Top 10 Posts of 2011

Helena Bonham Carter with Tim Burton and kids Billy and Nell

1. Helena Bonham Carter-Actor of the Week. This photo specifically of HBC with her family seemed to interest a lot of readers.

Clueless with Alicia Silverstone

2. Clueless 1995...A Modern Emma Turns 16! Appropriately for this blog, the modern version of Jane Austen's Emma was one of my most popular posts.

Victoria & Albert

3.Victoria and Albert 2001 starring Victoria Hamilton, Jonathan Firth and Penelope Wilton  I love this miniseries about the real life romance between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. My readers loved it too. It stars Jonathan Firth, Colin's brother as Prince Albert and he does a fabulous job along with Victoria Hamilton.

William and Catherine-The Official Photo

4. Royal Weddings, Gowns and Hats, Oh My!  Didn't we all have fun at the end of April watching the royal wedding? Well I sure did. Glad my readers agreed!

Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent in Black Adder

5. Hugh Laurie- Actor of the Week  This goofy photo of Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent in Black Adder drove a lot of folks to my blog. Thanks Hugh!

David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman and Donny Osmond-My Tiger Beat past!

6. David Cassidy to Richard Armitage, My ever changing taste in men!  This is one of my favourite posts ever, so I am glad my readers agreed!

Jennifer Ehle

7. Jennifer Ehle- Actor of the Week  I have loved Jennifer Ehle since she was snogging Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice 1995. She now has a great role as a dead doctor (I kid you not) in an American TV show called A Gifted Man. She is also addicted to twitter and can be found here.

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette

8. Gorgeous but disappointing films- Marie Antoinette and Girl With a Pearl Earring  This post celebrated a couple of beautiful films that didn't quite satisfy me in the plot and acting departments. Both still worth seeing for the eye candy however (and a bit of historical enlightenment).

The Tudors with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a skinny sexy King Henry VIII

9.  The Tudors Marathon I watched this series while laid up with a bad throat infection last January. Absolutely heavenly but of course Henry VIII is skinny and sexy and the women all have perfect teeth and blow dried hair. Again, good eye candy and entertaining to boot!

Billy Elliot 2000

 
10. Billy Elliot- The Film (2000) This one was a stretch to call a Period Drama but it was set in 1984, so there! I just love this film and so, apparently, do my readers.

Happy New Year and may we all enjoy lots of good Period Drama throughout 2012. I am really looking forward to the new Downton Abbey season 2 (and Christmas Special, whenever we get that!) and also Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy if it ever goes into wide release. It is stuck in the big cities right now, but it will soon come to my little independent cinema in Waterloo Ontario!

Cheers!

William and Kate- I just can't get enough!

William & Kate, the American made-for-TV film by Lifetime

OK, I am a totally sad anglophile who is eating up all of the total crap on television this week leading up to the "Royal Wedding of the Century" on Friday. I just can't help myself! BBC Canada is feeding my habit by running royalty related shows in the evening every night this week and Lifetime ran it's William and Kate American made docudrama recently. Of course it was cheesy, but I couldn't rip myself away from the TV!

Nico Evers-Swindell as William and Camilla Luddington as Catherine Middleton

Yes, they did do things like stick a red phone box on an LA street and pretend it is London (same with double-decker buses). The accents on the lead characters float in and out because William is played by a Kiwi and Kate is portrayed by a blue blooded Brit who has been living and acting in LA for quite a while. But none of this seemed to matter as I lapped it right up.  I occasionally rolled my eyes at the more unbelievable scenes such as the showdown between William and Charles about how Diana was treated or much worse, the scene where William sings karaoke to Kate in public to apologize for his behavior. Ouch!

I cannot explain why I got up early 30 years ago to watch William's parents get married, and I cannot explain why I stayed glued to the TV bawling 14 years ago when Diana died. The film The Queen was likewise riveting for me as it brought back so many memories associated with Diana and the Royals.

Wills and Kate who seem to be truly in love

So all I can say is that I will definitely be hitting the hay early on Thursday night so I can get up at about 5:00 eastern time to catch the ceremony before I have to go to work. My sister promised to phone me so that we can chat as we watch it together on TV over our respective coffee cups and analyze everything until the "Big Kiss Moment on the Balcony" is over and we have to get our showers and get on with our days. At the last big one 30 years ago, we were in the same room, so this will be the next best thing.

Cheers, and I hope everyone gets enough sleep on Thursday night!

And now I think I'll see what CNN has to say about the wedding. Piers Morgan is as excited about this wedding as I am!