Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!!
This week’s feature is A Knight’s Tale!
When Lisa told me her list of movies and I read this one on it, I was so excited. I love this movie so much! Billy and I have watched it countless times over the years, it is just such a fun movie!
First though, let me just say had he lived, I think Heath Ledger would have done such big things. He was already on his way, and had been in so many movies with so many amazing performances. Rest in Peace Heath.
This movie as summarized by Rotten Tomatoes: “Peasant-born William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) begins a quest to change his stars, win the heart of an exceedingly fair maiden (Shanynn Sossamon) and rock his medieval world. With the help of friends (Mark Addy, Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk), he faces the ultimate test of medieval gallantry — tournament jousting — and tries to discover if he has the mettle to become a legend.”
“He’s blonde! He’s pissed! He’ll see you in the lists – Liechtenstein!”
Heath Ledger plays William Thatcher, who upon the death of the knight he was page for, assumes the role of a knight himself, with the very fun moniker of Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein – which is highly entertaining to hear Paul Bettany, in his role as Chaucer, say. I remember being all nerdily excited about the whole Chaucer and Knight’s Tale when this came out. Lol.
William slowly begins to be a force to be reckoned with, and he collects his own court of misfits along the way. Kate the blacksmith, who I love, Paul Bettany as Chaucer who really did add so much excitement and build up to the jousts and the movie itself, Mark Addy as Roland, a more down to earth, sensible character within the coterie, and Alan Tudyk as Wat, who is fabulously funny in everything he is in. They are like a little medieval found family, and I love it.
There is of course romance, with William courting Lady Jocelyn, played by Shannyn Sossaman. (whatever happened to her?)
However, the best part of this movie is the music. I loved this era of introducing modern music into different eras, like all of Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, and of course Knight’s Tale (not Luhrman, A Knight’s Tale was directed by Brian Helgeland). Them dancing to David Bowie was the best! It never fails to make me smile and bop along.
We of course have to have a villain, and Rufus Sewell as Count Adhemar was brilliant. You seriously hated him. Billy and I still like to deliver his line “You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting” about certain things (not each other obviously). Sewell was so scheming and scathing, and smug, and just….creepy. He was sooo good at playing the bad guy.
But the best part of this movie was William Thatcher visiting his father. It brought a tear to my eyes, honestly. And that is another thing Billy and I say to each other as well, when we need a little inspiring – we tell each other we need to change our stars, just like William.
And that is what this movie is about deep down isn’t it? Once you remove the dance numbers and music and silliness, it is about hope and believing in yourself and believing things can change. And if you need something that makes you smile, makes you laugh, and gives you hope right now, A Knight’s Tale is the perfect movie for all of those.
And that is it from me today! Stay tuned – next week we are watching and talking about The Five Year Engagement!
Pop on over to Lisa’s post too! You can find it here! Today is Little Miss’s birthday so it will probably be up a little later!
I have decided since it is December and my mind is on the holiday season, I would devote today’s post to books that referenced gingerbread, even a little bit, because it is my very favorite Christmas cookie of all.
I am currently reading A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and I am enjoying it so much. The gingerbread parts are not overwhelming but when they happen they are adorable.
I also have the Helen Oyeyemi book Gingerbread sitting here on my TBR pile next to my bed to be read this month. It sounds so fantastic!
Finally, The Gingerbread Queen, to round out the fantasy section! I have not read it but it sounds really fun!
Next up, the romance area! I have not read any of these, but they all sound like they would be great Christmas reads. If You Give a Jerk a Gingerbread particularly grabs my attention as it has big Bake Off vibes!
I love Amanda Flower books and she has so many that I haven’t read yet, including her entire Amish Candy Shop series of cozy mysteries. I think I may have to try to squeeze this one in this December!
Bee Bakshi and the Gingerbread Sisters just looks so good. It is a middle grade, but that cover and the vibes – super creepy. I am definitely adding this one to my TBR.
Lily Fox and the Gingerbread Cookie. It looks like a very simple picture book about a fox following his nose to find the gingerbread that he can smell, but I just love the cover illustration. And, foxes, we all know I love them.
And finally, my son Wyatt’s contribution to the list today, his favorite gingerbread picture book, Gingerbread Pirates. it was pretty funny, I have to admit!
