WATCHED: THE ARTIST

Saw this recently:

Loved it. It was imaginative and emotional and just plain lovely (it is a silent movie--in case you haven't heard of it--and they pulled it off beautifully and just won a Golden Globe or something).

Setting My Clocks for Sunday

As I mentioned yesterday I did not get a chance to watch Downton Abbey as it was first airing on PBS--read that as I did not appropriately schedule my time around the event. Well, there is a new 3-part series called Any Human Heart starting up and I am determined to be paying proper attention this time around because one Matthew MacFadyen (of MI-5 and the lesser--but still watchable--Pride and Prejudice fame) is playing one of the leading roles. And while I'm not at all sure about the subject (a quiet question from me regarding if this series' subject would normally be of interest to me) of the series, I really just can not say no to Matthew.

And then in March PBS is airing an encore presentation of The 39 Steps with one Rupert Penry-Jones (of MI-5 and Persuasion fame).

What exactly is it with these British boys, MI-5, and Jane Austen? One might begin to think that all they did was star in really fantastically watchable programs of quite decent quality.

Hodgepodge of Movie Stuff

I have just a minute to blog cause I'm rather hungry and no one is willing to cook for me tonight.

When last I left you, my friends, I was very much looking forward to going to that movie Morning Glory. Well, I've been to see it and I must say that, though I am not one to blame others for what I choose to view, someone should have warned me against seeing this mind-numbingly bad movie and I blame you. As small as my readership is, someone out there should have known better than me (and the newspaper reviewer) and warned me off it. For what it is worth, my mother and sister had this to say of the movie: "There were some cute parts." Clearly I would have been better off and entirely happier to have stuck with Joyeux Noel. Or perhaps just stayed home with my Netflix who does know me so much better than that guy who reviews movies for the newspaper

Speaking of Netflix, there is a movie that I recently watched on their recommendation that I found to be simply lovely. It's not likely to win any awards (not much drama), but it kind of makes me sigh in happiness when I think of it: The Young Victoria. This movie's absolute sweetness, brace yourself if you are familiar with London, has convinced me to completely forgive Victoria for that thing that is generally referred to as the Prince Albert Memorial.

Not only that but I'm strongly considering bumping Prince Albert (Rupert Friend--what is it with so many hot British guys being named Rupert?) into my list of 5 crushes and bumping that Hugh guy whose name I can't ever quite recall out (I mean, it must be some kind of a sign that we are not meant to be when I can't even remember the last name--that and his being absolutely gorgeous, famous, and married--it isn't Grant or Laurie...shoot, still can't remember). Anyway, I think he just might make a nice addition to the list.

And now I'm off to cook and eat and read (cause Maze Runner is due tomorrow and I still have 250 pages to read). Happy Weekend!!!

Music and Movies

I am listening to this

and this

(the packaging is just to die for)

and have this to watch

but am going to see this today instead

and as a result am feeling rather happy and full of holiday cheer.

Les Mis in Concert

aka a plethora of YouTube clips

Last night I had the singular opportunity of attending the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert (originally performed in London and broadcast in movie theaters throughout the US last night) and can I just tell you that there are simply no words to express how wonderful, extraordinary, magical, powerful, etc. the performance was. To just give you a hint, I've placed a couple of clips from the show (sadly not official clips so the sound and the camera work is not exactly stellar but just imagine sitting in a theater with surround sound and then triple experience you are imagining and you will just about be there)--both clips are from the encore. You may also notice one Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers performed in the show (and did a really fine job--I am now repenting for questioning his casting), Lea Salonga, and a few other recognizable cast members. However, who I really want to draw your attention to is one Alfie Boe who plays Jean Valjean (the 4th Jean Valjean in the first clip), is a part-time resident of Salt Lake City (his wife is from Salt Lake City and they have a home here), and is now on my Christmas list as well as my list of people to see perform live before I (or they) die--Dame Judi Dench being the only one on my list that I have actually been able to see perform live. The last clip is of him warbling in a friend's kitchen--how cool would that be?

