Bridget Jones Interviews Colin Firth

Bridget Jones interviews Colin Firth (not Mark Darcy) in the DVD extras

I was reminded of this today when I left a comment on Laurel Ann's Blog Austenprose using the phrase "sporing your own gender".  Also, in this award season, during which we are seeing Colin Firth interviewed so many times, I thought it only fitting to post the original best? worst? (funniest anyway) of them all.  Go Bridget!  When I read this scene in the book "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" I laughed out loud.  Obviously, they couldn't put this scene into the film, as Colin Firth was playing Mark Darcy and so couldn't appear as himself, but in the DVD extras I think that Renee and Colin did full justice to the written word.




I do love that they didn't catch the mistake of her saying Mark Darcy instead of Mr. Darcy and her smelling her hand at the end is just priceless.  Well, I hope you enjoyed that, even though I'm sure most of you have seen that before.  I sure got my laugh for the day.

N.B. Just found out that not only are they planning a sequel to Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones 3?) they are also contemplating a musical adaptation of the franchise starring Sheridan Smith (Cinderella Doe from Larkrise to Candleford) and music by Lily Allen, with the director and choreographer from Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry and Peter Darling).  The film sequel is slated for 2011 but the musical is not likely to appear until 2012.  Well how about that?

Downton Abbey Episode 2 on MASTERPIECE on PBS

All the presentable servants-poor Daisy's not included!

I love January this year!  Normally, January is a very cold, dreary month in this part of Ontario, Canada (for me anyway) but this year it is Downton Month!  Can PBS arrange their schedule so that next year has something equally amazing to look forward to every Sunday night in January?  I'd say it sounds like a good cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder wouldn't  you?

So, my head is spinning after last night's episode.  Poor Lady Mary, she really did have an exciting time of it last night.  And I must say, I really enjoyed the almost constant looks of consternation on Maggie Smith's face as the Dowager Countess had to deal with Matthew's mother over the hospital issues.  Gwen, the housemaid had me rooting for her and her little typewriter.  I did wonder, however, how she was practicing typing without anyone knowing about it.  And I must say, I am liking Lady Mary and Lady Sybill more and liking Lady Edith much less.  I mean really, throwing herself at Matthew like that...really!  And I thought Lady Mary treated poor Evelyn Napier rather poorly when her head was turned by the Turkish diplomat...you know...whatshisname.  Oh, well, Mr. Napier is in the recurring character category so we can hope to see him again perhaps.

Dame Maggie Smith as the formidable Dowager Countess

If you need help keeping the names and numbers of all the players straight, the list below may help.  I got the info from Wikipedia, but there are major plot spoilers on the Downton Abbey page (think Wiki leaks for Period Drama), so do not go there if you haven't seen the entire series.

Crawley family

Actor	Character
Dame Maggie Smith	Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham
Hugh Bonneville	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham
Elizabeth McGovern	Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham
Penelope Wilton	Mrs Isobel Crawley
Dan Stevens	Matthew Crawley
Michelle Dockery	Lady Mary Crawley
Laura Carmichael	Lady Edith Crawley
Jessica Brown-Findlay	Lady Sybil Crawley

Staff

Actor Character Position Jim Carter Charles Carson Butler Phyllis Logan Mrs Elsie Hughes Housekeeper Lesley Nicol Mrs Patmore Cook Brendan Coyle John Bates Lord Grantham's Valet Siobhan Finneran Sarah O'Brien Lady Grantham's Lady's maid Rob James-Collier Thomas First Footman Thomas Howes William Mason Second Footman Joanne Froggatt Anna Smith Head Housemaid Rose Leslie Gwen Dawson Housemaid Sophie McShera Daisy Kitchen/scullery maid Allen Leech Tom Branson Chauffeur Andrew Westfield Lynch Groom Kevin Doyle Molesley Matthew Crawley's Butler and Valet Christine Lohr Mrs Bird Matthew Crawley's Cook

