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Roman Summer (2000)
Roman Summer (2000)
2000 | Comedy, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"If all the other films I watched growing up told of distant lands, in this film I recognised the streets, the inhabitants, their traditions. Yet they seemed so mysterious because they are viewed through the eyes of director Matteo Garrone. Seeing this, I realised what I look for in a film is what you see reflected in the eyes of someone else."

Source
  
DA
Dickens and Christmas
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
In Dickens and Christmas, Lucinda Hawksley presents the reader with the social history of Christmas along side the personal history of Charles Dickens. The book explains where many of are modern festive traditions originated from we also learn where Dickens inspiration for many of his festive tales come from. This book would make a ideal Christmas gift for the love one who love Christmas and Charles Dickens.
  
The Memory Trees
The Memory Trees
Kali Wallace | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The characters are great (0 more)
It was a very simple story full of a long line of strong female characters. As I was reading I was literally building the "family tree" in my head. All the back stories help keep these strong family ties and traditions at the forefront of the story. I really thought I was going to hate this book, but it was the complete opposite.
  
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James Koppert (2698 KP) rated The Polar Express (2004) in Movies

Nov 17, 2019 (Updated Nov 17, 2019)  
The Polar Express (2004)
The Polar Express (2004)
2004 | Animation, Drama, Family
10
7.8 (28 Ratings)
Movie Rating
This makes Christmas magic real (0 more)
I feel the magic
This film for me is magical. I know loads of people says it creeps them out, but to me it just takes me back to those moments when I was a child and felt as if Santa was real. It is just pure wonder and awe and a great adventure. i love that they add some ghost elements as well in a nod to Christmas traditions of old.
  
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Reading Their Eyes for perhaps the eleventh time, I am still amazed. .. that it speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done; and that the language of the characters, that ‘comical nigger dialect’ that has been laughed at, denied, ignored, or ‘improved’ so that white folks and educated black folks can understand it, is simply beautiful. There is enough self-love in that one book – love of community, culture, traditions – to restore a world. Or create a new one."

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Tutus and Tinsel (Half Moon Bay 2.5)
Tutus and Tinsel (Half Moon Bay 2.5)
Rhys Ford | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
wonderful catch up!
I was lucky enough to win an ARC copy of this book.

This is a little catch up, if you will, with the Harris-Reid family, and you really SHOULD at least read Fish Stick Fridays before this one. Hanging the Stars ain't too shabby either, but this is more about Zig and her dads.

Zig is eleven, and blindsided by a school project. Her dads go about rallying around and making the project a little less painful for her.

I'm not usually one for Holiday/Christmas stories, but I loved Zig, and Deacon and Lang, so really had to catch up with them! And I LOVED this! It packs quite an emotional punch for some 90 odd pages!

Zig has to do a project on Christmas traditions on her family. But she doesn't have any, not really. So Deacon and Lang go all out about making NEW traditions: using some from Lang's grandmother, some from their friends and making some up as they go along.

They do cracker house decorations, the chopping of trees down. Trees in each and every room. Making salt dough ornaments. Lots of different things, from a whole host of backgrounds, and choosing which ones to make their own.

I loved that we caught up with Deke and Lang, but also with West, Angel and Rome. Loved the plans the adults have for the kids should something happen to either set of parents.

But Zig, again, made this book! Set 3 years after Fish Stick Fridays, and she still has her eclectic taste in tutus and boots, and it's so great she hasn't lost her swear jar! Indeed, opening line in the book is Zig swearing her little head off and realising that Deke can hear her! Loved it!

And even though Zig was sick, and not actually able to do her presentation at school, loved that she WAS able to still show her dads what did. I cried at that point! Because even though it was about making NEW traditions, Zig still draws on her painful past and how important it is to remember where you came from, and that past is a part of you, always. And new families need new traditions.

5 full and sparkly stars!

ps, we ALWAYS have take out Christmas Eve!

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Midsommar (2019)
Midsommar (2019)
2019 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Twisted
Not sure what I expected from this one but the description only scratches the surface. This one is not for kids or the feint of heart as the material is very graphic(violence, nudity, sex). The acting was ok and the cinematography good but the story was just weird. Somewhat predictable(not completely) it played out slowly like a "group" version of "The Wicker Man". If you're into "cult" style stories(in the guise of ancient nordic traditions) you'll enjoy this slow burner. Otherwise, not really worth a watch.
  
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Nitin Sawhney recommended Latcho Drom (1993) in Movies (curated)

 
Latcho Drom (1993)
Latcho Drom (1993)
1993 | Documentary, Music
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This film traces the evolution of flamenco, from its origins in India through Egypt, through eastern Europe to the west – “latcho drom” means safe journey. The director is Romany himself, and there’s no narrator, so the story is told through song and subtitles with no contrivance at all. You feel properly immersed in new worlds as a result – I play flamenco, and you feel the echoes of ancient traditions in it, but this is something else. The most powerful scene is of three women singing on a hilltop about how they’ve been disenfranchised. It’s unbelievably moving."

Source
  
T(
Tricked (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
That was so good. Just so very good. Like the last three - well plotted, with good character development from a fascinating cast of characters. This time most of the mythology is Native American (specifically Navajo) instead of Norse or Celtic, but there's a little spice from other traditions thrown in as well. And as before, there are always consequences getting involved, even in good causes. I think that's one of the biggest ways this series reminds me of the Dresden Files by [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205261964p2/10746.jpg].

I am absolutely going to be on tenterhooks until <i>Trapped</i> is released!
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Trick 'r Treat (2007) in Movies

Aug 8, 2019 (Updated Feb 26, 2020)  
Trick &#039;r Treat (2007)
Trick 'r Treat (2007)
2007 | Horror
Have Some Candy
Trick 'r Treat- is one of those horror films that not alot of people heard about, seen and forgot that it excist. Its also a very underrated horror film.

The plot: Interwoven stories demonstrate that some traditions are best not forgotten as the residents (Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker) of a small town face real ghosts and goblins on Halloween. Tales of terror reveal the consequences of extinguishing a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight and a grumpy hermit's encounter with a sinister trick-or-treater.

I like the interwoven stories, how their are connected to each other.

I would recordmend this film.