Downton Abbey 3:6

:::I haven't been able to watch the opening without imagining a Swiffer since the BBC's very first spoof of Upstairs Downton Abbey.
:::If my husband had just gotten out of jail we'd make out HARD CORE in the backseat. No doubt. If I had a husband we'd just make out all the time, never mind jail time.
:::I feel like Robert never gets to finish his breakfast. He's always outraged enough to leave in a huff, caring his letters.
:::Way to tell Alfred, Daisy! I also love that tallness is such an asset to footmen.
:::Whenever I put lotion on my hands I always try to ring them like the fine ladies do on Downton. It's always a good filler action for the end of a conversation with Anna or the beginning of one with Matthew.
:::There was definitely a sexy saxophone going into the Thomas/James scene.
:::What was Thomas' thought process with the peace offering toast the next morning at breakfast?
:::I recognize the newspaper man...
:::Tom's brother looks like a mix of Tom and Toby Jones.
:::Pffft...Matthew, you can make me as untidy as it pleases you.
:::Also, Matthew does not look like a good kisser.
:::I was confused by the mourning dress in this one. Is there a different code for evening dress? They went into half mourning quite nicely, but I feel like in general things got a little muddled.
:::Violet to Isobel "I know how you hate facing facts". THANK YOU! This sums up my beef with Cousin Isobel. She lives in her own little self righteous world. And however much Violet wanted Ethel away for the sake of the neighborhood, it really was a good move for her, sparked by Violet's seeing Ethel's misery.
:::Cora's black embroidered day dress was to die for.
:::Family outing to the dodgey nightclub! Shotgun!
:::Get it done, Matthew! You sort out Rose.
:::Also, I zoned out during Violet's explanation of who the heck Rose is, so I'm still a little fuzzy.
:::Rose's wig=not great.
:::Edith's emerald and ivory ensemble is pretty fabulous. She looked down right pretty in that scene.
:::And by "that scene" I mean the Mr. Rochester/Bertha defense. Old hat, Mr. Fellowes.
:::The village team had rather the handsome ginger bowler.
:::Only the British would play their national sport in sweater vests and white shoes.

Gregson is Yates in Mansfield Park!

Downton Abbey Prequel

DA writer Julian Fellowes has said he hopes to write a prequel to the series following Lord Grantham and Cora's courtship. He says it will wait until the series is over and might be in book form before being adapted for television.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19755983

If they do this I hope they get it right. I think once upon a time I figured out that Mary was 28 by 1920 so she was born in 1892 so we're looking at the early 1890s for the story. Push it back to the 1880s? Pretty please? Interested about casting. Probable filming in America, pretty please with sugar on top?

Titanic: Ep 1&2

Some very quick notes about the first two episodes of Julian Fellowes' Titanic:
SPOILERS

how are anyone's hips that narrow?

-I know that's Linus Roache's real accent, but it just seems strange...
-Lady Georgiana is nowhere near as likable as Sybil, and somehow has narrower hips than Mary!
-I think Lady G is just plain annoying.
-Also, Lady G kissing Philadelphia boy is going on the worst kiss list: There was literal sucking happening, like she was sucking at his lower lip, ack.
-The lighting for the first episode sure makes all the wigs and lips look strange.
-I like the way Titanic 1997 handles J.J. Astor and Gugenheim better, somehow this one just seems like it's cramming people in.
-Low budget or design choice to have first class in terrible browns and drabness?
-White Star china, nice touch.
-Stephen Campbell Moore or Victor Garber as Mr. Andrews the ships designer? I like them both.
-Ismay is not the bad guy in this one. Captain Smith is the one making all the demands for speed? Interesting Mr. Fellowes. From interviews I've been listening to this week survivors say neither were to blame.
-This version does mention the Californian which was visible (some say they could see the men aboard her) and less than 10 miles away from Titanic when she hit and started sinking, which is absolutely heartbreaking.
-Don't worry, Officer Lightoller survives, I listened to his interviews.
-Who's the large Italian man that found the Irish engineer's son?
-The nice stewardess w/ the bad hair is Doctor Who's new companion.
-I want the wenchy lady's maid (the lady is wenchy, not the lady's maid) and the valet to get together, but they won't because he's going to die.
-Is there some thievery with the lady's maid?
-They're all going to die, except the ladies, Lightoller, Ismay, and Officer Boxhall (who you don't really know, but he was mentioned, and I listened to his interviews, so he survived).
-There are too many people to follow and I'm not getting attached to many.
-The Mrs. Bates/Toby Jones scenario is such a whirlwind of frustration and not enough back story for me to really care to follow.
-Can Mrs. Bates play anything but the horrible wife?
-You like how I call her Mrs. Bates even though this isn't Downton Abbey?
-Where's Molly Brown?
-The whole "starts sinking at the end of every episode but from a different point of view" is nice in theory, but really rather strange. The first episode seemed to jump straight to Sunday, the second one not so much.
-I still feel like there are 500 people we've been introduced to that we'll have to see the stories off, but there are only two more episodes.

