Search
Search results
Lowri Catryn (229 KP) rated Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas in Books
Jan 4, 2020
Humour (1 more)
Reality
Short but sweet
As I work in the NHS I thought I would give this book a go around the Christmas period. It did get a few giggles from me but other than that, it was slightly repetitive. I realised as I was reading this book that I should have first read Adam Kay's "This is going to hurt" so that some of the writing in this book would have made more sense. Short but sweet!
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated The Ghost of Christmas Past (Molly Murphy #17) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
December of 1906 finds Molly Murphy Sullivan hoping that the new year will bring some changes and good news. When she, her husband Daniel, and their son Liam get invited to a house party for Christmas on the Hudson, Molly thinks this might help take her mind off everything going on in her life. However, she finds the household has a weird tension to it, with relationships she can’t quite read. Then she learns that a child disappeared from this house 10 years before right before Christmas. Molly is determined to figure out what happened, but has it been too long?
As is often the case, we start out with some updates on the series regulars before Molly fully plunges into the mystery, but once she does, I was hooked. In fact, as soon as I got off work, I sat down to finish. While I don’t feel like Daniel has grown, I love the rest of the cast, and the new characters are very strong. There is a more serious tone than you might expect from a Christmas mystery, but the contrast works well in this case.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-review-ghost-of-christmas-past-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
As is often the case, we start out with some updates on the series regulars before Molly fully plunges into the mystery, but once she does, I was hooked. In fact, as soon as I got off work, I sat down to finish. While I don’t feel like Daniel has grown, I love the rest of the cast, and the new characters are very strong. There is a more serious tone than you might expect from a Christmas mystery, but the contrast works well in this case.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-review-ghost-of-christmas-past-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Jingle All the Way (1997) in Movies
Dec 12, 2019
Put The Cookie Down
Jingle All The Way- is a fantastic excellent christmas movie. So much comedy, so much action, so much Arnold. It is such a classic movie. Every time, i watch it, i love it more. Its so hilarious, it has such a great message within the movie.
The Plot: Workaholic Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wants to make things up to his son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd), and wife, Liz (Rita Wilson). He promises to get Jamie the hottest toy of the season, Turbo-Man -- even though it's Christmas Eve and the toy is practically sold out. As Langston hunts down the elusive gift, he runs into mailman Myron (Sinbad), another father on the same quest. With the clock winding down, Langston's moral code is tested as he starts to learn the real meaning of Christmas.
Yes thats right Jake Llyod is in this movie, this movie came out before episode 1 so thats good, i think. Sinbad is hilarious in this movie. Such a odd parring, with Arnold and Sinbad but it works. It was like when Arnold and Danny DeVito worked togther such a odd parring but it worked.
Jingle All The Way- is phenomenal, a classic, and overall a excellent christmas movie for the whole family to watch.
The Plot: Workaholic Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wants to make things up to his son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd), and wife, Liz (Rita Wilson). He promises to get Jamie the hottest toy of the season, Turbo-Man -- even though it's Christmas Eve and the toy is practically sold out. As Langston hunts down the elusive gift, he runs into mailman Myron (Sinbad), another father on the same quest. With the clock winding down, Langston's moral code is tested as he starts to learn the real meaning of Christmas.
Yes thats right Jake Llyod is in this movie, this movie came out before episode 1 so thats good, i think. Sinbad is hilarious in this movie. Such a odd parring, with Arnold and Sinbad but it works. It was like when Arnold and Danny DeVito worked togther such a odd parring but it worked.
Jingle All The Way- is phenomenal, a classic, and overall a excellent christmas movie for the whole family to watch.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Black Christmas (2019) in Movies
Dec 17, 2020
Fuck I really hated this.
Ignoring the politics side for a moment - it's a hugely poor horror film. It's devoid of any scares, it cuts away from any gore, and perhaps worst of all, it has the audacity to be called "Black Christmas" - which is quite simply one of the best slashers ever made.
Did this film even start as a Black Christmas remake? It basically goes: Men are shit - some people get killed offscreen - weird supernatural twist - oh shit, it's Black Christmas, better throw in a glass unicorn sculpture.
The supernatural part is something I'm not mad at actually - at least it tried something different rather than being a straight re tread.
Then of course, there's the aformentioned politics, which is what most people's issue is with this film. Feminist messages in horror movies can be hugely effective - the original Black Christmas does it well for example - but I can't help but feel that the message this version putting out there is severely mishandled. As a guy, I am willing to hear how I'm wrong in this instance, but it feels sooooo over the top with what it's trying to do. It's not too hard to be on board with for the most part, but the final scenes really go for it - I mean the lines "you're insane!" "No, we're just men" - really!? It just feels very in the nose to me.
Other than that, this film is turd. It gets a star for Imogen Poots and the creative snow angel death scene at the start. Watch the original instead.
