Category Archives: holidays

Dear Cinema Santa: 2022 Edition

Dear Cinema Santa: 2022 Edition ‘Tis the time of year when Hollywood winds down into its shameless baiting for award season recognition with the latest slate of feel-good holiday slasher films, scatalogical comedies and finger-wagging agenda dramas aimed at deflating … Continue reading

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“There Ain’t No Sanity Clause”: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2022 Edition, Vol. 12.25

“There Ain’t No Sanity Clause”: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2022 Edition, Vol. 12.25      With all due deference to Chico Marx, with the approach of that most irresistible season of blind avarice, it is incumbent on that deservedly … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, Boston, Christmas, comedy, Culture, Entertainment, fantasy, holidays, Movies, photography, Puzzles, Santa Claus, writing | 7 Comments

Dear Cinema Santa: 2020 Edition

                                     Dear Cinema Santa: 2020 Edition To crown this year of joviality and conviviality (we only eliminated four enemies all year, so we … Continue reading

Posted in China, Christmas, cinema, Culture, holidays, Movies, theaters, writing | 1 Comment

Happy MOTHER Day, CSR-Style

      A Holiday Missive to “MOTHER”     Given that the average male Yale graduate’s (we’ve talked to ’em… they’re a sad bunch)  day is given over to dealing with feelings of guilt and inadequacy so deeply ingrained … Continue reading

Posted in Boston, children, Culture, holidays, humor, Movies, parenting, psychiatry, women, zombies | Tagged | 2 Comments

Saving Santa: “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t” (1966)

         “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t”  (1966)     Hollywood (a popular cultural abstract which we use as a convenient shorthand to identify the purely commercial cinema regardless of geographical origin) may be many things, but a … Continue reading

Posted in books, children, children's books, Christmas, fantasy, holidays, Movies, Musicals, Santa Claus, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Dear Cinema Santa: 2018 Edition

         Dear Cinema Santa:  2018 Edition     Once again dear friends (and you folks in Vermont) it is that time to weigh in on the past year’s accumulation of greedy impulses and dissatisfaction with the world … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, blogging, Boston, Christmas, holidays, humor, Mai Zetterling., Movies, theater, vermont, women, writing | 5 Comments

Seasons Gratings: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, 2018 Advent Calendar Edition, Vol. 50% off

Seasons Gratings: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, 2018 Advent Calendar Edition, Vol. 50% off     In observance of this festive holiday season, the good folk at Chandler Swain Reviews have decided to desist from the usual obvious jabs at Hillary … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boston, Christmas, Doris Day, holidays, humor, Movies, photography, politics, theater, women, writing | 8 Comments

Stayin Cool: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Special 4th of July 2018 Edition, Vol. 1776

Cool and Refreshing:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Special 4th of July 2018 Edition, Vol. 1776 With the current East Coast heatwave setting record temperatures exceeding those of the last time we had a warm day (it’s not really global … Continue reading

Posted in animation, biography, books, British films, comedy, holidays, Movies, photography, Romance, science fiction, women, writing | 8 Comments

Dear Cinema Santa: 2017 Edition

       Dear Cinema Santa:  2017 Edition   Light up boys and girls and all of the ships at sea, for once again we’ve arrived at that time of the year in which the bonds of a year filled … Continue reading

Posted in acting, Christmas, comic books, Disney, holidays, humor, Movies, politics, sex, writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Go to Gift Wrap: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2017 Edition Part Deux, Vol. 25

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Go to Gift Wrap:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2017 Edition Part Deux, Vol. 25     In Tom Stoppard’s absurdist play, two minor figures from Shakespeare’s Hamlet are granted the center stage in a theatrical … Continue reading

Posted in book reviews, books, Christmas, Entertainment, History, holidays, Movies, Musicals, photography, Reviews, Romance, women, writing | 4 Comments

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT SEATS: 2015 SANTA CINEMA WISHLIST

         DEAR CINEMA SANTA, 2015 EDITION      During this festive season, when the brief wisps of sunlight become briefer, granting increased concession to the agents of nocturnal chills, howling blasts of wind and the occasional welcome … Continue reading

Posted in Canada, Christmas, Culture, DVD, Film, Film Reviews, food, gene hackman, holidays, humor, Movies, Television, theaters | 2 Comments

Eucharist With Holy Water Chaser: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2015 Edition, Vol. 3:10

Eucharist With Holy Water Chaser:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2015 Edition, Vol. 3:10       Being That December signifies several of the most important spiritual days of the calendar year: Christmas and Pearl Harbor Day (when the … Continue reading

Posted in black cinema, blogs, books, Charlton Heston, Christmas, Film Reviews, Hammer films, holidays, humor, movie reviews, Movies, photography, Puzzles, religion, women | Leave a comment

I Been Naughty But in a Nice Way: Cinematic Santa Wish List for 2014

    In the continuous spirit of the late lamented Sears Wish Book- that compendium of childhood greed (ignoring the adult sections which focused more on anti-urchin merchandise such as clothing and dehumidifiers) that provided invaluable practical experience in the lost … Continue reading

Posted in blogs, Christmas, cinema, Film, holidays, humor, movie remakes, Movies, Musicals, politics, Reviews, theater, writing | Leave a comment

JULY 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 1776

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N EDITION: JULY 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 1776      It’s time to pull out the Coppertone, ship those vile, unwanted kids off to summer camp where they’ll learn life lessons in hiking through poison ivy and the competitive … Continue reading

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A Cinema Wish List for Santa

    Time again for major disappointment. It’s no secret that Chandler’s been a bad kid once again and will get the sock of coal (or the promise of a continued career of Jennifer Aniston, which is infinitely worse as coal … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, Boston, Christmas, cinema, Film, Film Reviews, holidays, humor, movie reviews, Movies, theaters | Leave a comment

And so begins the holiday season…

COULD “SCROOGE” BE A FILM CRITIC? Given his noxious nature as an unrepentant miserly skinflint, ill mannered, callously opinionated and completely dismissive of others feelings, could not old Ebenezer be an ideal model for the professional film critic? To read … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, books, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Culture, Film, holidays, humor, Movies, Thanksgiving, writing | 3 Comments