IFC Center: Naughty and Nice Christmas Double Feature
New York City's own IFC Center is doing a special week long tribute to two Christmas classics-what they are billing as "Christmas Classics: Naughty and Nice." They are the 1946 Frank Capra classic "It's a Wonderful Life," and the 2003 Terry Zwigof comedy "Bad Santa."
I decided to head on out to the IFC Center the other day and take in both of these films-I've seen "It's a Wonderful Life" a small handful of times, but missed out last year on my chance to see it on the big screen. I saw "Bad Santa" twice in theatres back in 2003, and it even managed to make it onto my Top Ten List of that year. I was intrigued by the promise of this screening being a director's cut-a version that Zwigof approved after he wasn't so happy with the unrated version of the film that came out "Badder Santa." It can be noted that I haven't seen the original released version of this film since the last time I saw it in theatres, having purchased the unrated DVD (mostly because my fourteen year old self was hoping for more nudity and sexual situations, the older me has learned that its quality I am after).
First of was "It's a Wonderful Life," and if you are a fan of this film and have never seen it in theatres I highly encourage you to check it out. I was able to watch this film in a way that I never had before-but watching something on television is always vastly different from seeing it in the theatre. Here we have the classic story of an overall good man (in this case, the sad figure of George Bailey) being beaten down by forces around him that do not want him to succeed. Jimmy Stewart is obviously the only person for this job, mainly because he has one of those faces, voices, and overall appearances that makes the audience connect with him. He's almost an everyman. As Clarence the Angel states towards the beginning-"I like his face! I like George Bailey!"
In further viewings of this film I want to pay closer attention to the divider between the two halves. The first half is a slow descent into horror-we watch as George Bailey gives up everything that he always dreamed of-his trip around Europe, college, the hearing in his left ear, etc-all for either his brother, his father, his neighbors, or that damn Buildings and Loan office that he inherited when his father died. This leads up to the second half-or part-of the film where George, about to kill himself, is visited by his guardian angel Clarence, requesting to the powers that be that he never had been born. This is the eventually rise from the dark recesses of the middle portion, and I intend on paying closer attention to these two halves on their own-how they are different in directing, acting, even visually. For some reason, no matter how many times you see a film, watching a movie on the big screen just changes your perspective on the thing itself-you are forced to make it your highest priority. This viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life"-perhaps my fifth or sixth-made me see it in a way I never had before. I believe that the movie is perfect-a feel good film that can make even a grown man weep. I had tears running down my eyes in joy during the final ten minutes of this movie, and it never did effect me in quite the same way prior to this viewing.
On the other hand, the director's cut of "Bad Santa," from 2003, may be four minutes shorter than the original version, but so much more is lost from that beautiful first cut-both physically off the print, and within the celluloid. Billy Bob Thorton got a Golden Globe Nomination for his portrayal of Willie-an "eating, drinking, shi**ing, f**king Santa Claus" as he describes himself. Along with his elf size friend Marcus, the two of them don their Santa and elf uniforms once a year, get a gig at a shopping mall somewhere, and then on Christmas Eve continue to rob the store blind. This year they get trouble from a snooping security guard (Bernie Mac), a nosy and lonely kid that befriends Willie in an odd way, and a woman that has a Santa fetish (Lauren Graham). What made the original film so fun was that it managed to balance raunchy jokes and just plain mean spirited humor along with a rather nice (if not bizarre) human storyline. While Thorton is great at remaining consistent with his character-who is on the lower levels of self-destruction-there is also this fun and dark little buddy comedy between him and the kid, played perfectly by a boy named Brett Kelly, who I haven't seen since. Although at the end Willie may not be a better person or even a changed man, its the kid who is able to finally become braver and gain a little confidence.
However in this director's cut version, almost all of that storyline is destroyed, and instead we focus on more language and crude humor. When I settled into the main opening credits-which in the original film contained a voice over narration by Thorton, to compare with the narration right before the end credits-and discovered that Zwigof took out this narration but kept the visuals-I became quite nervous. Not only were some of my favorite scenes cut-a boxing match, an advent calender running joke, and even a Christmas Eve montage where you think everything would turn out alright maybe-but in doing so, Zwigof managed to destroy the actual human side of his character. Willie may be a bad man, yes, but there are moments where he redeems himself-almost, but not quite sometimes. Yes, it's still a funny film, but if this was the actual version released I would have walked away from it with a few good lines in my head, but overall it would just be another R rated comedy. I really loved the original release, and would like to see it at some point in the future.
The films are playing at IFC Center until Christmas Day. I do suggest "It's A Wonderful Life," but only the director's cut of "Bad Santa" if you want to see how the movie would have turned out if fate did not intervene. Both films are separate admissions, so you can choose or do both if you want.