You'll notice in the above clip, the fantastic Frances Ruffelle is only shown from the waist up which is a kind gift from the recorder of the clip as Ms. Ruffelle appears to have forgotten her pants (possibly in both the American and British sense of the word "pants") to say nothing of her choice in shoes!

If you are British or live in Britannia you can purchase the DVD on November 29th. No word yet on when us Yanks get our chance but if you missed this in the theaters then you must, must, must purchase or rent or borrow (I would almost say steal) the DVD, find a large screen with surround sound, and sit back and enjoy! 

In an unrelated note, I saw a local musical production of The Scarlet Pimpernel and for the first time in my entire life (including that one unfortunate time that I endured an entire 30 minutes of the A&E version) I was rooting for Chauvelin--extremely bad casting (the actor who played Chauvelin would have made a charming Scarlet Pimpernel!)

They Seek Him Here, They Seek Him There

I was looking for a movie to rent over the weekend when I hit upon the fantastic idea of renting The Scarlet Pimpernel (we are reading this book for book group this month). Sadly the good versions (i.e. the versions with Jane Seymour or Leslie Howard) were all checked out. However, I did notice a version I had never heard of before done by A&E and thought to myself maybe "I'll give that at try--after all it was A&E that gave me Horatio Hornblower." Sadly, this version of The Scarlet Pimpernel was no Horatio Hornblower. I made it through all of 30 minutes before I just couldn't stand it any longer. Fortunately, my good mother owns a copy of the Jane Seymour version so I have nearly driven the horrible images from the A&E version from my mind. Of course this all does leave me with a bit of a problem: I am having a difficult time differentiating between the various movies and the book. At this point I could probably do a better job commenting on the movies than I could on the book--which is not too bad of an idea as this may be the only book in existence that far prefer the movie to the book. And really, can you blame me when the movie gives me about two hours of anthony Andrews?

I did quite valiantly look for a picture of Anthony Andrews (you know, to liven up this post) to insert here but none of them quite do him justice so you'll just need to get your fix by watching the movie. Sorry, but I imagine you'll live--or at least die quite happy.

Recommend a Foreign film

On Jenny's fine recommendation I watched "The Pope's Toilet" over the weekend. It was a fantastic film and on finishing it I felt as if I had just made a little trip down to Uruguay. I find that this feeling of having traveled after watching a foreign film is one of the reasons I love watching foreign movies--that and the emphasis on things like plot, dialogue, etc (not that I don't like our big blockbusters with their special effects and big stars). Anyway, upon completion of the movie I wanted to run down to my local library and pick up a few more titles--except I didn't because it was midnight and because I wasn't sure what to pick up. So, what should I pick up? What are your favorite foreign films?

And if you are interested, here is the trailer for "The Pope's Toilet."

My Favorite: Movies (Romantic Comedy Category)

I finally got around to seeing this truly excellent film. If you haven't seen it you really must. (And for you girls who don't care too much for sports, this film has a very soft touch--nearly a chick flick) Sitting in the theater got me thinking about other great films I've seen and how I would possibly go about ranking them and coming up with a favorite 5. I pretty much decided that is an impossible task. But in the spirit of trying I've come up with a list of my favorite Romantic Comedies (Other categories to come):

5. You've Got Mail
4. One Fine Day
3. While You Were Sleeping2. Return to Me I love the attention to the little details in this movie.
1. It Happened One Night Perhaps my all-time favorite movie.

What are your top 5?

Christmas Plans: Movies

Every year I have such grand ideas about how I'm going to spend the entire month of December celebrating Christmas and then before I know it it is December 26th and I've hardly done a thing--except curse the Christmas crowds and the weather. This year will be different, though, as this year I am planning on planning.

