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May 27 movie: Bend It Like Beckham. This is another one of those "I can't believe I didn't see this until now" movies. The plot sounds (and is) a bit formulaic -- a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl from a traditional culture (South Asian), trying to find her place in a modern world (London) and pursue her passion (football) without disrespecting her strict parents. But it works because it's so funny and so loving towards its characters. Georg commented that the film didn't really transcend its genre. In a way that's true, but in another way it isn't: Bend It Like Beckham manages to wholly avoid the saccharin glow that seems such a common pitfall for culture clash comedies (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I'm looking at you). It's warm but not "heartwarming," if that makes sense.

I don't much care for sports movies but the film did an incredible job of making the football scenes exciting and fun. They really captured the joy of doing something so well. Most of the girls on the team were actual football players, but the two stars were (according to the DVD extras) actresses who didn't play & had to be coached to pull off those amazing moves.

The DVD included the best DVD extra I've ever seen: a cooking segment with the director demonstrating how to make aloo gobi, while her aging mother and aunt (?) sit behind her and critique her work. Every cooking show should have Indian grannies hovering and kibbitzing!

The most important thing we learned from Bend It Like Beckham is that Indian movie weddings have way better music than American movie weddings.

May 27 movie: The Italian Job. This was the remake starring Mark Wahlberg. I had heard that this version had almost nothing in common with the the original, which we watched a couple of months ago. That's not quite true. The basic storyline and tone are quite different, but there are plot elements in common: the theft of gold bars, a big chase scene involving 3 MINIs in places a car isn't supposed to go, the involvement of the Mafia (Italian in the original, Russian in the remake), the use of computers to disrupt traffic in an entire city, a main character named Charlie Croker, the death in the very beginning of Charlie's mentor in crime. There's even a very brief clip of the original film on TV at one point. But no role for Michael Caine! I thought that was scandalous. If they couldn't find a part for him, they could have at least given him a walk-on.

Bottom line: I enjoyed it, it was fun, but it didn't make me forget the original. "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"

May 26 movie: Elizabeth R. This is not actually a movie but a BBC miniseries starring Glenda Jackson. And wow, it's amazing! I had heard that this was the most historically accurate movie about Elizabeth I, and I wondered if it might be a little dry. But it really wasn't. On the contrary, it was gripping. I stayed up hours late because I couldn't possibly go to sleep until I had seen the whole thing. The drama of Elizabeth's life was amazing, and Glenda Jackson's acting was incredible.

I watched the first DVD, which includes the first two parts of the miniseries. Part I covers the death of Henry VIII to Elizabeth's ascension. Mainly it's about Elizabeth's survival during the reign of Mary Tudor. Part II is about the first few years of Elizabeth's reign, focusing on her relationship with Robert Dudley and efforts by her council and various ambassadors to convince her to marry. Mary Stuart also shows up but isn't yet a major force in the story.

The BBC didn't have the budget of a major Hollywood movie like Elizabeth (the one with Cate Blanchett), but the constumes were still wonderful. I so much want one of those gowns! The ones with the skirts that sweep straight down in a triangular shape, not the ones with the panniers. But I read those early corsets are very uncomfortable, they compress the ribs much more than 19th century corsets.

The DVD also included intermittent commentary by a historian whose name I forget. I started out listening to the commentary, but she too often spoke over scenes whose dialogue I wanted to hear. So I ended up turning it off. However, the additional context she provided was so interesting that I kind of wish I'd watched again with the commentary on. But I was anxious to send the disc back and get disc 2, which comprises parts III and IV of the miniseries. I can't wait to find out what happens next!

May 24 movie: Pillow Talk. I love this movie! Another one of my very favorites. The best of the Rock Husdon/Doris Day films, TCM is showing it as part of their memorial tribute to Tony Randall. There are too many funny things to recount them all, but one of my favorites is the dueling internal monologues Hudson and Day have on their first date:

him: "I'd say five or six dates should do it."

her: "It's so nice to meet a man you feel you can trust!"

However, my favorite line without a doubt is said by Randall: "Jan, how could you? How could you ever fall in love with a tourist?"

[The movie just ended and I have to add that the ending is the only part I don't like. But up until the last two minutes or so, it's utterly fabu.]

May 23 movie: Now, Voyager. This is one of my very favorite movies. I think it's Bette Davis' best. Its famous moment is Paul Heinreid lighting two cigarettes in his own mouth and then handing one to Davis. But I love it for Davis' nuanced character study of a shy, emotionally stunted socialite gradually blossoming. The scenes with the Heinreid's daughter are a bit schmaltzy, but don't make me enjoy the movie any less. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it. The scene near the end where the daughter asks Heinreid if he likes her, and he hugs her and looks over her shoulder to say "I love you" to Davis, gets me misty every time.

May 23 movie: The Major and the Minor. I had started to watch this earlier this year, but turned it off about a half hour in because I was creeped out by the premise: 31 year old Ginger Rogers pretending to be a 12 year old and falling in love with Ray Milland. But Alicia raved about the movie so I thought I'd give it another chance if it showed up on TCM again. I still think the premise is icky, but I must admit I turned it off too soon before and missed a lot of funny stuff. The cadets all talking about Maginot line are hysterical!

May 23 movie: The Unsuspected. Unremarkable noir starring Claude Rains. I might have liked it better if the cable company's info screen hadn't spoiled the identity of the killer, which isn't revealed until an hour into the film. This movie had several superficial elements in common with the far superior Laura, which came out three years before.

