Holiday movie season is in full swing, with a mix of Christmas-themed films like Violent Night and awards contenders angling for attention.
The latter category includes Emancipation. Rock-smacking Will Smith stars as Peter, a slave on a Louisiana plantation who escapes to join the Union Army and put the hurt on some Confederates. Based on a true story from the Civil War era (except the real person was named Gordon), this is big-budget action adventure with a conscience.
The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons stars in Spoiler Alert, a romantic tear-jerker based on a memoir by journalist Michael Ausiello. He meets the love of his life, photographer Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge), but their love is ultimately doomed. Directed by The Big Sick‘s Michael Showalter, this one looks to be a three-hanky deal.
The Colombian entry into the International Feature Academy Awards category, Memories of My Father is a story of Héctor Abad Gómez, a doctor and human rights activist who was murdered by a government paramilitary hit squad in the late 1960s. The film is told from the perspective of his son, Héctor Abad Faciolince, who wrote the book on which brothers Fernando (who also directs) and David Trueba based the screenplay.
Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel White Noise has proven to be an enduring classic that nailed the paranoia and disorientation of the information age a decade before it really got going. Director Noah Baumbach’s adaptation stars Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig as a couple of academics whose comfortable lives are upended by an “airborne toxic event.”
On Saturday night, the Time Warp Drive-In closes out its 2022 season at the Malco Summer Drive-In with Strange Christmas, featuring Robert Zemeckis’ uncanny valley cult classic from 2004, The Polar Express.
Keeping with the theme of questionable CGI, did you know the highest-grossing holiday film of all time is 2018’s The Grinch? Now you do.
State Senator Brian Kelsey (Credit: Jackson Baker)
Former state Senator Brian Kelsey’s law license was suspended Thursday by the Tennessee Supreme Court, but more discipline could follow.
The court’s Board of Professional Responsibility oversees and disciplines attorneys in the state for unethical behaviors. On Thursday, the court suspended Kelsey from practicing law in Tennessee after he pled guilty to two felonies related to campaign finance laws last month.
Kelsey was indicted on the charges by a grand jury in October 2021. He pled guilty last month to violating campaign finance laws and conspiring to defraud the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as part of a scheme to benefit his failed 2016 campaign for U.S. Congress, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
For each of these charges, Kelsey faces five years in prison. He is scheduled to be to be sentenced in June 2023.
As for his law license, the “matter has been referred to the [Tennessee Supreme Court’s] board to institute formal proceedings to determine the extent of the final discipline to be imposed upon Mr. Kelsey as a result of his plea of guilty to conduct constituting a serious crime …”
Legislation was passed on Thursday, December 8th, by the United States House of Representatives that protects same-sex and interracial marriage. The next step is for President Joe Biden to sign the bill into law.
The Respect For Marriage Act, which was passed by the Senate in November, provides “statutory authority for same-sex and interracial marriages.” It requires all states to recognize “valid marriages,” and it repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed in 1996 by former President Bill Clinton.
According to Congress, the “bill replaces provisions that define, for purposes of federal law, marriage as between a man and a woman and spouse as a person of the opposite sex with provisions that recognize any marriage between two individuals that is valid under state law.” The bill also “replaces provisions that do not require states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states with provisions that prohibit the denial of full faith and credit or any right or claim relating to out-of-state marriages on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.”
The House voted 258 to 169, with 39 Republicans voting in favor of the bill. All Democrat representatives voted to pass the bill.
No members from the Tennessee GOP voted to support the bill.
When the bill was passed through the Senate, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Haggerty were among the 36 republicans who voted against the bill.
The future of same-sex marriages was questioned after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June. This speculation was heightened after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the concurring opinion that “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”
Congressman Steve Cohen voted in favor of the act. Cohen released this statement regarding his vote.
“The Respect for Marriage Act simply says each state will recognize other states’ marriages and not deny a person the right to marry based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. The only reason to vote against it is if you believe people shouldn’t have the right to choose their partner and marry who they love. I do and was proud to vote for them.”
Representatives from local LGBTQ+ organizations and establishments in Memphis voiced their excitement over this news.
Keleigh Klarke, the entertainment director of Dru’s Place (Dru’s Bar) located on 1474 Madison Ave. said, “We are ecstatic! For myself, having just gotten married on November 12th, and with the current attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, this is an amazing bit of peace to carry through our days. We have multiple Dru’s family members that the passing of this bill will be a huge comfort to and others that it will give a brighter and more hopeful outlook to the future!”
