Bad Santa (2003)

I believe this is the film that inaugurated the "Bad" sequences of films which has since encompassed grandpa's, mom's, and teachers. The "Bad Santa" of the title is Willie T. Soke (played perfectly by Billy Bob Thorton) an oft drunk and perpetually ornery mall Santa who along with his elf Marcus Skidmore (Tony Cox) have for years been running a scam where they travel around the country and rob the malls they work at on Christmas Eve. This time in Arizona Willie is good naturedly stocked by a rather awkward and odd fat kid named Thurman Merman (Brett Kelley) who he reluctantly ends up befriending and who might just rekindle what good is left in the old grump. It took me awhile to get into this one but in the end it won me over, its strangely sweet in it's own way. Bernie Mac, Ethan Phillips, Octavia Spencer and Cloris Leachman have small rolls, and this was John Ritter's last live action film. Lauren Graham plays Willie's love interest, and I'd forgotten just how beautiful she looked in her mid 30's, I'm not saying she doesn't still look great, but in her mid 30's, wow. ***

The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)

Cinematic hit-piece from Hammer films choses to focus only on Frankenstein's evil qualities and ignore the good. That's a joke of course but it kind of works because this is not a good movie, mostly it feels lazy and cheap. This lackluster and belated follow up to 1957's The Curse of Frankenstein and 1958's The Revenge of Frankenstein has Peter Cushing again playing Dr. F, this time returning to his home castle roughly 10 years after the events of the first two films to resume is research, and like previously things don't work out that well for him. Though generally unimpressive perhaps the most memorably bad thing about this film is the monster itself, very different from the innovative look of Christopher Lee as the creature in the first film, this time the ghoul (played by New Zealander wrestler Kiwi Kingston) is a kind of puddy variation on the classic Boris Karloff take and looks plan terrible. Lame. **

Night Creatures (1962)

Can the local legend of mysterious "Marsh Riders" help kindly vicar Peter Cushing keep safe his charity driven wine smuggling operation, now that The Kingsmen have come to town looking for tariff avoiders? Or are people of the 1790's too sophisticated to fall for that kind of thing? And what of Captain Clegg, the mysterious pirate buried in the church yard? Or rakish Oliver Reed, the squires son and his love for the busty serving wench Imogene (Yvonne Romain, whose accent was such that I surprised to learn that she was born in England)? This Hammer Studios production struck me a bit for its relative originality and complexity of plot. **1/2

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

A satisfying expansion on the Harry Potter cinematic universe, based loosely on an early faux text book by Potter creator J. K. Rowling, the film follows eccentric English wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne, perfectly cast) on a 1926 visit to New York City with a suitcase full of magical creatures, some of whom inevitably escape. Scamander stumbles upon some darker, ominous goings on while in New York and assembles a small group of friends, Hermione-esque Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein (Katherine Waterston, daughter of Sam Waterston), a No-Maj (American slang for Muggle) Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) as Ron-like comic relief, and Tina's Luna Lovegoodian sister Queenie (Alison Sudol). Those four seem set to make up the casting base for what apparently will be a trilogy of films. The movie is fun and exquisitely well constructed, with a screenplay written by Rowling herself. While there is a lot new in Fantastic Beasts, there really isn't a lot "new" to it. Rowling plays it safe setting up an archetype heavy story arc, but frankly its what we want to see from her and as long as she keeps filling it with interesting people, places and things, this series will prove excellent cinematic comfort food. ***

Boy and the World (2013)

Oscar nominated Brazilian animated film is not what I expected it to be. Here is the films summery from Wikipedia : "Cuca is a boy who lives in a distant world, in a small village in the interior of his mythical country. One day, he sees his father leaving in search of work, embarking on a train towards an unknown capital. The weeks that follow are of anguish and confusing memories. Until then, one night, a breath of wind breaks into the bedroom window and takes the boy to a distant and magical place." This story about a young boys search for his father is rendered as a small child might depict his first outing into the larger world, with an animation style that often looks of crayon, pencil and collage, but is also very interested in patterns. I thought I was going into a very simple, heartwarming, child like story but this film has a surprisingly darker edge, but presented in a muted and indirect way that will come up and surprise an adult viewer, but whose implications might not fully register in younger children. Boy and the World is in fact a work of South American leftist social/economic critique, and a powerful one. Maybe not quite a children's story by Che, but one by Chomsky. I must confess I was moved by the ending. ***1/2

Nightmare (1964)

Blah Hammer film about gaslighting. **

Arrival (2016)

Contact meets Interstellar meets Gravity. I wish I could have cared more. ***