Saturday Smackdown: Holiday Style

The Daily Dose
Smattering of Romance, Paranormal, and General Observations

It’s Saturday Smackdown time again here at the Daily Dose and I wanted to take a moment and thank all the authors who have contributed so far to the Daily Dose Holiday Blog Giveaway and to the wonderful mothers, sisters, brothers, friends, mothers-in-law, grandmothers-in-law and more who have nominated the people in their lives to receive these great gifts. I really wish I had something to give to each and everyone!

Today, we take a short break from our giveaway to play Smackdown holiday style, but the giveaway will be back tomorrow with more gift certificates, more books, more movies and just more to share!

Saturday Smackdown: Holiday Style

Last month I posted my family’s Top Ten Holiday Flicks and Sara Reyes over at Fresh Fiction and I got into a debate on what I left off! It turns out, my Christmas list isn’t everyone’s. So we’re bringing the debate to you this week in an extra big, fun holiday smackdown. You pick the top movie, you let us know what you think and you will win a holiday movie of your choice (provided it is available on Amazon)!

Home Alone vs. A Christmas Story

Home Alone: Love him or hate him, but it’s every parent’s nightmare to forget your child and it’s every child’s dream to get the run of the house to themselves. So when his family leaves behind Kevin while they all hustle off to Paris for the holidays, major hijinks ensure. Kevin learns that as annoying as his family is, he loves them and that his crazy neighbor is just as lonely as he is. The stunts to keep the thieves out of his house are hilarious and Joe Pesci is a riot.

A Christmas Story: Set sometime during the holidays in 1940s Indiana, Young wants only one thing for Christmas, the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Lightning Loader Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the stock.. He carefully plans, how to lay the groundwork for this while avoiding the dreaded rebuff, but hears "You'll put your eye out!" anyway. His relentless struggle for the one true gift is accompanied by many other stories and amusing details, a tongue-on-frozen-pole triple-dog dare, facing the local bully, the notorious leg lamp, the Santa slide, Peking Duck for Christmas, and more!

Both stories feature young men determined to make the most of their Christmas, both are resourceful and both are learning more about Christmas than they knew before. So is it Kevin or Ralphie for you?

Holiday Inn vs. White Christmas

These two movies have so much in common, not to mention Bing Crosby that it can be tough to choose between them!


Holiday Inn: In 1942, America was at war and Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby delivered this fantastic song and dance film scored by Irving Berlin and featuring the original “White Christmas” song release. Astaire and Crosby play partner/rival song-and-dance men who compete for the hand of their performing partner, played by Virginia Dale. After Crosby loses, he moves to the Connecticut countryside where he creates a resort that is only open on holidays and puts on the shows with the help of Marjorie Reynolds. Dumped by Dale, Astaire makes a drunken arrival at the inn on New Year's Eve and dances with Reynolds. He decides she'll be his new partner, but doesn't remember what she looks like, setting off a frenzied search at every subsequent show while the once-bitten Crosby does his best to steer him off track.

White Christmas: The music is a good reason to load up this classic, but then so are Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. Set in the years after World War II, the duo has become a popular performing act, doing the circuit. They even hook up with a pair of sisters in a corny, cooky romantic subplot. But the real kicker is when they get word that their General, the man they followed into every battle during the War is in danger of losing his Inn in Vermont. Kaye and Crosby bring all their fellow soldiers in, jam packing the Inn and performing for free – why? Because they love him. What better reason is that?

The comparison between the films is obvious, the first was originally aired in Black and White and Astaire’s dancing is truly unmatched, but the music, the hilarity and songs are all there. Which one would you choose?

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation vs. Christmas with the Kranks

Two very different families and two very weird Christmases result when you get these people together.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: The third film in the National Lampoon Vacation series, we find Clark determined to have a fantastic Christmas despite his family and their attitudes as summed up in this quote: “Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse!”

Christmas with the Kranks: The Kranks are that great suburban family that do up Christmas right every year, but then their daughter decides she is going to work with the Peace Corps in Peru, so the couple decides to avoid all the holiday gruff and bluff and skip the decorations. Their neighbors led by a hilarious Dan Ankroyd are bound and determined to get them back on the Christmas track (anyone who has a homeowner’s association can really appreciate this crazy mania). While nowhere near as funny as John Grisham’s novel “Skipping Christmas”, the film definitely touched my funny bone – particularly when they are frantically trying to get Christmas ready for their daughter who is now coming home.

The craziest things happen at the holidays. So is it National Lampoon or the Kranks for you?

Bonus: Share your favorite version of A Christmas Carol

So it's smackdown time, post your choices and all comments count towards winning a holiday movie for yourself. The winner will be notified via email next week.

The Hollows vs. Future Atlanta

Last week's smackdown pitted world against world and the race was neck and neck finally falling only slightly in favor of The Hollows. Hats off to Kim Harrison and Ilona Andrews for creating such incredibly vital worlds!

Have a great Saturday!

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A lifelong writer turned author, Heather Long's first book Remembering Ashby is available for purchase at Sapphire Blue Publishing. Coming soon is the urban fantasy: Prime Evil. The Daily Dose explores books, television, writing and more -- all topics that Heather enjoys.

