The origins of Christmas, at least when it comes to the English versions of Santa and the reindeers and such – to be fair, the Bible has a pretty good lock on the religious side of proceedings – are as many and varied as those who choose to tell the Continue Reading
Streaming
On 8th day of Christmas … I nostalgically watched retro treasure Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Have you ever wondered how it is that Santa, who is a tad on the portly side, manages to get down all those teeny-tiny chimneys? There’s a good chance, particularly in your younger years, that you have mused on the physics of present delivering on Christmas Eve, and if so, Continue Reading
On 3rd day of Christmas … I watched retro special It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
Christmas isn’t Christmas without the gang from Charles M. Schulz’s much-loved comic strip, Peanuts, making a very welcome appearance. While most people will generally play the 1965 classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas – and for good reason; it’s a sublime piece of festive joy – it’s 1992 successor, It’s Christmastime Continue Reading
Breaking fourth walls with glee: Thoughts on She-Hulk – Attorney at Law review (ep. 5-9)
Aiming to be meta and actually delivering on it in a way that doesn’t feel twee or force is a magical balancing act that few TV series pull off convincingly well. Breaking fourth walls and addressing the audience or melding the fictional with the semi-factual doesn’t always work, with narrative Continue Reading
Small acts lead to a seismic change on Andor (S1, E10-12 review)
——————– SPOILERS AHEAD ——————– Rebellions, and the revolutions they often, though not always, give rise to, are often big disruptive things. Intrinsically a militantly passionate act of opposition to oppressive or authoritarian government, they often involve big epic moments such people deciding en masse that enough is enough, mass acts Continue Reading
Birthday documentary review: Street Gang – How We Got to Sesame Street
When you’re a kid, and you really love something, you assume without thinking about it (because kids are nothing if not instinctive) that it’s always been in existence. After all, when you switch on the TV and a program you love is always on when it’s supposed to be, you Continue Reading
A violent splintering: Thoughts on House of the Dragon (E1, S7-10)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND SOME *BIG* DRAGON MOMENTS … Power is inherently seductive to quite a lot of people. Makes sense – you have control, you get to set the course of events and remake whatever small patch of the world falls under your purview in your, hopefully benevolent and Continue Reading
May your days be merry and bright … The luminous joy of Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock’s “Night of the Lights”
SNAPSHOTIt’s the Night of the Lights, the most Fraggily holiday of the year, and the Rock is filled with songs and cheer. When Jamdolin (voiced by Daveed Diggs) encourages Wembley to make a special wish, the Fraggles head out on an adventure to find the brightest light and, maybe, the true meaning of the holiday. Jim Henson’s fun-loving and Continue Reading
More Wednesday on a Friday! Title sequence plus character posters …
SNAPSHOTA sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ time as a student at Nevermore Academy. Following Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while Continue Reading
Time to head back to our favourite mammal metropolis! Zootopia+ drops trailer
SNAPSHOTZootopia+ heads back to the fast-paced mammal metropolis of Zootopia in a short-form streaming series that dives deeper into the lives of some of the Oscar-winning movie’s most intriguing residents, including: Fru Fru, the fashion-forward arctic shrew; ZPD dispatcher Clawhauser, the sweet-toothed cheetah; and Flash, the smiling sloth who’s full Continue Reading