The Polar Express

This 2004 movie was not one that interested us enough to see it in the theater. Now that we have the DVD, though, we watch it every year. The Polar Express is based on a book that none of us have read. The film is a tribute to faith, of believing without having to see. "The bell still rings for me."

trailer:



Moria says,

The performances captured are fantastic.... Robert Zemeckis directs the film with epic dramatic flourish and attention to the minutiae of detail
...
And The Polar Express is whichever way you look at it – technically, artistically, in terms of all the expected plaintive emotion of seasonal family entertainment – a magical film.

Roger Ebert says this film

is a movie for more than one season; it will become a perennial, shared by the generations. It has a haunting, magical quality because it has imagined its world freshly and played true to it, sidestepping all the tiresome Christmas cliches that children have inflicted on them this time of year. The conductor tells Hero Boy he thinks he really should get on the train, and I have the same advice for you.

CNN calls it "Technology brilliant" but says it "should be subtitled "The Night of the Living Dead." The characters are that frightening." The New York Times describes it as "a grave and disappointing failure, as much of imagination as of technology". Salon.com says, "Beware the creeping horror that is “The Polar Express.”" Rolling Stone says, "it seems Scroogish to spoil the party. But the movie just doesn't work." The BBC warns against it, saying, "Besides its dead-eyed cast, this 'animated' escapade is thrown off the tracks by pointless detours seemingly intended just to stretch the journey time". EW doesn't like how different the film is from the book. It gets a score of 56% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Hand-made Christmas Gifts

When I was growing up we had lots of extended family and gave gifts to them all. The Grandmother (my mother -she prefers the grandmother role, so that's her title here) used to bake cookies, fudge and divinity for gifts. Also, each year there would be a project. She and daddy would make enough of the project to give each family one. I remember many of them: a decorative cover for the tv guide which came in the newspaper every week, pine cones attached to ribbons that hung from a big bow, a hanging burlap cover for a yardstick that had 3 felt feet glued on the front, a wooden candle holder with a little pine cone on the base spray painted for the season, and bunches more. I was never allowed to help, but I remember the hub-bub with the materials all spread out in various stages of completion.

One year she made braided fabric wreaths. One of them is pictured above where it hangs on my wall.

I don't know where she got her ideas, but there are patterns similar to my wreath online.

Where's the Kaboom?

There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime:



by Jonathan Coulton.

This has been one of my favorite Christmas songs since I discovered it.

Calamity Town

Calamity Town is a 1942 mystery novel by Ellery Queen. I read this almost 8 years ago and am re-reading it now because key plot elements happen around Christmas time. I remembered it well even after all these years, so I enjoyed it less this time around. I think that speaks well of the writing, though, that the plot and characters stuck with me.

from the back of the book:

Wrightsville is a typical American town, buried in the great American heartland, up to its neck in good old American corn. No family in town is more respected than the one named, naturally enough, the Wrights. Daddy Wright is the town banker, Momma Wright is the town social lioness, daughter Patricia the town beauty, Nora the town recluse, Lola the town scandal. Ellery Queen likes sophistication, savoir faire, and all the swinging assets of Manhattan and its environs. So what in the world is he doing in this unearthly place? It is the job of the famous detective to find out which of the Wrights is the town poisoner. He must match his wits with a diabolically cunning and ruthless killer, while defending himself against a charge of murder.

There's an accurate description of Halloween in a 1940-ish small town that's notable for the lack of trick-or-treating and the prevalence of pranks. The Grandmother says trick-or-treating is a fairly recent innovation absent from her childhood and young adult-hood. She says in her youth, a common neighborhood prank was putting peoples' porch rockers up on their roofs.

Christmas Elves

Elf on a shelf? Not for us! We prefer elves to stay put and not spy and tattle.

These elves were a Christmas present to me from an aunt when I was in elementary school. It's nice to have some things that I've always used for decorations.

Tourist Season

Tourist Season is a 1986 mystery novel by Carl Hiaasen that's heavier on the dark humor than on the mystery. It's been over 4 years since I last read this book, and I am re-reading it now because it takes place during the month of December. This is an easy breezy book, not subtle by any means, but fun.

from the back of the book:

The only trace of the first victim was his Shriner's fez washed up on the Miami beach. The second victim, the head of the city's chamber of commerce, was found dead with a toy rubber alligator lodged in his throat. And that was just the beginning... Now Brian Keyes, reporter turned private eye, must move from muckraking to rooting out murder... in a caper that will mix football players, politicians, and police with a group of fanatics and a very hungry crocodile.

Kirkus Reviews closes with this: "...if you like your gallows laughs with gall, this could be for you."

The Right to Bear Arms

I read the killer's mother was a "doomsday prepper" survivalist and that she's reportedly the one who taught him to shoot.

It makes no sense to me at all that the "right to bear arms" entitles someone to have what I've seen described as an "arsenal". Don't your rights end where mine begin? Why does your "right to bear arms" trump my right to elementary schools free from this kind of tragedy?