May 23 movie: Broadway Melody of 1940. Fred Astaire loves Eleanor Powell from afar, but his drunken louse of a dancing partner (George Murphy) unwittingly steals his big break -- to be Powell's leading man on Broadway. This is a really fun, funny movie, although it lacks any really memorable dance numbers. Which is probably why it's not a classic like the Astaire/Rogers films.

May 22 movie: The Prince and the Pauper. This was fun, not the greatest movie ever but fun. I vaguely remember the book having more biting social satire, but the movie is fairly treacly. Still, it has Errol Flynn, Claude Rains (in an absolutely horrendous hairdo) and Alan Hale! Alas, Hale is a bad guy. He plays the captain of the guard, who Rains blackmails into finding and killing the real prince. He gets offed by Flynn before he can do the dastardly deed.

May 21 movie: Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery play a married couple who discover that their wedding wasn't legal. Montgomery doesn't ask Lombard to remarry him quickly enough for her taste, so she dumps him and starts dating his business partner. Hilarity ensues! Hitchcock's only screwball comedy, this isn't the greatest example of the genre ever made, but it is very funny, and very screwball, and well worth watching. There are a few hysterical sequences (like Montgomery punching himself in the nose to induce a nosebleed and get out of a bad date, or Lombard trying to convince the business partner that after getting caught in the rain, hard liquor is medicine).

May 19 movie: School of Rock. I'm not a big fan of Jack Black. I find him mostly an obnoxious blowhard who isn't very funny. But sometimes his obnoxiousness works in his favor, when the character is supposed to be an ass. Like High Fidelity or last night's movie, School of Rock. Which was surprisingly funny. Joan Cusack (the Eve Arden of our era) in a major supporting role definitely helped.

We watched the "making of" thing on the DVD. Which was nice because they interviewed several of the kids. Mainly only the boys though, which was a bit weird. I wanted to find out about the girl who plays bass. Anyway the boy who plays lead guitar in the movie said he found out about the audition from music camp. Who knew music camp could lead to a movie career? Black made some charmingly modest comment about not being very good on guitar, and then they showed him playing with that boy and sure enough, the boy was better.

The other funny thing was when Black was describing something, I forget what, and he said it got so chaotic it became "a combustible edison." We're pretty sure he meant "spontaneous combustion," but hey, I love Combustible Edison! I'd probably like Jack Black better if his band were a lounge act.

May 14 movie: Millenium Actress. The description on the DVD sleeve (animated film about a retired actress recalling her career) made me think I wouldn't like this movie. Boy, was I wrong! The plot device of the eldery actress reliving her past is a nifty way to pay tribute to a variety of Japanese film genres. And her personal story, weaving in and out of the movies, is genuinely moving. I really enjoyed this film, although I felt like I would have appreciated it even more if I were more familiar with the post-war Japanese film industry. I bet it had lots of references that were over my head (we did catch a few).

I did watch a few movies while I was getting ready for the trip, and a couple since getting back. Let's see how many I can remember.

Samurai Spy. This was kind of hard to follow, despite (or maybe because of) nearly endless backstory narration at the beginning. But it had some good set pieces, and a bad-ass villain who dressed all in white.

Plymouth Adventure. Historical costume drama about the Pilgrims features Spencer Tracy as the captain of the Mayflower and Gene Tierney as an upstanding Pilgrim wife he tragically falls in love with. Tierney kills herself by jumping off the side of the Mayflower because she can't stand the shame of, well I'm not sure what. She didn't cheat on her husband. Maybe that's what she was ashamed of. This was perfect to watch while beading the bubble machine, because it was interesting enough to maintain my attention but not so interesting as to keep me from working.

The Adventures of Robin Hood. I love this movie so much, I can't think of anything to say about it. Errol Flynn at his finest, Claude Rains, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Alan Hale! That's really all that needs to be said.

I'll Take Sweden. Bob Hope moves his daughter (Tuesday Weld) to Sweden to get her away from her undesireable boyfriend (Frankie Avalon), then discovers that those perverted Swedes think sex is healthy and natural! Horrors! According to the movie, all Swedes were also deeply involved in Freudian analysis. The movie ends up with Avalon, Hope and Hope's Swedish girlfriend chasing Weld and her Swedish boyfriend around a hotel, trying to find them before the boyfriend can sexually assault Weld. Because date rape is funny! Actually this movie was funny, in a bizarre way. Worth the price of admission just for Avalon singing the title song.

Christopher Strong. Katharine Hepburn plays an aviator who falls in love with a married British nobleman. They have an affair, she gets pregnant and realizes that his life would be ruined if he knew about it. So she flies too high on purpose and dies. I think this is supposed to be inspiring but I found it kind of sick. She's a courageous, independent woman for most of the film, but love messes with her head so badly that she'd rather kill herself and her fetus than inconvenience her lover. Wow, how romantic. Billie Burke (Glinda the Good) plays the wife. I kept waiting for her to ask Hepburn if she was a good witch or a bad witch.

Break of Hearts. Hepburn again, this time playing a composer who marries an orchestra conductor. Too bad the husband is a drunken womanizing lout. Another guy loves Hepburn and would clearly treat her a whole lot better, which is too bad because she's destined to stay with the jerk. Because he needs her to prop him up and keep him from drinking too much. Gender attitudes in the 30s were lovely, weren't they?