The Lookback: Christmas Everyday (Not the Movie)

Christmas The Flashback 

      I referenced  William Dean  Howells'  story  called "Christmas Everyday" in the past posts  as part of our look at things that are loosely related to the original story.  The special that this post is looking at is the most related to this story of everything I've looked at already.   "Christmas Everyday" , this special first appeared on CBS in 1987.   This lookback will be a mixture of both the special and a a light comparison to Howells' story.

     Lucy is writing her Christmas list and says that she wishes it could be Christmas everyday,  her father upon hearing this gets nervous. Her father and mother makes her not make this wish. Lucy and  her siblings ask why, and he decides to tell them a story about their  granny Matilda , also called Tilly and events about 100 years ago.  When Tilly's father comes home  he brings a crystal castle ornament that he says is magic because a fairy lives inside and she will make a wish come true. (What could go wrong?)  Tilly makes a wish that it would be Christmas everyday for ever and ever , and the fairy appears and warns that there is no un granting it , but it's only for a year. (because reasons)

*results pending , void in New Jersey 

       It's Christmas Morning and everyone is the family is happy. The Father gets a tie, the sister gets a dress, Tilly gets a doll, and they all get a dog. (it was  a surprise)  The next morning , it's Christmas again, and Tilly is surprised (wasn't expecting that ).  On the repeated Christmas , the family members seem to be getting the same gifts they got before and are confused like they are having an extreme Da ja vu moment.  The gifts ,including the dog are  doubled as well.  The third one kind of bores them  and it repeats and people start getting sick of Christmas.

 Sigh it's Christmas again

    Tilly wants to tell everyone that she is cause of this. (But that's hard)   It's not just Christmas everyday at the one house , it was Christmas Everyday for everyone (yay?) and the year went as normal , just everyday being the same holiday. The price of eating birds went up, cranberries got expensive and even the trees were killed. (Umm guys trees don't ...never mind)   Tilly , herself, is annoyed by Christmas as well.   Everybody got poor (umm guys couldn't you have... oh never mind)  Tilly decides to beg  to the fairy to undo her wish, but she doesn't get a reply. (sorry, the fairy you have dialed has been disconnected)

That's bad neck posture 

   After her birthday doesn't go to to well, Tilly pleads to the fairy again, and her sister ,Franny, over hears her and finds out that she is the cause of the Christmas everyday thing.  When the town finds out  they ignore her.  She decides to run away. (Look what you did town)  Her parents find her and tell that they love her no matter what.  After the year is over, Christmas does end and everyone celebrates that Christmas is over.  Everyone forgave Tilly , and never mentioned this again. (In fact, since Lucy's father is telling this story he was then shot after telling the story, wait no but we got a Gravity Falls reference in)   The fairy appears again and asks if she would like to extend it, and Tilly tells here not to and she returns Christmas to normal.     The Father tells his kids that if you wish something you might just get it.  At the end Lucy makes  wish , that she was in bed and it happens.

  So that's the special and it follows the original story the most.   Where the other holidays seem to be absorbed into Christmas, people building barns to hold the extra presents, the fairy, and when the little girl (not given a name in the story)  she is ignored by the town.  The main moral of both is that Christmas is great , but it's like any good thing what makes  it special is that it comes around once a year.
 My review : The animation of the special is interesting itself , it has a child drawing feel to it , but the special itself has genuine warmth to it and it's an enjoyable over 20 minute viewing.
That is our lookbacks and pretty much we are done with looking at things related to this story, so that was fun, tune in next itme when we wonder what happens if it's Valentine's day everyday.


 

Christmas Lookback : Christmas is Here Again

Christmas  The Flashback 

    We dig not too far back , just to 2007.  I found this movie about a couple years ago and never really thought to get to in the future, but here we are.  It's called "Christmas Is Here Again"   Before I talk about the special , I  have to mention the voice cast which is an impressive amount of stars :  Jay Leno is the narrator ,  Ed Asner, Kathy Bates, Brad Garret , Shirley Jones (you may know her from the Partridge Family) , Colin  Ford, Madison Davenport, Norm Macdonald, Andy Griffith (who gets to play Santa.)  But wow they got a strong celeb cast for this movie.  It came out as direct to video in 2007.   The Animation company is Renegade , which also did the animation for the cartoon Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi.     Which looking at the animation , I see it.

