The Christmas Candle is a movie the family can watch. It brings the spiritual side of Christmas back to Christmas movies.
The setting is the small town of Gladbury in England. At 25 year intervals, an angle touches a candle that the local candlemaker creates. Then on Christmas Eve when someone lights the candle he experiences a miracle. The enthralling legend may have an abrupt end in 1890 at the beginning of the electric age.
The candlemaker and the new pastor are thrown into a conflict of opposing ideas about miracles. The minister discovers an accomplice in a disbeliever. The special candle disappears. The ending is a surprise to the whole village.
Susan Boyle plays Eleanor Hopewell which is her first acting role. She sings two songs in the movie: "Miracle Hymn" and "O Come All Ye Faithful."
Rick Santorum is the CEO of Echolight. The film studio that produced the movie.
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Showing posts with label Christmas films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas films. Show all posts
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Christmas Story (2007), Finnish Movie (Joulutarina)
This is the Finnish tale that tells how Santa Claus came to be the man that gives out toys to children at Christmas. The story unfolds that Nikolas is orphaned due to an accident. His village elders agree that one family will care for him one year, and he goes to another family the next and so forth.
To show his gratitude, Nikolas carves wooden toys for the family that helped him that year continuing to do this each year. One year a scourge hits his village. There isn't a family that can afford to feed him.
But a cranky reclusive carpenter gives him a home. He becomes an apprentice and has to work diligently. Nikolas is smart and becomes a good carpenter. The recluse begins to have affection for the boy as a son.
Nikolas' attention and heart are drawn further into the Christmas spirit of giving as time goes on. Thus, he transforms into Santa Claus when he is elderly. The film Christmas Story sparkles with the virtues of caring for other people and giving to others in a selfless manner.
Juha Wuolijoki directed this film. Marko Leino wrote the screenplay and the story was written by Aku Louhimies, Juha Wuolijoki, and Marko Leino.
There isn't a tomatometer rating for this film, but the audience gave it 58%. But don't let that stop you from seeing the movie and deciding for yourself.
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Christmas Story Finnish
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To show his gratitude, Nikolas carves wooden toys for the family that helped him that year continuing to do this each year. One year a scourge hits his village. There isn't a family that can afford to feed him.
But a cranky reclusive carpenter gives him a home. He becomes an apprentice and has to work diligently. Nikolas is smart and becomes a good carpenter. The recluse begins to have affection for the boy as a son.
Nikolas' attention and heart are drawn further into the Christmas spirit of giving as time goes on. Thus, he transforms into Santa Claus when he is elderly. The film Christmas Story sparkles with the virtues of caring for other people and giving to others in a selfless manner.
Juha Wuolijoki directed this film. Marko Leino wrote the screenplay and the story was written by Aku Louhimies, Juha Wuolijoki, and Marko Leino.
There isn't a tomatometer rating for this film, but the audience gave it 58%. But don't let that stop you from seeing the movie and deciding for yourself.
Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Christmas Story Finnish
Shop Amazon - 40 or More Off Select Sports Collectibles
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Christmas in Connecticut, 1945: Christmas Movie: Barbara Stanwyck
The main character in Christmas in Connecticut writes a column for Smart Housekeeping that is a fabrication. Supposedly, Elizabeth Lane played by Barbara Stanwyck is married, resides in a Connecticut farmhouse, has children, is an excellent cook, and home decorator, but this is a farce.
Actually, Elizabeth is a single New Yorker and can't cook or decorate. She has invented this facade by using her Uncle's restaurant recipes for her column, and her boyfriend's home is the model for the house she supposedly lives in.
Her scheme is challenged for exposure when Dennis Morgan playing Jefferson Jones is used by a magazine publisher Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greensteet) for a publicity gimmick. He wants the war hero to be a guest at Elizabeth's home for a Christmas dinner which is a prize given by Yardley to Jones. How can she refuse a request by her boss?
Elizabeth uses her boyfriend's house and her Uncle's cooking expertise to try and pull off this feat of deception. She also keeps a baby and then a different baby from a woman that babysits for women working at a war plant.
In the end her boss finds out that he and the public have been duped and he fires her. When Jones finds out she isn't married, they decide to be joined in holy matrimony.
The tomatometer gives it 88% and the audience 78%.
Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Actually, Elizabeth is a single New Yorker and can't cook or decorate. She has invented this facade by using her Uncle's restaurant recipes for her column, and her boyfriend's home is the model for the house she supposedly lives in.
Her scheme is challenged for exposure when Dennis Morgan playing Jefferson Jones is used by a magazine publisher Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greensteet) for a publicity gimmick. He wants the war hero to be a guest at Elizabeth's home for a Christmas dinner which is a prize given by Yardley to Jones. How can she refuse a request by her boss?
Elizabeth uses her boyfriend's house and her Uncle's cooking expertise to try and pull off this feat of deception. She also keeps a baby and then a different baby from a woman that babysits for women working at a war plant.
