The Imitation Game

What can I tell you about The Imitation Game? First of all, it is a wonderfully entertaining if not always historically correct film about the English mathematicians who cracked the Enigma code of the Germans and helped win the war.

Secondly...well truly that's all you need to know. Just go see it. You will enjoy it. Well, if you enjoyed The King's Speech, you will enjoy this one.

You'll see lots of familiar faces. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing. He is getting quite typecast in the slightly prickly genius role, but he does it very well. We have Matthew Goode (Belle, Death Comes to Pemberley) along with Allen Leech (Tom Branson from Downton Abbey) and Keira Knightley. Lets see...also Mark Strong, Charles Dance...you get the idea.

This film did make me want to know more about the real story behind Alan Turing and Bletchley Park so I went to Netflix and watched Codebreaker which is a dramatized documentary well worth watching.

I also went back to watch The Bletchley Circle again to get an idea of what some of the kick ass women at Bletchley were doing during and after the war. OK, it is fictional but pretty cool to know that not all the British ladies were just keeping the home fires burning during WWII. Some were code breakers working alongside Turing and friends. It wasn't just Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley's character in The Imitation Game) although she was likely the most intellectual of the many ladies at Bletchley.

Anyone else love The Imitation Game? Feel free to leave a comment below telling us how you liked it!

Cheers!

Death Comes to Pemberley: PBS Sunday Oct 26 & Nov 2

Matthew Rhys and Anna Maxwell Martin in Death Comes to Pemberley

I haven't seen a new Jane Austen adaptation in a while and boy did I enjoy Death Comes to Pemberley! I admit I was a bit nervous when I watched this, as I didn't really like the book, a murder mystery sequel to Pride and Prejudice by mystery writer P.D. James. The book was OK, but a bit of a yawn. Fan fiction by a 94 year old Jane Austen fan, albeit well written I suppose.

James Fleet and Rebecca Front as Mr. and Mrs. Bennett

However, add a few of my favorite actors (inspired casting to have Anna Maxwell Martin as our beloved Lizzy!) and set it at one of the all time top English Country Houses, Chatsworth, and I was hooked within the first few scenes. This is 3 hours of pure pleasure and I can't wait to see it again on my HD TV this time when Part 1 airs tomorrow. Having almost the entire three hours set in and around Chatsworth makes one realize how little we saw of it when it was used as Pemberley in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Matthew Goode as the wicked Mr. Wickham

Many familiar faces and fabulous actors flesh out the other roles (other than Lizzy and the filming location, which might have been enough for me). Matthew Goode as Wickham played the role with some depth, as did Jenna Coleman as Lydia. What a great take on the relationship which none of us had much hope for, including Jane Austen! And the chemistry between Anna Maxwell Martin and Matthew Rhys as Mr. and Mrs. Darcy caused me to rewind a few sections just to see the love and playfulness a bit more. Mmmmm.

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy- great chemistry not apparent in this photo!

Then add in James Fleet (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sense and Sensibility) as Mr. Bennett, Eleanor Tomlinson and James Norton as Georgiana Darcy and her love interest and the awesome Joanna Scanlon (Mrs. Dickens from The Invisible Woman) as Mrs. Reynolds and you have a winner.

Too bad they made my beloved Colonel Fitswilliam into a creep (plot related I understand but still!) and Penelope Keith as Lady Catherine de Bourgh sounded a bit more like Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest but that is nit picking I suppose.

So just pour a cuppa and turn on the telly tomorrow and enjoy the ride. It might be a while before we get another one this good!

Belle 2014

I finally got to see Belle a few weeks ago with a group of girlfriends. I can highly recommend the film, although it is not without it's faults. Having said that, this is a DVD which will be welcomed into my collection when it is released. And I hope there are loads of extras as my main gripe was the film was TOO SHORT!

Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay was the "natural daughter" of British Naval Officer Captain John Lindsay and Maria Belle, a West Indian slave. Born in 1761, her father brought her back to England in 1765, taking her to the home of his uncle William Murray, the 1st Earl of Mansfield and his wife Lady Elizabeth to be raised with another niece Elizabeth Murray who was about the same age (photo of the painting which immortalizes the friendship above).

Lord Mansfield apparently doted on Dido and as Lord Chief Justice was best known for his Judgement in Somersett's Case in 1772 which basically stated that a slave brought to England who left his master's service could not be recaptured and removed from English soil. This ruling eventually opened the door to the suppression of the slave trade by Parliament in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

So, obviously the story practically writes itself. It was a tale which had to be told. The acting is great and the sets and costumes are the most incredible eye candy. So what is my beef? It is TOO SHORT! At only 107 minutes long, there is not enough character development to truly pull you into the story. It is almost as if the script writer Misan Sagay feared fictionalizing too much of this amazing story, so she just stuck to the facts. Harrumph! However she did a fine job with what is there. I was just left hungering for more.

So by all means, see it and judge for yourself. Like I said, I will wait hopefully for the DVD and PLEASE may there be many deleted scenes and extras to justify the purchase. I will also go to visit Kenwood House when I am in London later this month. I'd like to see the house where Dido and her cousin were raised (as well as the Vermeer and other great art works) on Hampstead Heath.

You know Kenwood House, it's the grand white house in Notting Hill where Hugh Grant goes to see Julia Roberts filming a costume drama- I think it was a Henry James adaptation. Anyway, here is the link for the trailer for Belle:
http://youtu.be/Wtdk6owFj2o