My Ten Favorite New-to-Me Movies of 2024

Here we are again, ready to reminisce over all the movies we've watched in the past year and figure out which ones we liked best.  If you've done a similar post this year, leave a link in the comments so I can check out what your favorites were!

If you want to see my past lists, I've got ten years' worth at the bottom of this page.  Meanwhile, here are my favorite ten new-to-me movies that I watched last year!

1.  Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter One (2024)  A variety of people have experiences in the Old West, many of them in or around the fictional town of Horizon.  It's a sprawling epic with lots of storylines and little or no closure to any of them, and I'm somewhat obsessed with it.  So much of it pleases me, from the authentic historical details to the filmography to the storytelling.  (I could do without the scene with nudity or the implied sex scene, though.  It's not a family friendly movie.)

2.  The Train (1964)  A bitter and disillusioned member of the French Resistance (Burt Lancaster) helps sabotage a train filled with precious pieces of French artwork that an equally bitter Nazi officer (Paul Scofield) is desperately trying to steal away from Paris before the Allies arrive.  My son is particularly pleased with all the very real train-related details, and I'm pleased by all the cool stunts Lancaster does.

3.  Murder on the Orient Express (1974)  Even though Hercule Poirot is not played by Peter Ustinov or Kenneth Branagh (my two favorite Poirots), but instead by Albert Finney (who gets a bit shouty), this is still such a fun time.  That's mainly thanks to the amazing cast: Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Perkins, Richard Widmark, Michael York... are you drooling yet?  What a lineup, huh?

4.  The Man from the Alamo (1953)  A Texan (Glenn Ford) is elected to leave the Alamo to warn the people of his town that something bad is about to befall them.  By the time he reaches the town, it's too late, and everyone assumes he ran away from the Alamo because he's a coward.  This makes him angry and vengeful, and the storyline took a few turns that surprised me, which I enjoyed.

5.  Emma (1996 -- Kate Beckinsale)  Yes, it took me this long to finally see this adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel.  I was surprised how much I liked it -- it's never going to rival the other 1996 version that stars Gwyneth Paltrow, but I liked it a lot better than the 2009 and 2020 versions.

6.  The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)  A bunch of military misfits are brought together to stop the Nazis during WWII.  Yes, that premise has been used oodles of times.  But this movie brings some fresh fun to it -- and it's based on a real people and real incidents, which bumps the whole thing up a notch.  I'm particularly fond of how Henry Cavill keeps trading up for better and cooler coats.

7.  Love Crazy (1941) A woman (Myrna Loy) suspects her husband (William Powell) is cheating on her and decides to get a divorce.  Her husband pretends to be mentally ill so she can't divorce him.  I'm not usually a big fan of screwball comedies, but I love Loy and Powell together, and this one never gets daffy enough to annoy me.

8.  Anastasia (1956)  A con artist (Yul Brynner) uses a mentally unstable young woman (Ingrid Bergman) to try to convince the world that the Russian princess Anastasia is still alive.  It's acerbic and twisted and melodramatic... and a lot more like the animated movie Anastasia (1997) than I'd expected.

9.  Christmas in the Air (2017)  A widower (Eric Close) who designs and makes toys hires a professional planner (Catherine Bell) to help him juggle his Christmastime family activities and work commitments so he won't disappoint his kids by forgetting anything important, but will also be able to help his brother land a big contract for their family-owned toy company.  Yes, it's a Hallmark movie.  Yes, I will willingly watch it again.

10. My Cousin Rachel (1952)  A wealthy young man (Richard Burton) becomes obsessed with his cousin's widow (Olivia de Havilland) because he's convinced she killed his cousin.  And then he's convinced she didn't.  And he loves her.  But he hates her.  But she loves him.  But she might be trying to kill him.  Come on, it's a very young and toothsome Richard Burton growling at a middle-aged and gorgeous Olivia de Havilland -- that's all you really need to know.

"Pride and Prejudice" (1940)

If you are the sort of person who falls into a swoon over any adaptation of a Jane Austen novel that does not have what you yourself deem to be "period correct" costumes, you might want to stop reading right here.  Because I really love this movie, and I promise I have heard all your moanings and whingings and protestings before, and I don't need to hear them again.  You shan't dissuade me from loving it.

Or, if you are the sort of person who has always wanted to see this adaptation, but you heard it was "awful" or "unwatchable" because the costumes are not "Regency Era-appropriate," read on!  Because there's a reason the filmmakers selected the costumes they did, and it had nothing to do with being stupid and ignorant, and everything to do with being canny and prudent.