Recurring characters

David Robb	Dr. Clarkson	Family Doctor
Robert Bathurst	Sir Anthony Strallen	Family friend and Lady Edith's romance
Brendan Patricks	The Honourable Evelyn Napier	A possible husband for Lady Mary
Samantha Bond	Lady Rosamond Painswick	Lord Grantham's sister
Charlie Cox	Duke of Crowborough	Family friend and Thomas' lover
Jonathan Coy	Mr George Murray	Lord Grantham's lawyer
Nicky Henson	Mr Charles Grigg	Former friend of Carson's

The Earl and Countess of Grantham

In Downton Abbey news, ITV in Britain has commissioned a Downton Christmas special to air after season two in the fall of 2011 finishes.  Yippee!!!  Christmas at Downton.  I can't wait!  Lord only knows when we will get them over here, but if Masterpiece/PBS is smart, it will try for sooner and not later.


And finally, with respect to the Golden Globes, yay to Colin Firth for winning best actor.  I watched the Golden Globes pre-show and the first hour before I switched to Downton Abbey and then back for the final half hour of the GGs.  Heaven forbid he get a Harley Davidson and risk his life!  We need many more years of film making Colin...

Colin Firth gets star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Colin Firth and his star!

Colin Firth has been honoured with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Apparently, the location is right beside Emma Thompson's (very apropos in my humble opinion).  He was his regular self-deprecating self as he thanked Hollywood for this honour.  What a class act!





By the way, if you haven't seen The King's Speech, run don't walk to the theater.  It's fabulous!

Late breaking update.....Colin just won best actor at the 16th Annual Critics' Choice Awards today.  Yay Colin!

Downton Abbey Episode 1 on Masterpiece/PBS...My personal link

So did everyone have as much fun as I did watching the first episode of this on Masterpiece Theatre?  Maggie Smith is awesome and the rest of the cast is not too shabby either.  Much funnier than I thought it would be, especially the Dowager Countess!

I'm not going to say anything other than that it was amazing, a great story and also the most gorgeous location and costumes imaginable.  If you want more info on this wonderful show, here are three great links.  ITV and PBS/MASTERPIECE and the show's biggest fan site in Canada, Enchanted Serenity of Period Films are chockablock full of info.  I do so love the Edwardian period as it seems so modern and yet still has one foot in the 19th century.  What I will do is to tell you why I was watching the scullery maid Daisy with such personal interest.

My great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Caisley, was a kitchen maid in a great house in Northumberland in the north of England in 1851.  She was 19 years old and the lowest ranked of 14 servants for Member of Parliament Matthew Bell and his wife Elizabeth A. Bell.  The Bell's home in Northern England was called Woolsington Hall and a photo is shown below.

Woolsington Hall in Northumberland England - Home of Matthew Bell MP

As large and grand as this house was, it was nothing to Highclere Castle, the filming location of Downton Abbey and the country home of the Earl of Carnarvon.  In the same year, 1851, the 4th Earl of Carnarvon, then also only 19 years of age, lived with his mother, the Dowager Countess of Carnarvon at Highclere with 22 servants.  So, it was a rather larger and more grand establishment, but still, for me the similarities of my ancestor Mary Ann Caisley with the Earl of Carnarvon's scullery maid Mary Foxhall or with poor Daisy of the fictional Downton, are inescapable.

Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England

So as I continue to watch the breathtaking Downton Abbey every Sunday night this month on PBS MASTERPIECE Theatre, I will watch little scullery maid Daisy with particular interest and think of my great-great-grandmother, who eventually moved down to County Durham and married John Hunter Shaw, an Engineman, and had four children, of whom only two lived.  She died in 1901 at the age of 69, after having moved in with her newly widowed son, my great-grandfather John Edward Shaw and his two little children in Newcastle upon Tyne, to help them out.  She obviously worked hard in her lifetime but I hope it was a happy life.  And I'm sure she had some interesting stories about the family she worked for...

The Princess Bride- A True Classic!

The Princess Bride Movie Poster

I was on a roll last month with my sentimental favourites, so here is my next one.  The Princess Bride was the first movie I saw with my husband in 1987.  Much better than our second date movie, Fatal Attraction!  The Squire, as I call him in my blog, wondered what kind of a movie I had taken him to, as it seemed to be a children's flick at first.  He also ate an enormous amount of popcorn, as I recall.
But this has turned into a film which I have to pop in the DVD player at least once a year, and if it comes on TV, I have to leave it on and watch it.  Twenty-three years later, it holds up beautifully, with only a few special effects looking a bit cheesy (the rodents of unusual size for example).

