Mike Dopud, in his 7th appareance in Stargate as a whole and what would turn into a recurring role in SGU as Varro

WATCHLIST 2022: Violent Night

Violent Night (2022, Tommy Wirkola)

12/24/22

Bad movie I have Violent Night 2022

VIOLENT NIGHT (2022) ★★★✮☆

VIOLENT NIGHT (2022) ★★★✮☆

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Violent Night (2022, dir. Tommy Wirkola) - review by Rookie-Critic

Violent Night sees Wirkola in familiar, but strangely light-hearted territory. Equal parts Home Alone and Bad Santa, David Harbour plays a Claus that's at his wits end with how greedy and capitalist Christmas has become; set to drink himself through his job forevermore to escape the mundane task of delivering video game after video game to endless houses. Harbour was practically born to play this version of Kringle, and the anti-charm he brings to the role is endearing in a lovable grump kind of way. Then there's Trudy, the little girl at the film's center who is almost too sweet to be apart of a movie this committed to being vulgar. Her love of the "magic of Christmas" and general innocence is infectious, and it makes this movie from the director of both Dead Snow movies seem like Miracle on 34th Street in comparison. John Leguizamo plays a very convincing smarmy, "anti-Christmas" villain, and the opposing chemistry he has not just with Harbour, but with pretty much everyone he interacts with on screen is entertaining to watch.

I think that's really what it boils down to. This is just a solid, fun joyride with a more vulgar, violent Santa. It is absolutely derivative of similar "adult Christmas" films that came before it, and it is capitalizing on a very popular trend of Christmas movies leaning away from the clean, shiny, magical films of decades past, but I don't care. Tommy Wirkola weaves it all together to make something that, if not memorable, is sure as hell fun to watch. The action scenes are engaging, with needle drops (consisting of alternative Christmas tunes to match the alternative feel of the film) that instantly make you smile and perk up, eager to watch Santa bash that robber's head in with a sledgehammer. Speaking of the sledgehammer, I won't give too much away, but they introduce this wild Santa backstory out of left field about halfway through the movie, and it was so unbelievably interesting that I would have loved for them to expand on it. They kind of do, but there are a lot of implications about Santa before he was Santa, and questions about how he even became Santa at all, that go largely unaddressed, which is a bummer because it was the aspect of the film I was easily the most invested in. I highly doubt we'll ever see a Violent Night 2, but if we ever do, I really hope Wirkola answers some of these burning questions I have.

The only other complaint I have with the film, and it would be a bigger complaint if it committed to it more, is that this film seems to subscribe to something that a lot of Christmas-related media seems to convey, which is this philosophy that Christmas is somehow greedier than it used to be, not as magical as it used to be, that Christmas was better in "the good old days" (whatever that means). I just can't get on board with that state of mind. Sure, Christmas isn't as magical as it was when we were kids, but that's because we're not kids anymore. I'm sure a lot of kids nowadays still feel about Christmas the way we all did when we were young. I'll admit the kinds of gifts children receive nowadays has largely changed, but that doesn't mean they're worse or less magical. The kid receiving a copy of Kirby and the Forgotten Land or even something a little more adult like God of War: Ragnarok is probably just as excited and reveres that gift with just as much childlike wonder as the kid that received a model train set or action figure 30 or 40 years ago. Thankfully, Wirkola doesn't really seem to commit to this idea too hard before the film just becomes Santa vs. the Home Invaders.

Violent Night about met my expectations. It's an entertaining, bloody Christmas movie that manages to capture the essence and spirit of the holiday in the most interesting, off-beat way, and Harbour proves himself as a compelling lead actor in a way that his past efforts just haven't allowed him to show (I'm looking at you, Hellboy).

Score: 8/10

Currently only in theaters.

VIOLENT NIGHT IS THE BEST MOVIE. Pack it in, guys, we've solved movies.

