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Cover Up (1949)

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I'm going to cut right to the spoiler warning, because Cover Up is a delightful Christmas mystery that fans of noir (and the era in general) deserve to experience without having the story, ending, or even tone spoiled. It's the sort of movie that leaves me confused as to why it's not already considered a classic. That's not to say it's perfect - aspects of the last act are a bit underwhelming - but it's extremely good, compelling, and unlike any other film from the era I've come across. And, like any good mystery, it's better seen without being familiar with the synopsis. You've been warned. For those left, in the first paragraph I recommended this for fans of noir, but I didn't outright identify it as such. Others have, and it certainly bears hallmarks of the pseudo-genre: black and white cinematography, heavy use of shadow, expressionist elements... you know the drill. But ultimately the film almost feels like an anti-noir, leaning more towards...

Book Review: The Kingdom of Sweets

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Book Review: The Kingdom of Sweets Erika Johansen, 2023 This year, I'm looking at a handful of interesting retellings of holiday classics, starting with this very different take on the Nutcracker.  Premise: A party. A magical toy from a mysterious man. A trip to a wondrous land of sweets. Plus betrayal, torture, and death. Not a story for kids. So I have to admit that I was annoyed fairly early on in this book because it's a dark fantasy based on the Nutcracker, only it's about Clara's goth sister, and yet her name is NOT Marie. I mean, the idea of there being two girls was right there!  But no, the goth bluestocking sister is called Natasha. Natasha and Clara are twins, but Nat was supposedly cursed at their christening by Drosslemeyer, while Clara was blessed. Clara grew up beautiful and sweet, but a bit vapid, while Nat is spiky and awkward and reads books and learns the servants' names.  I was worried early on that the book would lean too hard in her being ...

The Suspect (1944)

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The 1944 noir film, The Suspect, certainly doesn't qualify as a Christmas movie under any definition I use, and I doubt you'll find many people who've seen it and disagree. That said, a short but pivotal scene is set during the holidays, which are utilized in a manner that's both unusual and interesting enough to warrant discussion here. In addition, the movie as a whole is fairly interesting, so I don't mind giving it a bit of exposure. The film stars Charles Laughton, who's perhaps now best known for his sole directing credit, The Night of the Hunter, a 1955 film with similarly dubious yuletide credentials (though that's often counted as a Christmas movie for thematic reasons). While The Night of the Hunter is now (rightly) regarded as a classic, it was considered a failure at the time, which is why it's Laughton's only credited turn as a movie director. He was, however, considered a fantastic actor (also rightly). The Suspect is set in 1902 London...

The Merry Gentlemen (2024)

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The Merry Gentlemen is essentially a Hallmark Christmas movie with a premise Hallmark would never touch: a Broadway dancer in a Rockettes analog returns home to the small town where she grew up, then uses her abilities to save her family's pub by producing a show consisting of male strippers (and she finds love in the process, but you already assumed that). It's no surprise Netflix picked this one up - in addition to being less adverse to risqué subject matter, they've been pushing the "high-concept Christmas romcom" angle even more aggressively than Hallmark recently. And with good reason - there's a shocking volume of these coming out every year, and offering up content with a provocative description is an effective way to garner attention and views. And "Hallmark Christmas Magic Mike" is certainly attention grabbing. Speaking of which, I should probably acknowledge that I haven't actually seen the Magic Mike movies. I did see The Full Monty a ...

What If...? Season 2: What If... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas? (2023)

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At the time I'm writing this, I'm six episodes into season 2 of "What If...?" and my largest takeaway might be that Disney bullocked the release of this season majorly. The first season, you may recall, felt like an event: it was treated like a significant series, episodes were released weekly, and it was widely discussed. The second season, in contrast, feels closer to the release of those Groot shorts: I doubt most subscribers of Disney+ even realize the show dropped one a day over Christmas. And that's kind of a shame because, with the exception of a couple lackluster episodes, the first six installments of this season might be better on average than those in season one. The bad news for our purposes is I'm counting the one we're here to discuss among those "lackluster episodes." Released on December 24th, "What If Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?" is basically what you'd expect: a holiday action/comedy homage to Die Hard centered ar...

Merry Christmas [Hindi] (2024)

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It's almost easier to describe Merry Christmas as a neo-noir that serves as a throwback to American noir Christmas films of the '40s and '50s, as well as Hitchcock's mysteries, and leave it at that. Only doing so ignores the fact it's an Indian film set in Mumbai and filmed simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil and based on a French crime novel called "Le Monte-charge" which was previously adapted into a 1962 film called, "Paris Pick-Up" (which I'm absolutely adding to my watchlist, despite a sinking suspicion I'll never find a copy). All of which is to say the movie is an intricate web of references and homages spanning continents and eight decades, some of which I'm qualified to discuss and others... not so much. The movie is dedicated to a famous Indian director, and dialogue in the movie itself references what I assume are Indian films inspiring Merry Christmas - I'm sure there are layers I'm missing because I lack a backgroun...

Dear Santa (2024)

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A throwback to '80s and '90s kid's comedy genre flicks (think Small Soldiers), Dear Santa is an amusing, high-concept family film posing the question, "What if a kid misspelled "Santa" and wound up summoning the Devil by mistake?" I should note it isn't alone in exploring this idea - there's apparently a movie from the Philippines with virtually the same premise and (depending on how things shake out) possibly the same title that might get released soon (though it's having some issues with various censors). Also, some guy wrote a similar short story twelve years ago with a very different tone you can read here . And of course Christmas demons are nothing new. Hell, Christmas demons in movies built around kids are nothing new - Krampus , Rare Exports , and The Sacrifice Game all feature protagonists in their teens. But those are all horror movies, intended for older audiences, while Dear Santa is targeted directly at kids and families. Just m...