This is going to be one of those “entertainment-focused” weekends.
It started for me Thursday night with Part 1 of the three-part series finale of LOST.
Because it has already been announced that 2010 will be the final season, and because there are fewer than 40 episodes remaining, this has been a season of revelation—some surprises, but also some just confirming the theories we’ve been speculating about for the past three years. Last night’s episode served really as a setup for the two-hour season finale in two weeks. But they also managed to plant a little bit of doubt in my mind as to the survival of my favorite character, Desmond. On this show, once characters have resolved whatever problems they had in their lives before they arrived on the island, they have a tendency to die pretty grizzly deaths. Since he just discovered the communications room is packed full of C-4, my main thought was that if they kill off Desmond in the season finale, I’m going to be seriously peeved. I don’t think they can, because it seems like he’s too important to the “war” between Ben and Charles Widmore, but . . .
Okay, now for something that has a little more mass appeal (yes, I do realize that not everyone watches LOST, but at least I know Lori Benton is right there with me!).
In less than twelve hours, Ruth, Lori Lynch, and I will be at the theater caught up in the euphoria of seeing the newest Walden Media movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, on opening night. I went and bought tickets last night to save us from having to stand in line, since we know it’s going to be crowded.
This is one of those movies in which I know I’ll be able to totally suspend disbelief and just enjoy it for what it is: a wonderful fantasy movie with a good message at its heart. I know the books and movies have their detractors. However, because I believe in the redemption message C.S. Lewis used allegory and fantasy to convey, I don’t have a problem with the overt spirituality present in the film. That said, the movie is getting its share of positive reviews as well:
- “As a supposed family film, Prince Caspian might be a tad too long and a wee bit violent for the youngest of tykes. For most, however, the film stands a good chance of becoming the Empire Strikes Back of the ‘Narnia’ series: a darker and more satisfying follow-up to an already exceptional starting point, one that will be hard to top with future installments.”
~Edward Havens, Filmjerk.com
“[T]his is a grand and visually stunning epic with thrilling battle scenes and powerful themes. This one has more violence but also more humor, especially from the most welcome new character, a mouse with the heart of a lion and the voice of Eddie Izzard. Like the book, one of the less compelling of the seven-volume series, it is not as involving as the first. Barnes has a nice screen presence (though his accent sounds like he is trying out for a road show version of West Side Story as one of the Sharks). The pacing is strong, the effects are superb, and the battles are exciting. The themes are presented with a subtlety that encourages thoughtful consideration, with a range of possible interpretations.”
~Nell Minnow, Beliefnet.com’s “Movie Mom” Blog
“Enter Prince Caspian, a sequel that far and away surpasses its predecessor and is on the short list of superb fantasy epics. . . . it’s a very bloodless affair although it potentially could still be fairly intense for younger viewers, especially watching the Pevensie children dispose of their enemies. These aren’t naïve cutesy kids, but skilled warriors. Adamson taps into that childhood fantasy of being a heroic warrior fighting alongside magical creatures against stuffy, controlling adults bent on spoiling all the fun. . . . Add on cameos by Liam Neeson as Aslan and 2008 Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Tilda Swinton and Caspian hits on all marks so effectively that its two-hour plus run time flies by so quickly you can hardly believe it’s over. If you even remotely liked the first installment, you’ll love Prince Caspian, one of the most entertaining film experiences I’ve had so far this year.”
~Jeffrey Lyles, RottenTomatoes.com
“[T]he Narnia books—and so far, the movies based on them—are wonderful as stories about childhood and its loss. Toward the end of Prince Caspian, it becomes clear that the two older children, Peter and Susan, are aging out of Narnia; they’ve crossed over to the world of grownups, and only Edmund and Lucy will be back for the next adventure. . . . The scene in which the kids bid farewell to the dreamlike world that’s become more real to them than their own has the emotional power of great children’s literature. Like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, L. Frank Baum’s Dorothy, or E.B. White’s Fern, the Pevensies live on the border between two realities, the mundane and the magical. For those of us who have long since lost the ability to cross over, it’s a pleasure to watch them make that journey.”
~Dana Stevens, Slate.com/National Public Radio
So get out and see it this weekend if at all possible!
Then, on Sunday, we have the two-hour conclusion of Cranford on PBS.
Just like in the best soap operas, things are getting stickier and stickier for our lovely ladies—and our few gentlemen—in the never-quiet, rarely peaceful town of Cranford. Gossip generated from half-heard conversations and misunderstandings bred from overactive imaginations lead to both humor and heartache for our characters, especially Sophy and Dr. Harrison. Before the miniseries ends, typhoid fever and an accident at the railroad construction site threaten the lives of two of our main characters—but don’t worry, the film ends on a happy note . . . and left me wishing BBC would make it into an ongoing series (that we wouldn’t have to wait more than a year for over here on this side of the Pond).
For a limited time, you can watch Cranford online at PBS’s website. This weekend’s episode should be available for viewing Monday. The DVD releases May 20.
