(0) Yes, I celebrate Christmas, and if you celebrated any holiday today I hope you’ve enjoyed yours just as much as I did. I spent mine hanging out with my brother’s family. (P.S. While it wasn’t an ecumenical decision, I did drink a Diet Pepsi last night.)
(1) LOVELY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. Galaxy used to have an annual tradition….
(2) THE SCIENCE OF READING TO KIDS. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] The Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal is out. One festive season story is whether or not reading bed-time fantasy (fairy tales) to children confers additional health benefits…. “Good nights: optimising children’s health through bedtime stories”.
Healthy sleep is a public health priority, with at least a third of children and adults reporting insufficient sleep. It is essential for children’s growth and development and optimal physical and mental wellbeing. Consistent bedtime routines, with a calming activity before bed, such as a bedtime story, can promote healthy sleep. Some traditional fairy tales and classic children’s fiction that have soothed many a child to sleep may also include information about the benefits of sleep and the characteristics of sleep disorders, providing accessible and engaging ways for parents or carers, healthcare providers, and educators to discuss healthy sleep with children.
(3) IS THE 2024 2000AD ANNUAL WORTH IT? [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] I don’t know if this is a thing in the US, but over here in Brit Cit, the pre-Christmas season sees the publication of comics’ annuals. These are large-format hardbacks featuring stories from the comics.
2000AD used to produce them back in the late 1970s and early 1980s but have not done so for the past 24 years, instead they produce special, 100-page editions of 2000AD. However, this year they have gone back to form and produced an annual! (With two alternate cover desgns.)
Now, at £25 (about US$30) it might be a little expensive for some. However, die-hard 2000AD fans will be tempted. Here, while there are new Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Lawless and Rogue trooper (feature film hopefully coming this year), all the other material – Judge Anderson, Tales from the Black Museum, Mean Machine, more Rogue trooper and more Judge Dredd, is reprinted old material. So if you are a long-standing 2000AD fan – and, standing at over six feet, I am– then you will already have all these in your collection.
Yet, such is the length of 2000AD’s history (over 47 years) that many will have only come to Tharg’s (the editor’s) fold in recent years and so may only now get to see this reprinted material for the first time.
But fear not any fellow old Squaxx dek Thargo (2000AD fans), this year 2000AD are still producing their 100-page special Christmas edition of all new material as well. What joy!
2000AD is available from all large, specialist SF bookshops that have a decent comics section or online at www.2000AD.com.
Splundig!
(4) MYSTERY REVEALED. From Atlas Obscura, a year ago: “How Christmas Murder Mysteries Became a U.K. Holiday Tradition”.
Christmas murder mysteries can be traced back to detective fiction’s golden age between World War I and II. Before World War I, Christmas short stories and detective fiction had been steadily growing in popularity throughout Victorian and Edwardian Britain, eventually developing into the more complicated mysteries of the interwar period….
(5) SPIRIT DU JOUR. [Item by Steven French.] And here’s a short selection of three recent tales and one old classic: “The best spooky stories for Christmas, from Victorian classics to contemporary creepy tales” in the Guardian.
This is a time for ghost stories. There’s a reason Shakespeare tells us: “A sad tale’s best for winter: I have one of sprites and goblins.” And why Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and its (superior?) muppets version have retained popularity.
Since pagan times, people have believed in the supernatural potential of the winter solstice. It’s a liminal moment, when the darkness retreats and the light returns, a hinge point where the door between the living and the dead can swing open. (Other liminal moments are considered supernaturally powerful, too. Midnight, for instance. And its opposite – The Apparition of Mrs Veal, sometimes described as the first modern ghost story, has its spirit appear at noon.)
So, as we approach the end of one year and the start of another, do enjoy some spooky stories. The list below features some suggestions beyond the Victorian classics, to give you a nice, contemporary creep….
(6) ES COLE (1924-2024). Fandom recently learned that Esther Cole, who co-chaired the 1954 Worldcon in San Francisco with her husband Les, died a month ago at the age of 100. Rich Lynch has written a tribute: “Farewell, Dear Lady — Es Cole (1924-2024)”.
(7) BARRY MALZBERG TRIBUTE. Jeet Heer praises the late Barry Malzberg, who passed away December 19, in “Novelist on a Deadline: Barry Malzberg, 1939–2024” at The Nation.
…Along with his peers J.G. Ballard, Samuel Delany and Philip K. Dick, Malzberg was a central figure in the movement of science fiction away from the external world of adventure fiction and outer space into the psychological torments and struggles of inner space. Technology, these writers all understood, is not something external to humans but changes how we think and how we feel: The registering of technological change in the realm of emotional life was their literary project.
Malzberg was a particularly kindred spirit to Dick, another speed demon—one who batted off books in a matter of weeks during amphetamine-fueled binge sessions at the typewriter. In an interview in the late 1970s, Dick said, “In all the history of science fiction, nobody has ever bum-tripped science fiction as much as Barry Malzberg.… he’s a great writer.”…
(8) MEMORY LANE.
[Written by Cat Eldridge.]
