The March Sisters at Christmas (2012) and Christmas Adaptations

When I watched 3 Musketeers, I wrote about some of the movies that were updated retellings of classic stories. 3 Musketeers was a retelling of the Alexandre Dumas tale, of course. It was brought into a modern setting and given an entirely new shine. Or was that when I wrote about The Sinister Squad? That could have been it. That movie was a mockbuster of Suicide Squad, only with the squad consisting of fairy tale characters. Mostly fairy tale villains, with Alice from Alice in Wonderland thrown in there as well.

Anyway, I want to try another take at that subject with this week’s post. The difference is going to be that there will be a theme to that modern take on the classic tales. It’s not enough that stories get brought into the present. It’s not enough that two different sources are brought together to see how they work together. There’s another kind of adaptation that has become more popular in recent years. It’s one that has seen more popularity with the increased interest in Lifetime, Hallmark, and Netflix movies. I want to talk about Christmas variations on classic tales.

The March Sisters at Christmas was a Lifetime movie from 2012. Jo (Julie Berman), Meg (Kaitlin Doubleday), Amy (Molly Kunz), and Beth (Melissa Farman) were four sisters living together in their parents’ home, Orchard House. Their father, Robert (Robert Walsh), was recently injured overseas. As their mother, Margaret (Paula Plum), was about to head overseas to stay with their recovering father, she brought in a realtor to give the house a looksee. The sisters didn’t want to sell their house. Instead, they decided to renovate it in their parents’ absence. Family drama ensued as the sisters fought, fell in love, and got jealous of one another.

The inspiration for The March Sisters at Christmas was Little Women. It took the characters from that classic piece of literature and updated them into a modern Christmas setting. Jo was still a writer looking for her big break. Meg was still the responsible one ready to get married. Beth was still the young one with musical talent. Amy was still the kind of rebellious one who was kind of jealous of Jo. Theodore Lawrence (Justin Bruening), nicknamed Teddy instead of Laurie, was still there, too, to be the brotherly boy next door who confesses his love to Jo and get rejected. A lot of the core elements were there in the characters and their relationships.

There were some moments in The March Sisters at Christmas that were reworked story beats from the original novel, as well. In Little Women, Amy became jealous of Jo and burned her manuscript. This was modernized in The March Sisters at Christmas. Jo got a job ghost writing a memoir for a famous young celebrity. She was given access to that celebrity’s social media to share thoughts and tidbits as that celebrity. Amy, in a fit of rage, snuck into those social media accounts and posted some naked photos. It was her way of sabotaging Jo’s writing career, in the same way that the burning of the manuscript was used in the source material.

It was things like that which made The March Sisters at Christmas feel like a proper updated version of Little Women. It had the characters being extensions of what they were in the source material. They weren’t the exact same, of course. They were updated into women of the modern day, rather than women of the past. Story beats found their way into the updated version, with things being taken from the past and brought to the future. Manuscript to social media and that sort of stuff. Some things were even translated directly. Mr. Lawrence (John Shea) gave Beth a piano as a gift, something I remember from at least one of the Little Women film adaptations. All in all, it was an interesting little adaptation, even if the quality wasn’t something audiences might want from an adaptation of Little Women.

The March Sisters at Christmas wasn’t the only time that a classic tale was adapted into a holiday setting. Christmas movies frequently pull from non-Christmas tales to create something new that feels familiar. Filmmakers will take a story that people already know, give it a festive spin, and release it to the world. With the amount of Christmas movies released theatrically, onto television, or onto streaming services, there are sure to be some movies that adapt other stories to the season.

Now we’re at a point where things get a little more hazy. There are a whole lot of the movies on the television side of things and the streaming side of things that take classic stories and give them a Christmas setting. I have seen almost none of them, outside The March Sisters at Christmas, so I can’t get into much detail about them. I’ll try, but I can’t promise I’ll have more than surface level thoughts because, again, I haven’t seen the movies.