The first round of planning: Christmas movies I want to see (at home--may later make a list of movies I want to see in the theater this Christmas Season). My mom, two sisters, and I sat down and composed this list of Christmas movies (Christmas movies being a loosely defined term):
Babes in Toyland (Does this one actually have anything to do with Christmas?)A Charlie Brown Christmas
Christmas in Connecticut
A Christmas Story
The Cutting Edge
Elf
The Family Man
The Family Stone
Frosty the Snowman
The Holiday
Holiday Affair
Holiday Inn
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life
Just Friends (This one was debated--I haven't seen it)Joyuex Noel
Love Actually (anyone happen to have an edited version?)

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (remember there are 3 year olds in this family)Miracle on 34th Street

Miracle on 34th Street
A Muppet Family Christmas (Don't know yet if it will air on TV this year:( )Once Upon a Christmas (Another debated one that I haven't seen)The Polar Express
Rudolph, the Red Nose Reindeer
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Serendipity
The Shop Around the Corner
'Twas the Night Before Christmas (perhaps my all-time favorite Christmas movie) Sleepless in Seattle
Stepmom
While You Were Sleeping (always gets watched Christmas Eve with my family--not sure why that is)White Christmas

Don't know if we will get around to watching all of them (it's a mighty lengthy list)--I've made a good start with my post-Thanksgiving movie marathon--but now that I have a list and something of a plan I should at least be able to get in the most important ones.

What did we forget?

P.S. I Love You

Watched P.S. I Love You last night.

It isn't a perfect movie.

I still adore it.

I wonder how many times I have to watch it before I don't sob all the way through.

Man Candy: Wednesday

I spent the most delicious evening last night with John Thornton (aka Richard Armitage) and (brace yourselves) I have decided that John Thornton trumps Mr. Darcy and day of the week. Scandalous, right? If you haven't seen North and South (the British one) please, please, please do so.

Julie and Julia

Before I went to see the film I looked through the reviews to see if anyone had said anything bad about this particular movie. You see, I had such high hopes for the movie that I was sure that I wouldn't love it as much as I wanted to. The reviews, though, seemed to be pretty good across the board. Therefore, in hopes of helping you to enjoy this movie I thought I would start out with the bad before moving on to the good:

1. It seemed long. It was long (over 2 hours) but it also seemed long.

2. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending. I'll tell you why at the end of this post but beware that in telling you why I will give away parts of the movie that you may not want given away before you see it.

3. There is a slight lack of character development. You are left to assume lots of things (especially about Julie's friends and her relationship with her husband) rather than see them work out or see them work up to the culmination that is eventually played out in the movie--that is to say you see the culmination and are left to assume the build up of emotions.

Now the good:

It is a thoroughly charming and entertaining movie. Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are both very, very good (I imagine that being on set and watching Streep work was pure joy). At times it is laugh-out-loud funny--the lobster scene that you have previewed if you have seen a trailer is even better in the movie. And then at other times it is deeply moving. Now that I have seen the movie, I feel that I must go out pick up Julia Child's cookbook and at least attempt a few of her recipes. I also now feel that I must somehow figure out how to visit Paris in the 1950s.

****Warning: do not see this movie when you are hungry.

SPOILER ALERT

Reasons I think I was left unsatisfied by the ending:

1. It is a Nora Ephron film. Just in case you weren't aware it is a Nora Ephron film they put it right up on the screen in big bold letters right before the film begins. That means that as this film begins you have thoughts of When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail running through your head--movies that all end with a kiss and a swelling of music. This is not one of those films. There is no swelling of music or satisfying kiss to close this one out. That is not to say that there should have been just that perhaps I was subconsciously thinking there would be and then felt at a loss when a Nora Ephron film didn't deliver it.

2. There is no conclusion about why Julia didn't like Julie. Had she read the blog? What exactly did she not like about Julie learning about French cooking and life through her own book. From everything else that is shown in the movie, it seems ridiculous that Julia should not embrace Julie. If Julia truly didn't like what Julie was doing it seems to me that there must have been a serious whitewashing of one of the characters (or both) which disappoints me just a little even though I know it is a movie and therefore is whitewashed.

