As a very temporary distraction from Trump here are two movie recommendations:
Christmas movie for children:
The heavily advertised Christmas movie The Grinch was poorly reviewed by Rotten Tomatoes, (57/55%) and The Guardian gave it two out of five stars. However kids on Newsday gave it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Variety may have a reviewer more in tune with what kids will enjoy saying it is a buoyant and agreeable entertainment for children.
I say go with what Variety and the kids say, if only to stop their yammering after seeing the incessant commercials.
The movie is a follow-up the 2000 movie featured a much more evil-looking Grinch than the character in the new movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” In the new movie the much less scary looking grumpy Grinch plots to ruin Christmas for the village of Whoville. Reviewer Nell Minow writes “Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel) gave us the Grinch, a furry green character with a dog named Max, who hates Christmas so much he decides to spoil the celebration of everyone in the community of Whoville by stealing all of their decorations, food, and gifts.”
The story may be an attempt to be a feel good antidote to the fear and loathing inducing Trump. It’s about a young girl and her friends attempting to thwart the Grinch’s nefarious plan to steal everyone’s holiday cheer.
The Grinch story has to have a happy ending or children will have had their Christmas spoiled.
Unfortunately real children are fleeing violence in Honduras to find sanctuary and safe haven here. Parents sitting safe and sound in America protect their own younger children from discovering that other children are being treated like criminals and that their Christmas will be anything but merry.
A Christmas Movie for Adults
For adults I suggest watching a true horror classic. 1984’s low-budget ($1.8 million) “Nightmare on Elm Street” was directed by Wes Craven and was the first film in a franchise of movies, spin-offs, and video games. It was the first slasher movie and is considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time. It went on to gross $25 million.
“Critics and film historians state that the film’s premise is the struggle to define the distinction between dreams and reality, manifested by the lives and dreams of the teens in the film.[9] Critics today praise the film’s ability to transgress “the boundaries between the imaginary and real”,[10] toying with audience perceptions.[11] Wikipedia
Freddy Krueger is a name which evokes a sense of pure evil much the way the name Trump does to clear-eyed lovers of Democracy today. You can fire up the DVD machine and choose between, as I count them, six Nightmare on Elm Street movies. However I recommend the original which got a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Ratings went down for the next five movies.
This is a paradoxical psychological way to escape from the current nightmare being caused by the resident of the mansion at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue. The theory is that you may be able to escape from real horror to fantasy horror. I’m tempted to say “if you want to see the devil incarnate on Christmas day, watch Freddy Krueger,” but then I realize that all you have to do is turn on your television to see him. Chill inducing and gasp provoking as “Nightmare” is, the movie isn’t as frightening as watching MSNBC or CNN or any of the non-Fox media report on the Twittering terrifier that occasionally occupies the Oval Office.
If a Christmas movie was made about Trump it would have to be rated as not recommended for children under 13 because it would be traumatic for them. The is little doubt that Trump is the most frightening looking president since the invention of photography. Even an actor like Alex Baldwin, try mightily as he does, can’t contort his face into the angry malevolent expressions we see from Trump on a near-daily basis. It’s not just the mouth, it’s the evil in the eyes he can’t match.
A couple of weeks ago Inquistir reported:
President Donald Trump is facing one of the most difficult periods of his presidency, and it appears to be impacting his mood. According to a tweet from reporter Brian Karem, a White House staffer revealed that the commander-in-chief seems to be angry all the time. So angry that he even appears to direct his ire at inanimate objects. “He always seems angry. Now he seems mad at the furniture too,” Karem reported he was told by a White House staffer.
When things don’t get his way Trump’s behavior is more unhinged than Freddy Krueger who is systematic and cool-headed in his mayhem. He never gets angry. He knows what his job wis, and takes great pride in being the best terrifying knife-fingered serial killer he can be.
At least Freddy’s history might inculcate some sympathy. “While in elementary school Freddy killed the class hamster and was bullied for being the son of a hundred maniacs. During his teenage years he would cut himself with a shaving razor for pleasure. He used the same razor to kill Mr. Underwood when he was beating him as revenge for all the times he abused him.” Reference
Trump has no such excuse.
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