The Santa Clause

I had seen The Santa Clause before but not in a long, long time. We picked it up to have something different to add to the Christmas movie rotation. The film is a good one for us -one we haven't already seen a kajillion times and one that's appealing to us all. Tim Allen makes an enjoyable Santa, and the rest of the cast members are fine in their roles.

trailer:



DVD Talk says,

The Santa Claus has been entertaining those looking for a little holiday cheer for 18 years though, and why? Because it's a well-balanced effort that can capture the heart and imagination of everyone, children and adults alike.

Roger Ebert says the film "is often a clever and amusing movie, and there's a lot of fresh invention in it." Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 80%.

Morality Play

Morality Play is a 1995 medieval mystery novel by Barry Unsworth, who wrote the Booker Prize-winning mastepiece Sacred Hunger. I last read Morality Play in 2005 and am re-reading it now because it takes place at Christmas-time. This book is no masterpiece, but I'm forgiving of novels with medieval settings and enjoyed the story of this traveling troupe of players.

from the back of the book:

Short-listed for the Booker Prize, Morality Play is a medieval murder mystery full of the wonders of the time - and lessons for our own time - by a master storyteller.

It is a cold winter in the fourteenth century, and a young renegade priest, Nicholas Barber, joins an acting troupe who prepare to play the drama of their lives. Breaking the tradition of only performing religious plays, the group's charismatic leader, Martin, wants them to enact the brutal murder that has torn apart the rural village into which they have wandered. A young boy has been found dead and the weaver's daughter has been arrested and stands to be hung. As the troupe delve deeper into the circumstances of the murder, they find themselves entering a dark world of intrigue that may prove their undoing. Taut and suspenseful, Morality Play is an exquisite work that captivates by its power, while opening up the distant past as new to the reader.

The Boston Review compares it unfavorably with Sacred Hunger, saying

Morality Play ultimately fails. The historical shift from morality plays based on stock Figures to modern drama based on psychological realism was a qualitative leap: it demanded more from audiences than the absorption of didactic lessons.
...
[this book] is determined to tell modern readers about the history of drama, and that is what it does, even at the expense of its own credibility as a historical novel.

Kirkus Reviews says that "mood and setting [are] crisply and chillingly evoked" and that

favorable comparisons to The Name of the Rose are in order, though many characters here are slender rather than fully figured, so that what could have been a truly great novel is instead only very good.

Our Christmas Tree

We have used an artificial tree for over 20 years. This artificial tree. We think it's holding up well. The Husband went out to buy replacement lights and discovered once he got home that the cords were white instead of the green we usually have. Instead of going back to exchange them, we're pretending it's snow. Most of our ornaments are from when I was a child or from when The Kids were growing up. We have so many that we've stopped putting them all on the tree. We didn't get all the decorations out this year either, but ever since The Grandmother's fall and continuing need we've done much less decorating. I'm just not much in the mood to put it all back in boxes in January. What we did get out looks festive. We usually decorate the tree in time for Advent and take it down before Epiphany, so it stays up a long time.

El Puerto Mexican Grill & Bar

The Daughter and I had driven past El Puerto Mexican Grill & Bar on Highland many times and decided we needed to try it. We went there recently and are looking forward to going back. They have an extensive menu, so we won't ever get bored. When summertime comes we'll sit out on the patio and people-watch. There are a lot of people to watch around here with many pedestrians and bicyclists.

I had the lunch special #10, which is chicken or beef quesadilla with rice and beans. I picked the chicken. It was very good. The chicken was tender and tasty. Portions were generous and more than I could eat. The service was quick and friendly, helpful but not pushy. The waitress suggested a dish for The Daughter to try next time we come. Prices were reasonable, but I can't remember how much and can't find a full menu online. Our total including soft drinks and tax but excluding tip was a bit over $18.

GoMemphis.com has a positive review. I'm not seeing any other reviews on web sites or blogs, and that's a shame. I can't imagine folks not liking the food here. I do think that, now that we're past Thanksgiving and approaching Christmas, they might want to consider changing their sign. But that's the only suggestion for change I have.

Saint Lucia's Day

We began celebrating the Feast of Saint Lucy early on, but The Daughter was obstinate and never enjoyed taking her part in it -except for eating the sweet rolls, of course. I always ended up dressing in white and serving the coffee and sweet rolls, which is the place of the oldest daughter. She would have none of it. I never understood her objection. I finally gave our battery-powered candle head-piece to The Elder Son, because he really liked it while The Daughter steadfastly refused to wear it. Ah, well, such is life. Not everything you try will be a hit with the whole family. The breakfast sweet rolls were a hit with the whole family, and that was good enough for me.

We've tried several different sweet roll recipes through the years in addition to trying sweet rolls from various bakeries and pre-packaged ones. We like them all.

The picture at the top of the post is by Carl Larsson and is from 1908.

Oh, and I don't dress up in white anymore. The sweet rolls have always been center-stage, after all.

A Rare Benedictine

A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael is one of the later books (of 21) in a medieval mystery series written by Ellis Peters. This entry isn't a novel but 3 closely connected stories collected in one volume. One of the stories takes place at Christmas. The first of them tells how Cadfael came to be a monk.