Cranford

I spent a lovely weekend watching the 7 episodes of the lovely miniseries Cranford. I highly recommend this on to you--especially if you love BBC period dramas such North and South (not the Patrick Swayze one) or any Jane Austen adaptation. Here is my favorite quote from the series:

Men! They're all the same! They know everything about everything save when it is to happen and how it can be stopped. My father was a man; I think I understand the sex.

Rainy Day Movies

It has been unusually cool (in the 70s) and rainy here (Utah) for the past several days and it has been absolutely wonderful. I miss the rain. I once lived in Northern Ireland and it would rain there nearly once a day (no exaggeration). I had to take my umbrella with me everywhere because it was likely to rain even on nice sunny-looking days. It rained so often that I would buy a new umbrella ever 2-3 months just because of wear and tear. I miss the rain. But for the past few days I've had the rain back in my life. In addition to prompting me to take long, enjoyable walks in the rain (lasts night's walk perhaps had a bit too much rain) it has prompted the watching of some of my favorite rainy day movies (cozy little movies that induce silly grinning while I am wrapped up in a blanket with hot chocolate).

Here are a few of my favorites:

One Fine Day--one of the ultimate rainy day movies because the movie begins and ends with a rainy day and George is so absolutely charming and cute. (Plus the size of the cell phones is hilarious)

Singing in the Rain--another natural pick for the list as it too involves rain. My favorite part (apart from Gene Kelly singing in the rain) is Donald O'Connor's 'Make them Laugh' routine. Love it!

The Mirror Has Two Faces--I love this love story and the opera music at the end gets me every time.

Crossing Delancey--lovely story set in lovely New York City. I haven't seen this one for years and years but it has been on my mind all week.

Return to Me--Every time I see this one (which admittedly is a lot cause I love me a good sappy love story) it makes me want to go out an find a family-run Irish-Italian restaurant that serves ravioli and cabbage on the same plate.

So what are some of your picks?

More Short Films

I thought I'd throw up a couple more Short Films that I have seen lately for the long weekend.

This first one (done by Taza and Husband over at The Rockstar Diaries) documents a 2009 cross-country road trip:

And this second one documents SIX YEARS of Polaroid taking by Jami Saunders (a larger version can/should be viewed here):

One Polaroid a Day-The Movie!! by Jami Saunders from jami saunders on Vimeo.

Meet the Brockintons

Ran across this over at The Rockstar Diaries (one of my new favorite blogs) and fell in love with it. I've been seeing quite a few of these short films being made by "regular" folks (this one was done with the aid of a film student) around the blogging world and it really makes me want to buy equipment and software and talent and do one myself. Short of that, I'll just keep on enjoying all the excellent work being done by others (I've watched this one several times already).

Meet the Brockintons from ashley brockinton on Vimeo.

Sam and Ashley are photographers and you can view their work website here or visit their blog here.

Paper Heart

I really like the look of this movie.

I especially like the perfect date idea from the little kids.

I also thought the ordering from the menu to make the waiter think you've been around was awesome because I've done that--only that tends to misfire when you mispronounce the item (or when you are in Belfast, Northern Ireland and you can't convince the waiter or others at your table that the way they are pronouncing "quesadilla" is the correct way).

'Nother Video

I don't know what it is with me and video clips, but here is another one for your viewing pleasure. This one comes to you courtesy of Jenny at Daily Blessings.

Australia

I nearly forget to remind everyone that release of Australia on DVD is today!!!

Twilight: The Movie

Here are a couple of sneak peeks of the upcoming Twilight movie. I've got to say that I think the casting looks pretty good (Edward isn't quite what I had in mind but he is growing on me). Thanks to Joy for alerting us on these fun looks. So I've noticed that the first clip doesn't play below so go here to see the first clip which is the best as far as getting a sneak peek.

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