Happy Birthday, Bobby!

Happy birthday, dearest Bobby!  Here are a few fun candid shots of him I've found online over the years.

Anybody else want to be a little black kitten?

I try to mimic this expression whenever I read over some sheet music.

Let's imagine he's singing "Happy Birthday."

"Sherlock Holmes" (2009) and "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" (2011) -- Initial Thoughts

Last week, I doubled the number of Robert Downey, Jr. movies I have seen, going from four to eight.  I'm going to review both of his outings as Sherlock Holmes here so I can compare them a bit, as I liked one of them better than the other.

I remember when I saw the previews for Sherlock Holmes in 2009, that there was a moment where Watson (Jude Law) said to Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.), "Does your depravity know no bounds?"  And that moment made me say, "I am never going to watch this movie!"  Because the Sherlock Holmes created by A. Conan Doyle is the complete opposite of depraved.  Though he would doubtless deny it, Sherlock Holmes is the very model of a Victorian gentleman, morally upright and unswerving in his pursuit of justice.  So I refused to see this movie.  My dear friend DKoren agreed.  But then, last year, she accidentally saw part of the second movie on a plane, without sound, and found RDJ so compelling that she had to watch the real movies.  And she discovered something wonderful.

No depravity.

When Watson asks Holmes if his depravity knows no bounds, they are discussing doilies.  Yes.  Doilies.  And patterned tablecloths and china figurines and all the womanly fripperies that Holmes is convinced will overwhelm Watson as soon as he gets married.  Watson is being sarcastic and annoyed, and there's no depravity involved.  Once I'd been assured of this fact, I agreed to watch these movies with my friend when she visited.  And I enjoyed them!  I didn't love them, but I enjoyed them.  Here's a bit about each, and I'll get into plot points, character deaths, etc, so it's going to be pretty spoily.  Don't read beyond this if you haven't seen these yet, but want to!

Sherlock Holmes (2009) involves a cult that claims it will use magic to take over the British government.  It reminded me more of Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Doyle's stories in many ways, what with all the magic and a bad guy returning vampire-like from the grave.  Like Buffy and the Scoobies, Holmes and Watson follow clues and battle seemingly invincible adversaries and sniff ingredients to figure out what potions their enemies have been mixing up.

Unlike in most Buffy eps, however, it turns out that the monsters and magic were all a sham, and there are logical, human reasons behind all the seemingly magical occurrences.  Also, unlike Buffy and Doyle's stories, clues are withheld from the audience.  In the stories, Watson sees what Holmes sees, and records all the data for the readers, who can follow the clues and figure out the case if they're very clever.  This movie felt more like an Agatha Christie mystery, where several key bits of information get withheld from the readers just so the detective looks really brilliant when we get to the reveal.  Never a good plan, folks.

I liked Sherlock Holmes:  A Game of Shadows (2011) much better.  It pits Holmes against Professor Moriarty, his archnemesis from the original stories, who "killed" Holmes in the Doyle story "The Final Problem."  Now, I'm not a huge fan of stories involving Moriarty for the simple reason that he's overused.  I've read quite a lot of non-canonical Sherlock Holmes stories, and it seems like Moriarty pops up in a third of them.  It gets old!  Like having the Joker in every third Batman story, or Lex Luthor in every third Superman story.  Plus, Moriarty is so often over-written (or over-acted) and just... I get annoyed, okay?  But this Moriarty (Jared Harris) is subtle and crafty and shifty and oh-so-pleased with himself.  Creepy, in other words, but a worthy adversary for Holmes.  The movie as a whole was more of a chase than a mystery.  No withheld evidence, no red herrings.

Also, I absolutely loved this movie's portrayal of Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry).  He's fat and jovial and so obviously smarter than he wants you to think.  Loved, loved, loved this Mycroft.  Plus, he called Holmes "Sherley," which cracked me up no end.

Plus, they killed off Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) at the beginning, and I reeeeeally didn't like this Irene Adler -- she was too pert and too dumb.  Without her in the way, the rest of the movie was great!

In both films, I loved the portrayal of Watson by Jude Law particularly well -- he's all the things Watson should be:  loyal and brave and intelligent and somewhat exasperated by Holmes on occasion.  Plus, he's quite funny.  But... when has Jude Law ever turned in a bad performance?