I discovered this series decades ago when I came across a hardback edition of one of the books on the sale table of the bookstore at my local mall, back when every mall had a book store. It had an attractive cover, and the plot looked interesting. After I'd read it, I began looking for more and eventually picked them all up. I had read them all when the Derek Jacobi TV series came out, and our whole family enjoyed those shows.

from the back of the book:

"Brother Cadfael sprang to life suddenly and unexpectedly when he was already approaching sixty, mature, experienced, fully armed and seventeen years tonsured." So writes Ellis Peters in her introduction to A RARE BENEDICTINE -three vintage tales of intrigue and treachery featuring the monastic sleuth who has become the best-loved ecclesiastical detective since Father Brown.

Although Cadfael has appeared in eighteen novel-length chronicles to date, the story of his entry into me monastery at Shrewsbury has been known hitherto only to a few readers. Now his myriad fans can discover the chain of events that led him into the Benedictine Order.

Adorned with many period illustrations by Clifford Harper, these three tales show how Cadfael at the height of his sleuthing form. All the complexities of plot, vividly evoked Shropshire backgrounds, and warm understanding of the frailties of human nature that have made Ellis Peters an international best-seller are here displayed to perfection.

I enjoy this whole series and wish there were more, but alas, the author is dead now. She died at age 82 the year after the last one was published. I find the plots interesting and the medieval monastery setting fascinating, and I love the characters.

12/12/12

It's the last repeating date I'll live to see, so I'm gonna take special note of the time today at 12:12:12.

The picture at the top of the post came from do512.com.

Riu Riu Chiu

Riu Riu Chiu is a Spanish song from the 1500s. Sung below by The Monkees (via Caffeinated Joe):



It is widely performed by many types of musicians, including

Chanticleer:



The Waverly Consort, the Boston Camerata, the Kingston Trio, Mirabilis, the Modern Folk Quartet, the Baltimore Consort and Sixpence None the Richer.

You can read the lyrics and an English translation here.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

I ran across a list a couple of weeks ago (I'm a sucker for lists) and started filling my amazon.com cart with books I've never read that take place during the Advent/Christmas season. I built up to $100+ when I thought that surely I must have some books around here that fit the bill. Success! I found 6 books and may have another in the attic. The down side is I've read them all before. The up side is that they are free!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first book in a series of 7 written by C.S. Lewis. I read them aloud to The Kids when they were young and so I have fond memories associated with them.

In Narnia the White Witch has made it always winter but never Christmas.

from the dust jacket:

Welcome to Narnia, the magical land where talking animals, fauns, dwarfs, centaurs, and friendly giants live in peace and harmony. But life in Narnia is not all goodness....

When four English children accidentally enter this mysterious other world, they find themselves in a scene of dazzling snow. All is cold, silent, and forbidding, for the wicked White White has cursed the land with eternal winter and turned many of her enemies into stone. But with the arrival of the children, the little creatures of Narnia begin to come out of hiding, and rumors spread that Aslan, their beloved lion king, is on his way. Strange and wonderful events follow as the children aid the great golden lion in freeing Narnia from the White Witch's evil spell.

Illustrated with Pauline Baynes's lively line drawings, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a rich and exciting story, and a compelling introduction to the magic, mystery, and high adventure of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.

Don't even talk to me about whether or not this book is the best place to start in reading the series. Of course it is. There's no question of that, no convincing argument otherwise, and so discussion on the topic is fruitless. If you're one of the poor saps who bought in on the other side, well, I'm sorry about that, but you are doomed to forever miss the true charm of these books. So sad.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been dramatized and is worth watching either in the 1988 BBC TV miniseries or in the 2005 theatrical presentation.

The Ice Harvest

The Ice Harvest is a 2005 dark comedy that takes place on Christmas Eve. The Younger Son showed this to me one night when The Husband was out. This is definitely not a movie The Husband would enjoy, but I think this makes for a nice change. It stars John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton as ill-fated businessmen afoul of the mob.

trailer:



Slant Magazine opens their review by saying,

Small-scale in the best sense possible, The Ice Harvest proves that modest, workmanlike film noir need not be accompanied by hipster homages and ironic self-consciousness.

DVD Talk closes with this:

Tightly paced, consistently efficient, and completely, darkly entertaining throughout, The Ice Harvest is one of 2005's most annoyingly overlooked flicks, and it's a neo-noir heist comedy that I plan to revisit several times over the next few years. Maybe it's just that I've been so starved for a "grown-up" comedy that I'm affording The Ice Harvest a bit more affection than it deserves ... but I love nothing more than discovering a flick that got unfairly shafted during its theatrical release -- and then helping to spread the word to my fellow film geeks.

Roger Ebert says,

I liked the movie for the quirky way it pursues humor through the drifts of greed, lust, booze, betrayal and spectacularly complicated ways to die.

EW gives it an A- and describes it as an "acerbic, unpretentious black-comedy thriller". It gets a score of 46% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Vintage Plastic Nativity Scene

When I was growing up, my parents had a lot of Christmas decorations but wanted them concentrated in common areas of the house. My sister and I were allowed to choose 1 decoration each to go in our bedroom, and I always picked one of the 2 little plastic nativity scenes. 1 is pictured above. The other one is similar but taller. Both have suffered damage from multiple moves even though I tried to be careful with them. The one pictured here used to have a little angel at the peak of the stable roof-line in the front.

