I love the ‘Christmas Carol’ story, and I have seen many adaptations over the years. This version can stand with any of them. It is great! The awesome and amazing Michael Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge. He is absolutely fantastic in the role, despite the fact that he is mostly acting with muppets. There is…
We never wrote to Father Christmas It wasn’t the thing to do If I was to write a letter It’s Jesus I’d send it to Lord, restore my health And so restore my life Give me some patience and kindness To weather the world and its strife Open eyes with which to see Who…
For a so-called Christmas film this has precious little to do with Christmas. However, its climax occurs on Christmas eve, so it kind of fits. The story concerns a family in St Louis in 1904. The World Fair is going to be held there the following spring, and everyone is excited by the news. The…
Wise men saw a star in the east And went looking for a king A shot in the dark A journey of faith Wise men found a child And knew him for the lord of all But they did not know That their gifts could not match his His gift was shiny like gold…
How often do you read a book that makes you smile all the way through? I was given this book at the age of eleven, and many years later I still love it. Tolly is a seven-year old boy who is going to stay with his great-grandmother. He has not met her before and doesn’t…
It’s hard to take, for those alone All the appropriate feelings Happiness, good cheer, family and friends Smiles make pain scream all the louder So share your Christmas blessings With the bereaved, the sick, the sad Shine a little light in their darkness At the birth of grace Give hope to the hopeless God came…
“A Graveyard for Lunatics” is the second in a series of three mystery novels written by Ray Bradbury. It is set in 1950s Hollywood, on the grounds of a film studio, and is essentially a murder mystery. The narrator is a writer of science fiction hired by the studio and loosely based on Bradbury himself,…
In the empty caverns of an empty soul Something echoes, a sad sound Is it fear that current plans will fail Is it conviction that all plans must fail Immaterial Time to sing a new song Time to fill the empty caverns With music of the heart Time to plant seeds of faith And grow…
In 1984, before the birth of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki directed an anime film called “Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind”. Here we find all the ingredients that would go on to be the bedrock of his work – the theme of being in balance with the earth, the motif of flight, and the…
On the border between dream and nightmare It could swing either way Take charge, stand your ground Exert your will Wolves become puppies Demons turn to harmless sprites Close the door on the bad and the mad And open the way to a country Where everything shines
