Mystery Summer

We continue this week with another American (Canadian) made mystery. The nearly-always insufferable Maury Chaykin takes an enjoyable turn as the grouchy, misanthropic, hermit private detective Nero Wolfe. Wolfe can't abide time-wasters or imbeciles. His dearest friends are his collection of rare orchids and his only passion is haute cuisine. His is an exceptionally sharp deductive mind, but leaves all the footwork to his capable assistant Archie (Timothy Hutton), a debonair ladies man who can talk himself into--and out of--any situation. 

Nero Wolfe is a light-hearted, humorous and colorful take on film-noir style (as contradictory as that may sound. All pinstripe suits and mysterious damsels in distress, the writing is clever and fun, the production low-budget but highly entertaining. But our favorite unique quality of the show is the rotating cast. The main characters remain the same, but the supporting cast of actors can be found playing new roles in each new mystery. The blond above must show up at least a dozen times throughout the series...always as a new character. Seeing familiar faces crop up again and again makes you feel like you're participating in local dinner theatre or something. 

Check your local library. I hope you'll be able to find some of these. If you get a chance to watch, let us know what you think of them!

Mystery Summer

Again going along with PBS's programming schedule, we bring you another of our favorites:

Inspector Lewis which is airing on Masterpiece Mystery this month.

It doesn't take a whole lot of viewing experience to get used to the key ingredients of classic British detective stories. One important element is setting, which for many mystery series is the only constant amid a flood of constantly changing characters. In this case, Oxford is a main character in itself, with both victims and perpetrators inhabiting a world where academic stardom is the first order of life. The ancient university, its hallowed halls and looming secrets provide more than enough material to keep the series varied and interesting.

Next, there's always the chief detective and his sergeant.  In virtually every inspector + sergeant partnership we've ever seen, there is some major incongruity between the two characters which provides enough personal tension between them to keep things interesting while at the same time fueling each individual's creative and deductive powers. Inspector Lewis is a working-class bloke with intelligence to spare but no patience for the head-in-the-clouds lifestyle of his academic neighbors. Sergeant Hathaway is his opposite in every way, educated at Cambridge, he studied theology until an existential crisis turned him away from the priesthood and toward a career with the police. But despite (more likely because of) their differences, Lewis and Hathaway make a formidable team. 

 As mysteries go, Inspector Lewis strikes that perfect balance between dark and light... the stories almost always have some gravity to them, but there's enough lightness and humor to keep you from getting depressed (Unlike Inspector Lynley, a similar series with many of the same standard elements which, by the way, didn't make the cut for our summer selections). Lewis is enjoyable and definitely worth the time. 

One tiny little side-note: some of you may remember Lewis as Sergeant Lewis, Inspector Morse's protege from the earlier TV Mystery Inspector Morse. We didn't include Morse in our summer series either mainly because, well, we've never watched it. But anyway, I figured if I didn't mention it that I'd hear about it from all you Morse fans out there.

Mystery Summer Week 4

This week we move back to our side of the pond with the American-made (though largely British-cast, what do you know!) Pushing Daisies. Part fantasy fairy-tale, part crime drama with characters that could have been written by Roald Dahl and sets and costumes that look so deliciously bright they could be made of candy. The show only aired for two seasons, but received (well-deserved, in our opinion) critical acclaim including 17 emmy nominations and 7 wins.

Ned is a lonely young piemaker who possesses the unique power of being able to bring the dead back to life--once. One touch brings life, but the next instantly kills whoever or whatever he just brought back. The story takes off when an enterprising private detective happens to see the phenomenon in action and immediately invites Ned to join him as a partner. After all, there's no easier way to solve a murder than to ask the victim what happened, right? But when one of their first cases involves Ned's childhood sweetheart Chuck--all grown up and beautiful--he can't bring himself to give her that second touch and so begins the sweet and frustratingly anti-physical relationship that binds the whole show together.