That's it for now. I'll watch the last two episodes tomorrow. Don't you fret! You can watch them too!
http://abc.go.com/shows/titanic/?cid=abccomsearch_results 

Fantastic BBC archive of Titanic interviews. Officers Lightoller and Boxhall and fashion writer Edith Russell are esp interesting.

Titanic US air dates

ABC will be broadcasting Julian Fellowes' Titanic which premiered on ITV1 this weekend, to lack luster reviews. The four part series will be shown two parts at a time on Saturday April 14th and Sunday April 15th on ABC at 8/7c. Reviews in the UK for the first episode described the show as having too many characters to follow leading to not caring about any of them. Tellyspotting wasn't so hard on it, and I don't think I, or the American public will be either.

As it usually happens, I think epic mini-series like this spend the first episode introducing characters so that not that much really happens. The first hour is always Jane Eyre's bleak and rather boring, but necessary childhood. The one upside for being a US viewer is that on the whole PBS, and now it seems ABC, will give us the first two episodes as one so we can go straight into the happening of stuff. I'm surprised ABC hasn't started the TV promos for this, have you seen them? They do however have a website, with episode descriptions I've learned not to read beforehand. Are you excited for this? I'm prepared to be totally devastated by the end of it.

The Remains of the Day

Sometimes I'm absolutely not inspired to blog, then my mom happens upon The Remains of the Day on TV.

The summer before college I got a TV/DVD player and Blockbuster online and I, in effect, watched most of the important costume dramas to that point in time. Amongst them were many Merchant/Ivory films. I read and/or purchased the accompanying books; read A Room With a View, bought Howards End. 

I was determined to read The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro before I watched the film and I couldn't wait to see it so I ran to the library and hunkered down...HOLD UP. I've been going through my journals and I cross referenced RofD that summer, but I guess I watched it the summer before my senior year, strange. Anyway, this is what I had to say after I read it...

source

Sunday 18 June 2006
Oh man, I just sobbed bitterly and uncontrollably for like five plus minutes at the end of The Remains of the Day. Are you joking me?...OH Stevens! I lost it, I was all sprawled on my bed from many a maneuver all night to try and get comfortable, my comforter all twisted, my mouth guard in, just sobbing and weeping uncontrollably...I just laid there all contorted absolutely blubbering... AOAoGH!

Huh, I can't find an entry about actually seeing the movie. I do say that the library didn't have it. Oh well, anyway....

The Remains of the Day is amazing. S'bout Stevens the butler and his butling. The book is his telling of the good ol' days of Darlington Hall right before the Second World War. You quickly realize that Stevens is the perfect butler because his sole, and I mean sole purpose in life is to be of the most assistance to his employer as possible no matter what his employer does, or what he feels for others. It's just profoundly heartbreaking and amazing. The film stars Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton the housekeeper with James Fox as Lord Darlington and Hugh Grant as Lord Darlington's godson. It's absolutely magnificent. Hopkins and Thompson are my favorite on screen couple and are just, ah! just SO good! If you like Downton you'll LOVE this, it's pre-Julian Fellowes, back in the day when Merchant and Ivory were the name in aristocratic and posh British costume dramas.

