Tag Archives: Christmas

Earn Some Holiday Cheer for your Guardian During Destiny 2’s Dawning Event

The Dawning event has arrived in Destiny 2 and with the new season of the Wish kicking off, now might be the best time to hop on. If you haven’t played in a while, or never played Destiny before, Epic Games is giving away this year’s Legacy Collection until December 20th. The Legacy Collection includes the Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and The Witch Queen DLCs. Even if you don’t plan on playing it now, you’re saving $60 on content you can try later. If you own any DLC on Steam, they don’t carry over between clients. You’ll have the Legacy Collection in Epic, but not on Steam. 

The Dawning Event is completely free. You don’t need any of the DLC to participate, but you might as well pick it up since it is free. You can buy the Dawning Event Card upgrade to unlock additional rewards for 1,000 Silver ($10), but it’s not really worth it unless you really want the cosmetics.

To get started, you talk to Eva at the tower who will give you an oven and the quest to bake a cookie of Zavala. You’ll need to go to your quest menu to find the oven, click on details, and you should have enough ingredients to make a cookie. You’ll have access to more quests after you deliver the cookie to Zavala. You can now start your grind for this year’s holiday rewards. There are a lot of videos out there with ways to farm for the event efficiently, I recommend you find one from your favorite content creator. I like Aztecross’ guide because it’s comprehensive and easy to follow. If you need help with the recipes, Polygon has a fantastic guide that you should keep bookmarked.


Holiday Gear

This is the perfect time to earn some of that sweet exclusive dawning gear.

Like the armor

The Weapon

Legendary Arc Glaive Albedo Wing
Stay Frosty
Avalanche
Cold Front
GLACIOCLASM
Zypher Destiny 2

Sparrows

Dawning Cheer
Alpine Dash

Ships

Starfarer 7m
Vapoorwill Spin

Emblem


There is also the cosmetics from the Event card, but I don’t think it’s worth the $10. I’ll be hoping to earn some sweet rewards, I hope to see you there. If you enjoy these updates, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends.

The Pokémon Center Holiday drop is here, and there’s a lot of cute stuff you’re going to want!

Holidays are just around the corner, and that means exclusive Pokémon merch. The Pokémon Center just dropped a bunch of cool holiday items to fill you with the holiday spirit. I don’t want to make this post too long, so make sure you check out the official page to see everything they have in stock! If you enjoy these updates, make sure you like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends!


Charizard ex Premium Collection ($39.99)

I know the Charizard ex Premium Collection isn’t explicitly a holiday item, but it is a solid gift for the holidays. I know a lot of people are sick of playing Charizard ex decks, especially on the PTCGL ladder, but its a solid card.

The set includes:

  • 1 etched foil promo card featuring Charizard ex
  • 2 foil cards featuring Charmander and Charmeleon
  • 6 Pokémon TCG booster packs
  • 1 magnetic card protector​ with display base
  • 65 card sleeves​ featuring Charizard as a Tera Pokémon
  • A code card​ for Pokémon TCG Live

You can pick it up at the Pokémon Center for $39.99, but I found it on TCG Player for as low as $32.99.


Pokémon TCG: Holiday Calendar ($49.99)

If you are looking for a nice holiday treat, you might want to pick up the Pokemon TCG Holiday Calendar. This neat little twist on the advent calendar is the perfect gift for the trainer in your life

The set includes:

  • 8 foil Pokémon TCG cards with a festive stamp
  • 5 Pokémon TCG booster packs
  • 7 Pokémon TCG 3-card fun packs
  • 2 Pokémon coins
  • 2 Pokémon sticker sheets
  • 1 sidekick dangler featuring Pikachu and Glaceon
  • A code card for Pokémon TCG Live!

You can pick yours up at Pokémon Center for $49.99, but I also found them on TCG Player for as cheap as $43.


Pokémon Holiday Village

If you are still in need of some holiday decorations, the Pokémon Holiday Village might be a great place to start. The pieces are super cute, and I can only assume the quality will be fantastic!

A Season of Song ($39.99)

Snow Much Fun ($39.99)

Holiday Station Arrivals ($39.99)

Drampa Toy Shop (39.99)

Bounsweet & Steenee Bakery (39.99)

Snow Day ($39.99)


Ornaments

Maybe you just need some cute ornaments to add to your collection!

Pikachu & Munchlax Cookie Treat ($24.99)

Eevee ($14.99)

Pikachu ($14.99)


And so Much More!

I don’t want this post to get too long, so make sure you check out the holiday page to see everything else they have. There is cookware, sweaters, and a bunch of sold-out plushies. I’ll leave pictures below!

