Watchcast Schedule for December 2024: Violence with a Side of Christmas

Greetings, Nextlanders! And a happy (or as happy as anyone is capable of being) December to you all. We're back from our Thanksgiving break as of today, and starting next week the Watchcast will return to its normal schedule until we go back on break for Christmas and New Year's. And for our December lineup, we've decided to combine a bit of the holiday spirit with some movies that align with previous Watchcast picks from 2024. Yes, it's Christmas movies that aren't actually Christmas movies, but also are not Die Hard. We'll save that one for another time.

Here's the trio of movies we've got picked out for you.

Monday, December 9th: Batman Returns (1992)

As part of our slate of '90s hero flicks earlier this year, we spent some time with Tim Burton's initial Batman entry, and as we were doing that Brad kept mentioning how much he'd like to do Batman Returns as well, and I made a promise to him that we'd tackle it in December. Let it never be said I don't keeps me promises.

Depending on what day of the week you ask me, this may be my pick for my favorite of the Batflicks. It's grimier and weirder than the first movie, but also keeps a lot of that Burton-flavored camp in the mix as The Penguin and Catwoman enter the cinematic canon. Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer are every bit as good in their villain roles as Nicholson was as the Joker, and you've even got Christopher Walken running around with Dr. Wily hair. This movie's great, and I am very much looking forward to digging into the beef with McDonalds over the movie's tone. Turns out Danny DeVito barfing sludge doesn't sell collector's cups!

Where to Watch

Monday, December 16th: The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

After spending a long (and justified) amount of time bagging on the insane misfire that was Cutthroat Island, I wanted to give a fair shake to our girl Geena Davis and check out her other action movie collaboration with her ex-husband Renny Harlin. It's been ages since I saw this one, but I remember it being way, WAY better of an attempt at giving Ms. Davis a bit of edge as she shoots, stabs, and flings herself around this script from noted Christmas enthusiast Shane Black. And she's not the only returning actor from previous '24 Watchcast movies. She co-stars alongside Jackie Brown's Samuel L. Jackson, and Trick 'r Treat's Brian Cox (plus a handful of character actors you'll probably remember from Cutthroat, if you endured that along with us).

It's been so long since I watched this that I only somewhat remember the plot, which involves amnesia, secret identities, and some kind of big explosive conflict at the Canadian border. What I do remember is this being fairly fun, so let's see if it holds up.

Where to Watch

Monday, December 23rd: Eastern Promises (2007)

What better way to ring in the holiday than with a naked Viggo Mortensen knife fight? I can't think of one.

Here we have another film starring one of our principal Twin Peaks cast members (Naomi Watts) and another David Cronenberg movie to chase our first foray into his filmography in eXistenZ. This ain't no body horror project, though--unless you happen to consider the idea of nude knife fighting in a bath house a kind of body horror. Rather, this is from Cronenberg's slightly more conventionally violent period where, alongside A History of Violence, he found ways to disturb not involving unnatural orifices. The story here is about the orphaned baby of a sex worker and the child's connections to London's Russian mob. Watts plays the midwife doing the detective work, and Mortensen is about as good as he's ever been here as Nikolai, the mob family's driver and "cleaner", who is caught between his obvious affection for Watts and the needs of his employers.

This is a grim movie, and the topic of sexual violence is very much in the mix, but it isn't handled frivolously. This is as taut a thriller as Cronenberg has ever made, and I'd go so far as to call this one of his most essential films. And not JUST because of Naked Viggo Knife Fight (though that does go a long way).

Where to Watch

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And that's our December. As for our plans in January, we don't have everything mapped out just yet. But once we get to the end of the month, we should have some things to announce, both in terms of theme and when we'll be kicking back up in the New Year. I don't expect it'll be long into January when we start back up, but we'll confirm for sure in a few weeks. As always, thanks for listening and watching along with us, and we hope you enjoy our final slate for 2024.

--A