My Shelf: The Period Pieces

This blog post is going to be really boring...

It's just me going through my DVD collection and talking about shows I own and why I like them. I'm making this so I can reflect on things that make me happy. But if you'd like, you're welcome to read, and if you'd like to share some of your favorite feel-good movies please post in the comments.

Now...

Lately, I've been adhering pretty close to my night shift schedule even on the days I don't work.

(Right now it's almost Five O' Clock in the morning so I should go to beds soon.)

One of the downsides to going to sleep in the morning is that, by the time I get up in the afternoon, most of everyone else's day has already over. So, when me and my sister/s want to do something fun together, it's usually something simple like watching a movie and washing each other's feet (I believe the correct term is pedicure), or usually we make yummy food (cream cheese rangoons are my favorite).

A lot of the time our exchange goes something like this:

Me: "You wanna do anything tonight?"

Debbers: "I have to do [homework etc.]. Go pick a DVD."

Me: [Hesitating] "You know what I'm going to pick..."

Debbers: "That's OK. Just pick something. "

I go through my DVD collection and select  handful. I try to pick out a variety.

Example:

-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
-Monsters Inc.
-Hunger Games
etc.

But really, like, most of my collection is made up of period pieces: comforting and re-watchable films. The kind of show you can put on in the background when you have to study or clean, or you can have a movie night and allow it to hold your attention for hours at a time.

They're perfect for when you're sick, or you have a lot of free time, or you're experiencing discomfort associated with a certain period of the month you need a pick-me-up. They're so versatile Much of the time these are what I end up picking.

With many of these stories, I've endeavored to read (or listen to) the book versions of the story before watching the films. In this post, I'll try to talk mostly about the movie versions (No promises though...)

Northanger Abbey (2007)

 This one is special to me because it's the first one I saw with my friend Britt. It brings back a lot of happy memories that I've tried to recapture and share with my family. It's one of the shorter of the films (feature length film, a lot of them are actually mini series).

What it's about: A girl from the early 1800 learns the difference between fantasy and reality in the big city (Bath, England), and in a big creepy mysterious house where she gets invited to stay.

Discussion: It seems like the common consensus among Austen fans is that the main character, Catherine Morland is a moron for getting so caught up in her fantasy novels.

I personally give her more credit; she's presented as ignorant from want of experience, not stupid. Also, she's presented as really competent in the world, despite her inexperience.

The irony in this is that a lot of people today read and watch Jane Austen's stories out of the same type of fantasy-seeking behavior, and often themselves get carried away with it!

Also, most of the books she's reading are psychological thriller/horror novels...so she's pretty hardcore!

Assets (aka other reasons you should watch this movie):

 JJ Feilds facial expressions:

Lizard People:

Catherine's Cheesy/Cute fantasy sequences:

Emma (2009)

I watched this one with my older sister Red, and she watched the whole thing! (It's a mini series, and Red doesn't have the attention span for a lot of shows, so that's quite an accomplishment ;)

What it's about: It's about a rich lady tries to play matchmaker with her friends and family and does it very badly because she has zero intuition about human nature.

Discussion:

I really did not like Emma's character when I read the book.

Emma is like Galinda in Wicked:

Emma: "Harriet, now that we're friends I'v decided to make you my new project."

Harriet: "You don't have to do that."

Emma: "I know. That's what makes me so nice!"

(To her credit, the point of this story is that that kind of frivolous mentality is hurtful and damaging.) I didn't feel like Emma had quite learned her lesson in the book, but I think she did in this movie. 

I didn't pick up on the social commentary aspect of it until I saw this film. The economic disparities between Emma, Frank, and Jane was the most interesting aspect of the story to me.

 I also like that Emma he's one of the few Jane Austen heroines who has no economic or social incentive to get married, and who ends up being with a guy because she chooses to, not because expected to.

So go Emma!

Assets:

Baby!Jane Fairfax

(dawww!)

Adult Jane Fairfax

(Perfect casting is perfect)

Facial Expressions

Witty Banter:

Proof Regency Women Got Pregnant:

North and South (2004)

What it's about: A girl becomes a socio/political activist after being uprooted to an industrialized part of her country and witnessing the economic disparity among the business owners and the laboring class.

Discussion: The writer of this story, Elizabeth Gaskell, was a bestie of Charles Dickens, so social justice is a big part of the story (Also, death is treated as a fact of life.) Despite all the depressiveness, this mini-series is positively squee worthy for three major reasons:

• Thornton Oakenshield before the beard:

(In his spare time, likes fruit-baskets, reading, and studying ancient philosophy.)