All the plushies are sold out as of writing this, but maybe you’ll get lucky

Cookie Jar ($29.99)

Mixing Up Fun ($29.99)

Arcanine Flames Knit Sweater ($49.99)

Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Myster (2022) – Review

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I’d like to start off by giving a special shoutout to the user splithare for buying me coffee. It is the only way I can continue to function and keep posting these reviews. I hope you have yourself a Happy New Year! Thank you so much!

I have already talked about the Murderville series and touched on my disappointment with it. The series isn’t bad, but it does appeal to a very specific audience, and I am not it. If you like improv, you might have a better time with this series than I did. If you are interested in the series the Who Killed Santa? Christmas special is the best place to start. It is still a bit rough, but the best example of the format.

The premise of this series is to have guests go through a murder mystery experience without any prep. The mystery has already been scripted, but the guests go through it blind. The entertainment of this series relies heavily on the raw reactions of the guests and how well they play off of Will Arnet. 

The guest stars for this special are Jason Bateman and Miya Rudolph. They are fantastic guests and do very well in this type of format. The chemistry they share with Arnet is infectious, and they do well in improv. What hurts this series is that some guests don’t have good chemistry with Will Arnet. As a result, you get a lot of awkward or unfunny moments that drag on for too long. Other guests aren’t good at improving, and their reactions are dull. For this series to be successful, they need to do a better job at getting guests who can be entertaining without any structure and can play off the energy Arnet brings to the experience.

Despite it being one of the better examples, Who Killed Santa? is still difficult to recommend. The mystery is dumb, but that is the general tone of this series. This series feels like a cheesy gameshow, but one that tries very hard to be funny. This special is funnier than the episodes in the main series, but the lack of structure means that you have to sit through some boring moments. Even if you like the actors and improv, the overall rawness of the performances makes it disappointing. 

I can’t recommend this special because of its inconsistency. But if you are interested in watching Murderville, this special is the best place to start. I recommend you throw it on in the background while you are doing anything else so that you can ignore the boring bits and be around for the funny ones. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch this because it isn’t anything special, but you can stream it on Netflix if you are interested. 

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Movie Review: I Believe in Santa (2022)

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I am officially done with Christmas movies. I can’t sit through any more of these; I don’t have it in me. While this movie isn’t bad, it isn’t good either, and it isn’t going to be any better. I will try again next year, but I am not making any promises. I Believe in Santa may have its own charm, but I am tired and need to move on.

I believe in Santa is about a woman who doesn’t like Christmas and falls in love with the man who loves the holiday the most. I am not using any names because their only personality trait is whether or not they like Christmas. Aside from this difference, they are the perfect couple and will quickly fall in love during the course of the movie. The guy includes her in all his Christmas activities. She slowly learns to love Christmas, not because of Christmas magic, but because she loves him. It’s beyond cheesy. You have been warned.

I will no longer be doing Christmas movies because there is only so much that can be said about them. They are either cheesy in a way that is fun, so it doesn’t matter, or they are cheesy in a way that makes me hate Christmas. This one is fine, but I already forgot I watched it. The problem with these movies is that they are made to cash in on a holiday and often aren’t meant to leave a lasting impression. This one doesn’t, and I doubt any others will. I fear any further reviews on this genre will become echoes of my criticisms.

You can stream I Believe in Santa on Netflix if you need more Christmas movies to sit through. This is a great movie to throw on in the background because it doesn’t require any commitment. This movie makes good background noise, but you won’t hate the bits you accidentally sit through. This movie is dumb, predictable, and cheap, but I have sat through worse. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, but it is there if you need it. Anyways, Happy Holidays, I am off for a much-needed pallet cleanser.

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Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Movie Review: Your Christmas or Mine? (2022)

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On the third day of my Christmas marathon, I finally found a good one. I started this venture assuming everything I watched till Christmas was going to be a disappointment, but then Your Christmas or Mine? came around and surprised me. While it is still your typical Christmas story, it is able to charm and entertain its audience. If you are searching for another movie to watch this holiday, consider this one.

Your Christmas or Mine? is the quirky story of a couple who end up attending the wrong Christmas. Hayley and James are heading home to spend Christmas apart. But right before the trains depart, they decide to board the opposite train. They plan to surprise one another at their final destination. But things don’t go as planned, and the couple is each stranded in a strange city with no way to get back. The two will spend time with each other’s family. James gets to spend his night with Hayley’s quirky family, while Haley is stuck with a grinch of a man. By the time Christmas comes around, the couple will grow more in love and full of Christmas spirit.

This is a cute movie because the actors have the charisma to make this movie work. At its core, this is still a cheesy Christmas movie, but one with enough charm where it doesn’t matter. Your Christmas or Mine? is quirky in a way that isn’t annoying, funny in a way that doesn’t try too hard, and better than the other movies in the genre I have had to sit through this year. It may not win awards or become engrained into the Christmas culture, but it will entertain.

