365 Movies in 365 Days: The Snowman (1982)

~ Liam ~ 2 Comments

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: The Snowman 
Release Date: December 27, 1982
Director: Dianne Jackson
Production Company: TVC London | Snowman Enterprises
Main Cast:

  • Raymond Briggs – Narrator

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A young boy makes a snowman one Christmas Eve, which comes to life at midnight and takes him on a magical adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus

My Thoughts:

The Snowman was released right at the age when I would’ve thought I was “too grown up” for this kind of story, so although I was familiar with it, I’d never watched it before.  It’s with a little regret because I’d like to know what it’s like to see through a child’s imaginative eyes, even a jaded preteen.  The story is pretty simple, and a little bit strange.  A boy creates a snowman and at night it comes to life and they go on adventures together.  The snowman can even fly which is not something I expected snow people to do, but then again it’s not that big a stretch from a snowman walking and talking.

Rating: ****

Book Review: The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer

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Author: Nicholas Meyer
Title: The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
Narrator: David Case
Publication Info: Books on Tape, Random House Audio, 2009 [originally published in 1974]
Summary/Review:

In this pastiche on Sherlock Holmes stories, we learn that a lost manuscript reveals that the events of “The Final Problem” and “The Empty House” were fabricated by Dr. John Watson.  Instead of confronting Professor James Moriarity, allegedly dying in a fall, and then returning to London three years later, Holmes is having delusions brought on by his addiction to cocaine.  Moriarity is far from the Napoleon of Crime, but simply Holmes’ childhood tutor.

With the help of Mycroft Holmes and the unwilling participation of Moriarity, Watson leads Holmes to Vienna. Now I don’t know if this will be a spoiler for anyone else, but through all the setup of an Austrian psychiatrist who can help patients recover from addictions, I had no idea that it was going to be Sigmund Freud!  It seems so obvious in retrospect. In addition to recovering from his addiction, Holmes is restored by a case where one of Freud’s patients is abducted.  They learn the plot involves members of the aristocracy and could result in war breaking out across Europe (two decades before it actually did).

Meyer’s novel is an entertaining modern take on Sherlockiana and a good character study.

Recommended books:

Rating: ***

2025 Year in Review: Favorite Podcasts

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It’s been a long time since I posted about podcasts on this blog, but I still listen to them.  So I put together a list of some of my favorite episodes and short series I’ve listened to this year!

 

365 Movies in 365 Days: Winter in Prostokvashino (1984)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Winter in Prostokvashino
Release Date: June 6, 1984
Director: Vladimir Popov
Production Company: Soyuzmultfilm
Main Cast:

  • Mariya Vinogradova – Uncle Fyodor
  • Oleg Tabakov – Matroskin the Cat
  • Lev Durov – Sharik the Dog
  • Valentina Talyzina – Mother
  • Boris Novikov – Pechkin the Postman
  • German Kachin – Father
  • Zinaida Naryshkina – Hvatayka the Jackdaw

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A third movie about Fyodor and his friends from the Prostokvashino village and their adventures – this time during the winter.

My Thoughts:

A kind of an oddball cartoon about a man who lives in a cabin in remote Russia with a cranky cat, Matroskin, who is not talking with his crank dog, Sharik.  Then they’re visited by Fyodor’s brother and nephew for New Year’s Eve.  The whole vibe feels like a Hanna Barbera Saturday morning cartoon that aired between Laverne and Shirley in the Army and Richie Rich, but in Russian.  Something is definitely lost in the translation.  Speaking of which, the autotranslation captions on YouTube are garbage, but I found this website that offers decent English captions.

Rating: **1/2

 

2025 Year in Review: Great Movies

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

I maintain a list Letterboxd called Great Movies based on Roger Ebert’s list of the same name.  I will update this dynamic list going forward and if and when it reaches 500 entries I will cap it so that I have to remove a movie in order to add a new one.  As of today there are 497 movies in the list including 20 movies listed below that I added to the list this year.

Note: this is a list of the best movies from any year that I watched and reviewed in 2025.  I will publish a list of my favorite movies released in 2025 in a couple of months once I’ve watched more recent releases.

Previous Posts:

365 Movies in 365 Days: Good Will To Men (1955)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Good Will To Men
Release Date: Dcember 23, 1955
Director: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Production Company: MGM Cartoon Studio | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Main Cast:

  • Daws Butler – Elderly Choirmaster

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A group of young mice is in the ruins of a church, practicing singing for an upcoming service. After singing an adulterated version of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” the mice wonder about the last line, “Good will to men.” One of them asks the choirmaster, an old mouse, “What are men?” The old mouse explains that they all killed each other off by building bigger and more destructive weapons, first guns, then missiles, then bombs.

