England in Texas

     Oh, my, it is dreary out, isn't it? Even "deep in the heart of Texas" there are (occasionally) cold, wet, somber, wintry days. I can't speak for other Texans, but I revel in the cold, regarding it as compensation for the surplus of hot, humid, bone-melting days of summer and even late spring and early autumn. Though a Texan born and bred, I know in my gut I just was not made for the crippling Texas heat. Maybe that's why, from a very early age, I've always felt strongly drawn to England and all things English.

     When I look out my window this morning and feel the chill seep through and numb my toes, part of me thinks "dreary day" and another part thinks "Jane Eyre wandering the moors after her aborted wedding to Rochester." I love the pattern of bare black branches against the slate sky. I love the wet pavement, the weeping rose arbor, the muddy paw prints left by stray cats. I love wrapping myself up in soft fleece and woolen socks, and even wearing fingerless gloves as I type. (We don't like to set the thermostat very high.) All these things take me away from Texas and carry me away to a kind of ersatz England, highly romanticized, perhaps, but effective, in my mind, at least.

     I recently watched again my DVD of Nancy Meyers' film The Holiday,  this time with the commentary on. One day while filming, Ms. Meyers asked Kate Winslet about the validity of Kate's character wearing a heavy wool scarf while at home; in reply, Ms. Winslet grasped Ms. Meyers by the shoulders and said, "This is the Cotswolds."  Ms. Meyers, later in the commentary, tells us that one of her English friends actually took a shower once with her coat on.

     So perhaps I do romanticize England a bit. But I will embrace and enjoy these chilly days while I can—I know all too well that the infamous Texas heat will soon beat my brow and bend my back.





Film Scores I Love, Part Two

     Okay, it's not a feature film -- rather, they're not feature films -- but Hagood Hardy's scores to Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables, the Sequel (formerly titled Anne of Avonlea) are so wonderfully winsome, touching, humorous, romantic, and just downright perfect for these mini-series, I just had to include them here.

     Unfortunately, the CD is out of print and extant copies, both new and used, are outrageously expensive (at least from what I saw on Amazon). Shame. At least we still have this beautiful music on YouTube.

     One of my favorite film composers is Thomas Newman, whose most recent credits include The Help, The Iron Lady, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. But it's his score to the 1994 Little Women that I love best. The titles theme is unabashedly American, almost Copland-esque, with its broad brass and sweeping strings, a perfect musical evocation of this quintessentially American novel and its atmospheric film adaptation.



     Another of my favorites is Patrick Doyle. Who doesn't love the music in the final scene of Sense and Sensibility ? All the music in this film is wonderful, particularly the songs sung by Kate Winslet and, over the end credits, the platinum-voiced Jane Eaglen.



     Speaking of Jane Austen films, I particularly love the songs Jeremy Sams wrote for the 1995 Persuasion, both of them in Italian and both so lovely (though the second one is incomplete), I wish they were available on sheet music. Those of you who have seen the film undoubtedly know the scene where Anne and her family attend a salon concert (" ... to be given in Italian," said Mr Elliott contemptuously ). The first song is repeated over the final credits.

     I couldn't write a post about favorite film scores without including this scene from The Holiday, in which Jack Black, playing a film composer, tells Kate Winslet's character -- in a most descriptive way -- what his favorite film scores are. (Fastforward to about 4:00 for the scene I'm talking about.)





Blogging A to Z: "K" is for Kate and Kevin

I have been wracking my brain, trying to think of a K topic that intrigues me enough to write a whole blogpost about it. One idea was "Knowledge"--but, nah, too abstract and lofty. And, too, how much do I know about knowledge? It might have been too demoralizing to find out. Another idea was "Keys," as in music, but so much has already been written about the characteristics of various musical keys (G major is bright and happy, D-flat is mellow and introspective, etc.) and, frankly, I'm a bit tired of the subject.

So I decided to turn to people>>>actors. Avoiding the obvious and, again, oft-written-about Katharine Hepburn, I thought of my two favorite living "K" actors: Kate Winslet and Kevin Kline. And rather than attempt to analyze their skills, or state the reasons I like them, which are probably the same as the reasons everyone else likes them, I'll just let their work speak for me.

Kate as Ophelia, Hamlet

 

 

Kate as the young Iris Murdoch in Iris

Kate as another Iris in The Holiday

Kevin as Hamlet

Kevin as Hundert, a teacher of great integrity (The Emperor's Club)

And the pièce de résistance (because I just couldn't resist): Kevin as Otto (A Fish Called Wanda)