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Once upon a Christmas season, there was a television show called How The Grinch Stole Christmas. A television show that explicitly had a message that Christmas was neither a celebration of the birth of Christ, nor was it something that comes in a box, but rather is a matter of remembering that we hold each other in our hearts. Warm, fuzzy, and aggressively secular. In 1966 no less!
Aired on December 18 on CBS, the short film, just 26 minutes long, aired on that network for 21 years; ABC has aired it starting 2006, and then Turner Broadcasting has been airing, well until now as you’ll see below. I just watched it after getting it off iTunes where it comes bundled with Horton Hears A Who. (Both of these would be made into films that were awful.) This animated version was written by Christine Kenne from the brief children’s book by Theodore Geisel writing as Dr. Suess; it was produced by him and Chuck Jones who also directed it rather brilliantly.
The animation style looks more than a little flat but that just adds to the feel of it being a folk tale about a villain in his lair high on the mountain, The Grinch, who decides he can’t stand all the noise and commotion of the Whos down in Whoville enjoying Christmas. Not to mention his disgust at them eating the rare roast beast. So he concocts a brilliant scheme to dress as Santie (sic) Claus and take a sleigh down into Whoville (his dog Max with an antler tied to his head being a poor substitute for a reindeer) and steal everything down and including a crumb of food so small that even a mouse wouldn’t eat it.
So up to the top of Mount Crumpet he rides waiting for them to all go ‘boo who’ when they discover everything is gone, but instead he hears them all signing out in joyful voices thereby providing the upbeat moral of this which I noted previously. Hearing this, his heart grows multiple sizes and he rescues the now falling load with ‘the strength of ten Grinches plus two’. Riding into Whoville, he grins ear to ear, and he, the now reformed Grinch, has the honor of carving the roast beast.
I watch it every year this as I really like it. I love the bit, used twice, of increasingly small Whos, once serving tea and the second time a strawberry to a small Who girl, by coming out of a series of covered dishes.
A final note must be devoted to this being I believe the last performances of Boris Karloff who both narrated it, voiced and made the sounds of The Grinch and of this tale which I noted above sung all of its songs save ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch’ which was, though uncredited, sung by Thurl Ravenscroft, one of the booming voices for Kellog’s Frosted Flakes. Karloff won the only performance award he got as he was awarded a Grammy in the Spoken Ward category!
It’s one of the best Christmas shows ever!
It is streaming on Peacock now. So go watch it. The Suck Fairy says you really should.
(9) MORE MEMORY LANE.
[Written by Aurora Winter.]
The Lion in Winter (1968 and 2004)
In 1968 MGM Studios teamed up with James Goldman to adapt his play The Lion in Winter for the screen. At the time the play had been a flop, running for a mere eighty-three performances on Broadway two years previous. The movie was made and was not only a success, but also breathed new interest into the stage version. I first encountered the 1968 film in University and read the script.
The title, for those of you rusty with your English history, refers to King Henry II (the lion was his crest) being in the “winter” of his life. At this point in history King Henry II had a kingdom that stretched into France and was in need of choosing his heir. Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry’s wife, was imprisoned in a castle (thanks to Henry who was the key keeper). Goldman’s story is a fictional account of the Christmas court held to determine the future king. A complicated story this is, the wit in the script combined with the actors’ stellar timing make it worth watching again and again.
Seven characters, each tremendously important, make up the cast . . . and what a cast it is. The role of the fifty-year-old (quite old for 1183) King Henry is played by a mature Peter O’Toole. Katherine Hepburn was granted the role of the spunky and vivacious Eleanor of Aquitaine. The three sons up for the throne are: Richard (Anthony Hopkins), John (Nigel Terry), and Geoffrey (John Castle). Let us not forget Alais (Jane Merrow) either, the young girl given to Henry by the French king sixteen years before to one day be the bride for the chosen king. Beyond this it is useless to explain more of the plot as it is far too complicated.
I said that the timing was crucial to the success and enjoyment one can experience with this film. While some may not appreciate a film that finds its humor through fast paced, verbal, intelligent wit with little ‘sight gags’ and no slapstick, I adore it. Each scene seems half the length it actually is because these actors are so tight in their character that they can fire one-liners back and forth without ever seeming fake or forced. One gets the sense that these conversations might have occurred between Eleanor and Henry, Henry and Alais, Richard and Philip, John and Geoff.
The technical aspects of this film are quite impressive too, period costume more accurate than those generally seen in such films. The whole movie takes place within Henry’s castle in Chinon, a vast castle in the cold of December, and the production crew made sure we felt the draft from the open spaces and cold stone. The cinematography often mirrors the long walking shots that we now see all the time on West Wing, creating the feeling that we have been transported back centuries to drop in on this family crisis.
