Hello all! I hope you all had a lovely time this holiday season. I hope you are waking up to a bright, glorious new year. And for any of you who are experiencing a nasty hangover, I hope the party last night was worth it. I know it's not Sunday but I couldn't ring in a new year without a pop culture post. And here they are...
Film: The Quiet Man
Yesterday TCM ran a John Wayne marathon. Not being a huge Duke fan, I didn't watch most of it. However, during the afternoon hours they played one of my favorites: The Quiet Man. What makes this John Ford film (yep, he directed much to my surprise) especially excellent is the chemistry between Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Next to Kate Hepburn, Maureen O'Hara is one of my favorite actresses. This film is not her first pairing with Wayne nor her first film with Ford. What I like about this film is that it is not a typical John Wayne film and yet it is. There is a sense of humor here that I think is missing from other John Wayne films. It is clear that Ford, Wayne, and O'Hara are having fun. But what I really watch for is the end. I love the cross-country boxing match between Sean Thornton and Will Danaher. What a great ending! If you've never picked up this 1952 classic, do so now and enjoy the crazy Irish rituals.
Television: Leverage
I've been watching this new TNT show for the last few weeks and have finally found some decent drama on television. I love this heist show. If you liked the Ocean's 11 films, you will like this weekly drama. The premise is pretty basic: Tim Hutton, an ex-insurance detective, gets together the best con woman, computer hacker, thief, and muscle to help the hopeless. They are a modern-day group of Robin Hoods. Tim Hutton is always lovely to watch. But the show also has two stand-outs in Gina Bellman and Christian Kane. Gina Bellman is a British actress who I loved in the BBC series Jekyll. Christian Kane was great as Lindsey in Angel and also played young Hud in Secondhand Lions (love that film). Together, the ensemble really fits and the show shines. Since the show is on TNT, I'm sure it will be given time to stretch its legs. I have to say, TNT is fast becoming one of the best networks out there for television.
Book: Brookland
This 2006 novel by Emily Barton is a great, but somewhat sad, read. It is sad because it details an attempt at building the Brooklyn Bridge. Since the book is set in the late 18th/early 19th centuries, you know the Bridge will fail and the characters will have to deal with the consequences. (The Brooklyn Bridge as we know it today was not actually started until 1870.) Once you get past that knowledge, though, the novel is a great story of a family of sisters who have their own issues and demons to deal with. The narrator, Prue Winship, and her sister Tem are gin distillers, a calling taught to them by their father. Prue desperately wants to build a bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn and uses both Tem and their sister Pearl to do it. It is a story of obsession and being single-minded enough to ignore all those around you. There are many times in this novel where you just want to reach in and shake the bejeezus out of Prue, but by the end of the novel, you appreciate her and come to actually sympathize with her.
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9 comments:
Of course, the Quiet Man is awesome.
So what is your movie comfort zone?
Let's see, there are 2 movies I've seen recently that I didn't expect to like: 300 (too macho and jingoistic) and Tropic Thunder (not normally a Ben Stiller or Tom Cruise fan).
300 was better then I expected - I mean, it's mythology, so of course it's over the top. And I LOVED Tropic Thunder - freaking hilarious in a make-fun-of-Hollywood sort of way.
I recently watched Volver also, which I expected to like. I generally like foreign films. But I was unimpressed with Volver.
I also watched Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Albert Finney is just awesome in everything (I caught Miller's Crossing again recently too). But my question is: What happens to Ethan Hawke?
Heather's comfort zone does not include "The English Patient," so extrapolate from that. :-) Just kidding!
I saw the South Park 300 parody--does that count? It was lesbians fighting Persians over a gay club.
Have you ever seen the Albert Finney "Scrooge"? It was made in the early '70s. Can't believe I never saw caught it before. It's a musical! Actually better than I thought it would be.
I have a huge pile of movies to watch. I'm way behind. But with so many TV shows canned, maybe I'll see some of them.
I'm interested in Leverage. Maybe they'll have a marathon sometime and I can catch up. Gina Bellman is actually quite the comedic actress. She played one of the main three gals in the British show "Coupling"--the slightly odd, lunatic one. Does she have to fake an American accent in this show?
Ohhhh. Now I get it. I saw the South Park 300 ep before I saw the movie, so I didn't know what they were going for. ha ha
I haven't seen the musical Scrooge. But of course, Albert Finney was Daddy Warbucks in Annie, so I've seen him sing and dance.
I have so many DVR'd movies to watch. It's crazy.
Netflix is making a killing off of my household. And they don't even have to ship us anyhing. We are just holding onto stuff forever and forking over our sixteen bucks a month.
BTW, I saw Let The Right One In last night...it lives up to the hype.
"The English Patient" is definitely out of my comfort zone and will not be one of the resolution options. What I mean is that I will try to watch films that I may have shrugged off before like John Ford westerns. That said, I still won't watch gross-out films.
I have "Tropic Thunder" on my Netflix list.
Albert Finney rocks. No doubt. Jennica, Gina Bellman is all British in the show. No cheesy accent thank goodness!
You shrugged off John Ford westerns? For shame! I'd think My Darling Clementine would be right up your alley.
I hate spaghetti westerns - they're definitely out of my movie comfort zone.
As for The English Patient, I'm not sure what's not to like. I mean, sure, it's depressing, but you don't have anything against depressing movies. It's beautifully filmed, the characters are interesting and Anthony Minghella was a great director. I've seen it again recently and I now appreciate the Julliette Binoche and Willem Defoe parts much more than I did back then (in my Fiennes-induced blindness.) Oh well, I'm sure we ruined it for you! We should just call you "Elaine"
Krista, have you ever read the original book "The English Patient"? I finally read it a few years ago. It's really different from the movie but it's good too. The focus is primarily on Hana and Kip (a LOT more Kip), and the patient and his affair/flashbacks are mainly background. There was a special on years ago called "From the Book to the Screen" and I know they covered EP--I'll have to see if it's on the EP DVD or if I have it on tape somewhere. Thinking about it now, I'm interested as to why such significant changes were made.
It's still a really good movie, and there's nothing wrong with Ralph Fiennes. He's still a good actor. No need to get rid of your blindness!
Ehhh....I really have never liked any Westerns. I'm trying to think of one and it's difficult. I loved Deadwood though. And Little House. :-)
No, I never read the EP book. I have so many books to read right now though, so I don't need to add one just yet to the pile.
Oh, another great thing about the EP movie is the music.
Speaking of RF, have you seen In Bruges? It's in my queue.
No on In Bruges, but I have the Duchess sitting here. Ralph plays Keira Knightley's husband in that one (based on a true story). And he's in the Reader too, which also looks very interesting.
Yeah, the EP music is really good.
I know what you mean on books. I have a ton waiting ("American Wife" for one!), and all I seem to read is the Sookie Stackhouse series. :-) And I have two of those yet to go!
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