The characters are all larger-than life, the writing is witty and the stories are completely over-the-top. An especially bright spot in the show is Kristen Chenoweth, Ned's only pie-shop employee who is desperately, secretly but not very discreetly in love with him. And of course, she occasionally breaks into song about it.

All in all, Pushing Daisies is lovely, funny, enchanting and completely unique. You can find it on Hulu or at theWB.com. Hope you  enjoy it!  Whoops...just noticed that only Season 2 is available online. Maybe you can find Season 1 at your local library or rent it through Amazon or iTunes or something.

Mystery Summer: Week 3

We continue our mystery summer with our no. 1 favorite: Foyle's War. This is a British period mystery set during and immediately following the second World War. It is set in the coastal town of Hastings (as in the same Hastings that was the site of the famous Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror came in and cleaned house with the Anglo-Saxon nobles, making Britain a Norman holding for the next...well, basically forever).

Michael Kitchen is Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle and he is a man for whom right is right and there is no room for legal compromise, moral ambiguity or justifications of wrongdoing in a time of war. And for his perfect moral uprightness, sharp intelligence and ever-polite, courteous (but definitely not friendly) manner, he is probably our very favorite of all detectives. And really, that is saying a lot!

He is backed by Sergeant Milner, a war veteran sent home from the fight because of the loss of a leg in combat. Milner (Anthony Howell) is not your typical bumbling, ineffective sergeant. He is extremely intelligent and capable but lacks Foyle's black-and-white confidence about questions of morality, intent and the violent, war-torn world he lives in.

Rounding out the crew is Sam (Honeysuckle Weeks), a can-do girl who performed so poorly in the women's mechanized transport corps that she was transferred to the police as Foyle's driver--which suits her just fine. Her constant optimism and childlike humor brings some lightness to the series and even gives her boss something to smile about.

The series was meticulously produced with historically accurate details from the costumes and uniforms to the aircraft and cars, telephones, weaponry, etc. and provides a fascinating glimpse of everyday life in a terrible period of modern history. The whole series is just fantastic and is available on Netflix instant. Well worth anyone's time. 

Mystery Summer: Week 2

 Ideally, we would carefully select the order of our choices by careful analysis and theme. ;) In fact, we've already talked about how we would order the different mysteries by setting, theme, style etc. But we would really like some of you to watch with us, so we're going to let PBS and it's programming schedule have a little say. This month on most PBS stations, Masterpiece Mystery presents ZEN starring Rufus Sewell. If, like us, you don't have a TV, you can watch episodes the day after they air online at PBS. This was already on our list, so thanks to PBS, we're just featuring him a little earlier than planned.

Aurelio Zen is a detective with the famously corrupt Italian state police in Rome. He has a reputation for unflinching honesty--a trait difficult to maintain amidst the politicking and underhanded maneuvering of his colleagues and the government officials above him. But somehow, with the tools of a brilliant investigative mind, saavy diplomacy and talent for getting people exactly where he wants them, he always manages to get the right results and keep his integrity.

We've already said how much we love Rufus Sewell and he certainly doesn't disappoint here. He can communicate more in a little nod or an eye twitch than some big stars get across in an entire movie. So thanks to PBS for making Zen available again (some of you may have seen this when it aired last summer). Watch it this weekend and let us know what you think.

Mystery Summer

 We've been talking about how to spend a movie month on our favorite entertainment for a long time. The trouble is, our favorites aren't really movies at all, they're made-for-tv mysteries. And there are too many of them to fit into a single month-- even if we split them into a month for American and a month for British--we still wouldn't feel like we'd done justice to our favorite genre.  So (drumroll please) we're devoting the entire summer to mysteries! together on three: 1...2...3... "Hooray!!!" And since there is no better way to open than with the most iconic mystery hero of them all, we're beginning with SHERLOCK HOLMES.

