Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 2

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Season 5 Episode 2

Well, off goes Jimmy into the big world beyond Downton Abbey. I can't help but think it might be a good thing for him. He seems more of a London boy to me. But will Lady Anstruther (Anna Chancellor) return down the road? I certainly hope so. In the meantime, the unlikely friendship between Thomas and Jimmy (Barrow and James) will have to continue through the post.

And the "Significant Looks Award" goes to Anna and Mrs. Hughes for the discovery of the baby photo under Lady Edith's pillow. It reminded me of the Red Nose Day Spoof of Uptown Downstairs Abbey from years ago. And of course there is more of the Lady Edith/Marigold story line. One wonders why Mr. Farmer/Fireman doesn't just tell his wife that Edith is Marigold's mum. Better than having her thinking that there is something between her husband and Edith, surely????

I do like the addition of the Simon Bricker character (played to slimy perfection by Richard E. Grant) who flirts outrageously in front of the ever dense Lord Grantham. Cora deserves a bit of fun now and then and there is much humour in Lord Grantham's jealousy of Mr. Bricker's attention to Isis!

As an aside, apparently Dame Maggie Smith has had an ongoing 20 year long feud with Richard E. Can't as she calls him, which started when they were in a 6 month long stage production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Apparently she lit into him for nodding off during one of the dinner scenes saying "If I can stay awake, you should be able to too". There is more than a bit of the Dowager in Maggie Smith apparently.

Lord Fellowes is definitely setting up a story line for Daisy taking over the farm with her newly found mathematical ability now that the horrid Miss Bunting is teaching her. Go Daisy!!! And said Miss Bunting is so abrasive that she still seems to be driving Branson back upstairs even as she tries to remind him of his revolutionary roots. She is certainly no Lady Sybil. At least she didn't help herself to dinner and then bitch about privilege again. Run Branson, run!!!

The whole war memorial plot is dragging on. Just build the darn memorial on the square already. Sigh. But the sparks are noticeable between Carson and Mrs. Hughes. All of this elder romance is lovely!

Lord Grantham's ongoing cluelessness is highly entertaining. Now it is the wireless that he refuses to embrace. Hugh Bonneville is now getting more comic lines that Dame Maggie! Perhaps Lord G is now finally morphing into his mother?

Lady Mary in Liverpool doing the try before you buy thing with Tony Gillingham seems fairly promising. But I somehow doubt there will be enough fireworks for Mary to commit. If not, she still has Charles Blake from Foyle's War dangling around. I have to say Anna at the chemist was a real hoot. The poor dear couldn't get more embarrassed. But if they don't stop flogging the Mr. Bates investigation I may...well...go on twitter during the program?

Lord Merton's wooing of Isobel (with romantic talk of quarantine and a visit to his lovely home) continues happily, to the Dowager's consternation. Poor Dr. Death looks ever more uncomfortable with the rich dude trying to steal his beloved medical partner.

Lady Rose is going to help the Russian refugee aristos in York. That sounds promising!

And Molesley is still falling for Baxter, despite her known criminal past. Hurrah!

Best Lines of the Week

Anna (to Lady Mary): Honestly my lady, you'd better hope I never write my memoirs!

Mr. Molesley: Do I take it that I am now first footman?
Carson: You are the only footman. You are first, second, third and last. Make what you will of it.

Lord Grantham: I find the whole idea a kind of thief of life, that people should waste hours huddled around a wooden box listening to someone talking at them. It's a fad...it won't last.

Countess Violet: Mrs. Crawley is never happier than when she has a chance to use her guiding hand.

Lord Grantham: I'm not very good at abroad.

Charles Blake: I love Rose's definition of ordinary life. Dancing and shopping and seeing one's friends.

Charles Blake: Plantagenets are as susceptible as housemaids when it comes to sex.

Lord Grantham: I'm not having Sybil's only child snatched from everyone she loves to be brought up by some harpie in an American sewer.

Lord Grantham: Tell your friend Bricker to stop flirting with Isis. There is nothing more ill bred than trying to steal the affections of someone else's dog. (Really Lord G? Nothing?)

Daisy: Why is it called a wireless when it has so many wires?