                The movie starts with Santa preparing for Christmas when he finds out  that his sack has  been stolen (in song) by a figure named Krad  (voiced by Ed Asner).  Over the next thirty years Christmas has become forgotten.  The main character we meet named Sophianna who is trying to help a caterpillar from a tree and she names him Mr.Caterpillar.  Some kids start throwing snowballs knocking her and the caterpillar from the tree and stealing her cane.  She  lives at an  orphanage  run by a woman named  Miss Dowdy (voiced by Kathy Bates) .   A woman comes to get some huckleberries for her pie  and when Miss Dowdy comes out  Sophianna runs and hides in the forst because she wasn't supposed to be out there after being sent to her room for the day.  This is where she meets an elf who was frozen in some ice, his name is Paul Rocco.  (Voiced by  Daniel Roebuck , you may know him from  Matlock , or the Dad from the TV movie "Quints")   He finds out that she doesn't know who  Santa is or what Christmas is , so he explains the whole story and situation that is at present.  

Me myelf and I /copyright  Screen Media Films 

                          

       The two of them go the North Pole to find out what to do next. (I'm glad the North Pole wasn't that far)  Santa is noticeably thinner and sadder.  The Woman from earlier was Mrs. Claus.  Santa explains that  Krad took the sack , Krad used to provide Santa with  coal for the naughty children, but Santa stopped doing that  and Krad took revenge. (Krad should have diversified his business , or started a power plant)  Krad lives in the earth with Selves , which are children he converted do his bidding. (The darkest thing in this movie if you think about it.) 

I mean really, dark.... /copyright Screen Media Films 

       

          Sophianna asks why Santa can't just get a new sack to which the answer is  that it was made from the swaddling clothes of the baby Jesus, as a way to remind children of the birth of Christ.   Sophianna wants to help find Santa's sack, instead of going back the orphanage. (We don't blame her) They  meet a small reindeer named Dart, the grandson of Prancem and all 3 of them go the way to Krad's to get the sack.    Next two more animals meet our three some (because why not?) a polar bear named Charlie (voiced by Brad Garret)   and a fox named Buster (voiced by Norm McDonald)  and since they are voiced by celebs they will be here for a while.   

Good the animals talk , or otherwise this would be weird. 

     Anyway, Buster agrees to help them  after Sophianna decides to give up her precious locket ,but their plan was a trick to lead them somewhere but not to a secret enterance. (because never trust a fox)  But this ends up they really do find the secret entrance  and fall inside a room with jewels. (hhahhahahaha)   Buster decides to let them go ahead and leave him and they rest go and find the sack, when he shows up again , it's because he told Krad about then and sells them out for money. (never trust a fox)  But later, Buster helps break them out and gets them  the bag as well. (Fine) 

No comment, just need a picture of the Santa... 

           Krad is defeated quite quickly he and the selves are covered in coal.   Buster gives back the locket and they part paths.  Sophianna returns to Santa's workshop. When Santa asks her for anything she (implied ) asks him for a family, but he says that sometimes anything doesn't mean anything. (well that's sad)  Meanwhile , Christmas is back.  Mr. Caterpillar has become a butterfly. (with the name Violet now)  

Get it ? Violet because.... 

Now the red  text  is a spoiler so if you want to skip , skip to the next black text.  

     

       After the butterfly leaves , Sophianna is surprised when Miss. Dowdy tells her that there's someone who wants to adopt her. She follows  and finds out that the family that wants her is  Santa and Mrs. Claus, who adopt her.  Miss. Dowdy gives her a parting gift of a new cane. 

     So that's the movie.   It  was an enjoyable movie, yes predictable , but it's Christmas, though the  end did kind of surprise me . It's a nice movie to view for Christmas and  all the big stars did  a good job and the voices sound like they enjoyed being in the movie.     The animation is not bad  and for a 2007 movie it's nice to see that's not 3D CGI. The plot stayed on plot, and the songs were numerous but enjoyable and didn't fell to out of place.   Give it a try ,yourself.  

  That's the lookback and review , tune in next time, when  Santa's bag gets stolen again because he doesn't have good security.  

     

  

        

      

The Lookback : Fairly Odd Parents :Christmas Everyday

The Flashback  Christmas  Nickelodeon 

      We continue our journey at looking at Christmas related specials that have to do with  Christmas Everyday in story telling. (refer to our Christmas Everyday post for more)  The past two movies we took a look at were more using the "Groundhog Day" story telling method, that just happens to be Christmas as the  holiday that is being repeated until our protagonist learns a moral.  In the "Christmas Everyday" movie post I mentioned the story by William Dean Howells from 1892 , where a little girl ,who loves  Christmas so much that she wishes it was Christmas everyday and it happens.

