Netflix is celebrating Christmas in July in a most unusual way – by adding a movie with a slightly unhinged Santa who enjoys both sleighing through the snow and slaying his enemies.
Violent Night, starring Stranger Things’ David Harbour as a killer Claus, is at the top of Watch With Us’ weekend binge-list, but there are plenty more films for you to stream right now.
Zathura is the rare family movie that appeals to adults just as much as children, while the biopic Talk to Me is an adult drama starring Don Cheadle as an iconoclastic shock jock.
‘Violent Night’ (2022)
Santa Claus (David Harbour) is real, and he’s pissed off. After years of witnessing humanity’s worst behavior, he’s decided to retire after this year’s Christmas. As he’s delivering his final gifts at the Lightstone family house in a sleepy Connecticut suburb, Santa gets a surprise gift of his own – he’s caught in a hostage situation involving the Lightstones and a band of criminals led by Mr. Scrooge (John Leguizamo). Santa has no choice but to save the day, and he’s ready to trade in his sleigh for a big Uzi to save the nice Lightstones from the very naughty Mr. Scrooge.
Violent Night is Bad Santa mixed with ‘80s action pics like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando or Sylvester Stallone’s Cobra. Harbour’s Santa is a cynical Saint Nick who doesn’t mind killing the bad guys to preserve the greater good. The movie earns its hard R rating, with plenty of gratuitous violence and language so blue, it would make the Grinch grimace. But it’s fun and spirited, and even among all the bloodshed, it celebrates everything that makes the holidays so special.
Violent Night is streaming on Netflix.
‘Zathura’ (2005)
Jonah Bobo, Dax Shephard and Josh Hutcherson in Zathura Sony
Remember when kids movies were good enough that they could also appeal to adults? Jon Favreau’s charming 2005 film Zathura is a nostalgic throwback to the smart family-friendly entertainment of the 1980s like Explorers and Cloak and Dagger. When brothers Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and Danny (Jona Bobo) discover an old board game called Zathura in their basement, they can’t help but play it. To their surprise and delight, they discover the game can warp reality. Cool, right? But the brothers soon realize the game they’re playing has a darker side that could threaten their lives and their loved ones, too.
Based on the beloved children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Zathura blends far-out sci-fi concepts with wholesome family-friendly adventure. There’s a genuine sense of awe and danger each time the boys play the game, and you never know what curveballs the game will throw at them — or you. If you like the Juamnji films with Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black but wish they took their fantastical premise a little more seriously, you should roll the dice and watch Zathura.
Zathura is streaming on Netflix.
‘Talk to Me’ (2007)
Don Cheadle in Talk to Me. Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection
Petey Green (Cheadle) isn’t like all the other radio talk show hosts in the 1970s. For starters, he’s an ex-con who got his job by conning one of the executives, Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor). He also has no filter, offering his sometimes hard-to-take opinions about current events and popular personalities like Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. His bosses want to fire him, but Dewey quickly realizes Petey connects to the audience like no one else. Soon, Petey becomes a nationwide star, serving as a cultural guide for his listeners as they navigate the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.
Talk to Me is the rare biopic about a person most people either never heard of or have forgotten about. That’s what makes it so fascinating to watch – it tells a rags-to-riches story about a self-made man who forced his way into the national consciousness. It helps that it’s set in the 1960s and 1970s, when the counterculture was in full swing, and people like Petey were needed as both a voice of reason, particularly when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and a voice of outrage. In addition to Cheadle, who is fantastic as the right-on Petey, the film’s cast includes Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson and Martin Sheen.