Go read it, cry a lot.

Julian Fellowes' Titanic

I've known about this for awhile, but realized that I haven't told you yet! And the thing is upon us!

Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame (well, and Gosford Park if we want to get to the bottom of why he's famous) wrote a Titanic series for the 100th anniversary of the sinking. The four part series will air on ITV1 (Downton's home) in April and in the US by April 14th (official anniversary, and tax day present!).  I'd say that's a darn good turn around for the US showing! Huzzah! It's basically Downton on the Titanic, following all classes and characters aboard. Article from Telly Spotting here.

Cast includes (so excited for some of these!).

source

David Calder, the dad from Bramwell, as Captain Smith, pretty dead ringer I'd say.

source

Toby Jones, from like everything.

source

Maria Doyle Kennedy, aka Mrs. Bates, aka my favorite gravel-y voiced lady actor.

source

Linus Roache from Law & Order, didn't know he was English, did ya?

source

Stephen Campbell Moore, He Knew He Was Right, Lark Rise to Candleford, and I saw him in All My Sons in London!
















You'll recognize a lot of other people as well, including Lily Potter! Sad thing though is that at least all of the men will die, and inevitably some of the women too, so don't get too attached, but with Julian Fellowes at the wheel (or helm rather) you are going to get very attached, THEN they'll all die.
IMDB PAGE!!
TRAILERS!!

 

Downton Abbey: Christmas Episode!

200th BLOG POST! How fitting that it's Downton.

I want everything about Mary's hunting ensemble, and just Matthew in general.

:-: I'm not sure why now and not a year ago, but I'm absolutely in love with Dan Stevens.
:-: Blond hair, cherry lips, and swimable dreamy blue eyes.
:-: I called Rosamund's maid and the gold digger from the get go.
:-: I don't care what happens in series three as long as they GET MARRIED FIRST!!!
:-: I couldn't take the entire episode, so elated and ecstatic the whole time.
:-: Oh Thomas, how awful you are when O'Brien tells you you're terrible.
:-: I think Daisy's finally realized she did love William, good for her.
:-: Lavinia used the Ouigi board to say that she's happy for Matthew and Mary.
:-: I kept waiting for something bad to happen, but it never did! Knock on wood even though it's absolutely no good w/ sadistic Julian Fellowes at the helm.
:-: LOVE 20s fashion, sister hates it, she can just shut her mouth.
:-: Edith has redeemed herself enough for me to want her to get married and go away.
:-: Carlyle was a d-bag and an a-hole, glad he's gone. Didn't feel bad for one second.
:-: Hunting clothes, YES.
:-: That Turk is probably the most talked about shortest lived character in television history. "The Turk?!" "Papa, do you remember the Turk?" "It involves a Turk, two dressing gowns, and the footman". Good grief!
:-: Maggie Smith, lest we ever forget, which barring Alzheimer we won't (too soon?), is a boss.
:-: Upset for series three: Granny dies.
:-: I think that series three can redeem series two's bull ride of a plot by the necessity of many new characters after some have died and others have moved on and the fact that the war's over and I really don't think the 20s were all that racey in the UK, but if Shirley McLean is playing Cora's mother then a trip to America has to be in hand.
:-: So help me if Isis was the casualty of this episode I was going to flip a lid!
:-: Actually like Isobel in this episode, for about a second.
:-: Can't tell you how many old timey British trials I've watched. They're always guilty then after like 50 years they're set free, or like a year.
:-: Is it terrible that as soon as I heard Sybil was pregnant I thought "Well there goes your ideals of liberty, equal rights, and freedom."?
:-: Servant's balls are the best things ever.
:-: Do you think that Thomas is really changing? He seems less conniving and like stealing Isis wasn't so easy to think up as it would have been in his earlier more weasely  years.
:-: I'll gladly teach Matthew to shoot.
:-: Matthew and Carlyle rolling off the couch onto each other might be a highlight of my life.