And that is it from me today! I can’t wait to see what everyone else chose! I also might need to go find a gingerbread latte somewhere…
*This post is also part of the Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Up for 2024. If you have a Christmas/holiday post you would like to share you can find the link HERE or at the top of the page here on my blog.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone! Last week was so fun! We took a little mini-trip to Cleveland/Cuyahoga Valley National Park and we had a blast! I can’t wait to tell you about it all this week! As I suspected, I didn’t read – like at all. Except for maybe 10 pages before breakfast yesterday. I plan on making up for it this week though!
Read Last Week:
This book was lovely. It is so full of life, the good and the bad, the sad and the happy, and I really felt like I was living in this little community, sharing in their lives.
Reading This Week:
So, my post looks the same as last week. I did start Berries and Bones, and wow is it heavy on the cozy right away. This old bear has a pretty good setup! I am looking forward to reading more of it today.
Listening:
Last week, I wasn’t sure I liked this story. This week, I am here to tell you that I am really enjoying it! I am glad that I stuck with it. It is so cute and very fall vibes.
We are still watching The Pottery Throw Down. I admit, I am addicted. I am learning so much though from it! We went to the Cleveland Art Museum yesterday and as we wandered through, reading about some of the items that were ceramic or china or what have you, I understood the process that went into making them. It was amazing to see pots made in the 700s, and realize that the same processes (more or less) created them. The same shapes still exist. Billy and I were marveling at all the pieces with our newfound knowledge.
We of course are watching our Comfy Cozy Cinema movies that we are watching with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings, and Deb from Readerbuzz is also participating with us! Yay! Last week we watched and posted about Kiki’s Delivery Service; this week we are watching the 1945 version of Blithe Spirit and will post about it Thursday! We are also having a giveaway – you can enter here if you are interested!
And that is about it from here! I hope you are all doing well!
Hello everyone!! It’s FINALLY October. My favorite month of all. And it feels like fall here, y’know? I stepped out on the deck this morning, barefoot as always, and the wood under my feet was cold and the air was chilly. I checked the temperature, and was glad that I had coffee with me – it was a mere 49 degrees.
I see all these people talking about how they feel so much more alive in the fall, and I can relate. That is exactly how I feel, like I am fueled by cooler weather. Rusty colored leaves tumble through my soul, chill winds raise my spirits, and I thrive in this weather. The heat and humidity of the summer weigh me down, but in the fall I come alive again.
Away go my shorts and sandals, and out come my jeans and sweaters and boots, ready to walk down trails filled with trees blazing their colors before they go to sleep for the winter. Soups and stews and warming meals are making their way on to my meal plans, and I have told Billy it is time for him to wake his sourdough up, to begin baking our bread for the week. It is a time of transition and change, as we begin to settle down into a different rhythm. School has started and our days are spent reading and learning and creating, and before we eat every evening I clear the table of our day’s work, pencils and papers and books. Weekends are full of plans for pumpkins and apples and chestnuts; they are also full of plans for bonfires with family, cider, Halloween fun and this week, a vacation.
I also see so many autumn bucket lists online, and yes, there are things I want to do this fall too. But this year I am also trying to be mindful to not cram our every moment full of plans; I want us to enjoy the season, time with our family being together, because sometimes when you are spinning from one thing to the next, you forget to really enjoy what you are doing, to pay attention to that moment, truly pay attention to it. I have a list of things to do, but I am also trying to have an anti-bucket list as well.
Sunday, we declared the day to be a nothing day. We called a halt to running and doing and spent the day hanging out with each other, just slowly letting the day spin out while we read or painted or played, in the case of Wyatt. It was a rainy day, perfect do-nothing day. We ordered ramen from a local noodle house, which was delicious, and we finished up our ghost portraits. We finished up the night by watching Kiki’s Delivery service, which is part of Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and my Comfy Cozy Cinema. And it was a wonderful day. I want to make sure I save space for these type days this fall as well.
My favorite book has a quote about winter, that humans say they like winter but what they really like is being proof against it. And maybe there is some truth to that. I love fall and the weather and being out in it, but it is also so nice to be snug inside with my tea and a blanket and a book. And also, cookies and chocolate.
With that, I want to talk about our giveaway! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are cohosting a small little comfy cozy care package giveaway, to go along with our favorite season (fall!), and our Comfy Cozy Cinema! We have some fun little goodies to be sent off to one winner, with more surprises to be added as well! We want to celebrate the season and this is just one way we would like to do that this year.
You can enter anytime between today and October 15th, and the winner will be announced on our blogs Thursday, October 17th. Please enter via Rafflecopter and it is only open to those 18 or older living in the US.