 

I think just about everyone has heard of, if not already seen, the brilliant new adaptation Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson which airs in America on PBS Masterpiece Mystery. (and if you hurry up, you could watch all of season 1 in Netflix and then go to PBS online and watch season 2 which will be available until 6/20.) Set in the modern-era it is witty, fast-paced, beautifully written and shot and has, I think, the most perfectly cast characters. Benedict Cumberbatch does insecure, genius arrogance like he was just born with it. Martin Freeman (we love Martin Freeman. Aren't you so excited he's going to be playing Bilbo Baggins?! Who else? Perfect.) is the most likeable grouch as war-veteran Dr. Watson and their chemistry together is endlessly entertaining. And Moriarty...ah, I cannot say enough how happy the casting and characterization of Moriarty makes me. I won't give away too much because finding out who he is is kind of key to the end of season one, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they played him. 

So. If you have already seen and enjoyed Sherlock, feel free to tell us so. We always like to hear our opinions backed-up :) And if you haven't yet, go now before it's too late and you end up having to wait for Season 2 to show up on Netflix or at your local library.
We must however, give a nice nod to the old classic Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. Many of these episodes are also available on Netflix right now and I'd bet they're at your library too. It's fun to compare the old and new series as the new one often hides fun allusions to the older series in its sets and writing. And if you just can't seem to get enough of Sherlock, we can also recommend a movie version of The Hound of the Baskervilles made in 2002 starring Richard Roxburgh, Ian Hart and Richard E. Grant. It's a bit darker than the Brett version of the same story and has tv-worthy special effects but we really enjoyed it.

Just Laugh: May 2 of 3

We debated back and forth whether or not to include The Royal Tenenbaums in this month's selections. In my mind, it is easily the second-funniest movie in the world (that's not intended to disparage it. Second-funniest is pretty darned funny. THE funniest is coming next week...wait for it). But more important than its hilarity is the sheer beauty, tragedy, failure and redemption that is played out in its 110 minutes. 

It is hilarious, and as the second-funniest movie in the world, it won it's well-deserved place in our comedy-themed May. But I think The Royal Tenenbaums is an important film and deserves a place among all the other great masterpieces of cinema. I never come away from it (now after seeing it countless times) without feeling better and more optimistic about our human family. Okay, enough homage. Now down to business. 

Wes Anderson--genius, genius Wes Anderson--leaves his unmistakable mark on every film he's ever made. His sense of style, timing, setup, music, irony all play together to create a movie experience more akin to absurdist theatre than blockbuster cinema. They're all brilliant (we particularly recommend Fantastic Mr. Fox which has all his classic thing-ness but is also family friendly. Our babies love it.) but this one is my ultimate favorite. 

The story centers around the Tenenbaum family: Royal and Etheline and their brilliant children: Chaz, Margot and Richie. But then Royal and Etheline separate and over the years the children each experience their own personal tragedies until virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums is erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. The bulk of the movie follows the reunion of the fractured family and its damaged members and is a beautifully quirky and brilliantly understated reminder that relationships don't just heal themselves. Repentance, forgiveness, understanding and finally redemption come through a painfully brutal and ultimately cleansing and renewing process of love and patience.

The cast could not be better. Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston lead the family with Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson as their children. Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Danny Glover support as a husband, a fiance, a best friend and a bridge partner. 

One last thing I am bound to say: for the sake of full disclosure, this is rated R for language, some nudity and adult themes. If you just want to take my word that it's a good movie I totally get that. For those of you who do watch it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Up next week: well, I really didn't want to spoil the surprise, but just so you have time to get your hands on it, Cold Comfort Farm.

Just Laugh: May 1 of 3

Trying to boil down the entire gamut of comedies into three short weeks is just silly. So instead, we just picked three (give or take a few) that we like. Only one of our choices this month is actually THE funniest movie ever made, and we're saving that one for last. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This week, we present:

It wasn't until I was married that I found out that Cary Grant was a comedian. All I had seen growing up was him as the handsome (if aging) leading man in romantic or suspense roles like Charade and North by Northwest. And while he does crack a few jokes in those movies, I always thought "well, he's trying to be funny... but". It wasn't until Curmudgeon made me watch Arsenic and Old Lace that I became acquainted with Cary Grant: hilarious physical comedian. 