   Well now what we are looking at this time is the Christmas episode of the tv series "The Fairly Odd Parents"  called "Christmas Everyday". Again we won't mention every event of the episode, but instead it's plot and how it fits with our Christmas everyday plot lines.

The Moon looks very round tonight/ copyright Viacom 

  Our main character is Timmy Turner, a ten-year-old boy who has fairy god -parents ,because his life , in general is awful.   It starts with Christmas Eve and Timmy's favorite holiday happens to be Christmas because of the gifts, no school (yes and yes) , and his parents don't go out anywhere meaning he gets to spend time with them. (and no nasty baby-sitter Vicky)  So then , it becomes Christmas Day and he has a good one  Santa brought tons of gifts and this causes him to wish it was Christmas Everyday.  Cosmo and Wanda grant his wish and the next morning , it's Christmas again  It goes pretty well, but his fairies want to tell him something important ,but they don't get the chance to. (This will be important later)  Eventually , it starts going downhill (since it's 25 minute special ,pretty quickly) the presents decrease for Timmy , and everyone else is sick of Christmas.   With the banks closed, the stores closed ,and probably other functions of things being hindered. (By the fifteenth day  countries are getting their military ready to shoot down Santa!)

Insert War on Christmas joke here/ copyright Viacom 

       Timmy realizes that everyone else is sick of Christmas now, and tries un-wish it , but he finds ou the fairies including the others in Fairy World  give their magic up to Santa , so they can't un do it. This also adds a new plot to the episode, along with another plot , where the other holidays' characters: Easter Bunny  (Easter , duh) , The April Fool (for well guess) , Cupid, a dog (the Easter Bunny's dog) , Baby New Year. (No tree came for Arbor day I see)  They threaten Timmy (how did they know?) to undue his wish, and they find out that Santa has all the powers. Because of that, their plan is to take out Santa. (take out meaning well you know)

Why Santa ... you look different.../copyright Viacom 

Nevermind/copyright Viacom 

     Timmy (yes we start with Timmy again)  has to stop them by getting to the North Pole first , while also alerts kids around the world on the internet for them to help. (aww 2001 , wait a minute...woah)  Eventually, the other holidays and Santa have a fight (finally I've wanted to see Santa take out the Easter Bunny) but he eventually is weakened and they capture Santa. Timmy gets there and some kids from around the world show up to help.  The other holiday figures just want to be loved as well, and Timmy says they are but Christmas just does more like bring people together. (President's day Makes your buy a mattress) This conveniences the other holidays  to give back the power and Timmy gets an idea to fix the problem he asks the kids to write to Santa to make it December 26th. (Timmy wants to return something)  So of course, it becomes December 26th , and there's a new rule for fairies not to grant this kind of wish again.(Why wasn't a rule in the first place , was he the first?)

Dear Santa... I need to write smaller/ copyright Viacom 

    This episode follows our plot line structure of the wish for Christmas everyday and our main character loves , but it ends up going badly. (like the too much of a good thing rule)  It's moral is pretty clear : Christmas is special because it's one day a year and yes it brings people together and also shows the other holidays are just as important to our lives.

 Now our review: This episode is a great episode of the 'Fairly Odd Parents' has some fun laughs (which is nice for a comedy show)  the gags of the 12 days of Christmas carolers , not knowing what to do with the 15 day , Timmy's Dad wanting  egg nog, "What's up with that?" and more.  I recommend  watching it.

 Tune in next time when we give the answer as to why nobody wishes for it to be Thanksgiving everyday . (Death by food, yep Death by food)

But First These Messages : In this case we mean Message And for Christmas

But First These Messages    Christmas 

   We look at a Christmas commercial  , yes , just one . It's from Australia from Aldi , and it's ummmm well ... here it is.                                                                                                      
        


  It stars all nice and looks like here comes a nice family for Christmas ,  a little  over- enthusiastic   but alright.  But why did they change the wreath? (that was warning )

                                            -Aldi 

Moderately alight, wait look at the one girl on the bottom , is she going to kill them?   

Then they invade personal spaces , like the shower and closet. 

