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BAD SANTA 2 - REVIEW

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Zoolander 2 wasn't the only belated comedy sequel 2016 had to offer, we also got Bad Santa 2 , the follow-up to the surprisingly good Bad Santa , released back in 2003. It's unclear why we got a second instalment this late in the game or who asked for it but the original was fun so hey, why not have a sequel? Bad Santa was a refreshing remedy to corny, forgettable Christmas comedies: dirty jokes, Billy Bob Thornton in a Santa costume soiling himself, a heist plot. And yet it had just enough Christmas spirit to catch you off guard and work as both a seasonal treat and a dark comedy. In Bad Santa 2, we catch up to the same characters 13 years later as Marcus (Tony Cox) invites Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) to join him for one last job where they would be stealing millions from a charity in Chicago. This time, they are collaborating with Willie's mother Sunny (Kathy Bates) but a lot of back-stabbing quickly takes place. Meanwhile, an all grown up but still completely naive

BAD SANTA - REVIEW

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In-between directing more arty/trendy flicks, Terry Zwigoff tried his hand at a somewhat more commercial effort with Bad Santa , a Christmas movie with a difference. The main difference being that our "bad Santa" is a shady, foul-mouthed, boozing thief who pisses his pants. Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox's Christmas tradition in this movie is posing as a mall Santa and Elf then robbing the whole place after the busiest shopping day of the year. Unfortunately, Willie (Thornton) is struggling to keep both his alcoholism and his sex addiction under control so he soon becomes a liability in grave danger of messing up the whole plan. Along the way, Willie meets Sue (Lauren Graham), a girl with a Santa fetish and they begin a relationship of sorts. He also meets a clingy overweight young boy amusingly called Thurman Merman, played by an appropriately wide-eyed Brett Kelly, who, for whatever reason, believes Willie to be the real Santa Claus. And although the kid annoys

BANDITS - REVIEW

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2001 was a weird year. Tim Burton was ruling the Planet Of The Apes , Billy Bob Thornton was married to Angelina Jolie and A Beautiful Mind was considered a good movie. Also, a little Bruce Willis film was quietly nominated for a couple of Golden Globes. That film was Bandits . Directed by respected veteran filmmaker Barry Levinson ( Rainman , Good Morning Vietnam ), the film is a screwball heist comedy about a couple of mismatched bank-robbing pals nicknamed "The Sleepover Bandits" who meet an aimless, eccentric gal and together they all continue stealing dough while dealing with a pesky love triangle. I know, that's not much of a plot and, believe me, I'm making it sound better than it is. That said, Bandits' concept was a promising one: a Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid for the modern age but far more light-hearted and upbeat. The cast was/is solid and the trailer looked like fun. Then the movie starts playing and, essentially, it's nothin