Balladeer’s Blog’s Sixteenth Annual Christmas Carol-a-Thon continues with a review of this Hallmark Channel adaptation of the Dickens story.
IT’S CHRISTMAS, CAROL! (2012) – Well, to borrow from another holiday, I hold these truths to be self-evident –
*** Hallmark productions in the 21st Century are mostly bland and harmless. Never too good or too bad.
*** Adaptations of A Christmas Carol that set the story in whatever their “present day” is have been going on for so long now that the state of technology and the cultural attitudes depicted provide plenty of fodder for contemplation quite independent from the core story.
*** Not providing separate, distinct natures for the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come is like coming up to bat with one or two strikes already against you.
All that said, I won’t be able to use my usual format for my reviews of A Christmas Carol since Marley and the Christmas Ghosts are all played by one person. And it’s not a case of a comedian or a chameleon-like thespian so skilled at crafting characters that it’s a showcase for their talents. (Picture Robin Williams doing different personae for the Ghosts, for instance.)
We’re talking one lone character appearing as all four spirits with no changes to them. Fans of the more urbane and wry Carrie Fisher – as opposed to fans who only liked her as a space princess – will love It’s Christmas, Carol! Continue reading
WILDSIDE (1985) – This Forgotten Television item was a short-lived series that had the elite Old West secret agents appeal that 
MABEL NORMAND: HER SILENT FILM COMEDIES FROM 1910-1915 – The pioneering comedienne who blazed cinematic trails and had a long collaboration with the iconic Fatty Arbuckle and Mack Sennett. 
SUPERHEROES FROM INDIA – Reading superhero stories as a kid served as a gateway to some of my adult passions like mythology and opera, so I will always have a soft spot for them. This blog post looked at some Indian superheroes from the 1960s onward. 
BRUCE CAMPBELL AND SAM RAIMI SHORT FILMS: 1974-1982 – Bruce, Sam and the rest of their Michigan Mafia when they were making youthful short films. My reviews of Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter, The Blind Waiter, Holding It, Attack of the Helping Hand and more 
A CHRISTIAN CAROL (2016) – Balladeer’s Blog’s 16th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this look at a religious-themed variation of A Christmas Carol. Directed by Stan Severance and written by Wesley T Highlander, A Christian Carol follows in the footsteps of the 1983 production The Gospel According to Scrooge.
The HILLSDALE COLLEGE CHARGERS will play the UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY PEACOCKS. 
The WEST TEXAS A&M BUFFALOES will play the ARKANSAS TECH WONDERBOYS. 
NERO WOLFE (1959) – This was a failed pilot for a potential series about Rex Stout’s iconic detective – the rotund, snobbish but brilliant Nero Wolfe, portrayed by Kurt Kasznar. William Shatner played Archie Goodwin, the affable leg man for his reclusive boss. 
The chemistry between Kasznar and Shatner was remarkable, and at just 26 minutes without commercials, this would have been just the right length for each episode without Wolfe’s egotism and impatience with lesser minds wearing out their welcome with viewers. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2019) – Directed and co-written by Steven Salgado, this adaptation of the 1843 novel sets the story in present-day Miami. Though some may try to pigeon-hole this indy film as “a Hispanic-American Christmas Carol” that would not be quite accurate. 
ROUND TWO: GAME ONE – The BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS played host to the CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS. The Ravens led 7-0 in the 1st Quarter but Campbellsville U. was on top 17-7 by Halftime. From there, Benedictine College shut out the Tigers while adding a Touchdown in the 3rd and 4th Quarters each. The Ravens won 21-17.
ROUND TWO: GAME TWO – In this game the MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS entertained the DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS. A 6-0 opening Quarter edge for the Knights became 14-0 at the Half. After the break, the Defenders outscored Marian University 18-12 but that still left them short as the Knights logged a 26-18 triumph. 
ROUND TWO: GAME THREE – The MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS took the field against the visiting CARROLL (MT) COLLEGE FIGHTING SAINTS. The Orediggers had it all their own way at first and took a 17-0 advantage into the locker room. The Fighting Saints rallied in the 3rd Quarter, pulling to within 24-21 of Montana Tech, but the Orediggers won out 31-21 in the 4th. 
SPIDER-WOMAN Vol 1 #17 (Aug 1979) 
Our heroine slips away from Eric to try getting back her costume without exposing her secret identity. At one point, the drunken woman dressed as Spider-Woman falls off the deck of the mountaintop disco. Jessica uses her powers to save the woman and recover her costume before the drunk knows what’s what. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2000) – Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2025 begins with a new review. This ITV production from British television which presented the Scrooge figure as a loan shark coincidentally came out the same year as the Brazilian version which featured Scrooge as a drug dealer. 
Neither one was a comedy, but this UK adaptation adds lighter moments here and there. A Christmas Carol runs just under 75 minutes and was made by a creative team that genuinely understands the Carol. You can tell not just from their insertion of some of the more obscure lines from the Dickens novel but by the way that even their necessary departures from Dickens to stay true to their loan shark gimmick still perfectly reflect the novel’s themes. 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy this holiday and the hope for peaceful coexistence represented by the possibly mythic meal that it commemorates. The kind of self-righteous killjoys who bash Thanksgiving are the type of sanctimonious idiots that are fun to laugh at since they have no identity outside of their ephemeral political concerns. 
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