Carey Mulligan (P&P 2005, Northanger Abbey 2007) portrays Elsie “Bird” Kipling, Jack’s older sister. Hers is a bit of a background role, but important none the less, as she confronts her father and makes him understand his responsibility in pushing Jack too hard. And she and Daniel played very well off of each other—I can’t help but imagine that his experience in making this film and working with actors with such wide and varying experiences as they’ve all had only served to strengthen his own skills.
or the Queen (in Elizabeth I) or even Nick Cage’s mum in National Treasure: Book of Secrets, there’s no denying the regal grace and nobility Helen Mirren brings to every role she inhabits. I think she’s really the only reason the movie The Queen was as interesting as it was—her acting, the emotion she brought to the role through body language and facial expressions. She definitely deserved the Academy Award she won for it. I’m looking forward to seeing her in the upcoming 
Ms. McEwan brought to life some of the funniest lines Shakespeare ever penned, as Alice—the handmaid in Kenneth Branagh’s quintessential version of Henry V. In recent years, she’s become indelibly linked with the persona of a character penned by another famous author—as Jane Marple in the BBC/PBS 
and the austere air she brings to so many of her characters, there was no more obvious choice for the intimidating-yet-goodhearted 
has given us queenly performances (as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love and as Victoria in Mrs. Brown), but she’s also taken her turn as James Bond’s ultimate “girl”—M in the last four films (and is filming her fifth). From 1992 through 2005—even after winning her Academy Award in 1999—Dame Judi starred in the British sit-com As Time Goes By (which you can probably catch on PBS on Saturday evenings). I’m really excited about her upcoming project, Cranford—a serialization of three novellas by North & South author Elizabeth Gaskell, which is coming to PBS in a couple of months!
with The Sound of Music! After getting her start portraying Cinderella in the live 
TV production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical, Dame Julie was cast in the title role of the Disney film Mary Poppins. When the filmmakers for The Sound of Music, who thought Julie wasn’t attractive enough for the role of Maria, saw dailies of her in Mary Poppins, 
they were sold—on her looks, voice, and performance. And the rest, as they say, is history. In the forty-odd years since The Sound of Music came out, Dame Julie has tried to break away from this Disney-fied image of who she is, but seems to have embraced it in recent years—giving us Queen Clarisse Renaldi in the Princess Diaries, the nanny in the Eloise movies, and the spoof-filled Shrek movies. I especially loved her in the live television performance of On Golden Pond, which aired a few years ago, which reunited Dame Julie with Christopher Plummer in the roles originally brought to life on the silver screen by Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda. And why is she the top choice on this list? One of the first dates my parents went on was to see The Sound of Music, so that movie has always held a special place in my heart.
Olivia Williams in was in the 1996 A&E/BBC/Andrew Davies adaptation of Emma, closely followed by The Sixth Sense. But I must say that she wouldn’t have landed on this list (maybe not even the HM list) if it hadn’t been for her portrayal of Jane Austen in Miss Austen Regrets. If you want to know why, 
is my favorite actress to have portrayed Jane Bennet in an adaptation of Pride & Prejudice (2005). But I haven’t ever mentioned another movie (which I just received a DVD of in the mail yesterday!) she’s in that I have this strange affinity for: Doom—the shoot ’em up action film based on the violent video game of the same name. Okay, yes, I initially watched Doom because of Karl Urban (and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). But the interplay between Karl’s and Rosamund’s characters (John and Samantha) is what made me want to watch it again . . . and again . . . and again. Her American accent isn’t great—but I saw more of her range as an actress in the film, and I liked what I saw.
territory of actresses that most people in North America haven’t heard of. Amongst the BBC-watching-set, Justine Waddell is most familiar to us as Molly from Wives and Daughters, Andrew Davies’ adaptation of an unfinished Elizabeth Gaskell novel. She was also in a wonderful adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White and played Julia Bertram in the 1999 theatrical-release version of Mansfield Park (the Frances O’Connor version). She also played opposite Ioan Gruffudd in the 1999 BBC version of Great Expectations and made a wonderful Estella. She doesn’t have any current projects listed on IMDb, but they don’t always have BBC’s productions-in-work listed until they’re finished. I’m eager to see her in something else.
know exactly why Daniela is on my list! She’s the actress who played the character that reformed John Thornton and made us all fall in love with Richard Armitage. One of the things I really like about her is that she (like many other British actresses) isn’t the epitome of high-fashion beauty—like most American actresses. And it made us love John Thornton even more that he’d fall in love with the somewhat plump brunette instead of the skinny blonde. Although we don’t get the series here, she has also been a series regular on the BBC staples East Enders and My Family (with Sir Robert Lindsay—on last week’s list). She also doesn’t have any works-in-progress listed on her page, but I’m sure whatever she chooses to do next, she’ll be great in it.
