Author: Rob Williams
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Indie Movie Review – The Handler (2021)
The Handler is a fairly typical tale of a good guy who finds himself down on his luck and turns to crime. After a while, he decides that he wants to go back to clean living and leave the aforementioned life of crime behind him. Unfortunately, the big boss either knows that he’s the best…
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Christmas Classic First View Review – A Christmas Carol (1938)
Over the years I’ve seen a fair few versions of A Christmas Carol, or Scrooge as it’s sometimes called, but this 1938 version is a new one on me! There’s no point going too deeply into the story because, as both Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and Simply Red said, “If you don’t know…
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Christmas First View Review – An American Christmas Carol (1979)
Here we have an attempt to prove the ubiquity and relevance of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol by taking it from Victorian-era London and plonking it down in Depression-era Concord, New Hampshire. I don’t if there’s any significance in the location but the time has obviously been chosen as one of widespread poverty, debt, and hardship.…
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Vintage Christmas Film Short – Scrooge: Marley’s Ghost (1901)
Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start… Before I get going, here’s a thought for a series of articles. How about first-time viewings of wildly popular films that I haven’t seen? I say this because I’ve never actually seen The Sound Of Music, Saturday Night Fever, or Citizen Kane. Anyway,…
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Christmas Classic First Watch Review – Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
I’ll admit that this was a total surprise. As is rapidly becoming traditional, here in RunPee Towers, this time of year means that there are Christmas films to be watched. We do try and get other themes going for other holidays but, as a lot of them are unheard of outside of the USA, I…
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Christmas Classic First Watch Review – White Christmas (1954)
I’ve never been one to make any undue effort and, in a similar vein, I don’t like to waste any effort accidentally made. When I had my moment of confusion over Holiday Inn and White Christmas the obvious thing, to me, was to save the notes I’d made and use them in another review. And…
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Christmas Classic First Watch Review – Holiday Inn (1942)
I’ll admit to being a bit confused by Holiday Inn. I intended to see the film with the song White Christmas in it and, obviously went for the one called White Christmas. Now I knew that Bing Crosby sang White Christmas but I was also fairly confident that Fred Astaire was in it. Oh…I love…
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Christmas Classic Rewatch Review – Scrooge (1951)
Elsewhere I wrote about how and why A Christmas Carol was written and how it’s been adapted many times on screens both large and small. It’s the most often adapted of all of Dickens’ works, with over thirty film outings. Oliver Twist comes second with a mere eighteen. It’s been faithfully followed from the original,…
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Documentary Review – The Beatles: Get Back
The Beatles: Get Back is, quite simply, the edited highlights of The Beatles rehearsing for a new project centred on their latest album. After a disastrous tour of the Far East in 1966 and the infamous “we’re bigger than Jesus” kerfuffle they decided to give up touring and performing live. This leads to them developing…
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Christmas Documentary Review – ’Twas The Fight Before Christmas (2021)
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’Twas The Fight Before Christmas (2021) from Apple TV+ is another of those films that emphasises the difference between the USA and the UK. Over here we’re only vaguely religious in the main. By that I mean that when you go into hospital they always ask your religion. The majority will say C of E…
