Holiday Big Releases

Was anyone else utterly devastated by the rating change of the movie Due Date? I swear they were promoting it as PG-13 originally and I was so excited to get to go see a movie that is potentially funny for a change. Then the movie came out as R and I went through the stages of grief: Denial, Rage, followed by Depression.

But surely there will be good, non-rated-R movies coming out this holiday season, right? WRONG. Let's go see Tangled and Megamind. That's it, people. I guess we have Morning Glory, but I'm planning on seeing that before Christmas.

Like I see movies in the theater, anyway. But it'd be nice to have options.

**Forgive my long absence. I have been trying to figure out how to remove this photobucket icon off the blog and can't. It will live here forever.

Perspective

I'd like to start a Hunger Games series discussion, about Books 1 and 2. Please do not say anything about Mockingjay yet, as most of us haven't even started reading it.

The question is, are you Team Gale or Peeta?

Up until a few days ago, I didn't know there was an issue. My point of view was that Katniss is in love with Peeta, but keeps trying to deny her feelings to protect both her and him. Every scene between Gale and Katniss had the strictly platonic feel.

After first talking to Mindy the other day, she said "There isn't a choice anymore. She's chosen Gale." I stopped in my tracks and wondered if we had read the same books or if I wasn't remembering correctly. So I started posing the question to my friends here who have read the books and the feelings are split. Some, like me, feel that she loves Peeta but is in constant self-preservation mode and not acknowledging her feelings since they're both kind of doomed to die. The others feel there's no question that she realized she loves Gale in the second book and Peeta is the one where's there's nothing there.

Wow, fascinating, isn't it? I really don't know! That makes the third book all the more exciting. Why I love these books though is the love story isn't the main focal point. The other relationships are just as important as the lovey ones and the other themes are in the forefront as well: justice, freedom, cruelty, compassion.

It's quite refreshing that the latest trendy books that everybody is reading are well-written, moving, and really for anyone. Love that Suzanne Collins.

Now please answer my discussion question.

Berkeley Square: I want my 8 hours back edition

I want those 8 hours back!

I discovered this BBC miniseries, Berkeley Square, in the "you might like this" section on my netflix account. I don't usually pay attention to those, but the good user rating got my attention. I don't know if you've noticed, but the users on netflix are pretty stingy with their stars.

There are 10 episodes on 3 discs. It is about adventures of 3 nannies working for upper-class families in the posh neighborhood of Berkeley Square. Here's the breakdown of my experience:

Disc 1: watched while my mom was here and we both thought it was a cute, entertaining kind of thing.

Disc 2: got really into it. a little melodramatic at parts but thoroughly enjoyable! started recommending it to lots of people.

Disc 3: so excited to see the last 3 episodes. Looked forward all day to curling up on the couch with my Phish Food. Utter disbelief and disappointment at the way the story lines turned out.

Now if you're going to rent these, stop now, for I am going to spoil the ending. I don't know if I'd even recommend this series anymore. The ending was so contrived, wrong, didn't fit, ridiculous, I could go on and on- that I am starting to feel the whole experience was a waste of time. But like I said, if you'd like to give it a try then stop reading here.

What do I say about a series with the most selfless, giving, sweet character, who had a lifetime of trial and tribulation, an immigrant who worked hard her whole life, who ends up being wrongly executed for baby murder?

BRAVO, BBC.

Update on "The Queue"

Spring is a great time for renting movies because all of the movies that came out at Christmas are released on DVD. I have been busy watching my netflix.

An Education- Fresh and interesting. I was intrigued by the father in this film, played by an old favorite Alfred Molina, more so than any character I've seen in awhile. I couldn't figure him out and it was exhilarating to still be thinking about him days later. I also love the feeling while watching that something is lurking around the corner but you have no idea what. That feeling is like a microcosm of what she does in the film. As you're going down a path that is fun at the time (I love how the main character just wanted to have FUN), there will always be consequences. And sometimes "fun" limits your options down the road. Love that motif.

The Blind Side- Loved Sandra B's and Quinton Aaron's understated performances. Got to love a feel-good movie that makes you hopeful there is good in the world. Also got to love a movie I can watch with my husband that he actually enjoys (he's very picky).

Sherlock Holmes- Robert Downey, Jr. is a favorite of mine so I was looking forward to finally seeing this one. I was apprehensive because I had heard some critical reviews. Overall, I was entertained and watching Downey on screen is always a treat. My first reaction to the movie was that I liked it. Then I tried to figure out why so many people didn't and realized there were a few things I didn't like about it. The big criticisms I have are 1) it's too melodramatic for me when the conflict in a film like this is THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. Take it easy on the villain's objectives, please. 2) the dark magic isn't for me. 3) Mindy thought the Bromance was a little much between Holmes and Watson. Lighten that up a bit, too. Also, we love Rachel Mcadams but she seemed a out of place in this one. I do hope there's another Sherlock Holmes with this cast.

The Young Victoria- Utterly surprising performance by Emily Blunt. She was fantastic, deserving of her Golden Globe nod. After the first 10 minutes, I completely forgot about her as the assistant to Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada, which is the only other role she's really known for. Nice love story- I think if you're British it's common knowledge but not for us Americans so you simply don't know if it's a sad or happy ending, which is some nice suspense. I won't ruin it for you!