One of the most common genres for these kinds of Christmas movies, something that The March Sisters of Christmas had to some extent, is romance. Love is always in the air on channels like Hallmark and Lifetime during the holiday season. Netflix got into that arena, as well. Many of these movies are the stereotypical working woman or man goes from the big city to a small town for some sort of business. They meet a local who loves the holidays. They fall for that local, compromising their business, but learning about the spirit of Christmas. Other movies change the blueprint by adding some classic literature into the mix.

Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe was a 2018 Hallmark Christmas movie that took the Jane Austen novel and adapted it within the confines of the stereotypical Hallmark Christmas romance. A woman named Darcy went back to her hometown and found love with her former rival. Another Christmas movie based on the classic novel, Christmas at Pemberley Manor, was released by Hallmark that same year. They were going wild with the Christmas-themed Pride and Prejudice adaptations.

Netflix had already struck gold with The Christmas Prince when they released a new Christmas franchise starter in 2018. The Princess Switch starred Vanessa Hudgens as two identical women who switched their lives for a couple days. The concept for this story was taken from The Prince and the Pauper, a Mark Twain tale from 1881. It was such a success that it spawned two sequels, each sort of still based on the classic piece of American literature. The franchise was a Christmas adaptation of Mark Twain.

To a less “classic” extent, there was 2012’s Lifetime television movie Holly’s Holiday. It was essentially a gender-swapped version of the film Mannequin. A woman named Holly fell in love with a man who was a mannequin at a local store. Except he was now a living, breathing man. A living, breathing man who still acted like a mannequin. He wanted everything to look nice like a mannequin display. He was always modeling like a mannequin. Things like that. It was a quirky little film that clearly took inspiration from that earlier romantic comedy, without being that earlier romantic comedy.

There are Christmas movies written for the holiday in a way that, if the holiday season wasn’t a part of the movie, the movie couldn’t exist. The story revolves around the holidays. Then there are movies where the story is the story, and the holiday is just placed on top of that. Some of those stories are the cliché romance flicks being pumped out of Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix. There are some, however, that use other stories as the basis for some holiday fun. They take stories that people know from older movies and books. They adapt them into the holiday season. They change things up a bit.

Holiday adaptations can be a fun update to something that people are already familiar with. That fun feeling is why so many sequels tie into Christmas. It gives things a festive feeling, while providing more of what people loved about the earlier installments. The same could be said about the adaptations. Some stories have already been adapted into films and television series numerous times. A Christmas adaptation brings a new angle that could freshen a tired story up. And the success of said adaptation is up to the audience to decide. I, for one, appreciate the effort.

With that, let’s get onto the notes:

• I mentioned 3 Musketeers (week 384), Sinister Squad (week 453), and Holly’s Holiday (week 421) in this post. I also mentioned Mannequin. I covered Mannequin: On the Move (week 378) for this blog.
• Have you seen The March Sisters at Christmas? What did you think of it? How do you feel about filmmakers giving classic stories a Christmas twist? Put your thoughts in the comments or share them with me on Twitter.
• If there’s a movie you think would be a good fit for Sunday “Bad” Movies, you can let me know all about it on Twitter or in the comments. Tell me. I like to discover movies I don’t know about.
• Check out Sunday “Bad” Movies on Instagram. I may have skipped a week with it, but I plan to get back to posting regularly.
• Christmas is less than a week away, which means that next week will not be a Christmas movie. At least, not to the same extent as these past two. It’ll be a little more New Year. Ground Control was an air traffic control disaster movie set around New Year’s Eve, and it’ll be the topic of the next blog post. It would be nice if you’d join me for the post. See you next week.

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) and Mysterious Killers in Slasher Movies

When you watch a slasher, there are probably a few little story beats that you see happening again and again. Some of them were laid out in Scream. People who have sex are likely to die, with the virgins being the ones likely to survive. When people say that they will be right back, they probably won’t be. Partying and drinking will likely bring the killer, who will then kill people because that’s what the killer does. Those are only a few of the story beats that frequent slasher movies.

