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"Bad Santa" is about a department store Santa named Willie (played by one of the former Mr Jolies, Billy Bob Thornton). He's a bit of a lowlife, has alcoholic tendencies and the whole Santa gig isn't due to a love of children, it's so that he and his elf helper Marcus can rob the store ... Read review
Instantly qualifying as a perennial cult favorite,Bad Santais as nasty as it wants to be, ... more
and there's something to be said for comedy without compromise. The Coen brothers conceived the basic idea and served as executive producers, but it's director Te...
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Instantly qualifying as a perennial cult favorite,Bad Santais as nasty as it wants to be, ... more
and there's something to be said for comedy without compromise. The Coen brothers conceived the basic idea and served as executive producers, but it's director Te...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
He doesn't care if you're naughty or nice.When washed-up, crooked and corrupt department ... more
store Santa, Willie T. Stokes (Academy Award Winner Billy Bob Thornton, Best Screenplay, 1996, Sling Blade) isn't making appearances at shopping malls, he's a safe...
He doesn't care if you're naughty or nice. When washed-up, crooked and corrupt department ... more
store Santa, Willie T. Stokes (Academy Award Winner Billy Bob Thornton, Best Screenplay, 1996, Sling Blade) isn't making appearances at shopping malls, he's a safecracker who makes an annual big score on Christmas Eve. But when Willie and his midget partner, Marcus (Tony Cox, Me, Myself & Irene), come to Phoenix for their next heist, they fall under the suspicious eye of Bob (John Ritter, Tadpole), the store manager, and Gin (Bernie Mac, Ocean's Twelve), a savvy mall detective. Willie also has to deal with an 8-year-old misfit who believes that the frequently-intoxicated and foul-mouthed Willie is the real Santa. A bawdy, laugh-out-loud experience, Bad Santa is the ultimate festive movie for people who don't like Christmas.
Instantly qualifying as a perennial cult favorite,Bad Santais as nasty as it wants to be, ... more
and there's something to be said for comedy without compromise. The Coen brothers conceived the basic idea and served as executive producers, but it's director Terry Zwigoff who brings his unique affinity for losers and outcasts to the twisted tale of Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed sexaholic safe-cracker who targets a different department store every holiday season, playing Santa while he cases the joint with his dwarf elf-partner Marcus (Tony Cox). With comedic support from Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, Cloris Leachman, and John Ritter in his final film, Thornton milks the lowbrow laughs with a slovenly lack of sentiment, warmingBad Santa's pickled heart just enough to please a chubby misfit (Brett Kelly, hilariously deadpan) who may or may not be mentally challenged. As dry as an arid martini and blacker than morning-after coffee,Bad Santais an instant cure for yuletide schmaltz, and if you think this appropriately R-rated comedy is suitable for kids, your parenting skills are no better than Willie's.--Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
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Instantly qualifying as a perennial cult favorite,Bad Santais as nasty as it wants to be, ... more
and there's something to be said for comedy without compromise. The Coen brothers conceived the basic idea and served as executive producers, but it's director Terry Zwigoff who brings his unique affinity for losers and outcasts to the twisted tale of Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed sexaholic safe-cracker who targets a different department store every holiday season, playing Santa while he cases the joint with his dwarf elf-partner Marcus (Tony Cox). With comedic support from Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, Cloris Leachman, and John Ritter in his final film, Thornton milks the lowbrow laughs with a slovenly lack of sentiment, warmingBad Santa's pickled heart just enough to please a chubby misfit (Brett Kelly, hilariously deadpan) who may or may not be mentally challenged. As dry as an arid martini and blacker than morning-after coffee,Bad Santais an instant cure for yuletide schmaltz, and if you think this appropriately R-rated comedy is suitable for kids, your parenting skills are no better than Willie's.--Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Advantages: funny, unlike other christmas films, great performances, fairly cheap to buy Disadvantages: lots of swearing
So my second christmas review of the season, and this time I'm going to go for a Christmas film which is the complete antithesis of most Christmas films around - at least the majority of it is...
