Advent Calendar 24th December

Advent Calendar 24th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 24th day Christmas countdown

Happy Cristmas Eve everybody !!

We have reached the next-to-last image of the Advent calendar and for today, Christmas Eve, I wanted to choose an iconic film, which I use to watch regularly each year without ever getting tired of it and continuing to move me like the first time I saw it as a child : IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ( 1946 by Frank Capra ) starring James Stewart and Donna Reed.

The movie is based on the short story and booklet THE GREATEST GIFT self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943.

THE STORY : George Bailey, an honest and unfortunate young family man, wants to take his own life.
His guardian angel appears to him in the guise of a friendly old man and shows him what the world would have been like if he had never been born, giving George reason to understand how, through his very existence in the world, he is contributing to making it a better place.

SOME CURIOSITIES : Due to the film's disappointing sales, some studios viewed Capra as having lost the ability to produce popular and financially successful films.

It became a Christmas classic after its copyright expired in 1974 due to non-renewal and it entered the public domain, which allowed it to be broadcast without licensing or royalties.

Today It's a Wonderful Life is considered one of the greatest films of all time and among the best Christmas films.

THE BIIGEST SNOWSTORM EVER DEPICTED ON FILM : Some newspaper articles reported that two weeks into filming, three hundred tons of limestone and fifty tons of white plaster had already been used to reproduce snowstorm.
The special effects curator was Russell Shearman, who used an innovative type of chemical snow to allow the actors to speak during filming ( previously, snow was produced using crushed cornflakes, which did not allow the actors to speak, therefore requiring a subsequent dubbing phase).

Using modern (for the time) technology, Shearman mixed foamite, a material used in the composition of some fire extinguisher powders, with water and sugar, creating a solution which would then be pumped at high pressure through the machine used to reproduce the wind ; a quantity of over 22,000 liters was used to cover the entire set.

The result was a snowfall effect that was much more realistic than anything seen in any film in the past.

I hope you enjoyed today's image too and at this point all I have to do is send everyone a hug and wish you a happy Christmas Eve together with all the people and animals you love.

(Note : English is not my native tongue, please forgive any errors in my text )



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Advent Calendar 23rd December

Advent Calendar 23rd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 23rd day Christmas countdown

Wow ! The weekend befor Christmas ! I can't believe that these 23 day are gone so fast...

Well, as yesterday night I attended (as I do every year, but unfortunately only rarely live and too often only in front of the TV) the Nutcracker ballet ( 1892 by Marius Petipa e Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), inspired by the very famous classic Christmas story : THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING (1816 by E.T. Hoffmann ), I thought to include in my graphic a nice retellis of that well known old tale, a 2018 Disney animation : THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS .

Unlike Hoffman's fairy tale and Tchaikovsky's ballet, this Disney film, contrary to what often happens, was not very successful. Personally I didn't mind: the sets were enchanting and the actors, including big names like Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, were all very good.

_THE DISNEY ANIMATION STORY: Godfather Drosselmeyer is Mr. Stahlbaum's oldest and most trusted friend.
So, like every Christmas Eve, the rich businessman and his daughter Clara gather with the other guests in the large living room of the Drosselmeyer house, to participate in the magnificent party that the toymaker organizes every year. During the usual celebrations, however, an unusual event occurs: by playfully following a golden thread that runs through the corridors of the immense mansion, young Clara is led into a magical and unknown world, divided into four enchanted realms.

Escorted by the valiant soldier Philip and a band of lively mice, the little girl crosses the white landscapes of the Land of Snowflakes, the colorful lands of the Land of Flowers and finally the "edible" villages of the Land of Sweets. She meets new friends and precious allies, including the sappy Sugar Plum Fairy, and learns of a mission only she can accomplish: infiltrate the hostile fourth realm, home of the evil Mother Ginger, and recover a ancient key capable of unlocking a mysterious box.

I think it's not easy to accept revisitations of what we've known well all our life and I think this is the reason why it hasn't grossed as much as expected.

Usually I don't even like retellings of classics, but lately I feel like I'm craving something new and this year I've read several retellings of classics.

The quote may seem like a simple phrase, which any of us could say to a friend at any time...yet often we are accustomed to saying optimistic things without actually following the advice of what we are saying.

It means that we often focus too much on negative things, failing to fully enjoy the positivity and beauty that is around us at the moment.
Hoping this quote can be a point of reflection both for you and me.

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



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Advent Calendar 22nd December

Advent Calendar 22nd December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 22nd day Christmas countdown

Happy Friday everybody !
Are you ready for Christmas? Only a few days left to buy the last gifts and find the right fir tree for those who make decorations on Christmas Eve.

In Italy we use to decorate fake trees and always at the beginning of December (and in my house it usually stays until the end of January...but it should be undone on January 7th, the day following the Epiphany).

I'm talking about the Christmas tree, to introduce today's image: I chose the beautiful Christmas episode of the VICTORIA TV series, because it tells how Prince Albert introduced to England and spread it throughout much of the world the Germanic tradition of the decorated fir tree for Christmas.

The series, whose photos I have included in my graphics, is the beautiful period drama ( 2016-2019 ) named VICTORIA starring Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes, Rufus Sewell and other very good actors.

Here is a 1848 lithograph which spread the image of the English royal family around the Christmas tree and which contributed to making that tradition loved in much of the world.

I really like the quote I chose, because we often have the flaw of looking back regretting what we have lost, instead of looking at and appreciating what we have in the present (or maybe it's just my flaw) and this quote is an invitation to give more relevant to the present and to live it better even in difficulty times.