One of the other tropes is something that I want to cover in this post, thanks to this week’s movie. That story element, which is common through many of the slashers from the 1970s through to the present day, is the idea of the mysterious killer. There have been star villains of slasher movies, like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, that people knew and came to the movies to see. They weren’t mysterious at all. They were masked killers that people knew. They were legends within the movies, and every time they came back, they left more destruction for the characters who knew the stories. The people in a Friday the 13^th movie knew about all the murders that happened at Camp Crystal Lake before whatever movie they were in. It was part of their world. These mysterious killers are a little different.

Scream featured one of the two main ways to have a mysterious killer. Much like a Jason Voorhees or a Michael Myers, Scream had Ghostface. The difference was that audiences and characters didn’t know who was beneath the mask. The movie was spent trying to solve the mystery of which character had donned the robe and mask to kill their friends. That mystery was kept alive through subsequent Scream movies and television seasons by having someone different don the mask in each story. There would always be the mystery of who was beneath the mask. It was an essential part of the Scream franchise. It was as much a slasher property as a who-done-it.

A few other movies have featured mysterious masked figures, as well. Before Scream there was the classic Canadian slasher My Bloody Valentine. Someone dressed up as a murderous miner from decades past. They started killing the present-day miners, and nobody knew who it was. The entire movie set up red herrings, had people die, and had the reveal of who was beneath the mask at the end. It was a mystery that gave a full view of the killer, albeit with a mask on. It was a visual while also being a mystery.

Other, more recent, examples include the Happy Death Day movies, the most recent Black Christmas movie, and even the opening of the Fear Street trilogy. Each featured someone in a mask stalking and attacking characters. It wasn’t until the masks came off that anyone, audience or characters, knew who the killer was. Though My Bloody Valentine was a decade and a half before Scream, it was really Scream that made this kind of slasher mystery more popular. Either that or Scooby-Doo, but Scooby-Doo wasn’t a slasher.

To get into the other kind of mystery slasher, we must first look back at the movies that came before slashers. In the mid-60s and through the 1970s, some very influential horror flicks came out of Italy. These giallo films would become part of the inspiration of the American slasher genre, particularly the mystery killer kind of slashers. Some of the common elements included vivid colours and mysterious killers wearing black gloves. It’s the mysterious killers wearing black gloves that would come over to American film in a big way.

This week’s movie was a good example of that. Silent Night, Bloody Night was a 1972 movie that sort of paved the way for Black Christmas, which would lead to Halloween, which would then spark the slasher craze to follow. In the small town of East Willard, Massachusetts, there sat a house. It was originally owned by Wilfred Butler (Philip Bruns), until he died from a freak burning accident in 1950. His son took the house and kept it for twenty years before deciding to sell it to the town as a historical landmark. The problem was that anyone who went near the house would be killed by an unknown assailant. It was up to Wilfred’s son Jeffrey (James Patterson) and his new acquaintance Diane Adams (Mary Woronov) to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The key to Silent Night, Bloody Night was that the story hinged upon the mystery of who was protecting the house by killing everyone who went near it. The face of the killer was never shown. Instead, there were point-of-view shots of the killer’s hands in black gloves as they committed the murder, or shots where the killer’s head or body was blurred in a way that it was impossible to make out who they were. The killer wasn’t hidden behind a mask. For the most part, they were entirely hidden. Black gloves covered their hands. Long sleeves and pant legs covered their body. Blurs hid their face. Any of the killer’s physical attributes were a mystery. There was nothing known about them until the final big reveal at the end of the film.

It was this style of mysterious killer that American films took from their giallo predecessors. Graduation Day followed suit by having a mysterious, black-gloved figure kill the members of a track team. Sleepaway Camp featured someone killing people through point-of-view shots at a summer camp. The first Friday the 13^th film, before Jason took centre stage as the killer and star, featured a mysterious killer murdering the counselors at a summer camp as they set up for that season. Graduation Day and Sleepaway Camp involved people pointing fingers about who was killing the others. Friday the 13^th, not so much. They all shared the point-of-view shots of the unknown killer, though. Until the reveals at the end.