"Bad Santa" is about a department store Santa named Willie (played by one of the former Mr Jolies, Billy Bob Thornton). He's a bit of a lowlife, has alcoholic tendencies and the whole Santa gig isn't due to a love of children, it's ... ...the store and run off with the takings. Every year they target a different store in a different state and clean it out. And every year Willie claims that it is the last time - much to the skepticism of Marcus, who knows that by the next year Willie will be flat broke and won't have anything better to do. He always comes back for more, and this time is no different.
But this year, things are slightly more complicated. Willie is becoming ... more
So my second christmas review of the season, and this time I'm going to go for a Christmas film which is the complete antithesis of most Christmas films around - at least the majority of it is...
"Bad Santa" is about a department store Santa named Willie (played by one of the former Mr Jolies, Billy Bob Thornton). He's a bit of a lowlife, has alcoholic tendencies and the whole Santa gig isn't due to a love of children, it's so that he and his elf helper Marcus can rob the store and run off with the takings. Every year they target a different store in a different state and clean it out. And every year Willie claims that it is the last time - much to the skepticism of Marcus, who knows that by the next year Willie will be flat broke and won't have anything better to do. He always comes back for more, and this time is no different.
But this year, things are slightly more complicated. Willie is becoming more and more dependent on alcohol which is affecting his already sloppy work (the way he talks to kids is absolutely atrocious); the sinister store detective (played by Bernie Mac) is smelling a rat and having them investigated with a surprising twist; and a little fat kid seems to be stalking him.
Willie turns The Kid's obsession to his advantage, moving into the big house occupied only by the child and his grandmother - but really he wants nothing to do with The Kid at all. But the youngster just won't leave him alone and is always asking him questions about the North Pole, or Mrs Claus- and he is so thickskinned that when Willie yells at him, swearing and flinging abuse, it doesn't ever shut him up. But gradually The Kid and a randy barmaid called Sue work their way under his wall of jaded cynicism - but is it too late for him to change?
Like I said at the beginning, "Bad Santa" is the kind of Christmas film that is nothing like the usual kind - most christmas films give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, and possibly a cheese overdose. This one does no such thing. It's a black comedy which will make you laugh out loud - but probably more in shock intially than because something is hugely funny. I remember watching this in the cinema when it first came out here about three years ago - and I think most of the audience were thinking "how can a guy get away with saying all this stuff - especially to kids???" But it was gripping because you just didn't know what was going to happen, or what was going to come out of his mouth next.
Billy Bob Thornton is excellent in this film - I've never been a big fan of him before but it is as if this role was made with him in mind. It wasn't - Bill Murray was the original Willie but dropped out to film "Lost in Translation" instead, Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") was considered and Jack Nicholson wanted to do the part, but he couldn't as he was already committed to another film. I can't actually imagine any of them in this role; Thornton has peed all over this role (a metaphor although his character does pee himself in the film...) and claimed it as his own. Willie initially has no redeeming features, and is a complete loser, but you still can't bring yourself to hate him. He is more a creature to be pitied, someone to root for and hope he will eventually be able to turn his life around.
There are a few recognisable faces in this film - Lauren Tom (who played Julie in "Friends" in series two of the show) plays the materialistic Lois, who cases the stores and gives Marcus a massive list of goodies she wants for herself; Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls") who plays the horny love interest; Bernie Mac, like I said, who is sufficiently scary as store detective Gin (I wouldn't want HIM to catch me shoplifting if I ever tried); and most poignantly the late John Ritter in his last film role before his death in 2003 plays the worrywart store manager.
The Kid is not a recognisable face to me, although apparently he was in "Dead Like Me" for a few episodes - it seems to me I would have remembered him though as he is fairly distinctive looking. He is probably the other standout performance of the piece; he is just so odd and yet so lovable at the same time, you can't help but feel sorry for him and hope that his constant efforts to form a bond with Santa will be worth it.
