Made for less than a million dollars, the slightly obscure Dead End is a chilling little indie you don't want to miss. It might just be the best Christmas horror movie no one ever heard of and every dollar is up there on the screen. It's quirky, weird, funny, bizarre, and scary all at once. Black comedy for sure but much more, this would make a nice double feature with The Perfect Host, another movie we're big on around here. So, grab some eggnog and a snack or two and check out the inimitable Ray Wise with legendary Lin Shaye as they take their family down a wrong turn, what's up with this road? Why doesn't it end? After all, they're just trying to make it to Christmas Eve dessert at Frank's mother's house. Tubi, Plex, Freevee, enjoy! 2.75 stars/2.75
Not as bad as I thought it would be and I made it all the way through -
FIVE REASONS I THINK IT WAS DOOMED
1. I read Night Shift in high school, loved it and still think it's his best collection of short stories but most of the stories in that excellent book don't warrant a full feature, The Mangler a classic example.
2. When the director shows up to set and the front gate guard won't even let him in because he looks so drugged out, it's time to wrap.
3. What a poor waste of Emilio Estevez' always underrated talents.
4. The last time I saw blocking that bad, the Jets lost by 35 points.
5. A wonderful DOP named Armando Nannuzzi lost his shooting eye in an accident, see #2
In a sort-of return-to-form for Alexander Payne (especially after the trainwreck known as "Downsizing,") Paul Giamatti stars in this instant Christmas charmer about a gruff teacher who has to babysit a small group of kids that can't leave their fancy New England boarding school. This small group eventually dwindles down to one - act two features the bonding of this classic history teacher with an older teen boy Angus, played wonderfully by newcomer Dominic Sessa.
There is also a subplot involving a cafeteria manager (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) trying to sort out her own issues after losing a son. Randolph won an Oscar for her performance here which is awesome. David Hemingson also won for his script. I have to be honest, I feel the same way this guy probably did when his phone rang - why does Alexander Payne of all gosh-dang people need a writer, and just to fulfill a story vision he had? But, obviously it worked. I still would have liked to see this written by Payne and Jim Taylor his partner for Sideways, Election and About Schmidt, easily Payne's three best.
In act three Giamatti really turns up the acting chops and his last 20 minutes of the film are to watch a master thespian at work. He's come a long, long way since the five-liner days of films like Donny Brasco. The Holdovers is a great piece for him. It's a little clunky and slow at times and is the only Payne film I can say would have benefited from a trimming. But it's an immediate holiday season classic and a wonderful return to form for the brilliant Alexander Payne. 3.75 stars/5
☝ merry *&#@ Christmas y'all, this is a mega-post, first off, happy holidays to you and yours and starting off the proceedings with
TOP TJREE CHRISTMAS MOVIES THIS YEAR >
1 CANDY CANE LANE (2023) - Eddie Murphy's tour de force could be a lot worse and in general good Christmas movies of any acceptable caliber don't come down the pike every year, Enter this charming world complete with talking and singing ornaments. Many things to love here - top of the list being it's culturally diverse with a nice vibe, it's musical but not a musical, and like a well-decorated tree it;s bas many bells and whistles to marvel at along the way. 3.0 stars/5
2 SCROOGE (1970) This is one of those watch every year one's. You have to be ready for a singing, dancing Albert Finney in a lavish British production along the lines of Chitty Chirry Bang Bang. And, in fact, has some lineage to that previous family classic. This is really a great take on A Christmas Carol and the only adaption ever to feature a now infamous sequence where Scrooge goes to hell shortly. If you can immerse yourself in it's world, this is a wonderful experience of the Dickens fable. 3.0 stars/5
3 I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (1995) - Yeah, I know. Guilty pleasure for sure, but have and still do love this goofball slapstick-y comedy from mid-'90's Disney. Johnathon Taylor Thomas, who went on to become a lawyer later in life, plays a college shyster who can fast-talk his way out of any situation. That it, until he pisses off the jocks, who tape a Santa beard and costume to him and drop him in the niddle of Joshua Tree. He now has to cross country in 24 hours to make it home for Xmas dinner at 6pm and inherit his dad's Porche. 3.0 stars/5
NEXT, ALSO A TRADITION, IT'S THE "CHRISTMAS HORROR TRAILER PARK" PLAYLIST WITH 28 FLICKS
AND SOMETHING I FOUND VERY INTERESTING, VUDU.COM'S TOP 100 CHRISTMAS MOVIES, AN INTERESTING LIST AND LOTS OF GOOD SUGGESTION, NEW AND OLD
A stunningly beautiful woman and gifted actress (especially in comedy,) Teri Garr rocked the 70's and 80's like no other.
Here we present a Paramount feature from 1984 where Garr plays a divorcee who starts dating a fast-talking charmer (Peter Weller) with a questionable character. He leads Garr into a druggy lifestyle which forces her older son (Christopher Collett, a couple years post-Sleepaway Camp and hands down his best ever performance here) to become the appropriate evictor of this bad man who has wormed his way into their house and life.
This is a complete dramatic role for Garr, not much comedy here, I think it's a great pick to show another side of her talents. As far as the rest of the cast, I wouldn't even know where to begin - everyone is great here, especially a very young Sarah Jessica Parker, Corey Heim's debut and a very early Robert Downey, Jr , just a couple years before he would really break with Back To School and Less Than Zero. Weller would go on to Robocop fame just a few years after as well.
Firstborn was big on the late-night cable circuit in the years following it's release. This is how most people were first exposed to the film. In contrast to our B-Movie Of The Month, Firstborn doesn't try to deliver any messages about the dangers of drug use and the lifestyle - act three shifts up to action mode between Collett and Weller. Some reviewers gave the film low marks because of this but I like the way this film just sticks to the suspense, acting and darkness of subject matter to drive it to it's happy if not 80's predictable ending.
Rest in peace, Teri Garr. Streams on VOD only right now but trust me, this is worth seeking out, whatever format you watch in it. 3.5 stars/5
