended up being neither.
Too often the movie relied on shocking us with its unpleasantness and profanity to get a laugh, or any kind of reaction. It worked a few times, but over the course of 90 minutes this was a one-trick pony which quickly outstayed its welcome. I waited and waited for a few actual jokes, and to be fair there were a couple but for the most part this movie seemed to expect me to laugh because, oh, Billy Bob has pissed his pants, or because somebody shouted the words "Ass clown!" at him. Sorry, I like a nice low-brow romp as much as the next guy, but I like my profane antics to supply the humor, not be there in place of it.
Also, I can't remember the last time I saw a movie which so flagrantry wasted the brilliant Bernie Mac. He's in the poster more than he's in this movie, and when he's on screen they give him virtually nothing to do. For shame.
Too many "jokes" went nowhere, and meant nothing. At one point we're supposed to laugh because we see the words "stool softener" on a bottle of laxative. That's it. No context, no reason for Bernie Mac to have it on his desk. It's just there. Laugh, damn you! It says stool!
Hate to say it, but I thought Elf was a lot funnier.
Boo! I luv her. Obnoxious, funny, foul-mouthed, hot, plays poker.....Mmmm Saaaarah. Under used on Larry Sanders and Saturday Night Live, although SNL was not a good fit for her.
[img]http://drs.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=sarah+silverman/v=2/l=IVS/*-http://a104.g.akamaitech.net/7/104/33/b1b8aef383bb87/images.citysearch.com/profile/09/0c/35187578p1.jpg[/img]
Fat, newly-divorced Jimmy Kimmel bastard!
There was apparently some studio meddling to make it more of a normal "redemptive" movie and turn down some of the blackness, which might also explain some of the jokes that seemed to go nowhere.
All of your criticisms are totally valid, but I still laughed a ton throughout.
And she was in an episode of Voyager.Boo! I luv her. Obnoxious, funny, foul-mouthed, hot, plays poker.....Mmmm Saaaarah. Under used on Larry Sanders and Saturday Night Live, although SNL was not a good fit for her.
[img]http://drs.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=sarah+silverman/v=2/l=IVS/*-http://a104.g.akamaitech.net/7/104/33/b1b8aef383bb87/images.citysearch.com/profile/09/0c/35187578p1.jpg[/img]
Fat, newly-divorced Jimmy Kimmel bastard!
I read this review just before I went to see it, and had a moment where I thought, hmm, that sucks, maybe I should back out. Then I thought, well, it's one man's opinion and almost everyone else whose opinion I respect seems to like it. But I was oh so wrong.
So disappointing, too, especially since I'd just re-watched Crumb, which is Zwigoff's funniest film (maybe 'cause it was a documentary?). I think I've seen some elements of his comedic timing problems in Ghost World, too, but they were really on display here. The editing seemed off, every scene just petering out. Ending scenes without a laugh in an ostensible black comedy is a big mistake, but apparently Zwigoff doesn't subscribe to the "make 'em laugh and cut" method of comedic film-making.
The other problem I had was that all the main actors were bad. Billy Bob, the dwarf (possibly the least subtle comedian ever), the fat kid. Billy Bob was the best of the worst, I guess, but none of these guys seems to have the comedic talent to really get me laughing. Imagine Bill Murray in that role? I could only wish.
('Member Scrooged?)
I'm with steve and Ben on this one. I loved it for how brutally crass and unconventional it was. And not crass in a sophomoric Farrelly Brothers way, but crass in a mean-spirited adult way. The supposedly redemptive note didn't bother me in the least, especially after seeing it done so heavy-handed in Elf.
Vintage Billy Bob Thornton ("What the fuck is a Frazzle Stick Car?"). Fantastic writing ("Hey, this one has a candy corn!" "Well they can't all be goddamn winners..."). As someone who didn't really dig Ghost World, I thought Zwigoff's tone in Bad Santa was spot-on.
I can completely understand how some folks wouldn't like it, but it worked 110% for me. It might even end up on my Top Ten list.
-Tom
P.S. And thank god Bill Murray didn't do the role! It would have softened the tone way too much and robbed it of its edge. Besides, it's not like we needed a Christmas-themed remake of Quick Change.