Right now I can only post the link – the code is not working for me! Please let me know if entering is still an issue!
Hello everyone!! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.
This week’s movie is Ladies in Lavender, starring Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Daniel Brühl, and Natascha McElhone.
From Amazon: Aging spinster sisters Ursula (Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith) discover a young man (Daniel Brühl) near death on the beach by their home in a small Cornish fishing village. Taking him in, they discover that he is Andrea, a violinist from Krakow, Poland, who had been swept off an ocean liner on which he was sailing to a fresh start in America. It is set in the 1930s.
I ended up enjoying this movie, but at first I had my doubts. It begins innocently enough, with Ursula and Janet walking their beach, going to bed that evening, and then a violent storm hitting the coast overnight. In the morning, the sisters spy a man on their beach and find a young man, close to death. They of course call the doctor and bring him into their house to nurse him. He eventually awakens and they learn his name is Andrea, and that he is Polish.
Through trial and error and some beginning German on Janet’s end, they are able to somewhat communicate. Ursula also teaches him some English as well.
Ursula also however begins to develop a crush on the young boy. And yes, it is awkward and uncomfortable for the viewer, and in part this is all due to the masterful acting of Judi Dench. She nails the fawnings of a young girl newly in love, the attitude, the postures, the small gestures and looks, the flouncing and pouting and delight. It was a testimony I felt to her skills as an actress, and Maggie Smith cracked me up as usual, with her expressions and faces regarding her sister’s behavior. She notices and her demeanor alternates between alarmed and concerned and sometimes just plain what the eff, with some amazing side eyed looks.
Eventually they learn that Andrea is a very talented violinist, and as he begins to heal, he begins to explore his new temporary home. He befriends Russian painter Olga, played by Natascha McElhone, and Ursula is a bit jealous, and compares her to a witch in a fairy tale.
Andrea is spreading his wings, and the ladies are feeling a bit jealous, yes Janet too, in her own way. He has come to represent dreams and desires that were lost to them, that they were denied, for love in the case of Ursula, and Janet, who lost her love and her chance at being a mother (this is just my interpretation). They want to hold on to him, to hold onto these dreams, and the small ways that they can live them out. Olga with her free spirit and youth, not to mention the ability to speak easily and fluently with Andrea, make her a threat. All three women know that Andrea is a special however, and do want the best for him.
This movie had a very slow beginning, but as the story picked up and became more complex and less strange, I became invested in these characters of Ursula and Janet. It was a weirdly beautiful story if you stick with it, albeit sad.
The setting is beautiful, a stone home on the coast, surrounded by ocean and garden. It is like a dream itself, a fairy tale home hidden away by the sea. The music itself is gorgeous, fitting to the movie and the characters. There was one shot, so beautiful, of Andrea perched on the rocks at night, playing his violin to the sea and it was a moment, and ugh. I am just such a sucker for cinematography. If I were Keith Brymer Jones I would have cried at just that one shot alone.
If you start this movie, stick with it. It is slow starter, there is not much action, it is a quiet little spark of a movie, but it really is beautiful. It is about love and unfulfilled dreams, aging and youth, and letting go. A bit like holding a butterfly in your hands, that is this movie.
You can find this movie almost on every streaming platform if you are interested in watching.
If you have watched along with us, and want to share your link, please feel free. We would love it!
Hello everyone!! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.
This week’s movie is Somewhere in Time, another Lisa pick. I was looking forward to it because I am a Michigander, and this movie was set in and filmed at Mackinac Island, somewhere I have been many times. Although, never back in time.
Somewhere in Time stars Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, two of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. Their attractiveness onscreen was almost unreal. Lisa and I were texting each other while watching the movie, and I told her that Jane Seymour actually looked like artwork to me.
According to the manufacturer (this what the Amazon entry states) “Somewhere in Time is the story of a young writer who sacrifices his life in the present to find happiness in the past, where true love awaits him. Young Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) is approached by an elderly woman who gives him an antique gold watch and who pleads with him to return in time with her. Years later, Richard Collier is overwhelmed by a photograph of a beautiful young woman (Jane Seymour). Another picture of this woman in her later years reveals to him that she is the same woman who had given him the gold watch. Collier then becomes obsessed with returning to 1912 and the beautiful young woman who awaits him there.”
This movie, for all the time travel science fiction of it all, is a romantic love story, filled with gorgeous gowns and the timeless beauty of the Grand Hotel. That porch! The movie made the most of it too, with lots of long shots of it. I have never walked on it, but I know you can pay $10 to do so, if you are not a paying guest at the hotel itself. That seems worth it to me!
