Bridget Jones is Back! Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

Yes, Bridget is back in the new Helen Fielding book Bridget Jones: Mad about The Boy! But unfortunately, Mark Darcy is not. After her fairy tale ending, (if you recall the heart achingly lovely ending of the last book with the Velveteen Rabbit analogy) and two children later, Bridget is a widow.

I would have guessed she would be divorced by this time, but Helen Fielding has made Mark Darcy a martyr. Apparently, he was killed by a landmine while negotiating the release of aid workers in the Sudan.

So this is how Helen Fielding decided to get Bridget back on the dating scene. Mark has to go so that Bridget can continue to be Bridget. You know, along the lines of Matthew Crawley having his car accident so that Lady Mary can continue to be her prickly self. The story line must go on!

Apparently Bridget is now 51 with two young children and her new boyfriend is just turning 30. She is also struggling with social media and dating in the 21st century. Daniel Cleaver apparently makes a brief appearance in this book, (for old time's sake) and Bridge is just as bumbling as usual only now she is agonizing over twitter and Botox.

The reviews have not exactly been stellar but I have a copy of Mad About the Boy in front of me anyway, which I purchased this morning and will probably have finished by tomorrow. As much as I would have preferred a little peek into the married life of Mr and Mrs Mark Darcy, I will take anything Helen Fielding decides to give me. And I hope fervently that it makes it's way onto the screen in an improved version even without Colin Firth as the ever perfect Mark Darcy. The second film did not do justice to the second book but we can hope can't we? Here are some quips from the book jacket of Mad About the Boy:

• What do you do when your girlfriend's sixtieth birthday party is the same day as your boyfriend's thirtieth?
• Is it normal to be too vain to put on your reading glasses when checking your boy toy for head lice?
• Does the Dalai Lama actually tweet or is it his assistant?
• Is it normal to get fewer followers the more you tweet?
• If you put lid plumper on your hands, do you get plump hands?

And if you would like to read a transcript of Helen Fielding herself interviewing Bridget Jones for the Daily Mail, it is pretty hilarious! Here is the link:

She's back! Older, none the wiser and with some very odd dating advice for the newly single: Helen Fielding interviews Bridget Jones

Cheers!

P.S. I just finished the book. I really liked it. If you liked the second BJ book then you will probably like this one. A similar satisfying ending. By the way, I think Helen Fielding's writing is very autobiographical. She has a boy and a girl just like Bridget and although the father of her children is not dead, he now lives back in the USA (a writer for The Simpsons or some such) so I think the death of her father may have inspired some of the sentimental bits in the book. So this is probably a peek into the life of Helen Fielding. The neighbour Rebecca is likely inspired by Helena Bonham Carter who is thanked at the end of the book. I will bet she will snag the part in the next film!!!

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain 1995

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a film I haven't seen since it was released in 1995. I probably rented this one on VHS at the time from the local video store as I was tied down with a toddler and a preschooler in 1995. It's actually much better than I remembered!

It is the fictional story of a couple of cartographers who are mapping for the Ordnance Survey of Britain in 1917. The elder one is George Garrard  (Ian McNeice), a pompous old curmudgeon. The younger one is Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant) who is back from the trenches of France, slightly the worse for wear.

This unlikely duo stumble into a charming Welsh village with the task of mapping the hill in the town to see if it is above 1000 feet thereby qualifying as a mountain. The local claim to fame of the town is that it has the first mountain in Wales (across the English border) so there is a lot at stake when the map men come to town.

Tara Fitzgerald plays Betty, the local Welsh beauty whose job it is to keep young Reginald in town for a few extra days.

Colm Meaney plays the local pub owner and non believer Morgan the Goat, who apparently is responsible for the rash of ginger haired babies in the village.

Morgan constantly locks horns with the local Vicar, Reverend Jones played brilliantly by Kenneth Griffith, who you may recognize as the mad old man at the first wedding of Four Weddings and a Funeral. You remember;

Charles: How do you do, my name is Charles.

Old man: Don't be ridiculous, Charles died 20 years ago!

Charles: Must be a different Charles, I think.

Old man: Are you telling me I don't know my own brother?

Charles: No, no.

So if you are in the mood for a sweet film set in Wales in the early part of the last century, this is your film. It has a happy ending (I love happy endings) so this is a great one for these grey days waiting for spring to finally arrive. There are still flurries in Canada today, so this one was great to watch last weekend!