In case there is anyone reading this who does NOT know the basic plot of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, let me briefly explain it:

Elizabeth Bennet (Greer Garson) and her four sisters need husbands.  Why?  Because the property their father (Edmund Gwenn) inherited from his father is "entailed," which means it can by law only pass on to the next male heir.  And the Bennets have no sons.  The family can live comfortably, even well, as long as Mr. Bennet lives.  But the minute he dies, his cousin Mr. Collins (Melville Cooper) will inherit everything.  

Mrs. Bennet (Mary Boland) therefore spends her every waking minute trying to find a way to provide for her daughters in their adult lives.  Her only real plan is a hope that at least one of them will manage to marry a rich gentleman, and then either the other daughters can also find husbands who will care for and support them, or else they can be provided for in some way by said rich gentleman and whichever daughter married him.

Naturally, when a rich bachelor named Mr. Bingley (Bruce Lester) moves into the neighborhood, bringing along his sister, Miss Bingley (Frieda Inescort) and his good friend, Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), Mrs. Bennet is overjoyed.  And overflowing with schemes.  Surely Mr. Bingley will marry either her eldest daughter Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) or the next in line, Elizabeth.  Mrs. Bennet does everything in her power to throw Jane and Mr. Bingley together, and her scheming works... for a while.

But, while Mr. Bingley is good-humored and affable, Mr. Darcy strikes people as dour and stuffy.  He doesn't like to dance with strangers.  He doesn't flatter people.  He doesn't smile very much.  Well, that last isn't actually true -- this Mr. Darcy does smile quite a lot after the first few times we meet him.  He's actually rather pleasant and charming... but he's also terribly proud.  He can't abide Mrs. Bennet or the two youngest Bennet girls, Kitty (Heather Angel) and Lydia (Ann Rutherford).  Because they offend him so much, he is convinced he and Mr. Bingley should really have nothing to do with any of the Bennet family.

But Mr. Darcy's path keeps crossing Elizabeth Bennet's.  He falls in love with her, even though she swears he is the last man she could ever be persuaded to marry.  When her sister Lydia falls into disgrace, he does everything in his power to set things right for her, just to help Elizabeth.  Gradually, he learns not to let his pride cloud his judgement, and she learns not to let herself be prejudiced for or against a person before she knows them reasonably well.

I very much enjoy Greer Garson's portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet as an intelligent, witty, good-humored young woman.  And I am particularly fond of Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy.  He's less socially awkward than we usually see Mr. Darcy portrayed, which emphasizes his insistence on propriety and taking pride in his station in life as being a choice, not simply a character trait.

One stand-out side character, for me, is Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Edna May Oliver).  She's just as acerbic and haughty as she ought to be, on the surface, but she has a humorous kindliness underneath that you get to glimpse at the very end, and I love that.

This particular film is actually an adaptation of a 1935 stage play by Helen Jerome.  Shocking as this may seem to us today, when Jane Austen can feel so ubiquitous in the literary and movie scene, this is actually the first movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice!  Not the first appearance of P&P on film -- someone filmed a stage play a couple of years earlier, but that was not really a movie production.

And now we come to the reasons why this adaptation is set in the Victorian Era instead of around 1813 in the Regency Era when the book was written.  They have to do with two important historical events: 1) the Great Depression, which was still besetting Americans with poverty and worry when this film was released, and 2) the 1939 runaway hit status of the movie Gone with the Wind.

Times were still hard in 1940.  And if moviegoers were going to part with a little of their too-scant money to go see a movie, they wanted it to be a movie that would transport them into a different world for a while.  They wanted escapist movies that would help them ignore their troubles for a little while.  Exotic locations, lavish costumes, opulent sets, romance between beautiful actresses and handsome actors -- those were the ingredients of a smash hit in that era.  The more of those ingredients you could add to your movie, the better your chances of having a smash hit.

The smashiest of smash hits in that era (and, indeed, if you adjust for inflation, it's still the highest-grossing movie of all time) was Gone with the Wind, which came out just one year earlier.  American moviegoers were entranced by the hoop-skirted gowns and elegant formal suits.  They found the wealth and opulence on display in the mansions onscreen to be mesmerizing.  And the enemies-to-lovers romance between the main characters captivated their imaginations.

And, the truth is, all of those costumes and sets cost the studios a lot of money.  So, when the studio greenlit the adaptation of another famous novel featuring sweeping enemies-to-lovers romance, this time one by British author Jane Austen, they figured why not make sure audiences who loved Gone with the Wind got some of the same ingredients that made that movie such a hit?  They set this movie version in the Victorian Era and gave all the women eye-catching hoop-skirts and extravagant hats.  That let the studios reuse some of the costumes from Gone with the Wind for extras in crowd scenes, and they even reused some set pieces from GWTW for an outdoor party scene in this film.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough Technicolor film available when they began shooting this film, rumored to be because Gone with the Wind had used so much of it.  So, they shot it in black-and-white, and the audience was denied the full splendor of those marvelous costumes and sets.  Still, audiences responded favorably to the film, and it earned nearly $2 million at the box office.  Unfortunately, it failed to completely recoup its expenses, and any more thoughts of adapting Jane Austen's novels for the big screen were shelved.  It wouldn't be until the 1970s that anyone made another film version of one of her books, and it wouldn't be until the runaway success of the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice that Jane Austen's novels would become the cultural phenomenon in America that we are still enjoying today.

