Christmas themes and Oscar hopefuls dominate movies
December 10, 2006
Hollywood has outdone itself on Christmas Spirit
Studios typically offer two or three holiday-themed flicks toward year’s end. This season brings a half-dozen movies with Christmas angles, from romance and horror to family comedy and religious drama.
Already in theatres are The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and Deck the Halls, which opened recently. On the way are >
- The Nativity Story: The birth of Christ is told in dramatic fashion.
- Unaccompanied Minors: Five youths try to elude airport officials after they’re snowed in on Christmas Eve.
- The Holiday: Two women (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) on opposite sides of the world meet on the Internet and decide to trade houses for Christmas.
- Black Christmas: A college student and her friends face a killer terrorizing their sorority house over holiday break.
Holiday movies remain big moneymakers at theatres between American Thanksgiving and the new year, and the successful Christmas flicks come around every year to keep studio stockings stuffed with fresh cash via home video and television rebroadcasts. Warner Bros. is releasing The Polar Express in 3-D on IMAX screens for the third year in a row.
It’s not just juggernauts such as Miracle on 34th Street and Jimmy Stewart’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Even non-heartwarmers such as Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation, Gremlins and Die Hard have become cult classics.
Absent this season is the usual assortment of box office sugarplums. There’s no Narnia this time around, no King Kong, no Lord of the Rings. In short, no big “event” movie.
You know we’re in the Oscar-qualifying period, however. Movie studios traditionally hold back their Academy Award hopefuls until the end of the year, the better to be fresh in viewers’ minds, and this year is a chance to see several hot-buzz movies and performances: Dreamgirls, the musical that won raves at the Cannes film festival; Judi Dench’s turn as a woman comforting an adulterous teacher in Notes on a Scandal; Blood Diamond, the “big issue” movie about gem mining in Africa, and more. The wild card is Apocalypto, Mel Gibson’s Mayan-language adventure that was a hard sell even before the director disgraced himself with his anti-Semitic rant. There’s also guilty pleasure in Rocky Balboa, in which Sylvester Stallone returns to the ring. No, he isn’t Santa, but he seems to have been around as long. Yo yo yo.
Canadian PM, soldiers attend lighting of largest Christmas tree
December 10, 2006
People in an eastern Ontario town have lit up what they say is the tallest, brightest Christmas tree in the country, dedicating it to Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and around the world, the CBC reports.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Petawawa were on hand for the lighting ceremony Saturday evening in Cobden, about 80 kilometres west of Ottawa.
Harper said the 23-metre blue spruce was lit as a tribute to the troops, adding that whenever Canadians are asked to defend their values, “the best and brightest among us always answer that call.”
People in the community have decorated the tree with 13,000 lights. The ceremony was captured on video, which will be shown to Canadian military personnel serving overseas.
Fred Glover, who works for the campground where the tree is located, said including the troops in the ceremony was a natural fit.
“We’re quite near to CFB Petawawa and a lot of our friends come here. We have a water park and a campground, and so we see lots of families come here from Petawawa, and we’re just keen to support them any way we can.”
How to take pictures of the Holiday Lights
December 10, 2006
It’s the season of lights, from Christmas Trees to Hanukkah candles to decorative house lighting. Lights, lights, lights are everywere to cheer up the long dark nights of winter.
According to the New York Institute of Photography (NYI) the world’s largest photography school, your pictures can capture the magic of this lighting if you apply just one simple professional “trick.”
For example, how can your pictures capture the colorful glow of the lights on a Christmas tree? The “trick”, according to NYI, is to turn off your camera’s flash! That’s the key: Turn off that handy built-in flash otherwise the bright light will overwhelm the subtle tree lights in your picture.
Similarly, NYI recommends that you turn off your flash whenever you want to capture any subtle light source, from Christmas trees to Menorah candles to decorative house lighting to those wonderful tree outlines produced by tiny white bulbs.
Of course, certain things follow from this: When you turn off your flash, you won’t have enough light for split-second exposure. Your automatic camera will compensate by opening the shutter for a longer time, maybe a second or longer. Let your camera’s built-in meter decide automatically.
However a very long exposure will become blurry if either the camera moves or the tree lights move, or both. To minimize this risk, NYI recommends two further steps:
First, use fast film, for example, ISO 800. This will cut down the duration of the exposure. Second, steady your camera. Handholding just won’t do. Use a tripod if possible. If not, place the camera on a solid surface, such as a tabletop, or brace it against a wall.
Related Links > http://www.nyip.com
Drunken Prunes
December 10, 2006
Ingredients >
1kg stoned prunes
1 litre water
500g sugar
1 lemon
2 tablespoons citrus marmalade
4 cloves
Brandy or Whisky
Method >
Place all the ingredients except prunes and alcohol into a large saucepan. Simmer for 1 hour until the syrup reduce a little and thickens. Add the prunes and allow to cool. Once cold remove the lemon.
Put into a sterilised jar and add a teaspoon of alcohol.
Store in the refrigerator for 1 week to plump. Once opened keep in the fridge and use quickly.
Tip > This recipe makes a great homemade gift for relatives and friends. Don’t forget to include a card with serving suggestions > These Drunken Prunes are great over vanilla ice cream, a little yoghurt or pancakes.
Rum Truffles
December 10, 2006
Ingredients >
200g dark cooking chocolate
60ml cream
30g butter
50g chocolate cake crumbs
2 teaspoons dark rum, brandy or whisky
100g dark cocoa powder
Method >
Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
Put cream and butter in a small pan. Heat and mix until the butter starts to melt and the mixture is just boiling.
Pour the hot mixture on the chocolate. Mix until the chocolate melts and the texture is smooth.
Add the rum and the cake crumbs while mixing. Put in the fridge for 20 minutes. Roll the mixture into truffles.
On a sheet of baking paper, spread the dark cocoa powder and roll each balls in.
Line the truffles on a baking tray with foil. Refrigerate for 40 minutes. Can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Makes 25.
Hawaiian Champagne Sparkle
December 10, 2006
75cl bottle champagne
500ml chilled apple juice
200g papaya, peeled and seeded
400g watermelon, peeled and seeded
20 ice cubes
Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Add the champagne and serve. Serves 4.
Christmas Fruit Sparkle
December 10, 2006
500ml apricot nectar
500ml soda water
300ml apple juice
300ml orange juice
10 ice cubes
Chill all juices. In a big jug mix well all the juices. Add the ice cubes and pour into glasses. Serves 4-6.