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story (1983) is the story of a childhood Christmas remembered and dramatically narrated by the adult Ralphie, who wanted that Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas when he was 9 years old more than anything in the world. The film is filled with subplots involving Ralphie's family and friends. Although The Husband and I like this movie The Younger Son does not care for it and wonders why we think it's funny. The Husband laughs out loud at this movie and enjoys it every year.

trailer:


DVD Talk says it "has climbed the film-appreciation ladder to become one of the preeminent Yuletide features, a credit it wholeheartedly deserves. It's a delightful movie". It's on Roger Ebert's list of great movies, and he describes it as "pitch-perfect". Rotten Tomatoes gives it 89%.

Genghis Grill

The Daughter texted me and said she had the whole day off and asked if I wanted to go out to lunch. Sweet! The place she picked was Genghis Grill, where I had never been. She explained how it works: They seat you and bring you a stainless steel bowl; you take the bowl to the raw food bar where you select a meat, seasoning, veggies and sauce; you take the filled bowl to their cooking station where you tell them what kind of rice or noodle you want; you go back to your table and wait for your food to be delivered. We chose most of the same foods, but I got fried rice and she got white. The food is served in large red bowls:

I admit I'm a sucker for a Chinese buffet (of already-cooked food) and my default location is close at hand at Eastgate, but this was fun. The food was good, and the waitress was friendly. In warmer weather the little patio would be a nice place to eat.

Home Alone

Home Alone is a 1990 Christmas comedy starring Macaulay Culkin as the 8-year old boy who accidentally gets left behind when the large extended family heads off to Paris in a rush. I had only seen this once, years ago, and The Younger Son had never seen it. We think it's cute enough, but it won't become an annual must-see.

trailer:



DVD Talk says, "everyone involved with the film seemed to be on the top of their game". BBC concludes:

This is a film which manages to capture some of the best qualities of Christmas in a surprisingly enjoyable format and will provide the whole family with large quantities of festive spirit.

EW gives it a "D". Roger Ebert likes Culkin's acting but not much else. It gets a score of 54% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Old Santa Mug

When I was little, I drank milk out of that cup. It got washed so much that most of the paint wore off, so when I grew up I started using it as a Christmas decoration instead. Those little wooden trees were bought at a small town street fair, oh, I guess maybe 20 years ago. I like them together, for some reason. The old next to the new and both bringing back fond memories.

And what does it say that I just called a 20-year old decoration the "new" one?

Wait! Don't answer that! lol

The Last Kashmiri Rose

The Last Kashmiri Rose (2001) is the first in the Detective Joe Sandilands mystery series by Barbara Cleverly. It was a NYT Notable Book.

I found this book during a trip through the mystery section at my favorite local bookstore. It was randomly selected based on no good reason. I have no good reason to read more by this author. I found it slow but without characters I could get much involved in. I found the sex scenes awkward: ""Not much of a big boy, after all," she said. "Does that always happen in cold water?"" ""Coral nipples," said Joe, stooping to kiss them." It reminds me of the only paranormal romance novel I've ever read. Some of the attitudes and actions seem to me to be anachronistic, but I can't honestly prove that point. I found the women irritating. I'll skip the rest of this series and move on. I have so many authors I have yet to read.

from the back of the book:

Calcutta, 1922. In a land of saffron sunsets and blazing summer heat, an Englishwoman has been found dead, her wrists slit, her body floating in a bathtub of blood and water. But is it suicide or murder? The case falls to Scotland Yard inspector Joe Sandilands, who survived the horror of the Western Front and has endured six sultry months in English-ruled Calcutta. Sandilands is ordered to investigate, and soon discovers that there have been other mysterious deaths, with sinister ties to the present case.

Now, as the sovereignty of Britain is in decline and an insurgent India is on the rise, Sandilands must navigate the treacherous corridors of political decorum to bring a cunning killer to justice, knowing the next victim is already marked to die.

January Magazine says,

... a strong plot and a vivid sense of place are never out of style, and Cleverly is very good at developing both. Like Christie, Cleverly is adept at shepherding a large and colorful cast of characters through a complicated yet logical plot. And like Conan Doyle, Cleverly can create lush atmosphere without (in most cases) resorting to overwrought description.

Publishers Weekly opens with this:

In an impressive debut, British author Cleverly weaves an engrossing tale of serial murder and the impending decline of the British Empire into a well-written fair-play mystery set in 1920s India.

Kirkus Reviews has spoilers and closes by saying, "Her rudimentary plotting skills, however, in no way equal her sense of time and place." The Mystery Reader calls it "a richly imagined setting with a very satisfying plot". Publishers Weekly

Looks like almost everybody else likes it. I'm just proof that you can't please everybody.

Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory"

Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" is a television adaptation of his short story. It stars Geraldine Page. The short story can be read online here. The tv show can be viewed via youtube in 6 pieces. Part 1:



The other parts are linked from youtube.

The show won Emmy and Peabody awards. Reviews are scarce. This doesn't seem to get the attention and annual showings on tv that other Christmas shows receive. I can't imagine why that is.

Christmas Movies

I have realized that I have a list of horror movies posted, but it's been several years since I updated my list of Christmas films. I'll update the list as I watch more of them. Some of these are available to watch online at the links provided.

