Pemberley (Lyme Park, Cheshire)

Pemberley (Lyme Park, Cheshire)
Oh, to be in England...

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Love Actually...Not Period Drama but I love it...

It is that time of year, when about a month before Christmas, I want to pop in my Love Actually DVD.  This has as many great British actors as you can cram into one film, and there was so much great stuff, that the extras contain almost another entire film (and some of the best bits).

For those of us who adore Period Drama, some of our favorite actors are at their best here...


Emma Thompson, as a housewife who thinks her marriage and family life is stable until she finds that necklace (I always yell at the screen when Alan Rickman's character cheats).

No Emma, don't open the present....

Boo, hiss.....(throw shoe)

Then we have Colin Firth as a stuttering sweetie, who is dumped by his girlfriend for his goofy brother (what was she thinking!).  He goes to France, only to fall for his Portuguese cleaning lady (hot, sexy, cleaning lady).

Swoon...

And we have Hugh Grant as the unlikely new Prime Minister (and Emma Thompson's brother) who falls for his slightly foul mouthed assistant.  Hugh's dance routine to the song "Jump" is hilarious and worth watching just for that!

Swivel those hips Hugh!

Take a bow...














The one part which is now a bit hard to watch is Liam Neeson as a widower, struggling with adapting to single fatherhood.  As he is now a widower with two young boys, after his wife Natasha Richardson died after a ski accident, this cuts a bit close to the bone, but as it was always the most poignant part of the film, it will only be more so now.  The extras do however have a really funny bit with Liam and online porn sites, which will have you rolling on the floor.

The total agony of being in love?

A rather unusual part of this film, deals with the love between two adult males, in a platonic way (I believe), with Bill Nighy as an aging rock star and Gregor Fisher as his "chubby employee" ("Ten minutes with Elton John and you're as gay as a maypole!").  Bill Nighy is a legend in British comedy.

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes....Christmas is all around us...

Kiera Knightley in the unrequited love sequence is absolutely radiant, and made me Google "banoffee pie" to find out what the heck that is (aparently it is banana and toffee...hmmmmm).  Andrew Lincoln as her admirer and best friend of her new husband is both adorable and heart breaking.

Banoffee Pie...a bit suspect?

Awwwwww.....

I could go on, but instead, I think I'll just go and pop this DVD in to get me pumped for the holidays.  Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!  I have a craving for a banana split now...

18 comments:

  1. So funny, I just watched this DVD on Saturday to start my annual Christmas film obsession.

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  2. I liked most of the stories in this movie, but I could have been done without the porn star and the jerk who goes to Wisconsin and picks up 3 beautiful girls. That guy made my skin crawl. But Hugh Grant and his girlfriend and Bill Nye and his best friend were worth the price of admission.

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  3. ladytoesocks-You are a true kindred spirit I think. The other ones I have to watch (closer to Christmas) are Elf and A Child's Christmas in Wales.
    Mary-I think the Brits have a much more European attitude to nudity/sexuality than we North Americans. But Colin Frizzle getting those girls is definitely fantasy (especially since one of them is January Jones of Mad Men)! I have to admit his nose pick was truly disgusting, but I guess that was what they were going for.

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  4. Spoiler alert! (Hey - it's a 6-year-old movie)

    I loved this movie, although I exactly agree with Mary Simonson about the parts that might have profitably been left out. Those bits would probably be enough to accommodate the following:

    After watching all the bits that were left out, I began to think of other ways the film might have been better and funnier. Keep the African sequences. Very short and poignant. Keep the bit with the headmistress's dying partner. Keep the bit with Emma Thompson's son and his essay - except instead of ET & son just going off and having lunch, have ET burst into laughter after reading the essay and say how wonderful it was - deliberately misunderstanding why she had been called to the office.

    Also, there was a lot of talk about "fat" people and being inclusive. (Hugh Grant's beautiful assistant/girfriend is supposed to be fat - as if!!) Wouldn't the Colin Firth story have been funnier if the fat sister had been the cleaning lady he fell in love with? So when he goes to the family home and the father calls for his daughter, it is the hotty who comes to the door - but CF still reacts with the same horror he does when it is the fat sister. That would be much more inclusive and much, much funnier. Especially if all the reactions are the same as they now are.

