Batmangirl and Robinette

I should catch up on things that happened forever ago, but which I failed to post about. So here's something delightfully silly for you - my too cool sister Julia took me to see the latest Batman movie at the midnight premier at my favorite theater. You see things I've sewn all the time, but this time I got to borrow Julia's super cool super hero super Robin outfit. I have no idea how she ended up being such a good seamstress, but her stuff is great. She debuted a brand-new batman outfit, but lent me her old Robin dress so we could match. Too cute! Plus, we got tasty victory popcorn. It was great. Also, she was a better blogger than me, so if you want to get her side of the story (she even already used the best pictures, making my post a little pointless), check it out here.

 

 

 

A Ghost in Monte Carlo

Apparently Barbara Cartland is well-known and a big deal as romance novelists go (my Mother knows everything, I do not). Not only was she responsible for A Hazard of Hearts, but today's post is going to be another hilarious and over-the-top movie adaptation of a book of hers. This one is set in the 1870s, and is about a girl with a dead mother (she doesn't know who her father is - it is possible that this turns out to be important...), whose ex-madame of an aunt takes her off to Monte Carlo and starts throwing her at princes. Why? Well, who am I to ruin all the surprises. But the important part is that our ingenue this time around is an actress from one of my favorite movies ever, Without a Clue. The hero is recycled from the last movie (lazy!). And the villain is Oliver Reed, who stars alongside Diana Rigg (remember... the evil mother from yesterday!) in my very favorite movie ever, The Assassination Bureau. You might also recognize him from the 1970s Three Musketeers, or any number of other places.

Anyway, the girl in this movie has the most interesting range of hobbies!

Hanging out in convents!

Hanging out at fancy parties! And wearing grey.

Hanging out in runaway carriages!

Is that another runaway carriage? No, I guess it is an abduction. A lot like in A Hazard of Hearts, no?

Clinging to the sides of buildings!

Getting engaged to princes!

My personal favorite, screaming ineffectually while men on the same side fight! Possibly explaining the situation would be more effective...

A Hazard of Hearts

I like to watch television while I do homework, and I've been doing a lot of homework. So allow me to make a movie recommendation to you! A Hazard of Hearts is absolutely hilarious. It is very much a regency romance novel turned into a movie. It begins with a nice old man losing his fortunes, his mansion, and even his daughter in a terrible gambling debt to an evil man. Lord Vulcan (who seems like a bad boy, but obviously has to turn out to be perfect and heroic anyway) wins the girl and the house away from the villain, but then finds himself unexpectedly stuck with them. With no intention of actually marrying her, he sends her off to his mother, who turns out to be Evil with a capital E. It is unspeakably ridiculous. Oh, and the ingenue of the story is a very young Helena Bonham Carter, and the evil mother is a somewhat older Diana Rigg. Not to give too much away, but for me the highlight of the movie is when she gets abducted, and a sweet highwayman saves the day and takes her home. I did mention that this was ridiculous, yes? Well if you're bored, go watch it right now!

See, I told you so!

Yes, indeed I did.

Is he a devious man? Or is he a dashing hero who enjoys casually leaning against mantelpieces? Give you one guess.

No guesses here. This guy is s sleaze ball!

The face of tragedy! Oh no!

Maybe I spend all my money on gambling, liquor, and smuggling! Or maybe I just have a really large turban budget.

Yeah, I'm leaning towards the turban thing.

Definitely the turbans.

Jane Eyre's Amazing Bonnet

I recently got to see the new Jane Eyre movie. It was quite pretty, but when you come down to it Jane Eyre is just not the story for me. I prefer something brighter and more cheerful. Like X-men. But I do have to give Jane Eyre points for the costumes (sorry Magneto, but I just prefer silly facial hair with a poet's shirt to the dumb helmet and jumpsuit). There were some pretty nice things throughout, but only one thing that struck me so hard I wanted to cry. Jane's bonnet at the end of the movie is heart-stoppingly jaw-droppingly painfully exquisitely lovely. I WANT IT.

White Uniforms and Tchaikovsky

I love these uniforms, and I love this music. I wish I knew more about men's military uniforms - if anyone knows more than I do, please please tell me! I absolutely love the red-lined tails on Prince Andrei's smashing uniform in War and Peace (the 2007 miniseries). I adore the shape of the jacket and the trousers with a red stripe on Count Vronsky's uniform in Anna Karenina (the 1997 movie). I also love the Tchaikovsky Swan Lake music. It is so sweeping and romantic (and in a movie, nobody gives you dirty looks for throwing in irritating retards that trip up ballroom dancers). By the way, I am putting these up because they are pretty, not because I condone the dancing. Don't even think about that. Just admire the pretty music and the gorgeous uniforms (although who knows if I would still like them if I knew more about men's uniforms - but if they are wrong, ignorance is bliss, because they look so pretty! Epaulettes!).

