A few years back, when Balladeer’s Blog reviewed I Met Father Christmas, I went on a little tangent about one of the filming locations – Rovaniemi in Lapland, Finland. Beginning in 1985 Rovaniemi’s Santa Claus Village was Finland’s new “official” designation of the site of Santa’s workshop and related items.
Prior to 1985, Korvatunturi was considered Santa’s home, which is why I suspect that I Met Father Christmas may have been part of a 1984 publicity push regarding Finland’s upcoming “official” re-designation of Rovaniemi as the site of Santa’s workshop and village. Rovaniemi’s airport is just a mile away from Santa Claus Village.
In the years since then, Rovaniemi has become more and more entrenched as the home of Santa and his workshop. A Christmas special called Lapland Out was filmed there as part of Tots TV, as was the Bam Margera movie Where The #$&% Is Santa? Hell, even a Lordi heavy metal music video was filmed there for their song Hardrock Hallelujah. (That overhead line marks the actual Arctic Circle.)
Santa Claus Village seems like a fantastic spot for a family vacation if you don’t mind traveling, and if you don’t mind the frigid outside conditions. There are sleigh rides powered by reindeer (above right), snowmobile touring, dogsledding, a petting zoo, an Elf Academy and much more. Continue reading
MURDERCYCLE (1999) – A Bad Movie gem! An alien object lands on Earth and melds with a motorcycle and its rider. The resulting bio-mechanical creature attacks a secret military compound to recover extraterrestrial technology being studied and reverse-engineered there. The full review is 
EIGHT JAMES GARNER WESTERNS – Balladeer’s Blog’s review of some of the Westerns starring the iconic James Garner, like A Man Called Sledge, Duel at Diablo, Hour of the Gun, One Little Indian and more. Click 
CONAN THE BARBARIAN: MARVEL’S ADAPTATION OF QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST – After the Pulp Era, the Marvel Comics adaptations of Robert E. Howard’s Conan tales kept the figure alive in the public’s mind. A look at their lengthy version of Conan’s adventures with the love of his life Belit, the pirate queen. Also, Amra, Lord of the Lions. 
COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE (1953) – From my Forgotten Television category came this look at the Commando Cody television series from the 1950s. Plus a summary of the movie serials the character had appeared in from 1949 onward. Click 
Balladeer’s Blog’s Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2022 continues! Back in the 2012 edition I reviewed 
Because December 21st is the shortest day of the year, Balladeer’s Blog always runs articles about short films, short presidential administrations, etc. This year I’m observing the 57th anniversary of the theatrical release of the very first animated short in The Inspector series on December 21st, 1965. 
The Pink Panther had already graduated from being the opening credits mascot of Edwards’ series to its own series of cartoon shorts. When the tradition of screening original cartoons before the latest movie releases ended (for the most part) in the late 60s/ early 70s, many of those animated shorts were packaged as cartoon shows for Saturday morning television. The Inspector found a new home as part of the Pink Panther cartoon show. 
THE GREAT DE GAULLE STONE OPERATION – Yes, it was 57 years ago on this date when this Inspector cartoon debuted. As of 1965 the Blake Edwards/ Peter Sellers film series consisted of just The Pink Panther (1963) and A Shot in the Dark (1964). (The original Pink Panther movie premiered in Europe in December 1963 and America in 1964, which is why it is sometimes listed as a 1964 release instead of 1963.) 
RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS (1983) – One of my guiltiest of guilty pleasures, this film is loaded with a mind-blow of multiple elements. Raiders of Atlantis combines sci-fi, horror, Road Warrior, Schwarzenegger, zombie flicks and Raiders of the Lost Ark ripoffs in that explosively enthusiastic manner characteristic of so many Italian B-movies.
PONY EXPRESS RIDERS – The Cliff Brothers 
SEVEN ODD MOVIES FOR NATIONAL VCR DAY – Balladeer’s Blog’s brief reviews of The Deadly Spawn, Triumph of the Champions of Justice, Scream Blacula Scream, Cockfighter, Killer Force, Judge Dee & the Monastery Murders plus Shock Treatment. It’s all 
A.D. 2000 (1890) – This work of “ancient” science fiction was one of the first to follow in the wake of Bellamy’s Looking Backward. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2022 rolls along with Ponsett’s Christmas Carol. Back during 2013’s Carol-A-Thon I reviewed The Trail to Christmas (1957), Jimmy Stewart’s television adaptation of this particular radio play. 
THE SECRET OF THE MUMMY (1982) – One of Brazil’s giants of horror – Ivan “the Terrible” Cardoso – directed this movie set in the 1950s. Jose “Mojica” Marins, Coffin Joe himself, has a brief appearance as an occultist in this production from his former assistant director Cardoso. A mummy is reanimated in Brazil and goes on a rampage. Full review 
STAR MAIDENS (1975-1976) – From my Forgotten Television category came this look at a British Sci-Fi series about the planet Medusa, on which women rule and men are nothing but household servants or laborers. Click 
THE FIRST PONY EXPRESS RIDERS – A look at Sailor Billy Richardson, Johnny Fry and other Expressmen from the 1860 launch of the storied service. Click 
FIVE HARD TO FIND FILMS – Michel Auder’s Cleopatra (1970) – with Christopher Walken, A Yank in Vietnam (1964), filmed on location and under fire in early 1960s Vietnam and three more obscure movies. Read the blog post 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS and the KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS battled it out for the NAIA title on Saturday. After a scoreless 1st Quarter, Halftime arrived with things knotted up at 7-7. The Red Raiders went on top 21-17 in the 3rd Quarter, and an action-packed 4th saw Northwestern College defeat the Seahawks 35-25. * THE RED RAIDERS ARE NAIA CHAMPIONS * 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1997) – This musical cartoon version of the Dickens classic was produced by DIC, the animators known for the early Real Ghostbusters and Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons. The animation quality is adequate but nothing outstanding. However, I will say I find this version’s animation superior to that in the 1982 Australian cartoon A Christmas Carol. 
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