Bravo! Brava!

Upon the recommendation of a friend, I purchased this film.  I am glad I did.  What does happen to celebrities that once bathed in the limelight and are forced, due to illness or other things, retire in a home?  That is basically the story of QUARTET.  

My favorite British actress, Maggie Smith, is wonderful as Jean Horton, former opera diva.  Unbeknownst to her, her former husband is also a resident.  He does not want anything to do with her and she is ready to apologize.  Tom Courtenay portrays her ex, Reginald.  He does have a wonderful scene with young students who come to hear a lecture about opera.  He tries to explain opera; he even does research on rap and hip-hop.  He explains that in opera, the character is stabbed in the back with a knife, then sings about the betrayal before dying.  The young student also tries to explain rap to the opera singer by rapping a comparison of opera and rap.  It's a clever scene.

Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins round out the quartet.  Billy loves to flirt with the director of the home who is married.  Pauline Collins, also a former diva, is beginning to show signs of dementia and her character is very childlike and innocent.  Their goal is to have Jean join them in the Quartet from "Rigoletto."  Do they succeed?

What brought me to tears is the fact that the elderly are an aspect of society that we forget about.  The residents of the home were famous in their heyday, and now they are forgotten or are voices on recordings recalling their glory days.  Makes me think of contemporary singers and how they will live their lives when they are past 60.

It is a bittersweet comedy to be thoroughly enjoyed.  The opening song is "Brindisi" from LA TRAVIATA, I believe.  My knowledge of opera is non-existent, as my knowledge of musical theatre is  

existent.  I believe this film has opened up my curiosity into the world of opera.  Enjoy!

And now Mr. De Mille...

Recently I purchased The Cecil B. DeMille Collection of DVDs.  One of the films in this set is The Sign of the Cross.  I had seen this film many years ago on TV and always wanted to have this in my collection.  I would say it was the Quo Vadis? of the early 1930s.  In fact, I found it a tad better than the technicolor spectacle of the early 1950s.

This film was made before the notorious Hollywood Production Code existed, therefore the scenes were very racy, to say the least, and provacative.  Example:  Claudette Colbert as the villainous empress Poppeaea is introduced bathing in the milk of donkeys.  And in her bathing pool you could see her rather seductive curves being caressed by said milk.  There is a scene later in the film depicting a Roman "orgy" that has subtle lesbian hints!  Quite a risk taker that Mr. De Mille!!

The plot of the film is Roman military officer, Marcus Superbus,  meets young Christian woman, Mercia,  and it's love at first sight.  

Nero is portrayed by Charles Laughton.  He seems bored with his job as emperor and would rather be delving into the arts.  Perfect casting.  I wish he had more scenes, but his portrayal of Nero is decadent, much like Peter Ustinov in later years.  Claudette Colbert's Poppeaea is sensuous; her costumes are ever so Hollywood "Roman."  

The scenes depicting the games, where gladiators and martyrs meet, are pretty racy for the time.  Gladiator battles depicted are gory, by 1930s standards.  The demise of women martyrs, scantily clad, leads me to believe the Romans loved to add sex to people about to die.  Kind of scary since today we have crowds cheering at events where women, and even men, are in skin tight clothing and ready to do battle be it at wresting or some other athletic event.  These arena scenes are probably the closest Roman recreation of the debauchery that was Rome.

Of course, the Christians sing hymns on their way to martyrdom.  The closing scene is very reminiscent of 1953s The Robe.  I did shed a tear or two.  

Overall, an excellent retelling of ancient Rome.  Watch it with an open mind and realize it is the product of an era where film making was still a novel art.  Cecil B. De Mille was a pioneer at directing films with casts of thousands.  It's easy to day, with technology and CGIs to recreate any epoch of history; but there is nothing like watching films where the only technology was the camera.  Films of this type would be an expensive undertaking today!

Iditarod 2013

Today is the ceremonial start of this incredible 1000 mile race across the wilderness and scenic beauty that is the grand state of Alaska.  Sunday the 3rd of March the race begins.  Over 60 mushers and their sleds and amazing canines.  

This past week and the upcoming week my students have been doing research on Alaska, picked a musher to follow and have started to record the Alaskan weather to later create a weather bar graph.  My students have also researched hypothermia and how it may affect both human and canine contestants.  They have been very receptive and happy we've put our traditional subjects to the side for a few weeks.  Fear not!  They will be reading, writing and solving math problems...but with an Iditarod theme!  On Friday the 8th of March, we will have a school assembly with three huskies that have raced the Iditarod and their owners.  I am looking forward to this a lot!   Will keep you updated this week...hopefully!!

The Oscars Went to...

Here are the results:  (I did not predict all the categories)

Best Picture: Argo

Best Actress: Quvenzhane Wallis   Beasts of the Southern Wild / Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings 

     Playbook

Best Actor:  Daniel Day Lewis   Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress:  Anne Hathaway  Les Miserables

Best Supporting Actor:  Tommy Lee Jones   Lincoln / Christopher Waltz - Django Unchained

Best Director:  Steven Spielberg  Lincoln / Ang Lee - Life of Pi

Best Song:  Skyfall

Best Sound Mixing:  Les Miserables

Best Costume Design:  Les Miserables  /  Anna Karenina

Best Animated Feature: Brave

Best Cinematrography:  Life of Pi

Best Production Design:  Les Miserables / Lincoln

Well...until 2014!!  Popcorn, please!

And the Oscar Goes to...

My predictions for this year's Academy Awards...

Best Picture: Argo

Best Actress: Quvenzhane Wallis   Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Actor:  Daniel Day Lewis   Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress:  Anne Hathaway  Les Miserables

Best Supporting Actor:  Tommy Lee Jones   Lincoln

Best Director:  Steven Spielberg  Lincoln

Best Song:  Skyfall

Best Sound Mixing:  Les Miserables

Best Costume Design:  Les Miserables

Best Animated Feature: Brave

Best Cinematrography:  Life of Pi

Best Production Design:  Les Miserables

Tune in tomorrow to see how accurate (or inaccurate) this proves to be!