Costume Drama Whore-A-Thon Day 2

Day 2 'Sherlock Holmes' (2009)
I love Holmes and Watson so I'm game to watch any films/TV that include them. Of course I've read the books to. What self respecting person has not. Have I gone to far,? Okay maybe not everyone has read Arthur Conan Doyle but if you've never heard about Sherlock Holmes your living under a rock or lead a very sheltered life.

I really enjoyed the film. I feel bad for missing out on it at the theaters. For me, I think what makes it fun is that Robert Downey Jr just looked like he was having a blast. I love Rachel McAdams, she was pretty decent. I mean her role could of been written better but that didn't make me like the film any less. Who doesn't love Mark Strong, great villain. The legendary Geraldine James graced the film, wish it was a bigger role. I love her. Jude Law was, well Jude Law.

What I really loved about this particular Holmes film was that Holmes wasn't so stuffy and that their was a decent amount of humor and action. I now they wanted to take Sherlock Holmes in a different direction and I think they were successful. I mean was this film perfect, no, there were a few problems but it doesn't take away from it. It's just a fun ride. Were not finding cures for diseases or helping to achieve world peace threw this film. Take it down a notch and enjoy it for what it is, fun. The mystery was interesting. I have heard a bit of complaining about it but Holmes has dealt with potentially super natural theories before. It's not out of the blue. The costume and set pieces were nice. Not excellent but the ladies looked pretty good in what they were wearing. I also loved the coloring the film had.

Jeez, baby crying. Gotta go.

Costume Drama Whore-A-Thon Day 1

Day 1 'Public Enemies' (2009)
So on August 1, I started my costume drama/period piece daily watch for a month. So here I go.
I watched Public Enemies in theaters and walked away loving it. It had everything I needed to make me love this gangster flick. I don't know if I would consider this a true gangster flick though. Basically it's based on the life of bank robber and America's first public enemy John Dillinger. Not really that great of a life if you take out the notoriety that has piled on threw the years. Years spent in jail, jail breaks, robbing banks, shoot outs, getting shot, running from the cops, women, all the good stuff. It all comes to a end when he's finally brought down by the FBI. Of course that's what kinda makes him a legend today. That and what he got away with, a crook legend. A great movie life but in reality, I just don't see the appeal. But times were hard back then, with the depression and the dust bowl, certain people were drawn to that outlaw life style. The public supported Dillinger to an extent, I mean he was robbing banks and banks were not friends to the average person. Kinda still the same today.

Johnny Depp plays Dillinger. I have to say it was a great match. Depp can get us to feel bad for Dillinger at one moment and then not feel bad for him. He played Dillinger's venerability well when he was around his girl Billie and showing his loyalty and ruthless side with his friends and crew.Christian Bale plays FBI agent Melvin Purvis. He's heading the task force after Dillinger and the rest of the so called public enemies. Batman's pretty good in this. Plus, did I already mention he's hot. Once or twice already? Okay then. Loved that accent. Seriously, Bale was great. He played reserve so well, you could clearly read in his facial expression and eyes what the character was feeling, thinking when stuff went right and when stuff went way wrong, on the methods the FBI were using.

What really got me was how many recognizable faces were in blink and you miss it roles. There was Carey Mulliagn (Sally Sparrow from the best ever Doctor Who episode, Weeping Angels. Oh ya, she was nominated for an oscar for the fantastic An Education.) as a prostitute. I swear she was on for a full minute before you never saw her again. Emilie de Raven (Claire, Lost) had at least three minutes. Channing Tatum had at least three too. I kept recognising faces and yelling out there tv character or movie names. Like David Wenham, kept calling him Faramir. Same thing with Branka Katic who played Anna Sage, who ultimately informed the FBI were Dillinger was the night they caught him. I was like, oh that's Ana from Big Love. I was also surprised when I saw Leelee Sobieski as Polly Hamilton, one of Dillinger's girlfriends. At that point I never saw in her in any form of adverting or pictures. Her part wasn't that big but I kinda liked that I didn't know she was in it.

I loved all the gun fights. The action was pretty good, real good. It is after all a Michael Mann film. He does his gun fights well. I love when stuff blows up in movies. Some of that stuff was just awesome to watch.
What I didn't like was Marion Cotillard as Billie. I just couldn't take her seriously. When she called one of the FBI agents a flatfoot during one of her defying scenes, I laughed out loud. Maybe it's my dislike the actress but I could of lived with someone else playing the part. I also wished it wasn't filmed in digital and instead with film. It would of looked even more gorgeous. The sets, costumes, were all excellent but the digital seemed to distort the picture at times. Though it's not a bad looking film in the least bit.