(also, an emo mamma's boy)

Margaret "I've got more balls then anyone else in this story" Hale:

("Never mind I'll do it myself!")

Prolonged (one sided) sexual tension:

Assets: (aside from what's mentioned above)

No one will appreciate who hasn't read the book but this guy: 

Is Nicolas Higgins, the union leader and Margaret's bff. Also plays in Downton Abbey, the only character I loved from that show.

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

What it's about: A girl from a middle class family decides it's OK to marry a really rich guy, even if he said something that was mildly insulting to her that one time at a party a while ago (seriously, it is that lame)

Discussion: The plot for this one isn't great. The stakes (The girl cannot inherit money from her dad once he dies becuz she's a girl) are not eminent. The real fun in this story is the characters and the family dynamics. As a member of a family with a lot of sisters, I guess I relate to it on some level (even though my sisters are NOTHING like the Bennett girls). The Bennett family is fun to watch esspecially after their cousin, the male heir to the Bennet fortune arrives:

Assets:

Socially Awkward Mr Darcy

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

What it's about: See above.

Discussion/Assets: This is the preferred version for Austen purists and women who came of age at or before 1995 for two main reasons; 1) it's a mini-series so its super long and has more dialogue from the book 2) Colin Firth is in it.

(I feel really, really sorry for that man...)

Also...

Mr Wickam is devilishly charming and good looking

I'm not going to say the acting is bad in this one (because it isn't) but I will say that they put a different, less sympathetic spin on characters like Charlotte Lucas, Mr Collins, Mom and Dad Bennet, Mary Bennet etc. More reflective of Elizabeth's unforgiving mindset at the beginning of the story than how people behave in real life.

Persuasion (1995)

(When crisis arise, Anne and Fred take charge)

I was talking with my aunt about this one and it was funny that she had a completely different take on what the story meant than I did. If you happen to have a different one, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. 

What it's about: An old maid gets a second chance at love...if only her ex-fiance will ask her again.

Discussion:

A lot of this story deals with regret. Eight years ago Anne made a decision not to get married because her BFF/mentor told her it was a bad idea for both her and her intended. This decision, while a reasonable one, did not make Anne happy.  She's trapped in a web of her own making and the only way out is marriage.

My aunt says this story is about how you don't have to be ashamed of doing what your mentors tell you to do, even if it is ultimately a decision that makes you unhappy, because when your mentors have your best interests at heart.

I see it as a story about how there are uncertainties even in the most cautious and calculated decsions in life.

 In the novel, this is reinforced in the last paragraphs of the book, where Austen notes that life as a Colonels wife is hardly more secure than life as the nobleman's daughter. Her husband could be called away at any time, life at sea is dangerous and people die every day. (Hardly a romantic ending, but in Austen's world true love doth NOT conquer all.) Luckily, in this adaption, Anne proves she is totally up for that challenge, following him out to sea.

Good on you, Anne!

Assets:

Amanda Roots facial expressions

(all two of them, seriously it's so cute...)

Ciaran Hines tortured face 

(Baby don't hurt me...don't hurt me no more...)

Prolonged Sexual Tension:

Persuasion (2007)

What it's about: See above

Discussion/Assets:

(Nope, I was totally not looking!)

To be honest, I think these two versions are very similar. And both very good. I think Anne gets more dialogue in this version, more facial expressiveness in the other one.

She also gets to re-set her nephew's dislocated shoulder in this one, which is cool.
:)

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

What it's about: These girl's dad dies, and their step-brother is a scumbag and won't provide for them like he promised. So they have to move to the beach, where their distant relations resolve to help the older girl's find rich boyfriends.

Discussion: Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and won an academy award. She did a really good job on the adaption, and her character Elinor is awesome (is one of my favorite heroines). However, her boyfriend Edward is a wuss and I don't know what she sees in him at all. Perhaps regency virtues are sometimes so far removed from what would see as honorable today, or maybe Edward really is a big fraidy-cat and Elinor is just into that type of guy...

Also, her sister Marianne should not be allowed to pick her own boyfriends.

Assets:

Alan Rickman Reading Poetry

Also, the Dashwood brother is played by the same guy who plays Hugo Horton in Vicar of Dibley.

Sense and Sensibility (2008)

What it's about: See above.