Cheers until next week! And again for anyone who hasn't yet seen it, the Text Santa Downton spoof with George Clooney aka Lord George Ocean Gravity, the Marquis of Hollywood. Guffaw!
Part 1
Part 2

Congrats to Joanna Froggatt for her Golden Globe win! Very classy speech!

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 1

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Season 5 Episode 1

Downton Abbey is back! Much as I dislike the fact that we have to wait 4 months later than the Brits for our Downton fix, it does help to brighten the cold dark winter months doesn't it? I keep asking myself why I enjoy this miniseries so much and all I come up with is that the eye candy and the humour keep me going. That and the fact that Julian Fellowes has us truly attached to these characters after all these years and event.

I mean Lady Mary is going all slutty-Season-1 again for us (hurrah!), Thomas (I still can't get used to calling him Barrow) is still doing his evil even without O'Brien egging him on. And the tenderness between good old Molesley and Cora's new ladies maid with the secret is adorable. I just love Molesley! The hair dye thing was a hoot!

Many thanks to Lord Fellowes for writing Anna Chancellor a wonderfully cougarish part as Lady Anstruther, who has to come sniffing around for Jimmy when he doesn't reply to her letters. Bravo!

And Lady Edith's frustration with the whole Michael Gregson/lost to the Nazis/Marigold being raised by the farmer-come-fireman, conveniently gave us the mini-fire plot mover. Edith chucks the book in the fire, Thomas Barrow is saved again and off goes Jimmy to London!

But the whole Miss Sarah Bunting thing is really getting to me I am afraid. What a horrible character. She is enough to keep Branson as toffee-nosed as Lord Grantham would want for the moment. Ugh!

So with Daisy learning Algebra, the tedious war memorial plot, Lord Merton sniffing around Isabel to Dowager Violet's chagrin and Baby Sybbie calling her grandfather Donk, we have a promising start to the new Downton Abbey year!

Now let's just get Lady Rose married off, or at least Lady Mary or Lady Edith. We need a real wedding for a change!

Best Lines of the Week:

Lord Grantham: I couldn't care less if he was the son of Foo Manchu!

Countess Violet: There's nothing simpler than avoiding people you don't like. Avoiding one's friends, that's the real test!

Countess Violet to Lord Grantham: Your father always told the village what they wanted.

Sarah Bunting: The rule of the gong. It sounds like life in a religious order.

Lady Shackleton: A single peer with a good estate won't be lonely long, if he doesn't want to be.
Countess Violet: You sound like Mrs. Bennett!

Lord Grantham: Do people think we're a public house on the great road north?

Lord Grantham: Molesley, you look very Latin all of a sudden. Do you have Italian blood?

Lady Ansthruther: Look at your parents, thirty-four years. I'd never manage it. That's the advantage of an older husband. One gets an early release.

Countess Violet: Principles are like prayers. Noble of course, but awkward at a party.

Happy 2015 and for an extra treat, here is a link to the George Clooney Downton Abbey spoof which was an ITV fundraiser for Text Santa. It's a hoot, especially Maggie Smith literally rolling on the floor laughing after having her hand kissed by George Ocean Gravity, The Marquis of Hollywood!

Lord Hollywood Part 1

Lord Hollywood Part 2

The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton 2006

I was finally able to sit down and watch The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton recently. The ever adorable JJ Feild is certainly one very good reason for you all to seek this one out. My word, is that man attractive!

I tell you, any time this man is in period dress (preferably a cravat!) is a reason to give your full attention to the screen ladies. However, the Squire was perfectly happy to watch this with me, possibly because Mrs. Beeton was played by the very attractive Anna Madeley.

Anna Madeley is one of those actresses who pops up in many things, and I don't always recognize her. See if you can pick her out of this Sunday's first episode of Mr. Selfridge. She plays the brilliantly named Miss Ravillious! She was also Celia Ryder in the latest Brideshead Revisited as well as Lucy Steele in the 2008 version of Sense and Sensibility. See what I mean? She is a chameleon!