I got tell people to rent the bluray or dvd simply to hear the director, Michael Mann's commentary. It's full of some good stuff. Mann knows his history, he was very knowledgeable on Dillinger and the era. It was fascinating listening to the commentary simply because Mann made it entertaining, at least for me. I totally geeked out over it. Give it a listen. I enjoyed it as much as the movie.

TV Ramblings: Poirot

Agatha Christie's 'Third Girl'
Hercule Poirot is back taken names and kicking ass. Well, kicking ass in his own way.
When Norma Restarick comes knocking on Poirot's door claiming that he might be the only one to save because she thinks she committed murder. She then promptly runs away before Poirot can get some answers. Low and behold, Norma's childhood nanny is found dead, possible suicide. Norma is tormented by her mother's own suicide when she was just a child and is convinced she committed this murder. Poirot along with Ariadne Oliver, who's back for another adventure, make sense out of this whole mess before Norma ends up dead herself.

So, this was a decent film. Zoe Wanamaker is back as the crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, she's always good. Jemima Rooper plays the ever tortured Norma and she's well, she's a pass on the acting front. I was distracted by everyone's way to heavy caked on makeup. Holy smokes, those painted girls could give babies nightmares. I'm not totally in love with this production, need to watch it again. But as always, good costumes, great sets. There were kinda off on some of the actors and way off on the makeup, which is a surprise for a Christie adaption, usually top notch. I loved that we got to see Poirot's apartment again. It was a treat.


Agatha Christie's 'Appointment With Death'
Poirot is in Syria on an archaeologist dig with Lord Greville Boyton, his nasty wife and her kids. A travel writer, some doctors, a nun, a nanny, a whole bunch of crazy people, per usual. Nasty, and I mean nasty Lady Boyton gets killed, found stabbed to death while taking in some sun. Poirot leaps onto the case, sensing something right away and using those sleuthing skills to solve this murder of a most hated woman. Suspects galore.

Definitely a good film to end the the Poirot season this year. They filmed on location so everything looked beautiful, the sets, costumes, makeup, hair. Just really a top notch production all the way around. A good cast, but some of those American accents were brutal. Still, a lavish production, a good story and just a great watch.

The best part was that John Hannah played Dr. Gerard. Love him, he was great. I also like Christina Cole, she played Dr. Sarah. I loved her since 'He Knew He Was Right'. Tim Curry who played Lord Boyton was Tim Curry per usual. Elizabeth McGovern also stared as Celia Westholme. I've been a fan of hers since I saw 'She's Having a Baby'. She's been appearing in allot of British productions of late, it's always nice to see her on my screen. The cast was pretty good, near perfect.

I loved that in these three films, they touched a bit on faith. It didn't bother me in the least, Poirot could of been any faith and I could of cared less. It was just something different to show in these ongoing films. 'Murder on the Orient Express' had Poirot praying and we found out he was Catholic, the 'Third Girl' had a cross hanging on Poirot's wall in his apartment and in 'Appointment With Death', Poirot gifts a rosary to a much needed soul. I'm amazed that all three films kept that up, showing a bit more about Poirot by showing us a softer side, maybe, threw his faith.

The Chronicles of a Costume Drama Whore

I've decided to make myself happy. Yep, I'm going to please myself (minds out of the gutter) by watching a period piece film/costume drama every night this month. Then I'm going to bitch and moan or gush my love in my own personal I don't make any sense way. Starting tonight, Public Enemies. Why Public Enemies, because Christian Bale is hot. So begins The Chronicles of a Costume Drama Whore. Or better yet, Costume Drama Whore-A-Thon.

Doctor Who - TV Ramblings Part 2

Episode 7 'Amy's Choice'
It's been a few years since Amy has traveled with the Doctor. She's married Rory and Amy's pregos. There settled in a nice village, when they hear the Tardis, happy and surprised to see the Doctor who's come for a visit. But not all is what it seems to be, this seems to be a different world, at the same time the Doctor, Amy and Rory are trapped in a broken Tardis heading for destruction. Which world is real, which world is a dream? Amy must decide what is real and what isn't.

Well, despite this being titled Amy's Choice and my dislike for all things Amy, I dug the episode. It was well acted and written. I love Rory so it's great to see him traveling with the Doctor. First thing I noticed was Amy finally wears a pair of pants. So, apparently she does own a pair or two. I like Amy much better when Rory is around, her shrill factor seems to go down a notch. I also loved the creep factor going on between both worlds. I have to say, the old villagers chasing Amy, the Doctor and Rory around with their walkers was pretty funny. I felt so wrong laughing at that. You don't laugh at old people. Guest star Toby Jones was major creepy. Jones plays creepy pretty well.

