Animated Movie Review: **^ Micky's Christmas Carol. (1983)

 A Disney short cartoon version of A Christmas Carol.  The interesting thing is the different Micky Mouse characters taking on different roles.  Scrooge McDuck is Scrooge, Micky Mouse is Cratchit, Donald Duck is the nephew Fred.  Goofy is the ghost of Marley, the giant is Christmas present, Jiminy Cricket is Christmas past.  Daisy Duck is Belle.  I really goes fast so each ghost only presents one scene.  It sort of skips are being able to see the change in Scrooge.  

Dr. Seuss Movie Review: ***^The Cat in the Hat (2003)

 The best way to describe this movie is there is a whole lot of strange going on.  The Cat (Mike M
yers) comes to entertain two children, Sally and Conrad (Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin) who are home with the babysitter (Amy Hill) who sleeps through everything.  Mom (Kelly Preston) is away at work.  The neighbor (Alec Baldwin) wants to get Conrad sent to middle school so he can have more time with mom.  The Cats methods of entertaining are not really normal, and when Thing 1 and Thing 2 get out of the box things really go haywire.  A fun race by the Cat and the kids to beat the neighbor to the house so they can clean up--which seems impossible.  

Christmas Movie Review of Jesus' Birth: *** Journey to Bethlehem (2023)

 This is a musical presentation of the birth of Jesus.  The music is too modern for my tastes, but it does tell an important story.  They admit to taking some liberties with the actual story as in the Bible.  Antonio Banderas portrays Herod, Mary is portrayed by Fiona Palomo, Joseph by Milo Manheim and Herod's son by Joel David Smallbone.  Herod becomes suspicious long before the wise men arrive, and the wise men start their journey before Jesus is born.  It portrays as the son of Herod letting Mary and Joseph escape with Jesus against the wishes of his father.

At the Movies: **** David (2025)

Pretty fun romp at the movies and the story of David, and Saul.  It is a historical animatd feature.  The movie starts with David as a shepherd and ends with him as a king.  He is ordained of the prophet Samuel to become king after Saul disobeyed the prophet.  But then he has to actually become king.  He fights Goliath in the name of the Lord.  However he eventually becomes an enemy to Saul.  From Angel Studios.  David loved Saul's son, Jonathan.  He weeps when he dies.  Taken from first and second Samuel in the Bible.  

I would recommend this movie.  The music is very catchy, especially Shalom which David sings to Saul to calm him.  David is voiced by Phil Wickham.

Christmas Movie: ***^ Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House (2002)

While Home Alone 3 had different characters, Home Alone 4 is back to the original characters but with different actors.  The family is going through a period of separation, Peter McCallister (Jason Beghe) has a new girl friend, Natalie (Joanna Going). The three children, Kevin, Buzz and Meghan (Mike Weinberg,  Gideon  Jacobs and Chelsea Russo) decide to spend Christmas with their mother, Kate McCallister (Clare Carey).  Buzz treats him very poorly, making him do all the chores with his harrassment.  Kevein changes his mind and walks to his dad's house, where he is welcomed.  However Kevin recognizes Marv (French Stewart), bad guy from the first two, there with his girlfriend, Vera (Missi Pyle).  There are also two staff, Prescott (Erick Avari) and Molly (Barbara Babcock).  When Kevin sees the thieves come through the door, with a house device to tell the doors and alarm what to do.  Kevin repells the crooks, but in doing so he floods the house.  Kevin figures there is an inside man, and it feels it is Prescott, who runs security.  A prince is coming for Chirstmas and the plan is to kidnap him.  Will Kevin be up to the task of taking back the house after He and Prescott are thrown in the cellar?  Molly is Marv's mother.

Robin Williams Christmas Movie Review: ***^ A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2004)

 This movie is an irreverent look at Christmas and the family get-together.  Boyd Mitchler (Joel McHale) does not like his father (Robin Williams) who did allow him Christmas spirit as a child.  He does not go home for Christmas.  But this year is different.  His brother, Nelson (Clark Duke), has a new baby and asked Boyd to be Godfather.  The baptism is Christmas Eve.  Boyd and his wife (Lauren Graham) head home, four hours, for Christmas.  He really wants his youngest son, Doug to have the spirit of Santa Clause.  His mother's (Candice Bergen) Christmas dream is that the whole family be together.  This includes sister, Shauna Weinke (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and her husband Dave Weinke (Tim Heidecker) and their two older children, who do not believe in Santa and are pretty rowdy.

When they get there they discover they left Doug's present home.  Boyd decides to go home to get it.  If he hurries he can just make it.  His car breaks down and dad comes to rescue him.  Dad is a porta-potty delivery man.  They discover Nelson in one of the potties.  He had fallen asleep.  A police men pulls him over a few times as he speeds.  Last time he doesn't stop but the policeman lets him go, it is Christmas.  They run over a drunk hobo Santa Clause (Oliver Platt).  He appears dead, but just as they are going to chop him up to bury him he wakes up.  They take home home, arriving too late for gift opening, ao the hobo Santa takes thre gift in, a sleigh.  They have no snow, but a different gift pleases Doug.  

Some chuckles, but not the greatest film.  It does display Williams' wit and humor but as a grouchy old man, who is overcoming addiction.  There is some growth as Boyd interacts with his father, and gets past some of his childhood trauma.

Christmas Movie Review: **** Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

 Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) writes a cooking column for a magazine.  In her column she talks of her farm in the country, and her cooking skills, her husband and baby.  Problem is these are things only in her column and not in real life.  Her boss, Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) wants to host a returning seaman, Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan), for Christmas.  He was shipwrecked for sometime with little or no food and needs Christmas with a family with good food.  After inviting the seaman, the boss also invites himself.  

In coming up with a solution she decides to marry a friend, John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner) who has been asking her about marriage, and spending Christmas at his farm in Connecticut.  She also invites her uncle, who is a chef, Felix Bassenak (S.Z. Sakall) to come and cook.  The baby will be handled by an actual baby who is tended by Sloan's maid.  The preacher will marry them before anyone arrives; but the others arrive too soon and they are not married.  

As she gets to know the sailor, Lane is more and more stricken.  However she lays her part as a married woman with a baby.  Comedy comes in as Lane doesn't know cooking, or caring for babies.  As she gets to know Jones better, she also has to postpone the wedding,  Felix helps her in this regard.  

Except for her budding love for the sailor, things are going well.  However she and the sailor get in a sleigh, and the horse takes off with them.  They are arrestrd for horse stealing.  Felix is left to ten the baby.  When the mother picks up, she is observed by Yardley, who proclaims kidnapping and calls the police.  Everything now has to come out.  She is fired, but then rehired with a raise as Felix tells hr boss she is going to a different magazine.  

I found this movie to be fun.  The humor is nice and there are some slapstick situations.  Felix tells Jones what has been happening and he funs fun chasing her around while she pretends to be married,  but really wants him too.