Phillis Lewis, CEO and founder of Love Doesn’t Hurt, a nonprofit that “provides assistance to victims of Domestic & Sexual Violence in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community,” said, “The recent passage of the bill is definitely a step in the right direction to help provide protections for marriages involving not only same-sex couples but interracial ones as well. We hope this momentum continues to create a country that is equitable and does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression or identity, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.”
Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks high five after a basket. (Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
On a rainy Wednesday night in Memphis, the Grizzlies matched up against the Oklahoma City Thunder and came away with their fourth consecutive win, and snapped a three-game winning streak for OKC.
Let’s get into it.
Breaking open a fairly close game, the Grizzlies opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run, pushed their lead to double digits, and never let the Thunder get back in the game. Memphis held Oklahoma City to just 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Fun fact: Memphis is undefeated this season when leading by 10+ points at any point in the game and remained the NBA’s only undefeated team when holding a double-digit advantage in a game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is arguably the best player on the Thunder’s roster, and yet Memphis defenders were still able to hold him below his season average. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the night with 26 points, 17 of them coming from the foul line.
Ja Morant notched his sixth career triple-double, and with it became the franchise leader in triple-doubles, surpassing Marc Gasol who had five.
Morant had this to say postgame, when asked about setting a new franchise record: “An honor, big time. I know a lot of great players have been in this organization, and for me to be the franchise-record holder for triple-doubles, it’s crazy. I feel like it’s something you got to earn, but I feel like my teammates are right up there with me, with history. Obviously, it’s my name, but without those guys, it wouldn’t have been possible. I wouldn’t have the assists, wouldn’t have been able to have the points without them out there on the floor; they open up so much for me on the floor. It also helps them as well and being able to knock down shots is big time.”
Ziaire Williams played for the first time this season, after sitting out due to right knee soreness. He only added four points to the board but that should improve as he finds his shot again. In any case, it was good to see Williams running the court and looking healthy.
Dillon Brooks is quickly becoming one of the best two-way players in the league. You always love what he gives you on defense, and even more so when he gets into a shooting groove as he did against OKC. Brooks has made 5 three-pointers in two of his last three games.
By The Numbers:
Ja Morant led the team with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists, racking up his sixth career triple-double.
Brooks posted 24 points including shooting 5 of 12 from beyond the arc.
Brandon Clarke had a season-high 17 points and 8 rebounds off the bench with 8 of 10 field goal shooting.
Jaren Jackson Jr finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 5 blocks.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ two teachers unions disagree over whether the district should sign the pending contract or start afresh. I Karen Pulfer Focht for Chalkbeat
The head of Tennessee’s largest school district wants the school board to vote next week on a labor agreement that has been stuck in negotiations for three years. Interim Superintendent Toni Williams’ proposal comes after the district rejected one teachers union’s attempt to restart the bargaining process from scratch.
Educators in Memphis-Shelby County Schools have been without a memorandum of understanding with the district since 2018, when the last agreement expired. The district’s two teachers unions last went to the bargaining table in 2019, but have not agreed on a new contract with the district to date.
That could change after the United Education Association of Shelby County, the smaller of the two unions, tried to kickstart a new round of negotiations, arguing that an entirely new contract is needed to address rising health care costs, stagnant salaries, and large class sizes.
“I’m a veteran teacher with over 25 years of exemplary experience, but right now, I am marking the days off the calendar for when I can retire because I am mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted,” said Fredericka Johnson, a UEA member, at a board meeting Tuesday.
Johnson signed a UEA petition that would force the district back to the bargaining table under a 2011 Tennessee law that requires a district to launch the bargaining process if unions can collect signatures from 15 percent of teachers.
On Tuesday, the district announced it was unable to verify the number of signatures on the petition because of discrepancies that included duplicate and ineligible signatures. With an insufficient number of signatures and the window for submitting a petition closed, MSCS says it cannot start the teachers union bargaining process.
Kenneth Walker II, the district’s general counsel and chief legal officer, said Tuesday that an MOU from the 2019 bargaining session was drawn up, but disagreements over compensation and fringe benefits prevented it from being signed.
That contract would allow teachers to select the members who serve on district professional committees, boosting the district’s contribution to medical insurance premiums from 66 percent to 70 percent, and include a pledge to increase compensation during upcoming fiscal planning for the 2023 budget.