In the end her boss finds out that he and the public have been duped and he fires her. When Jones finds out she isn't married, they decide to be joined in holy matrimony.
The tomatometer gives it 88% and the audience 78%.
Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The Nutcracker, Ballet, Movie
The Nutcracker is a time-honored story originally written by E. T. A. Hoffman in 1816. He called it "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". Authored as a short story it has been adapted into an opera and two movies. Alexander Dumus adapted the story to stage and Tchaikovsky composed the music. The original choreography was done by Marius Petipa. It's premiere in 1892 came one week afore Christmas in Russia.
In 1934, it was performed in Great Britain and it came to the U.S.A. in 1944.
Act I
In the opening act, the house is festooned with mistletoe, stockings, wreaths and such. The Stahlbaum family has a party. They dance jubilantly. A toymaker arrives and gives the children gifts. Clara receives a Nutcracker, her sibling Fritz grabs her gift and starts a game of keep away with the other boys. The Nutcracker is mangled, but Drosselmeyer, the godfather, repairs the toy.
The party ends and Clara goes to sleep with the nutcracker beneath the Christmas tree. At midnight the toys come alive and become bigger. The Nutcracker battles the Mouse King. Clara defeats the mouse King with her slipper, and his army takes him away.
Then the illusion begins when Clara falls onto the Nutcracker's bed. He comes to life as a real prince. The bed becomes a sleigh.
Act II
They go through a forest and snowflakes become dancing maidens. They end up in the Land of Sweets and meet the Sugarplum Fairy. When she hears their story, she is galvanized and brings them into the Candy Castle and throws a extravagant party for them. They see flowers dancing and dewdrops floating overhead. The Sugarplum Fairy and a Cavalier dance in the middle of the great room.
Next, everyone gathers in the court and tells Clara and the Nutcracker goodbye. She says to the Nutcracker that she doesn't want this experience to end. He tells her that it won't end for her because she has the heart to envision it.
It became a movie in 1986 and another movie version came out in 1993. The Mobile Ballet will present this classic story on 12/ 15/13.
The Nutcracker
Movie
Kurt Adler 16-Inch Wooden and Polyresin Gingerbread Nutcracker
In 1934, it was performed in Great Britain and it came to the U.S.A. in 1944.
Act I
In the opening act, the house is festooned with mistletoe, stockings, wreaths and such. The Stahlbaum family has a party. They dance jubilantly. A toymaker arrives and gives the children gifts. Clara receives a Nutcracker, her sibling Fritz grabs her gift and starts a game of keep away with the other boys. The Nutcracker is mangled, but Drosselmeyer, the godfather, repairs the toy.
The party ends and Clara goes to sleep with the nutcracker beneath the Christmas tree. At midnight the toys come alive and become bigger. The Nutcracker battles the Mouse King. Clara defeats the mouse King with her slipper, and his army takes him away.
Then the illusion begins when Clara falls onto the Nutcracker's bed. He comes to life as a real prince. The bed becomes a sleigh.
Act II
They go through a forest and snowflakes become dancing maidens. They end up in the Land of Sweets and meet the Sugarplum Fairy. When she hears their story, she is galvanized and brings them into the Candy Castle and throws a extravagant party for them. They see flowers dancing and dewdrops floating overhead. The Sugarplum Fairy and a Cavalier dance in the middle of the great room.
Next, everyone gathers in the court and tells Clara and the Nutcracker goodbye. She says to the Nutcracker that she doesn't want this experience to end. He tells her that it won't end for her because she has the heart to envision it.
It became a movie in 1986 and another movie version came out in 1993. The Mobile Ballet will present this classic story on 12/ 15/13.
The Nutcracker
Movie
Kurt Adler 16-Inch Wooden and Polyresin Gingerbread Nutcracker
Sunday, November 24, 2013
It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas, 2002: Kids, Children's Movies
Its a Very Merry Muppet Christmas is a Christmas movie for the family. It's a story for the young at heart. The idea is similar to the concept in It's a Wonderful Life , though not strictly so.
The Bitterman Bank owns the loan for the Muppet Theater. The bank owner passes away and his wife takes over. She alters the loan's terms and puts Kermit and the gang in a bind. Then the money for the last payment is lost. The Muppets seek their leader's help, but he is too depressed to fix the problem.
An angel comes to Kermit's aid, revealing to him the Muppet world without his presence. Kermit comes back to save the theater for his pals.
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
The Bitterman Bank owns the loan for the Muppet Theater. The bank owner passes away and his wife takes over. She alters the loan's terms and puts Kermit and the gang in a bind. Then the money for the last payment is lost. The Muppets seek their leader's help, but he is too depressed to fix the problem.
An angel comes to Kermit's aid, revealing to him the Muppet world without his presence. Kermit comes back to save the theater for his pals.
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
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