Christmas is around the corner and if you need a movie to get you in the Christmas spirit, give this a chance. You can stream it on Amazon video if you have a prime membership.

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Movie Review: Christmas on Mistletoe Farm

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Christmas on Mistletoe Farm is a kids’ movie. Unless you have young kids, I do not recommend you watch it. This is not a bad movie, but it is designed for a younger audience. While you won’t hate it if you sit through it, you will get bored and cringe at its general cheesiness. 

Christmas on Mistletoe Farm is the story of an overworked father who learns to slow down and enjoy the time that he has with his young kids. Matt has trouble balancing his work life and home life as he attempts to raise his five kids on his own. One day, where he inherits a farm from his estranged father. He and his kids go to the countryside to find some peace and quiet, but what they find instead is the Christmas spirit they had been missing. It is very cheesy and over the top.

A lot of the humor is geared toward a younger audience, but it does have its moments. A lot of the acting is loud and over the top, but I appreciate the energy and enthusiasm the actors put into their performances. The actors seem to be having fun with their roles, and that energy was infectious.

The plot is simple and easy to follow, with a lot of pop-culture references. I doubt this movie will have any lasting potential, but I have sat through worse. This movie is loud, colorful, and full of cute animals. This is a solid Christmas movie to watch with your toddler. But if you don’t have kids, don’t bother. You can stream it on Netflix.

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Image by Susanne Jutzeler, Schweiz, from Pixabay

Movie Review: Something From Tiffany’s (2022)

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I have been avidly avoiding Christmas movies this season, not because I am a Grinch, but because I couldn’t muster the strength to sit through them. Let’s face it, this genre is the recycling of the same movie every year, and it is getting harder to sit through them. I decided that today I would start getting into the Christmas spirit, but unfortunately, the movie is Something From Tiffany’s. 

Something From Tiffany’s is the story of two lost souls who are stuck in their respective relationships. Fate brings these two unknowing souls together by way of New York City taxi. Ethan is at Tiffany’s buying his engagement ring when Rachel’s boyfriend comes in that same night to buy his girlfriend a cheap gift. In a brief moment, the boyfriend gets hit by the taxi, causing the events that will bring Ethan and Rachel together for Christmas. Ethen, being the generic and caring man that he is, rushes to check up on the generic boyfriend, but he ends up switching the ring with the cheap gift. Ethen and Rachel will meet in the hospital, and it is love at first sight. Fate keeps bringing them together, and in a matter of days, they fall madly in love with each other. You can guess what happens from here. 

This movie is bad even by the genre’s standards. The acting was surprisingly good, but its narrative is terrible. I always feel bad for the significant others in these movies who have the cruel fate of being love’s cruelest obstacle. Ethan’s girlfriend seemed like a nice girl whose only fault seemed to be that she wasn’t quirky enough. Ethan was ready to propose, but one brief encounter at the hospital was enough to change his mind. Rachel’s boyfriend was a loser, but at least he wasn’t evil which is refreshing.

The idea was to show how the leads were stagnating, stuck in their routines. It was only through finding true love that they can move forward and live their best lives. But is it love that they share? Is it fate bringing these two together? Is it Christmas magic? They are only together for a day before they decide that they are meant to be together. I see this as a relationship fueled more by desire than love. Rachel and Ethan lust for something different and fresh, and this accident gives them that. It is less romantic to think about how this race to fall in love for Christmas is less about fate and more about a change in scenery. Even if they were meant to be together and were previously in bad relationships, they were ready to be engaged, and that is where I have my problem.

I am overthinking a movie that had no effort put into it, but I was bored. Let me have this. There are better movies in this genre. Go watch something like The Princess Switch or Falling for Christmas instead. They are bad too, but somehow they are a little better.

You can stream this on Amazon, but I wouldn’t.

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Movie Review: Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)

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It has been a rough season for musicals; at least the ones I have sat through have been bad. I had the lowest expectation for Scrooge: A Christmas Carol. I believed this would be another of Netflix’s shameless cash grabs at a timeless IP, but I was mistaken. This adaptation does justice to the classic Dickens story and is one that I recommend you watch this holiday season.

There is a lot to love about this movie. The music is catchy, the voice acting is solid, the animation is beautiful, and the dog is so cute. I was initially captured by how pretty this movie is, but I stayed for the music that followed. I have mentioned before that I am not a fan of musicals, but this has to be the exception. A few of the songs still rattle around in my head as I write this review. If you are hesitant at all to watch this movie, give it a chance. It will be better than any hallmark movie you’ll have to sit through. For those wondering, this is better than Spirited.