Fright Night Remake

Fright Night is a totally adorable movie from 1985. Charley Brewster loves horror movies, but is convinced that his neighbor is a vampire. Nobody believes him, and his girlfriend enlists the help of Peter Vincent, a washed-up horror movie actor and Charley's hero. Vincent does a hokey test to prove that the neighbor is not a vampire and put Charlie at ease, but also accidentally discovers that Charley was right. Whoops. So obviously, they have to kill the vampire now. It is just an adorable old vampire movie, and I like those things.
When I heard there was going to be a re-make, I was horrified. Surely they would mess it up! But then I discovered that Charley Brewster will be played by none other than Anton Yelchin from Charlie Bartlett. Suddenly, I feel much better about this movie's prospects. Also, Peter Vincent will be played by David Tennant, which is also very promising. This is all very good news.

Charlie Bartlett

Once upon a time, I saw a trailer for Charlie Bartlett. It looked like potentially the best movie ever. I got excited. I waited for the release. They postponed it. Still I waited, expectantly hoping. They postponed it again. I began to worry. Then I began to worry more, because at this point I'd been waiting and excited for so long that I was not sure any movie could live up to these expectations. I prepared myself for disappointment.

I was wrong. When I finally got to see Charlie Bartlett, I was not disappointed. It was fabulous. Go watch it! Charlie Bartlett is a rich kid who just wants to be liked. A string of non-malicious and yet illegal ventures (which did, admittedly, make him popular) has gotten him kicked out of several private schools. Now it is time for public school. His somewhat out-of-touch-with-reality yet very sweet mother worries when he gets beaten up by the public school bully, and sends him to a psychiatrist. Eventually, Charlie sets up with an office in the boys' bathroom, listening to the problems of his fellow students and dispersing medication as is appropriate (while faking different disorders for a string of psychiatrists to get the prescription drugs). What Charlie fails to recognize is that dealing prescription drugs is never really appropriate. Whoops. In a very Pump Up the Volume sort of way, Charlie accidentally takes over the school from the troubled-alcoholic-principal-and-father-of-Charlie's-love-interest, and has to grow up and put all his actions to rights etc etc etc.
Why is this movie so great? Mostly because of Anton Yelchin. I can't even say enough good things about him, but he is wonderful as Charlie Bartlett. He is also wonderful as Chekov in the new Star Trek movie (which I also though was great). Anton Yelchin is great. I am so glad he became an actor instead of an ice skater (his parents are Russian figure skaters). The rest of the cast is great (I think it may actually have been the mother that made me fall in love with the trailer, and Robert Downey Jr. is great as the principal). The plot is darling, and there are some really delightful lines. In a movie where Anton Yelchin really is the show, the subplot with Murphy the bully almost manages to steal the show. Seriously, Murphy is great.
This movie is so charming. I totally love it.

Are You Ready to Rockula?

I love ridiculous things. I love vampires. I have a particular soft spot for ridiculous things involving vampires. Brace yourself for this one... I am about to summarize the plot of Rockula.

About 200 years ago, Ralph (the vampire) was in love with a girl named Mona. Then her jealous rhinestone-peg-legged pirate ex-boyfriend beat her to death with a ham-bone. Since then, she has been reincarnated every 22 years. Every 22 years, Ralph meets her just in time to fall in love and see her killed by a pirate wielding a ham-bone.

I challenge you to come up with a more fantastically ridiculous premise than that.
Other highlights include Ralph's scary vintage vampire mother, Ralph's semi-autonomous playboy reflection, and Stanley the sleazy wholesale coffin salesman and music producer. And did I mention that Ralph becomes a rock star in the process of wooing the most recent Mona incarnation? Yes, that is why the title is "Rockula." Better than the horrific example of comic rap called "Rapula." A small excerpt, for you:

"Gina, I mean Mina came too my crib."
"Gee, Mr. Rapula, you're awfully glib."
"She made me a dish called huevos dracula with garlic and eggs and a gold-plated spatula. You can read the commentary by William Saffire."
"Are you the DJ?"
"No, I am the vampire."
Of course, the dialogue is even more ridiculous than the lyrics. A couple of my favorite bits:

"Just forget you ever saw me, cause the next thing you know, we're gonna go out on a date, we're gonna fall in love, and then some crazy pirate's gonna peg you with a hambone!"

"You're such a dork, Stanley."
"Take that back."
"OK. You're an egotistical, psuedo-intellectual, money-grubbing slut."
"... I'll buy that."

So, I suggest you go watch it. Now.

Silent Bat Man

When I first saw this, I thought it was delightful. And then I was struck by confusion. Wasn't Batman a thing rather later than the 1920s? In fact, yes. This is a modern splicing of 1920s footage with new cards to do a Batman story with not-originally-Batman footage. But it is really well done. Enough so that I was fooled into thinking it was something original. So take a moment to check it out. If nothing else, it is really cool that someone was able to do this. Also, I love bats, so I think the bat movie footage, bat special effects, and semi-frightening bat costume are all fantastic. You can find the rest easily on youtube if you find this fascinating.

