Happy pop culture new year everyone! – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

Here’s to more movies, books, songs, TV shows, cartoon and comic strips and so much more in 2019!

On the Christmas cover! Gromit and Shaun the Sheep together for the first time in 30 years

(courtesy Radio Times) What a delight! Shaun the Sheep has joined Gromit, of legendary Wallace and Gromit fame, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Close Shave which saw Shaun enter the home of perhaps Aardman Animation’s most well-known creations, and devour everything in sight! The third instalment in the Continue Reading

Movie review: Zootopia 2

(courtesy IMP Awards) Is it possible for a sequel to better or at least emphatically equal its predecessor? Most of the time the answer to that question, especially when it comes to movies is a firm and unequivocal “NO!” but in the case of Zootopia 2, the sequel to 2016’s Continue Reading

On 9th day of Christmas … I watched Home for Christmas (Hjem til jul) S3

(courtesy Netflix) One of the most enduring of recent festive viewing traditions has been the Home for Christmas (Hjem til jul) series, now in its third season, which offers up gently soap operatic storytelling with an almost tangible sense of what we think Christmas should look and feel like. Unlike Continue Reading

Festive book review: The Christmas Carrolls: The Christmas Club by Mel Taylor-Bessent

(courtesy Harper Collins Booksellers Australia) Giving your inner festive child a reviving taste of what it should be like when Christmas rolled around is never a bad thing. That’s why this reviewer often reads books aimed at kids because they perfectly capture the joy and exhilaration of being a kid Continue Reading

On 8th day of Christmas … I watched A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

(courtesy IMP Awards) Full disclosure upfront: I am one of those consumers of pop culture in all kinds of forms who has never really listened to a Jonas Brothers song. That’s not the result of snobbery or age – though I can safely say, without giving too much away, that Continue Reading

Festive book review: A Mannequin for Christmas by Timothy Janovsky

In a world that always feel a little bit broken, a little less than wonderful and a whole lot disappointing, depending on the day, perfection seems like a wholly alluring idea. Especially when, like vintage goods store owner Henry Aster, you have recently found the man you were convinced was Continue Reading

On 7th day of Christmas, I listened to Christmastime by Trisha Yearwood and Verve: Remixed Holiday

(via Shutterstock) Christmastime by Trisha Yearwood (courtesy Apple Music) Trisha Yearwood’s new album Christmastime is as good a reminder as any that it’s best to always hold onto your expectations loosely and to never let them get in the way of experiencing something new. Initially dismissed by this reviewer because Continue Reading

Festive novella review: Christmas at Flora’s House by Freya North

(courtesy McCabe Media Ltd) Firsts are a curious thing. They can either be the stuff of liberation and exhilarating novelty; a chance to ditch the status quo, throw ruts out the window and to experience in ways that have never been part of your life before. But equally, depending on Continue Reading

Happy festive 75th anniversary Peanuts! Review of Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales

(courtesy Amazon) SNAPSHOTThe special consists of a series of vignettes, each one starring a different member of the Peanuts gang in various Christmas time situations. (courtesy Peanuts wiki) You have to feel a little sorry for any of the Peanuts’ Christmas specials that followed in the wake of the classic A Charlie Continue Reading

On 6th day of Christmas … I read The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan + bonus review of short story The Christmas Book Hunt

(courtesy Amazon Australia) If you’re after a book which is all Christmas all the time, like a blessedly escapist festive romcom, then The Secret Christmas Library is likely not the book for you. It is not even, as it turns out, about a library that is secret or especially Christmassy; Continue Reading

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