Separate from the bargaining process, Williams also proposed forming a teacher advisory council focused on improving teacher compensation, one of her top priorities as interim superintendent.
In a presentation to the board, Williams said the council will serve as a “platform to elevate the voices of teachers throughout the district on compensation and other issues,” and would give teachers “direct access” to her office and other district leaders. The district has already opened up nominations for teachers to participate.
Danette Stokes, president of the United Education Association, supports the idea of creating a teacher advisory council, but said it’s no replacement for the bargaining process.
“Teacher voices are important. We should be at the table every time decisions are being made about us,” Stokes said. “But a teacher advisory council cannot engage in collaborative conferencing with the district.”
The district’s unions disagree over whether the district should sign the pending contract or start afresh.
Several members of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, the district’s larger teachers union led by recently elected board member Keith Williams, urged the board to sign the existing MOU.
Charlotte Fields, an MSCS educator for over 26 years and a member of MSCEA, said the MOU “represents what is best for all educators.”
But other public commenters on behalf of UEA disagreed. Many shared concerns about teachers’ existing working conditions and pay and advocated for restarting the collaborative conferencing process, a bargaining procedure laid out in Tennessee law.
When MSCS hired Johnson 19 years ago, she was ecstatic. She’s no longer happy with her job, the veteran teacher told the board Tuesday.
Over the last nearly two decades, Johnson said the cost of district-provided health care plans have increased, while her salary has stayed virtually stagnant. Her planning time is “constantly interrupted” because she’s asked to cover other classrooms because the district does not have enough substitute teachers. Class sizes have increased, despite administrators’ promises of reprieve. And Johnson says she has occasionally had to lay a bag of ice over the thermostat in her room for the heat to turn on.
“District leaders are constantly stating that teachers are doing the ‘hard and heart work’ for our students,” Johnson said. “Now is the time for you to show you’re doing the same for us.”
Stokes said her union is not ready to give up on restarting negotiations. Stokes said Wednesday that the union submitted the required amount of signatures by law, and she’s consulting with union lawyers to determine her next steps.
Lisa Jorgensen, another UEA teacher, called on the board to act quickly to begin a new round of negotiations.
“Educators are drowning with work overload,” Jorgensen said. “Our working conditions are unsustainable and becoming more so.”
Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
Fans of P.O. Press Public House & Provisions, take note: Chef Jimmy Gentry is about to be back in the kitchen.
Gentry announced Wednesday that he’ll be returning to the restaurant scene in early January with The Lobbyist, a new upscale restaurant on the first floor of the Chisca building Downtown at 272 South Main. The menu will showcase his specialty of globally inspired dishes, a few returning P.O. Press favorites, and an elevated wine list.
“We have put a lot of hard work into this concept and are looking forward to sharing The Lobbyist with everyone in 2023,” said Gentry, owner and executive chef at The Lobbyist and Paradox Catering and Consulting. “We will offer similar cuisine to that of P.O. Press including some old favorites, however I would say the whole menu is a bit more elevated. Stay tuned to the website and other media for the announcements of the staff.”
Inside, there are plans for an eight-person chef’s table that overlooks an open kitchen, while a private dining room can seat up to 20. The bar can accommodate 20 additional guests, and will serve a selection of craft cocktails with early and late-night happy hours.
The menu is still under wraps, but visit The Lobbyist website for updates over the next month.
Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) rejected Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) 20-year rolling contract Wednesday morning but will continue to be a TVA customer “for the foreseeable future.”
MLGW began evaluating its nearly 80-year relationship with TVA in 2018. The local utility company is TVA’s largest customer. Others (including Siemens) claimed MLGW could save between $130 million-$450 million each year if it left TVA.
MLGW is not leaving TVA, however. It will remain with TVA “for the foreseeable future,” according to an MLGW statement issued after the board’s decision Wednesday morning. But it can more freely keep its options to other power suppliers open after voting down the contract.
The board members ultimately rejected TVA’s now-standard, 20-year rolling contract, which most of its other local power companies have signed, based mostly on the length of the term. Board chairman Mitch Graves said, simply, the 20-year deal was “too long of an agreement.”
TVA accentuated the positives of the move Wednesday, highlighting the fact that MLGW will remain with them for now. TVA said the decision “is a reinforcement of the longstanding relationship with TVA in delivering affordable, reliable, and clean energy to the people and communities across Memphis and Shelby County.”