Under the Bed... is why I don't look under the bed.    

I am not sure how the one guy got into the Dishwasher and I don't think I want to know 

I would have done the same thing... also that didn't kill him , but the dishes are never the same. 

 They lose it in the back year , but atleast they brought some snow. 

The Family that wears the same sweater is less likely to have high washing  bills. 

They have magical powers, don't mess with them or whatever I had earlier was really strong. 

 Some people would pay good money to um sun bathe at Christmas , I think. 

Well that's terrifying , is he going to kill that guy? Why have we asked this question so much? (we have a lack of questions,that's why) 

 Hey kid you are swimming wrong, sweaters aren't made for...oh never mind, let's see how the skis are doing. 

Shame on them, how dare they ... break those skis like that ,I mean they don't grow on trees you know. (If they are made of wood, they are made from trees not grown from them) 

This is also where the commercial changes pace where this family finds they like an Aussie Christmas after all . (and really what's not to like?) 

When they "We'll be back next year " they decided to destroy the swears into tank-sweaters the latest fashion trend. 

also look that guy's face when they said that....  that's the face of haunted dreams and planning to move. 

But I  guess it was a happy ending... I think , I am not really sure. 

Sweaters were harmed in the making of this commercial. (and one street light) 

 That was fun, yes it was kind of an odd commercial but it was kind of fun  (plus they are standing right behind us so we can't say anything mean)  and terrifying  it's fun-ifying. 

Golden Globes 2017 Nominees

Golden Globes  

     The Golden Globe nomaniees have been announced. The Awards air on NBC , hosted by Jimmy Fallon, on January 8th. 

Here's the full list


Best Motion Picture, Drama
Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight


Best Motion Picture: Musical, or Comedy

20th Century Women

Deadpool

Florence Foster Jenkins

La La Land

Sing Street


Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Amy Adams, Arrival

Jessica Chastain, Miss Sloane

Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Ruth Negga, Loving

Natalie Portman, Jackie

Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women

Lily Collins, Rules Don’t Apply

Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen

Emma Stone, La La Land

Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins


Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Joel Edgerton, Loving

Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge

Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic

Denzel Washington, Fences



Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water

Simon Helberg, Florence Foster Jenkins

Dev Patel, Lion

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nocturnal Animals


Best Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Viola Davis, Fences

Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Nicole Kidman, Lion

Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea





Best Director, Motion Picture

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals

Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea



Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical, or Comedy
Colin Farrell, The Lobster

Ryan Gosling, La La Land

Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins

Jonah Hill, War Dogs

Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool


Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
La La Land

Nocturnal Animals

Moonlight

Manchester by the Sea

Hell or High Water


Original Score, Motion Picture
Moonlight

La La Land

Arrival

Lion

Hidden Figures


Best Motion Picture :Animated
Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

My Life as a Zucchini

Sing

Zootopia


Best Original Song, Motion Picture

“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls

“City of Stars,” La La Land

“Faith,” Sing

“Gold,” Gold

“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana


Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language
Divines

Elle

Neruda

The Salesman


Toni Erdmann


Best Television Series : Drama

The Crown

Game of Thrones

Stranger Things

This Is Us

Westworld


Best Television Series: Musical or Comedy
Atlanta

Blackish

Mozart in the Jungle

Transparent

Veep


Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
American Crime

The Dresser

The Night Manager

The Night Of

The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story


Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series, Drama

Rami Malek, Mr. Robot

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Billy Bob Thornton, Goliath


Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series, Musical, or Comedy
Anthony Anderson, Blackish

Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle

Donald Glover, Atlanta

Nick Nolte, Graves

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent


Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Riz Ahmed, The Night Of

Bryan Cranston, All the Way

Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager

Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story

John Turturro, The Night Of


Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Sterling K. Brown, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story

Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager

John Lithgow, The Crown

Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

John Travolta, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story


Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander

Claire Foy, The Crown

Keri Russell, The Americans

Winona Ryder, Stranger Things

Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld



Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Olivia Coleman, The Night Manager

Lena Headey, Game of Thrones

Chrissy Metz, This Is Us

Mandy Moore, This Is Us

Thandie Newton, Westworld


Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Felicity Huffman, American Crime

Riley Keough, The Girlfriend Experience

Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J.: American Crime Story

Charlotte Rampling, London Spy

Kerry Washington, Confirmation


Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series, Musical, or Comedy
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Sarah Jessica Parker, Divorce

Issa Rae, Insecure

Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin

Tracee Ellis Ross, Blackish

NBC Announces Midseason scheduling

NBC Midseason  TVLOOKFALL2016 

      NBC has announced their mid-season programming. This includes three new comedies  the return of  Shades of Blue  and Little Big Shots.   New series : Redemption a spinoff of  The Blacklist  , Chicago Justice, Trail and Error.    A new comedy, Great News,  will take the slot of Trail and Error slot, which will employ a back to back slot strategy.