Hoping you enjoyed today's image, you can save it and print it to use as a bookmark in your paper Christmas readings.

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

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Advent Calendar 21st December

Advent Calendar 21st December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 21st day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody dear friends,
we are almost at the end of Christmas day countdown ...aw...how sad...don't you think? I realize that waiting is sometimes more exciting than the moment we experience the expected events, because they pass too quickly.

But let's not get sad, it's not Christmas yet and today I want to offer you all a classic, which I'm sure many of you have never read, but I consider it a good reading proposal: THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1894) by Anthony Hope, a romantic tale which was then followed by short stories entitled: The Heart of Princess Osra, 1896 (a fix-up novel containing 9 linked short stories) and another romance entitled: Rupert of Hentzau (1898, The prisoner of Zenda's sequel)

___ THE STORY : In the fictional kingdom of Ruritania, the heir to the throne is kidnapped.
Two high officials, loyal to the sovereign, contact a distant English cousin of the prince, to impersonate His Highness until they manage to free him and install him on the throne.
Everything seems to go smoothly until the fake prince falls in love with the future wife of the real heir to the throne and when he is freed and returns...

A beautiful tale of swashbuckling, perhaps a little out of fashion some of you might think, but this is precisely its charm and this is why it cannot be missed at Christmas.

Hope's novel inspired many screen adaptations, but the most famous is the one from 1952 starring a charming Stewart Granger and lovely Deborah Kerr and it's also the version I've got fond of, since is the one I've seen many times since I was a little girl.

(NOTE : I know my English is not so good, my native language is Italian, so please be lenient with me)

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Advent Calendar 20th December

Advent Calendar 20th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 20th day Christmas countdown

Happy Wednesday everybody,
here we are just a few days before Christmas day.

Today I want to propose a fairy tale known throughout the world (at least the Western one), it is a fairy tale written in the 17th century: CINDERELLA by Charles Perrault and made even more famous by Disney in 1950 with his cartoon animation. Nowadays you can find dozens of movie versions.

There are many versions of this ancient fairy tale, but the best known and still published in books are those by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.

What is really important to remember, however, is the moral teaching that this fable wants to convey to the little ones: kindness is one of the most important attitudes in life.
This is exactly what the quote I reported in the image tells us.

After the Disney cartoon, many movies have been made, the photo that I have included in my graphics is from the 2015 film by Kenneth Branagh, starring Lily James and Richard Madden.

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



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Advent Calendar 19th December

Advent Calendar 19th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 19th day Christmas countdown

Hello everybody !
The film that I propose in today's image is one of the musicals that I will never get tired of watching! It's THE SOUND OF MUSIC 1965 starring a brilliant Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

This timeless musical was inspired by the true story of the VonTrapp family written in the 1949 memoir.

THE STORY in the movie: The Mother Superior of the Salzburg monastery tests the vocation of a postulant, the beautiful young Maria, by making her work as a housekeeper in the home of the Von Trapp family, whose children live under a severe disciplinary regime imparted by their father, a widowed admiral . It goes without saying that Maria will revolutionize the lives of the whole family, bringing them on stage as young singers.

Two years ago I read 2 wonderful memoirs, respectively written by Maria, the main character of the movie and one of the commander's daughters : Agate Von Trapp.
Even though they are non-fiction, I assure you that they are so engaging and fun that you will feel like you are reading an adventure novel.

The titles are as follows:

1) THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS
(1949 memoir by Maria Augusta Trapp)

2) MEMORIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE SOUND OF MUSIC
(by Agathe Von Trapp)

If you want to know more,
you can read my review : JUS CLICK HERE

---> The story that is described in the movie is only the initial part of Maria's memoir and it must be said that there are some differences regarding the behavior of the father of the family, who actually was not so severe, however if you read the two books that you I mentioned and I recommend you, you will not find yourself confused or in disagreement, you will not have disappointments, the books are exciting and I add that the daughter's book is not a repetition of Maria's, but a completion of all the parts in which Maria was not present and both are worth reading.

Personally, these two books entered my heart and gave me not only a breath of optimism and hope, but a new way of looking at life when I am through difficulty.


( 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 18th December

Advent Calendar 18th December _ 🎄🤶🎅👼💗 18th day Christmas countdown

Good morning and happy start of the week!

Well well...17 days have already passed and Christmas is just a few days away... I can't believe it, this month has been as fast as the blink of an eye.

Today in my Advent calendar, I propose a novel, a film and a quote that only a Scrooge person could not appreciate (but then in the end he too changed his mind!) What? ...No, it's not A Christmas Carol, but you almost guessed it, indeed I'm talking about: THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS ( 2008) by Les Standiford.

A beautiful film was made from this book in 2017, starring the famous Christopher Plummer (do you remember the musical "The sound of music"?) and Dan Stevens ("Downton Abbey" fans?).

__THE STORY : In 1843, four years after the success of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens suffers from financial difficulties due to the failure of his last three books.
Rejected by his publishers, he decides to write a new book and publish it himself, to restore his finances.
Seeing inspiration around London, particularly a rich man's funeral which is largely unattended and a mean old man who gives him the catchphrase "Humbug" and the inspiration of a new character, he begins to write A Christmas Carol , which will be published by Christmas.
He risked everything, despite his friends and publishers telling him that the book would also be a failure since Christmas (at the time) was considered irrelevant and few people celebrated it.

...And he was right, because we all know how it ended: all the world knows and loves A Chritmas Carol by Dickens !!!



(NOTE : I'm from Italy, so please forgive any errors in my text since English is not my native tongue. Thanks )

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