I watched 33 films since my last post. Most of then are Christmas movies, almost all of them are rewatches. I'll just give brief statements on them.
1. The Day of the Beast - Fun black comedy from Spain that blends horror, absurdity, and metal music! This was my first time watching it, and I'll watch it again next year. It's viable for a yearly Christmastime viewing. 8/10
2. Reindeer Games - First time viewing. I thought this would be more action-packed, but it's more of a crime thriller. It's best not to take it too seriously as it's a very over-the-top, downright stupid movie at points. It veers into "so bad it's good" territory. It also has multiple wild twists that may be idiotic, but did a lot for me. The dialogue is very rough at points, but the delivery from the actors make a lot of it amusing. It's a mixed bag of fun overall, some parts are legitimately good, others are ironically so. 8/10
3. The Holdovers - A modern Christmas classic. Modern in the sense that it came out a few years ago. The film otherwise is very retro, fully absorbed in the 1970s. Fantastic performances from the 3 main actors, amazing balance of drama and comedy from a master, Alexander Payne. It shifts between sadness, hilarity, and coziness. 9/10
4. Terrifier 3 - Somehow I enjoyed this more on the 2nd viewing. The ending went down a lot better for me. Before the rewatch, I thought Terrifier 2 was obviously better. Now I'm not so sure. The main character of this film has grown to be a major draw to this franchise, it's not all Art the Clown carrying things. 8/10
5. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - RIP Val Kilmer. Endlessly entertaining film with strong performances from Kilmer, Robert Downey Jr, and Michelle Monaghan, who I think is an underrated actress. Back when Shane Black had the juice. 9/10
6. Dead End - Decent and sometimes hilarious horror film from the early 2000s. It's carried by Ray Wise and Lin Shaye, but much of the great comedy comes from Mick Cain, who played their son. He was such a dipshit, but I found him funny. 7.5/10
7. P2 - Highly enjoyable thriller that mainly features 2 actors, set in an underground parking lot section. The two actors did a great job. This film basically proves that less is more. 8.5/10
8. Lethal Weapon - I didn't grow up with Lethal Weapon and had watched loads of classic 80s action films before it. I didn't have that deep reverence for it. I have grown to love it, even though I think Mel Gibson is a piece of shit. 9/10
9. Rare Exports - Very fun dark fantasy movie from Finland. The third act is super goofy, but I really like the overall presentation of the film. It feels like a stab at a big budget Hollywood fantasy film, and it's very earnest in that attempt. One major issue is that there are no women in the film. That's become a growing gripe upon each viewing. 8/10
10. The Silent Partner - Very smart and entertaining thriller that perfectly embodies 1970s filmmaking. Very intriguing characters and a narrative that takes some nice turns. There's also some shocking violence. 9/10
11. Invasion USA - Chuck Norris and Cannon Films at their best. No notes. 9/10
12. Bad Santa (Director's Cut) - I've seen the unrated cut a bunch of times. This was my first time watching the Director's Cut. It's shorter and darker than the unrated and even theatrical cut. The more overtly comedic sections are removed, making this more of a pure dark comedy. It also makes Willie, played by Billy Bob Thornton, more pathetic than amusing. The ending is also slightly different. Lauren Tom's character actually had more scenes in the Director's Cut. In hindsight, it holds up better than the unrated cut, since that has dated 2000s humor, especially since those sections were apparently directed by Todd Phillips. Still, I missed those parts. I can't definitively say the Director's Cut is better since I'm so used to the unrated cut. It's certainly different and worth seeking out. It doesn't change my rating of 10/10 for the film. One of my favorite Christmas comedies.