Here's the schedule:

 Thursdays  Starting February 2nd
  8pm  Superstore
  8:30pm  Powerless (series premiere)

Thursdays  Starting February 23rd
10pmet  Black List:  Redemption (series premiere)


Tuesdays , March 7th
 9;30pmet   Trail and Error (series premiere)

Tuesdays starting March 14th :
9pmet  Trail and Error  (time slot premiere) (back to back)


Tuesdays, Starting April 25th
9pmet  Great News  (back to back ) (series premiere)

Sundays, Starting March 5
8pmet  Little Big Shots (new season)
9pmet  Chicago Justice (series premiere)
10pmet Shades of Blue (new season)

If we get more info.. we'll bring it you.

Press release after the jump

The Lookback :Pete's Christmas

Christmas Hallmark Channel  The Flashback  

    We continue our look at the story telling of Christmas everyday (though not every Christmas lookback we do will be based on this the story telling of Christmas Everyday) and this is our first Hallmark Channel Made for TV movie featured lookback. (yay!)  Pete's Christmas came out in 2013 on Hallmark Channel , it stars the kid from  the live-action "Wimpy Kid" movies Zachary Gordon, and  Bailee Madison. (Who you may remember if you liked "Wizards of Waverly Place , played Max , when he was turned into a girl).

The cover says they are the stars and in HD! 

        Like our "Christmas Everyday" 1996 post , we won't go into detail of the special  itself  but more into the plot and where it fits into our  talk of Christmas everyday. (We disused that in our last post in depth)  Much like  CE , this movie follows the "Groundhog Day" effect where our main character spends multiple Christmases until he learns something. (That he isn't Bill Murray) 

     So , of course we have got to take a look how Pete  and since he is a teenager and this isn't  a situation where he lives by himself , and his family  celebrate the holiday. (First Tuesday in February)  Plus, it helps us get to know Pete's character , since will be focusing on him. (It is called Pete's Christmas after all)  The movie starts like it's  Hallmark  card (ooooh ) with the family  singing Christmas carols. Well  not really , the kids really don't care.  Meanwhile the Mom has to work on Christmas eve  and the dad has finding a new job, while Grandpa shows up unexpectedly.  

Now we need the Christmas, so that's the next morning  and of course in these type of movies the details of every shot are important ,even the mundane things  like Pete's little brother saying nothing stops the the train under his bed from departing at 7:35 A.M. (We the audience will be hearing this alot). 

  

 Ok Men, Toy Story 4 has to look realistic /copyright  Hallmark 

   Pete is the middle brother, the younger brother seems to be that character  who is above average smart and will make sure everybody knows it ,by the way he talks , the older brother seems to be the one who likes sports (because reasons). He also seems to be cocky and likes his looks.   Grandpa seems to be the the cranky one who may be the reason why they were bothered when he showed up.      Some key moments from Christmas Day : Pete's little brother ,Kenny,  gets the telescope Pete wanted for Christmas. (because conflict)  Pete's parents didn't get him anything , they kind of well forgot.  There seems to be tension between Grandpa  and his son (the father, he might have name but I don't care).  Plus,  there are new neighbors , (Madison's character is part of  these new neighbors).  Time for things to go  well wrong: When  Jake, the other brother,   was trying to plug in something, Pete warns him that he has to unplug the tree first or the everything will short-circuit ,while Pete tries unplug the tree the older brother gets impatient (it was 3 seconds) and decides to plug in something anyway causing a short-circuit and he trips the tree falls over knowing over Pete and the telescope.   The parents ask what happened Jake blames Pete and I guess the believe him. (because reasons)   Next there's a football game, and since Pete is not very athletic it doesn't go well for him.  Remember that power thing? Well the food didn't make it because nobody turned the oven on, so they have Christmas at a place this open and this goes well bad.  The day ends with food poisoning, and Grandpa decides to leave early and gives Pete an empty box.   