Is this movie family friendly?  ABSOLUTELY!  My kids have seen it quite a few times, and my 11-yr-old is particularly fond of it.

This review is my contribution to the 2023 Classic Literature on Film Blogathon hosted by Silver Screen Classics this weekend.  Check out that event for more cool literature-inspired movie fun!

Movie Music: Rachel Portman's "Emma" (1996)

Rachel Portman is one of those composers whose scores I almost always enjoy. She's great at writing joyful music that moves scenes along, and she can layer deep emotions under the surface of that joy as well. 

"Main Titles" gives you a great idea of what the tone of the movie will be before anyone says a single word of dialog. It begins softly, sweetly, a little bit pensive even, then picks up tempo and becomes sprightly and humorous. Then it ends with grace and dignity.

"Harriet's Portrait" makes me smile, and not just because the part of the film it belongs to makes me laugh aloud. It's such vivacious music, isn't it? Playful and bright and energetic.

"The Dance" is pure fun. It makes me want to cavort. Sometimes I do. It's a little bit repetitive at first, and you can envision people doing an English Country Dance with it's fancy patterns, and then about 40 seconds in, it gets louder and boisterous, and yeah... who can resist dancing to such music?

"Emma Insults Miss Bates" is a more serious track, as befits a more serious scene. You hear that same theme from the opening credits, only now it's very slow and sad, mournful in places. Emma grows up quite suddenly in this scene, realizing that her behavior can affect others in bad ways as well as good, and this delicate, wistful song fits the scene perfectly.

The entire soundtrack is delightful -- you can listen to it on YouTube here. It's one of my favorites to listen to in the spring, when I'm feeling very bright and hopeful, but with a touch of wistfulness here and there too.

(This review originally appeared here at J and J Productions on March 4, 2016.)

Guest Post About Three Adaptations of "Pride and Prejudice"

I've got a guest post up over on Roof Beam Reader about my three favorite adaptations of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  It's part of the #AustenInAugust celebration held on that blog all month long.

You can read my comparison post right here!  Enjoy! :-D

The Fandom Favorites Tag

Eva at The Caffeinated Fangirl has created a new tag AND tagged me with it!  Which is perfect timing, because I was just hunting through my post drafts to see if I had any unfinished tags to share, and I didn't... but now that doesn't matter, because I have this one to fill out and share :-)

The rules for this are simple:

• Compile a list of up to ten of your favorite fandoms. Books, movies, TV shows—you name it! 
• Tell us about your favorite character in each of those fandoms, along with an explanation of why that character is your favorite. (Your reasoning can be however long or short you’d like it to be.) 
• Tag however many (or few) friends you’d like to participate. 
• Feel free to use the tag graphic I created (but you don’t have to). 
• That’s it. Short and sweet!

This is just the perfect sort of open-ended tag, isn't it?

Okay, so... let's dive into my favorite fandoms, shall we?  I've narrowed down my picks to eleven, though that was really hard because I am in and love a LOT of fandoms.  But these are all things where I interact with other fans based on our mutual fan-ness, as opposed to being shows/movies/series/authors that I simply am a big fan of.  It's the only way I could think of to whittle my list down.  (I know the tag says to do ten, but I could not leave any of these off the list and still be happy with myself.  Sorry, not sorry.)

I decided to talk about them in alphabetical order by fandom because putting them in order of how much I love them would be kind of emotionally hard, and I don't have the energy today.  Now you know.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004)

favorite character: Angel (David Boreanaz)

I love Angel because he has chosen to focus the rest of his existence on helping others.  Yes, he feels he needs to atone for several lifetimes of hurting, maiming, and terrorizing as a soulless vampire, but that's not really what drives him.  He has a genuine love for helping the hopeless.  And, since the two things I absolutely require in a character to like them, much less love them, are helpfulness and kindness, well, it's not surprising I love Angel.  (Doesn't hurt that David Boreanaz is the handsomest man I have ever seen, of course.)