And it was another several years after that Curmudgeon and I were both introduced (by my mother) to Walk Don't Run. Neither of us had ever heard of this 1966 comedy set in Tokyo during the Summer Olympics. After seeing it, I can't imagine why it isn't more famous. I think after watching it, you'll see why of all the hilarious comedies out there, we chose to grace our selections with this little unknown beauty.

Cary Grant plays an Englishman in Tokyo for business who can't get a hotel because everything is booked due to the Olympics. Jim Hutton (and yes, he is Timothy Hutton's dad) is an athlete who arrives two days early, and finds the Olympic lodgings are not ready yet. Somehow (we'll let you watch to find out how) they both end up lodging with Samantha Eggar, a buttoned-up, tightly scheduled, no-nonsense young woman. And then it gets really funny. So have fun and enjoy this undeservedly forgotten gem of a comedy.

And if you like Cary Grant but are yet unconvinced of his comedic talents, try Arsenic and Old Lace, The Philadelphia Story or Bringing Up Baby.

Coming up next week...we still haven't made up our mind. So come back next week and be surprised :)

Hey, we're just taking a week off. Monthly Movies will be back next week.

Brit Lit 3 of 4

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. We watched this together by chance one night shortly after we got married and both loved it. It's another long one (3 or 4 hours maybe? Plan to watch it in two nights or so) but there are some tales you just don't want to skimp on and this is one.

I won't give you too much on plot, just introduce you to the most important characters. Daniel Deronda (played by Hugh Dancy) is a young Englishman of aristocratic upbringing but dubious parentage who is trying to find his place in the world. Gwendolyn Harleth (Romola Garai) is an exceptional beauty accustomed to using her many assets to manipulate her way through society. There is also Henleigh Grancourt, Gwendolyn's cold and sadistic suitor (played to perfection by Hugh Bonneville) and Mirah Lapidoth (Jodhi May), a beautiful, penniless Jewish orphan and talented singer who is supported by Deronda. Their different lives weave together to create a compelling picture of English society in the 1860s with a particularly fascinating and sympathetic view of Jewish culture in a largely anti-semitic environment.

More than that, you'll just have to get from watching yourself. The production is just great, as all these Masterpiece Theatre/BBC productions are, with great costumes, music and casting. Enjoy, and if you watch, let us know what you think!

Next week: A Room With A View by E.M. Forester with Helena Bonham-Carter, Daniel Day-Lewis and Maggie Smith.

Brit Lit 2 of 4: Jane Eyre

This week it's one of our favorite movies ever: the 2006 BBC production of Jane Eyre starring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. For the first year of our marriage, we watched this (all 3 hours or so) just about once a month. I'm not joking. Ask Curmudgeon. It really is that good.

For any unfamiliar with the story, Jane is an orphan who lives off the very cold charity of an aunt who despises and abuses her, finally sending her away to a school where, while perhaps not abused per se, she grows up undernourished, constantly exposed to cold and damp, living rigidly within the small, grey universe that is her school. When she grows up, she accepts the position of governess to the ward of the rich, mysterious, moody and mostly absent Mr. Rochester. 

Other than to say that it is a perfect gothic romance, that's all I'm going to give you on plot. We love Ruth Wilson who, despite being very beautiful in real life, makes an exceptionally plain, intelligent and likeable Jane. Toby Stephens is fantastic and so perfectly rude, brusque, moody and sarcastic that every other Mr. Rochester from every other version just fades away.
The other character I have to mention is St. John Rivers, played by Andrew Buchan. I have never liked St. John Rivers before... in the book and in other versions I've seen he has been so conceited, self-righteous and overbearing that I could barely stand the whole section of the story that he inhabits. Not so here... St. John is earnest, passionate, emotional and wholly human as portrayed in this film. And the beautiful thing about it is that he's also completely true to Bronte's character. I love love love love his part in the movie.

