A CAROL CHRISTMAS (2003) – Here’s another entry in Balladeer’s Blog’s Twelfth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon. This version is one of the many that tries mining laughs out of setting the Dickens classic in the modern age. These adaptations have varying degrees of success and on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this effort a 6.5.
A Carol Christmas isn’t trying to be the most touching or the funniest rendition of A Christmas Carol, it’s just a pleasant, fluffy diversion for the Christmas season. Tori Spelling stars as Carol Cartman, a daytime hostess like Jenny Jones, Oprah and so many others. As the Scrooge figure Spelling is selfish, mean-spirited and abuses her staff, especially her assistant Roberta, the Bob Cratchit role.
Roberta (Nina Siemaszko) is a struggling single mother caught up in a custody battle for her version of Tiny Tim in a novel departure from the usual Cratchit family pathos.
Dinah Manoff portrays the ghost of Carol’s late aunt and manager Marla. Aunt Marla was a driven “show-biz mom” type whose monomaniacal, cold-hearted drive was passed on to Carol as she forced the girl into a show business career she never really wanted. Because of this Marla is cursed in a Jacob Marley manner and has come to warn her niece that she faces the same fate unless she changes her ways. Continue reading
As regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know, December is not just the month in which I cover umpteen versions of A Christmas Carol but also the month in which I look at versions of the tales of Charlemagne and his Paladins. These are the legends about Charlemagne, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. Roland shows up in this story. 
THE SIEGE OF ALBRACCA – Princess Angelica of Cathay, in our previous tale, had failed to win the heart of the Paladin Reinold despite holding him at her enchanted isle for a time. Just as the escaped Reinold was even now trying to make his way back to the court of Charlemagne, Angelica returned to her father’s court in Cathay. 
Crooked Joe Biden, accused rapist, career criminal and
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THE SHERIFF & THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL KID (1979) – I’m often asked about movies that are safe to watch with children around at Christmas time. Here are TWO such films, both starring gruff but likable Spaghetti Western icon Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli) and, of all people, Cary Guffey – the little kid from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 
Cary Guffey’s character is named H7-25 and possesses an alien device similar to a television remote control device. That device lets H7-25 rewind time and other miraculous acts to help Sheriff Hall against their pursuers. The kid often uses it to rewind unpleasant events for the bad guys during the many, many chase and fight scenes.
MYSTERIOUS PLANET (1982) – My review of this forgotten science fiction bomb which vaguely parallels the Jules Verne novel Mysterious Island. This unintentionally hilarious flick is one of the worst movies ever made. Click 
THE GODFATHER CODA (2020 Edit) – My review of Francis Ford Coppola’s December 2020 re-edit of Godfather III. I look at the reshuffling of scenes, the omission of some and different takes for others. Click 
RIVALS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES – Episodes of the 1970s series. Duckworth Drew 
If you are heavily into films and hearing from directors and actors offering comments on their work long ago when those movie projects first came out you may enjoy the old Matt and Greg Podcasts. The pair listen to and comment on 1990s to early 2000s radio junket interviews. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL GOES WRONG (2017) – The players from Great Britain’s Mischief Theater Company strike again in their guise as the Cornley Polytechnic Amateur Dramatic Society. After the absolute disaster they made of their 2016 production of Peter Pan (see Peter Pan Goes Wrong), the Society were banned from the BBC. 
From there the Society mount their own production with their highly flawed but immensely likable players, highlighted by Chris (Henry Shields), Annie (Nancy Zamit), Robert (Henry Lewis) and others. Naturally, a LOT goes wrong.
We need alternate political parties. The Democrats have become basically “The Party” in 1984 fashion, with intolerant functionaries pushing Democrat Dogma into every aspect of the social, professional and educational aspects of life for the rest of us. Dissenting from Democrat Party policy has become grounds for driving people out of their jobs and even out of entire professions. 
A JETSON CHRISTMAS CAROL (1985) – Christmas Carol-A- Thon 2021, my 12th annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon, continues here at Balladeer’s Blog! This 1985 animated version of the Dickens classic incorporates the characters from the Hanna Barbera program The Jetsons. They were a family who were the far-future counterparts of the Stone Age family The Flintstones. 
FIRST QUARTERFINAL – The NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS took the field against the MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS. The Red Raiders led 6-3 in the 1st Quarter and 19-10 come Halftime. In the 3rd Quarter the Knights pulled to within 19-17 before Northwestern College won out in the 4th 25-20. 
SECOND QUARTERFINAL – In this game the GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS played the CONCORDIA (MI) CARDINALS. A 7-3 Cardinals edge in the opening Quarter became a 17-10 Vikings lead at the Half. The 3rd Quarter ended with Concordia University trailing by just 17-16 but it was all Grand View U in the 4th as they won the game 31-16. 
