Fatman Trailer: Mel Gibson Is A Bitter, Hard-Drinking, Gun-Touting Santa Claus

Saban Films has released an official trailer for the new action-comedy called Fatman, which stars none other than Mel Gibson as Chris Cringle. Yes, Mad Max is playing Santa Claus, or as he’s sometimes referred to, the Fatman. But trust us, this isn’t the jolly ole’ Saint Nick you think it is.

To save his declining business, Chris Cringle, also known as Santa Claus, is forced into a partnership with the U.S. military. Making matters worse, Chris gets locked into a deadly battle of wits against a highly-skilled assassin (Walton Goggins), hired by a precocious 12-year-old after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking. ‘Tis the season for Fatman to get even, in the action-comedy that keeps on giving.

Check out the trailer for Fatman below:

The casting alone is a sign that everyone involved is in on the joke, as Gibson is among the last actors anyone would think of as “jolly,” while Goggins seems well-suited to slay the man in the sleigh. The whole thing is quite effective because it embraces it very silly, and very violent B-movie tendencies. Fatman is both co-written and co-directed by American filmmakers Eshom Nelms & Ian Nelms, directors of Squirrel Trap, Lost on Purpose, Waffle Street, and Small Town Crime previously. In addition to Gibson and Goggins, the movie also stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste (no idea how they scored her into this flick).

Gibson, who has returned to working in Hollywood films in recent years, is next attached to direct an update of the movie The Wild Bunch for Warner. Bros. Whenever a new Gibson film pops up it’s important to remind everyone of his anti-Semitic rant in 2006 and the racist comments he made on tape in 2010. No, yours truly would never really get along with Gibson in real life but when it comes to films like this, separating the art from the artist is rather easy. The on-screen persona of Gibson is oftentimes charming, and in later years his solemn brow has grown extensive wear and taken on a new kind of grumpy, taking-names B-movie level character actor. He may never star in big-budget Hollywood fare anymore so when he takes up jobs like this or Force of Nature, it’s easier to take or leave whatever he puts out. As for Fatman, in the time of COVID, the choice to check it out is entirely up to you more than ever. Check out the trailer for Fatman below, too:

Fatman in select US theaters starting November 13th, then on VOD starting November 17th.

Source: Saban

The Hateful Eight 70mm Roadshow Breaks Theater Records

Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight 70mm roadshow presentation has broken records at theaters across the country after its first week in theaters.

The Hateful Eight Gets A Brand New Blood-Soaked Theatrical Trailer

The second theatrical trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated snow-filled Western The Hateful Eight is out now and it gives us our first, real look at the chaos and blood-soaked savagery that will befall these scoundrels, outlaws and gunslingers.

The Hateful Eight Trailer: Tarantino’s Snowy Western

The first trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight dropped today offering viewers a first glimpse at what QT has in store for moviegoers the world over. “Got room for one more?”

Justified: Preparing For Raylan’s Ride Off Into The Sunset

After tonight, no more Harlan County, no more wise cracks from Tim Gutterson, and no more Raylan Givens. It’s an end of an era that should be getting more attention than it is.

Justified: Season 4 – Raylan, Boyd, and Patton Oswalt? Plus 3 New Trailers…

My love of Justified is no secret. Raylan Givens is a near perfect TV hero and Boyd Crowder make an excellent foil to our hero. The actors (Olyphant and Goggins) share some of the best on-screen chemistry in all of television. The first 3 years of the FX show have given us some of the best action/drama this side of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.

Movie Trailer Roundup: MiB III, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Expendables 2 and MORE!

Men in Black III

 The MIB duo of Agent Jay and Agent Kay are back in action. When the world is threatened by an evil alien, Agent Jay travels back in time to 1969, where he teams up with the younger Agent Kay to stop an evil villain named Boris from destroying the world in the future. 

Stars: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Emma Thompson, Josh Brolin, Alice Eve, Jemaine Clement

Release Date: May 25th, 2012

Daniel Day-Lewis is Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln is an upcoming biographical drama directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

When I had first heard about this Liam Neeson was attached to play the lead, but that was years ago and I hadn’t heard anything else about the film until now. Apparently Neeson left the project after years of waiting for it to get the green light. According to Neeson, he felt he was too old to play the part. Personally, I felt Neeson was an excellent choice to play Lincoln. However, once I heard Daniel Day-Lewis got the role I just about creamed myself.