So... strap in and enjoy the (long, yes I know, but so worth it) movie. Enjoy!

Up next week: Daniel Deronda by George Eliot starring Romola Garai, Hugh Dancy and Hugh Bonneville.

Brit Lit 101

Or, as Netflix would categorize it: "Period Dramas based on 19th-century British Literature" 

But the big news is HOORAY! after a 12-month hiatus, Monthly Movies are back!!!

This month we bring you our favorites and there were a lot of great ones to choose from. We're both slight Anglophiles and love a good period piece, so there were certainly a lot of options, but in some ways they narrowed themselves. For instance, there's a whole garage-worth of good Jane Austen adaptations but we couldn't let her take more than one of the four weeks. Also, lots of good Dickens movies, but I don't like his books (sorry mom) so he got the ax too. You get where I'm going with this... lots of good choices, we just picked four of the best ones.

We also decided to arrange them in chronological order (by setting) so Miss Austen gets the first week.

Everyone and their cow and goat and puppy has seen every version of Pride and Prejudice ever made and rightfully so, but I find that the more mature and unassuming Persuasion gets overlooked (much as quiet, patient Ann Eliot would stand back and let fiery Lizzy Bennet take all the attention). But if you're one who has never encountered Ann and Wentworth and the host of interesting characters behind them, this is your lucky day. It's not a story of finding love, but of restoring it after all hope is gone.

In their youth, Ann and Wentworth fell deeply in love, but as she was the daughter of a baronette and he just a simple sailor, she was persuaded to reject his proposal of marriage. Years later, she lives a life of quiet regret and resignation, the longsuffering middle daughter of a foppish idiot and a veritable slave to the whims of both her crazy sisters. Wentworth went on to receive acclaim, wealth and prestige in the Napoleonic Wars and is now a great catch for any young woman and nurses hurt pride and bitter heartbreak at Ann's rejection years earlier. That's all the synopsis you get. Now go watch.

A few words on the film itself, definitely make sure you're watching the 1995 version starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hines. The entire cast is phenomenal and entirely draws you into their world. The cinematography is gorgeous and the music is perfectly aligned to the period, lots of early 19th century solo piano works and Italian Art songs. There was a new version made just a few years ago starring Sally Hawkins. I have to say that while the cast of the new version looked right--all a bit younger (closer to the age Austen describes) and more attractive, their acting and chemistry just left me completely cold and unconvinced. Amanda Root and Ciaran Hines on the other hand (as well as the rest of the cast), just quietly and intensely personify their characters so much that you utterly believe in their heartbreak and inner--always unspoken--turmoil. 

Up next week: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson)

April: Cons & Capers (4 of 4)

The Sting!!

One of the gems of my childhood. I don't know how many times we sat and watched this movie as a family or listened to the record (Joplin piano rags). Robert Redford and Paul Newman are one of the great duos of hollywood history and they don't disappoint one moment in this classic.

Redford is a small-town crook who goes to learn "the big con" under the tutelage of Newman, a drunk has-been who hasn't run a con for years. Together, they set out con one of the most powerful, dangerous and vengeful gangsters in Chicago... and get away with it? You'll have to make it to the end to find out.

Enjoy!

And by the way--no comments this month? What gives? Surely somebody watched something with us! (Especially after the long spiel I gave in favor of Brothers Bloom! Come on, I want to know what you thought of it!)

April: Cons & Capers (3 of 4)

And this is it...the one I've been waiting for!! I know that many of you will not have seen this movie and I've been so anxious to introduce you to it that I got up early so I could write this post before the kids wake up.

I saw the trailer for this film some time ago and was intrigued by what appeared to be a clever and twisty plotline, snippets of lighthearted and funny dialogue and by the fact that it stars Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo. Are you kidding me? AWESOME!! Love them both to bits.