Be warned - there are a HUGE number of swear words in this film, so if you are against cursing, perhaps it would be best to give it a miss. But it would be a shame if this DID put you off, as "Bad Santa" is a great film with solid performances from all the cast. Ultimately, as it is a Christmas film, there is a bit of cheese and schmaltz thrown into the cynicism for good measure - but if you can't enjoy a bit of cheese at Christmas, then when can you? It's the season of goodwill after all...
*****SOME QUOTES*****
Willie: I said, "Next," goddamn it! This is not the DMV!
Sue: I've always had a thing for Santa Claus. In case you didn't notice. It's like some deep-seeded childhood thing. Willie: So is my thing for tits.
Bob Chipeska: I just can't help it. There's something about the guy that makes me uneasy. Gin: Well sure. Santa fucking someone in the ass...
Willie: You can't drink worth shit. Marcus: I weigh 92 pounds, you dick!
Kid: Your beard's not real. Willie: No Shit!It was real, but I got sick and all the hair fell out. Kid: How come? Willie: I loved a woman who wasn't clean. Kid: Mrs. Santa? Willie: No it was her sister.
*****PRICE GUIDE***** £5.98 FROM AMAZON.COM FROM £3.2O USED AND NEW AMAZON MARKETPLACE £5.99 FROM PLAY.COM
Advantages: The boy character, the concept is a novelty and its pretty amusing Disadvantages: The swearing is a little over the top
...so perhaps that shows a bad light on me for thinking that way but I admit it, I was somewhat interested to watch this movie knowing thats what it'd be like or would feature... a swearing santa, who'd have thought it?!
The movie is ok, although it will be a bit too dark for some im sure and of course this isn't at all for children, even though it does feature one fairly young kid in particular, I certainly wouldn't recommend it be shown to anyone ... ...It was somewhat amusing but I think its too much of a one joke movie really, im certainly glad it didn't last considerably longer. I felt quite sad for the young boy, seeing him getting bullied by the local teenagers and clearly not seeing 'Santa' for who he really is. The boy follows Willie around most of the time because he's clearly shy and lonely and so he wants to be protected by this low life drunk that he somehow believes will protect him ...
IzzyS 14.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa (DVD)
Advantages: Very funny, great cast, a Christmas film for adults! Disadvantages: Not that Christmassy, rather crude in parts!
...is it enough to turn Bad Santa good?
You're probably thinking that this doesn't sound like a very nice Christmas film. And you're right - it's rude, it's very crude and not at all Christmassy but it IS hilarious! This is most definitely a Christmas film for adults, designed to deliver on laughs and humour and boy does it do that. I'll be honest and say that when it started I was very unsure whether to bother because it didn't seem my sort of thing ... ...I am glad I did. The odd start paves way for the odd story which quickly becomes very funny, although made me cringe quite a bit with its rudeness! At nearly 2 hours long, the film manages not to drag at all but keeps the viewers hooked with its great one-liners and quick changes of direction, and the development of the relationships between the characters is realistic but hilarious!
Without a doubt, what makes this film so watchable is the brilliant ...
mummy2harry 27.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa (DVD)
...Willie is a Santa, really bad Santa, who is drunken really often. If we look him closer, he is drunken all the time. He works as fake Santa, along with his dwarf friend named Marcus and he works as Santa elf, but really, It looks out really weird and somehow interesting. Every Christmas evening, when all the people are in their homes, and there are nobody in the streets, Marcus and Willie going to disable security alarm and after that, starts real ... ...girlfriend, and what can go bad now? But still, everything is not really ok, because his plan to burglarize don't go as he planned, and everything because of super market annoying director and sexy Santa fan. Everything goes wrong and It seems, that Willie don't get anything this year. But little boy named Kid, thinks that Willie is that real Santa, regardless his bad language and outlook. '''MY EXPERIENCES / VIEWS:'''
'''PLOT'''
Good thing about ...
ihate22 19.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa (DVD)
Advantages: Laugh out loud funny! Disadvantages: A bit crude at times
BAD SANTA on DVD released in 2003 and rated 15 is a new movie by director Terry Zwigoff.