Overall this episode was pretty good, not perfect but not a bad way to spend your tv watching hour. I did feel a bit let down by the ending, the resolution. I don't want to give away to many spoilers but I felt it was all this build up for that.


Episode 8 'The Hungry Earth'
The gang travels to the near distant future, a small village town were the first greeting the get are future Amy and Rory waving to them from a distance. But not all is what it seems. Of course it isn't, this is Doctor Who after all. So the Doctor discoverers drilling and he and Amy go investigating. Rory stays behind putting Amy's engagement ring away, so she won't lose it when he comes across a mother and her son asking him to find out about empty graves and missing bodies. At the drill site, trouble, a worker has gone missing and Amy gets sucked into the earth. The Silurians are back with a 21 century makeover.

Well, not sure what to make of this episode. I loved/hated it. The Silurians are back and I believe that last time we saw them was in 1970 with the third incarnation of the Doctor. I love Jon Pertwee's Doctor. Awesome part of this episode was that Amy was off the screen for most of it. I think the best parts were the interaction the Doctor and the town folks who were trapped had with the Silurian they had captured. I knew things were gonna get ugly when the Doctor had to tell the mom to put away her weapons. I have no words left. I suck.


Episode 9 'Cold Blood'
The concluding episode to the previous episode 'The Hungry Earth'. The Doctor must negotiate peace between the humans and the Silurians to avoid an all out war. But things go way wrong when some crazed woman takes matters into her own hands and kills the Silurian they have hostage that the Doctor was planing on exchanging for Amy and two other people being held captive. To show that they meant peace, they weren't in this to harm them. Damn that crazed poorly written/acted woman.

Ah, this episode is a mess. What was up with the out of nowhere narration. It was distracting. The first part of this story had no narration. It was just stupid. My heart broke for Rory, he went bye bye. This is the second time Rory's died. First in 'Amy's Choice' and now here. But I'm sure he'll be back. It was so heartbreaking to see Amy forget all about Rory because he was sucked into those damn cracks in the wall. When the Doctor and Amy saw future Amy waving goodbye to them, the Doctor's face was layered with guilt. Matt Smith is best at playing it serious, not as a crazed person ruining around mumbling. Though it was pretty cool when the Flock of Seagulls Doctor put his hand in the crack and found a piece of the Tardis destroyed. That's about all that was good. Seriously.

TV Ramblings: Mad Men S4 E1

Mad Men Season 4 Episode 1 'Public Relations'
Mad Men is back, all is right with the world. Love this show and it's great to have it back. The performances were spot on, the costumes were great, the color, the sets, all lavish and lush looking, per usual.

So we pick up about a year after the events in the season finale. The new agency is up and running and struggling. Don is Don. He doesn't seem to be enjoying that bachelor life, nor did he enjoy married life either. The season is young. Don gets his agency in a bit of a jam with a bad article in the paper. He's got to make it right, which he finally does much against his will. Basically he's mopey. I like seeing Don suffer.

I'm not gonna recap the whole episode, just gonna write what I liked about it.

One of my favorite characters is Betty. I was in agreement when she left Don, he lied to her and was a bad husband in the sense that he wasn't true to her. When she found out the truth about who he really was, that was the last straw. What I didn't agree with was her running off with another man, that's not going to end well. That said, it was really hard to like her in this episode. I'm always supporting her, even when she grabbed Sally's pony tail and locked her in the closet. I like that Betty is a mess, she married to soon and had kids to soon. If she was brave enough to follow her true self instead of trying to fit the mold, wife/mother/perfect housewife and just continued to be a model and run wild, she'd be far happier. I'm looking forward to seeing her new marriage crumble. That's kinda mean but I'm not feeling the smuck she married. On a shallow note, Betty looked stunning.

Joan! Not enough of her in this episode. Joan is always fun to watch. Pete and Peggy were them usual selves. That phone call that Peggy made to Don, I need bail money was hysterical. Is it just me or are Don and Peggy soul mates?

Gotta run, baby crying.

Doctor Who - TV Ramblings Part 1

Well, catching up on the new series of Doctor Who. I won't say how fantastic it is like every other review. It's not for me. It has more misses for me than hits. I'm a big fan of Doctor Who and have loved almost all the other Doctors but I'm having trouble getting into this new series and I've almost watched all the episodes. I'm just shy the last two. I won't gush about how great the new Doctor, Matt Smith is. I'm not gelling with him. I actually might need another series but as of right now, I'd welcome a new regeneration. I won"t gush over Amy either, hate her. She's way to annoying and doesn't own a pair of pants. But I love Rory who's just to cute for words.

