10 truly odd Christmas movies that capture the spirit

I have nothing at all against the traditional holiday favorites when it comes to movies and specials. I tune in every year for "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and always watch one of the 1,000,000 or so times that TBS airs "A Christmas Story."

But as with most categories of movies, I like my Christmas flicks with at least a few drops of odd, so here are my 10 favorite Christmas-related movies that you might not always think of this time of year.

"A Midnight Clear:" Before the two sides inevitably get back to, well, war, this Peter Berg movie has plenty of Christmas spirit as an American intelligence squad comes across a German platoon wishing to surrender in 1944 France, and everyone enjoys a good holiday feast before they get back to battling.

"Bad Santa": Not only easily the funniest Christmas movie (but certainly not one for the kids), I'd also argue that Billy Bob Thornton's mall Santa has his very drunk, extremely foul-mouthed heart still mostly in the right place. After all, all he wants to do is get his new friend a pink elephant (of course) for Christmas.

"Eastern Promises": OK, this gangster movie might only take place between Christmas and New Year's Eve and have little else to do with the holidays, but David Cronenberg's flick is still here because I wouldn't mess with Viggo Mortensen's Nikolai and tell him otherwise, would you?

"Die Hard": What could exemplify the Christmas spirit more than Bruce Willis' dream of spending the holiday with his estranged wife - even if he has to blow up half of Los Angeles to make it happen?

"In Bruges": Talk about a bummer: Not only does Colin Farrell's hit man end up accidentally killing a child, he then has to spend Christmas in the most boring place on Earth, Bruges (having been there, I can tell you it's far from that, but that's just one of the things that make this wickedly funny movie one of my all-time favorites).

"The Nightmare Before Christmas": Though its full title bears the name of Tim Burton and its in fact based on a poem Burton wrote, this tale of what happens when Jack Skellington opens the portal between Halloween Town and Christmas Town is pure Henry Selick, and that's what makes the stop-motion animated tale a timeless treat.

"Trading Places": Though I like presents as much as anyone, what's Christmas if we can't occasionally poke fun at all our excess, as this '80s flick starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd (easily one the best movies either of them ever made) does so well.

"The Muppet Christmas Carol": Of course Michael Caine (as Ebenezer Scrooge) just wants poor Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog, naturally) to work on Christmas - does that man ever stop working? Just in time for Christmas next year - or maybe a little earlier - we'll get a great gift, a new Muppets movie. Bully.

"Go!": Another one that's not for the kids, but Christmas is definitely a time to party, as Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes and others do as they rave their way through a chaotic Christmas Eve.

"Life of Brian": Sacrilegious? Most certainly, but the Monty Python take on the life of Jesus Christ is of course extremely funny too. And believe it or not, I really did first see this at an Episcopal youth group gathering when I was a teenager.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

A nifty gadget for Muppet lovers ...

and if you're not one of those, really, what the heck is wrong with you? And besides, mighty Mr. Adam Jones had the game-winning RBI for the American League in last night's All-Star game (surely an omen of the Baltimore Orioles surging in the season's second half) and I'm going to see the movie based on my favorite Harry Potter book as early as tomorrow morning, so all is right with the world, right?

Well, not exactly ... there still is evil out there, and in my book almost all of it is embodied in Renee Zellweger. I've just never, ever liked her. And I can't see anything good coming from the news that she'll be starring in a new Bridget Jones flick.

I'll admit that this dude both read and enjoyed both of Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones" books, the first one much more than the second. As for the movies, the first one was OK and the second was pure rubbish, so I can't even imagine how bad a third one - not based on any book at all - will turn out to be.

In even worse news (remember, there's Muppets coming to lighten things up), Stephen Chow has now completely exited Michel Gondry's "Green Hornet." If you've been following this rather sad saga from the beginning, you know that Chow was originally set to both play the Green Hornet's martial arts expert sidekick AND direct the movie, but a while back he was replaced as director by Michel Gondry.