“We are proud of our partnership with MLGW, and we are excited to move forward,” TVA Chief External Relations Officer Jeannette Mills said in a statement. “We believe the people of Memphis and Shelby County deserve a partner that cares about serving their needs and addressing real issues like energy burden and revitalization of the city’s core communities. Our continued partnership with MLGW provides the best option for making this happen.”
Other groups, like the Southern Environmental Law Center, saw the decision a little differently.
“Big news out of Memphis as the city’s utility rejects a restrictive, never-ending power supply contract with TVA, looking for more renewable energy sources and lower bills for residents,” the group tweeted after the meeting.
Protect Our Aquifer tweeted this on Tuesday ahead of the board meeting:
TOMORROW MLGW Board is expected to vote on TVA's never-ending contract. If you would like to speak at the comment period before the vote, you can sign up on our website. (Action link: https://t.co/Jj0aKxDfhx) pic.twitter.com/3wifTwljBv
The group said it was at the hearing Wednesday to speak against the contract.
Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP) called the move “another win for the people.”
Another win for the People! Thanks for submitting your public comments, sharing our posts to inform others, and supporting the Movement. #betterdeal901pic.twitter.com/dU07bvuWHl
— Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (@MemphisCAP_org) December 7, 2022
Facing tens of billions of dollars in transportation project backlog, Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is proposing a patchwork of proposals designed to expedite work and raise more revenue, the most notable of which would institute toll roads or “choice lanes” built and maintained by the private sector through a state partnership.
The thinking is that Tennessee’s IMPROVE Act of 2017, a combination of fuel tax increases and vehicle registration fees, isn’t bringing in enough money to construct the roads and bridges needed to serve a state that grew by 9 percent over the last decade.
Tasked with finding alternatives to raising the fuel tax or taking on debt, Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley recently presented a list of options, including public-private partnerships on express lanes, creation of “choice lanes” on existing routes, raising electric vehicle fees, speeding up planning and bidding phases on construction projects and eliminating $34 million in unfilled Transportation Department positions and using that money to raise salaries for staff.
The response as the 113th General Assembly prepares to convene in January 2023 varies widely, with some lawmakers supporting and others raising questions.
Gov. Bill Lee is proposing public-private partnerships to create toll roads in Tennessee. Photo: John Partipilo)
“Mussolini liked those public-private partnerships. They called it fascism back then,” says Republican Sen. Frank Niceley, a Strawberry Plains farmer, referring to the early twentieth century Italian leader and the governor’s plan for toll or “choice lanes.” “I’m adamantly opposed to toll roads. Everybody in my district’s opposed to toll roads.”
Niceley points out that Texas adopted toll roads but mainly because it owed $20 billion for construction, in contrast to Tennessee, which holds no road work debt.
The Department of Transportation avoids the term “toll roads,” preferring “choice lanes” instead because motorists would have the option to use them and pay a rate to avoid slower traffic.
Other states use transponders to track vehicles’ use of “choice lanes,” but Tennessee hasn’t made a decision on how user fees would be collected here.
The Dallas, Texas area has a 100-mile TEXpress Lanes System of toll-managed lanes, with fees collected by the North Texas Tollway Authority through the use of three types of tags. Vehicles carrying more than one person can receive a 50 percent discount during peak travel periods during the week.
More than 60 managed price lanes exist in about 12 areas nationwide, mainly in California, around Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.
Mussolini liked those public-private partnerships. They called it fascism back then.
– Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains
The state points out on its Build With Us site that pricing managed lanes enables it to control congestion and help it keep pace with changing traffic volumes and “guarantee travel reliability.”
Getting into the details
The governor will need approval for any plan from the Legislature, as well as authority to set up multiple public-private partnerships for highway projects.
Tennessee officials are likely headed to Texas soon to see how its “choice lanes” and express system operate.
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton generally agree with Lee’s efforts to bolster the state’s road system and say they anticipate lively debate when the session starts.
“How quickly and efficiently people and goods can move across the state is directly related to our economic success,” McNally says. “I also agree that we should not abandon our pay-as-you-go system of road funding and that we must not increase the tax burden on our citizens.”
Says Sexton, “We must have honest discussions on infrastructure in our state to solve the traffic congestion issue. Those must include expansion of rail access, shortening the decades-long timeline to build roads, as well as looking at express lanes on our interstates in highly congested areas.”