I also dug Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes.  He has that almost-hidden sorrow, the pain lurking in his eyes that hints at past darkness... he's a bit broody, really.  Catnip for Hamlette, in other words.

I loved that Holmes' disguises are awful.  Dreadful.  Transparent.  But they buy him extra time when he needs it, which is all they really need to do.  It's a sweet twist since, in the stories, Watson is always calling Holmes' disguises undetectable and so on.

Things I didn't care for, other than the ones I've mentioned already?  The wonky film editing.  I liked it for the glimpse-inside-Holmes' brain parts, but not the other times it's used.  Got really old and annoying really fast.  And Mrs. Hudson (Geraldine James) was too snarky, not kind enough.

As for costumes... loved them!  Especially since both Holmes and Watson spent considerable time in suspenders.  I have this thing for guys in suspenders.  Strange but true.  Yummy.

This is a long post already, so not going into anything about costumes other than that.  Sorry!  There are pics available all over online if you're interested in seeing more.  (Oh, but Irene Adler does have the biggest bustles I've seen in... maybe forever.  Freakishly shelf-like, really.)

Is this movie family-friendly?  Um, not really.  A little bad language, some innuendo, lots of violence.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to any of my readers who are mothers!  Do you have any Mother's Day traditions?  My family always took Mom out to eat after church when I was a kid, and one such excursion turned out to be very memorable indeed, as we were involved in a pretty serious car accident on the way home.  That's always made me kind of have mixed feelings about the day -- none of us were seriously injured, but my mom got whiplash that has given her neck problems and headaches for the last twenty-some years.  It was a pretty scary experience for an eight-year-old, and ever since, I've liked staying home on Mother's Day more than going off to do something.

So this year, after church, we just stopped at a farmer's market on our way home.  We bought so many wonderful things!  Hearty apricot bread, wildflower honey, homemade kettle corn, beets, and pickles!  We came home and feasted on our finds.  Cowboy gave me a whole case of 24 glass bottles of Mexican Coca-Cola (made with real sugar, not corn syrup!), and my daughters gave me something they made in Sunday School this morning: a little mitchella plant in a pretty jar that they filled with colored sand and dirt.  My son told me "Happy Mother's Day!" accompanied by a hug :-)

My two gifts, plus some of our farmer's market haul

Now my hubby is also giving me some time to catch up on the computer.  Caffeine and computer time -- what could be better?  He's taking Dano out for a bike ride while the girls nap.  So I'd better start catching up on all the stuff I haven't read or written over the past week!  My best friend came to visit, and we had so much fun that I barely had a moment to check my email, much less blog.  So I have some movie reviews coming up (for Robert Downey, Jr.'s two Sherlock Holmes movies and for Iron Man 3), as soon as I can get them written.  

Meanwhile, enjoy your Sunday!

"Moran of the Lady Letty" (1922)

Today is Rudolph Valentino's 118th birthday!  Happy birthday, dear Rudy!

To celebrate, I watched one of my favorites of his movies, Moran of the Lady Letty (1922).  It's not what you probably imagine a Valentino movie to be like.  It has no exotic locations, no fabulous costumes.  Instead, it has sailing ships and heroics.  Part of the reason Valentino made this movie was to do a little damage control for his image.  Before I get into the movie itself, I'll give you a little background on that stage in his career.

Rudolph Valentino's breakout role was in 1921's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, playing a spoiled rich boy who grew up fast on the WWI battlefields.  His tango scene early in the film (watch it here) captured the attention of female moviegoers, but it wasn't until later that same year, with The Shiek, that he became the very first matinee idol.  Suddenly, women everywhere wanted graceful, passionate men with dark, smoldering good looks.  It seems that American men may have felt threatened by how strongly their women responded to this Latin Lover -- at any rate, critics pooh-poohed Valentino and maligned his masculinity.  Valentino, only 26 at the time, was very offended, and Moran of the Lady Letty is something of a rebuttal of those aspersions.  (If you want to know more, I totally recommend the Valentino biography Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino by Emily W. Leider.)