Ignoring the politics side for a moment - it's a hugely poor horror film. It's devoid of any scares, it cuts away from any gore, and perhaps worst of all, it has the audacity to be called "Black Christmas" - which is quite simply one of the best slashers ever made.
Did this film even start as a Black Christmas remake? It basically goes: Men are shit - some people get killed offscreen - weird supernatural twist - oh shit, it's Black Christmas, better throw in a glass unicorn sculpture.
The supernatural part is something I'm not mad at actually - at least it tried something different rather than being a straight re tread.
Then of course, there's the aformentioned politics, which is what most people's issue is with this film. Feminist messages in horror movies can be hugely effective - the original Black Christmas does it well for example - but I can't help but feel that the message this version putting out there is severely mishandled. As a guy, I am willing to hear how I'm wrong in this instance, but it feels sooooo over the top with what it's trying to do. It's not too hard to be on board with for the most part, but the final scenes really go for it - I mean the lines "you're insane!" "No, we're just men" - really!? It just feels very in the nose to me.
Other than that, this film is turd. It gets a star for Imogen Poots and the creative snow angel death scene at the start. Watch the original instead.
Jason Kimbro (105 KP) rated My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009) in Movies
Dec 30, 2017
Customize My Screen Pro
Catalogs and Entertainment
App
----4.99$->1.99$ just for Christmas---- Tired of your boring home screen ? Don't worry! Really,...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Christmas Cocoa Murder in Books
Sep 26, 2019
Snuggle Up for this Christmas Novella Collection
Kensington has released another Christmas novella collection, this time featuring three authors that haven’t been featured before. All three stories feature hot cocoa is some capacity. Up first is “Christmas Cocoa Murder” by Carlene O’Connor, which takes place in an Irish village leading up to Christmas. Her series main character, Siobhan O’Sullivan, is just a couple of weeks away from joining the police force, but she gets pulled in early when the village’s Santa’s stunt at the annual panto goes horribly wrong and he’s found floating in a dunk tank filled with hot cocoa. Next, we get “Christmas Cocoa and a Corpse” by Maddie Day. Robbie Jordan, the star of the Country Store Mysteries, is looking forward to a quiet Christmas, but first she must figure out what happened to Jed Greenburg who was found dead while out walking a dog and drinking some of Robbie’s special hot chocolate mix. Finally, comes “Death by Hot Cocoa” by Alex Erickson. Krissy Hancock, his main character, has been talked into doing a Christmas themed escape room, but when she and the rest of the participants finish the first part, they find themselves locked in a second room with the body of their host next to a puddle of hot chocolate.
All three of these stories are fun. The only series I read regularly is Maddie Day’s, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying all of them. The plots are all wonderfully constructed and perfect for the shorter novella format. I did feel a little lost with some of the series regular characters in the first story, but that’s to be expected since I haven’t read the series before. However, it didn’t hamper my overall enjoyment at all. The main characters all come to life in the stories, and the suspects are just as vivid. Each story is filled with Christmas detail that will put you in the holiday spirit no matter what time of year you read them. A couple of the stories even feature some recipes, including two different versions of hot chocolate. So, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate (or maybe not given the theme of this book) and snuggle up and enjoy.
All three of these stories are fun. The only series I read regularly is Maddie Day’s, but that didn’t keep me from enjoying all of them. The plots are all wonderfully constructed and perfect for the shorter novella format. I did feel a little lost with some of the series regular characters in the first story, but that’s to be expected since I haven’t read the series before. However, it didn’t hamper my overall enjoyment at all. The main characters all come to life in the stories, and the suspects are just as vivid. Each story is filled with Christmas detail that will put you in the holiday spirit no matter what time of year you read them. A couple of the stories even feature some recipes, including two different versions of hot chocolate. So, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate (or maybe not given the theme of this book) and snuggle up and enjoy.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Black Mirror - Season 2 in TV
Aug 28, 2017
This is by far the strongest and best series so far of Black Mirror. As always, each episode is a dark and intriguing tale of technology, social media and pop culture. The Waldo episode is probably the weakest out of the 4, but even that is still good. There's a fantastic cast with Domhall Gleeson, Hayley Atwell, Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall and some brilliant storylines. The Christmas episode is by far my favourite, and a welcome change to the usual sickeningly sweet Christmas shows.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Christmas Chronicles (2018) in Movies
Nov 9, 2020
This movie has grown on me. It's a huge hit with my now eight-year-old twins, too. Sure, it's silly, but that's what (most) Christmas movies are for. Kurt Russell lives it up as Santa Claus. There's schmaltz, but also some real heart, in the plot, which revolves around two kids who recently lost their father. Add in some great special effects, some wonderful elves (the cat elves, as my kids call them), and some hi-jinks: you've got yourself a sweet and funny Christmas movie.