overlooked, under-rated actresses working today. You may have noticed her in the background there in Becoming Jane (she played Cassandra)—I’m of the opinion she should have been cast as Jane. She doesn’t have a really long filmography. But she made her mark with her vastly different roles in North & South (as a secondary character to Daniela Denby-Ashe’s lead) and Bleak House—guess what, another Andrew Davies adapation 
(maybe after the Masterpiece Classics’ Austen Series ends, I’ll have to do a Fun Friday on all of my favorite Andrew Davies films!). Anna Maxwell Martin led the cast of dozens in Bleak House with a grace that many actresses who’ve been in the business for fifty years wouldn’t have been able to muster (starring opposite my favorite underappreciated actor, 
Ever since I first started reading the books and watching the film adaptations, Fred and George were my favorite characters—possibly because I love James & Oliver’s portrayal of Hogwarts’ chief Mischief Makers. It’s going to be sad that they’ll be absent from most of the sixth movie, and then the seventh . . . I don’t even want to think about that one! I’ll be very interested to see what each of them does acting-wise when the Harry Potter movies are finished. Both of these boys have wonderful acting futures ahead of them.
comic timing together as Merry and Pippin in the Lord of the Rings movies. But I love Dom because his character is the first one that made me cry in three seasons of watching Lost—at the end of last season and the beginning of this season. Billy hasn’t gotten as much exposure as Dom has from Lost, but he’s shone brightly in the few bit roles he’s had, like Bonden in Master & Commander. These two are the highlights of the cast commentary on the extended LOTR movies, and I would love to see them team up for a comedy movie soon.
as Commodore Norrington in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. But one of my favorite pieces he’s done was the Marple episode The Body in the Library, where he played the young inspector who had a thing or two to learn from Miss Marple . . . and there was a little romance involved, if I recall correctly. Then again, he did play my favorite character in the third Pirates movie and I was very sad that his character had to die.
when it comes to deciding which films to be in (I was embarrassed for him when I saw the second Fantastic Four movie!), when he chooses right, it’s right all the way around. Though he’d done a few films before, this Welshman stormed onto the British acting scene with his role as Horatio Hornblower in the BBC/A&E movies—eight in total (and he said in an interview given in 2006 that he wants to do more HH movies—perhaps when HH is an admiral, now that Ioan is older). His latest claim to fame was his portrayal of the British statesman William Wilburforce—the parlimentarian responsible for passing the abolishment of the slave trade in Britain and all her territories and colonies in the early 19th century. If there was ever an actor born to play historical roles, it’s Ioan.
British actors ever. He’s played a wide variety of roles, from Horatio Hornblower’s crusty commander, Sir Edward Pellew, to the crusty 50s police inspector, Jericho, to the crusty Shakespearian hero, Benedick (from Much Ado about Nothing). Well, so he plays “crusty” a lot! One of the things on my wishlist at Amazon are the DVD sets for the first two seasons of a BBC sitcom (My Family) in which Sir Robert plays the father. I’ve seen a few clips of it on You-Tube and it looks absolutely gobsmackingly hysterical. Oh, and did I mention he’s the template for Julia’s father in Ransome’s Honor?
but I’ve really been enthralled with him recently. It could have something to do with how good he looks in period costume—whether it’s as Tom Bertram in the new (horrible) version of Mansfield Park, as Lieutenant Tom Pullings in Master and Commander with the scar down his cheek (and, oh, that uniform!), or as playboy Jerry Burton in Marple: The Moving Finger. Like Ioan Gruffudd, James D’Arcy just seems to have been born to be in historical films.
with only two or three lines in The Bourne Identity, if Clive Owen is on the screen, he’s going to steal it. The first thing I ever saw him in was Gosford Park, which to this day remains one of my favorite British films. Clive Owen has a very Old Hollywood appeal—handsome enough for the women and yet still comes across as a man’s man. He can do action and drama, contemporary and historical, and morph into whatever the character calls for. And, darn it, he’s just yummy to look at.
but he does it so well! Though I originally loved The Patriot because Adam Baldwin was in it, the more I watched it, the more my attention was captured by the deliciously evil Col. Tavington. Then I saw him in Black Hawk Down, and, his horrible attempt at a Southern accent aside, found the hero I knew was lurking under those piercing blue eyes. Now, shall we talk about the Harry Potter movies? 
Jason Isaacs brings the same touch of delicious evilness to Mr. Malfoy as he did to Col. Tavington. He’s the badguy I love to loathe.
Paul McGann snuck up on me as a favorite . . . it took a few viewings of the last four Horatio Hornblower movies for me to really notice him—and it was his voice that drew me in first. Only a true Paul McGann fan will understand what I mean by that. He has this slight rasp and a musical lilt to his inflection, and when he’s using his received-British accent, a slight edge to the enunciation of his hard consonants that makes my ears feel like they’ve died and gone to British heaven. Can I mention Paul McGann without mentioning William Ransome?
TV program, you probably have no idea who this Scotsman is. After his stunning introduction at the beginning of the second season of LOST, his character, Desmond, quickly became my favorite character on the show. 
I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a Scottish accent, but Henry Ian has the good looks to go along with it, whether he’s long-haired, unshaven, and bedraggled, or clean-cut and dressed up (and we get to see him BOTH ways on the show—yay!) I told Erica the other day that if I ever write a romance featuring a Highlander, Henry Ian will be the template!