NOTE: all comments left on Fresh Fiction will be included in the Daily Dose giveaways so you can leave your comments [click here] or on the Daily Dose blog. If you comment and nominate someone on the Fresh Fiction page for the Daily Dose you'll also be entered in our special Secret Elf sweepstakes, the winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and the person they nominate will also receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate on December 20th.

Daily Dose | Saturday Smack Down: The Hollows versus Atlanta...

Today’s Saturday Smack Down takes on a different twist as we pit world against world, colorful existence against colorful existence and the rich characters that populate both. In this corner, weighing in with over a half-dozen books are The Hollows by Kim Harrison and in our opposing corner are the lands of future Atlanta by Ilona Andrews. Each world is so vivid and real, it is easy to imagine walking around the corner and right into the pages of these wonderful novels.

As always, your vote decides which one you would most like to visit? Which one
could you see as a great vacation destination? In honor of our holiday giveaway, I want to give a gift of my own. This week’s winner will receive a $10 Gift Certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Learn about the two contenders and how to win...

Saturday Smack Down: Damon vs. Angelus

In honor of Twilight: New Moon opening this weekend, our Saturday Smackdown is vampire on vampire, bad boy on bad boy, angst on angst. It’s 20th century versus 21st with a whole new generation of teens to angst and swoon over the silken wickedness of these boys.

The Vampires in Question

Damon Salvatore is the creation of L.J. Smith in her trilogy of novels that began in 1991. Damon made the leap from novel to television this year with the debut of the CW’s The Vampire Diaries. He arrived in Mystic Falls with more than one fang to grind. Angelus, on the other hand, is a vindictive, cold hearted villain who debuted in Sunnyvale following a night of passion with Buffy.

Damon Salvatore

For the purposes of the smackdown, we’re going to focus on the Damon from the television series rather than the Damon from the novels. Damon and his brother Stefan loved a vampire named Katherine, They vied for her affections and they were, one after the other, turned into vampires by her. During the Civil War, Katherine and many other vampires were trapped and died. Since then Stefan and Damon have mourned in their own ways, but Damon’s usually involved cutting a bloody swath through anyone and everything that means something to Stefan.

His arrival in Mystic Falls began with the deaths of a couple driving home and including attacks on Caroline, Vicki (subsequently turning Vicki), Logan Fell and more. He attempted to enthrall Elena, but the vervain seems to be capable of blocking a vampire’s mesmerizing abilities. He killed Zach, a Salvatore descendent to escape his prison, set up Stefan’s friend Lexi to take the fall for his crimes, staking her in front of the sheriff and even attacked Bonnie after the ghost of Emily destroyed his key to freeing Katherine from the tomb.

Damon’s not quite into Elena as much as Stefan is, but he did help her brother Jeremy when she wanted to save him from his personal pain. He’s still vengeful, though, vindictive and quick to anger. Through manipulation, Damon’s earned the trust of the town’s council and their gratitude for killing a vampire. The irony is definitely not lost on him. His list of victims is long, colorful and growing by the day.

Angelus

Angelus is another product of the love of a woman – or in this case-the lust. A drunkard and a lout in life, he stumbled into an alley with for the promise of warm lips and found cold death instead. Young, feckless Liam became the bloodthirsty, violent Angelus who cut a bloody swath across Europe. He tortured a young dedicant by systematically murdering her family and on the night she was to take her vows, he killed her and turned her into vampire.

He made one critical error the night he killed a Romany girl and suffered a curse to return his soul, effectively neutering the demon for nearly a century. In Sunnydale, he became involved with Buffy and after a night of passion and true happiness, Angel’s soul was released and Angelus freed. His hatred for Buffy knew no bounds, particularly because he felt love for her. His bloody rampage resulted in the mental torture of Buffy, the death of Jenny Calendar, the vicious physical torture of Giles and by extension, the death of Kendra at Dru’s hands.

Loyalty to the Cause

Damon’s expressed very little loyalty, although he did kill Logan Fell to save Stefan – because he didn’t want anyone to kill Stefan that wasn’t him, He also be spelled Jeremy, although he may done it a little too well as Jeremy’s personal pain seems to have completely vanished. Angelus pretends no such loyalty, outside of a dark and twisted sense of devotion he gives to his victims.

Both vampires obsess on their passions. Damon’s devotion to Katherine stretches across the empty decades while Angelus’ feels no such ties, despite long years spent with Darla and Drusilla. Both are dark, handsome and vicious. But who is the most vicious? Who would you fear most in a dark alley? Who is the most dangerous?

You decide who wins this smack down for you. Comment to win a vampire book fo your own, Winner announced next Saturday. Please be sure to note if you have a preference for a future smack down!

Last week’s winner: Charles Cornick stole the lead from Clayton Danvers and is the first of our smackdown champions!

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A lifelong writer turned author, Heather Long's first book Remembering Ashby is available for purchase at Sapphire Blue Publishing. Coming soon is the urban fantasy: Prime Evil. The Daily Dose explores books, television, writing and more -- all topics that Heather enjoys.