This will be the first time Spielberg and Day-Lewis have worked on a film together and I’m very excited because DDL has a habit of disappearing into his characters.

For his role as ‘Bill the Butcher’ in Gangs of New York he took lessons as an apprentice butcher, never left character between takes (including keeping the New York accent), and even caught pneumonia because he wouldn’t wear a warmer coat stating that it wasn’t in character to do so. This along with the picture below leads me to believe that Lincoln will be a movie worth paying ticket price to see.

Grizzly Review: Straw Dogs

Back in May Dr. Kronner wrote an article about the new Straw Dogs remake. Allow me to start off by saying, unlike him,  I have not seen the original version of Straw Dogs or read The Siege of Trencher’s Farm, the book that the original film was based on. So I watched it and did my best to judge the movie as it stands on its own merits, rather than how it compares to the other versions.

*Spoilers Ahead*>>>>>>>

“Los Angeles screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden) and his wife, Amy (Kate Bosworth), move back to Amy’s hometown in the Deep South. Tensions begin to rise due to Amy’s former lover Charlie Venner (Alexander Skarsgård, True Blood), who rapes Amy after having his friends lure David out into the woods and strand him. When David agrees to help one of the locals (Walton Goggins, Justified), whose mentally retarded brother Jeremy (Dominic Purcell) has been falsely accused of rape, the normally pacifist David offer the two sanctuary and prepare to defend their home against Charlie and his friends, who seek to eliminate the people in the house.”

Thanks Wikipedia!

The film was directed, produced, and written by Rod Lurie. A former film critic who has turned out some fairly good films such as The Contender, The Last Castle, and Nothing But The Truth.

Something a lot of critics seem to be complaining about are the minor changes Lurie made to the story. Like changing David’s profession from math teacher to screenwriter, or changing the location of the film from rural England to the American south. I don’t feel any of the changes made have hurt the plot or the feel of the film.

I have also read that this version of the story is less dark and disturbing than the original film. Now, personally I didn’t feel like Lurie pulled any punches and if the original was darker and more disturbing I really don’t know what else they did to make it that way.

The rape scene alone was fairly unnerving not to mention all the killing.

One of my favorite moments in the film was when David refers to Charlie and his pals as a “…Bunch of straw dogs.”  When questioned he explains “In ancient Chinese rituals, dogs made out of straw were used as offerings to the gods. During the ritual they were treated with the utmost reverence. When it was over and they were no longer needed they were trampled on and tossed aside. They become nothing. When their football careers are over that’s all these kids become Straw dogs.”

Overall I felt the acting was really good. James Woods and James Marsden actually impressed me the most. It was also nice seeing our buddy Walton Goggins even if it was a minor role.

I recommend seeing this movie; it’s a little slow at the start but picks up in the third act.

3.5/5 Bears

Side Note: One critic (who I will not justify with a link) let’s call him Bob, complained that it made no sense that Amy didn’t tell David about her rape, and stated that this movie ended with the couple having bonded through their shared trauma. Bob is a moron. Clearly he knows nothing about how rape victims, considering more than half don’t report the crime. Also that movie ended with the main characters being horribly broken, Amy in particular.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

I don’t think that anything could possibly redeem the G.I. Joe movie franchise at this point since that crapfest that was the first G.I. Joe, but I’m sure giving the people behind this movie some credit for trying thus far. The cast seems too good to be true… or to be in this movie. Not only is Channing Tatum returning (Puke), but there are some newcomers you may have heard of. The first is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who recently twittered a picture of him as his character in the sequel, Roadblock:

Now I’m not saying the Rock is a great actor but he definitely has the ability to draw people to the box office. His star presence helped push the latest Fast and Furious movie to the brink of box office juggernaut. Also joining up into the ranks is the one and only Bruce Willis as G.I. Joe commander Joe Colton. This one surprised me the most and made me wonder if Willis was going the Samuel L. Jackson route of just appearing in any movie that would pay him. Also joining the film are Walton Goggins (The Shield, Justified), Ray Stevenson (Book of Eli, Punisher: War Zone), and Adrianne Palicki, the hot Wonder Woman who never saw the light of day. That is one decent cast filled with a lot of actors/actresses that I enjoy, minus Channing Tatum of course. Once they manage to get a trailer out I can pass judgement on whether or not I’ll be sucked in by this follow-up to that Stephen Sommers piece of trash.