I wish I could tell you that this film has a happy ending, but I can't. They both worked their tails off to produce the book Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, among other publications. Mrs. Beeton died at age 28 from illness and Sam Beeton only lasted another 12 years before succumbing to tuberculosis. However, there is a wonderful love story before the sad ending, as well as a cracking good tale of one heck of a woman who helped many other Victorian women struggling to manage their houses, children, husbands and livestock, among other topics!

So, here's to Isabella Beeton. May I have half of her energy as I try to tackle my spring cleaning! Happy Easter, Happy Passover and cheers to Mrs. Beeton!

P.S. You will also spot Anna Chancellor and Jim Carter in this one as Isabella's mother and step-father.
P.P.S. One of my regular readers LRK or Lark as I have been calling her brought my attention to a new drama about the American Revolution called Turn in which we may be able to see JJ Feild in 18th century dress. Yipee!

What A Girl Wants 2003

What A Girl Wants is one of my guilty pleasures. I know it is not a "great" film, but it doesn't purport to be Oscar-worthy. It is just trying to be a fun, light chick flick and it succeeds at that in abundance.  I kind of love it actually.

Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth as father and daughter in What a Girl Wants

A remake of the 1958 film The Reluctant Debutante with Sandra Dee and Rex Harrison, it is another twist on a classic story. The daughter who reestablishes a connection with her long lost father (in this case, he never knew about her), the evil step-sister, the clash of different cultures. Aw, sometimes we all need a bit of Cinderella in our lives. By the way, I may need to add the Sandra Dee version to my sappy, happy film collection.

Father/Daughter pedicure

Henry Dashwood: I think I owe you a rather large apology.
Libby Reynolds: Do you think I've waited 17 years for an apology?

Young love...in London!

Ian: Why are trying so hard to fit in when you are born to stand out? 

***********************************************************************************

I know the line is cheesy but what 17 year old (or 47 year old) wouldn't melt with that one?

Glynnis and Clarissa- they are such a Payne!

Glynnis Payne: I know my daddy was naughty, but what about me?

**********************************************************************************

Clarissa: I can't believe that little impostor is going to ruin my summer!
Fiona: She may be a lot of things, but I can't believe impostor is one of them. Technically, she's 39th in line to the throne.
Clarissa: Really, Fiona. 38 people would have to die for her to be queen.
Jane: Well, it's far less than the 72 you'd need.
Clarissa: Hmph! 

Colin Firth

What a girl really wants of course is Colin Firth. And I guess if he is really too old for you, then having him as your Dad would be the next best thing????

Seeing him dance in this is very funny. Not quite as hilarious as seeing Hugh Grant dance in Love Actually and Music and Lyrics, but pretty darn funny in a "cover-your-eyes-and-peek-through-your-fingers-embarrassed-for-him" kind of way. Oh, those pleather pants!!!

 Henry Dashwood: Remember when I told you how groovy I used to be?

Cat fight!

Glynnis Payne: Now Daphne, we don't want to make a scene now, do we?
Libby Reynolds: Take your hand off my daughter or you won't get a scene, you'll get a Broadway Musical!

***********************************************************************************

So here's to having a little fun and spotting Dame Eileen Atkins in a lovely little role as Henry Dashwood's mother. Now I need a few of you to fess up that this is one of your "happy night" films too. I know you watch it!

Anna Chancellor- Actor of the Week

Anna Chancellor

Forever Duckface, Anna Chancellor is probably best known as the woman Hugh Grant's character almost marries in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Anna Chancellor and Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral

Henrietta could not have been played by anyone else. Anna Chancellor is at her best in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Charles: Perhaps we should've got married.
Henrietta: No! I'd have had to marry your friends, and I'm not sure I could take Fiona.
Charles: Fiona loves you.
Henrietta: Fiona calls me Duckface.
Charles: Well, I never heard that. 

Anna Chancellor as Miss Bingley in P&P

As the catty and desperate Miss Bingley in Pride and Prejudice 1995, Anna Chancellor is just what Jane Austen would have wanted. There is some wonderful irony in the fact that Jane Austen is her eight times great-aunt. She was born to play Miss Bingley.

