Some enchanted evening

Okay, so I haven't watched this movie lately, but I did watch it on Great Performances last night. Or, rather, I watched a performance of the songs (and a bit of dialogue) last night which gave me tingles and I was inspired to write. (I'd also like to send a shout-out to Emily, who suffered through my oft-quoting of musicals during our high school years. "Princeton, NJ, how far are they...?")

SOUTH PACIFIC is one of my all-time favorite musicals. And, arguably, one of the best pieces of musical theater ever. It won a pulitzer prize, for goodness sake, and Rogers and Hammerstein fought to keep in the very controversial song "You've got to be carefully taught." For 1949, interracial romance was extremely taboo, and R & H kept it in the plot and addressed it head-on. Hurrah. (And they continued to address it in the King and I and Flower Drum Song in future years.)

So the film, made in 1958, is still thrilling, but the over-use of filters (how come the sky just turned purple?) is really distracting. But all the songs are there and who can resist Rossano Brazzi singing "Some Enchanted Evening" (nevermind that his singing voice was dubbed - he's still smoldering)?

I'm also compelled to mention my mother - she has always loved this musical (it's her favorite because it's so "romantic" - her words) - and she has passed her love for musicals onto me. I watched this movie a lot when I was young, and knew the soundtrack by heart, thanks to her. Thanks, mom.

Thank you, Hudson

Last weekend, I watched the final installment of UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS - the massive series from the 1970s. I was too young to watch it the first time around when it was shown here on Masterpiece Theater, and family lore has it that my mother refused to go to the hospital to deliver my brother until she had finished watching the latest episode regarding the lives of those at 165 Eaton Place, Belgravia.

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS, is a tale of all those who live in Eaton Place from the turn of the century through 1930. Upstairs, you follow the lives of the Bellamys - Lord and Lady Bellamy, and their children, James and Elizabeth. Downstairs, it's the lives of the servants we watch- Hudson, the butler, Mrs. Bridges, the cook, Rose, the head house parlormaid (and one of the creators of the show), along with many other servants.

The episodes are juicy and always incorporate historical facts of what was going on in Britain - especially politically and socially, as Lord Bellamy is a MP. Some are quite scandalous, but I never felt like I was watching a soap opera, and you see everyone warts and all - with their indiscretions, their prejudices, their snobbery. What's especially fascinating to me (and I'm a nerd) aside from all the british-ness of it and the historical stuff, is the production element of it. Scenes are filmed from beginning to end with one, sometimes two cameras, with no cuts in between. No one does that anymore.

I gorged myself and watched all 68 episodes over the course of 4-5 months (thank you, NetFlix). I am not saying you all should do the same thing - that's a lot - but rent one of the discs that has 4 or 5 episodes on it. You'll pick up on the plot in no time, and get sucked into the intrigue of 165. And I have never seen so much cooking and cleaning - who knew? I vote for upstairs- they are are always drinking something delicious.

The episodes from WWI (season 4) are particularly good, and the first two seasons are stunners.

NEW TWIST ON AN OLD THEME

Time to breathe a little life back into the dormant Balcony. We checked out THUMBSUCKER (in two installments) over the past few nights. This is one we had intended to see in the theater (Mike looooooves Tilda Swinton), but as so often happens, it was gone before we got around it.

Definitely relying a little heavily on the Wes Anderson-style formula, with the use of music, the dysfunctional family, the wacky editing. Not a great film, but the kid, Lou Pucci, did a nice job, and I have to say, both of the Vince's (D'Onofrio and Vaughn) shocked me with their chops. I had never seen either of them on screen before, and they both took me quite by surprise. I thought the relationship between Justin and his dad was wonderfully subtle, and avoided many of the usual cliche traps and hystrionics. Worth checking out, I would say, but don't expect to be blown away. A nice little film.

Nudity? In England?

At long last, I saw MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS last night. A nice bit of costume drama (is it still a costume drama if it takes place in the 21st century?) starring the formidable Dame Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson) and Bob Hoskins (Vivian Van Damm).

The story is really theirs - yes, there are lots of people in this film - naked ones, most of the time - but as my friend Erika pointed out, you only know two of the theater performers by name. Hoskins and Dench are well-matched as equally stubborn, equally irritating people who, as in most romantic comedies, love to hate each other. However, unlike a romantic comedy, it does not turn into some tawdry, forced match. Instead, the plots turns slightly, and the characters turn into allies in business and surrogate parents for the performers.

Visually, it's a treat, with gorgeous costumes by Sandy Powell and amazing stage sets. It's pretty light, with some sad recollections of Mrs. Henderson's deceased son, and references to the impending war in Europe (those Nazis again), plus the Blitz is no fun. Christopher Guest is rather funny as Lord Cromer. Plus, everyone gets naked. And what is funnier than a naked Bob Hoskins? Or a man named Vivian?

COME ON IN MY KITCHEN

You may or may not know that Mike and I share an unnatural attraction to a certain English actor by the name of Michael Kitchen. If you don't know FOYLE'S WAR, put it on your Netflix queue NOW. It's some of the most brilliant TV ever to be exported from Britain.

Anyway, we are suffering through a dry spell at the moment, between FOYLE installments, and we needed a Kitchen Fix. This led us to rent a 1997 film version of MRS. DALLOWAY (not exactly the most cinematic of stories) starring the venerable Vanessa Redgrave as Clarissa, and The Kitch as the slighted (and slightly batty) Peter Walsh. Vanessa did a noble job as Clarissa (she WILL buy the flowers herself), and The Kitch had a great (and characteristically understated) breakdown scene, but over-all, EH. Not great. There was some cheesy slow-mo photography and some awkward transitioning between Clarissa's life then and now, but over-all, it was worth it just to get our fix.