Tagged: Christmas
Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner
Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner (1978)
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Christopher Plummer as Harry Reikle, sadistic armed robber
Toronto, Christmas 1977 through Summer 1978
Film: The Silent Partner
Release Date: September 7, 1978
Director: Daryl Duke
Wardrobe Credit: Debi Weldon
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 95th birthday of Christopher Plummer, born December 13, 1929. To celebrate the Toronto-born actor’s birthday amidst the holiday season, today’s post centers around Daryl Duke’s Canadian Christmas-centric 1978 thriller, The Silent Partner.
Plummer appears as Harry Reikle, a ruthless criminal who begins terrorizing Miles Cullen (Elliott Gould), a mild-mannered teller who foiled Harry’s earlier attempt to rob a branch of the First Bank of Toronto within Eaton Centre, a then-new shopping mall filled with bustling holiday shoppers who may have expected long lines but certainly would not expect to see Santa Claus exchanging shots with a bank security guard.
The real Bad Santa.
Die Hard: Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis
Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis in Die Hard (1988)
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Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis, coked-out Nakatomi Corporation executive
Los Angeles, Christmas 1987
Film: Die Hard
Release Date: July 15, 1988
Director: John McTiernan
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As the season of holiday festivities continues, let’s flash back to one of the most famous office Christmas parties in cinematic history—the Nakatomi Corporation’s Christmas Eve extravaganza that was ruined by a dozen armed terrorists led by the charismatic Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman).
Gruber’s takeover definitely ruined plans for Harry Ellis (Hart Bochner), Nakatomi’s sleazy director of international development who masks his holiday loneliness with plenty of cocaine and half-hearted pickup attempts toward his colleague Holly Gennero (Bonnie Bedelia), so he’s none too pleased when her husband John McClane (Bruce Willis) arrives at the party from New York… even as John ultimately proves to be the group’s only chance to fight back against the terrorists.
After Gruber kills their boss Joe Takagi (James Shigeta), Ellis fortifies with a bump and decides to take things into his own hands (“I negotiate million-dollar deals for breakfast, I think I can handle this Euro-trash”), though he’s too coked-out to realize that he’s fatally out of his element against this professional, motivated, and happenin’ group of killers. Continue reading
Scrooged: Bill Murray’s Navy Pinstripe Suit
Bill Murray as Frank Cross in Scrooged (1988)
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Bill Murray as Frank Cross, cynical TV executive
New York City, December 1988
Film: Scrooged
Release Date: November 23, 1988
Director: Richard Donner
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy December! I’m already in the the midst of rewatching many of my favorite Christmas movies, which range in vibe from sentimental to cynical. Action director Richard Donner helmed two of the most cynical holiday-themed movies—Lethal Weapon and Scrooged—released back-to-back in 1987 and 1988, respectively.
A comic update of Charles Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol, Scrooged stars Bill Murray as Frank Cross, president of the fictional IBC television network who gets the chance to prove whether Murray still ain’t afraid of no ghosts. Continue reading
The Holdovers: Paul Giamatti’s Tan Corduroy Suit and Sweater Vest
Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers (2023)
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Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, cantankerous boarding school professor
Massachusetts, Winter 1970/1971
Film: The Holdovers
Release Date: October 27, 2023
Director: Alexander Payne
Costume Designer: Wendy Chuck
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my favorite new releases in 2023 is The Holdovers, Alexander Payne’s comedy-drama centered around the skeleton staff chaperoning a group of boarding school students who aren’t going home for the holidays.
Set through the 1970 winter break, The Holdovers centers around the cranky classics professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), an odorous, lazy-eyed loner whose few friends among the Barton Academy staff include cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and administrator Lydia Crane (Carrie Preston). After four of the five students are given the opportunity to leave Barton days before Christmas, Paul and the remaining student—the bright but troubled Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa)—transform their mutual dislike into a surprising bond.