A movie with a slightly different take on the mystery aspect was Prom Night. I feel like I need to bring this up just to show how some movies can change the mystery, while keeping the mysterious killer stuff. A group of teens were murdered on the night of their prom because of a death they witnessed when they were children. The killer had to be someone connected to them and the death, but they didn’t know who it was. The mystery involved finding someone connected to everything, who would know their connection, much like in the story of I Know What You Did Last Summer. The killer wouldn’t be revealed until the end of the film, allowing the mystery to last as long as possible.

There are two kinds of mystery killers that show up in slasher movies. There are those who appear in masks, chasing after the other characters to kill them. The victims spend their time trying to unmask the killers, to no avail until the end. Then there are the killers who may not have masks, but it doesn’t matter. They are barely shown. Their hands pop into frame, typically with the giallo-style black gloves, to commit the murders. If their full bodies are shown, it’s usually in full clothing that covers all skin, hidden in darkness or distorted vision. Nobody that sees their face survives, so the mystery continues.

Scream might have re-popularized the mystery slasher, but the concept had been around well before that franchise reignited people’s interest. The giallo flicks coming out of Italy inspired early proto-slashers like Silent Night, Bloody Night, which inspired some of the classic slashers like Black Christmas and Friday the 13^th. The mystery behind who the killers were helped to give some strength to the slasher idea that might have been a little flimsy, otherwise. Movies that didn’t have depth were given depth. Audiences were more engaged. And more classics were born.

Now it’s time for a few notes:

• Movies that I mentioned in this post included Sleepaway Camp (week 150) and Graduation Day (week 462).
• John Carradine was in Silent Night, Bloody Night. It was his fifth Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance. His other four movies were Monster in the Closet (week 55), The Ice Pirates (week 128), Shock Waves (week 299), and Jack-O (week 466).
• Philip Bruns returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies this week. He was previously in Ed (week 11).
• Alex Stevens was in Hercules in New York (week 68) and Silent Night, Bloody Night.
• Finally, cult actress Mary Woronov was in Silent Night, Bloody Night. She was also in Chopping Mall (week 306).
• Have you seen Silent Night, Bloody Night? What did you think of it? How do you feel about mystery killers in slasher flicks? Let me know what you think in the comments or get a hold of me on Twitter.
• You can find me on Twitter or in the comments if there’s a movie you want to suggest for a future week of Sunday “Bad” Movies. I’m open to all suggestions, and they may even make it into the schedule.
• Sunday “Bad” Movies is on Instagram, continuing the Sunday “Bad” Movies fun when it’s not time for a new post.
• Now it’s time for a sneak peek at next week’s movie. It will still be a few days before Christmas, which means it will be another Christmas movie. I want to finish up my Lifetime Christmas four-pack, so I’m going to watch the final movie in that set. It’s called The March Sisters at Christmas. I hope you enjoy whatever I write about it. I’ll see you next week for that one.

Southland Tales (2006) - Take 2, Ninth Anniversary Rewatch

Movies are only one way to tell a story. There are many other forms of storytelling to be experienced. Books are the written word. Sometimes they are combined with pictures to help illustrate the story. Music, podcasts, and audio books are a way for an audience to hear a story. Same with those spooky campfire tales that people shared with each other while at summer camp or on a weekend camping trip with friends. Television shares the same audio/visual storytelling style as movies, only in a slightly different, more episodic, form.

Each method of storytelling has its own benefits. Video games are more immersive, allowing the players to navigate the world of the game as the characters. Movies and television let the audience view the action from the outside. It unfolds in front of them and that’s all there is to it. Most books give the reader some insight into the thoughts of the characters, establishing their motives and giving connection that other forms of storytelling might not. Audio storytelling can set the mood through different sound cues and vocal choices. Depending on the story being told, one form of storytelling may be chosen over another.

