(courtesy IMP Awards) Being the surprising optimistic people that we are, we like to think that good intentions will always result in flawlessly happy outcomes. Entire religions and value sets, rom-coms and indeed pop culture kingdoms such as that of Disney, which turned 100 in 2023, are built on the Continue Reading
Movies
Popcorn and wine and a comfy seat in the dark: My top 25 films of 2023
(via Shutterstock) It was another full to the brim year of me trying to get to the cinema as much as I could and streaming all the films at my disposal when a physical visit simply wasn’t possible. Still, for all the ease of streaming, there’s something still quite lovely Continue Reading
Merry pop culture Christmas to all … and to all a good streaming-reading-listening night!
(courtesy Pinterest (c) Charles M. Schulz) Merry pop culture Christmas everyone! I have had a ball as always this year writing about all kinds of books, movies, TV/streaming shows, graphic novels/comics and songs, and while it’s been tough to keep writing in my spare time when my day job as Continue Reading
Retro festive movie review: White Christmas
(courtesy IMP Awards) Returning to a much-loved Christmas classic many years after it was last watched is an interesting exercise. Our minds are fiendishly clever things but one of the interesting dynamics they employ is to appropriate snatches of a plot in your memory so you remember certain things that Continue Reading
Imagine how love makes us real: Festive thoughts on The Velveteen Rabbit
(courtesy IMP Awards) I have read so many books in my life that remembering ones that particularly struck me, even as a child, isn’t easy. But one of the twenty or so books that has stuck to my head and my heart like storytelling super glue is the moving 1922 Continue Reading
Festive movie review: Jones Family Christmas
(courtesy IMDb (c) Stan) One of the great constants of many a Christmas celebration is spending time with family. Many are joyful, quite a few not so much and a fair few others are fraught in one way or another with everyone forced together in a hothouse celebratory fashion that Continue Reading
On 8th day of Christmas … I watched DC’s Merry Little Batman
(courtesy IMDb (c) Prime Video) You have to hand it to anyone who looks at a venerable piece of pop culture property, in this Batman who is 84 years young, and thinks there must a way to bring some new life to it. It’s a brave thing to do because Continue Reading
Movie review: Wonka
(courtesy IMP Awards) While we all love to know more information about characters that have become near and dear to our hearts, we often have to be careful what we wish for, especially if the originating author is not part of the character augmentation that comes into play. Especially if Continue Reading
On 6th day of Christmas … I put 15 more pop culture ornaments on my tree incl. ABBA, Parks and Recreation, Ziggy and Goofy
(via Shutterstock) What, what, you say, you have yet more ornaments to place upon the tree? Why yes, yes I do; every year I tell myself I’ll stick to 9 or 10 new ones, just the best of the best and yet every year, 50 to 60, sometimes more make Continue Reading
Festive movie review: Christmas as Usual (Så Var Det Jul Igjen)
(courtesy IMDb (c) Netflix)) Love conquers everything, right? Throw a difficulty at it, an obstacle, a threat or a challenge and it simply laughs in dismissive regard and plows on its merry rose-covered, starry-eyed, warm and fuzzy way. That’s what we’re sold, anyway and it’s what initially seems to be Continue Reading