Search

Search only in certain items:

Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard (1988)
1988 | Action
The best action film ever?
When it comes to action films, Die Hard really can't be beaten. I'd even go so far as saying it's the best action film of all time.

 It has everything that makes for an excellent action film. A likeable protagonist in John McClane, who's a pretty awesome action hero that Bruce Willis was born to play. Alan Rickman too is fantastic and strangely likeable as the bad but you still love him villain Hans Gruber. The film itself may be a little cheesy at times, but after a slow but necessary build up it really gets into it's action stride and is full of some brilliantly funny lines and moments too. For an 80s action film as well, it looks surprisingly good.

Whilst I'm not convinced this is a Christmas film (being set on Christmas eve doesnt mean it has festive feels!), it's still a hugely entertaining action flick and one that more modern films can't match up to.
  
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
1955 | Drama, Mystery
9.0 (5 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This is my favorite movie of all time, and the only one that I watch on an annual schedule (Thanksgiving) other than A Muppet Christmas Carol (Christmas). I first saw it on that holiday, and the experience was so meaningful that I suppose I’m always trying to recapture it. Coincidentally, on Thanksgiving my family used to travel to West Virginia, where the novel’s author, Davis Grubb, was from, and where the book is set. Grubb arguably doesn’t get enough credit for the look and feel of the film: I can’t really think of a movie that is more faithful to the tone and even letter of its source, and Grubb also essentially storyboarded the film. It’s such a rich parable of good and evil, and a boundlessly profound exploration of intangibles like innocence, loss, deceit, and the yearning to be loved. Although terror is a central theme, it’s ultimately a very comforting film."

Source
  
A Cold Christmas and the Darkest of Winters
A Cold Christmas and the Darkest of Winters
Rasta Musick | 2021 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
not bedtime reading but very good!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

A collection of 23 different authors come together to bring you short stories set around the winter season or Christmas.

Not a single one of these authors have I read before, and there is a varied bunch of tales here. Some are just sad but some are downright scary!

Loosely, they are "holiday" stories, but more are winter ones, rather than Christmas.

An eclectic bunch of tales that can be read at any time, but I'd recommend NOT at bedtime! You might stop on one of the scary ones, and get some weird dreams as a consequence, like I did!

I didn't read them all, I will be honest, but the ones I read were very good, or excellent. Just on the short side. but 23 stories across 360 odd pages is never going to produce novel length books.

4 stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge
Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge
Laura Levine | 2018 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bah Humbug Murder
Thanks to her neighbor Lance, freelance writer Jaine Austen is spending Christmas at a Bel Air mansion. It's not all luxury, however, when Jaine gets roped into helping her temporary neighbor polish his script. Scotty Parker is a former child actor best known for playing Tiny Tim in a movie version of A Christmas Carol, but now he'd be a shoe in to play Scrooge, complete with penny pinching ways and fights with neighbors. Someone has had enough, and Jaine finds Scotty's body on Christmas morning. With the police focusing on her, Jaine begins her own investigation. But which of the many suspects actually killed Scotty?

Those familiar with the series know exactly what to expect here, and they won't be disappointed. The murder may take place a little later in the book than in some series I read, but we are busy meeting suspects and getting motives, so when Scotty does die, we can jump right in. Jaine once again brings the case to a satisfactory conclusion. We also have a couple of fun sub-plots involving Jaine's on-line dating misadventures and a cruise her parents are taking with their neighbors. There are plenty of laughs, chuckles, and grins. The characters lean toward caricature, but it works for this series. The pages fly by all too quickly as always.