Then, because we never go to movies anymore, I forgot about it until it showed up on our Netflix recommendation list. Within a few days I was holding in my hand a little red envelope filled with as-yet-untold goodness.

I watched it once. I watched it twice. I watched it three times. Then I decided I had better get up off the couch. Ok, not really. I didn't actually watch it three times in a row, but I wanted to! And I did watch it probably 4 or 5 times before returning it to Netflix. Then we went and bought it and I've watched it several more times since then.

It's charming, hilarious, confusing, convoluted, heartbreaking, and feel-good. The characters are all completely compelling and zip right into your heart within their first few moments. Of course Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are fantastic, but the two ladies are just as good. I think the real standout of the cast might be Rinko Kikuchi, who, despite a role with almost no lines, just about steals every scene she's in. 

I'm not going to waste time telling you the plot. It's clear enough that you can get it as you watch and confusing enough that I just don't want to go into it here. I'll just outline a few of my favorite things:

1) one of the best movie openings I've ever seen. The introduction is clever and cute and sets up the main characters brilliantly.

2) after having seen it now probably 10 times, I still see new things with each viewing. There are so many layers in the imagery and story that you just never get to the bottom of it. It's not like it makes any claims to be some deep, philosophical treatise and I'm not making that claim either, it's just that the filmmakers and writers were extremely clever and thoughtful about what they put into the details. It's a pleasure to watch each new time.

3) my number one, all-time favorite romantic movie moment. It's not a love scene per se, just a small moment of hand-holding, sunshine and utter happiness. You'll see.

Ok, enough said. I love everything about this movie and wholeheartedly recommend it to you.

things to be aware of: I don't recall any language, there's a bit of mock-violence (they are con-artists, after all) and a somewhat embarrassing moment on a train. If you want to know specifics, you should probably look the movie up on one of those "ratings explained" sites. Again, I'd let my kids watch it, but you know me.

up next week: The Sting

April: Cons & Capers (2 of 4)

Ok, so we missed a day, but Robert Redford is as good on a Saturday as he would have been on Friday, so never fear, the con-fest continues.

Look at that cast list...how could you resist, right? Ok, let's just be honest, I can resist the Akroyd and McDonnell, but the rest are (picture me kissing the tips of my fingers like a French chef) superb (obviously said French-ly). Well, ok, that's not true either because as superb as Ben Kingsley normally is, this sure isn't his best performance. But all that aside, it's a great movie. Lots of fun.

For any unfamiliar with Sneakers, Redford plays Martin Bishop, head of a rag-tag team of ex-professionals who do contract work testing security systems...which just means they break in like thieves then report back system vulnerabilities to the clients...blah blah blah. The story really takes off when they get involved with a certain little black box that may or may not have the power to take down the whole system. You know, the WHOLE system. Full of humor, action, suspense and--most important--quotable quotes, we give this our hearty recommendation. 

Full disclosure: may be some language and mild adult situations. I think we'd let our kids watch, but you know what we're like.

coming next week: The Brothers Bloom

April: Cons & Capers (1 of 4)

Welcome to another month and another theme! Conmen, tricksters and grifters will populate our Friday nights for the next few weeks as we delve into Cons & Capers

First on the docket is the 1966 "How to Steal a Million" starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. Hard to go wrong with those two, right? They're both as gorgeous, witty and delightful as you'd expect. Tiny teaser to the plot (for those of you who haven't seen it yet...if there are any of you). Miss Hepburn catches Mr. O'Toole red-handed picking off one of her father's priceless Van Goghs and subsequently hires him to steal the precious Cellini Venus currently on display at a Paris Museum. The Venus which, by the way, she already happens to own. Sophisticated, Givenchy-clad hilarity ensues. Enjoy!

Up next week: Sneakers

March: I Heart Ireland (4 of 4)

Is it Friday again? Then you're in for a treat because this weeks film is the best of all! (It's also one of Happy's favorites and comes with his strong endorsement.)