"Is this a kissing book?"

The Grandson: A book?
Grandpa: That's right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today I'm gonna read it to you.
The Grandson: Has it got any sports in it?
Grandpa: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...
The Grandson: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.
Grandpa: Oh, well, thank you very much, very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming.

This film appeals to men and women (despite the girly title) and young and old alike.   It is a light-hearted fantasy, an adaptation of the tongue in cheek book of the same name, and directed by the fantastic Rob Reiner, whose comic sense is perfect for this.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

So many wonderful actors in this.  Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya, the revenge crazed swordsman, Carey Elwes as young Westley, Robin Wright as Buttercup/The Princess Bride, Chris Sarandon (Susan's ex) as Prince Humperdinck, and Christopher Guest (husband of Jamie Lee Curtis) as the Count Rugen, the six-fingered man.

"You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."

Billy Crystal had one of his best roles ever as Miracle Max.  Wallace Shawn also shone as the lisping Vizzini and Andre the Giant was a lovely gentle giant in his role as Fezzik.

That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you."

Fencing Scene
Inigo Montoya: You are wonderful.
Man in Black: Thank you; I've worked hard to become so.
Inigo Montoya: I admit it, you are better than I am.
Man in Black: Then why are you smiling?
Inigo Montoya: Because I know something you don't know.
Man in Black: And what is that?
Inigo Montoya: I... am not left-handed.
[Moves his sword to his right hand and gains an advantage]
Man in Black: You are amazing.
Inigo Montoya: I ought to be, after 20 years.
Man in Black: Oh, there's something I ought to tell you.
Inigo Montoya: Tell me.
Man in Black: I'm not left-handed either.
[Moves his sword to his right hand and regains his advantage]

"As you wish..."

So if you haven't seen this, buy it!  It's cheap and you'll watch it a lot.  And for the rest of you who are already fans of The Princess Bride...

"Have fun stormin' the castle!"

The Tudors Marathon

While I have been recuperating from a bad throat infection, I have had the pleasure of watching the miniseries The Tudors for the first time.  It was lent to me by a friend who knows my weakness for Period Drama just before Christmas, so I obviously hadn't had time to watch it yet.  When I started feeling better, I popped the first episode in the DVD player and was quickly hooked. My friend said she had bought the first season because she and her teenage daughters had enjoyed it so much.  Apparently, the fourth and final season has just recently wound up on TV.

Henry ripping the bodice off yet another Lady in Waiting!

I have to state at the outset here that the DVD version is UNCUT!  Yes, lots of breasts and naked butts in this one, so if that is not to your taste, beware.  But, this is the Tudor period we are talking about, and it all seems to come down to political intrigue and sexual politics as well as a fair number of beheadings.  Whether you read about the period, or watch any of the various films about Henry VIII or his daughter Elizabeth I, there is always a lot of violence, and a fair bit of sex and political maneuvering.  Now, the nice thing about this series is that there is very little violence in it, considering the time period in which it is set (you know, beheadings and burning at the stake and all).  I am a person who doesn't mind the sex and nudity much but I do object to too much violence.  So this production suited me just fine.  And this is a very beautiful production.  Almost too beautiful, as I am often pondering the unlikelihood of the perfect teeth and hair on the actors.  Not much orthodonture in the 16th century!  Nor blow driers for that matter.  Alas, modern audiences expect beauty, so there you go.

I mean seriously, did their Ladies maids have blow driers?

And of course, it wouldn't be a Tudor/Elizabethan historical drama without messing with the facts and rearranging history a little.  So far, I have seen Henry's sister Mary, who in real life married the King of France who died a few months after marrying her, get switched to being Henry's sister Margaret (OK there are really too many Marys...) who in this series marries the King of Portugal and then smothers him with a pillow within days of the wedding, as he was too old and ugly for her taste (oops...should have given a spoiler alert).  He truly was disgusting, so I don't really blame her.  Especially when you see who she ends up with instead, and I won't spoil this one, but he is very yummy looking.