Discussion: This one begins with a sex scene. Aside from being hard to place ("What?! This didn't happen in the book!!") my dad happened to be in the room at the time and it was super awkward. I fast forwarded a little bit, and I later pieced together that it was Howard Stark seducing Colonel Brandon's niece.

Assets:

We get to actually see a little more of what is happening on Colonel Brandon's life. A lot is just suggested in the other version. I really like that he had a warm, fatherly relationship with his niece and was super supportive of her. He even looked happy with the baby, which surprised me, but it made me like the character even more.

Jane Eyre (2004)

What it's about: An orphaned girl who was subject to psychological torture as a child grows up, gets a job, comes to terms with her less than ideal childhood, and eventually moves on with her life.

Discussion: This one is a mini-series. My sister Keamy can't watch it because the first episode deals with some seriously sad stuff from Jane Eyre's childhood.

(Kind of like Jean Valjean, but she never stole the loaf of bread. Also...typhus and tuberculosis and red rooms!)

I personally find her story the most inspirational of any on my shelf. Jane Eyre is one female hero I'd love to be like.

Ann Dibb even used her as an example in her conf. address on the 13th article of faith.

(It starts at about 06:20)

Assets: 

• Jane's monologue: Fantastic Acting Is Fantastic

• Mr Rochester being a sly little flirt: 

("No Jane I totes cannot walk by myself, you need to put your arms around me. Like that, thanks.")

• Its also the only version that did any justice to St John Rivers' character. 

Mansfield Park (2007)

What it's about: A young girl is adopted as a foster-child and grows up with her wealthy cousins. Ends up the least screwed-up of the siblings.

Discussion: There's a really interesting example of nature vs. nurture in this story, unfortunately this movie doesn't have enough screen time to explore it in detail. It doesn't go into a lot of detail about Fanny Price's journey, or why she is the way she is, but it was still really sweet and I was still rooting for Fanny and Edmund to get together (like I was in the book).


Assets:
Rose  Billie Piper:

Peggy Carter as the extremely likable, but ultimately scheming and cold-hearted Mary Crawford:

Jarvis and Blake Ritson:

Wives and Daughters (1999)

What it's about: A girl who is a doctor's daughter has to grows up and deal with her dad's remarriage and her new step sister. Also, she has a huuuugge crush on a nerd.


Discussion: Another story by Elizabeth Gaskell. The book is horribly long, the mini-series is more reasonably paced. Also, is there a term for a female bromance? Because that's what Molly and Hyacinth have.

(^^^Looked it up, it's called a "Womance" bahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha)

Assets:

Nerdy love:

Smart Alek Prof. Dumbledore:

Commodore Norrington BECKETT (how could I have made such a mistake? It's not good business!)/Mr Collins as a romantic figure:

(Whut?)

And the most sweet/awkward reunion scene ever:

(Seriously, even my dad thought it was cute)

Cranford Seasons 1 & 2

What it's about: A clique of women who live in a town have a hard time dealing with change. There's also a doctor, a Gypsy boy, a rich elderly lady, the guy who manages her estate, a lady who makes hats,,,yeah this one's all over the place

Discussion: It's kind of like the hobbit, it's a good story, but only if you forget about the source material.

Really this film is loosely based on a handful of Elizabeth Gaskell's short stories, only one of them actually takes place in the fictional town of Cranford. They did a decent job of tying a variety of stories together, but because they tried to romantacise everything the kinda lost touch with the point of the story.

Assets:

 Thomas William Hiddleston

• Doctor Harrison deals with life and death.

I'd really like to tell you all about the book versions, because they're so much better
and I really don't want to forget them either.

But that's a topic for another post.

Hobbit Nostalgia Post

Yesterday I finished watching The Hobbit Trilogy in theater. And as much I'd love to tell you how much it sucks, I'm too caught up on nostalgia of the past 14+ years of my life.

 So, that's what I'm going to talk about first.

 If you don't want to a review my adolescent/Tolkien #feels please skip this post. I'll upload the content/thematic review shortly (either tomorrow or, you know, whenever I feel like it)

Annyyway....

When I was about 13-14, my sister Red got a dramatized edition of The Hobbit on five white cassette tapes with grainy, 1968-era audio sound (That, judging from the reviews on the product, pretty much everyone except me hates)

The story/script was compelling. Right from the beginning, there are these vivid descriptions that lead into the story without weighing the story down.