Cheers! Here's hoping spring has already arrived where you are.

Two Weeks Notice- 2002

I have a weakness for a certain type of chick flick. Yes, ones with a cheeky sense of humour. And this one really fits the bill. Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant look like they had a ball filming this and it is just as much fun to watch them doing what they do best.

Bullock stars as a brilliant but neurotic attorney and Grant as her wealthy, irresponsible but somehow charming boss. Hugh Grant starring as Hugh Grant basically, which is why it works so well.

George Wade: I own the hotel, and I live there. My life is very much like Monopoly.

George Wade: Before you came into my life I could make all kinds of decisions now I'm addicted I have to know what you think. What do you think?
[holds up cufflinks]
Lucy Kelson: I think you're the most selfish human being on the planet.
George Wade: Well that's just silly. Have you met everybody on the planet?

Lucy Kelson: What did I tell you that defines an emergency?
George Wade: A large meteoroid, severe blood loss and uh... what was the other thing?
Lucy Kelson: Death! And you're not dead!

 

George Wade: I find you... annoying.

George Wade: If you have to go, just... go!
Lucy Kelson: What? What am I, five years old? This is my car!
George Wade: It's only a Volvo.
Lucy Kelson: People just don't *go* in Volvos.
George Wade: I'll buy you another Volvo!
Lucy Kelson: No! Besides, that is the only thing you'll ever remember about me... that I'm the woman who *went* on the front seat.
George Wade: Well, that would be hard to forget.

June Carter: Do you know what I like even more than chess?
George Wade: Pokémon?

Lucy: You should be so lucky because the lawyerly exterior...don't let that fool you because inside I am, like, a complete animal. It's, like, bobcat. You know, it's scary.
George: I can see that it might be.
Lucy: No. No. Look, I can bend like a pretzel. I'm serious. And I'm not talking the straight kind. I'm talking, like, the twisty kind. Twisty like the bobcat, salty type of pretzel. Because that's what men want, right?
George: That is their dream.


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Now I realize that they don't make a very realistic couple. But you can't tell me that a few of those quotes didn't make you smile. I know they did! I hope these two get together for another RomCom at some point because the chemistry is awesome. In a twisty, bobcat, salty pretzel kind of way.

So, do you love this movie too, even though your family rolls their eyes if they see you watching it? (but then they sit down and join you right?)

Music and Lyrics 2007

Music and Lyrics 2007

Music and Lyrics is one of those films which makes me laugh out loud. I first saw this movie on a plane and people were staring at my screen to see what was so funny because I couldn't control my giggles when Hugh Grant started dancing. If you have seen him in Love Actually, you know what I mean.

Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant in Music and Lyrics

Hugh Grant plays a former 1980s pop music idol (think Wham! or Duran Duran) who tries to revive his flagging career by writing a song for the latest teenybopper pop diva. He hits a wall with the lyrics and ends up convincing the girl who waters his plants (Drew Barrymore of course) to collaborate with him. And romance blossoms.

Scott Porter and Hugh Grant as PoP!

If you haven't seen this one and you have one of those evenings where you need a little pick me up and a film that doesn't take itself too seriously, this one is perfect. Especially if you can remember the 1980s!

Drew Barrymore as Sophie Fisher in Music and Lyrics

Drew Barrymore is her usual cheery smiling self with her rays of California sunshine. Hugh Grant is the damp cloud of English fog determined to bring her down. The yin and yang really work here and they look like they had a blast working together. And now for a taste of the slightly cheesy pop lyrics:

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been living with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on


All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

Kristen Johnston in Music and Lyrics

Kristen Johnston deserves a shout-out for her wacky role as the sister of Drew's character. A little older, she was apparently a big fan of the group PoP! in the 1980s and I always seem to enjoy her sense of humour.

So here is the trailer with Mr. Grant shaking his booty with a truly ridiculous hairstyle:



I hope that got a giggle out of you. Nobody does that brand of Rom-Com like Hugh Grant! Cheers!

Hugh Grant- Actor of the Week

Hugh Grant

In honour of his new animated film The Pirates! Band of Misfits or The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists depending on your side of the pond, my actor of the week is Hugh Grant. I will admit to a bit of a weakness for Hugh's films. If you take a look at his IMDb page, you will see why I had trouble narrowing down my choices for this post. So if I just limit myself to period films first,we have...