Here's the story:

Ramon Laredo (Rudolph Valentino) is a wealthy young man of leisure.  And he's bored.  Women fawn all over him at cotillions and salons (and it's no mystery why), but he doesn't care.  Then one day, Ramon decides to go for a sail on the family yacht.  He meets some passersby, who laugh at him behind his back for being a pretty boy pretending to be a sailor.

Ramon in his natty sailing togs.

But instead of going for a sail, Ramon gets shanghaied!  One minute, he's sharing a friendly drink with some old codger, and the next thing he knows, he's on a smuggling ship setting sail for who-knows-where.  The men on the ship mock him for his nice clothes and refined ways, nicknaming him Lillee of the Vallee (their spelling, not mine).  But before long, Ramon earns acceptance with his ready fists (Valentino boxed in real life too) and his navigational abilities.  Captain "Slippery" Kitchell (Walter Long) even makes Ramon his first mate, and tells him he'll get a share in whatever money they make, be it from scavenging ships or stealing pearls or anything else.

Ramon getting laughed at.

And now we get to the titular character, Moran Sternersen (Dorothy Dalton), daughter of the captain of the Lady Letty, a Scandinavian cargo ship.  Her mother is dead, and her father raised her at sea -- Moran can sail with the best of them, and generally dresses in sailor clothes (even though they make her look like a hippopotamus from behind -- but she doesn't seem to care).  But the cargo of coal aboard the Lady Letty catches fire, and most of the crew deserts it, leaving only Moran and her father and their faithful first mate.  The smoke and fumes overcome all three.

Then the smuggler happens along and the crew boards the Lady Letty to see if they can steal anything.  Ramon finds the only survivor, Moran, and takes her back to the smuggling ship.  He realizes she's a girl, but tries to conceal that fact from Captain Kitchell, with the assistance of the ship's Chinese cook, Charlie (George Kuwa).  But Kitchell finds out, and of course has designs on her virtue, so to speak.  Ramon stands up to him and defends her, and several members of the crew back him up because they knew Moran before.

Ramon and Moran

Ramon has a bit of a spark for Moran, and when they land in Mexico to sell the guns they're smuggling, the two of them go for a walk on the beach.  Ramon tries professing his love for Moran, but she rebuffs him, saying that she's got no use for men that way, and that she wishes she'd been born a boy instead because she hates being a girl.

Ramon looks more sad than shocked, but accepts her answer.

Charlie, the cook, buys a dress for Moran because he has decided that if two young people try to fall in love, one of them should be wearing a dress.  (He doesn't specify which, interestingly.)  Kitchell bargains with a his Mexican cohorts to sell them Moran, but Charlie overhears and warns Moran and the rest of the sailors, and a heroic gun battle ensues.

Moran reverses all her ideas about men and falls in love with Ramon.  They sail the ship back to California, where Ramon reunites with his former friends, defends Moran's life and honor one last time, and they sail into the sunset, so to speak.

This isn't the greatest movie ever, and it has some pretty big holes, like how Ramon felt about the smugglers' illegal activities.  And Moran seems pretty unaffected by her father's death after the first couple of minutes.  But it's a lot of fun, and gives Valentino a chance to show off his muscles, his shooting and fighting skills, and his ability to convince even man-hating women to love him.

It also raises some really interesting questions about the views on sexuality and gender people had in the 1920s.  Ramon goes from a dandy to a manly sailor.  Moran goes from a mannish girl in pants to a dress-wearing woman.  Their very names mirror each other!  Clearly, people were accepted if they behaved differently than what was "normal" for their gender, but the message here seems to be that they can't be happy unless they conform.

Anyway, my copy of this was recorded off TV, so my screencaps aren't very clear, and I couldn't get really good ones of various costumes.  Here's how Rudy looks in the beginning, in spiffy formal wear:

Here are Moran and Ramon aboard ship, in simpler garb:

Is this a family-friendly movie?  There are a couple mild curses in the titles cards (this is a silent film, of course), and there are a couple of fist fights and the aforementioned gun battle.  That's about all that might be objectionable.