Some of these films aren't Christmas movies in the traditional sense of the word, but all have at least one scene that takes place during the Christmas season. Not listed separately but worth noting: Each of the Harry Potter movies has a Christmas scene.

pre-1920s:

Santa Clause (1898)
Scrooge, or Marley's Ghost (1901)
The Night Before Christmas (1905)
A Christmas Carol (short, 1910)
A Christmas Accident (short, 1912)
The Insects' Christmas (1913, animated short)

A Message from Mars (1913)
The Night Before Chhristmas (1913)
The Adventures of the Wrong Santa Claus (1914, short)
Beauty's Worth (1922)
A Christmas Carol (1923) Pandora's Box (1929)

1930s:

Holiday (1930)
Santa's Workshop (animated short, 1932)
Christmas Night, or Pals (animated short, 1933)
The Night Before Christmas (animated short, 1933)
The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (animated short, 1933)
Babes in Toyland (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
Scrooge (1935)
Christmas Comes But Once a Year (animated short, 1936)
Things to Come (1936)
Three Godfathers (1936)
The Little Match Girl (animated short, 1937)
Bachelor Mother (1938)
The Captain's Christmas (animated short, 1938)
A Christmas Carol (Reginald Owen, 1938)
Holiday (1938)
Peace on Earth (animated short, 1939)

1940s:

Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
The Blue Bird (1940)
Remember the Night (1940)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Night Before Christmas (Tom and Jerry animated short, 1941)
Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
Alias Boston Blackie (1942)
Holiday Inn (1942)
Larceny, Inc. (1942)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
Christmas Holiday (1944)
The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
I'll Be Seeing You (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1944, animated short)
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Christmas Toy Shop (animated short, 1945)
Star in the Night (1945 short) It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
The Bishop's Wife (1947)
Bush Christmas (1947)
It Happened On 5th Avenue (1947)
Kiss of Death (1947)
Lady in the Lake (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Santa's Surprise (animated short, 1947)
They Live By Night (1948)
A Christmas Carol (1949, Vincent Price narration)
Holiday Affair (1949)
Little Women (1949)

1950s:

The Great Rupert (1950)
Scandal (1950)
Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951)
A Christmas Carol (Alistair Sim, 1951)
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
The Night Before Christmas (1951)
The Christmas Story (1952 Amos and Andy TV episode)
Full House (1952)
The Holly and the Ivy (1952)
The Nativity (1952)
A Star Shall Rise (1952 TV)
Christmas (1953 Make Room for Daddy TV episode)
I, the Jury (1953)
A Christmas Carol (1954)
Frosty the Snowman (1954, cartoon short)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
The Case of the Christmas Pudding (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes tv series, 1955)
Good Will to Men (animated short, 1955)
The Little Lamb: A Christmas Story (1955 short)
We're No Angels (1955)
The Blessed Midnight (1956 TV)
Bundle of Joy (1956)
The Busy Christmas (1956 Ozzie and Harriet TV episode)
The Stingiest Man in Town (1956)
Three Young Kings (1956 TV) A Christmas Carol (1959)
The Christmas Visitor (1959)

1960s:

The Apartment (1960)
Jangle Bells (1960 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis TV episode)
A Silent Panic (1960)
Blast of Silence (1961)
Christmas at the 53rd (1961 Car 54, Where Are You? TV episode)
The Night Before Christmas (1961)
Plácido (1961)
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)
The Christmas Story (tv show, animated short, 1963)
A Carol for Another Christmas (1964)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
A Charlie Brown Christmas (animated, 1965)
A Pistol for Ringo (1965)
A Christmas Story (1966 Bonanza TV episode)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" (1966)
The Monkees Christmas Show (1967)
Dean Martin Christmas Show (1968 variety show)
Will Penny (1968)
A Christmas Carol (1969 animated short)
Frosty the Snowman (1969)
My Night at Maud's (1969)

1970s:

Santa and the Three Bears (animated, 1970)
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1970)
Scrooge (Albert Finney, 1970)
Scrooge Gets an Oscar (1970, episode from The Odd Couple TV series)
A Christmas Carol (animated short, 1971)
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971)
Mon Oncle Antoine (1971)
Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)
Black Christmas (1974)
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
Twas the Night Before Christmas (animated short, 1974)
Ebenezer Sanford (Sanford and Sons TV series, 1975)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Silent Night, Holy Night (animated, 1976)
A Christmas Carol (1977)
A Cosmic Christmas (animated short, 1977)
Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977, animated short)
The Gathering (1977)
Johnny Cash and Family Christmas Show (1977)
Rabid (1977 horror)
Rich Little's Christmas Carol (1978)
The Stingiest Man in Town (1978, animated)
An American Christmas Carol (1979)
Rumpole and the Case of Identity (1979, TV series episode)

1980s:

Mr. Krueger's Christmas (1980 TV)
A Christmas Carol (animated, Australian, 1982)
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
First Blood (1982)
The Smurfs Christmas Special (1982)
The Snowman (1982)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983, animated)
Trading Places (1983)
The Blue Carbuncle (Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes, 1984)
A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott, 1984)
Comfort and Joy (1984)
Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
Gremlins (1984)
Mrs. Soffel (1984)
Better Off Dead (1985)
Brazil (1985)
The Fourth Wise Man (1985)
A Jetson Christmas Carol (1985)
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)
Lethal Weapon (1987)
A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988)
Die Hard (1988)
Prancer (1989)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)

1990s:

Die Hard 2 (1990)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Home Alone (1990)
The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Seoul Mates (Northern Exposure TV series, 1991)
Theft of the Royal Ruby (Poirot tv series, 1991)
Batman Returns (1992)
Brer Rabbit's Christmas Carol (1992)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
The Cardboard Box (Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) tv series, 1994)
Northern Ballet Theatre's A Christmas Carol (1994)
The Ref (1994)
The Santa Clause (1994)
Shofar, So Good (Northern Exposure TV series, 1994)
City of Lost Children (1995)
The Fall of Night (1995, Babylon 5 tv series episode)
Hercule Poirot's Christmas (tv series, 1995)
Reckless (1995)
Cadfael: The Virgin in the Ice (Mystery! tv series, 1995)
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
The Toy That Saved Christmas (1996)
A Christmas Carol (1997)
Christmas Carol (X Files tv series, 1997)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (X-Files tv episode, 1998)
Ronin (1998)
A Christmas Carol (Patrick Stewart, 1999)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Line of Fire (Touch of Frost tv series, 1999)
Millennium (The X-Files tv episode, 1999)
One Special Night (1999)
Xmas Story (Futurama tv episode, 1999)

2000s:

American Psycho (2000)
Noel (The West Wing tv episode, 2000)
Door to Death (part 1 of the story, completed by Christmas Party listed below) (Nero Wolfe tv series, 2001)
Christmas Party (Nero Wolfe tv series, 2001)
The Star of Christmas (2002)
A Carol Christmas (2003)
Elf (2003)
Horatio Hornblower: Duty (2003)
Love Actually (2003)
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Ghosts of Christmas Past (Midsomer Murders, tv episode, 2004)
The Polar Express (2004)
The Ice Harvest (2005)
Joyeux Noel (2005)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Rent (2005)
Deck the Halls (2006)
The Holiday (2006)
Eastern Promises (2007)
Little Theodore and the Green Candy Piece (animated short, 2007)
The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis (Big Bang Theory tv series, 2008)

A Christmas Story (2008)
A Christmas Tale (2008)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
In Bruges (2008)
The Maternal Congruence (Big Bang Theory tv series, 2009)

2010s:

The Ho Ho Ho Job (Leverage tv series, 2010)
Nicholas Was (2010 animated short film)
Rare Exports (2010)
RED (2010)
The Warrior's Way (2010)
Arthur Christmas (2011)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Mr. Stink (2012)
Prometheus (2012)
The Santa Simulation (Big Bang Theory tv series, 2012)
The Christmas Candle (2013)
A Christmas Tree Miracle (2013)
The Cooper Extraction (Big Bang Theory tv series, 2013)
The Christmas Haunting (Midsomer Murders, tv series, 2013)
The Clean Room Infiltration (Big Bang Theory tv series, 2014)
The Paddington Movie (2014)
And Santa's Midnight Run (The Librarians tv series, 2014)
Stonehearst Asylum (2014)
A Very Murray Christmas (2015 variety show)
A Christmas Crow (2017 Upstart Crow TV episode)
Dear Satan (2017)
Roma (2018)
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Dead Room (2018)
Await Further Instructions (2018)
Klaus (2019)
Christmas on the Square (2020)

Saint Nicholas

When The Kids were little we wanted to spread the joy throughout the season instead of packing it all into a Christmas Day frenzy. One of the things we did was celebrate the feast day of St. Nicholas. We hung our stockings on the night of December 5th and woke up on the 6th to treats and special breakfast. Others do this, too, although I don't personally know anybody who does. People thought we were strange when they found out and told us we would confuse The Kids. The Kids never seemed the slightest bit confused.

As The Kids have moved out, we've offered them the choice of taking their stockings with them or leaving them here and coming over here for goodies on that day. The Elder Son took his with him to use as a decoration in his apartment. The Daughter has chosen to leave hers here and will come the night of the 6th. We'll wait til she gets here to take the stockings down from where they hang on the stair rail.

The statue pictured at the top of the post is St. Nicholas Bishop of Myra, one of a series from Duncan Royale. We bought it at a little gift shop at Chickasaw Oaks Village long years ago. That shop is no longer there, but most of the shops that used to be there no longer are. Other shops move in to take the space.

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Muppet Christmas Carol, another favorite Christmas movie at our house, is narrated by Gonzo as Charles Dickens and stars Michael Caine as Scrooge and Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit. This is a priceless and remarkably faithful adaptation of the book. The songs are fun, the humor hits just the right note and Michael Caine is, as always, perfect. We are big fans of Michael Caine, and his presence in a film is almost always enough for us to seek it out.

Here's the Scrooge song from the beginning of the movie:



trailer:



We're not fans of the Muppet movies in general, though we loved their first movie and Muppet Treasure Island, but this film is a wonderful re-telling of the classic Christmas tale.