Mike Dopud was a surprise and I was hella delighted 😄

Hallmark’s October Movie Slate Includes New Hannah Swensen and Curious Caterer Mysteries (TVLine.com)

3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost Premiere Date: Saturday, Oct. 7 at 8 pm A ghost from the 1920s refuses to leave the home just listed by Anna, a new real estate agent. Worse, the spirit is convinced she cannot “pass over” until she gets Anna back together with her ex; Julie Gonzalo (Supergirl), Chris McNally (When Calls the Heart) and Madeleine Arthur (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) star.

Field Day Premiere Date: Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8 pm Jen (Witches of East End‘s Rachel Boston), Marissa (Virgin River‘s Carmel Amit) and Kelly (Good Trouble‘s Shannon Chan-Kent) are moms from different backgrounds who are thrown together to plan the annual Field Day at their kids’ school. Along the way, they navigate a myriad of obstacles, including an unsupportive head of the PTO. New to town and still trying to move on following the loss of her husband, Jen is thankful to have the encouragement of Dan (Saving Hope‘s Benjamin Ayres), the school’s PE teacher who is becoming a good friend…or could this be the start of something more? As the planning continues, Jen, Marissa and Kelly bond as friends who will stop at nothing to make sure their kids are happy, with each of them finding their own path as their friendship grows stronger.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

A Zest for Death: A Hannah Swensen Mystery Premiere Date: Friday, Oct. 6 at 9 pm They say the real estate business is deadly, but no one is more surprised than Hannah Swensen (Days of Our Lives‘ Alison Sweeney) when her mother, Delores (Barbara Niven), discovers the dead body of the homeowner – and regular customer of The Cookie Jar – while house-hunting for her sister Michelle (The Flash‘s Tess Atkins). Hannah is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and is convinced that the prime suspect Mike (All My Children‘s Cameron Mathison) and the Sheriff (Day of the Dead‘s Mike Dopud) are focusing on isn’t the culprit. Hannah’s sleuthing becomes a family affair when Delores, Michelle and even her sister Andrea (Heartland‘s Lisa Durupt) – who pays an unexpected visit – take part in the investigation. As Hannah uncovers clues she slowly rules out suspects and is led to the shocking truth about the killer’s identity.

Curious Caterer: Fatal Vows Premiere Date: Friday, Oct. 13 at 9 pm In the third installment of the franchise, professional caterer and amateur detective Goldy Berry (Awkward‘s Nikki DeLoach) is hired to cater for a big wedding. The bride, Jessamyn Cole (Superman & Lois‘ Amanda Khan), is the ex-wife of Goldy’s current romantic interest, detective Tom Schultz (the ubiquitous Andrew Walker). The town is shocked when they find the groom, Sterling Clearwater (The Flash‘s Kareem Malcolm) dead and Jessamyn missing. To complicate matters, a new detective (Dangerous‘ Brock Morgan) with a vendetta against Tom is hired to oversee the case. Forced to take matters into their own hands, Goldy and Tom must find Jessamyn before she meets Sterling’s fate.

To read the full article at TVLine.com click this LINK.

TVInsider has a write up also.

Stargate SG-1 "Bounty"

Stargate Birthdays - June 10th

Mike Dopud - Odai Ventrell & Colonel Chernovshev (SG1) + Varro (SGU) + Kiryk (SGA) + Uncredited

In Memory Of...

Winston Rekert (June 10th 1949 - September 14th 2012) - Cordesh (SG1)

VIOLENT NIGHT (2022)

Starring David Harbour, Leah Brady, John Leguizamo, Cam Gigandet, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Beverly D'Angelo, André Eriksen, Brendan Fletcher, Mike Dopud, Mitra Suri, Stephanie Sy, John B. Lowe, Alexander Elliot, Sean Skene, Erik Athavale, Frederick Allen, Vance Halldorson, DJ Brotherson and Finn McCager Higgins.

Screenplay by  Pat Casey & Josh Miller.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola.

Distributed by Universal Pictures. 112 minutes. Rated R.

