(Simon & Schuster Australia) There’s a host of Christmas romcom novels out there, all predicated on the same deliciously alluring idea the the most wonderful time of the year is the perfect time for miracles to happen and lives to be remade. But not all of these festively restorative delights Continue Reading
aussiemoose
I am an extrovert gay man living in Sydney who loves Indian food, current affairs, music, film and reading, caramel anything, and a beautiful guy called Steve who makes every day a delight. I am trying to get two novels in a trilogy ready for e-publication, love my iPhone & iPod, and am secretly Canadian in my soul. Life is fun, exciting and joyful and I aim to make the absolute most of it!
Festive comic review: The Flintstones: Christmas in Bedrock (with Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm)
Published in 1965, The Flintstones: Christmas in Bedrock is a fun-filled romp through a good old-fashioned Santa-is-in-peril-only-YOU-can-save-Christmas storyline. In this case, the “YOU” is good old Fred Flintstone who, after a trip out into the forest to get a Christmas tree – forgot the axe? Don’t worry! Bamm-Bamm has a Continue Reading
Festively thoughtful movie review: The Snow Sister (Snøsøsteren)
(courtesy IMDb) Christmas is supposed to be a time of endless joy, peace and goodwill to all. But life doesn’t always play by the idealitically warm and fuzzy rules we lay down for it, and while the festive season should be all chestnuts roasting and sleigh rides, or if you’re Continue Reading
Festive book review: The December Market by RaeAnne Thayne
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers) There is a lot of pain baked into The December Market by RaeAnne Thayne. The two main characters, soap shop owner Amanda Taylor, and the man who might, and likely will (because this is a festive romcom and not falling in love in not an option) Continue Reading
“This is it. Don’t get scared now.” Home Alone’s Kevin McAllister in Christmas classics mash-up
(courtesy IMP Awards) Christmas is always super busy, right? It’s part of the charm, part of the curse; but what if you could see a bona fide classic like Home Alone, well, fun parts of it anyway, woven into a number of other classics of the genre? And what if, Continue Reading
Festive movie review double: Your Christmas or Mine 1 and 2
(courtesy IMDb) Your Christmas or Mine? Coming with an inventive take on a romcom, let alone a festive romcom where the rules are even more restrictive, is no easy undertaking. But somehow Your Christmas or Mine manages it, delivering a story that, sure, strains the bounds of credibility but then Continue Reading
Brilliantly imaginative festive fun and healing: The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland by Carys Bexington (story) and Kate Hindley (illustrations)
(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) In this postmodern, mash-up obsessed, creatively synergistic digital age of ours, it’s fun to see what really imaginative people will do when they mix their own highly original ideas with an existing, much-loved story. Case in point is The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland by Carys Continue Reading
Festive book review: The Nine Lives of Christmas by Florence McNicoll
(courtesy Hachette Australia) Christmas is popularly thought of as a magical time of second chances. It often doesn’t feel that with all the rush and busyness and the general furious exhaustion and angst of life seeming to reach a tinsel-draped fever pitch, but in The Nine Lives of Christmas by Continue Reading
All the hope and hilarity you could want: The heartwarming story of Elmore the Christmas Moose
(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) We’ve all been there. A great job presents itself, we know we can do it so we throw everything into landing it, only to discover that maybe it wasn’t the right fit after all. But is that the end of the story always? Not necessarily; sometimes Continue Reading
Festive movie review: The Merry Gentlemen
(courtesy IMP Awards) If you’ve watched a Christmas film or two, and this reviewer has seen a considerable share of them, then you’ll quite familiar with the idea that when things go wrong in your life, your automatic first thought is to hightail it back to your hometown. Nothing unusual Continue Reading