Fair enough that. I still think Gondry can have a lot of fun with this, with Seth Rogen set to star and a script from Rogen and creative partner Evan Goldberg, but without Chow it's just gonna lose that extra bit of craziness that would have made this remarkable. Is Jackie Chan available? (Hopefully not!)

Oh well, there's got to be some good news out there, right? Actually, yes, especially if you love baseball (and again, if you don't why the heck not?)

Billy Bob Thornton has signed on to be a producer for a flick based on the Buzz Bissinger book "Three Nights in August," which is about a three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs in 2003 - as told from the perspective of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa (no word on this yet, but I could certainly see Billy Bob playing La Russa, too.)

Now I haven't read the source material for this, but I did read another of Bissinger's books, "Friday Night Lights," and it's a simply fantastic look at the obsession with high school football in Texas (and, of course, sort of the inspiration for TV's best drama, soon to enter its fourth season.) And any flick that offers this intense of a look at America's great sport and into the mind of Tony La Russa can only be a good thing in my book.

And finally, as promised, Muppets, Muppets, Muppets ... 101 of them in all. I can't take any credit for this except in the delivery of it, but if you indeed click on the link below, I defy to both not smile or waste at least a minor chunk of your work day. What is it? A guide to the 101 Muppets of Sesame Street. 'Nuff said.

Enjoy.

And with that, have a perfectly passable Wednesday, and if you've seen "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," please feel free to tell me if it's any good or not. Peace out.

What would David Fincher have done with "Spider-Man"?

Actually, I don't wonder too much about that, since Sam Raimi did a damn fine job with the first two "Spider-Man" flicks (and with "Spider-Man 2" made what remains my favorite superhero movie of all time.) If the question were simply "What would David Fincher have done with "Spider-Man 3"?, then I would have been on board, because that flick was simply a big flaming turd.

I'm trying desperately to have a bit of fun with this today, but coming the day after what's left of the "newspaper" I work for laid off 58 people - with more to come in the next two weeks - it just isn't too easy, so bear with me.

OK, enough about that bitterness. The Fincher goofiness comes courtesy of the UK's Guardian, which transcribed the director's fairly surly responses to questions from the audience after a screening of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (those audience members, at least, who were still awake after watching that snoozer.)

“I was asked if I might be interested in the first ‘Spider-Man,’ and I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it,” he said. “The thing I liked about Spider-Man was I liked the idea of a teenager,” continued Fincher, “the notion of this moment in time when you’re so vulnerable yet completely invulnerable.”

OK, I'm down with that, and given Fincher's work (before "Benjamin Button," at least), it certainly would have been a darker affair. I would have to assume he blew the job interview, if he hadn't already, if he then told the movie suits this:

“I wasn’t interested in the genesis, I just couldn’t shoot somebody being bitten by a radioactive spider – just couldn’t sleep knowing I’d done that,” stated the director.

Oh really? You wouldn't have been able to sleep after making a movie that's beloved by millions of people. Get over yourself, sir, and please get back to making movies much better than "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." (Which, if it ever gets off the ground, would be Mr. Fincher's take on "Heavy Metal" with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" creator Kevin Eastman. Nothing but cool there.)

What's next for Terry Gilliam?

Actually, I'm more curious about when we all might be able to see "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," which has rather miraculously made it to "post-production." At the IMDB it has a June release date for the UK, but not yet any for the U.S.A. I can only hope that Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell stepping into the finish the work of the late Heath Ledger will be enough to get this crazy tale also starring Tom Waits and Christopher Plummer playing everywhere (even near me!) fairly soon.

As for what Mr. Gilliam's doing next, you have to be able to read French to figure out anything about that, something that I don't do all that well anymore, but here goes.

According to two great French sites, Cinempire.com and Toutlecine.com, Gilliam's next project, set to begin filming in May, will be something called "Zero Theorem" starring Billy Bob Thornton.

