Advent Calendar 16th December

Advent Calendar 16th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 16th day Christmas countdown

Hello dear friends, today's story doesn't need any introductions: MARY POPPINS (1934 ) by P. L. Travers from which Disney was inspired for the homonymous and unforgettable magnificent film (1964), starring the equally magnificent Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dicke.

A story for children and adults, capable of warming every heart and cheering up every soul.
I never fail to watch the film on TV in the days around Christmas (but it is beautiful at any time of the year).

Have you read the book? Well... the book and the film have various differences and unlike what usually happens, I must admit that in this case I preferred the film, it is much happier than the book and Mary Poppins is much nicer than the novel.

CURIOSITY: In 1934, P. L. Travers, pseudonym of the Australian Helen Lyndon Goff, published the novel Mary Poppins, which tells the story of the magical flying nanny who comes down from the sky to help the Banks family.
The sequel was published in 1935, followed by six more novels, published until 1988. The first novel, however, is the main basis from which the film was based.

According to the story told in "Saving Mr. Banks" movie (2013 starring Tom Hanks ) and the special features of the 2004 special edition DVD, Walt Disney's daughter Diane fell in love with the books in the series and made her father promise to produce a film based on her beloved books .

A first attempt by Disney to buy the rights from Travers was made in 1938, but this proposal was rejected by the writer, convinced that a film version of her books would not do justice to her creation.

Disney tried for more than twenty years to convince Travers to produce a Mary Poppins film, only succeeding in 1961, although the writer asked for the right to approve the film's screenplay.
The Sherman brothers composed the soundtrack and helped write the script, suggesting moving the events from the 1930s to the Edwardian era. Pre-production and songwriting took two years!!! The music, songs and scenography are absolutely timeless and manage to fascinate today's audiences as much as those of more than 5 years ago.

A sequel to the film was made a few years ago (Mary Poppins Returns 2018) and I have to admit that it's not bad, but it's a long way from being as iconic as the fantastic film that Disney brought to the screen in the 1960s.

(As always : sorry for any errors in my text, English is only a second tongue not my native one )



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Book review : The Silent Christmas by M.J.Lee

The Silent Christmas
A Jayne Sinclair Genealogical Mystery Novella - Book 5 by M.J.Lee
My rating: 3.8 of 5 stars

A truly enjoyable Christmas novella that tells an extraordinary event that actually happened, through fictional characters and of course fictional dialogues.
---> Readable as a standalone, it's tagged as mystery but it's not a crime mystery ( at least not this book of the series ) , actually it is a search for history regarding people and events of the past.

---> The story takes place on 2 temporal planes: 1914 at the front, in the English trenches in Belgium and in 2017 in England, when the investigator Jayne Sinclaire tries to shed light on past events.

___ THE PLOT___
In 2017, Jayne Sinclaire, a genealogical investigator, receives a visit from a father and his son: they have found some old objects in the attic, belonging to his great-grandfather, of which they know nothing and would like to discover their history.

Back in time, in 1914, during the first year of World War I, private Tom Wright finds himself in the cold and in the mud, in the trenches, dreaming of being at home in England, with his wife and children preparing the Christmas goose.
A few hundred meters away is the German trench.
The soldiers of both trenches shout jokes about the war at each other, until one evening some Christmas trees appear from the German trench and classic Christmas carols are heard... here the magic begins... that magic that knows no flags and barriers and unites all men through the heart and the desire to live peacefully.
I'll let you enjoy the rest in the book. :-) it's touching.

___MY OPINION___
While I was fascinated by the backstory chapters (the events of which I already knew from non-fiction books I read in the past) and felt affection for the characters I read about.

Though I couldn't feel any emotion during the investigative chapters in 2017 and no empathy towards investigator J. Sinclair. That character seemed rather flat and insignificant to me.
For this reason I only gave 3.8 of 5 stars (all earned from the chapters of the past), if the storytelling of modern times chapters had also been a little bit more engaging I could have given 5 stars.

I want to add that I will read with pleasure other books by this author, hoping that in the other novels ( that are much longer than novellas ), even the character of today's temporal plane is well developed and can be more interesting than in the short story.

Still regarding the past part, I add that every time I read about that event, which happened spontaneously, outside of any war scheme and any imagination, I feel moved and I recommend everyone to read it because it is also an invitation to reflection.
Unfortunately, humanity has not learned anything and there are still wars that destroy innocent lives, but perhaps we, in our small circle of life, could try to learn something, give more value to feelings and people, without taking anything for granted .

About the Christmas Truce of 1914, a good film, with well-known actors, was made in 2005.
More I would like to advise you to read the collection of letters from the front, with the true testimony of the soldiers who took part in that very special event.

You can find more information about the movie and that book of letters collection in this post of mine from December 6th:

---> JOYEUX NOEL -MERRY CHRISTMAS (2005) THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE 1914.

( Thanks for reading my review, please, forgive any errors you may find in my text, English is not my mother tongue. Merry Christmas everybody ! :-) )

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Advent Calendar 15th December

Advent Calendar 15th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 15th day Christmas countdown

Goodmorning everybody :-)
Here I am with a Christmas classic, which everyone probably knows : MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) by Valentine Davies

Since 2005 this film has been included in the National Film Registry of the United States as it is considered "culturally and historically significant".

Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood are just two of the many good and important actors who star in this 1947 film which over the years has become a true Christmas classic in many parts of the world.

__THE STORY : The story of Kris, a man hired by the Macy's department store in New York to play Santa Claus, who pretends to really be one. For this, he is taken to court.

A lawyer and a little girl must prove that the man claiming to be Santa Claus is honest and is truly Santa Claus.

The entire moral of the film ( so as the quote I put in the image ) is based on the concept of faith: that is, believing in things that rationality declares impossible.



( Please forgive my not so good English as I'm from Italy :-))

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Advent Calendar 14th December

Advent Calendar 14th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 14th day Christmas countdown

Hello dear friends, Only 10 days left until Christmas Eve.

The film I chose for today is an old musical with the excellent Bing Crosby and Danny Kay : WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954 )

The film is not based on any book, but it has a peculiarity: it was shot in Technicolor, a novelty for those times. The songs are by the famous Irving Berlin, much appreciated and well known American composer and lyricist.

More what has now become a traditional Christmas song, White Christmas, which also gives the film its title, was presented in a new version (compared to the first version sung by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn_ see image from December 8th).

___THE STORY : Singers Bob Wallace and Phil Davis join sisters Betty and Judy Haynes to put on a Christmas show in Vermont. Once they reach the event location, they meet General Waverly, the commander with whom the two young people fought during the Second World War, and discover that the man is facing serious financial problems.

So the four singers immediately get busy organizing a memorable show to help the former commander.
A truly cheerful film, also thanks to beautiful music, which speaks of help and generosity, in full respect of the Christmas spirit and as it should be for each of us all year round.




( Please forgive me for any errors in my text, I'm from Italy, English is not my native tongue )

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Advent Calendar 13th December

Advent Calendar 13th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 13th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !

Today's image shows a Christmas film from 10 years ago, based on the book of the same title: THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE (2013) by Max Lucado

The book's author is both a writer and a minister at Oak Hills Church (formerly Oak Hills Church of Christ) in Texas.

___ THE STORY goes that every 25 years, an angel visits a village and touches a candle. Whoever will light that candle will receive a miracle.
However, when a new and skeptical shepherd arrives on site, the inhabitants discover a new formula for miracles: good deeds and kindness.

The quote says that no prayer is ever wasted, this sums up the moral of the film, which is none other than the definition of faith.

As the apostle Paul said: faith "is the certainty of things hoped for, the demonstration of things not seen", it therefore becomes a principle of action and the power to give us serenity. If you like my Advent Calendar's images you can download them all and print and glue onto cardboard, to use as a bookmark or simply build your own Advent calendar with them for next year. (NOTE : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors you may find in my text Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 12th December

Advent Calendar 12th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 12th day Christmas countdown

Hello my friend, the countdown to Christmas Day is almost halfway there !

For the 12th image in my graphic Advent Calendar, I put a quote a few pictures of an episode from a cozy mystery series : Miss Fisher tv series, based on MISS FISHER cozy mysteries by Kerry Greenwood.

Both the book series and the TV series are set in 1920s Melbourne, Australia.

__THE GENERAL PLOT OF THE SERIES___The protagonist, the Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher, is a very extravagant and uninhibited London socialite, who has lived in Melbourne since she inherited a huge fortune. Miss Fisher loves to dress in the latest fashion and spares no expense, but she is also generous with others, in fact she knows the poverty of humble origins and never holds back when there is the possibility of helping someone.

Over the course of the series his family expands: the maid Dot, the butler Mr. Butler and the cook Mrs. Butler, the taxi drivers Bert and Cec, the sweet Dot, Ruthie and Jane. Naturally, being a very curious and very enterprising woman, she often finds herself involved in troubles such as murders that are difficult to solve and she never misses an opportunity to interfere (and then solve) in the investigations of Inspector Jack Robinson and Agent Hugh Collins.

The Christmas episode of the TV series is not actually based on any of the books, it is one of the few episodes written by TV screenwriters.

A very suggestive episode as it takes place in an old castle and the murders which occur in a mysterious manner are inspired by the ancient song: the 12 days of Christmas.

(NOTE : please forgive my English, it is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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Advent Calendar 11th December

Advent Calendar 11th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 11th day Christmas countdown

Today I propose an old Hollywood musical classic : MY FAIR LADY (1964), starring a fabulous Audrey Hepburn and equally good Rex Harrison.

The musical film is based on the 1956 musical of the same name, inspired in turn by the opera PYGMALION (1913) by George Bernard Shaw.

__THE STORY___ A pompous professor in Henry Higgins, he is so confident in his abilities that he takes on the task of transforming a working-class girl into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society.

It's not a Christmas movie, but the Christmas holidays are the days when it is shown on TV every year and my mother and I are always happy to watch it again.

A funny film that will make you laugh more than once.

The quote I chose leads us to reflect on our prejudices and our way of treating others.

Too often society uses courtesy and deference towards those who appear well dressed and hold an important position, while it tends to give less consideration to those who are less wealthy.

It's up to us, in our small circle of people, to change things.

Thaks for visiting my blog. Wishing you a happy start of the week and please, be lenient with my text, since English is not my native language. :-)

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