Ok back to the movie. I think this is a lovely story, but if you look too closely at it, it might seem weird. On the surface, it could be a story that is about a man who falls in love with a portrait and wills himself almost violently back in time to find the woman in the portrait. The woman herself has a guardian/protector who has known her since she was 16 and thinks that she belongs to him, which might feel a bit icky. So my suggestion is, don’t look to closely at this story. Enjoy it for what it is – a love story between Richard and Elise, one that transcends decades. Connected souls through time. If you read the Stephen King book 11/22/63, it reminded me of the love story in that book. Which honestly makes sense. Somewhere in Time the movie, is based on a book written by Richard Matheson, who is a horror/fantasy/science fiction writer, and Stephen King has mentioned him as a creative influence in the past. You may know Matheson best for the story I am Legend (and yes the story was way better than the movie for that one).
Lisa looked up the book Somewhere in Time, and read that there were some parts left out of the film version, that tied it all together a bit more cohesively. I don’t want to say what though, as that reveals the ending!
My favorite part of the movie is when Richard and Elise are just casually sitting on the floor of her room, all rumpled from *ahem*, eating fried chicken, and laughing together. It just felt so natural, less like acting, and just like two friends/lovers hanging out. And come to find out, Seymour and Reeve fell in love during the making of the movie. Seymour admitted this at the TCM festival in 2022, as reported by EW.
Well, here comes the story that I’m officially telling you now, because Chris and I, when we made the film, we literally fell madly in love..
Sigh. A love story within a love story.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie! It was so neat to see places I have been, and Billy and I would exclaim, hey we have seen that, or look! we have been there. The Round Island Lighthouse is a place we have seen, the lawn where Elise and Richard walked, I have seen the Grand Hotel many times. In fact, it is one of the first places on the island that is visible as you approach the island by ferry boat. It is just really a beautiful building. And if you are ever a tourist on Mackinac Island, be prepared – you can buy all sorts of souvenirs that tout this film. I believe there is even a festival or a weekend centered around it every year!
Next up is Ladies in Lavender, starring none other than Maggie Smith and Judi Dench! (I believe Dame Judi Dench graces our movie list three times this year!)
Did you watch along? If you did and want to link a post, you can post below until next Wednesday. You don’t need a blog though, you can also just comment below!
Hello everyone!! I am so excited to embark on year 2 of Comfy Cozy Cinema watching with Lisa over at Boondock Ramblings. We had so much fun last year and this year will be even better, I can feel it in my bones. We each chose a few movies, which I love because it makes us watch movies we would maybe never watch on our own. Lisa was my introduction to Cary Grant and so many good movies and I would never have gotten around to them without our buddy watching.
The movie of the week this week is What We Did on Our Holiday, which is a dark comedy starring David Tennant, Rosamund Pike, and Billy Connolly. Rosamund Pike and David Tennant have three children, and are going through a contentious separation. They are always fighting it seems like, and according to the kids, always yelling at each other. Lottie, the oldest, seems to be particularly sensitive to the situation. However, they have to suck it up so that they can travel as a family to visit Doug’s (David Tennant) family in Scotland for Doug’s father’s birthday extravaganza. His father Gordie, played by the delightfully hilarious Billy Connolly, has terminal cancer, and Doug wants his own little family to keep quiet about the separation and divorce proceedings. His brother Gavin (played by Ben Miller who also played Billy’s favorite DI on Death in Paradise) is loaded and is hosting the lavish affair. He is also married and has a teenage son.
Doug and Abi (Pike) arrive with the kids in tow, and we immediately sense that Lottie and her grandfather have a special relationship. It was very sweet to watch, as she seemed like she didn’t have a family member she really fit with until seeing her with Gordie, who seemed to actually listen to her – and give her pretty good if not always the most prudent advice. Billy and I both decided that real life Billy Connolly would be an awesome grandfather to have. As Gordie he was spectacular and was one of those characters you would love to actually hang out with – maybe we just want to hang out with Billy Connolly.
There is an undercurrent of tension and dysfunction between all of the adults in this movie, except for Gordie. Abi, Doug, Gavin, and his wife Margaret all have their issues and also issues with each other, in the case of Doug and Gavin, who do not have the closest relationship.
And this is where the craziness and hijinks begin. To say anymore here would be to completely spoil the movie though and I don’t want to do that.