After that is where it gets more than a bit murky. The not-terribly-revealing French summary reads like this: un génie de l’informatique reclus et tourmenté qui, en travaillant sur un mystérieux projet, tente de répondre une fois pour toutes aux questions relatives à l’absurdité et au sens de la vie.

OK, here goes: The best I can make from that is it will be about a "reclusive and tormented" guy (Karl Childers, we can only assume) who works on a mysterious project to answer for once all the questions about the "absurdity of life." Not that that helps much, but it certainly sounds absurd enough for Mr. Gilliam.

Actually, the best thing in the Toutlecine report, and the reason I still love Terry Gilliam, is that he's actually still trying to make "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" - and still trying to chase down Johnny Depp to do it. If he actually pulls this off - even after having his initial failure captured in the entertaining documentary "Lost in La Mancha" - it will have to be just the portrait or persistence (or, I suppose, obstinacy - it's all in how you look at it.)

Soderbergh to play "Moneyball"

Even though I found Steven Soderbergh's "Che" one of the most painful exercises in cinematic hubris I've ever sat through (and I did make it through all nearly five hours, with an intermission), I can still manage to get excited that he's now setting his sights on a baseball flick.

With Brad Pitt in tow to play Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, Soderbergh is about to sign on to direct "Moneyball," based on the book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair game" by Michael Lewis. Steven Zaillain is attached to write the script.

For anyone who may not know, Beane became famous for developing a program of computer analysis that allowed the A's to compete with the big bad Yankees and Red Sox without having their big bad payrolls. Even if this turns out to be a big baseball geek fest, that would be just fine with me.

As for Soderbergh, he'll be up next with "The Informant," described as a black comedy starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, a government whistle-blower who tried to take down Archer Midlands for price fixing.

And on that note, I have to get ready to go to my job while I still have one. Peace out.

Take "The Fall" and just enjoy the ride

What's a guy to do when "Sex and the City" is the only new game in town and he's under no obligation to see it? Well, leave, of course, and go see a different movie in a bigger town.

Now, I have no problems whatsoever with "Sex and the City," and I certainly hope all movie studio executives were paying attention to the fact that a movie starring four women made $56 million in its opening weekend. A hearty huzzah to that.

But, having no interest in it myself, I went up the road to Atlanta to see Tarsem's "The Fall," and despite the toll that gas prices took on my wallet, I'm certainly glad I did.

But before I get to that, there are two bits of news today about two flicks to definitely keep your eyes on. First, the very funny Ed Helms of "The Office" fame has joined Billy Bob Thornton in the Polish brothers upcoming flick, "Manure," which, as you can probably guess, is about a trio of guys who make a living selling animal excrement.

In possibly even better news, Judd Apatow has set his next directing effort (after "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and the far superior "Knocked Up") to be about the world of stand-up comedians. It's set to star Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann (a k a Mrs. Apatow) and Eric Bana, who many people might not know started out as a stand-up comedian himself way back when. And though I have no desire to see Sandler ham it up this weekend in "Don't Mess With the Zohan," he is a naturally funny guy with the right material, and as I found out when we played a round of pool at Kitty O'Shea's bar in D.C., also a genuinely nice dude.

But, I definitely digress from the matter at hand, Tarsem's mostly satisfying "The Fall."

Most of the noise you'll hear about this flick will have to do with the rather astounding visuals, which are a definite asset but, in my opinion, also somewhat of a handicap.

Why? Well, because Tarsem's movie is really about two stories that run on parallel tracks, and the more visually stunning one that springs from the mind of Lee Pace is often the weaker of the two.

The flick is at its strongest when it sticks to the more intimate tale of Roy, a stuntman injured in a fall and played by Pace of "Pushing Daisies" fame, and Alexandria, a young girl with a busted arm played endearingly by Catinca Untaru. Pace plays it cool until his character takes a turn for the much worse, and that's when he really shines. (And, if I may digress yet again, why in the world isn't ABC replaying the first season of the great "Pushing Daisies" to get everyone reacquainted with it in time for season two this fall?) And though young Ms. Uncaru is too often just too cute to bear, her enthusiasm for the imaginary world Roy creates for her gives the flick much of its drive.