First things first, there are 3 other reviews about this film on Ciao, and I cannot belive the ratings that they have given this film. Everybody to their own, i know, but come on this film is Excellent fun, a bit grose in places, a bit rude in places but above all very very funny.
The Story ( in brief, I will try not to spoil it)
Willie is a drunk, but also ... ...Marcus, who is the brains of the operation. They only work for 1 month a year. Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is Santa and Marcus (Tony Cox) is an elf. They yearly get employed in a large department store, in santa's grotto, and on Xmas eve they break in and empty the safe. A simple plan, which has worked on the 6 years previous. Year 7 however is different!
Santa and his Elf find their annual crime spree endangered by a pesky store manager (John Ritter), ...
wompie99 01.03.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa (DVD)
Advantages: Will make you laugh Disadvantages: Will make you gasp at the bad language
...Billy Bob Thornton plays the Bad Santa who gets jobs in large department stores over Christmas with his little Elf friend who is played by Tony Cox. He doeesn't want to be there but it pays for the vodka! Santa is always drunk and really couldnt care less what the children want. He sits in his chair swearing at the children and asking what they want whilst taking crafty glugs of vodka when he can. His Elf friend tries to keep it all together and ... ...remember as although she likes Bad Santa she really wants kids and has taken a shine to the boy.
When Santa returns for another season to a new department store the store detective is in on the robbery game and decides he is entitled to half of everything they make. The Elf isn't impressed by this and tries to kill the store detective whilst verbally abusing him in the process. At the end of the story, once they rob the store Santa realises that ...
kittyjem 10.01.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa (DVD)
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Advantages: very funny and different Disadvantages: vulgar (I'm loving it)
EXPLANATION OF MY TITLE
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"Le pere noel est une ordure" means santa is a bastard. A french play has this name, and it is a master piece. My English fellows, if you can get a hand on that, have a go. Please note that they released a movie in the 80s called "le pere noel est une ordure", and if you can put your hand on one, go for it
USELESS FRENCH LESSON
***********************************
Le pere noel est une ordure: prononce "le pair nowel ey une ordure".
That was the useless French lesson. Thank you.
BACKGROUND
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I got free tickets for the avant premiere of badsanta, and I thought "free movie, go for it". So I did... And your French bitch (moi) is about to comment...
Please note that this movie was released last year in the US, but hasen't made it here yet... It will be ...
monsieur.Joda 02.11.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa DVD
Advantages: Good all-round performances Disadvantages: Swearing's not big or clever, shame it makes up two-thirds of the script
An alcoholic conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper every year in order to rob department stores. The trouble starts when Willie is befriended by a troubled young boy who thinks he really is Father Christmas. Add to that Marcus? demanding wife, a Santa fetishist and a snooping store detective and it looks like no-one is going to have a happy Christmas?
Director Terry Zwigoff came to prominence as the helmer of the critically acclaimed yet emotionally distant ?Ghost World? in which a pair of loners muse on the inequities of life on the outside looking in. ?BadSanta? is the antidote to all the Christmas cheer ever foisted on you. It is a determinedly mean-spirited, bad-mannered, foot-stamping, foul-mouthed brat of a film. It contains more swearing than a class of American children doing the pledge of allegiance ...
afy9mab 01.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa DVD
Advantages: funny, sharp, well-timed and performed Disadvantages: weak moments that scupper the grasp for perfection
Picture it... a department store Santa... replete with red hat and white beard... propped in his throne... elves to the left... children to the right... presents everywhere... puddle of urine under the chair... wet patch on the trousers... tongue lolling drunkenly out. NOW you know it's Christmas.