Sometimes, a story may begin in one form of storytelling, only to continue in another. I’m not writing about adaptations. That’s a whole other beast that I’m pretty sure I’ve covered in other posts. Adaptations are taking a story and retelling it through another lens. What I want to discuss in this post are stories that have transitioned from one form of storytelling to another. One story in one medium leads to another story in another medium. They are directly connected. Those are the stories I want to go over.

One of those stories involves this week’s movie, the ninth anniversary rewatch for Sunday “Bad” Movies. Southland Tales was a sprawling ensemble piece about election politics, energy capitalism, and amnesiac doubles that came out in 2006. Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) was an action movie star married to Madeline Frost (Mandy Moore), the daughter of presidential hopeful Bobby Frost (Holmes Osborne). Boxer went missing in the desert and recently turned up in the arms of Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar). She wanted to use him for political blackmail, teaming up with Cyndi Pinziki (Nora Dunn) to potentially release some damaging videos. Meanwhile, the Neo-Marxists were planning to disrupt the election. Zora Carmichaels (Cheri Oteri) and her team were using Roland and Ronald Taverner (both played by Seann William Scott) to go after Boxer Santaros and Bobby Frost. Things took a turn, however, when Officer Bart Bookman (Jon Lovitz) got involved, causing Ronald and Boxer to be witnesses to a police murder caught on film.

Southland Tales, the movie, was only part of the story. It began with some exposition about how the world got to that point, then threw the audience right into the middle of what was unfolding. There was no time to get acquainted with the world. There was no time to learn what was going on. The audience was in the action as Boxer Santaros was already living with Krista Now. There was no time to adjust. It was the middle of a story, though the beginning of the story being told in the movie. This choice did provide an interesting connection to Boxer, as he was suffering amnesia. The audience knew about as much as he did when it came to what was happening.

When I say that Southland Tales started at the middle of the story, I mean that. Southland Tales was divided into chapters. The movie covered chapters four through six. That meant that, if there were only six chapters in the story, the movie began at the halfway mark. There was no previous movie to cover the first three chapters. It was just the one flick. So how did people get those first three chapters if they truly wanted to understand the Southland Tales lore? They got the first three chapters through graphic novels.

This meant that if someone wanted the entire Southland Tales story, they needed to commit to reading three graphic novels and watching a two-and-a-half-hour movie. That’s a tall order for some people. They don’t want to invest that much time into it, or they don’t have the time at all. They would rather just watch the movie. Even then, they want it to be shorter. People have an aversion to a story that will take more than two hours, even if they like the story. Unless it’s Marvel or Star Wars. They’re okay with those being long.

Southland Tales wasn’t the only time that graphic novels were used to tell the rest of a story. There have been other instances of part of a story being told in one medium while the rest was told through comic books. A notable example was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m not going to get too deep into it, as I haven’t watched the show beyond an episode that was shown in a writing class. When season seven concluded in 2003, people wanted more. They wanted the continuing stories of Buffy and her friends. Joss Whedon ensured that the story would continue by teaming up with Dark Horse Comics to produce a comic series continuation. Seasons eight through twelve were produced as comic books, allowing readers to continue following the escapades of their favourite monster fighting vampire slayer.

I have two more examples that I want to bring up, with this next one being, perhaps, one of the biggest cross-platform franchises of them all. I mentioned it a couple paragraphs ago. It’s not Marvel. The comics are separate from the movies with the movies being adaptations rather than continuations. I want to take a few minutes to discuss the complicated continuity of Star Wars.

I’m not the biggest Star Wars person. I enjoy most of what I’ve seen from the franchise, but I’ve only just scratched the surface. There are a whole bunch of stories that I’ve been nowhere near that help to make Star Wars into a monster in the world of storytelling. Let’s start with the movies. That’s what everyone knows. Even if you don’t know any of the other aspects of the Star Wars lore, you’ve likely at least heard of the movies. There are nine movies in the main Skywalker Saga, telling the stories of Anakin Skywalker and his descendants as the light side and dark side of the force battle it out. There’s a Han Solo movie and a movie about getting the blueprints for the Death Star. That about covers the main theatrical movies.