I'll leave you with this very sweet photo of the birthday boy:

"The Count of Monte Cristo" (1975)

Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo is my second-favorite book.  I've read it multiple times.  And yet, I somehow have this fantastic inability to remember which antagonist is which when I'm not actually reading the book.  Danglars, de Villefort, Caderousse, Mondego -- I get them horribly confused all the time.  One is a banker, one is a military guy, one is a police official, and one is a random dude... and I can never remember which is which once I've finished the story, and I sometimes get confused in the middle of it.  Especially Danglars and Mondego, I mix them up all the time.  It's so frustrating!

So when I watched this movie this time, I tried to keep careful track of names that go with faces.  And failed miserably.  Grr.  I have to keep checking imdb.com to straighten them out, even as I write this review.

But never mind, because I need to give you a quick synopsis of the story!  Because it's a rip-snorter.  Okay, it all starts when Edmund Dantes (Richard Chamberlain), respected French sailor, returns home after a long voyage.

Edmund is the young one on the right in the smashing uniform.

He's greeted by his dearest love, Mercedes (Kate Nelligan), whom he's about to marry.

Edmund and Mercedes at their wedding rehearsal.

But three men are envious of Edmund for various reasons, namely Danglars (Donald Pleasance), Caderousse (Alessio Orano), and Mondego (Tony Curtis).  They cook up a little plot that gets him arrested on the day before his wedding.

Mercedes screaming as Edmund is arrested.

He's brought before a police official named de Villefort (Louis Jourdan) who, for reasons of his own, has Edmund thrown into the infamous French prison the Chateau d'If.

The real Chateau d'If.  So much shorter than I always imagine it.

There, Edmund meets a fellow prisoner and eventually escapes.  I first encountered this story as a little radio dramatization included in a lit textbook when I was 11 -- it dramatized the section in which Edmund meets the other prisoner, and I enjoyed it so much, I got the novel from the library and read it.  And loved it.  Anyway, once he's escaped, Edmund goes to the island of Monte Cristo and finds a treasure.

Edmund and the treasure

He uses that treasure to transform himself into the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo and sets about revenging himself on the four men who ruined his life.

The ultra-handsome Count.

Danglars is now a wealthy banker.

Mondego is a successful military officer and has married Mercedes.

Caderousse is a dandy ne'er-do-well.

De Villefort is an important police official.

Only Mercedes recognizes Edmund after all these years -- everyone else just wonders who this guy is, with his astounding wealth.

Mercedes, who hasn't aged as well as Edmund.

Edmund sets out wreaking vengeance on his enemies, and I'm not going to go into all that because you really should either watch it (available on YouTube here) or read the book.

I find the costumes in this to range from adequate to awesome.  I absolutely love the count's look, with his striking white hair and black goatee.  He wears an amazing cape in several scenes, and lots of rich clothes.  I especially love shirts with swooshy sleeves like these, and he wears lots of them.

Is this a family-friendly film?  There's really no bad language, no objectionable scenes, no real violence.  So yes, it is!  Unless you're anti-revenge, as this is all about revenge.  But it does show that vengeance as an end unto itself does not promote happiness, even for the vengeance-seeker.

Even More Period Drama Tag

Month four of the Period Drama Challenge is over!  Ack!  Where has the time gone?  Only two months left! Sigh.  And i have so many movies I want to watch and review yet.  Well, for now, here are my answers to Miss Laurie's latest batch of questions:

1. What period dramas have you watched in April?

Jane Eyre (1997), Hamlet (1969), 42 (2013), and The Man from Snowy River (1982).

2. Have you ever watched a period drama where the characters time traveled between eras (i.e. Somewhere In Time, Lost In Austen, From Time To Time)?


Yup!  Off the top of my head, I can think of Somewhere in Time, the Back to the Future movies, the Terminator movies, Midnight in Paris, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, A Kid in King Arthur's Court, and Men in Black III.  One of my favorite episodes of Classic Star Trek is "City on the Edge of Forever," which involves time travel, and I really love the TV show Lost, which uses time travel in the later seasons.  But I'm sure I've seen others, those are just the ones I could think of right now.

3. What historical era is your favorite and why?

The American West.  I love western movies and books, I love horses and heroes and pioneers and people working super hard to achieve their dreams, all of which seem bound up in the western era.

