Big bad Bob
Alistair Harkness meets one BAD SANTA — they call him BILLY BOB THORNTON.
‘m quite sentimental ahout ('hristmas.‘ says Billy
Boh 'l'horntoii. ‘l haye ten and ll-year—old boys
and a one—iiionth—old girl so (‘hristmas is a really" special time . . f Wait. l.et's haek tip for a seeond. To fully appreeiate the shoek Value of this statement a little L‘UlllL‘Xl is in Ul'tiL‘l'.
lt‘s late ()etohei' and Billy Boh 'l‘hornton ~ the man \\ ho used to wear a trinket filled with .-\ngelina .lolie‘s hlood around his neek »» is holed up in a Park Lane hotel room giying The list the loyy-doyy'n on the silly season. He‘s got a (‘hristmas nioyie eoming otit. you see. hut not just any (‘hristmas moyie. We're here to talk ahout Burl Sunlu. (ilHM’Ill'U/‘lt/ direelor Terry /.\\'igol‘l”s dehauehed tale ot‘ seasonal redemption in which ’l'hornton giyes his most deranged perl‘ornianee yet as a filthy. foul-mouthed department store Santa.
\\'ith a predileetion for smoking. hoo/ing. 'honing lat ehieks‘. pissing his pants. sereyying Santa- \y'oi'shipping waitresses in hot tuhs and syyearing relentlessly at snot-nosed hrats. 'l‘hornton is a yery had Santa indeed and a yery eonyineing one too. \Vhieh is why his professing a loye of Christmas tradition doesn't really \yash. Surely he must hate the whole thing at least a little hit. right‘.’
“The thing that might he more similar to me in the moy‘ie is some of the other stuff the character does.‘ he says. ‘I don't mind a smoke eyery now and again. [We heen known to take a drink oeeasionally. l‘ye heen. uh . . thing.‘ he says. smiling conspiratorially.
Released last (‘hristiiias in the States. Bud Salim
46 THE LIST 3-4:; N.‘.
f In a hot-tuh or tyyo‘.’ “Yeah. that kind of
‘SANTA CLAUS IS NOT IN THE BIBLE. THAT'S JESUS'
has already heen a erilieal hit. a hox-ol‘l'iee smash and. someyyhat ineyitahly. a loud point for outraged memhers ol' the (‘hristian right intent on creating a moral panie as it deseei‘ating the image of a minimum wage shopping mall Santa might destroy the true meaning of Christmas. '\\'e did get a leyy comments from some of them.’ ehuekles 'l‘horiiton. ‘:\iid my reply was alyyays: ".-\s far as I know. Santa (‘laus is not in the hihle. I think you guys are talking ahout Jesus.”
Still you haye to wonder it his expletiye—laden rants had a eorrupting effect on any ol the ehild aetors on the set. "l‘hose kids were so iionplussed. they eouldn‘t eare less ahout eursing.~ insists 'l‘hornton yyho. for the record. won‘t let his oyy ii ehildren watch the film yet. eyen lliotigli his ten-year-old is desperate to see it.
()ne of his eo-stars. 'l‘ony (‘o.\. didn‘t get quite a yery easy ride. (‘ast as 'l‘hornton's mean-spirited ell— .si/ed partner in crime ~ they use the ('hristmas gig to roh their employers - 'l‘hornton used to hit on (Ms wife to get him sul'lieiently riled up to do the scenes. 'He and I had a good laugh ahout it. you k‘iioyy.‘
So does he like messing with people'.’ 'Yeah. it's hoyy you get the most out of them.' he says. adding: '.»\nd eyery noyy and then you mess with a journalist or tyyo.~
Oh yeah'.’ 'Yeah. it happens.‘ He shakes his head.
'[.ikt’ I [lat/(1 l’llNMl i'i'u/ . . .'
Bad Santa is on general release from Fri 5 Nov.
Hit >l<
THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
>l< Look at Me (Comme Une Image) Delightful Gallic comedy drama from the team who gave us The Taste of Others (Les Got/t des Autres) about an egotistical writer and his overweight daughter who iust wants him to pay some attention to her. See interyiew and TGVIGW. GFT, Glasgow. Cameo, Edinburgh.
:2: Bad Santa Billy Bob Thornton and Terry Ghost World Zwigoff team up to take the piss out the festive sacred cows. See preview and review. General release.
=l= Birth Widow Nicole Kidman gets to meet up with her dead husband. only now he's a yOung boy. Disturbing. clever psychodrama from the directOi of Sexy Beast. See feature and review. Selected release.
:2: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Beautiful new print of Robert Aldrich's bitch horror classic. See review. GET. Glasgow. Fi/mhouse. Edinburgh. >l= Moulin Rouge The 1928 version of this eternal story gets a welcome screening with a live orchestra playing the new score by Chris Barber. GFT. Glasgow and Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Man of Marble Andrzej Wajda's definitive film from the 19708 very nearly predicted the whole SolidanosciWalesa episode of Polish history. Filmhouse, Edinburgh (Sun 74 Nov only).
=l= Finding Neverland Bona fide tearjerker about JM Barrie and the ‘lost boys'. General release.
=E= The Corporation Superb documentary charting the psychotic behaviour of the modern corporation. GFT. Glasgow and Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
>3 Old Boy Mind boggling Korean revenge tragedy. Selected release.
Stroszek Possibly Werner Herzog's finest fiction film is finally given a decent DVD release. This needs to be seen to be believed. Anchor Bay
=l< The Cheech and Chong Collection Funny, stoned duo finally get their own box set. No Up in Smoke unfortunately, but just about everything else. 4 Front Video/UCA