As many are returning to work and school this week after the holidays, let’s take a deeper look at Paul’s classic Ivy fashions that he wears to bookend the Barton Academy holiday break. Continue reading
Blast of Silence: Allen Baron’s Killer Style
Allen Baron in Blast of Silence (1961)
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Allen Baron as Frankie Bono, misanthropic Mafia hitman
New York City, Christmas 1959
Film: Blast of Silence
Release Date: March 20, 1961
Director: Allen Baron
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Time to kill. 24 hours to stay faceless in the crowd. Get yourself lost in the city. Lose yourself in the Christmas spirit with the rest of the suckers.
I love Christmas movies—whether bona fide holiday classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, or White Christmas, schlocky made-for-Hallmark holiday romances, or among of the many great movies set at yuletide even when the holiday isn’t central to the plot (looking at you, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Thin Man, Three Days of the Condor.)
When the Criterion Channel announced their Holiday Noir lineup this month, I was understandably thrilled. A few, like Lady in the Lake and They Drive By Night, I was already familiar with, but I had long wanted to see Blast of Silence, the stark neo-noir filmed guerilla-style on location in New York City during the 1959 holiday season, following Frankie Bono, a lonely killer working for the Cleveland mob who has returned to the Big Apple for a hit. Blast of Silence was written and directed by Allen Baron, who also starred as Frankie after his first choice—Peter Falk(!)—was hired instead for the similarly themed film Murder, Inc.
Days before Christmas, Frankie Bono steps off the train onto the platform in Manhattan, taking in his hometown through a cloud of cigarette smoke while a choir sings “Silent Night”. “The railroad company makes sure you don’t forget you’re coming to town on Christmas,” Frankie narrates. “It gives you the creeps, but that’s alright! Everyone on the goodwill kit, maybe they’ll leave you alone?” Continue reading
The Bear: Carmy’s Rugby Shirt on Christmas Eve
Jeremy Allen White as Carmy Berzatto on The Bear (Episode 2.06: “Fishes”)
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Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, celebrated international chef
Chicago, Christmas Eve 2018
Series: The Bear
Episode: “Fishes” (Episode 2.06)
Air Date: June 22, 2023
Director: Christopher Storer
Creator: Christopher Storer
Costume Designer: Courtney Wheeler
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Merry Christmas to all BAMF Style readers who celebrate!
Among its Yoshimi-sharp depictions of service industry stress, The Bear brought its anxiety in-house for the second season’s brilliant, bonkers, and relentless sixth episode “Fishes”, flashing back several years from the show’s narrative to a chaotic Christmas Eve with the Berzatto family.
Our protagonist Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) takes a supporting role in the proceedings as we spend an increasingly stressful hour with his family and those “related through friendship” in his childhood home, decorated like an Olive Garden for the holidays. There are a few familiar faces—like his late brother Mikey (Jon Berthal), his sister Natalie (Abby Elliott) whose “Sugar” nickname is finally explained, his unrelated-cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and their “uncle” Jimmy (Oliver Platt)—as well as several all-new cast members, many of whom appear only in this episode.
“I wanted it to be distracting,” series creator Christopher Storer told Yvonne Villarreal for the Los Angeles Times. “I wanted the viewer to be like, ‘What the fuck is Bob Odenkirk doing here?’ I wanted it to really feel like when you walk into your family’s house and you are just overwhelmed by a cousin who you don’t want to talk to, an uncle you don’t want to see. You don’t even know who’s related to who, which I always feel like is the truest thing—everyone’s calling each other cousin and you don’t know what the fuck is really going on, but you do know that even through all their weirdness and how dark it gets, they do kind of love each other.” Continue reading
Die Hard: Ranking the Henchmen’s Holiday Hijacking Wardrobes
Clarence Gilyard Jr., Dennis Hayden, Al Leong, Hans Buhringer, Alan Rickman, Wilhelm von Homburg, Lorenzo Caccialanza, Joseph Plewa, Andreas Wisniewski, Gary Roberts, Bruno Doyon, Gérard Bonn, and Alexander Godunov in Die Hard (1988)
“Some badass perpetrators and they’re here to stay…”
Los Angeles, Christmas 1987
Film: Die Hard
Release Date: July 15, 1988
Director: John McTiernan
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
On the 35th anniversary year of this action classic, today’s post analyzes the style of the dozen bad guys led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) during their Christmas Eve takeover of Nakatomi Plaza. As I’ve done with Christmas episodes of The Office in past years, I’ll dig into my own completely arbitrary rating system to rank each by their suitability for a holiday party hijacking.