And it's the visuals in the story he fishes from his mind that will rightfully garner the most attention, and they are indeed pretty darn stunning. Tarsem was clearly having fun here, and if I have this right, he shot it all without the aid of any kind of digital enhancement, so huzzah to that.

But it's this aspect of the story that has also drawn the most criticism, mostly due to what some critics saw as a lack of creativity in the tale that springs from Roy's mind. Though it does indeed feature some groan-worthy moments and more than a couple instance of unintentional humor, I was willing to forgive this due to the circumstances he was in when he created it (which, so I won't ruin anything, you won't hear about from me.)

When these two worlds finally collide at the finish what you have is a movie that's at least as much about the power of this odd friendship as it is about the magic of storytelling. And, much like young Alexandria as it came to a close, I was left saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you" as the credits started to roll.

Definitely go see this one if you can find it, and have a perfectly bearable Tuesday. Peace out.

When bad movies happen to good people

This may seem like an odd choice for a list, but it came to me as I surveyed the rather depressing slate of new releases this weekend in wide-release world.

Though I can finally, and will, go see "There Will Be Blood" again, the other choices just do nothing but make me cringe, which in two cases is a real shame because the flicks star two people who I really like.

Paul Rudd almost managed to walk away with "Knocked Up" even though he was surrounded by a slew of very funny people, but I just don't think there's any way I'll be able to watch him sleepwalk through "Over My Dead Body" this weekend. Likewise, Steve Zahn's performance as Glenn Michaels in "Out of Sight" stands up as one of my favorites, but is there really anything that can be good about "Strange Wilderness," which, as far as I can tell, appears to be a stoner comedy about Bigfoot?

This dose of the January movie blues got me to thinking about actors and actresses I usually like and their most regrettable (in my eyes, at least) movie roles. Here goes:

Billy Bob Thornton
Just how bad was Billy Bob in "School for Scoundrels"? I think the answer can be summed up thusly: Even worse than Jon Heder, who has been basically playing an increasingly lame version of "Napoleon Dynamite" since that extremely likable flick thrust him upon the world. There's just not one good thing I can say about this thoroughly unnecessary Todd Phillips remake, so please don't rent it for any reason whatsoever.

Kirsten Dunst
It feels a little rotten to pick on Ms. Dunst so severely, but a look through her movie resume turned up three movie I just can't stand, even though I still do like her most of the times she turns up in movies. The big three: "Spider-Man 3," in which she looked just as miserable as everyone else in Sam Raimi's disaster; "Marie Antoinette," which was just one of the most empty movies I've seen in many, many years, and "Elizabethtown." In regards to the latter, I have just one question: How in the world could you (the formerly great Cameron Crowe) manage to make a movie in which Kirsten Dunst flirts on the phone whilst taking a bath, and still manage to have it just suck from start to finish?

Tim Roth and Naomi Watts
OK, I haven't seen "Funny Games," Michael Haneke's English-language remake of his own movie, yet, but I've seen the rather wretched trailer so many times now that it feels like I've seen the flick at least twice. I'll never bother to see the real thing, so if you do and there's some redeeming value here that I'm just missing please let me know.

Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston
Did anyone enjoy "The Break-Up"? When it comes to romantic "comedies" I usually have little time for flicks that delight the masses, but here's one case where just about everyone I know just hated watching Vince and Jen yell at each other for 90 minutes. Just an amazingly bad movie.

Paul Giamatti
OK, we're getting into a stretch here of people who it really pains me to include on this list, but when you appear in a movie as bad as "Lady in the Water" I really can't give you a pass. Granted, Mr. Giamatti did work very hard to try and save this, but M. Night's "fairy tale" just had very little wonder to it at all and was, frankly, just a tremendous bore.