For years there has been an odd debate going on about whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Of course, it’s not. It’s an action film which takes place during the Christmas season. It is no more of a Christmas film than other types of genre films which revolve around the holiday season like Gremlins, Love Actually, Home Alone or Black Christmas. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Violent Night is also not a Christmas film, even though it does have the advantage of actually having Santa Claus as the main character. However, Violent Night is many things… cynical, offbeat, a bit ridiculous, shockingly violent and often surprisingly funny… but it is not a Christmas movie.

In fact, no matter how much your little kids beg you, don’t let them watch this movie unless they have a really strong stomach. Anyone who believes in Santa is going to have some nightmares after sitting through Violent Night.

However, Violent Night is not for kids, and it does not pretend to be. It’s a somewhat satirical and very dark deconstruction of the Santa Claus legend. The film is an odd mix of Die Hard, The Ref and Silent Night Deadly Night, a genre mashup action horror comedy with some rather clever pokes at one of the most well-known stories in the world. It doesn’t always work, but it comes a whole lot closer than you may expect.

And if the story does occasionally slow down to wax rhapsodically on the magic of Christmas and the utter belief of a child and the importance of being nice vs. being naughty, I think the filmmakers are mostly just goofing on us.

Which is, again, okay. No one going to see a movie called Violent Night is really likely to be looking for a serious look at the holiday. It’s more like the new trend for taking beloved children’s characters and thrusting them into tongue-in-cheek, gore-filled horror situations – see also the upcoming Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and The Banana Splits Movie. In fairness, Violent Night is much better than Banana Splits.

We meet Santa (played by David Harbour of Stranger Things) on Christmas night, looking bedraggled and drinking heavily at a bar. This Santa is seriously burnt out on the whole “crossing the world to spread joy to all of the little girls and boys” routine that he has been espousing for centuries. He had a fight with Mrs. Claus. He’s angry, dirty, drunk, and cursing up a blue streak. Of course no one believes he is the real Santa Claus. To a certain extent, I’m not sure even he does.

His Christmas spirit is revived by – of all things – stumbling on a home invasion in which a horrible rich family is being robbed. Most of them would be squarely on the naughty list, but there is one little girl named Trudy (Leah Brady) who is not only on the nice list, but a true believer that Santa will protect her family.

When the reindeer are frightened off by submachine gun fire, Santa is abandoned at the mansion, and decides to take on the bad guys and save the little girl.

However, the story doesn’t really even matter. It’s just an excuse for nearly two-hours of Christmas jokes, murders using holiday trappings like candy canes and icicles, and some truly horrific violence. Seriously, in my view the violence, no matter how cartoonishly it was presented, went a bit too far, but from the reactions of the others in the theater with me, I was in the minority on that.

For me, the best part of Violent Night was Harbour’s downbeat performance as a not-so-jolly Saint Nick and a bunch of surprisingly clever gags based on the holiday. Violent Night was cheesy and ridiculous and way too bloody, but it was also undeniably often a whole lot of fun.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2022 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 1, 2022.

Bad movie I have SG.U Stargate Universe: The Complete First Season 2009

A Zest for Death: A Hannah Swensen Mystery

A Zest for Death: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (2023) #ShannonKohli #AlisonSweeney #CameronMathison #BarbaraNiven #TessAtkins #MikeDopud Mehr auf:

Jahr: 2023 Genre: Mystery Regie: Shannon Kohli Hauptrollen: Alison Sweeney, Cameron Mathison, Barbara Niven, Tess Atkins, Mike Dopud, Lisa Durupt, Daylin Willis, Juliana Wimbles, Oliver Rice, Briana Buckmaster, James Pizzinato, Kendra Anderson … Filmbeschreibung: Niemand ist schockierter als Hannah Swensen (Sweeney), als ihre Mutter Delores (Niven) die Leiche des Hausbesitzers findet, einem…

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Mike Dopud from X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool 2, and Violent Night has come to Retro Podcast to share his experience as an actor and stunt man.