Our Daily Trailer: KISS KISS BANG BANG

This week, Our Daily Trailer salutes Christmas movies that aren't really Christmas movies - films set during the holidays in which the holidays take a backseat to the action unfolding onscreen. In other words, Shane Black movies. 

And what better way to kick off this theme than with Black's breathless tribute to all things hardboiled, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? 

Is there anyone left out there who hasn't seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? If so, allow me to join the hordes who have probably been urging you to watch this movie for years. It should have been Robert Downey Jr.'s comeback film, but it didn't receive a very wide release and went largely unseen until home video word of mouth turned it into a cult classic. But RDJ nabbed Iron Man (based at least somewhat on the strength of his performance in Kiss Kiss, one would think), so he's doing just fine. The person most unjustly treated by Kiss Kiss Bang Bang's lukewarm box office is perhaps Val Kilmer, who is never better (okay, except Doc Holliday) than when he plays the misanthropic Gay Perry. And Michelle Monaghan gives a performance that should have secured her comedy leading lady status for years, with a sort of loose-limbed, wiseacre abandon that is every ounce as appealing as her undeniable beauty. 

But the real star of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is Black's script, agile and cunning, delivering the rarest combination of cynical merriment at a breakneck pace. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a film that's tireless in its watchability and quotability, and it deserves to be an annual holiday tradition among the very coolest households. The Alamo Drafthouse has been screening it every December, and if you live near a theater, I recommend catching this one on the big screen with a crowd this month. This trailer manages to capture the savvy mirth of the film without spoiling any of the best jokes, so if you like what you see here, take the plunge. Watch it at the Alamo, buy it super cheap on Blu at the link below, or pay a nominal fee to stream it on Amazon. So, again for the cheap seats, do not think - watch this fucking movie.