That  Christmas Story remake is weird /copyright Hallmark 

  

    After that misberable Christmas , Pete wakes up and thus begins the "Groundhog Day" effect , though Pete goes through many Christmases  he thinks at first it's a  joke being played on him.  Then he tries to figure out what's going on.  After a few of the Christmases he talks with grandfather and something he says helps him. Grandpa suggests that if he could relive the same day it would be gift,because he could live consequence free, this gives Pete an idea. Getting us to our  stage 2, Pete tries to fix his Christmas experience.

Darn it trick or treaters...you are late/copyright Hallmark 

   

   The next Christmas (in this movie I lost track) he wakes up a little early and does some changes like, switching the gift tags on the presents.  Kenny ends up with the football . Pete gets the telescope, and Jake is left out now. He also defeats the bully boys in their snowball fight , gets Kenny gets smashed by a Christmas tree, he tries to impress the girl next door. ( I think we skipped a few Christmases).  He saves dinner with Pizza (after a few more Christmases),  The football game goes well , and Grandpa still wins his bet. )  If this movie was to fix Pete and Grandpa's relationship , it worked. He finds out that his Grandpa wanted to come because it's what Grandma would have wanted.    Pete then works on trying meet with his neighbor , Katie and impress her. 

                        

     Even though , the Christmas went well, Grandpa still leaves the house and Pete feels un accomplished.   He asks  Katie what she would do if every day was Christmas, she tells him that it forces you to slow down and look up.  Another Christmas, when he asks again, she tells hum she wishes for one more Christmas with her family, with her father still alive. Appreciate what you have is her message. Pete takes this to heart and decides to make the Christmases better for everyone. (Again I lost track of the days)  There is one thing he is having a  hard time with, how to get his Grandpa and his father to not fall out.  Kenny talks with him and offers to help him ,and Pete finds out that his brother is a little jealous of him because he thinks everyone expects him to be perfect , and he didn't want the telescope.  Pete suggests he can loose up and have fun. (awww) 

Then they fought.. with snow/ copyright Hallmark 

      Pete then talks with his father  about the relationship of him and Grandpa.  Pete's father says that  things started not doing well after Grandma died.  Pete's father realizes something about why his father gripes about Christmas, that he misses Grandma.  Pete refashioned the Christmas star and shows it to Grandpa and the father and they make up. (awww)  The next morning ,Pete wakes up and notices some differences and yes Christmas is over now.  

     Back to our 'Christmas Everyday'  talk :  This movie does something different with it's use of Christmas Everyday, it kind of makes you wonder what would you do if Christmas was repeating itself?  Pete tries the better things for himself type, then slowly tires to do things for others as well. Like "Christmas Everyday" our main character is a teenage boy which makes it interesting how he seeings things. Though was no wish  at all in this one, it's more related to Pete learning a lesson , like in "Christmas Everyday" the moral of the story can be Christmas is about family. 

  Now our review:  If  I had to pick between  "Christmas Everyday" and "Pete's Christmas" I would pick CE, but that doesn't count against this movie. It's a Hallmark Movie so it's a little silly ,well at least it doesn't force a romance.  I do enjoy this movie, it does have at first watch an err to feel like the characters are  unlikeable , this changes a little later in the movie, which I am glad it does.  So yes , do watch it , Christmas movies are supposed to be syrupy  right? 

Tune in next time when  we go mad after having  to re-write this post over and over again and again.

But First These Messages: Christmas (well of course)

But First These Messages... 

   So This is Christmas (ewww why did we write this)  Every Christmas season the commercials put on their decorations and  sell you stuff ,while fitting the season.  Is this pandering ? Yes , but that's what commercials do.

  But First These Messages :


 In 1994, the remade "Miracle on 34th Street"  it's an alright remake.  So of course 7 Up (the Un Cola) decided hey lets tie ourselves with the movie. Also at the same time get some miracle money.

   Coca Cola (the Cola Cola )  is very much apart of Christmas (In fact in the 80's Christmas was called ,Coca-Cola presents New Christmas , that is a lie!)   so in 1994, they seem to be warning us of something.


 The Santa Packs are coming, do not run , they are coming!   You can not escape them!

Beer isn't really Christmas related ,but this Budwesier commercial feels very Christmas-y .

   The Cyldesdale Horses get a Christmas outing in this ad, and yes it feels very Christmas-y , and it's nice they wish you best , and not just scream Buy our Beer!

