Name that Movie

I was on the phone with my niece, Hannah the other night and we were reminiscing  about last Christmas.  With us mostly talking about how annoying I can be, but how much fun it is anyway. It is really hard to disguise a DVD. You can put it inside of a box, to disguise the shape, but that is pretty much it unless you want to expend a lot of time and effort. Last year when I sent the gifts down, there were a couple of DVD's mixed in.

Hannah thought that since she knew it was a DVD and it had her name on it, she should be able to open it.  I disagreed at the time and still do,  but after listening to a teenagers  insistent and somewhat repetitive reasoning I was willing to give a little, even if it was for my own piece of mind.   I would let her open the gift wrapped DVD if she could guess what it was. Just like with any guessing game there needed to be clues.

This is where I get to be annoying. I limited it to two clues and she could use the internet (because, let's face it, she was going to do it anyway), but they were not going to be easy clues. I can still remember the way she rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh and then demanded the clues, sure that she would get it right away.

First Clue:  The letter "F" is in the title somewhere

Second Clue:  Bill Murray

I was feeling pretty brilliant. Go look up Bill Murray movies that have the letter "F' somewhere in the title.  His IMBD list is as long as Santa's Naughty list.  I was only partially crushed, but not surprised she didn't know who Bill Murray was, after all she didn't know what X Files was either, but now she does.  The amount of guessing and begging for another clue was like a symphony of angels to my ears.  If she wanted to open that DVD before Christmas, she had to earn it.  Getting it right away, did not happen, and she had to wait until Christmas to open it.

Now we roll around to this year, and spoiler alert, there is another DVD in the stack.  I think I might offer the same game to her.  Hannah, if you can guess the DVD, you can open it.

First Clue: The letter "M" is in the title somewhere

Second Clue: The writer is related to comics.

I know these aren't awesome clues, mostly because the internet exists, but if Hannah can guess the movie, I'll let her open it.  Welcome to the new Christmas tradition. Good luck!

For those that are wondering what she got last year, it was The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Secret Agents for Santa

I think my cats might be secret agents for Santa. Or at least that is the thought that came to when I was in the shower and Iggins sat there and watched me the entire time, despite his fear of being hit with a drop of water.

Holiday music is slowly amping up on radio stations, store stations and doctors waiting rooms. Whether you are pro holiday music creep or anti holiday music creep it is going to creep its way into you brain anyway.  Which is how the line, "He knows when you are sleeping, He knows when your awake," popped into my brain when I could see Iggins watching me.

Cats would be the perfect secret agents for Santa, because my cats definitely know when I am sleeping, and know when I am awake.  In fact Dib will grumble and meow just outside of the bedroom door, if I am just lazing in bed.  There is no pretending to be asleep to the cat unless you are the cat.

However, if they were the ones to decide who was being bad or good in the house, I think it would be skewed.  The number of times I have told Dib not to do something (don't jump behind the TV, get off the table, that isn't edible) are too many to count. I am sure in his brain I am being the bad human, because I won't let him do the thing he want to do, which if the was an  agent for Santa, would it reflect badly on me.  On the bright side, if the cats were secret agents for Santa, I am pretty sure I can sway their opinion with some canned cat food.

Rare Exports: Not what you are thinking

 There is a crispness to the air, and in some area's freshly fallen snow. It feels like it should still be Christmas, but alas the retailers have thrown everything related to the Christmas holiday on 70% off or more, just so they can make room for Valentines Day. Is it too late to try and squeeze in one more holiday movie. Something to try and capture that moment of optimism? I think not.  To satiate that need for building family bonds coupled with Santa Claus, I present Rare Exports.

Rare Exports is not a child's movie, and is probably not child friendly at all. It is a Finnish horror- fantasy film that is completely in subtitles. Do not let the subtitles deter you from watching this. There are lots of really good movies out there with subtitles. Pans Labyrinth and Amelie to name a few.  This movie has a dark sense of humor to it and the perversity of it made me smile more than once. 

Rare Exports talks about the background of Santa Claus, (or the Krampus for those that know who it is) and told from a child point of view. It has all the earmarks of a holiday whimsy complete with a man in a Santa suit, elves, reindeer and gingerbread, but it also have other things in it that sometimes I which I had for the holidays, such as bear traps, death pits and really sharp knives.  Rare Exports is not an intensely graphic movie, the way that most horror movies are, but is more a building suspense that keeps the watcher engaged.  I would highly recommend this off the radar Christmas movie to any one that is looking to recapture the feel of the holidays and family with perhaps a little bit more dark quirkiness to it.