Santa Claus and Wednesday Addams are loved by many, and this season there is a twist on these classic characters. Movie Reviewer Greg Russell joined Michelle Oliver on “Live in the D” for Reel Talk to discuss a new film and Netflix series.
The first is the Christmas film “Violent Night” with David Harbour as Santa Claus and John Leguizamo as Mr. Scrooge. According to Leguizamo in an interview with Russell, this isn’t your typical Christmas movie. “This is a totally different Scrooge. This is a cursing, killing, Scrooge. He’s there with a vengeance…,” he said.
Leguizamo said he knew immediately that he wanted to play Mr. Scrooge in the film. “It’s a brilliant script. When I read the script, I was laughing out loud, and I knew I wanted to do it. It was a page-turner,” Leguizamo said. “I read a lot of scripts, and I can’t even get through them, this one I couldn’t put down.”
According to Harbour, you don’t want to find yourself on the naughty list this year. “There’s extra incentive this year to not be naughty because we see what happens to people on the naughty list. It’s really, much more than a lump of coal this year,” he said.
Russell said the film deserves four our of five reels, as it is comical and action-packed. However, he said it is rated R and not recommended for young children.
“Everybody who went to go see it came out going, you didn’t have to think about anything, you got to relax, you got to let loose on the things that may have been with you that you needed to destress,” Russell said.
Russell then talked about the comedy Netflix series “Wednesday” which shows Wednesday Addams uncovering the secrets of Nevermore Academy. Russell said the series contains classic elements of the Addams family with a modern twist. “Wednesday has always been this character that everyone has tried to understand, even back from the show in the 60s where she was her own little silent thing but now, like you said, here she is, older now, in the academy, trying to figure out what her powers are,” Russell said.
To learn more, watch the video above.