Music Monday

Because I really feel like it's Monday today. The title means "The War With Myself".

"Imperiet Kriget Med Mig Själv" (Watch on YouTube)

I need another mouth to keep on breathing/Another heart to keep it beating/Another mouth to keep on breathing/Because I'm lost in the war with myself

What I have been watching

I’ve only seen the first episode of American Gods, and I’m sadly a little underwhelmed. Also, I got annoyed. ( Spoilers )

I still enjoy Blacklist, though I feel the show has outlived itself. Even if they are very amusing, the sole purpose now seems to be letting Red steal scenes. Logic be damned. ( Spoilers )

Supernatural isn’t bad this season, but I feel it doesn’t really take off. ( Spoilers )

Husband and I re-watched Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It’s aging very well and is still my favourite adaption. And the costumes are lovely- my only (slight) beef is that Jane, Lizzie, and Lydia frequently have deep-cut necklines during the day. But I can live with that. Feeling inspired we went on watching the adaption of Persuasion with Rupert Penry-Jones, who was adorable as usual. I still think the version with Ciaran Hinds is vastly better in all respects. And now we are watching the early 80’s series of Jane Eyre with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. Apart from the rooms being very obviously studios, I think it’s still very good. It was my introduction to the story and I feel hard for Mr. Rochester and identified myself with Jane. I was also pleased to notice the time period is accurate. Most adaption set Jane Eyre around the time it was published, 1847, but the story is actually set several years earlier, as Jane Eyre is talking about events taking place when she was young. The year is never set in the novel, but one give away is that Jane never travels by train. The series starts in 1822 and people are depressed in Regency, and the main part takes place in 1830, with waistlines still high, but much closer to the natural waistline. And the costumes are really beautiful too.

Someone had a George Sander’s secret on fandomsecrets which prompted me to re-watch Ivanhoe yesterday; something which I have been thinking since I talked about it on The Snowflake Challenge. It was highly enjoyable, but not exactly good. The character Ivanhoe is rather blah, to begin with, and Robert Taylor is rather boring. Elizabeth Taylor as Rebecca of York is still heartbreakingly beautiful, but not given much to do than look just lovely. Guy Rolfe’s Prince John was very good and very evil, but George Sanders' Bois-Guilbert was best. Though a bad guy he doesn’t comes across as particularly evil, and though he remains selfish, it’s also obvious he genuinely falls for Rebecca.

I then went on to watchAll About Eve which is one of my all-time favourite movies. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommended. It’s a wickedly funny movie about an aging actress who gets her life infiltrated by a young fan. Bette Davis is great as Margot Channing, and George Sanders got an Oscar for the role of malevolent theatre critic Addison DeWitt. It also rocks Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles. She’s doing her mainstay ditzy blonde, but with a few subtle hints of actually having a brain somewhere. One of the reasons why I like this movie is how many unlikeable traits most of the characters have. ( Spoilers )

And now I have a plot bunny for a fanfic no one would want to read. I doubt there is much, if any, interest in all About Eve-fic, and then add a pairing which you may only see if you squint a lot, and add some more disturbing themes… Oh well, I may write it out for my own amusement, if no one else.