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  5. Excellent review and synopsis of this movie! It is one of my favorites! And I love to watch it around Christmas time! I love so many of the actors in this film! Especially Colin Firth!

    I recently watched Valentines Day which is similar in that there are many famous actors, lots of love stories and characters connected. It was nice, but the Brits did it better I think!

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  6. Hi Meredith,
    I know, can we really ever get enough Colin Firth? I am so looking forward to his new release "The King's Speech" which I will post about as soon as I can get myself to see it (2 weeks from now on Dec 10th). Stay tuned...

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  7. Dear Sis:

    It's official! I watched "Love, Actually" over the weekend as part of the pre-Christmas lead up, and your niece is now hooked on it, too! She goes around the house singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You", (as she identifies most with the young "first love" couple of Sam and Joanna) and has asked to see the "Christmas Eve at the airport where Sam gets past security to run to the gate to say goodbye to Joanna" scene about 10 times!
    She's definitely got the British film bug ... must be in the DNA!
    Love,
    Big Sister

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  8. Sam is soooo cute. "Worse than the total agony of being in love?" and "She's the coolest girl in school..."
    My niece has very good taste in men so far. Did you know that Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Sam) is in a John Lennon Biopic called "Nowhere Boy" which hasn't really hit North America yet. He plays Paul, the cute one of course.

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  9. I also love this film and watch it every year around Chistmas. It's funny and sad at the same time. Love the actors too!

    Kate from Leeds. xx

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  10. @Kate-So many wonderful actors in this one. And the out takes are as good as the film! Ever had banoffee pie?

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  11. @Jenny-No, I've never had banoffe pie. I love Christmas! Have you seen It's A Wonderful Life?

    Kate from Leeds xx

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  12. I adore It's a Wonderful Life. Jimmy Stewart is my ideal man I think. I also love him in Rear Window. He just seemed like such a lovely man.

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  13. I LOVE It's A Wonderful Life! I watch it every Christmas. James Stewart was a brilliant actor. Love him in Harvey and The Philadelphia Story. I've never seen Rear Window.

    Kate from Leeds. xx

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  14. You'll love Rear Window. It's an Alfred Hitchcock film and Grace Kelly is luminous. Good chemistry between the two of them too, despite the age difference.

    He is great in all the others you mentioned too. What a gentleman.

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  15. My favourite Christmas films that I love, find comforting and enjoy watching every year are:

    Love Actually
    White Christmas
    Scrooge (Albert Finney)
    It's A Wonderful Life
    Serendipity
    Little Women (1994 version)
    Meet Me In St. Louis
    While You Were Sleeping
    Ballet Shoes
    The Nightmare Before Christmas
    Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (2005)
    The Snowman (This makes me feel very special and it is so magical! I watch every Christmas Eve with my Mum.)
    Father Christmas
    The Nutcracker Royal Ballet (Covert Garden, 2000.)

    I'll keep an eye out for Rear Window. My mum said that Grace Kelly wears some lovely clothes in it.

    Kate from Leeds. xx

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  16. Great list Kate! Makes me want to see some of those great oldies again. And The Snowman was one we used to watch when my boys were little. My eldest who is now 20 cried the first time the snowman melted. Awwww!

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  17. Aww, that's really sweet that your son cried at the snowman melting when he was little! I'm 22 and I still get a lump in my thoart at the end, even though I've seen The Snowman lots of times. I own it on DVD but I still watch on TV every Christmas Eve. There is something comforting about The Snowman. I watched White Christmas today and While You Were Sleeping, feel very festive!

    Kate, from Leeds. xx

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  18. As a fellow period drama-lover please do head over to our recent short film "The Garden"- an 18th Century love story that transcends life and death; critically-acclaimed & festival nominated! You can see the full film at www.thegardenshortfilm.com !

    Best Wishes

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