There isn’t much I can say about the story because it is based on the classic by Charles Dickens. What sets it apart is the art direction. The animation is fantastic. The haunts take advantage of the dream world and create some truly breathtaking moments. I recommend it just for the art style, but trust me, the songs are pretty good as well. I particularly loved how they chose to handle Scrooge. Scrooge isn’t an evil man. Instead, he is a tragic character who has closed his heart because he doesn’t want to be hurt. His redemption arc may be rushed, but gosh is it pretty?

Unfortunately, the writer, songwriter, and director, and the reason we are blessed with this movie this season has passed away. I am truly grateful for the gift she left us for the season. May she rest in peace. 

If you need a movie to add to your Christmas marathon, this should be somewhere on your list. It is colorful and wonderful, and the songs are great. Go stream it on Netflix. 

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The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) Review

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The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will pass the time if you have nothing else to watch. While it may not be the worst entry to the MCU, it isn’t the breath of fresh air it promises to be. I thought it was fine, but I wouldn’t watch it again.

The special picks up with a devastated Flynn as he mourns the loss of Gamora. In an effort to cheer up Flynn, Mantis and Drax go on an adventure. They fly to earth in order to bring Flynn some Christmas joy, but they become distracted by Earth’s strange customs. The film focuses on the shenanigans of Drax and Mantis as they try to find Kevin Bacon. 

The series is just okay, but it isn’t anything special. At least it isn’t something I would rush to. The performances were fine, and even got a few laughs out of it, but you have to sit through a lot of improv. There isn’t a real structure to this movie. Instead, this movie feels like a collection of skits, some of which go on for too long. You will not hate this if you watch it, so throw it on when you need a break from all those Hallmark movies I am sure you’ve been binging.

I don’t have anything else to say because this was a mediocre Christmas special. I wasn’t even going to review it because I found it unremarkable. It wasn’t bad, but it isn’t going to become a holiday staple. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, but if you need something to watch, sure. You can stream it on Disney+.

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Tech Review: Logitech G335 Gaming Headset

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I want to start by saying that this isn’t a sponsored review. Unfortunately, I bought this headset with my own money. I will add affiliate links to the headset if you choose to buy it, but that won’t affect my opinion of the product.

The Logitech G355 Headset isn’t worth the $70 they are asking for. I got it on sale for $30 and feel a little better about my purchase, but you are getting what you pay for. Out of the box, this headset looks and feels cheap. The plastic feels so fragile that I thought it was going to break when I put them on. Thankfully they didn’t, but I don’t see them outliving my gaming career.

Images are from Amazon Product Page

The headset comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, but it includes a mic splitter for those of you playing on PC. It says it is compatible with all consoles and PC, but I only tested it for PC. Your mileage may vary, but I doubt it. The only cool feature this comes with is a nifty little wheel for volume control that is built into the headset. The G335 comes in black, mint, and white.

The only positive feature of this headset is how comfortable they are, but this is sure to be short-lived. The pads cupped my ears nicely, and the padding was thick and firm. They are a bit stiff out of the box, but they start to conform to your shape relatively quickly. The style of the ear pads prevented any noise from bleeding in or out, which is nice if you share a room. They aren’t sound canceling, but they will do the job for a time. I don’t have faith in the padding keeping its integrity for long. While the headset did get more comfortable over time, how quickly it did so has me worried. The G355 isn’t made with quality materials, and in a year or so, I fear they will become deflated and ugly.

If you are looking for a headset to talk with your friends, look elsewhere. While they may be better than other headsets in the $30 range, the mic is terrible. The mic does a terrible job of filtering any background noise. Whoever is on the receiving end of your voice chats will hear everything. The placement of the mic is too high, and trying to set gates to help filter the sound is useless. I found the best way to use this mic was through the use of a DAC/AMP, but I had to almost yell for the mic to pick up my voice. I used the Soundblaster X3 for my testing, but if you are going to buy a DAC for this headset, you are better off buying a better headset. I’ve included my audio test bellow:

https://churapereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/mictest.mp3

The sound on this headset is alright. Music sounds very flat, even with equalizers or a DAC. It does have a decent amount of bass, but I fear it was only added to trick people into thinking it is a better headset. The boosted bass just makes everything sound flattered.

These will do if you need a cheap headset and don’t care about the sound or the mic, but only get these for $30. The colors are nice, but the cheap build will mean that these will be in the trash in a couple of years. For those of you interested, you can find this headset in all its colors on Amazon.

Now for a shameless plug, check out Canva. If you need a quick and easy photo or video editor that works in your browser, try Canva. It is free, easy to use, and you get access to a wide selection of templates for those who are like me and aren’t that creative. Check out my affiliate link today! You can also try Amazon Prime with my Affiliate link!

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