You have to feel that Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin would be mightily impressed with Mrs. Claus Takes the Reins, a book which goes all out to celebrate sisters doing it for themselves. Well, in this case, Mrs. Claus, who, when she discovers Santa still in bed right when he Continue Reading
Christmas in July 2021
Lots of festive fun with Prep & Landing – Operation: Secret Santa
The moment you realise Betty White is voicing Mrs Claus is the moment you will realise you will love the 2010 cartoon joy that is Prep & Landing – Operation: Secret Santa. The fabulous Ms. White, channelling all the sweet mischief and fun that have made her a much-loved figure Continue Reading
#ChristmasInJuly Disney retro animated fun: Pluto’s Christmas Tree
You have to feel sorry for poor old Pluto, the much put-upon protagonist in 1952’s Pluto’s Christmas Tree. In the 125th Mickey Mouse short to be produced and the second for that year, Pluto (Pinto Colvig) sets off amid festive, “Deck the Halls” soundtracked vibes, to help Mickey (Jimmy MacDonald) Continue Reading
#ChristmasInJuly movie review: Last Christmas
Reviewing a film as reviled as Last Christmas seems to be approximately eighteen months after its release is an interesting exercise. There is the almost debilitating weight of all those negative judgements, some of them almost unnecessarily scathing, and of course, that twist, which while not even remotely in the Continue Reading
Christmas is a Way of Life, My Dear by Chantal Kreviazuk #ChristmasInJuly
The world is rather neatly divided into two groups of people – those who hate Christmas with a passion and would rather be flayed alive by an invading army than sing “Joy to the World” or eat a fruit mince pie, and those who, like Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk (and Continue Reading
Hoops & Yoyo Ruin Christmas: A #ChristmasInJuly review
Hoops & Yoyo Ruin Christmas is very much an underrated Christmas classic. Released just under a decade ago on the most auspicious day of 25 November (this reviewer’s birthday), the 22-minute Hallmark animated special nails its happily quasi-seditious colours to the flag early on with a title hat screams playfulness Continue Reading
#ChristmasInJuly Book review: The Cosy Christmas Chocolate Shop (Cosy Chocolate Shop #1) by Caroline Roberts
There appears to be a neverending streak of cosy Christmas noels out there. Many of them are delightfully written, giving us 300 or so pages in which to sink into a world, usually composed of a quirky but loving English village, a shop of some kind that usually serves comfort Continue Reading
It’s time to join the gang at Superstore for “Christmas Eve” #ChristmasInJuly
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, right? Right? I mean, how can it not be with all the lights and the merriment and the joy and “winter barn displays” (aka nativity scenes) and such? And yet in “Christmas Eve”, the season 3 episode of Superstore which goes Continue Reading
Have a Merry Madagascar! #ChristmasInJuly
Much as I love the idea of Santa with his “a little round belly /That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly” and his eight magical reindeer and delivering all those presents around the world with seamless efficiency and jollity, there is something a little creepy about Continue Reading
In the middle of COVID lockdown, I put 5 new pop culture ornaments on my #ChristmasInJuly tree
It’s not looking like the most festive of Julys at the moment. A combination of complacency and Australian Federal Government ineptitude with quarantining returning overseas travellers and the vaccine rollout mean Sydney, where I live, is deep in the midst of a fortnight lockdown, that may yet get extended by Continue Reading