Hugh Grant in Sense and Sensibility

Although a little stiff-necked, Hugh Grant is wonderful as Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility. One of his best roles!

Hugh Grant and Tara Fitzgerald in The Englishman who...yada yada yada

In The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain, he plays an English cartographer who has to tell a Welsh village that their mountain is only a hill. I'm going to have to see this one again, as I have been to Wales since I first saw the film (it is breathtaking) and as I recall, the film was pretty darn good.

Hugh Grant as Reginald Cardinal in The Remains of the Day

In The Remains of the Day, he has a small but wonderful part in this riveting film which is now almost 20 years old!

Hugh Grant and Judy Davis in Impromptu

In Impromptu as Chopin and opposite the luminous Judy Davis as George Sand, he is sweet and funny. Not a serious take on Chopin, this one is right up my alley. I love a spot of comedy! Emma Thompson has a riot as the loopy Duchess in this one as well. Love her!

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Ok...now for the non-period films of Hugh Grant's which I absolutely adore. No, they are not high art but they always entertain.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget: Apparently, I used to run round naked in his paddling pool.
Daniel Cleaver: I bet you did, you dirty bitch.

Love Actually

Prime Minister: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.

Music and Lyrics

Alex Fletcher: The best time I've had in the last fifteen years was sitting at that piano with you.
Sophie Fisher: That's wonderfully sensitive... especially from a man who wears such tight pants.
Alex Fletcher: It forces all the blood to my heart.

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Fiona: There's a sort of greatness to your lateness.
Charles: Thanks, it's not achieved without real suffering.

About a Boy

Will: I couldn't possibly think of a worse godfather for Imogene. You know me. I'll drop her at her christening. I'll forget her birthdays until her 18th, when I'll take her out and get her drunk and possibly, let's face it, you know, try and shag her. I mean, seriously, it's a very, very bad choice.
Christine: We know, I just thought you had hidden depths.
Will: No. No. You've always had that wrong. I really am this shallow.

Two Weeks Notice

George Wade: I own the hotel, and I live there. My life is very much like Monopoly.

Notting Hill

Keziah: No thanks, I'm a fruitarian.
Max: I didn't realize that.
William: And, ahm: what exactly is a fruitarian?
Keziah: We believe that fruits and vegetables have feeling so we think cooking is cruel. We only eat things that have actually fallen off a tree or bush - that are, in fact, dead already.
William: Right. Right. Interesting stuff. So, these carrots...
Keziah: Have been murdered, yes.
William: Murdered? Poor carrots. How beastly!

Nine Months

Rebecca Taylor: Sam! My water broke!
Samuel Faulkner: Well, we'll get you another one! 

OK, that last one seems very appropriate since Hugh Grant has finally become a father to a little girl Tabitha with Chinese actress Tinglan Hong. Who knew he had hidden depths?

Did I miss any of Hugh Grant's films that you really love? I left out the film Restoration with Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Niell, because I had never heard of it but which looks awesome. Can anyone recommend it?

Bridget Jones's Diary 2001

Bridget Jones's Diary Poster

Why oh why do I love this film so much? I know it is not a masterpiece of celluloid. And yet I can watch it over and over. I also love the book by the way, and unlike the films, the second book might be even better than the first. But this is the Bridget movie that I love. I mean it has Mr. Darcy and Edward Ferrars in it for starters.

Mr. Darcy, Mark Darcy...brilliant!

Yup, a casting coup to get Mr. Darcy himself, Colin Firth to play Mark Darcy, the modern personification of his iconic character. But why do we not get to see him with his shirt off? Or a wet shirt? OK, we did enjoy the male version of the cat-fight set to the tune of "It's Raining Men".

Mark Darcy: All right Cleaver, outside.

Daniel Cleaver: [half laughing] I'm sorry? Outside? Should I bring my dueling pistols or my sword?

The sight of two good looking English gents kicking and pushing each other like girls just makes me giddy. Especially when set to a catchy song! Man these people know what I like (Andrew Davies, Richard Curtis, Helen Fielding...yup!)

Bridget: Resolution #1: Uggg - will obviously lose 20 lbs. #2: Always put last night's panties in the laundry basket. Equally important: will find nice sensible boyfriend and stop forming romantic attachments to any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional "dimwits", or perverts. Will especially stop fantasizing about a particular person who embodies all these things. 