Ok, I know this isn't actually a poster for the movie, but the real movie poster is kind of lame. This is much better.

The Secret of Kells is an animated film that gorgeously imagines the creation of the Book of Kells. For those unfamiliar with said book, it is a 9th-Century Irish manuscript containing the four Gospels. It is famous for its elaborate illuminations and is a great masterpiece of early Christian art. I was mildly obsessed with the Book of Kells for about six months in eighth grade and spent hours trying to create celtic interlace myself.
Ok, on to the film. The animation is simply beautiful. You'll be completely transfixed. It received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature in 2010. Nothing like the current trend of digital, almost-3d-creepy cartoons these days, it is painterly and artistic. Of course, it uses digital animation...why not, right? But it's not gimmicky or video-gamey. Such a relief!

The story is great too. There's so much to love about this movie that I think I'll just leave you to watch it and get your own impressions. 

Up next week: How to Steal a Million

March: I Heart Ireland (3 of 4)

Another week, another flick.  This time, it's "The Quiet Man" starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.

Wayne stars as a man returning to his roots. Irish-born, American-raised (I don't think he could handle an Irish accent, do you?). He returns to the village of his birth and within 5 minutes falls in love with fiery spinster (their word, not mine) Maureen O'Hara. Made in 1952, this film brims over with every quaint Irish stereotype short of leprechauns. As it is John Wayne, it's also full of brooding tough-guyness and an ever-so-slightly misogynistic love-story. But it's a fun classic and worth a watch. 

up next week: The Secret of Kells

March: I Heart Ireland (2 of 4)

It's another Friday and time for another movie in our series. This week we present:

I had seen this movie around and heard of it, but really had no inclination to watch it until Curmudgeon enlightened me to a few facts:

1- It's Irish and since we're lovers of all things British (especially when it comes to entertainment), that's an immediate plus.

2- It's hilarious. Also a plus.

3- The "waking" refers to a funeral wake, not awakening. You wouldn't think that would matter at all, but for some reason I was immediately more interested.

The story follows the townsfolk of one small village in rural Ireland. One of their citizens, Ned Devine wins the lottery--and dies of the shock.  Not about to let a good thing pass by, his friends and neighbors devise a scheme to fool the lotto executive who comes to town that Ned is indeed alive and well and ready to claim his winnings. Funny, touching and lighthearted, this is a pleaser in any crowd.

Hope you're ready for some good Irish fun.

up next week: The Quiet Man

March: I Heart Ireland (1 of 4)

Another month with another conveniently exploitable holiday. Luckily, there are some just great Irish (or Irish-themed) movies out there that we are very happy to present to you. First up: The Secret of Roan Inish.

I remember seeing this film for the first time in a tiny movie theatre in Anchorage, Alaska. My mom and I had traveled there for a school trip of some kind...maybe the spelling bee? Anyway, we went out for dinner (Chinese, incidentally. Which has nothing to do with this post, just a trivial fact) then wanted to see a movie. You have to understand that restaurants and movie theatres were rare and precious as our family was living in isolated, tiny Chignik Bay at the time where the favored village entertainment involved crackin-wise on the CB Radio.

So Mom and I went to the theatre and got tickets to The Secret of Roan Inish. We'd never heard of it and had no idea what it was about, but I was probably about 9 years old at the time and it was likely the only movie that looked age-appropriate. The next two hours were pure magic and I've never forgotten the movie, the tiny theatre with its uncomfortable wooden chairs and squeaky floor or that lovely evening spent with just my mom and me.

The real draw for this film is the raw beauty of the land (just look at that gorgeous stillframe... it's typical of the whole film) and nature. The story is compelling and happy-fying. I realize that's not a word, but it's the best way I can describe it. "Uplifting" is too trite. It just makes me happy to watch it. 

No synopsis this time. You should just watch and be happy-fied. Enjoy.