Combat! (1962-67)

favorite character: Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow)

In fact, Sergeant Saunders is my absolute favorite character of all time.  In any storytelling medium.  Ever.  He's tops.  Why?  Because of his unswerving commitment to doing what's right instead of what's easy, his dedication to preserving life and humanity, and his willingness to put himself in the line of fire to protect others.  I wrote this whole post a couple years ago on why he's my favorite, so if you want to know more, check that out ;-)

Jane Austen

favorite character: Anne Elliot from Persuasion

Of all the characters in this post, Anne Elliot is the one I identify the most with.  She's steady, calm, quiet, reserved, helpful, kind, stubborn in her own soft way, and tends to be shy and retiring around those she doesn't know or those she isn't fond of.  I love that she gets a second chance at happiness, but on her own terms.

 

Leverage (2008-2012)

favorite character: Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane)

Eliot, Eliot, Eliot.  He sings, he cooks, he rides horses, he quotes cowboy movies, he punches people really hard, and he will leap into absolutely any dangerous situation in order to protect or rescue a child.  In fact, it's probably his protective attitude toward kids that draws me to him the most.  Also, he has really good hair.

Fun Fact: Christian Kane also played a regular character on Angel for a few seasons, and he and David Boreanaz are good buddies in real life.

L. M. Montgomery

favorite character: Anne Shirley

I mean, my middle child's middle name is Anne, so that might give you some idea how much I love this girl.  Anne Shirley grows up an orphan in a world where orphans are valued a little more than stray animals.  Maybe.  She is verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by family after family who only take her in so they can have free labor to work in their houses and care for their kids.  And yet, Anne does not lose her capacity to love, to wonder, to enjoy the world around her, to learn, to grow.  She should be stunted emotionally forever, but her inner resilience never wavers.  And, when she finally finds her own family to love and be loved by, she blooms and transforms in the most beautifully ways -- and so do they.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

favorite character: Boromir

Honorable, valiant, trustworthy, loyal, kind, courageous, helpful, protective... I can go on a long time coming up with adjectives to describe Boromir.  He's got so much responsibility, carrying around the weight of rescuing his people.  And yet, he's always looking out for smaller and weaker people -- in the book in particular, he's always making sure the hobbits are taken care of, watched out for, considered.  Is he proud?  Yes.  Is he human?  Yes.  Does he make mistakes?  Yes.  But he doesn't hesitate to admit his mistakes, repent of them, ask for forgiveness, and make what atonement he can.  My goodness, I love him.  I wrote a post on my book blog about him a few years ago if you want to know more about why I love him so much.

Lost (2004-2010)

favorite character: James "Sawyer" Ford

I think I started to love Sawyer because Sawyer did not love himself.  In fact, Sawyer spent a big chunk of Lost insisting that he was unlovable, and trying to prove it to everyone around him.  Which only made me grab him harder and hold him closer.  His transformation from a sweet, traumatized Southern boy who became his own worst nightmare, then gradually discovered he could become a better man after all -- that's absolutely my favorite thing about Lost.

Sherlock Holmes canon by A. Conan Doyle

favorite character: Sherlock Holmes

Whenever the "book boyfriend" question comes up, I always say mine is Sherlock Holmes.  He's just so darned awesome at everything!  He solves crimes, he catches bad guys, he plays the violin, he infuriates everyone around him, he has the weirdest habits and hobbies, and he just... fascinates me endlessly.  I do like several portrayals of him by actors, especially Jeremy Brett (who is practically perfect in the role) and Benedict Cumberbatch, but it's the Sherlock Holmes in my head that is my favorite, the one I see and hear when I read the Canon.

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-69)

favorite character: Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)

Captain Kirk is so many of the things I wanted to be when I was a teen: confident, bold, strong, good-tempered, charming, and did I mention confident?  Oh, how I longed for his level of confidence.  I still love him now, though not so much because of all the things he is that I'm not, but because I see behind his confidence now, to the guy inside who bears so much responsibility and cares so much for the people he leads.  The episodes where he lets his inner worries and fears show a little often become my favorites.

This is the only character on here that I have kind of, sort of met.  He's the only one I've been able to personally say "thank you" to someone involving his creation, which is very, very special to me.  You can read that story here.

Star Wars

favorite character: Han Solo (Harrison Ford and Alden Ehrenreich)

I've been a Han Solo fan longer than I've been a Harrison Ford fan, if that makes any sense.  He's another guy who swaggers around insisting he's a scoundrel, but you know he's actually a super nice guy inside.  I love his character arc in the original trilogy, from opportunistic loner to loyal leader.  Doesn't hurt that he gets loads and loads of quotable lines, too.  I wrote a blog post about why I love Han Solo not long ago, where I expounded on his delightfulness more.

X-Men

favorite character: Wolverine

Yes, I love Hugh Jackman in the role for the movies. But I loved Wolverine for quite a few years before they even started talking about making the first X-Men movie.  He made guest appearances in several issues of the Spider-Man Magazine, and I could not get enough of this cigar-chomping, ornery, mean, bossy, lonely sweetheart of a superhero.  I do love him in the movies a LOT, but I also love to read the Essential Wolverine comic book compilations (I have the first 5 and need the last 2 yet).  He's endlessly wonderful.  Because, underneath that extremely unlikable exterior is the kindest and most helpful superhero I have ever found.  I even wrote a sonnet about him once.

