Review “The Muppet Christmas Carol”

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…

Review “Meet me in St Louis”

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…

Review “A Ghost Story”

“A Ghost Story” was released in 2017 and directed by David Lowery. It starred Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. This is not a horror movie. A man and a woman live in a house. They have some disagreement about living there – the woman wants to move, while her husband is not all that keen.…

Elf help – when you need a little love

In 1987 a small book was released by Abbey Press, called ‘Be-Good-to-yourself Therapy’. Written by Cherry Hartman and illustrated by R.W. Alley, this booklet included whimsical drawings of an elf with a candle in his hat going about his day, with thoughts and suggestions about being good to yourself. Over thirty years and multiple books…

Review “Ink”

“Ink” is a fantasy film made in 2009. It’s an independent production made on a low budget, and it contains no familiar actors. It is surprisingly good. It involves supernatural figures who give people good dreams or nightmares. The givers of good dreams are called Storytellers, while the givers of nightmares are Incubi. A mysterious…

Review “The Demolished Man” by Alfred Bester

“The Demolished Man” was written in 1953, and has the distinction of being the first winner of the Hugo Award. Bester has written a very interesting idea, and while it has not always aged well, there is still much of interest. The story is an inverted detective story, in that we know the identity of…

Review “The Man in the High Castle” by Phillip K Dick.

I’m normally quite a fan of Phillip K Dick’s work. However I am a little ambivalent about “The Man in the High Castle”. It depicts an alternative version of the sixties in America where Germany and Japan won the Second World War. Various characters are shown going about their lives in this environment. A thread…