MovieChat Forums > Bad Santa (2003) Discussion > puerile, awful, useless garbage

puerile, awful, useless garbage

posted 9 years ago by calvintoronto
16 replies | jump to latest

I mean, seriously people? Some of you liked this, or thought it was "hilarious"?

I can excuse the typical Hollywood setup--I wasn't expecting brilliance. Endless swearing .... it just made me numb. Yes, swearing can be effective and funny--but not here; it became just meaningless, like a joke told over and over and over until you scream STOP! And the comedy? What comedy? If your idea of comedy is (i) swearing (ii) drinking (iii) having sex, all in combination and "in your face," then I guess this drivel is for you. The movie isn't even crude or rude or even offensive or "dark"; it's just a piece of garbage.

And what was there to laugh about? Oh, he peed his pants. ha ha. Better line up the poopoo-caca joke. A guy at the bar glaring at BBT attacks BBT outside the bar and says"I'm not gay," meaning, I guess, that he is. O the irony. ha ha. The dim lady saying "I'll make sandwiches." ha ha. BBT having sex in various locales...naughty naughty! Oh I am rolling on the floor now. And on. And on. And on.

I've seen my share of sub-par movies and I've even laughed during a few. But I've never seen a movie as horribly done as this loser. So sub-par it's insulting. And what makes it worse is that Zwigoff directed. Talking about stooping. Was he desperate for a paycheque? I mean, this is the guy who did Ghost World and Art School Confidential.

The only decent thing in the movie was the kid's performance. That he held it together and garnered sympathy in the face of the risible script was a feat in itself.

I bought a copy of this stinker, on sale. Usually, I give my used movies to the local library. Not this one. It's already in the garbage.

[–] Degree7 9 years ago

Listen at him!

He's a fücking fäggot!

~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.

[–] calvintoronto 9 years ago

You're right. There was that as well. And I don't even think that that was meant to be consciously "offensive." It was spewed in the way any homophobe would.

[–] Degree7 9 years ago

I don't know. My idea of "garbage" is a movie like Elf with Will Ferrel. Bland and without edge.

Bad Santa isn't exactly high brow humour, but it's my solution to too much Christmas cheer and Yuletide sweetness. Sometimes a raunchy comedy is right up my alley. I noticed the Coen's were executive producers, and it did seem like something they'd attach their names to. It also did pretty well with the critics, so I know at least it wasn't total garbage.

I find this film far funnier than any modern American comedy from the past few years. I like to think of it as a big middle finger to every Xmas movie ever.

[–] More_BRAAAINS 9 years ago

Someone needs some intercourse.

[–] njiuma 9 years ago

It tries to have a redeeming element, but is lacking. Too much profanity, could actually have been a great story of redemption.

He does try to do some nice things...

There are some redeeming points, but it just can't be a good Christmas movie with so much profanity.

Too much sex...

To be an "anti-holiday" film seems dumb to me, but it does seem to be going for that.

What makes it more sad is that Billy Bob Thornton is a great actor, and it had other great actors as well.

Would have been better without the sex and profanity.

The ending was ok. I guess it was supposed to be like a Shakespearean tragedy.

"If you love Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it copy this and make it your signature!"

[–] psking153 9 years ago

Oh shut the *beep* up lol

[–] Mhjm6 9 years ago

Lighten up buttercup

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

So did I and the fact that a sequel has been announced means that the producers feel there still remains an appreciative audience for this "puerile, awful, useless garbage" type of humour.🐭

[–] calvintoronto 9 years ago

By your logic, the fact that billions of people eat at McDonald's must mean it's good food. Yeah, right.

The making of a sequel means the first one made money, and naturally they want more money. It's Hollywood. And they they do their marketing research, enough to know that there is "an appreciative audience for this 'puerile, awful, useless garbage' type of humour." No accounting for taste, I guess.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

And they they do their marketing research, enough to know that there is "an appreciative audience for this 'puerile, awful, useless garbage' type of humour."

The markets do indeed talk.🐭

[–] willydoe71 9 years ago

Not only did I like it, it's my favorite Christmas movie!

[–] shaolindave 9 years ago

People have been recommending this to me for years. I was surprised at how horrible it actually was.
Nothing about the movie even made sense.

Why did they need to do the whole Santa/Elf thing to begin with? Just so the midget could be hiding in the mall on Christmas Eve to disable the alarm? He could have hidden in several places in the mall and done the same exact thing, and not had to spend weeks ahead of time playing elf. Also, entire malls using a single security panel? I think each store would have their own. What about security cameras?

There was no reason for them to do the whole Santa/Elf thing to begin with, and there's no way they would have gotten away with it once, let alone every year.

But the problems go beyond the huge plot holes. Just, nothing is funny about it. If you want good dark Christmas comedy, there's far better ones. I think my favorite is "The Ref".

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] mouselink 8 years ago

I was hoping for something more, but also found this movie to be awful, pointless, and thoroughly disappointing. I personally like edgy 'immoral' jokes for their shock value, but this alone was not enough to make the film interesting.