Things we have learned from this list:  Hamlette has a type, and that type is protective warriors.  Also, every single person on this list is resilient.  They go through sometimes unimaginable and awful things and come through stronger than ever.  I'm not sure I ever noticed that second thing before, regarding favorite characters of mine.  Interesting!

So, now I get to tag some friends.  Hmm.  How about Movies Meet Their Match and Phyllis Loves Classic Movies -- and if anyone else wants to do this too, go right ahead!

My Ten Favorite Movies Filmed in Europe

Phyl of Phyllis Loves Classic Movies tagged me with the Pick My Movie Tag 2, and she challenged me to post about a favorite movie that was filmed in Europe.  I decided to do a list of ten instead ;-)  So here are my ten favorite movies that take place in Europe that are actually filmed entirely in Europe! (As far as I can tell from their IMDB.com pages, anyway.)

All titles are linked to my reviews if I've reviewed that particular movie.

1. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) -- filmed in Italy and the UK.  An American (Henry Cavill), a Russian (Armie Hammer), and a German (Alicia Vikander) team up during the Cold War to stop neo-Nazis from creating a nuclear bomb. This is an unabashedly fun movie, and I love it ever so dearly.

2. The Princess Bride (1987) -- filmed in Ireland and the UK.  After Buttercup's (Robin Wright) true love Westley (Cary Elwes) is murdered by pirates, she agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), but gets kidnapped before the wedding. I'll never forget the first time I saw this movie -- it changed my ideas about humor and fantasy forever.

3. The Great Escape (1963) -- filmed in Germany.  The Nazis brilliantly put all their worst eggs (Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, James Garner...) in one prison camp, and naturally all those escape artists work together to escape. I love this on so many levels, from the whole band-of-misfits-working-together angle to the clever planning to the actual escape itself. And it's based on a true story!

4. Chocolat (2000) -- filmed in France and the UK.  A mysterious woman (Juliette Binoche) opens a chocolate shop in a sedate French village and teaches its inhabitants to reexamine their attitudes and customs. The yummiest Johnny Depp movie ever -- do not watch this without a good supply of chocolate on hand!

5. A Knight's Tale (2001) -- filmed in the Czech Republic.  Penniless commoner William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) pretends to be a knight so he can win jousting tournaments and feed himself and his friends (Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk, and Mark Addy). Rollicking good fun, with a crazy soundtrack and some awesome jousting scenes.

6. Emma (1996) -- filmed in the UK.  Meddlesome young Emma (Gwenyth Paltrow) tries her best to make matches for all her friends and acquaintances, then falls in love herself.

7. North and South (2004) -- filmed in the UK.  A woman (Daniela Denby-Ashe) from the pastoral south of England moves to the industrial north and spends months ignoring the fact that a wealthy manufacturer (Richard Armitage) is in love with her.

8. Pride and Prejudice (2005) -- filmed in the UK.  Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) can't fall in love with each other until they both come to understand themselves first.

9. The Three Musketeers (1993) -- filmed in Austria and the UK.  Young d'Artagnan (Chris O'Donnell) just wants to be a Musketeer, but he ends up embroiled in unmasking a plot against the king. His three Musketeer friends (Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, and Oliver Platt) are hilarious and awesome too. I actually like this better than Alexandre Dumas' book!

10. Jane Eyre (1983) -- filmed in the UK.  A young governess (Zelah Clarke) teaches her employer (Timothy Dalton) about love and honor. My favorite adaptation of my favorite novel.

Since this is a tag, here are the rules for it:

• Nominate one or more people to review the film or films of your choice. Or you can request they review something from a certain year, genre, or star. Everyone can review the same thing, or you can request each person cover something different. As long as it’s something they haven’t written about yet, you’re good. 
• Nominees are allowed to request a different pick for whatever reason no more than five times. Stuff happens. We all know it. 
• Nominees must thank the person who nominated them and provide a link their blog. 
• Nominees may nominate others to keep the tag going. Picking the person who nominated them is allowed, or they can nominate someone else. Or both. 
• All participants need to include these rules in their post, whether they’re nominees or picking nominees. 
• All participants should use the “Pick My Movie” banner or something similar in their posts. 
• Have fun!

I hereby tag Caffeinated Fangirl, I'm Charles Baker Harris (and I Can Read), and Meanwhile, in Rivendell... to write about one or more movies that they have changed their mind about somehow.  Reviews, musings, lists, whatever!

