Adieu l'ami (dir. Jean Herman, 1968) Adieu l’ami, also known in English by the literal translation Farewell, Friend and by the more generic Honor Among Thieves pairs two very different cinematic icons in a Christmastime heist story.  Alain Delon had already established himself as a star by 1968, having previously appeared in films directed by … Continue reading Adieu L’ami (1968)

The Silent Partner (dir. Daryl Duke, 1978) Miles Cullen is like most characters played by Elliott Gould, but with the crucial if indiscernible difference that he’s Canadian. He works as a teller at a bank branch located in a Toronto mall, but does not especially care about his job. It’s a little before Christmas, which … Continue reading The Silent Partner (1978)

Cash on Demand (dir. Quentin Lawrence, 1961) Harry Fordyce (Peter Cushing) is the manager of the Haversham [1] branch of the Colonial & City Bank. He is a stern boss whose only strong personal connection is to his wife and child. It is the day before Christmas Eve. Someone claiming to be an insurance investigator … Continue reading Cash on Demand (1961)

Pottersville (dir. Seth Henriksen, 2017) Let me take you back to the autumn of 2017. The world is not great. A mass shooting in Las Vegas. Northern California is on fire. We learn the extent of Harvey Weinstein’s depravity. Maltese journalist Daphne Caruanna Galizia is assassinated in a car bombing in the aftermath of the … Continue reading Pottersville (2017)

The Mothman Prophecies (dir. Mark Pellington, 2002) The Mothman, a winged humanoid creature, was reportedly sighted in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia between November 1966 and December 1967. The sightings became associated with a tragedy that occurred on December 15, 1967 when the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio collapsed, resulting in the deaths of … Continue reading The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

All is Bright (dir. Phil Morrison, 2013) Dennis Girard (Paul Giamatti) just got released from a Quebec prison after spending several years inside for burglary. He’s returning to his French-Canadian ex-wife Therese (Amy Landecker) with whom he has a daughter. A reunion between father and child proves impossible because Therese told their daughter that Dennis … Continue reading All is Bright (2013)

Fred Claus (dir. David Dobkin, 2007) Sometime in the indeterminate, pre-industrialized past, there were two brothers born to the Clauses (Kathy Bates and Trevor Peacock), Fred and Nicholas. Fred was born first, but was quickly overshadowed by the younger Nicholas, who distinguished himself as exceptional almost from birth. Nicholas was so good, in fact, that … Continue reading Fred Claus (2007)

Santa’s Slay (dir. David Steiman, 2005) We all know that Santa Claus gives gifts every Christmas, but what Brett Ratner’s one-time personal assistant proposes if what he instead is the malevolent spawn of Satan and some woman named Erica whose reign of terror was stalled for a millennium because he lost a curling match to … Continue reading Santa’s Slay (2005)

Santa with Muscles (dir. John Murlowski, 1996) [EXASPERATED SIGH] Okay, so, Hulk Hogan stars as Blake Thorn, a health food and fitness magnate with a cult of personality. He has an accident while dressed as Santa on the run from the police—please don’t ask why—that results in that very common form of amnesia found in … Continue reading Santa with Muscles (1996)

Black Christmas (dir. Sophia Takal, 2019) This Black Christmas seems like it was doomed from the start. The marketing campaign did it no favors, revealing key aspects of the plot in the trailer. I can understand the reason why they thought it was a good idea. This new film, much like the first remake in … Continue reading Black Christmas (2019)