by Alan Yudman

I absolutely loved the original BAD SANTA. The foul-mouthed humor, the complete lack of political correctness, the bawdiness, the physical comedy and the heart. All that combined for a surprise hit. So, 13 years later I was ready for Willie to return, badder than ever.
Well BAD SANTA 2 is badder. But not in the way that you would want. Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is older, just as messed up and on the verge of suicide. Apparently Sue (Lauren Graham) has left him, but Thurman Merman is still hanging around. They are two pathetic people. Willie because he’s a lonely, loathsome drunk. Thurman because he is so freaking clueless about life. Then Marcus (Tony Cox) shows up with a plan for another heist. Apparently he’s recently out of prison. The job is in Chicago so they travel there with the promise of millions. Willie finds out the third member of this misfit crew is his mother (Kathy Bates). Let’s just say Willie won’t be buying any Mother’s Day cards. Ever. The “love” interest for Willie this time is Christina Hendricks (yes, complete with boob jokes). The crew wants to steal $2 million from a charity run by Hendricks and her wet noodle husband.
The plot is not bad. The idea is worth exploring but the execution is dull. The jokes are lazy. The attempt at pulling your heartstrings falls flat. BAD SANTA was so outrageous, just repeating the same formula was never going to work. So the jokes had to be bigger and badder. All that while not losing Willie’s innate goodness that is buried under a dirty Santa Costume and several bottle of whiskey. The original writers and director are not a part of this. Good for them. Director Mark Waters and writers Johnny Rosenthal and Shauna Cross miss the target over and over again. There are some giggles, but nothing worth paying money to see.
When you have such a unique and unexpected success like the original BAD SANTA, maybe it is better to just let that one live on its own. The formula is too hard to replicate. BAD SANTA 2 is a turd that wishes it were a lump of coal in your stocking. At least the coal wouldn’t smell as bad.

by Alan Yudman

The best science fiction stories don’t focus solely on space ships and aliens. The best science fiction use those devices to talk about the human condition or the emotions that drive people to do what they do. Star Trek is a classic because it addressed its themes of prejudice and equality in a sly fashion by placing the issues in a fiction.
ARRIVAL on the surface is about alien craft that hover over select points around the globe and how linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) uses her skill to communicate with them and finally figure out their real purpose for visiting Earth. But ARRIVAL is about so much more than that. It is about loss and grief and how to return to a normal existence.
Banks is divorced (or separated, it’s not clear). She has suffered a devastating loss, her daughter has died of cancer some years earlier. She is simply going about her business, teaching her classes all while trapped in a kind of funk or malaise. Then these alien pods arrive. She is so absorbed in her own drama, she barely registers what is going on. Then Forest Whitaker shows up. He is an army Colonel who has history with Banks. She’s apparently worked for him as a translator in the past. She is recruited to try to figure out a way to communicate with these aliens. Along for the ride is a physicist played by Jeremy Renner. The two must work together to save the planet and humanity.
The big problem communicating with these aliens is they do not speak or communicate in anything we would recognize as a language. They use symbols which no one understands. Banks must figure out what it all means and how to say hello without inciting the aliens to blow up the planet. Her journey of discovery is fascinating. She understands that we cannot just ask them what they want. To use a tortured metaphor we have to walk before we can run. She has to do this while dealing with the military, and international politics. And she has to do it while continuing to slog through her grief. In the process of figuring all that out, she also figures out how to move past her personal tragedy.
ARRIVAL plays with time in a unique way. It can be sometimes difficult to follow when it jumps around, but after a while you become used to the device. Director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario and Prisoners) does a masterful job keeping it all on point. Adams is fabulous. She plays Dr. Banks perfectly. She is brave, fearless and completely vulnerable. And if you think all three of those things cannot coexist in one character, Adams proves you wrong.
This touching, earnest and tense sci-fi story is among the year’s best.