Samuel L. Jackson
I decided to give both Sam the man and Christina Ricci a pass for "Black Snake Moan" because, as much as I just detested that Craig Brewer movie, I'm willing to concede that maybe I just didn't get it. With "Freedomland," however, I can state unequivocally that Mr. Jackson just made a horrendous choice. Richard Price has written some fairly great books, but this flick which also starred Julianne Moore just had no business ever getting made.

Catherine Keener
I love Catherine Keener more than just about any actress (except for maybe Laura Linney) in the entire world, but Nicole Holofcener's "Friends With Money" just made me want to claw my own eyes out to make it stop. The duo have made two much better movies in "Lovely & Amazing" and "Walking and Talking," and they're set to collaborate again soon on something that's still just called an "untitled Nicole Holofcener project," so there's plenty of great stuff coming and already here to help wipe this blight from my memory.

Audrey Tautou
I made a pledge to myself to never watch "The Da Vinci Code" which I unfortunately broke once the movie came out on DVD. I really have to learn to trust my instincts a lot more, because although the movie as a whole was one big stinker, watching Amelie just mope her way through it made it all the more painful to watch.

And there you have it. Two that didn't make the cut simply because I still have to end this at some point and go to my paying job were Penelope Cruz in "Vanilla Sky" and Owen Wilson in "The Darjeeling Limited." Please feel free to add any movies that have just made stars you like look really bad, and let me know if there's any reason at all to go see either "Over Her Dead Body" or "Strange Wilderness" this weekend. Peace out.

The best actor you've (probably) never heard of

Though you can probably only see it in Atlanta so far, Ray McKinnon has a new movie opening today. Who, you ask? I did too until I did a little investigating.

I first heard of McKinnon when he presented his Oscar-winning short film, "The Accountant," at the Middle Georgia Video and Film Festival two years ago. I tried to find out if you can still rent or buy it on DVD, but came up empty. If you can find it, however, it's a darkly comic little gem.

McKinnon, has 63 acting credits listed at the Internet Movie Database, starting, appropriately enough for a dude from the tiny burg of Adel, Ga., with the role of "Alabama trooper #1" in "Driving Miss Daisy." Sandwiched in that list I found two stellar performances in one of my favorite films and one of TV's best (and most missed) shows.

The first role I'm talking about was as Vernon T. Waldrip in what's still, for my money, the best Southern movie ever not made by Southerners, "O Brother Where Art Thou?" Though that name might not strike a chord with you right away, just remember that, as Holly Hunter's suitor, he was George Clooney's rival in being "bona fide."

McKinnon was even better in a much more prominent role on HBO's "Deadwood." Anyone who's seen season one of this David Milch Western on HBO will know him as the Rev. H.W. Smith. And if you've seen the season finale with his final encounter with Ian McShane's Al Swearingen, I think you'll agree with me that it's one of the best hours you'll ever see on TV anywhere.

Along with being an actor, McKinnon also has written and directed three films, starting with "The Accountant," then "Chrystal" (a Southern gothic flick starring Billy Bob Thornton that just got added to my Netflix queue) and now "Randy and the Mob."

The latter, which will slowly spread beyond Atlanta starting next week, sounds like a thoroughly goofy but hopefully very funny little flick. McKinnon stars as Randy, a small-time Southern businessman who makes the always wise move of borrowing money from some Italian-American gangsters. Along with McKinnon, it also stars Lisa Blount, Bill Nunn and, believe it or not, Burt Reynolds.

See this one if you get the chance. Given that this was executive produced by the late Phil Walden, the Maconite who played a key role in developing the Allman Brothers, Otis Redding and other musicians, I'm hoping it will come to Macon very soon.

Besides, when's the last time you watched a "Southern" movie that actually starred Southern people? ("Cold Mountain" is the one that really grates my cheese for not even bothering to look for any, but there are plenty of other truly egregious examples.) Well, directors, Ray McKinnon's out there, and he is indeed "bona fide."

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to wrap this up now so I can go see David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises." Sometimes, life really is good.