Admiral Darcy: I like a woman with an arse you can park a bike in and balance a pint of beer on. 

Rock on awesome father of Mark Darcy! You are the ideal father-in-law! 

Shazzer: Look, are you coming to "bloody" Paris or not?

Bridget: Um, not.
Shazzer: No "bloody" room, anyway.

Mark Darcy: I don't think you're an idiot at all. I mean, there are elements of the ridiculous about you. Your mother's pretty interesting. And you really are an appallingly bad public speaker. And, um, you tend to let whatever's in your head come out of your mouth without much consideration of the consequences... But the thing is, um, what I'm trying to say, very inarticulately, is that, um, in fact, perhaps despite appearances, I like you, very much. Just as you are. 

Bridget: You once said you liked me just as I am and I just wanted to say likewise. I mean you wear stupid things your mum buys you, tonight's another... classic. You're haughty, and you always say the wrong thing in every situation and I seriously believe that you should rethink the length of your sideburns. But, you're a nice man and I like you. If you wanted to pop by some time that might be nice... more than nice.

Mark Darcy: Right, crikey.

Bridget: Wait a minute... nice boys don't kiss like that.

Mark Darcy: Oh, yes, they "bloody well" do.

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Yup, still one of my fave movies ever. A guilty pleasure. Now I think I may have to pull the book out again for some bedtime reading.  

My question is this: Will this film be redone in the next decade or so? Will each generation have to have it's own Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy just like we have to reinvent Lizzie and Mr. Darcy?

Aaaaand...will Bridget Jones 3 (avec des bébés) ever get off the ground? And will Bridget be skinny this time? I could use another Bridget Jones, but only if it's as good as the first one please.

N.B. Just Googled Bridget Jones 3 and came up with the info that Bridget Jones's  Baby is a go, with Peter Cattaneo (from The Full Monty) directing and filming to start in January with a 2013 release date. Colin Firth has already spilled the beans about the plot. **Spoiler Alert**:

According to Marie Clarie UK, Colin Firth opened up earlier in the fall.

‘I can tell you that Bridget and Mark can’t have children, I think that’s the way it goes on,’ the Oscar-winner told Dave Karger, reporting for Access Hollywood.
‘So then she makes the huge mistake of going back to Daniel Cleaver [Hugh Grant's character] for long enough to get pregnant.‘And I think he dumps her, and she’s left stranded, and guess who comes back to rescue her?’
While we still have no idea if the actor's version of the plot is correct, author Helen Fielding also confirmed the plans.
‘I will be working on both the book and the film but I don’t know if they are the same thing yet,' she said. 'It’s not been decided.’

Squeeeeeeee!!!! Can't wait! A book and a film!

Impromptu-An Adorable Little Film About Chopin!

Impromptu-Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin

If you are looking for a serious biopic about Frederic Chopin, do NOT watch this! If you want a fun period piece with some wonderful music and a good dollop of comedy, this is your film.

This is one of my favourite films, which probably says a lot about me. This film just makes me laugh. And it transports me with  the amazing music of Frederic Chopin.

Impromptu Cast-Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Julian Sands, Judy Davis and Bernadette Peters

This 1991 gem centers on the artistic community in Paris in the 19th century in a very lighthearted way as it follows the cross-dressing writer George Sand (played magnificently by Judy Davis) as she energetically pursues the consumptive Chopin (a rather too healthy looking Hugh Grant). It also has Bernadette Peters as Marie d'Agoult, love interest of Franz Liszt (a very sexy Julian Sands) and Mandy Patinkin  as Alfred de Musset, George Sand's jilted ex-lover. Emma Thompson however, steals the show as the loopy Duchess D'Antan, intent on collecting the greatest artists of the age around her.

Emma Thompson as the Duchess D'Antan in Impromptu

There is a lot of wonderful music and passionate commentary on art, love and life but it is mixed in with so much comedy that this is a very singular film. A real treat for those who don't like their historical biopics dry. It was filmed entirely in France, so the visuals are quite equal to Chopin's music.

Julian Sands as Liszt and Hugh Grant as Chopin-The men are prettier than the women!

I had this one in my migraine movie post below, but it is actually better categorized as a rainy-day film or a recovering-from-a-cold film. It will lift your spirits but it may not be calm enough for a headache night! Enjoy!