Bright Star- A little love story on the too-short life of poet John Keats, who died from tuberculosis when he was only 26. A little slow and not interesting enough for me, although I do love me some poetry. I'd skip this one.

Avatar- Pretty sure I'm the only one left who hasn't seen this movie. I really, really want to. I keep putting off seeing it on my teeny TV. Wish I saw it in 3D.

Post Grad- How did this get on the list? Fast-forwarded much to the end, not surprisingly. Skip it.

Any other ones I need to see?

Little Dorrit

Because my DVR is set to record everything from Masterpiece Theater I've stumbled upon another little treasure that I thought I would share. It's called Little Dorrit and was made in 2008 and is an adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel. One of my favorite things about Masterpiece Theater is that they use completely unknown actresses for the leads, fresh from acting school and it allows for these seemingly plain girls to breath life into the characters, like Ruth Wilson in Jane Eyre, and now with Claire Foy as Amy Dorrit. It also stars Matthew Macfadyen from the new Pride and Prejudice and I'm happy to say I enjoyed watching him in this role as well. (Almost as much as when he played Mr. Darcy.)

The story is supposed to be loosely based on Dickens life, and although the subplots are a little confusing, I really enjoyed it. There are 14 episodes total, so it takes a chunk of time to get through them, but I can assure you that along with everything else Masterpiece Theater does it will be well worth it.

The Queue

Thanks to the new Warner Brothers/Netflix deal I must wait another 3 weeks for the movies I'm dying to see: The Blind Side and Sherlock Holmes. You're so wrong, Warner Brothers! (You too, netflix). I love it when lots of good new releases come out at once so my queue is brimming with excitement, and I don't end up with something like Fool's Gold that I put in my queue ages ago and when it comes it's a surprise that it made it to the top and then it takes weeks to put in the DVD player, only to end up wondering why on earth you put it in your queue to begin with.

Here's my top 10 right now. How have people liked these films?

1. An Education - on its way coming tomorrow.

2. The Blind Side

3. Sherlock Holmes

4. Curious George 2- Follow that Monkey

5. The Young Victoria

6. Bright Star

7. Barbie and a Mermaid Tale

8. Arrested Development, Season 1: Disc 2.

9. The House Bunny

10. The Aviator

So there were some kids movies that made it on here. I don't get excited about those. But can you guess at what point my list gets into the movies that have been on here for years?

Funny thing is the only one on here that has a "very long wait" is Curious George 2. It's been out an entire month and has yet to budge from the most prestigious netflix status.

"Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief."

Last week I receieved the following text from Chris: "New Emma sunday night at 9 on KTCS." I had no idea what he was talking about and didn't get a chance to text back, "Huh?" Then it struck me a few hours later, Oh! A new Emma on sunday night! Yes, some of us are slow.

Once I did realize what this meant, I was not excited because there are already enough adaptations of Emma in the world (seriously, there's lots!) and the Gwyenth Paltrow version is one of my favorite movies of all-time, so why try and top that? However, when I sat down and watched Part 1 on Sunday night, I was entranced. I'm intrigued at how people can take characters I know inside and out- Knightley, Emma, Harriet, Mr. Elton- and make them new. This isn't rhetorical, I'm really asking, how do they do this?!

Since I've only seen Part 1, there'll be no specifics right now. Just generalities like "It was bliss!" Hopefully it will come out on DVD and get to netflix and/or your local library soon so you can watch it.

***Update: I just found out this miniseries is from last year so it releases on netflix on February 9th.

Gossip, Romance, and Cotton

I recently discovered the world of Elizabeth Gaskell and the 3 miniseries based on her books and short stories, adapted by BBC Masterpiece Theater. Can you imagine life without Masterpiece Theater? That would mean no 2006 Jane Eyre which would mean a duller, sadder world.

Cranford (2007): Stories of a small English town and the comings, goings and gossip of the single ladies, young and old. It contains some of the wittiest dialogue I've heard in a long time. Watch the trailer here.

Wives and Daughters (1999): A young woman gets used to life with her new stepmother and sister while figuring out what love means for herself. I was attached to these characters immediately and enjoyed the complex love story.

North and South (2004): This one began slower for me and it was hard to love the setting (the industrial town of Milton), just as the characters found it hard to love. Even though the setting was important enough to be like a character itself, I longed for the hills of the English countryside. I also could never quite accept that the main girl belonged in the 19th century; she had too modern of a face for me. The movie won my heart by the end, however, as I assumed it would. It was fun listening to the northern English accents compared to the ones we usually hear.

In all three of these movies, there were refreshing, complex characters, which is sometimes a rare feat when dealing with 19th century novels. I often found myself at a loss for what the characters were going to do next, and sometimes had no idea how they were going to resolve the situations they found themselves in. It was a departure from the famous, timeless stories of Jane Austen in that there were often not "good" guys and "bad" guys. One thing that kept happening was I would idenify someone as sort of a villain in my mind, but then they would grow and change and sometimes become as likeable as the characters who were immediately likeable. It was so refreshing to have truly complex characters in the backdrop of the 19th century-era which I love so much. Either Elizabeth Glaskell was truly ahead of her time, or the masterpiece theater people infused modern implements into their adaptions. Probably both.