The other theatrical movie was actually the pilot for The Clone Wars, which became a long-running television series. It was one of many television series spun off from the theatrical movies. Other television series include Star Wars: Rebels, The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, and the upcoming The Book of Boba Fett. These are only the shows within current continuity. There was also a previous Clone Wars series, an Ewoks series, a couple Ewoks television movies, and a Holiday Special that were removed from continuity when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise.

That may have seemed like me just listing off names for the sake of listing them off. It was a list of names, after all. The reason things ended up that way is because there’s just so much Star Wars stuff. When the first three films came out in the late 70s and early 80s, they became such a huge sensation that audiences wanted more. They wanted the world expanded and the stories continued. That led to the television movies and the Ewoks series. That also led to the franchise branching out into novels. There was an expansive mythology created through the novels that followed the original trilogy of Star Wars films.

Video games like Knights of the Old Republic and The Force Unleashed were part of this old continuity that told stories within the world of Star Wars. They weren’t necessarily directly connected to the movies and those stories, but they were clearly set within the same world. The Force Unleashed was the more direct of the two, helping to shine a light on what happened between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. All the old continuity that was pushed aside when Disney wanted to make sequels were labelled Legends and are no longer in continuity.

Okay, that might be a bit too conclusive. Some of it is still within continuity. Star Wars: The Clone Wars was before Disney, but they kept that in continuity. Bits and pieces have also been finding their way back into continuity. Life Day, from the Star Wars Holiday Special, was mentioned in The Mandalorian. That made Life Day canon again. Little things like that keep popping up. They don’t make the Legends stories continuity, but they at least recontextualize concepts from the vast expanded universe so that they aren’t entirely lost.

The Disney era of Star Wars also created its own expanded universe. Beyond the movies and television shows, there have been a bunch of novels that expanded the stories being told. There was a graphic novel about a bunch of droids that explained why C-3PO had a red arm in one of the movies. That was a direct prequel to a movie to clarify a question people had. Star Wars continued to be a major multimedia franchise, even while much of the multimedia franchise was thrown out of continuity.

Finally, I want to get to one very timely franchise where the continuity branched through multiple forms of storytelling. I say it’s timely because there’s a brand new movie coming out in less than a month. People are getting hyped about it. They’re reminiscing about the previous movies in the franchise, returning to those movies, and appreciating those movies. The fandom never died down, but the fervor is rising as the release of a sequel approaches. That sequel is The Matrix Resurrections.

The Matrix franchise has been a contentious one for many years. While most people agree that the first film is a great science fiction flick, the sequels don’t get quite as much love. That’s fair. They’re different beasts from the first flick. I don’t remember liking them all that much. It’s been years since I’ve seen them, though. There was also an Animatrix movie, which was an animated anthology where each segment took place within the world of the Matrix films. It was a fun little way to expand the world.

Video games have been a little more direct with their continuity. Enter the Matrix was released the same month as The Matrix Reloaded and told a story that took place at the same time, following supporting characters from the movie. It was completely in continuity with the movies. It was directed by the Wachowskis, who directed the movies, and featured the actors from the movies reprising their roles. There was an entire hour of live-action footage written and directed specifically for the game, including an explanation for the change in looks of a major character.

Another video game was the MMORPG titled The Matrix Online. This one allowed the players to be a major part of where the story went. It wasn’t the most popular outlet for Matrix storytelling and ended up shutting down after four years. Some major developments were made in the story of the game, including the death of a main character, which seem to still be within continuity. Based on the trailers for the new movie, that is. There were also some comic books written within the continuity of The Matrix, as well.

Franchises can branch out into multiple forms of storytelling to continue building mythology and lore. An audience could see the action unfold on screen before diving into a continuation novel to get a better read on a character’s thoughts. A video game could allow audiences to feel more a part of the story as they control the characters. Each form of storytelling allows for different parts of the story to take center stage. The key to a successful multimedia franchise is to find how the story can fit into each method of storytelling.