While this film does have some minor downfalls — Morrow’s Alais is a bit too whiney for my taste and a few gems were cut from the original text and replaced with extraneous muck (I’m still holding out for the version that leaves those gems in) — they are easily ignored and outdone by the beauty of the final work. It is no surprise that this launched Anthony Hopkins into stardom, or how so many see Hepburn (she did win the Best Actress Oscar for this role) and O’Toole as the definitive Eleanor and Henry. If, somehow, you have missed this piece of film history, go rent the DVD, sit back, and allow yourself to be transported back to 1183.
I am not a big fan of remakes when it comes to the film industry, especially when the original was so fantastic. But every now and then someone comes along and surprises me with a new-old movie that is as good, or better than the original. This was what I discovered after I watched the 2004 version of The Lion in Winter.
The script is still the same screenplay adaptation Goldman wrote for the 1968 film. The entire framework in the technical areas remained untouched. The actors were the key to bringing this new version to life. I should think it would be rather intimidating to attempt to play Eleanor of Aquitaine or Henry II after Hepburn and O’Toole. The director cast Glenn Close as Eleanor and Patrick Stewart as Henry and the choice could not have been better. Close and Stewart bring to the film a chemistry and wit that Hepburn and O’Toole never did.
With repeated viewings Hepburn’s Eleanor eventually struck me as being a little devoid of the true stoicism and sarcasm that I see the character as having. Close presents an Eleanor whose emotional indicators are much more subtle, the way the character reads on the page. Stewart, too, breathes new life into Henry’s role. He keeps up with Close’s pace and allows enough of Henry’s heart into view, rather than only his determined grip on power; we can stand by him rather than judge him too harshly.
Unfortunately, this film forgot that the story is really about the whole royal family, not simply about Eleanor and Henry. Because of this I think that the supporting cast was not really allowed to find their individual moments in the spotlight the way the play and original film do.
They also, for reasons unknown, decided to skip over the tension between Philip (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and Richard (Andrew Howard). It is one of those little things that doesn’t seem that important to the overall piece, but really it is a massive turning point in the script and I think must be portrayed with that in mind.
Overall, the new version surprised me with just how good it was. As it turned out, my fears about the new version were unfounded, even though it was not without its own disappointments. Luckily, I can fully recommend both versions to anyone who might be interested in this little bit of fictionalized history. In fact, watch them both, one after the other in either order; you won’t be sorry.
[Reprinted from Sleeping Hedgehog.]
(10) TODAY’S ANNIVERSARY.
[Written by Cat Eldridge.]
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1938)
December 19th eighty-six years ago, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas was first published by the Collins Crime Club. In the States, it bore first the title of Murder for Christmas and later A Holiday for Murder when published in paperback. It was the nineteenth novel with him as the Belgian detective; it retailed at seven shillings, six pence.
Critics generally thought it was one of her best mysteries. The New York Times Book Review critic Isaac Anderson said of it that “Poirot has solved some puzzling mysteries in his time, but never has his mighty brain functioned more brilliantly than in Murder for Christmas.”
The story was adapted for television for an episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot starring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, first aired in the UK on Christmas 1994. The BBC has produced it twice for radio with it first being broadcast on Christmas Eve 1975 with John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot. A second production was broadcast on Christmas Eve 1986 featuring Peter Sallis as Poirot. BritBox here in States is now where you can watch this series.
ABE currently has a UK first edition the cover art below of course for a little over $8700 with this description, “A fine copy with one small neat contemporary date inscription to corner of flap. Some light sporadic foxing to preliminary pages (only). Covers are bright and have no bumping to corners or fading to spine. In original near fine price clipped dust jacket with some archival restoration chiefly to spine tips. An excellent copy.”
(11) COMICS SECTION.
- Post Atomic Horror remembers “Stardate: Gorncorn”.
- 1 and Done finds its own wild things.
- Carpe Diem shows there were preppers before there were people.
- Off the Mark knows the reason for the delay.
- Rudy Park cracks down on hummers.
(12) EMMA BULL ON CHRISTMAS TAMALES. [Item by Cat Eldridge.] Emma Bull, who for a while lived with her husband Will Shetterly in Arizona, says “We have to have tamales on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, local tamale specialists La Loma make excellent ones, since I’m way too lazy to build ’em myself.We have to that ‘have tamales on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, local tamale specialists La Loma make excellent ones, since I’m way too lazy to build ’em myself.’ She added a bit later that the filling is, “Anything vegetarian: cheese and peppers, mostly, or tamales de elote, which are slightly sweet corn masa. Served with roasted garlic salsa and spicy guacamole. The one year Will and I made our own tamales, the filling included wild rice, which sounds weird but which was really tasty.”
(13) THE FIRST ONE IS FREE. Max is sharing the first full episode of “Creature Commandos Season 1” to entice subscribers.
Amanda Waller assembles the Creature Commandos — led by General Rick Flag Sr. — and sends them to Pokolistan to protect Princess Ilana Rostovic.
(14) TODAY’S THING TO WORRY ABOUT. Dan Monroe reveals the many ways in which the award-winning Peanuts classic differs from the version originally aired in “Whatever Happened to A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS?”
[Thanks to Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, Lise Andreasen, Rich Lynch, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, and Kathy Sullivan for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jack Lint.]