My Thoughts:

In a future where humanity is destroyed by nuclear war, mice – who’ve apparently adopted Christianity – gather in the ruins of a church to celebrate Christmas.  An elderly choirmaster tells the young mice in the choir about humankind and how we eliminated ourselves.  It’s as dark and harrowing as it sounds!  Honestly, I’m surprised this got made in the 1950s and yet Hanna and Barbera didn’t get called before HUAC.

Rating: ***1/2

Book Review: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

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Author: William Shakespeare
Title: Romeo and Juliet 
Publication Info: New York, New York : Penguin Books, 2016. [originated in 1597]
Summary/Review:

What can I say about Romeo and Juliet?  I studied it in class in junior high school, high school, and college.  I’ve watched multiple movie adaptations.  I saw a stage production last year at A.R.T, and then last summer my own child child starred in an excellent youth production as Benvolio.  I want to say that reading Shakespeare in chronological order that it’s very evident that the Bard’s writing style has improved and this is his first classic.  But is that true, or is it just because I’m so much more familiar with this play than the others I have read?  Regardless, I feel that at it’s heart this play perfectly encapsulates the failures of human communication, the lack of which leads to six bodies on the stage by the end of the show.  I also realize that there are even more penis jokes in this play than I’d previously noticed.

Rating: *****

I’m reading every Shakespeare play, one per month, in chronological order.  Here’s my progress thus far:

  1. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
  2. The Taming of the Shrew
  3. Henry VI, Part 1
  4. Henry VI, Part 2
  5. Henry VI, Part 3
  6. Titus Andronicus
  7. Richard III
  8. The Comedy of Errors
  9. Love’s Labours’ Lost
  10. Richard II

365 Movies in 365 Days: Snow Bear (2024)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Snow Bear  
Release Date: November 21, 2024
Director:  Aaron Blaise
Main Cast:

  • Alexandra W. Smith – Polar Bear

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

When a lonely polar bear can’t find a friend… he makes one. Set in a rapidly changing world, “Snow Bear” tells the story of a polar bear in an unforgiving environment on his quest to find a friend. This independently produced 2D hand drawn film was painstakingly created entirely by Aaron Blaise over 3 years.

My Thoughts:

A polar bear can’t find anyone to play with so it builds one out of snow.  It’s nice to see in 2025 a sweet and lovingly-crafted hand-drawn animation with the heart of an early Pixar movie.  Plus there’s the subtext of the losses the come from climate change.

Rating:  ***1/2

365 Movies in 365 Days: Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (2021)

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This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas
Release Date: December 3, 2001
Director: Steve Cox
Production Company: Aardman
Main Cast:

  • Justin Fletcher – Shaun/Timmy
  • John Sparkes – The Farmer/Bitzer
  • Kate Harbour – Timmy’s Mother
  • Laura Aikman – Ella
  • Marcus Brigstocke – Farmer Ben
  • Anna Leong Brophy – Jin
  • Simon Greenall
  • Andy Nyman
  • Emma Tate
  • Rich Webber

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Shaun’s seasonal excitement turns to dismay when a farmhouse raid to get bigger stockings for the flock inadvertently leads to Timmy going missing. Can Shaun get Timmy back before he becomes someone else’s present?

My Thoughts:

Shaun and his flock get into hijinks and misadventure in a wild chase to find little Timmy.  As always with Aardman films, the pantomime, slapstick, and visual gags are on point.  While there’s nothing here that elevates it to a “Holiday Classic” it’s nevertheless quite enjoyable.

Rating: ***

Book Review: Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

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Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Title: Dealing with Dragons
Narrator: Full cast of Words Take Wing Repertory Company
Publication Info: Books On Tape, 2003 (originally published 1990)
Summary/Review:

Princess Cimorene is prevented by her parents from learning fencing, magic, or even Latin because it’s deemed “improper” for a princess.  When she learns she’s to be married to a loathsome prince, it’s the final straw and Cimorene runs away and volunteers to be a captive princess for a dragon named Kazul.  In the dragons’ caves, Cimerone comes into her own not only by making meals for Kazul and her guests, but navigating diplomacy among dragons and contending with an evil plot by the Wizards.  It’s a wonderfully funny novel that plays with fantasy tropes.  And it was published in 1990 so it was in the vanguard of upending the princess narrative.

Recommended books:

Rating: ****