Southland Tales, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, and The Matrix are all known for being franchises that dipped their toes into multiple forms of storytelling. They began as movies or television shows before branching out into novels, comic books, and video games. They continued their story, within continuity, through the other storytelling forms. They found success. They kept their audience or found a growing one. Their legacy became more than that original project. The legacy of the franchises became how far they branched out and how popular they remained. Storytelling is a wonderful thing.

Now let’s get a few notes in here:

• Southland Tales was originally covered for week 428.
• Jon Lovitz was in Southland Tales. He was also in Bark Ranger (week 183), Mom and Dad Save the World (week 186), Hamburger: The Motion Picture (week 197), Sandy Wexler (week 231), Mother’s Day (week 233), and The Ridiculous 6 (week 344).
• Wallace Shawn appeared in Southland Tales, Furry Vengeance (week 162), Mom and Dad Save the World (week 186), Air Buddies (week 270), Cop and a Half: New Recruit (week 340), and Don Peyote (week 445).
• When Southland Tales was originally covered, it was Amy Poehler’s third Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance behind Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (week 20) and Free Birds (week 209). She has now also appeared in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (week 470) and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (week 470).
• You might have noticed Curtis Armstrong in Southland Tales. He could previously be seen in Jingle All the Way (week 160) and Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star (week 221).
• Janeane Garofolo returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Southland Tales. She was also in 200 Cigarettes (week 161) and Sandy Wexler (week 231).
• Christopher Lambert was in Mortal Kombat (week 140) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (week 260), as well as Southland Tales.
• This was the third time that Bai Ling popped up in Sunday “Bad” Movies. She previously appeared in Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance (week 241) and Wild Wild West (week 296).
• Dwayne Johnson was Boxer Santaros. He was also himself in Jem and the Holograms (week 238) and the title character in The Scorpion King (week 380).
• Will Sasso showed up in Southland Tales. He previously showed up in Movie 43 (week 243) and did voice work in Russell Madness (week 382).
• Senator Bobby Frost was played by Holmes Osborne, who was also in Air Buddies (week 270) and All About Steve (week 409).
• Finishing up the three-appearance people is Kevin Smith. He was in Southland Tales, but before that, he showed up in Vulgar (week 269) and Another WolfCop (week 411).
• First up in the two-timer section is Eli Roth. He had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance as a man getting shot on the toilet in Southland Tales. He was also in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (week 110).
• Jill Ritchie was in D.E.B.S. (week 111) and Southland Tales.
• Mandy Moore returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Southland Tales, after first appearing in Chasing Liberty (week 155).
• Sab Shimono appeared in both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (week 184) and Southland Tales.
• Southland Tales marked the second appearance of Seann William Scott in Sunday “Bad” Movies. He was previously in Movie 43 (week 243).
• Miranda Richardson could be seen in Fred Claus (week 265) as well as Southland Tales.
• Did you know that Becca Sweitzer has appeared in two Sunday “Bad” Movies? She was in Southland Tales and From Justin to Kelly (week 325).
• Justin Timberlake was Pilot Abilene in Southland Tales. He also had a small bit in the end credits of On the Line (week 342).
• Finally, Beth Grant appeared in both Southland Tales and All About Steve (week 409).
• Have you seen Southland Tales? What did you think of it? What do you think of multimedia franchise like these, where continuity is maintained between storytelling forms? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
• You can find me on Twitter or in the comments if you have any suggestions for movies I should check out for future Sunday “Bad” Movies posts. Suggestions are always welcome.
• Sunday “Bad” Movies is on Instagram if you want to see pictures, clips, and trailers.
• Next week, we’re into the next year of Sunday “Bad” Movies, leading up to both post 500 and the tenth anniversary. I’ve been doing these posts weekly (mostly) for almost a decade. Holy crap. For the first post of the next year, I’ll be checking out a Christmas horror movie called Silent Night, Bloody Night from the 1970s. There will be a post involving it in one week. I hope to see you back here then.