BadSanta is the story of Willie (Billy Bob Thornton), an alcoholic, miserable, lecherous con-artist who, together with his ("midget? dwarf? little person? I don't know what they like!") partner Marcus (Tony Cox), pulls off the ultimate scam; they work as Santa and his elf, and then they rob the department store every Christmas Eve. Willie has vague hopes of changing his life - which has thus far been punctuated with alcoholism, beatings, cynicism and a predeliction for a particular sexual act with larger women - moving to Florida, opening ...
ruth_cole 12.11.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bad Santa DVD
Billy Bob Thornton is terrific as Willie T. Stokes; a lowlife department store Santa in Terry Zwigoff's outrageous comedic follow-up to his offbeat hit 'Ghost World'. Every year, Stokes takes a job as Santa in a different place in order to rob the store he's working in. The diminutive Tony Cox plays his horny sidekick, Marcus, the real mastermind, who is even more foulmouthed than Stokes. Brett Kelly is Thurman Merman, an eight-year-old who desperately needs to believe in the real Santa Claus - and just might have a good enough heart to change Stokes's evil ways. Or maybe not. And Lauren Graham plays Sue, a young sexpot who wants to get a different kind of gift from Santa. Providing excellent comic relief in this black comedy is John Ritter, in his last film role, as the mousy mall manager, and Bernie Mac as Gin, the mall security guard who suspects something is not right. Be warned - 'Bad Santa' is not a family holiday movie. It is lewd, crude, and very funny, but it is most definitely not for children. Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers behind such quirky hits as 'Raising Arizona' and 'Barton Fink', are the executive producers who came up with the idea in the first place, influenced by the likes of 'The Bad News Bears' and 'South Park'.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
14/11/2005
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
CDR 39107
Barcode
5035822910737
Editor
Robert Hoffman
Languages
Main Language
English
Dubbed Language
German, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Subtitle Language
English, German, Hindi, Turkish
Hearing Impaired Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Outtakes, Deleted Scenes, Featurette
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen, Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Stereo
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English German, Dolby Digital Stereo English French German Italian Spanish
Professional reviews
Review
Very naughty, very profane and very funny (Heat, )
Thornton is brilliant, spitting out lines that you can't quite believe made it into a mainstream movie (The Times Screen, )
DVD Description
Billy Bob Thornton is terrific as Willie T. Stokes; a lowlife department store Santa in Terry Zwigoff's outrageous comedic follow-up to his offbeat hit 'Ghost World'. Every year, Stokes takes a job as Santa in a different place in order to rob the store he's working in. The diminutive Tony Cox plays his horny sidekick, Marcus, the real mastermind, who is even more foulmouthed than Stokes. Brett Kelly is Thurman Merman, an eight-year-old who desperately needs to believe in the real Santa Claus - and just might have a good enough heart to change Stokes's evil ways. Or maybe not. And Lauren Graham plays Sue, a young sexpot who wants to get a different kind of gift from Santa. Providing excellent comic relief in this black comedy is John Ritter, in his last film role, as the mousy mall manager, and Bernie Mac as Gin, the mall security guard who suspects something is not right. Be warned - 'Bad Santa' is not a family holiday movie. It is lewd, crude, and very funny, but it is most definitely not for children. Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers behind such quirky hits as 'Raising Arizona' and 'Barton Fink', are the executive producers who came up with the idea in the first place, influenced by the likes of 'The Bad News Bears' and 'South Park'.
![Bad Santa [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78484586.jpg)
![Bad Santa [Blu-ray] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/70172482.jpg "Bad Santa [Blu-ray] [2003]")
![Bad Santa [UMD Mini for PSP] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78493365.jpg "Bad Santa [UMD Mini for PSP] [2003]")
![Bad Santa [DVD] [2004] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/83397719.jpg "Bad Santa [DVD] [2004] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