Episode 1 'The Eleventh Doctor'
Picking off were they left when the Doctor regenerated and screamed out the stupidest catch phrase ever, Geronimo. Who came up with that one? The Doctor crash lands on earth and meets a little girl who he befriends, she feeds him for hours and he eventually starts getting better. The Doctor discovers a crack in her wall but the Tardis needs to be fixed so off he goes with a promise to come back. He does come back, some ten years later and encounters the little girl all grown up. That sweet young child became the brat we all know, Amy. Turns out the crack in the wall was serious and Amy is kinda a stalker in training.

What was Good: The episode was pretty good overall. The best part was when there was the flashes of all ten Doctors and then faded in to Matt Smith. I was in fan/geek mode over that.

What was Bad: Amy.

My Last Words: For an episode that introduces a new face for the Doctor and a new companion, wasn't so bad. It actually was a solid episode. Not sold on the new Doctor and I dislike Amy immensely.

Episode 2 'The Beast Below'
Amy, who's still in her pjs, is on her first adventure with the Doctor. They go to the future and discover that Briton is now a floating space ship, Starship UK, searching for a new planet to call home. Guess we screwed the earth up. Of course not all you see is good, they got the terrifying Smilers. There not terrifying, just like those weird guys on the street you encounter sometimes. Plus a really creepy voting booth you never want to go into.

What was Good: The Queen in her red riding hood cape and that white face mask. That made a striking picture and was ultra bad ass.

What was Bad: The plot, Amy, everything. What a dull story for the second episode. Got into a friendly fight with my friend who loved it. I say, to each their own. I actually fell asleep watching.

My Last Words: It's to late to get David Tennant back, damn. I guess I'm just being overly critical. I've loved Doctor Who for years and I'm just not feeling it.

Episode 3 'Victory of the Daleks'
The Doctor answers the call of PM Winston Churchill and goes back to World War Two London during the blitz. He discovers the Daleks working on the side of good to help the British win the war. No freaking way.

What was Good: Not much folks.

What was Bad: Pretty much everything. The Daleks again? I just don't care anymore. The story was weak and nothing happened that was at all exciting. You call that a confrontation? Major let down when the Doctor and the Daleks have their showdown. Dull, dull, dull.

My Last Words: I'd rather see the Cybermen. This episode almost made me quite the series this year. I don't know what is wrong with me. Everyone is loving it so far and I'm just, meh.

Episode 4 'The Time of Angels'
The Doctor and Amy run into River Song as she sends a coded message to the Doctor asking for help. Help with what, creep fest that are the Weeping Angels. They got one and are in search for some answers. Can they find it in a cave full of potential Weeping Angels? Sure they can.

What was Good: River Song and the Weeping Angels.

What was Bad: Almost everything and nothing. The plot was good, the script seemed okay. I just think at the end of the day the episode was missing something. I can't pin point exactly wahat is was, but it left me feeling, that was it. Even though the Weeping Angels were present, it was no 'Blink'. The ever annoying Amy who doesn't own a pair of pants has got to go. But she won't. Over dramatic sobs from me.

My Last Words: River Song rules! Her grand entrance was pretty cool. The Weeping Angels were still creepy as all out. Not a strong episode, but those caves full of potentially Weeping Angels were pretty creepy. Worth a watch simply because of River Song. On to part two.

Episode 5 'Flesh and Stone'

Well everybody is still trying to get away from those Weeping Angels but there's more to worry about, that dang crack in the wall shows up again. Uh oh.

What was Good: River Song. The Weeping Angels. River Song.

What was Bad: The forest setting. Amy. Actually this was a pretty good episode overall. I just don't care about the ongoing story point about the crack in the wall. This is gonna hang on till the end of this series. Ugh.

My Last Words: A much stronger episode than The Time of Angels. The Weeping Angels were awesome per usual. All that creep factor and they were still scary. River Song is bad ass. Can she please come on next season and be the permanent companion. Please.

Episode 6 - 'The Vampires of Venice'
The Doctor, Amy and Rory land in 16th century Venice. They come upon a mystery surrounding the House of Calvierri, were girls from needing families go to better themselves end up missing or have the appearance of the blood sucking undead.

What was Good: The costumes were fantastic and it looked and felt realistic to the era. Most likely since it was filmed in the medieval town of Trogir in Croatia. The makeup was pretty well done, the best this series for me. I mean when they turned into the 'vampires' that was pretty epic. I have to say the vamps creeped me out just a bit. I mean it wasn't scary but the creep factor was totally there. I also just love Rory to bits.

What was Bad: Nothing. I was actually pretty satisfied. Amy still does not own a pair of pants.

My Last Words: Hands down the best episode of the series for me. Helen McCrory was mega awesome as Rosanna, the head of the House of Calvierri. I'm kinda happy I didn't give up the show like I was planing on doing. This episode has renewed my faith. Somewhat. No not really, why give up at this point.