One of the best things about being a critic that I have discovered over the years is how it puts shows and films in front of me that under different circumstances I might never have given a chance. The French detective drama, Mongeville, is a perfect example of this. I wouldn’t say the show is a hard–hitting drama, but instead a cozy murder mystery where each episode is 90 minutes that had me nostalgic for the old TV murder mysteries like Murder She Wrote. This was something I was glad I went into blindly and over the course of the 28 episodes the show took me on a journey through the French city of Bordeaux, travelling through the countryside and meeting some interesting characters along the way. So was this a series worth checking out as its characters pieced together the clues one mystery at a time? Grab your passport, gloves, and a few evidence bags, because that’s exactly what you’re about to find out.

Season 1 introduces us to Antoine Mongeville (Francis Perrin). He’s a retired judge who, well, has just found it a little difficult to leave his job completely behind. In this season Mongeville is still trying to piece together what happened to his daughter who was kidnapped, and along the way he is helping Detective Axelle Ferrano (Marie Moute) with a few homicide cases. There is the police Captain Briare (Pierre Aussedat) who has a bit of history with Mongeville and doesn’t like the idea of Mongeville inserting himself on these various cases, but as the series stretches on this continues to be a running joke, until finally Briare just accepts that there is no way he can keep Mongeville from helping out, especially when the man always delivers results.

While the film definitely feels like a Wizard of Oz carbon copy, it is not without its charms. For one, it was nice to see Keanu Reeves in one of his earlier roles, before Bill and Ted or Speed. Same goes for Drew Barrymore; while this wasn’t one of her first roles, as she was a child actor, it was still nice to see some of her earlier work, especially as it was one of the film’s charms that I mentioned earlier. Babes in Toyland tells the story of Lisa Piper, a eleven-year-old girl. While most girls at this age are all-consumed by Christmas and presents, she is too busy caring for her family, as the death of her father has caused her to have to grow up fast. As a result, she has no time for toys, and she resents being treated like a child despite her age. Concerned about a impending snowstorm, Lisa travels to her older sister Mary’s job to warn her. Mary’s boyfriend, Jack Fenton (Reeves), gives them a ride home, but loses control due to the blizzard conditions. Lisa is thrown from the car and transported to Toyland, a magical realm built out of toys. As I said, definite Wizard of Oz vibes. In truth, this story’s origins date back nearly as far as the novel that inspired the Oz film. Babes in Toyland is inspired by the 1903 operetta of the same title with some slight deviations, as this version of the film features a new score as well as maintaining select portions of the original score.

Back to Lisa; after being thrown from the car, she arrives in Toyland in time for the wedding of Mary Contrary (who looks exactly like her older sister, Mary) and the villainous Barnaby Barnacle (who looks exactly like Mary’s pervy boss). Mary is about to wed Barnacle, despite being truly in love with Barnaby’s nephew, Jack Be Nimble (who also resembles Reeves’ Jack Fenton). Lisa helps thwart the wedding, but soon realizes that Barnaby’s plans extend beyond taking Mary as his bride, but also include taking over Toyland. Banding together with her new group of friends, Lisa endeavors to stop him.

Every family has their holiday traditions. Christmas is probably the king of family traditions. We all have our favorite Christmas songs and our favorite foods and methods of celebrating. A part of that has long been the Christmas movie. I'm talking about those films that somehow represent the spirit of the time of year, and not merely movies that take place during Christmas time. Yeah, John McClain, I'm talking about you. For me it's been A Christmas Story since its release in 1983. There are others high on the list for me. The Man Who Invented Christmas and It's A Wonderful Life along with almost every version of the Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol all have a special place in my heart. But none of them come close to Ralphie's quest for a Red Ryder air rifle. Jean Shepherd's In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash is as classic a slice of Americana as Norman Rockwell paintings or summer picnics and fireworks. The tale told in A Christmas Story is only a small part of that book, but it's just Christmas to me and always shall be.

It's 1973, and the boy who wanted that Red Ryder air rifle has grown with children of his own. It's been a big year for the adult Ralphie (Billingsly) who has been given a year by his wife Sandy (Hayes) to quit his job and write that great American novel. As Christmas approaches, his year is nearly up. If he can get the novel picked up before the year ends, he can keep writing. If not, it's back to the salt mines he goes. What he's written is a too-long science fiction nightmare, and he's on his final publisher. He remains the same Ralphie who once brought his teacher a huge fruit basket to bribe her to reward his theme with a good grade and hopefully align herself in the pro-air-rifle brigade. This time it's premium bottles of booze, but the results haven't changed. Ralphie has been foiled again, and time is running out. It sure seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same.