One of my favorite aspects of Die Hard is how it makes the effort to define distinctively personalities for Hans’ baddies, rather than just filling the cast with anonymous mooks as in any lesser action movie. We may not get full backstories and motivations (we only have two hours, and would we really need to know?), but they still have distinctive roles, attitudes, and aesthetics to differentiate them and make return viewings even more rewarding.
As their leader, Hans maintains an elevated look with his dark double-breasted suit, informed by his knowledge of men’s fashion (“John Phillips, London,” he acutely observes of Nakatomi CEO Joe Takagi’s silk suit), but how do his twelve henchmen rate?
Unlike Hans’ ultimate descent from Nakatomi Tower, let’s start at the bottom. Continue reading
Santa Claus on AOL Blast for Detective Crashmore
Santa Claus on AOL Blast
Vitals
Biff Wiff as Santa Claus, serious actor who does Christmas
AOL Blast studio, Summer 2022
Series: I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
Episode: “You sure about that? You sure about that that’s why?” (Episode 2.03)
Streaming Date: July 6, 2021
Directed by: Alice Mathias, Zach Kanin, Akiva Schaffer, and Zachary Johnson
Created by: Tim Robinson & Zach Kanin
Costume Designer: Monica Chamberlain
Background
If Leonardo DiCaprio was here, would you ask him about Christmas is around the corner?
Santa Claus graciously appeared on AOL Blast—despite the fact that no one watches it due to its unprofessional bullshit—to promote his latest film Detective Crashmore, for which Lamador Pictures paid him his rate of $2 mil to play the eponymous crazier-than-hell detective.
Once the unprofesssional host Wesley Fillmore finally determined that he would follow his guest’s instructions to interview him as an actor, we learn about the cosmic gumbo—Santa had joked with his co-star Ryan Tanna on set about how it was a cosmic gumbo—that mixes “the action of the ’90s combined with the exploitation films of the ’70s” while almost moving to the beat of jazz. Continue reading
A Goodfellas Christmas: Jimmy’s Brown Party Suit
Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas (1990)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, feared mob associate
Queens, New York, December 1978
Film: Goodfellas
Release Date: September 19, 1990
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Richard Bruno
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Nobody knows for sure just how much was taken in a daring pre-dawn raid at the Lufthansa cargo terminal at Kennedy airport. The FBI says two million dollars, Port Authority Police say four million dollars… it looks like a big one, maybe the biggest this town has ever seen!
Forty-five years ago today on Monday, December 11, 1978, more than $5.8 million in cash and jewelry was stolen from a cargo building at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Considered the most lucrative cash robbery on American soil to date, the heist was orchestrated by James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, a ruthless associate of the Lucchese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia’s infamous “Five Families”.
The Lufthansa heist and its violent aftermath drive much of the final act of Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese’s chronicle of street-level mob life across three decades from the perspective of Burke’s associate, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who relayed much of the background information essential to the heist’s execution. The robbery itself isn’t depicted on screen, but a radio announcement assures a showering Henry—and the audience—that the job was a success for the mobsters, celebrated that evening with a Christmas party where Jimmy (Robert De Niro)—renamed “Jimmy Conway” for the movie—welcomes Henry with open arms.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell
Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
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Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell, doomed MI6 agent
Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, December 1969
Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On the 00-7th of December, let’s return to the Alps in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the 1969 James Bond movie that distinguishes itself both as 007’s only adventure to date that’s decidedly set during the Christmas holidays and the only time Australian actor George Lazenby starred as the sophisticated secret agent.
Lazenby’s Bond arrives by train in Bern, where he’s observed from behind the latest issue of the Daily Express by a mysterious fellow agent, listed in the credits as “Campbell” though I don’t believe he’s ever referred to by name on screen. Continue reading
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