I actually learned a bit of correct history as well, in that along with all of the plagues and illnesses we are used to hearing about, they had another one in the 15th and 16th century called sweating sickness.  I looked this up on Wikipedia, where we all seem to end up while googling things these days, and apparently this was a true illness (and a frightening one at that as you could be dead within hours of contracting it) and which disappeared after the year 1551.  They don't know what the cause of the illness was, but they suspect a variation of hantavirus.  So you get the real history mixed in with the rewritten stuff.

In any case, the reason to watch this one is for a rollicking good story, gorgeous locations and costumes (as well as impossibly gorgeous actors) not for historical accuracy.  Although, my 16 year old son ended up learning a fair bit about the English Reformation by sitting down beside me every time he walked by and there were nipples visible on the screen, which happened regularly to his delight!  I managed to slip in an English history lesson here and there between the bodice ripping, without him really even noticing....

Overall, two thumbs up, even though the more genteel 19th century is more to my taste.  My sister used to devour books on this era (as well as on the Medieval times a la Mary Stewart) so she will love this one, as will her 13 year old son I suspect!

N.B.  I just finished the whole first season.  Really wonderful!  Who cares if the history is a bit dodgy?  Now I have to get Season 2, 3 and 4.  Hmmm....rent or buy?  Or perhaps it would be worth getting Netflicks for?  I'll post later when I have worked my way through season 2.  Can't wait to see how they portray the Reformation and how Henry gets rid of all of those wives!  I think I may have to buy the entire boxed set with all 4 seasons...

My Post-Christmas Book "Curl-Up"

The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy

After a lot of Christmas visiting, and a horrible post-Christmas cold, I have been spending my time reading some wonderful books that Santa brought for me.  This is the best part of the holidays for me, anyway, watching movies with my men or curling up with a book on my own.
The book above, a tie-in with the current theatrical release, The King's Speech, tells virtually the same story as the film.  This was co-written by Mark Logue, grandson of Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist (played by Geoffrey Rush) who helped King George VI (played by Colin Firth) overcome his stammer and inspire his country in wartime.  Partly based on the diaries of Lionel Logue, this one will be a great read.  I probably would have started with this one if I hadn't already seen the film before the holidays.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life

I am totally addicted to Bill Bryson.  This is the one I am now reading, as I blow my nose trumpet style while wearing my jammies and robe.  Although not as funny as some of his travel writing, this one has lots of English and American history as it relates to our homes.  Perfect to curl up with, it gives history as it should be taught, in a conversational style, with lots of anecdotes and related to modern day things and places.  This one is a winner and I am now half way through it.

Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England

This one I asked for because I saw Amanda Vickery's saucy new television program called At Home With the Georgians.  Rather like Bill Bryson, she wanders through historic Georgian period homes (1714-1830) telling tales of who the Goergians were and how they lived.  Again, the story telling aspect of the way she looks at history takes all the boring bits out and leaves us feeling like Peeping Toms or gossip mongers.  Rather fun and infinitely interesting.  Vickery is a professor of Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London, and I would go to a lecture of hers anytime.  This one is still waiting for me, but I look forward to her cheeky style of writing.

The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography

This one my hubby (aka The Squire) picked up on a whim at our local Chapters bookstore, because he knows I love Jeeves and Wooster with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (as Bertie Wooster and his wonderful valet, Jeeves).  He leafed through and saw lots of photos of my hero Emma Thompson, and so bought it for me.  Not sure why I started reading this one first (possibly the photos) but it was a quick and interesting read.  If you don't know about Stephen Fry he is highbrow graduate of Cambridge University (where he met Emma and Hugh) and has been a writer, comedian, actor and even quiz show presenter.  You either love him or you hate him, as he can come off as a snooty wind-bag, but I find him charming and interesting.  Lots of good stories...
If you have never seen Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson together, here is a hilarious clip from his quiz show QI...(p.s. it really only makes sense if you know that Stephen Fry is gay).