DVD Talk says, "it's earned its place amongst some of the finest holiday film traditions of our time." The Guardian writes, "there's lots to love here". Roger Ebert gives it 3 stars but says,

It could have done with a few more songs than it has, and the merrymaking at the end might have been carried on a little longer, just to offset the gloom of most of Scrooge's tour through his lifetime spent spreading misery.

The critics at Rotten Tomatoes give it a 69%.

McAlister's Patio

We'd intended to go to the Holiday deli up on Erin Drive and eat on the cute little patio we had noticed the last time we ate at Huey's. Alas, even though this was back in mid-October, and it seemed like perfect patio weather, Holiday's had removed all their tables and chairs from the patio area and no outside options were available. Well, humph! We went over to McAlister's instead. We've eaten their food a lot but never on their patio. The patio was popular, but we got a table with a nice enough autumn leaves view.

I've tried several of their offerings through the years (here's their menu), but I always return to my favorite: the Memphian. I forgot to take my picture until I'd already dug into my sandwich, but it still looks good, doesn't it?

The food is consistently good, the service is quick and polite, it's always clean. Maybe we'll try the Holiday deli if they ever re-open their patio. But then, I'll probably not notice.

New Decorations

Well, not quite new, but I picked up this cute little decoration at the Dollar Tree several years ago, and now it's one of my favorite Christmas sit-arounds.

Please ignore the dust. I really need to get after that....

The Mirror

The Mirror is a 1975 Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, who also directed Andrei Rublev (1965), Solaris (1972) and Stalker (1979). Stalker is one of the most beautiful and powerful films I've ever seen. Tarkovsky died in 1986 when he was only 54.

The Mirror has autobiographical elements but no discernible plot. For those of us who didn't understand the presence of the balloon in Andrei Rublev, there's a balloon in this one, too (starting at about 39 minutes), so maybe he just liked balloons.

You can watch it at Youtube, but embedding is disabled.

trailer:



Senses of Cinema says,

questions of the film’s alleged impenetrability dissolve under the impact of moment after moment of the most visually stunning, rhythmically captivating filmmaking imaginable.
...
If ever a film embodied the concept of cinema as a recreation of the human thought process, Mirror is it. Not only is it Tarkovsky’s masterpiece, but it is one of the high points in the development of modern cinema.

FilmRef.com says,

To attempt to conform these images into some coherent plot or universal conclusion is meaningless. After all, Mirror is a reflection of Tarkovsky's haunted soul

The Arts & Faith film list says,

the sheer visual power of the images in The Mirror exerts a strong spiritual impression, even if their meaning is not readily apparent. Additionally, when the viewer accepts Tarkovsky’s approach and interacts with the film on his terms, it can evolve into a profound meditation on memory, love, sacrifice, and rebirth.

The book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die calls it "a beguiling and remarkable film". It gets a score of 100% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

In Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Monsieur Poirot plans a quiet Christmas at home in his London flat until the boiler in his building breaks down leaving him with no heat until after the holiday. As his luck would have it, just as he gets this bad news he gets a call from a complete stranger asking him to come to his country estate. Saying his life is in danger, the wealthy scoundrel is insistent that Poirot join the family for Christmas. Poirot asks if the home has central heating and accepts the invitation when he hears an affirmative response. I enjoy this every year. It's full of mistaken identities and family in-fighting and murder.

We think David Suchet does a great job as Poirot. We have all of the ones currently available on DVD except for set 5, which contains 3 episodes. There are a few more not yet released.

trailer:

DVD Talk isn't particularly impressed and prefers Ustinov's version of Poirot. We feel Suchet's Poirot is truer to the books.

Divers and Sundry

"Divers and Sundry". No, I'm not a deep-sea diving enthusiast, nor do I own a sundries store.

"Divers": many and various kinds, several, different, assorted. The word is considered somewhat archaic or quaint in some circles but is still in use.

"Sundry": various kinds, miscellaneous.

It makes me think of "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" from Anatevka, a song from Fiddler on the Roof. My mind forms odd connections.

So the blog title "Divers and Sundry" with the description "various and assorted miscellany" is doubly redundant.

The expression "divers and sundry" used to be a not infrequent expression, but apparently it's fallen so out of use that even intelligent people don't get it. Ah, well, it still suits me: somewhat archaic and redundant but still in use.

The Blue Carbuncle

The Blue Carbuncle is a Christmas story, an episode in the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes TV series. It's based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, which can be read online here. The Husband says this adaptation is faithful for the most part to the original story.

Rosalind Knight, the woman who plays the countess, is also in The Hounds of the Baskerville episode of Sherlock. Frank Middlemass, who is Henry Baker, is in the 1991 Christopher Lee Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and is Peterson in the 1968 BBC Peter Cushing Blue Carbuncle episode of that Sherlock Holmes TV series.

Sherlock Holmes 7 - The Blue Carbuncle by Peach_Cider

We are big fans of the Jeremy Brett Holmes.

In this context, the carbuncle is not

"an abscess larger than a boil, usually with one or more openings draining pus onto the skin. It is usually caused by bacterial infection, most commonly Staphylococcus aureus, or Streptococcus pyogenes, which can turn lethal."