Final Grades
It's A Wonderful Life an easy **** of ****
Bad Santa Director's Cut has to live with a **1/2 of **** (and it's a shame because I liked the original cut a lot.)
I decided to head on out to the IFC Center the other day and take in both of these films-I've seen "It's a Wonderful Life" a small handful of times, but missed out last year on my chance to see it on the big screen. I saw "Bad Santa" twice in theatres back in 2003, and it even managed to make it onto my Top Ten List of that year. I was intrigued by the promise of this screening being a director's cut-a version that Zwigof approved after he wasn't so happy with the unrated version of the film that came out "Badder Santa." It can be noted that I haven't seen the original released version of this film since the last time I saw it in theatres, having purchased the unrated DVD (mostly because my fourteen year old self was hoping for more nudity and sexual situations, the older me has learned that its quality I am after).
First of was "It's a Wonderful Life," and if you are a fan of this film and have never seen it in theatres I highly encourage you to check it out. I was able to watch this film in a way that I never had before-but watching something on television is always vastly different from seeing it in the theatre. Here we have the classic story of an overall good man (in this case, the sad figure of George Bailey) being beaten down by forces around him that do not want him to succeed. Jimmy Stewart is obviously the only person for this job, mainly because he has one of those faces, voices, and overall appearances that makes the audience connect with him. He's almost an everyman. As Clarence the Angel states towards the beginning-"I like his face! I like George Bailey!"
In further viewings of this film I want to pay closer attention to the divider between the two halves. The first half is a slow descent into horror-we watch as George Bailey gives up everything that he always dreamed of-his trip around Europe, college, the hearing in his left ear, etc-all for either his brother, his father, his neighbors, or that damn Buildings and Loan office that he inherited when his father died. This leads up to the second half-or part-of the film where George, about to kill himself, is visited by his guardian angel Clarence, requesting to the powers that be that he never had been born. This is the eventually rise from the dark recesses of the middle portion, and I intend on paying closer attention to these two halves on their own-how they are different in directing, acting, even visually. For some reason, no matter how many times you see a film, watching a movie on the big screen just changes your perspective on the thing itself-you are forced to make it your highest priority. This viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life"-perhaps my fifth or sixth-made me see it in a way I never had before. I believe that the movie is perfect-a feel good film that can make even a grown man weep. I had tears running down my eyes in joy during the final ten minutes of this movie, and it never did effect me in quite the same way prior to this viewing.
On the other hand, the director's cut of "Bad Santa," from 2003, may be four minutes shorter than the original version, but so much more is lost from that beautiful first cut-both physically off the print, and within the celluloid. Billy Bob Thorton got a Golden Globe Nomination for his portrayal of Willie-an "eating, drinking, shi**ing, f**king Santa Claus" as he describes himself. Along with his elf size friend Marcus, the two of them don their Santa and elf uniforms once a year, get a gig at a shopping mall somewhere, and then on Christmas Eve continue to rob the store blind. This year they get trouble from a snooping security guard (Bernie Mac), a nosy and lonely kid that befriends Willie in an odd way, and a woman that has a Santa fetish (Lauren Graham). What made the original film so fun was that it managed to balance raunchy jokes and just plain mean spirited humor along with a rather nice (if not bizarre) human storyline. While Thorton is great at remaining consistent with his character-who is on the lower levels of self-destruction-there is also this fun and dark little buddy comedy between him and the kid, played perfectly by a boy named Brett Kelly, who I haven't seen since. Although at the end Willie may not be a better person or even a changed man, its the kid who is able to finally become braver and gain a little confidence.
However in this director's cut version, almost all of that storyline is destroyed, and instead we focus on more language and crude humor. When I settled into the main opening credits-which in the original film contained a voice over narration by Thorton, to compare with the narration right before the end credits-and discovered that Zwigof took out this narration but kept the visuals-I became quite nervous. Not only were some of my favorite scenes cut-a boxing match, an advent calender running joke, and even a Christmas Eve montage where you think everything would turn out alright maybe-but in doing so, Zwigof managed to destroy the actual human side of his character. Willie may be a bad man, yes, but there are moments where he redeems himself-almost, but not quite sometimes. Yes, it's still a funny film, but if this was the actual version released I would have walked away from it with a few good lines in my head, but overall it would just be another R rated comedy. I really loved the original release, and would like to see it at some point in the future.
The films are playing at IFC Center until Christmas Day. I do suggest "It's A Wonderful Life," but only the director's cut of "Bad Santa" if you want to see how the movie would have turned out if fate did not intervene. Both films are separate admissions, so you can choose or do both if you want.
Final Grades
It's A Wonderful Life an easy **** of ****
Bad Santa Director's Cut has to live with a **1/2 of **** (and it's a shame because I liked the original cut a lot.)
posted by Eric at
1:51 AM
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