Time to End My Spring To-Do List

It is definitely summer now where I live.  It's been in the 90s for days, we've taken the kids to the pool repeatedly, and we've even had some lovely thunderstorms.  And, of course, Memorial Day has come and gone.  So it's high time I wrap up my spring to-do list and get busy on a summer one!

(All photos are my own.)

~ Finish re-reading The Lord of the Rings  Fail.  I did finish The Two Towers, though, and now I'm into Return of the King, so I'm confident I'll finish it soon.

~ Finish the first draft of my Beauty and the Beast retelling  Fail.  Oh my goodness, friends!  This first draft is 60,000 words and still growing.  That's half again as long as the final draft of Cloaked.  Whaaaaat?  I did not realize this was going to be so much bigger.  But I am absolutely loving the ride.  It has been a genuine pleasure to get to know these characters.  I can't wait to share them with you!  

Meanwhile, I do have this little teaser graphic I whipped up recently, if you'd like a little peek into the terrain where it takes place and the actors I would cast if I was making this as a movie instead of writing it as a book:

~ Finish leading the Sense and Sensibility read-along on my book blog  Check!  I had the loveliest time, and I hope participants did too :-)

~ Read 3 books about/by someone who is not white  Check!  I read six:

• Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
• Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
• Hard-Boiled by Peggy Thompson and Saeko Usukawa
• Tall in the Saddle by Peggy Thompson and Saeko Usukawa
• The Poker Bride by Christopher Corbett
• Asian Americans in the Old West by Gail Sakurai

~ Read 3 books for my latest Classics Club list  Check!  I read five:

• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
• Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Kilmeny of the Orchard by L. M. Montgomery (review to come)

~ Read 9 books off my TBR shelves Check!  I read (are you ready for this?) SIXTEEN!  They were:

• Laura Ingalls Wilder Country by William Anderson
• Dearest Josephine by Caroline George
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
• The Winter King by Christine Cohen
• Hard-Boiled by Peggy Thompson and Saeko Usukawa
• The Canary Trainer by Nicholas Meyer
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
• Tall in the Saddle by Peggy Thompson and Saeko Usukawa
• A Girl from Yamhill by Beverly Cleary
• Yesterday or Long Ago by Jenni Sauer
• Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
• The Last Fire-Eater by Charity Bishop
• The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischoff
• The Poker Bride by Christopher Corbett
• Land of Hills and Valleys by Elisabeth Grace Foley
• Kilmeny of the Orchard by L. M. Montgomery

~ Watch 6 movies off my TBW shelves  Check!  I watched:

• The Buccaneer (1958)
• The Moonstone (1996)
• Little Women (1949)
• Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
• Man in the Middle (1964)
• The West (1996)

~ Watch WandaVision  Fail.  I will probably watch this with my best friend in the future.  Right now, I'm more excited about Loki's show, though.

~ Go see Black Widow (I HOPE!!!)  FAIL.  But this is not my fault -- they shoved the release date back again.  Sigh.

~ Take an afternoon river cruise on a tall ship Fail.  Again, not my fault -- they didn't start up their cruises as soon as they said they would.  We're hoping to try this over the summer, though.

~ Visit Colonial Williamsburg  Check!  We went there for my birthday :-)  My mom was visiting at the time, so she got to go along too!  It was the perfect time to visit, as allll the flowers were in full bloom.

~ Finish the baby blanket I'm crocheting for a relative who's expecting  Check!  I don't think I ever got a picture of it, but I sent it to them a couple weeks before the baby arrived, so yay!

~ Bake a pie for Pi Day (3/14)  Check!  I made this Keto Snickers pie and it was magnificent :-9

~ Hang a hammock in the backyard  Check!  I'm not a big fan of hammocks (they mess with my back), but my kids love it :-D  They've been asking for a hammock for a couple years now, so we gave them one for Easter and rigged it up when it got warm enough.  They use it pretty much daily.

Well, there you have it.  Five fails this spring, but nine checks, so all in all, I'm satisfied :-)  How about you?  Did you accomplish this spring that you were hoping to do?

Valentine's Day Period Drama Tag

Heidi at Along the Brandywine has provided us with this charming tag as part of her Valentine's Day Period Drama Blog Party, and I'm sharing my answers today :-)  All titles and so on are linked to my own reviews on my blog, unless otherwise specified.

1) Your current three (or up to five!) favorite period dramas?

If we're not counting westerns, then they're:

1. We're No Angels (1955)
2. Ben-Hur (1959)
3. Chocolat (2000)
4. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
5. Anne of Green Gables (1985)

2) What would you recommend to someone who's never seen a period drama as a starter?

It really depends on what kinds of storylines they enjoy, and whether or not they're accustomed to watching older movies.  I find that kids tend to gravitate toward stories with kids in them, so The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), Little Women (1994), Anne of Green Gables (1985), and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) often connect well for them.  If someone likes actiony movies, I'd recommend Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) or A Knight's Tale (2001).