Miss Bingley: I believe I can guess your thoughts at this moment.
Mr. Darcy: I should imagine not.
Miss Bingley: You are thinking how insupportable it would be to spend many evenings in such tedious company.
Mr. Darcy: No, indeed, my mind was more agreeably engaged. I've been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.
Miss Bingley: And may one dare ask whose the eyes that inspire these reflections?
Mr. Darcy: Miss Elizabeth Bennet's.
Miss Bingley: Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I am all astonishment.

Anna Chancellor with Amanda Bynes and Kelly Preston in What a Girl Wants

As if it isn't bad enough to lose Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, she loses him again in What a Girl Wants. One might think there was some typecasting going on here!

Glynnis Payne: I know my daddy was naughty, but what about me?

Anna Chancellor as Questular Rontok in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

As Vice President of the Galaxy Questular Rontok in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, she tries unsuccessfully to hide her  love for Zaphod Beeblebrox. Poor Anna, she can't even land a guy with two heads and three arms!


 Questular Rontok: [about Trillian] She's lying. She's skinny, and she's pretty, and she's lying!

Anna Chancellor as Juliet Shaw with Peter Firth as Harry Pearce in Spooks

As ruthless right-wing Juliet Shaw in Spooks (MI5) we get to see Anna as a real ball buster. Juliet versus Ros is something to behold.

Fortysomething with Hugh Laurie, Anna Chancellor and Benedict Cumberbatch

One of the reasons I still love writing this blog after 2 years (other than the fact that I have some of the best readers & commenters on the internet) is that together we discover some unknown gems of film or television.

Fortysomething is a 6 episode TV series from 2003 starring Anna Chancellor as the sexy wife of Hugh Laurie, a slightly befuddled medical doctor. Sort the opposite of Dr. House if you can imagine. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the eldest of 3 rather horny male offspring in this hilariously dysfunctional abode.

If you want to give it a whirl, the first episode is on YouTube here. I am afraid I will be watching this all weekend now!!!

Anna Chancellor as Lix Storm in The Hour

The Hour is a behind the scenes drama about a Cold-War era investigative news program in England. I am dying to see this one, so someone who has already watched it, please tell us all how you liked it! Anna Chancellor, Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, Domenic Cooper, Tim Piggot-Smith, Juliet Stevenson...I am drooling at the thought!

Well, I certainly do appreciate the talent of Anna Chancellor in her many varied roles. I also liked her in the girly film Crush and in the recently released Hysteria. She is always fun to watch. Which are your faves of hers?

Hysteria is Hysterical!

Yes, Hysteria really is about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England. And in my opinion it is adorable. Not everyone's cup of tea I realize. If the subject matter makes you a little uncomfortable, then give this one a pass. I can certainly see that certain conservatives would not be amused by this premise.

If however you do find it amusing that someone made a romantic comedy about...well...you know what... then you will have a lovely light evening and leave the theatre laughing heartily.

A very proper dinner scene in Hysteria

The cast is wonderful. Hugh Dancy (Daniel Deronda, Grigg from The Jane Austen Book Club) plays the adorably earnest but slightly clueless Dr. Mortimer Granville, the doctor credited with the first patented electric vibrator. Jonathan Pryce (Mr. Buxton in Cranford) portrays Mortimer's employer Dr. Dalrymple, overworked from "treating" hysterical upper class English ladies. The Dalrymple daughters are Maggie Gyllenhall (Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang) and Felicity Jones (Northanger Abbey), both brilliant in their depiction of two totally different types of Victorian ladies. Also outstanding are Rupert Everett, Gemma Jones, Anna Chancellor, and quite a few other actors whom I have seen in other films but who are lesser known.

The director and the writers were American (hard to believe, I know!) but the cast is almost entirely British. Maggie Gyllenhaal's accent is awesome and sounds suspiciously like her friend Emma Thompson's accent!

Ready, set...

Molly: What do you call that little thing?
Mortimer Granville: I was calling it the feather duster.
Molly: Well I'd think of something quick, so that a girl knows what to ask for.


So I leave it up to you about whether you will enjoy this film. I loved it as did my husband. OK, he wasn't happy about me leaving him in line for the film to go to the washroom. Poor guy, all alone...in line for the vibrator movie. :)

But he said he liked it more than he liked The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. And he liked that one a lot!

Cheers!!