Sexton doesn’t anticipate toll booths or mandatory toll roads but believes giving motorists the option to travel on an expressway will be considered.
The 2017 IMPROVE Act was projected to bring the state $1.081 billion from fiscal 2018 through fiscal 2022, and it is $5 million over projections. Yet gas tax revenue was down 4.4 percent through September and 2.5 percent through October this year, and state officials worry those dollars will continue to drop as electric vehicles take a bigger market share.
Thus, part of the proposal is to increase the $100 wheel tax on electric vehicles and bring it in line with the roughly $250 to $300 most motorists pay annually in fuel taxes.
The state has completed about 30 percent of the projects approved through the IMPROVE Act, and $16 billion worth of work remains. Another $26 billion of investments need to be made to deal with congestion across the state, according to TDOT.
Transportation officials haven’t put a dollar figure on the amount of money “choice lanes” would net. The idea is that a private company would invest its own money in the project and recoup expenses through fees.
State Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, is willing to delve into the proposals because of the “exponential growth” in Tennessee and its impact on highways.
“The public-private partnership is looking at ways to build roads a little more efficiently, try to build them quicker, which saves us money,” Massey says.
“Choice lanes,” as long as they are an option and not the only way to reach a destination, are a “viable solution,” Massey adds.
The 2017 IMPROVE Act was projected to bring the state $1.081 billion from fiscal 2018 through fiscal 2022, and it is $5 million over projections — but gas tax revenue is down and state officials expect that it will continue to drop as more drivers transition to electric vehicles.
Massey, a Knoxville Republican, says her daughters have used an Austin, Texas toll road that enabled them to arrive at work in 15 minutes compared to a free route that took an hour. Even though they had to pay, the shorter ride equated to savings, she says.
While most lawmakers want to dig into the details, state Rep. Pat Marsh, a Shelbyville Republican and trucking company executive who serves on the House Transportation Committee, is ready to move on the governor’s entire plan.
Traveling to Nashville from his home along I-24 is “horrible,” he says. And traffic in neighboring Murfreesboro is nearly as bad. He typically dreads driving anywhere.
“I’m proud that (Gov. Lee) is saying he wants to tackle that problem,” Marsh says. The influx of new residents in Tennessee and the rising cost of road construction, 50 percent to 100 percent more, are driving the need for new solutions, Marsh says.
He compares the matter to reforming the way the state pays for education, though the governor’s solution drew criticism from much of the education community.
Democratic state Rep. Sam McKenzie of Knoxville, also a member of the House Transportation Committee, recalls that former Gov. Phil Bredesen discussed the idea of building a toll road from the interstate to Gatlinburg. The proposal didn’t draw much Republican support.
“We already pay a lot in gas taxes and from a transportation standpoint our roads are in really good condition. I give us a B-plus,” McKenzie says.
But if a road can be built as an “optional path” for a direct route into a town, he would support it. On the other hand, McKenzie says he would oppose a toll road that would cost the same amount for a wealthy motorist and someone making $15 an hour.
In addition, McKenzie says fees for electric vehicles should not be raised to match the amount motorists pay in fuel taxes, noting an incentive should be kept in place to purchase EVs.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Jenny Davis and Phillip Snyder (Photo: Randy Gibson)
For those savvy in computer programming, you might recognize the code “if else.” For those who aren’t so savvy, Philip Snyder explains, “It’s what you would code if you wanted to say, ‘If these parameters are met, do this, or if these parameters are not met, do this something else.’” But Snyder adds that this sentiment also carries in his experimental flute duo, if.else, with Jenny Davis.
“We’re always looking for ways for the pieces that we do to be reliant on the specific situation as opposed to being the same thing every time,” he explains, “so the energy in the room can change the way the piece progresses. It’s the sense that every time you’re in a space doing a thing, it’s gonna be wildly different from one time to the next.”
For their upcoming performance, the duo commissioned experimental composer Randy Gibson, who, in turn, created The Four Pillars Breathing in Harmonic Time, a durational, immersive sound piece, integrating flutes and electronics. To accompany the three-hour piece, Gibson, also a visual artist, created projections that’ll move throughout the darkened space. With these different elements, the hope is to make the experience of sound into something new and all-encompassing. It’s a moment to sit down, without any distractions, and just take in the music and let it guide your thoughts, almost like a meditation.