I thought this movie was so fun – however, there are some heavier moments in this movie that just come at you. Thank goodness the kids add some levity, and dare I say, outshone everyone else in this movie? There were a few times I literally laughed out loud at some of their lines. And of course, at Billy Connolly’s lines.
Billy and I both loved the scene where Gordie has all of his grandchildren in his old truck, and they are heading to the beach. He lets the kids drive, meaning Mickey can toot the horn, while Jess yelled out the window, and Lottie, who is a bit of an overthinker and rule follower, steers. He controls the pedals. It was just really cute, and he tells Lottie “to live more and think less” which is actually really good advice. What a fun moment that had to be even to film for those kids, and had that been real, a fun memory for kids with their grandfather. I remember my own grandfather lived on a mountaintop in Pennsylvania and he had a collection of old cars, like real old, Model T’s and Model A’s. He would take me down the mountain in those cars at breakneck speeds and it was terrifying but also so much fun!! I am sure my parents didn’t think so, but I will remember that feeling and those rides down the mountain forever.
I also loved the way Rosamund Pike dressed in the movie. Is she not seriously so beautiful? These outfits were that quiet elegance and so classic, yet also casual which was perfect for her character in the situations she was wearing them.
This is just a heartwarming movie, and includes vikings and food fights and fiddle playing and it was just a really good watch. I particularly loved the very ending scene!
I am looking forward to the next movie, which is another Lisa pick (actually the first couple are all hers, then some of mine, then they get mixed up together). We will be watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and posting about it on the 12th! Feel free to post with us, the linky for each movie will be up for a week starting on the day of posting.
And today’s linky is here! You can find our posts and post your own. If you don’t want to post and just want to comment and read along that is fine as well! Just get cozy at home and enjoy!
Hello all! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I love to buddy watch movies together – even though I am in Michigan and she is in Pennsylvania! We don’t literally watch together in a watch party, although that might be fun one time! We wanted our fall list to feel fall cozy, move into some more chilling movies, than turn cozy again for November.
What a “note” to end on! I loved this movie the first time we watched it, and I loved it just as much this time around. I am not a boat person, despite being from the Great Lakes State, but I am drawn to stories of the sea and water nonetheless. My mother’s family were all shipbuilders, in Michigan and back in England, so maybe some of that is just in my blood. I also once had a palm reader in New Orleans tell me that I was once a ship captain who went down with his ship, so there is that fun little story as well. Anyway, I like a sea shanty and a good fisherman story, and Wyatt does as well. He watched this with us for the most part last night and really enjoyed all the singing parts.
Anyway, I am getting way off course here. Our movie feature this week was Fisherman’s Friends. Find Lisa’s post here!
This movie is based on a true story, about a group of fisherman from Cornwall who were signed by Universal Records for their folk singing abilities. Who would have thought that in this day and age that such a folksy, working class type group could achieve top ten status? But they did. I think it just shows how people do appreciate and crave community and joy and just real people doing real things. Not everything has to be manufactured and aesthetic. Although, this look is pretty aesthetic among some people. I mean who doesn’t love the idea of sitting by the sea in a thick fisherman’s sweater, enjoying some soup and a pint? My own husband asks the barber for “more sea captain, less lumberjack” when he goes to the barber for a beard trim, so apparently he is into that look himself!
Samuel Goldwyn Films summarizes this movie as:
A fast living, cynical London music executive (Daniel Mays) heads to a remote Cornish village on a stag weekend where he’s pranked by his boss (Noel Clarke) into trying to sign a group of shanty singing fishermen (led by James Purefoy). He becomes the ultimate “fish out of water” as he struggles to gain the respect or enthusiasm of the unlikely boy band and their families (including Tuppence Middleton) who value friendship and community over fame and fortune. As he’s drawn deeper into the traditional way of life he’s forced to reevaluate his own integrity and ultimately question what success really means.
I think a lot of the movie is yes, Danny’s transformation and growth, from a “Peter Pan” type of adult man child still trying to hold onto his youth, into one that is responsible and knows what real work looks like. Not that people who work in offices or as executives or whatever don’t do work, my own husband is an office worker and he works HARD, but for the purposes of this movie, work for Danny is all just fun and games, all about making money and making a profit and finding the next big group. When he meets the fisherman in Cornwall however, he sees what family is like, loyal men who risk their lives for their jobs and their families, a sense of community that pulls together and cares about one another. Life has its fun moments, but it is not just all a big lark.