If you mean "romantic costume drama," then I would start people with movies, not miniseries, and the ones with familiar actors and actresses, like Jane Eyre (2011), Emma (1996 Paltrow), Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Pride and Prejudice (2005).  It's easier to ease people into the idea of the whole "bonnets and breeches" thing in small doses if they're not used to them.

3) A favorite couple that wouldn’t be included in answer #1 (cause I’m figuring those are already top favorites ;)) and/or a favorite secondary character romance? 

Hmmm.  Well, I think I'm considering period dramas more broadly than you might be intending, as a most of my top favorites are more dramas set in a historical time period previous to when they were made, rather than romantic costume dramas.  I mean, there is romance in some of them, but only a little in several, and none at all in one.

Anyway, a favorite couple that's not included in those top five would be Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester.  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is my favorite novel, and I have seen six different versions of it.  I love two (1983 and 2011) and like two (1943 and 1997) of them, and didn't care for two of them (1996 and 2006).  Hmm, a comparison post on them might be a fun thing to write up in the future...

ANYWAY, I absolutely love Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester because of how they change and grow throughout their story.  Jane must grow from naive and dependent girlhood to independent and wise womanhood.  She spends her whole life adamantly obeying God rather than the various men who try to run her life, but it's not until she begins to act for herself instead of always reacting against men that she becomes able to choose a husband for herself in a steady and wise way.  Notice what that famous line says: "Reader, I married him."  Not "he married me."  "I married him."  This was her choice, her active decision.  By the end of the story, she is not only the morally stronger half of their whole, but the physically stronger.  She chooses to use her strength to help the man she loves, for the rest of their lives.  No one tricks her into that marriage.

As for Edward Rochester, he has even more growing and changing to do, obviously.  His transformation from a selfish, shallow philanderer into a repentant and humble man who must ask and not insist... it's so beautiful.  Movie versions tend to leave out the whole part where he prays and prays, seeking God's forgiveness and asking for his help.  It's only after he's repented of his behavior and sought God that that little miracle happens, him crying out for the Jane he has lost, and her hearing him from far away.  It's like a prayer, like him asking God to give him back Jane.  And God answers with a yes.  Almost like a sign from God that yes, Rochester, you have repented and are forgiven.

If Jane and Rochester had married that first time, if that wedding had not been interrupted, I don't think they would have had a happy life together.  Jane would have learned of Bertha's existence eventually, and what horrible pain Rochester's lies would have caused her.  She never would have trusted him again, would have lost all respect and love for him.  It's not until he has repented and been forgiven that he is worthy of her.  And it's not until she has learned to stop reacting and being acting for herself that she is his equal.

All of that to say, they're my favorite :-)

4) What do you consider foundational qualities for a healthy romance? 

Honesty, respect, putting the other person above yourself, a shared belief system, and a deep interest in that person that makes you want to be interested in their interests, even the ones you don't already share.

Is that boring?  I also think physical attraction is important, but that a romance can only flourish if there's more to it than just "I think you're hot."

5) Worst villain/antagonist? 

It's a toss-up between John Thorpe from Northanger Abbey (2007) and Lucy Steele from Sense and Sensibility (1995).  UGH.

6) A favorite proposal scene? 

Well, to avoid nattering on about Jane Eyre for five paragraphs again, I'll go with the scene at the train station at the end of North and South (2004), with the rose from Helston and the shy smiles and the hard-won kiss.

7) Favorite period drama characters based on a real life couple? 

Martin (Joseph Fiennes) and Katherina (Claire Cox) Luther in Luther (2003).  Not only are they both heroes of mine (we debated naming our first daughter after Katherina von Bora, even), but they're portrayed very well and close to what we know of the real Martin and Katie.  (Side note:  I plan to review that movie later this year...)

8) Any classic b/w period dramas you like? 

Um, yes. Jane Eyre (1943) and Pride and Prejudice (1940) in particular.  I love many black-and-white movies, though most of them are film noir, westerns, or WWII pictures.

9) Most mature romance in a period drama? (mature as in age and/or characters who are consciously and wisely ripened by life experience, etc.) 

Ooooh.  So, assuming that this means new romance and not a couple who is already married by the time the movie starts... I will say the romance between Cal Wayne (Bobby Darin) and Amy Martin (Emily Banks) in Gunfight in Abilene (1967).  Although they had been sweethearts before Cal went away to fight in the Civil War, they are no longer a couple when he returns.  Amy had been told that he was dead, and so, after mourning him for a year or two, she became involved with Cal's best friend's older brother, Grant Evers (Leslie Nielson).  When Cal returns from the war, most definitely not dead, he brings with him a dire secret that prevents him from trying to woo Amy away from Grant.  

