First, I'd like to say that Sofia Coppola should be making movies way more frequently than she is, and I'd really like it if she'd make about four films a year.
However, I'm pretty happy about what she's got going on this year, because “A Very Murray Christmas” is on its way to Netflix on December 4th.
Here's the official synopsis from today's e-mail:
Written by Mitch Glazer, Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola, and directed by Sofia Coppola, A Very Murray Christmas is an homage to the classic variety show featuring Bill Murray playing himself, as he worries no one will show up to his TV show due to a terrible snow storm in New York City. Through luck and perseverance, guests arrive at the Carlyle hotel to help him; dancing and singing in holiday spirit.
The star-studded cast also includes Michael Cera, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Dimitri Dimitrov, David Johansen, Rashida Jones, Jenny Lewis, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Shaffer, Julie White, the band Phoenix, and more.
And now, here's the droll key art that they sent over.
I'm intrigued by the way people play with the conventions of Christmas specials and Christmas movies, and by the mix of the sincere and the cynical. It's one of the reasons “Scrooged” really worked, because Murray's transformation seemed genuinely earned. While I can't review it yet, I can say that Seth Rogen's new film “The Night Before” works because it is unabashedly a Christmas movie, embracing the genre in order to run playful twists on formula.
I hope this one's great. I'm still trying to shake off the profound disappointment of “Rock The Kasbah.” If you need to scratch your Bill Murray itch, check out the gallery below, where I used hard science to prove what the best 25 Bill Murray performances are. Enjoy.
“A Very Murray Christmas” arrives on Netflix on December 4th.