Jim (played by James Purefoy) and his family are the central moving forces in this movie. Jim is the most salty of the crew, and he works with his father Jacob, and his mother works at the local pub, which is a beloved spot in their little port town. His daughter Alwyn (played by Tuppence Middleton, no relation to Kate because I looked it up) and her daughter Tamsin live with Jim and run a Bed and Breakfast.
The heart of this movie, borrowing from a line said by Alwyn about the town, are the people. The stories, the community, the friendships. The shared history. The singing of sea shanties is just one way that share joy and sorrow. Music conveys so much emotion for all occasions, doesn’t it? These songs also are part of their history, of all fisherman who have gone before them, some are silly, some are sad.
When I was a little girl, my parents played the Irish Rovers on our record player weekly, probably daily. My mom would pick me up and spin me around and around the floor as she danced, singing along with the songs of the Rovers. I knew the words to Drunken Sailor and The Unicorn and all of those good old songs by the time I was four, and my very earliest memories, those blurry ones that don’t seem real that happen before you are even 2 or 3, include some of these songs and moments. Songs transport you through time and space, and as Alwyn says in this movie, people want to hear Fisherman’s Friends sing their shanties not for the high notes, but to be transported to the high seas.
I can just imagine living somewhere where the waves break against the land, where the wind blows salt in your eyes and face, rocky beaches where you can have a fire and a cup of tea and maybe some stew made from what is gathered from the sea. That is where we are transported when we hear these songs; or maybe a pub, filled with laughter and camraderie.
There are so many scenes in the pub, singing and laughing and just so joyful. I already shared an early memory; here is one of my happiest. When Billy and I were younger and not yet parents, we took a trip to Shenandoah with my brother and sister-in-law, and would spend the nights in the pub at Big Meadows. And it was just like the scenes in the movie. A folk singer was on stage, leading the crowd in singing those songs we all know by heart. By the time we were ready to leave, the night was pitch black and being on the top of a mountain, we would walk out and the sky was filled with stars, and there was a slight fog creeping up, and it was just one of those perfect moments in time.
Anyway, this movie review turned into more of a post about me and my memories. I think though, that that is the type of movie this is. We think of our own friends, our own communities, and music and how it moves through us, taking us places. It moves us, and it reminds us.
This week I will leave you with a few songs. One by the actual Fisherman’s Friends, another I just love.
And stay tuned!!! Comfy Cozy Christmas is coming up on both of our blogs! We are going to post one giant linky for anyone who wants to post anything about the holidays – not just Christmas, we are inclusive of all, but we just are nerdy little alliteration lovers, so Comfy Cozy Christmas it is. It can be anything from baking to decorating to movies to just anything holiday related. So look for that coming soon! I have a special page just for this, just keep watching that space as we get closer to December! Lisa and I plan on buddy watching a movie or two, and then soloing it the rest of the month!
Hello all! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I love to buddy watch movies together – even though I am in Michigan and she is in Pennsylvania! We don’t literally watch together in a watch party, although that might be fun one time! We wanted our fall list to feel fall cozy, move into some more chilling movies, than turn cozy again for November.
This week we started our slide into slightly more scary – or creepy maybe – with Arsenic and Old Lace.
That’s right, we joined back up with our old pal Cary Grant! Seriously, did this man make a bad movie, ever? Even this madcap crazy movie was a masterpiece!
So. I usually like to recap because for some reason I find it fun. This week, I think I will skip that because there is just way way too much for me to do that. Criterion describes it well:
Frank Capra adapted a hit stage play for this marvelous screwball meeting of the madcap and the macabre. On Halloween, newly married drama critic Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant, cutting loose in a hilariously harried performance) returns home to Brooklyn, where his adorably dotty aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, who both starred in the Broadway production) greet him with love, sweetness . . . and a grisly surprise: the corpses buried in their cellar. A bugle-playing brother (John Alexander) who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, a crazed criminal who’s a dead ringer for Boris Karloff (Raymond Massey), and a seriously slippery plastic surgeon (Peter Lorre) are among the outré oddballs populating Arsenic and Old Lace, a diabolical delight that only gets funnier as the body count rises.
Where do I start with this one?! I guess first, my expectations, of which I had none. Before we watched it, Billy and I were remembering how our high school put this on as a play and it was a really big deal, although we don’t know why, and Billy as an art student there had to create posters to advertise it. That was the extent of our knowledge. I also knew that Cary Grant was in it.