13. The Long Kiss Goodnight - This was my third time watching the movie, and it has now reached the top of the mountain for me as far as Christmas films, 90s action, and just action films in general. I love it even more on the third viewing and think it's the best film Renny Harlin directed. It's also one Shane Black's best scripts. I like it more than Lethal Weapon, and at this time, I like The Long Kiss Goodnight more than the films Shane Black directed, on top of writing. It's the perfect marriage between director and writer as it's very stylish with sharp, witting, and hilarious dialogue. Wall-to-wall action, and fantastic performances from Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, they have tremendous chemistry together. 10/10
14. Black Christmas (1974) - A highly influential proto-slasher film. Caller ID has made this film obsolete, but its chilling atmosphere, visual choices, and overall storytelling hold up incredibly well now over 50 years later. 10/10
15. Krampus - I absolutely love this horror/comedy. It has a very strong cast, with my favorites being Toni Collette, Adam Scott, and David Koechner. The scares are effective, actually better than I remembered. It's paced very well, it does pretty much everything right. The CGI is dated, but I let that go. I love the bleak ending, the movie would've went down the drain if it had a happy ending. 10/10
16. Silent Night Deadly Night (1984) - What might be considered a tonally inconsistent film, I see as a film that has so many flavors. It's serious and sad at points, cheesy at some, hilariously bad at others, but always entertaining. 9/10
17. Die Hard - Best Christmas movie ever. Enough said. 10/10
18. Better Watch Out - The twist makes the movie, and it's also impressively aged well. 9/10
19. Dial Code Santa Claus - This was Home Alone before Home Alone. This French film came out in 1989 and is about a little kid who fights off against a home invader, a creepy bastard who dresses up as Santa Claus. It's an action-packed cat-and-mouse game with booby traps that are much cooler than Home Alone. The little kid is also an action movie buff, clearly inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. This is loads of fun and much more enjoyable than Home Alone, which I don't dislike by the way. 9/10
20. Jingle All the Way - Speaking of Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is a very idiotic film, but I enjoy it a lot. It's a niche thing, I can understand people not finding it entertaining. The insnity of it does a lot for me. 8/10
21. Silent Night (2012) - A loose remake of Silent Night Deadly Night that plays like a straightforward slasher film from that period. Great kills certainly help it stand head and shoulders above its contemporaries. What also helps is that it has some damn fine acting. Jaime King leads the movie very well, Malcolm McDowell was hilarious, and I'm not sure if he was supposed to be. Donal Logue was a more minor gem in the movie, but valuable nonetheless. 8/10
22. Violent Night - A movie that's about as wholesome as it is, well, violent. It's also a film that blatantly states its influences. It's Die Hard meets Home Alone, but I enjoy it so much. David Harbour's a great Santa Claus, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. 9/10
23. Die Hard 2 - Renny Harlin again. It's a step down from the first movie, mainly because it does a lot of the same things. In hindsight, it's pretty self-aware that they're repeating things. It's still a very enjoyable movie, Bruce Willis was still in his prime. The supporting cast here isn't as strong as the first film, but they are still entertaining.
24. Christmas Bloody Christmas - This film was honestly on the chopping block, but I had just enough time to watch it before going to sleep. The first third is very rough. Once the killing finally happens and it's consistent, the movie becomes much more tolerable. Each viewing makes it more painfully obvious that the writer/director infused his film and music tastes in the main character and the interior design of certain locations. It's basically a Christmas spin on The Terminator. A great concept that I think could've had a better execution, but this is decent enough. 7/10
25. Tangerine - This was also on the chopping block because I've gotten colder on writer/director Sean Baker since Anora swept the Oscars. It has nothing to do with him as a filmmaker, it's just that I've learned more problematic things about him. I ultimately watched this because one of the actors, James Ransone, passed away recently, and I thought he was great in the movie. He doesn't enter the picture until the last third though. Thankfully, this little indie film shot on an iPhone has a great cast, fast pacing, and is enjoyably chaotic. In hindsight, Anora is a spiritual successor to this film. Both star sex workers who get into shenanigans. Both involve a search for a man, things come to a head, and they're funny. Anora has a much sadder ending though. Tangerine's ending is rather heartwarming. 8.5/10
26. Gremlins - No need for a long review of this. I think most people know about Gremlins and like it to some extent. I love it. I'm cautiously optimistic about the third film. 9/10
27. A Christmas Story - I avoided the aggressive push of this movie. I didn't watch it when I was a kid and didn't really know about it being shoced down people's throats. I never encountered it being played on a 24 hour loop on a TV network. I watched it on my own volition and enjoy it a lot. If not for the strangely aggressive push, this would've been seen as perhaps an underrated gem. It doesn't have any preachy themes on Christmas. It's a slice-of-life film that says more about childhood nostalgia than anything. It's a cozy film for me and I love it. I do acknowledge that some things in it have aged horrifically, such as the Chinese restaurant bit. 10/10