No! No, indeed! I didn't know that the first time I saw the title of this show. In this context, the carbuncle is

"an archaic name given to any red cabochon cut gemstone. The name applied particularly to red garnet."

Just sayin'. It's easier to look forward to a show about a gemstone that a show about a pussy sore.

2011 Arts & Faith Top 100 Films

The Arts and Faith list of 100 most spiritually significant films has changed. It's now presented by Image Journal. I missed the change at some point. I haven't referred back to the old list as often as I used to. At any rate, here's the current list:

1 The Passion of Joan of Arc
2 Andrei Rublev
3 Ordet
4 The Decalogue
5 Au Hasard Balthazar
6 Make Way For Tomorrow
7 The Gospel According to Matthew
8 Le Fils (The Son)
9 Ikiru
10 Babette's Feast
11 The Mirror
12 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
13 The Seventh Seal
14 Three Colors Trilogy
15 Stalker
16 Magnolia
17 Winter Light
18 The Searchers
19 Tokyo Story
20 La Promesse
21 Tender Mercies
22 The Apostle
23 The Diary of a Country Priest
24 Bicycle Thieves
25 A Man For All Seasons
26 The Miracle Maker
27 Paths of Glory
28 Grave of the Fireflies
29 Wild Strawberries
30 Into Great Silence
31 Munyurangabo
32 Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apu Sansar)
33 The Flowers of St. Francis
34 Nights of Cabiria
35 The Night of the Hunter
36 2001: A Space Odyssey
37 Chariots of Fire
38 The Straight Story
39 Touch of Evil
40 It's a Wonderful Life
41 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
42 Apocalypse Now
43 Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys
44 Black Narcissus
45 Day of Wrath
46 The Child
47 Close-Up
48 Yi Yi: A One and a Two
49 Ponette
50 The Burmese Harp
51 Stroszek
52 Places in the Heart
53 The New World
54 Still Life
55 Jesus Of Montreal
56 The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
57 Eureka
58 The Heartbeat Detector
59 Summer Hours
60 Playtime
61 Ran
62 Rashômon
63 The Double Life of Veronique
64 My Night at Maud's
65 Becket
66 Silent Light
67 Wings of Desire
68 A Man Escaped
69 Faust
70 Lawrence of Arabia
71 Koyaanisqatsi
72 Paris, Texas
73 My Life To Live
74 How Green Was My Valley
75 The Return
76 M
77 The Island
78 Days of Heaven
79 Crimes and Misdemeanors
80 Paprika
81 Floating Weeds
82 Born Into Brothels
83 Vertigo
84 Syndromes and a Century
85 After Life
86 Spirited Away
87 The Trial
88 The Rules of the Game
89 Sullivan's Travels
90 Schindler's List
91 Dogville
92 There Will Be Blood
93 The Spirit of the Beehive
94 Early Summer
95 Amadeus
96 Fiddler on the Roof
97 Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
98 Ratcatcher
99 The Iron Giant
100 The Story of the Weeping Camel

Ones I've seen are in bold print.

The Image Journal site says,

The 2011 list is the second edition of the Arts & Faith Top 100 conducted under the aegis of Image journal, which assumed responsibility for the Arts & Faith discussion board in 2009.
...
No list is written in stone. Presumably the A&F Top 100 will see more iterations, and the A&F community will continue to welcome new films and reexamine old favorites.

We're No Angels (1955)

We're No Angels (1955) is one of my favorite Christmas movies, although I never see it listed when folks are posting recommendations of must-see holiday films. There's no accounting for taste.... This movie is priceless, starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray and Adolph (the deadly snake) as the titular angels who take care of everything. Basil Rathbone plays the bad guy against Leo G. Carroll who plays his bumbling, well-meaning cousin. Joan Bennett is Leo G. Carroll's wife, and Gloria Talbott plays their daughter. The Wikipedia article says Talbot was later described as

a 'scream queen' after appearing in a number of horror films including The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957), The Cyclops (1957), and I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958).

The movie is perfectly cast. The film is directed by Michael Curtiz.

trailer:



The New York Times doesn't like it, describing it as "generally a slow, talky affair of elephantine roguishness and a few genuine chuckles." Variety, on the other hand, gives it a good review and says, "Michael Curtiz' directorial pacing and topflight performances from Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov help minimize the few flaws." DVD Journal calls it "a smooth, low-key Hollywood classic that's held up over the years, so bulletproof that even ...[the remake] ... pales in comparison" and says it's "bound to join a lot of folks' collections as a Christmas favorite". There are overviews at TCM and MSN.

The Butcher Shop Burgers

The Husband wanted to go out to the Butcher Shop for lunch a while back to get a hamburger. I had been to the one downtown once long years ago at night but had never been to the one out at the Agricenter. They have a Fresh Burger Friday special. It comes with packaged chips, but all they had out was sour cream and onion. We ordered the fries instead. It was a perfectly respectable hamburger, though dryer than most. And no pickles? The Husband got a slice of American cheese and some bacon for his. The service was unremarkable. If I'm going to spend almost $9 for a burger and fries -not including the drink- there are others I'd rather have.

The Urban Spoon gives it a 79%. It gets 3 1/2 out of 5 stars at yelp.