Once we started it and the opening credits began to run, I knew, knew in my bones, that I was going to love this movie. All the vintage Halloween art, be still my heart! I had no idea this was actually a Halloween movie!! Joy on my Sunday-Monday Post said that she used to watch this movie every Halloween while waiting for trick or treaters and I think that is a perfect tradition that I may steal one day. Right now we are in the trick-or-treat gang and I have a few years before we are back to handing out candy.
Every single actor in this movie was superb. Cary Grant seemed to be having an absolutely fantastic time, like literally just having the best time making this movie, and his facial expressions were hilarious. I mean, I get that his character was slowly losing it and unraveling as the movie goes on, due to the crazy things that keep popping up and his need to protect his sweet yet murderous aunts, but as a real person, I think Cary Grant was having a good time.
The two little dotty aunts made me laugh too, especially Abby with her bouncy little walk. They were so darn sweet and cute, and so completely open about their “mercy” killings of lonely old men. Peter Massey as the menacing Jonathan was pretty darn scary sometimes, and Teddy was a hoot. Charge!!!!!
However, Peter Lorre was my favorite. I loved him in this. I often love him in movies but this one in particular, he just kept making me giggle with his deliveries. Peter Lorre plays Dr. Einstein, the sidekick and personal plastic surgeon to the ominous Karloff-esque Jonathan, who is responsible for Jonathan looking er..similar..to Frankenstein’s Monster. He claims that he had just watched that movie (although it is never named) when performing plastic surgery on Jonathan, and was intoxicated, leaving Jonathan looking like Karloff. The joke is rooted in the fact that on stage in the play, Karloff played that role, and Capra was not able to get him for the movie version.
Anyway, back to Peter Lorre. He was priceless. When Teddy shows him a photo, and points out a man who is supposed to be Dr. Einstein, Peter Lorre’s reply to Teddy is “My how I’ve changed,” in that Lorre way. To which Teddy points out to him, that photo hasn’t happened yet. Because that is the type of movie this is, totally crazy and off the wall. Or another scene, where the lights are out, and things are happening that we can’t quite see, and we know the characters are scattering or hiding, and we hear Lorre say, “Where am I? Oh hear I am” and he pops up out of the infamous window seat, that has been integral to hiding dead bodies all evening. Then finally, another part that made me giggle, was another conversation between him and Teddy, when Teddy is going to show him Panama, and Peter Lorre looks back and says “Well bon voyage!”
Which brings us to the basement, or Panama, as it is sometimes referred to. The basement full of 13 bodies, 12 of which were put there by the aunts, 1 by Jonathan and Dr. Einstein. It’s easy to forget throughout this movie that there are actually dead bodies buried in the basement! These people who seem so funny and kooky are actually crazy murderers. Grant’s character Mortimer Brewster feels a responsibility to protect his crazy aunts, who he had previously thought charitable women who were entirely sane. Perhaps the only sane people in his family other than him! He actually uses this as an argument to his new bride, Elaine, who lives right across the foggy cemetery from his family’s mansion home, that he can’t be married to her. They should have been on their way to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon; instead he is trying to coordinate getting Teddy into an institution to take to the fall for the bodies to keep his aunts off the hook. Anyway, he tells Elaine that insanity is simply rampant in the Brewster family, that doesn’t just run in the family, it practically gallops. Therefore, he shouldn’t marry. The family is just too insane.
This movie reminded me so much of Clue, and Billy and I wondered if Arsenic and Old Lace served as a bit of inspiration for parts of Clue, especially Tim Curry’s portrayal of Wadsworth. We thought he had to have taken some cues from Cary Grant’s Brewster! The faces, the physical comedy, the slowly losing it as things got wilder. The people coming in and out, the hiding of bodies – like no sir, there are no bodies in the study…or in this movie’s case, no sir, there are not 13 bodies in the basement. The aunts also made me think of the aunts in Practical Magic, even though they were less murderous in Practical Magic. A lot less murderous.
This movie was crazy, kooky, zany, and dark. The actors were phenomenal, especially Grant and Lorre. I laughed, I never knew what was coming, I was fascinated. I loved the set, the plot – just everything about it, honestly!
Next week is sort of wide open! It is either a wild card watch for Lisa and I, where we watch something independently and post about it, or a break week. However, I think we are both planning on Wild Card! If you are watching along with us, you can post the link to your cozy or creepy movie post of your choice, or just take a break week! It’s up to you!