Toys!  Nothing says Christmas like toys! (In fact... in the old days Christmas and Toys were synonyms , ok we lied again)


 One thing about this 1976 Toys 'R' US commercial is that it's not loud , annoying or disturbing. It has the gentleness that Christmas should be. (opinion?)




It's weird to think that M&M's ads used to not have those weird talking candy  things . This 1978 just shows us Christmas and the product being used in the fun.

Though this one is nice too



more after the jump (come along with us)

The Lookback : Christmas Everyday (1996)

Freeform  Christmas  The Flashback 

   Wow, this TV movie is 20 years old now, and we mean like today.   But first, we before we talk about the movie ,we have to talk about  the concept of Christmas everyday stories.  It's kind of an interesting idea , what if the  the great wonderful Christmas (bias)  was the every single day?
  One of the earliest examples of this type of story is "Christmas Every Day" William Dean Howells, which you can read here .   In the original story a little girl wishes that it was Christmas everyday  and it happens , and moral of the story  is don't do that. Or for full understanding : That Christmas is a great day but what makes it special is that it's not everyday, that don't do too much of a good thing or it won't be as loved or special anymore.
     Now to reference our movie  "Christmas Everyday" came out on December 1st 1996, on The Family Channel (which became Fox Family in 1998,  became ABC Family in 2001 , now known as Freeform in 2016) it was an original movie for the channel made with Mary Tyler Moore Studios (also at the time owned by Pat Robertson because... that's another story).  This movie is not following that story  in as much as it follows a popular movie, "Groundhog Day".

   Now Our lookback won't be telling the movie's events instead we kind of just parse the plot.
 The movie stars  Erik Von Detten who you may know from such movies like "Brink"  , as a boy named Billy , who is well a movie teenager , (That mean's he's moody alot)  For the "GroundHog Day"plot to work , you have to have some establishing of our character  and well Christmas.  Christmas Day doesn't go well for Billy.   His uncle comes to visit and this brings up that he wants to build a mega store, which the small town is against because it would put small merchants out of business, Billy's father also happens to be against it.  Billy has a bully or something that is bothering him , and he's also trying to attract this girl he likes. (Because it's a movie with a teenager)  When he plays  a trick on said bully at the Christmas pageant, this brings up the town getting fired up over the mega store.  And other minor events too.   Christmas ends with Billy very un happy and getting mad at his sister and she ends  up wishing that It was Christmas everyday.

  Well guess what happens?   The next morning Billy wakes up thinking everything is a trick on him  and keeping bringing up that everything he's seeing happened already. The next Christmas  he tries to explain to his parents that it keeps being Christmas but they ,of course, think he's sick. (The doctor said it's because he's a teenager ... darn teenagers and their repeating days)   So after getting the hang of what's going on , the next Christmas (the 4th one) he's tries to use his new future knowing abilities to his advantage. (Of course why not, I'd do the same?. bow to my power!)    That doesn't go well  and it ends in more black eyes. (Billy gets punched alot in this movie)

Darn it Billy ,that's not how you apply make up!/Copyright Freeform?

          The  Last Christmas (he gave you his heart, sorry) didn't go well so the next one (5th) he tires a different approach (it's like a puzzle)  he takes things to his advantage and tries to give himself the best Christmas he ever had.  He kisses the girl ,defeats the bully, and stole his uncle's car. (Because teenager) Anyway this Christmas (will be... sorry) he talks with his father and learns something (you can tell) .   So his new plan is to do nice things for the next Christmas (the 6th one).  I am cite some examples of things he did He saved a family from a house fire , finds a girl scout troop in the woods (what?) , gives an old lady free food and stuff, but he's not happy (because teenager) , mostly because he figured out something he can't solve all the world's problems. (he learned an important lesson that day)  He over hears his parents talking about how their store would be hurt if the mega store comes to town.  

 I wonder if the clothes stayed clean or something... also camcorder/copyright Freeform?

         So the next Christmas (the 7th one)  he does nice things for people with a new Christmas spirit.  This is also the end of his Groundhog day of Christmas because he learned his lesson of what Christmas is about. 

He also makes this for under his sister's bed/copyright Freeform? 

    There's a cameo from Santa , who apparently was responsible for this or something  and the next morning , Billy  Wakes up and finds out that it's not Christmas (nope it's tax day now. pay upt!) anymore. 

More after the jump , come with us please.