4. How many William Shakespeare film adaptations have you seen?


Oh, jeepers.  Only counting movies using the original language, I've seen 16:  Much Ado About Nothing (1993),  Romeo and Juliet (1968), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Richard III  (1995), Henry V (1989), Love's Labour's Lost (2000), Hamlet (1948 -- Olivier), Hamlet (1964 -- Burton), Hamlet (1969 -- Williamson), Hamlet (1990 -- Kline), Hamlet (1990 -- Gibson), Hamlet (1996 -- Branagh), Hamlet (2000 -- Scott), Hamlet (2000 -- Hawke), Hamlet (2002 -- Lester), and Hamlet (2009 -- Tennant).  (Five of those Hamlets are filmed versions of stage productions, though, does that count?  I didn't see them live, I saw the filmed versions, but they weren't made specifically to be films.)

5. If a new biographical film based on the life of your favorite classic author were made would you rejoice or be the first to sign a "do not make this film" petition?

Hmm.  How do you define "classic author," exactly?  If you mean "someone who has been dead more than 100 years," then that would be Robert Louis Stevenson according to my list here.  I think it could be great fun, as he was definitely an adventurous person.  I've been reading a few pieces he wrote about the American West while he traveled there, and he sounds so interesting!

My Ten Favorite Westerns

Inspired by the Flowers of Quiet Happiness post listing Kara's favorite rom-coms, I've decided to do a series of posts listing my ten favorite movies in various genres.  I think I'll go in the order in which I've arranged my movies on my shelves (I have them organized first by genre, then by alphabet), which means I'll start with my favorite movie genre of all, westerns!  If I've previously done a post about a particular movie, I've linked the title to that post.  I'm also including my own one-sentence synopsis of each movie, and any thoughts I might feel like adding.

1.  The Man from Snowy River (1982)

Jim Craig must clear his name after he's accused of freeing his employer's most valuable horse in retaliation for being told he can't court the boss's daughter.  Sometimes I don't consider this to be a western, but it's about guys riding horses and rounding up cows, so... that makes them cowboys, right?  It's about Australia, not the American West, but oh well.

2.  The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

Four brothers (including John Wayne and Dean Martin) reunite at their mother's funeral and work together to find out how their parents lost their ranch.  My favorite John Wayne movie!

3.  The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Poor Mexican villagers hire seven gunfighters to defend them from the bandit who's been oppressing them for years.  Steve McQueen, Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn... magnificent, indeed!

4.  Rio Bravo (1959)

A sheriff, a recovering alcoholic, an old man, and a young gunslinger fend off a host of bad guys bent on springing a murderer from jail.  John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson play the four heroes.  Angie Dickinson plays the love interest.

5.  Gunfight in Abilene  (1967)

A Civil War veteran agrees to resume his job as sheriff out of guilt for accidentally killing the brother of the man who runs Abilene.  My favorite Bobby Darin movie.

6.  Silverado (1985)

Four outcasts set out to rid Silverado of the evildoers who sent one of them to prison unjustly, stole another's horse, and debauched another's sister.  The best "modern" western, IMHO, and has a knockout soundtrack.

7.  Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)

Jason McCullough (James Garner) uses unorthodox methods to clean up a town and woo the mayor's daughter.  The funniest western spoof I've ever seen, and possibly the movie my father quotes more than any other.

8.  Tombstone (1993)

Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and his pal Doc Holliday face off against the outlaw band called The Cowboys and bring them to justice.  Val Kilmer's turn as Doc Holliday is mesmerizing (and so quotable!), and he's really the whole reason I love this movie.

9.  The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

A young lawyer faces down a notorious outlaw, and what everyone believes happened during that shoot-out launches his political career that takes him far.  I love the way John Wayne and James Stewart engage each other in this, bringing out some great acting in each other.

10.  The Rare Breed (1966)

A British widow and her daughter accompany the prize bull they've sold on its way to its new home in Texas, convinced it will revolutionize the cattle industry.  James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Don Galloway, and Juliet Mills -- their characters are like my dear friends.

I did a list of my favorite westerns about six years ago, and I see that my ordering has changed a bit since then.  The old list is here.

Have you seen any of these?  Did you like or dislike them?  What are your favorite westerns?  Maybe you'll recommend some I haven't seen, and I'll discover some new favorites!