28. Santa's Slay - I ended the Christmas marathon with this film because it gave me the idea of watching Christmas movies beyond the 25th. I had to because I didn't make enough time before the 24th. The first 2 movies on the list were watched on the 22nd, the next 2 were on the 23rd, and then I really got into the Christmas movie viewing spirit on the 24th. In Santa's Slay, the evil Santa Claus, played by Bill Goldberg, basically said that Christmas is over when he says it is. So, I kept watching Christmas movies until the 27th. This is a yearly viewing anyway as I think it's hilarious. It's very 2000s, but also very self-aware. It's juvenile at times, can't be taken seriously, but it's a very easy viewing. 9/10
29 Adopted 2 - Crazier than the first Adopted, but the scenes that prove that few and far between. The movie is way too long at 1 hour and 41 minutes. There are long sections where nothing is happening. So many things repeated from the first movie. I knew it was going to be bad. The first movie was also bad, but it was shorter and had some passable acting. There's next to no passable acting here. Both are Tubi originals, so I knew the quality would be low anyway. Still, I watched it. Not worth a repeat viewing. Some big laughs are not worth experiencing again if it means watching the whole movie. 1/10
30. Terror Train - I watched this because it's set on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, it's similar to another slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Prom Night. It's as if JLC can only do good horror movies if they're directed by John Carpenter, namely Halloween and The Fog. This is mostly a boring slasher film that clearly tried to ride the save Halloween started. The kills are not impactful. This came out the same year as Friday the 13th, which set a high benchmark for slasher movie kills at that time. Some of the cast is decent, including Curtis herself and Hart Bochner, who I had only seen in Die Hard as the sleazy cokehead Ellis. It also has David Copperfield, who is in the Epstein Files. Ew. He's featured a lot in this film as there are multiple magic tricks pulled in the movie. They weren't that interesting. I would give this movie a failing grade but the ending saved it. It was a nice little twist, and the final death made me laugh. 6/10
31. Point Break - Recently, James Cameron stated that he wrote this film. I think I read before that he had input on the script, but now it seems that he wrote the entire movie. In hindsight, some of the dialogue sounds like Cameron, especially the ridiculous analogies. Nonetheless, this was more of a showcase for director Katheryn Bigelow. I still need to watch more of her movies, but I'm convinced that Point Break is her best one. The cast on here is tremendous, with the two leading man carrying the film. Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze had great chemistry. The surfing and skydiving sequences are amazing! The action sequences are very exciting, especially the car chase and foot chase. Patrick Swayze played a villain who doesn't actually become evil until the last third. It's thus a bit hard to root against him. Plus it's Patrick Swayze, he was so damn cool in this movie and in general. I make sure that I watch a few Patrick Swayze movies on the last day of the year. Gone way too soon. Also, I know Speed is always looked at as Keanu's breakthrough as an action star, but Point Break predates it by 3 years. I think this was the first true look at him as an icon in action movies, and it remains of his best films in that genre. 10/10
32. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar - I don't remember if I reviewed this earlier in the year. I last watched it at the end of April of 2025. I rewatched it again since I normally do for New Year's Eve. That April viewing was a watch party, which was a blast. I really love this film. It's a very heartwarming comedy with a message that has only become more necessary as its aged. Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo were incredibly committed to playing draq queens, keeping this film from being silly or muddying any of the serious themes. It's a film that gets me more emotional on each viewing. It's easily one of the best films in the respective filmographies of the 3 leading men. 10/10
33. Road House - I always make sure the last movie I watch in the year is Road House. It's my favorite Patrick Swayze film and is one of my favorite action films of the 80s. To call it an action film might be too narrow-minded. It's also a contemproary western film and also ridiculous at points. It also features impressive martial arts fighting, which was rare from American movies at the time. Patrick Swayze was a total badass, but also a pretty spiritual guy. The cast around him is amazing. A very beautiful and enjoyable love interest played by Kelly Lynch. A total shitbag villain who is also entertaining, played by Ben Gazzarra. Another shitbag villain who is also a great martial artist, Marshall Teague. A totally cool Sam Elliott! A decent little role for Terry Funk. I think this was Julie Michaels' film debut. She was very much for the male gaze here, but she would actually go on to be a stuntwoman! She's the naked blonde in Point Break who kicked Keanu's ass! There are some likable old men here, a very likable woman who worked the Double Deuce, played by Kathleen Wilhoite. Benny "The Jet" Urqiduez pops up here, he was the fight choreographer on the film. The music is amazing, a big part of that is because of Jeff Healey and his band, Healey also acted in the movie. It's very 80s, very crazy, and so much fun. It's lightning in a bottle, it's a film that should not have worked, but all the parts somehow come together, making it a legit cult classic. The remake is nowhere near as good as this, but that goes without saying. Even though Road House is a specific film, it's worthy of ending my year as an amazing flurry of roundhouse kicks, blues rock, explosions, nudity, sleaze, hilarity, and undeniable coolness. 10/10