For Lisa’s impressions, pop on over to her blog post here!
If you are linking up this week, slap your link down below! I would love to see your thoughts! And if not, it’s cool to just chat in the comments section!
Hello all! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I love to buddy watch movies together – even though I am in Michigan and she is in Pennsylvania! We don’t literally watch together in a watch party, although that might be fun one time! We wanted our fall list to feel fall cozy, move into some more chilling movies, than turn cozy again for November.
This week showed us that you don’t need a typical midwest fall to get cozy. You don’t need a chill in the air, leaves changing color and falling to the ground, none of that is needed to be cozy. You could be in Africa, sweating your behind off on a boat on a river surrounded by mosquitos, and still achieve that cozy feeling.
I have to admit, I am a little intimidated to write this post today! Soooo many of you said that this was one of your favorite movies, and I feel some pressure! But, I do have to say, I also too, now love this movie. Before my go-to Bogart movie was Key Largo; however, I think it might have been replaced by The African Queen. I love an adventure movie and this one was a lot of fun.
In case you are like me, and had never seen this movie, Katharine Hepburn plays Rose, an English missionary in Congo Africa who has been working alongside her brother, a Reverend. Bogart is an unkempt, vagabond captain on The African Queen, of which he is quite proud. He boasts that no one else can captain The African Queen, and while he seems to not care about too much, he does care about the boat. He happens to be near the village where Rose and her brother are working when WWI breaks out, and soldiers burn the village to the ground. Rose’s brother takes a rifle butt to the head during the invasion, and later on dies. Charlie (Bogart) shows up the day that the Reverend dies, and after Charlie buries him, he and Rose leave together on The African Queen. Charlie is concerned that the Germans will want the Queen for her cargo and has a plan to avoid being seen, mainly hide around the other side of the island. The Germans have a giant ship, the Louisa, that has a big gun and can go 12 knots. Rose however, has another plan, and that is for the two of them to take out the Louisa.
Rose’s character was impressive. She was way tougher than I would have imagined she would be, after seeing her in her muliple layers of clothing and pouring tea in her home in the village for Charlie and her brother. But first impressions aren’t everything, since she surely proves her bravery and fortitude. The duo endure rapids, waterfalls, hordes of mosquitoes, leeches, getting lost in the weeds and having to actually get out and push the boat, and Rose never gives up. For his part, Charlie doesn’t much either, but he also doesn’t like dragging Rose through all of that. The grizzly old gus is a softy and a romantic and respectful of Rose and her modesty.
Throughout this crazy journey, of course Rose and Charlie fall for each other, which was adorable. I loved this scrappy unlikely twosome as a couple. There were of course, a few scenes which were favorites. I loved when the first night they both decided they needed a bath, and Charlie took one end of the boat, Rose the other, and then Rose couldn’t get back into the boat and needed a hand. I thought that was very cute and endearing and handled so nicely. I also enjoyed all the scenes of Rose drinking tea on board. It just seemed so British. Like, here she is, the world has gone to chaos, she is floating down the river in a tempermental boat with a man she hardly knows, the weather is hot, sweaty, probably humid, (this would make me nuts, let me be honest), she is on a mission to torpedo a giant ship with a giant gun with a homemade torpedo, but still, tea is a priority and a must. And I loved it.
There is also a scene where poor Charlie is exhausted and sleeping on the floor of the boat, all tucked up under the blankets and she delivers him a cup of tea. It was adorable, such a huggable little moment.
Just look at these two. They made me smile. So sweet in the midst of craziness.
After a very harrowing night, they are both captured (separately) and both sentenced to hang by the Captain of the Louisa. Charlie quick talks the Captain into marrying them before they are executed and while he sputters over it just does it for them. And then, right before the hangman pulls the lever or whatever happens when you hang someone onboard on a boat, there is an explosion!! The African Queen has delivered its payload all by itself, and blows up the Louisa. During the ensuing chaos, Charlie and Rose escape. Huzzah!
I simply adored this movie, and all the cozy moments and tea drinking that happened. And of course, the action and adventure! I love a good adventure movie – I grew up on Indiana Jones and always wanted to grow up to be him. Or maybe more like Evelyn from The Mummy but that came out later. Anyway, I have gotten off track! If you haven’t seen this, I recommend doing so. We loved it.
If you would like to join in on our Comfy Cozy Cinema you can print out our watch/post schedule here! You can either click the image itself or the download link below!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