The cast was fantastic; The Narrator, the bumbling/stuttering Bilbo Baggins ("B-A-double-G-I-N-S"), Thorin, Gandalf and Gollum. Later, when I started Fellowship of the Ring and decided I should read the book version of The Hobbit, those voices were the ones I imagined.

Movie-goers fell in love with Richard Armitage's voice as he sang the adventure-anthem "Far Over The Misty Mountains" for the movie. (and for good reason, it's an excellent rendition). In the same way, fell in love the version of that song in the radio drama. It's longer, the tone is different but to me it's every even more enchanting because its the song that first ushered me into the adventure.

(I loved this song so much, I wrote more verses to it....mostly about what the people in Dale were doing when the dragon attacked and about what the dwarves were planning on doing. They weren't very good, but you know...fanfiction.)

I don't recall if I was babysitting or at school, but for some reason Red was able to listen to the story ahead of where we had left off. She left me in Gollum's Cave, she was at the Battle of Five Armies. When I  opened the door to the room, she was listening to the last cassette tape...

"NO!! You can't come in!!" 

...and she slammed her body against the door to keep me out.

"You have to listen to it all the way though!" 

I typically don't mind being spoiled when it comes to plot points, but I am so glad my sister did this for me.

 I went in to listening to the story no knowing what was going to happen. She wasn't being mean or anything, we both were enjoying the story and I knew if she didn't want me to skip chapters, it was because what was coming next was really, really good. And that just skipping to the end would make me enjoy it less.

She was totally right. The last 1/3 of the story blew me away.

One of the reasons I think the story resonated with me is because of what was happening in my life at the time.

If I recall correctly we started the story just prior to, or concurrently with, me beginning community college courses and volunteering at the hospital (and, in general, preparing for the future that I wanted to have: as a nurse, as a young adult, and ultimately as a wife/parent).

Bilbo's beginning could have easily been written as a midlife crisis (If it was, he would be looking back at his life with regret and book!Bilbo doesn't do this.) but Tolkien didn't do that. Even though Bilbo is an older man when the story begins, this story is his coming of age. It's the part of his life in which he's deciding who he wants to be.

A Few of Bilbo's "Teen" Struggles:

•  He worries about what other people think about him

• He's wants to be dependable and worthy of trust

• He lacks practical experience. 

• He struggles with fitting in.

• He gets depressed and overwhelmed (and kinda gothy)

• He gets obnoxious and cocky

• He (sometimes) gets lonely, even when he's surrounded by a bunch of people.

• He's competent

• He's the anti hero

I think I can pretty much echo Movie!Gandalf when he says:

Sometimes when I was in school or at work I would quote Bilbo to myself. Not the really memorable/meaningful quotes, just the little snippets of Bilbo being Bilbo: When I was overwhelmed (Why oh why did I ever leave my hobbit hole), or pleased with myself (Now I am a burglar indeed.) or disappointed ([So this is victory...] It seems a very gloomy business).

It sound really pathetic, but it gave me a lot of encouragement because I idolized him (still do ;))

Even if no one had ever thought to turn Tolkien's books into movies, this story would still have had a affect on my life (but it's probably would have been something that I'd have kept in my heart...Not posted twenty blog posts about, or dressed up as Thorin Oakenshield when I go to the theater.)


Here are some of my favorite (meaningful) Quotes from The Hobbit:


“He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.” 

A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thoughts passed in a flash of a second. he trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.

“Well, are you alive or are you dead?” asked Bilbo quite crossly. Perhaps he had forgotten that he had had at least one good meal more than the dwarves, and also the use of his arms and legs, not to speak of a greater allowance of air. “Are you still in prison, or are you free? If you want food, and if you want to go on with this silly adventure–it’s yours after all and not mine–you had better slap your arms and rub your legs and try and help me get the others out while there is a chance!”

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.

“Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.”

“Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” 

“You! You!” cried Thorin, turning upon him and grasping him with both hands. “You miserable hobbit! You undersized—burglar!” he shouted at a loss for words, and he shook poor Bilbo like a rabbit.

“Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!” 


“You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.” 

“Gandalf, dwarves and Mr. Baggins! We are met together in the house of our friend and fellow conspirator, this most excellent and audacious hobbit—may the hair on his toes never fall out!” 

"[I] have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, and uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them."  

“Don't tell us about dreams – dream dinners aren't any good and we can't share them.” 

“I may be a burglar...but I'm an honest one, I hope, more or less.” 

“To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking stick or any money, or anything he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his keys into Gandalf’s hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a mile or more.”