-Tom
Blown away. I mean, I'm all for cancerous, bile-filled "adult" humour, with no lightening at all, but I didn't see it at all. It was pretty treacly when it wasn't just intentionally obtuse (almost every scene with Bernie Mac). In fact, so often it failed to deliver the goods it was setting up, getting really crass, that I left feeling almost everything was softened.
"It's a wooden pickle."
"Why'd you paint it brown?"
"I didn't. That's blood, where I cut myself."
-Tom
It's definitely a one joke movie, but that one joke is usually pretty funny.
"Good night, Santa. Good night, Mrs. Santa's sister."
-Tom
Are these lines really quotable? I thought they were mediocre at best.
Huh.
Used chink on a stand-up routine during Conan O'Brien.
"Well, goddammit, they can't all be winners."Are these lines really quotable? I thought they were mediocre at best.
Gary, we already know you have questionable taste based on your comments on Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, 28 Days Later, and now Bad Santa. Of course, you *are* British, so we'll cut you some slack and maybe even forgive your people for that wretched Love Actually movie.
-Tom, 100% 'merican
P.S. "Therman? Your name is Therman Merman? Jesus Christ, kid."
Looks like it breaks down as "people who think cursing is really funny" and "people who don't."
Close. It's "people who think cursing in front of little kids is really funny" and "people who don't".Looks like it breaks down as "people who think cursing is really funny" and "people who don't."
-Tom
Unfunny jokes aside, I think the thing that most bothered me about this movie was the way in which so many scenes just seemed to fizzle out, or go nowhere. I lost count of the number of times the little elf guy said to Billy Bob something like "Fuck, you're one fucked up motherfucker, motherfucker", and then they'd both just stare into their drinks and the scene would fade out, both literally and figuratively. It's as though the writers didn't have any idea how to construct a scene, so they just kept writing until they ran out of things for the characters to say to each other, then moved onto the next. Or maybe it was Terry Zwigoff trying to do something artistic; all I know is it seemed awkward and took me out of the movie.
Also, plenty of scenes that didn't need to be there or just plain didn't work. What was up with Bernie Mac stealing the MP3 player from the kid who was swiping Xbox games? I didn't think that was funny at all, not even in any kind of dark way. It was just mean. Where's the fun in that?
And yes, it's all subjective.
Maybe funny, if the kid who played him wasn't chosen solely on the basis that he was obese and kind of weird-looking. Another in a string of bad kid actors, what else is new? Also, that was another example of a scene that went nowhere (or was perhaps cut?) -- the ending with Billy Bob eyeing the pickle looked like they wanted to imply he was going to use it as a dildo on Lauren Graham, but then he just said something like, "I'm tired" and the scene ended. Maybe this movie will be seen as some kind of new form of comedy in a hundred years, like when our comic instincts are super-honed and we just imagine the jokes.
Hm. If you say so. But in addition to being so random it was funny, I thought it tied in nicely with the ending. And I quite enjoyed the kid's performance, even thought it consisted primarily of a blank dazed look.that was another example of a scene that went nowhere
"How could someone drop me on my own head?"
-Tom
If I had a nickel for every time Billy Bob said "Jesus Christ kid, what the fuck is wrong with you?" or "Are you fucking with me, kid?" I probably would have my ticket price back. Which would be quite nice, actually.
So, going back to the second post in this thread... everyone either loved it or hated it, and the split is roughly 50/50. Looks like Steve's initial comment was dead-on. Way to go Steve!
Spoilers, I guess. But this ain't exactly Bruce Willis being the final replicant shit here.
The ending was quasi-redemptive, but come on, having children watch Santa being gunned down as he tries to deliver a present? Sketch me up your plan?
This was the movie the Farrellys wish they could make. Low-brow but not so mindnumbingly stupid I want to punch everyone who laughs.
This was Bernie Mac's best work since The Player's Club, as he was essentially playing the same character.
Which reminds me, "was that how you got the upper hand?"
I can't believe the parents of the various child actors allowed them to participate.
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