Amy has a serene womanliness that attests to how grief has tempered her and refined her like a fire.  Cal's own trials and tribulations have turned him from a cocky boy into a secretive and cautious man.  Together, Amy helps Cal heal from his past trauma, once she understands it.  And Cal repeatedly assures her of his forgiveness for her beginning a relationship with another man when she thought he was dead.  

I actually co-wrote a fanfiction follow-up to this story, "Aftermath in Abilene," which you can read on fanfiction.net here.  I explored how Cal's PTSD would continue affect both him and Amy after their marriage, as well as his job as sheriff of Abilene.  My co-writer focused on his deputy, and it was a lot of fun to write.  It's the only movie I've ever written fanfic for.

10) Most excruciatingly long, slow burn romance in a period drama? 

It is very hard for me to wait patiently for Dorothea (Juliet Aubrey) and Ladislaw (Rufus Sewell) to finally get to be together in Middlemarch (1994).

11) A story that has multiple film adaptations where you love more than one of them? 

Oh, goodness.  How much time do we have?  I love many versions of Hamlet (especially 1964/Richard Burton, 1990/Mel Gibson, 1996/Kenneth Branagh, 2000/Ethan Hawke, and 2011 Bruce Ramsay).  I love two Jane Eyre films (1983 and 2011), as mentioned above.  I love three Pride and Prejudice adaptations (2005, 1995, 1940).  I discussed my tendency to like multiple adaptations of the same story more fully in this blog post on my book blog a few years ago.

12) A book you think needs to be made into a film (or a new adaptation)?

I want a big-screen adaptation of Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery.  I know there's a TV version made in the late '80s, but I've never seen it because it's a little expensive on DVD.  So I want one with Tom Hiddleston as Andrew Stuart, Dafne Keen as Jane, and Nicole Kidman as Robin.  Any time now, Hollywood.

Okay!  That was extremely fun, and I hope you enjoy reading my lengthy answers :-)  I wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day weekend, however you may choose to spend it.

My Ten Favorite Romantic Dramas

A few years ago, I posted a list of my top ten favorite romantic comedies.  You can read it here.  Today, I'm doing something a little different -- a list of my ten favorite romantic dramas!  I've excluded movies that belong to other specific genres like westerns, musicals, or film noir, simply because... those aren't in the drama section of my movie collection, okay? 

As always, if I've reviewed a film on this list, I've linked the title to my review.

1. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Three veterans (Dana Andrews, Frederic March, Harold Russell) find returning to civilian life much harder than they'd expected.  Bonus: this movie contains THREE love stories!  You get love between a husband and wife getting reacquainted, between childhood sweethearts, and between new acquaintances.

2. Jane Eyre (1983) Strong-spirited governess Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) falls in love with her wealthy, secretive employer (Timothy Dalton), but they cannot marry until they both deserve each other.

3. Chocolat (2000) A mysterious woman (Juliette Binoche) opens a chocolate shop in a sedate French village and teaches its inhabitants to reexamine their attitudes and customs.   Also, she falls in love with a gypsy (Johnny Depp).

4. North and South (2004)  A woman (Daniela Denby-Ashe) from the pastoral south of England moves to the industrial north and spends months ignoring the fact that a wealthy manufacturer (Richard Armitage) is in love with her. 

5. And Now Tomorrow (1944) A wealthy young woman (Loretta Young) loses her hearing in an illness. Though her family and fiance (Barry Sullivan) try to convince her she needs to accept her condition, a young doctor (Alan Ladd) with an experimental treatment holds out hope that she could regain her hearing.

6. Pride and Prejudice (2005) Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) can't fall in love with each other until they both come to understand themselves first.  Bonus: multiple love stories here too!

7. Jane Eyre (2011)  Strong-spirited governess Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) falls in love with her wealthy, secretive employer (Michael Fassbender), but they cannot marry until they both deserve each other.

8. Moran of the Lady Letty (1922)  A wealthy young man (Rudolph Valentino) gets shanghaied onto a smuggling ship, whereupon he falls in love with the only survivor (Dorothy Dalton) of an abandoned vessel the smugglers rob.

9. Sense and Sensibility (1995)  A young woman (Emma Thompson) and her sister (Kate Winslet) both discover that their own particular personality strengths are also weaknesses when it comes to finding a smooth path to true love.  Bonus: this movie also contains three love stories.  Because why not.

10. Return to Me (2000)  A man (David Duchovny) falls in love with the woman (Minnie Driver) who was the heart donor recipient of his wife's heart after she died.

I just realized that Judi Dench is in three of these:  Chocolat, Pride and Prejudice, and the 2011 Jane Eyre.  How nifty is that?

This post is a contribution toward Cordy's Lovely Blog Party, which is in full swing and continues all month!  You can read her kick-off post here.