“There are these sounds that happen and they are repeating on these very large scales to a point that you’re not immediately perceiving their repetition or the speed of which they’re repeating,” Snyder says, “but they are expanding and contracting in a way that shifts and modulates your expectation and experience of time throughout the piece. … And the duration element itself kind of takes it to a new place that we wouldn’t be able go to if we were going to a concert that’s four- to five-minute songs, or even a classical concert where it’s 10 to 15.”
With the performance being so long, though, the duo encourages audience members to get comfortable, whether that be by bringing a blanket or a mat, or choosing a chair removed from the projection field, or even leaving early if they have to.
“As an audience member,” Davis adds, “we might put on ourselves like, ‘Oh, I need to be or act a certain way or feel a certain way about the performance or know something about it,’ and really, you can throw that out the window a little bit and just come and experience it. That’s kind of the whole point of it. It’s introspective, so consider how you feel.
“The most beautiful thing about any music performance is that people are gonna get different things out of it,” Davis continues. “Maybe, that person is coming in and they had an extremely stressful day at work and this is a release, or maybe they’re riding a high and this is gonna continue that or bring it down a little bit. Everybody in the audience is bringing something different into that space and into that room, and that creates an energy in the room” — an energy that the flutists can channel in their performance.
David Harbour as Violent Night’s Santa Claus punches first, gives gifts later.
Santa Claus, that personification of Christmas beloved of children everywhere, comes with his own group of accessories and symbols: the red cap and coat, white beard, round spectacles, flying sleigh pulled by magic reindeer, and Skullcrusher, his hammer.
Not familiar with Skullcrusher? That’s because you haven’t seen Violent Night yet. Skullcrusher isn’t likely to join the Santa pantheon alongside his bag of toys for good little girls and boys, but, in the right hands, it is capable of meting out more punishment for the naughty than a simple lump of coal.
Those hands belong to David Harbour, most recognizable as Stranger Things’ Sheriff Jim Hopper, the reluctant stepdad of human weapon Eleven. He also whipped his dad bod into shape to play the Red Guardian in Black Widow, so playing an ass-kicking Santa is in his wheelhouse. When we first see him as the Bearded One, he’s knocking back beers at an English pub, commiserating with the other Santa tribute artists about the kids these days. Santa’s over the greed that has taken over his season, but he’s kept going only out of duty to the kids on the nice list. When he leaves through the roof access, it dawns on the staff that he’s the real thing.
Meanwhile, little Trudy Lightstone (Leah Brady) is on her way to Christmas at grandma’s house. It’s the first time her estranged parents Jason (Alex Hassell) and Linda (Alexis Louder) have been together in a while. The situation is even more fraught because the wealthy Lightstone family is more toxic than Presidents Island. Grandma Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo) is a predatory capitalist with a foul mouth and no time for sentiment. Alva (Edi Patterson) can’t hold her liquor as well as her mother, and her boyfriend Morgan Steele (Cam Gigandet) is only there to try to convince Gertrude to fund his movie idea.
When Santa slips into this expensive snake pit, he is distracted from his gift delivery duties by expensive sherry and a massage chair. He is awakened by gunfire. A criminal mastermind who goes by the name of Scrooge (John Leguizamo) has arrived to steal all the well-stuffed stockings hung from the chimney with care, not knowing that crunk Santa was already there.
Director Tommy Wirkola has made action hay out of fairy tales in the past, with Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, and a two-fisted Santa Claus is not that far-fetched: The real St. Nicholas was a fourth-century Christian bishop famous for punching out the heretic Arius during the Council of Nicaea. In Harbour, Wirkola has found a twisted kind of muse. Together, they riff on that classic holiday film Die Hard, with Santa crawling through the air ducts instead of John McClane. As Harbour mugs his way through some half-assed, John Wick-style fight choreography, he imbues burnt-out Saint Nick with his signature gruff charm. It’s a real movie star performance, and without it, the whole film would collapse into nonsense.
Conan O’Brien said that the key to great comedy is mixing smart and stupid in just the right ratio. Violent Night’s gross-out slapstick juxtaposed against the trappings of Christmas (Scrooge’s henchmen are named Sugarplum and Gingerbread) achieves a kind of action comedy alchemy. It’s not a holiday classic like Die Hard, but it is a decent temporary remedy for the mandatory holiday cheer.
