All in all, thanks to reviewing Season One and Two of Netflix’s Wednesday I did post more consistently in 2025 than in 2024. Though thanks to my Disney marathon at the end of 2024 I didn’t really increase my total amount by too much. I posted 44 times in 2024 and 46 (including this post) this year.
To close out the year I’m going to highlight some of my personal posts in 2025.
While I do like all my posts these are ones I just wanted to highlight there are 12 or so because I’m weak.
(An Overview of the big new pieces for Hunchback of 2025)
The post I had originally wanted to do for today was proving more daunting plus with some end-of-the-year time restrictions and the fact that I didn’t want to rush it, I’m rescheduling that one*.
Hunchback News Items for 2025
So let’s do an end of the year News round up…which is more fitting for the end of the year.
Scrooge (Michael Caine) getting a gift from Beaker
There is something altogether perplexing that the Muppet version of Charles Dickson’s “The Christmas Carol” is regarded as the best film adaptation of the novel.
However if you take into account that The Muppets excel at blending heart-felt moments with artistry, innovation, and silliness then it’s not surprising. There also a clear reverence for the source material that is clear in making Gonzo the narrator that is refreshing as well as Michale Caine’s depiction of the crotchety, old miser turned upbeat generous gent bout town and his inspired acting choice of playing it completely dramatic against The Muppets.
All the pieces of this adaption work well, even the pretty darn historical accurate costumes.
But this post is a ranking of the songs from The Muppet Christmas Carol. The songs on the whole are very good and there is no single song that stands out as weak or bad. They are all really good.
But which song is the best?
That is subjective opinion. This ranking is my own opinion and your own may very well differ.
Ranking The Bridgerton Book Series using Statistical Analysis
Four of the Main Couples of Bridgerton Seasons 1 through 4
Written by Julia Quinn, The Bridergeton Book series spans eight books set in Regency England (1813-1827.) Each book tells the love story of a different Bridgerton sibling and each feature some sort of romantic trope, like fake-dating, enemies to lover to name a few.
The book series got a surge in popularity after being adapted into a Netflix show in 2020. It’s currently in their fourth season, adapting the third book with two addition seasons currently in preproduction. The show adaptations of the books are quite different and has a more ensemble cast with many sub-plots and added characters.
But the real question is which one of the book in the series is considered “The Best?” Which is the worse? And which ones are in the top four and which ones are in the bottom four?
While looking through cast options I happened upon Aidan Turner as pick for Gringoire. At the time I was in watching Poldark, which is a great show, and thought why now look into this casting idea a little bit more.
Six is a concert style musical based on the wives of Henry the VIII. The plot is essentially a competition based on which wife had it the worst with Henry.
The costumes of Six are definitely interesting. They are very structured and artistic. They reference modernity, Tudor fashion, armor, stained glass windows, Tudor architecture as well a lots of symbolism with the show itself. Love them or hate them, the costumes are very unique recognizable to the show.
Fun Fact this upcoming version is the 2nd time Netflix has produced a Hunchback version but that other 2018 Idris Elba led version was canceled.
Vincent Cassel to play a version of Quasimodo in a Netflix produced movie
Anyway
It’s been about six months since it was first announced that there was to be a new movie adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame starting Vincent Cassel as Quasimodo. Well in a way since this version is more based on the “historical” Quasimodo who was said to have inspired Victor Hugo.
Anyway it’s been six months so what more do we know about this movie?
Last year I did a post of about games that were in some way related to Notre dame de Paris, either through setting, history, branding or actually based on the book/the building.
It was writing that post that I learned of the existence of Lego’s Notre Dame de Paris set as part of their Architecture line. Now I had at that point never ever had or owned a lego set but it was very tempting all the same. Shortly after being tempted by the Notre Dame de Paris set I got the Poinsettia kit which made me want the Notre Dame one even more. And Christmas of 2024 I got my very own Notre Dame de Paris set to build and maybe love.
So now that it’s been about a year what do I think about this set. Is it good? Is it overrated? Did I even start it? Is it even that nice to look once it’s done if I indeed finished the thing?
Notre Dame de Paris returns to the Palais des Congrès after touring venue throughout Asia. The Palais des Congrès was the venue of the original cast back in 1998. The production runs from December 19th to January 4th. Also the original French cast did a special performance in Canada and there also a documentary. Though I think this concert was actually put on back in the summer and its anniversary was back in September.
And while the original cast is very much beloved there is also the latest cast of the French Revival/World Tour of which some members have been part of the cast since it began in 2016 and others have been promoted to the leads in the intervening years.
Fragrance enthusiasts will already know this but smelling like a cathedral/church is major inspiration for perfumes. Typically the fragrances will be very incense forward but they can differ widely. For instance many invoke abandoned churches deep in the woods while others are light and airy in addition be smelling of incense and smokey. While other still are more herbaceous and woodsy. Some can be more specific like a mass on Christmas while other combine the smokiness with delicate floral notes giving a sense of summertime.
This is not a complete list by any means but if you want to smell more like Notre Dame de Paris or just a generic cathedral/chruch here are some options.
