LIFERS is locked in and ready to roll. TONIGHT at the ChiTown Drive-In in Chicago.
DAZED & CONFUSED at 10pm.
LIFERS at midnight.
Use code “lifers” to get 10 bucks off per carload.

Tickets available at the gate or online: www.universe.com/events/68793...

Low ticket alert for tonight’s screening of LIFERS at the @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social. See you there.

But under that, it’s a chase film involving an ever widening cast of characters that are never as simple as they first appear to be. PLUS! — it’s sweeter than “Miracle On 34th Street”. A true new canon classic. AND it’s streaming on Disney Plus. Get the kids!

An earlier -grungier- IPhone-toting Sean Baker production that probably has more in common with “Anora” than any of his other features. On the surface that means screwball hijinks, sex workers, and Karren Karagulian.

SEARCHING FOR A NEW CHRISTMAS CANON #4: TANGERINE (2015). Did you know they have Christmas in L.A., too? And this is exactly what it’s like for every single person that lives there.

The only thing crazier than this movie is that it has two sequels starring Craig Sheffer. Crazier still? I’m planning on watching them.

His bug-eyed lunacy makes Ray in “Something Wild” look something tame — and his creepy harassment of Lauren Holly with gee-whiz small talk about “It’s A Wonderful Life” takes care of the Christmas requirements.

This thing is about as believable as one of Trump’s physicians and features a pretty solid cast that’s lazily and inexplicably wasted — EXCEPT for Ray fucking Liotta!

SEARCHING FOR A NEW CHRISTMAS CANON #3: TURBULENCE (1997). When was the last time you thought about this movie? Floating among the flotsam of “Die Hard” rip-offs and ‘90s “terror in the skies” thrillers is this yuletide howler from “Night Of The Juggler” director Robert Butler.

Warm, sentimental (fucking COMFORTING!) and (so far) pretty goddamn rewatchable — it checks all the boxes. Plus with its lived-in ‘70s vibe — it’s like “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” for Hal Ashby freaks. Merry Christmas, you Visigoths!

Immediately after seeing Alexander Payne’s latest at a Music Box matinee on a cold November Sunday, I had a sneaking feeling that I had just watched a new Christmas classic. A year later and I believe my suspicions are confirmed.

And those are fine choices, but when I hear some numbnuts on some podcast prattle on about how this country hasn’t made anything that qualifies since “Elf” — all I can do is point to this movie and yell: “Catch up!”

SEARCHING FOR A NEW CHRISTMAS CANON #1: THE HOLDOVERS (2023). In searching for a new Christmas canon, some would have you believe that your choices are limited to not much beyond “Die Hard” or “Eyes Wide Shut”.

I’m probably a little (definitely very) biased, but here’s a @letterboxd.social review of LIFERS from my favorite movie critic. Watch for more screenings in January.

ANORA (2024). It’s hard for me to fall in line with the whole “Sean Baker rises to the next level” narrative, because I think the guy’s been making straight up masterpieces since at least “The Florida Project” — but that shouldn’t obscure the fact that this is fucking lovely.