Failures in Shopping - Moulin Rouge necklace

I just discovered something very neat, and simultaneously sad. There is a point in the movie Moulin Rouge where the main character is given a dramatic diamond necklace. See here.


It is sparkly, and pretty, and drippy, and cast metal (rather than wired, which makes things look cheaper). And it was once available to buy. Jessica McClintock made and marketed a reproduction a couple of years ago. But of course, I did not know about it then, and as far as I can see the only way to buy one now is to be very lucky and find someone selling an old one. This is a sad day for shopping. The world deserves more sparkle.On the bright side, I have recently ordered something very very sparkly, but I don't want to say anything until it arrives. I will have to show you later! Also, I am working on a project, but that I will reveal tomorrow!

Rusalochka

As you may or may not know, the Hans Christian Anderson story of the little mermaid has very little to do with the happy Disnified version. For example, she gets legs, but every moment she feels like she's walking on knives. This is a really beautiful 1976 version of the rather less happy version of the story. It is just so pretty! Unfortunately, it is in Russian. Youtube has a few clips with translations, but the clips don't include the whole movie and the visual quality of those is just not as good. So take a look at the Russian version. You can still appreciate how gorgeous it is. Here is the begining. I don't like water, but I have to admit that the underwater sequences are stunning. Also, in the fifth segment she dances. Remember that she's dancing on knives, though.

Scaramouche

If I say something about Scaramouche to someone, I am usually met with a, "What? Like the Queen song?" (referring to the "Scaramouce, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?" line in Bohemian Rhapsody). If I said something to a Commedia del'Arte friend, they would surely know the name of the character (although the group I perform with does not use that particular character... they do Italian renaissance and he is a just a later character). But the best reason to know the name Scaramouche is for the incredible 1952 movie.

I recently showed this to a friend, so it is very much on my mind. The movie is based on a book from the 1920s, though the plot is significantly different. This movie has a lot of things to recommend it, from cute 1950s-ified 18th century clothing to clever dialogue. Probably the most notable feature of Scaramouche is the incredibly good final fencing scene. Seriously, go watch it now.

If you are curious about the plot, here is an idea of what happens. Otherwise, stop reading now. Preferably to go watch Scaramouche immediately. The movie starts with the villan, the Marquis de Maynes. I say villain, but he is a dashing and well-dressed villain with impeccable etiquette, so that is really quite alright. He has a habit of dueling (and is an excellent swordsman), so the Queen calls him in to chastise him for killing some of her favorite nobles, and also to ask him to find a wife (there is some serious tension between those two). He says he will marry, but asks her to choose his wife. She suggests Aline, and everyone is wiling to go along with this.

(Tension! I told you he was well-dressed)

(Aren't they all so pretty?)

Meanwhile, our hero, Andre Moreau (played by Stewart Granger), is having troubles with the actress Lenore. He stops her from marrying a wealthy (but insufficiently romantic) sausage maker, and says he will marry her. But then he gets very side-tracked, getting his dear friend Philippe de Valmorin (who happens to be a revolutionary, and has been publishing revolutionary pamphlets! Oh dear!) out of Paris and out of danger. Moreau meets Aline, and falls immediately in love with her, but also realizes that they can't possible be together (there is a very good reason, but I wouldn't want to ruin all the good revelations for you!).

(Meeting Aline - Seriously, are you sure this is the 18th century, not the 1950s?)

To speed up this summary a bit, the Marquis kills Philippe in a duel, Andre is beyond upset and becomes determined to kill the Marquis. Of course, since our hero has no talent for fencing, he will need to learn first. Also, he is now in a fair bit of trouble with all this revolutionary business. He hides with a traveling theater troupe, playing the masked character Scaramouche! He picks up some fencing lessons, falls into politics, and continuously seeks his revenge on the Marquis. Of course, now you really have to go watch the movie to find out the rest of what happens.

(Disguised as Scaramouche!)

The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello

This is not French, but it is the epitome of beautiful haunting steampunky loveliness. Seriously, invest the 20 minutes in watching it. The animation style is incredible. The whole thing is just ridiculously beautiful. I can't even say anything more than that. Watch, now.

Steampunk is French - "Le voyage dans la lune"

"Le voyage dans la lune" is generally regarded at the first science fiction film. It was made in 1902 by a french filmmaker, Georges Melies. It is based loosely on two novels by Verne and Welles (From the Earth to the Moon, and The First Men in the Moon), and it is wonderfully old fashioned. Therefore, I would argue that it counts as some of the earliest Steampunk as well. Or at the least proto-steampunk, the way that Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are themselves not exactly steampunk, because they come by their victorian-isms so honestly.

My mother has said that the French have been doing Steampunk longer than anyone else. I do not think she really meant this throw-away comment to be seriously argued, and I'm pretty sure she didn't have a voyage to the moon in mind, but there it is. Very early Steampunk. And for the record, Jules Verne, one of the ultimate inspirations for Steampunk, is French. Stay tuned for more French Steampunk in the next couple of days... As well as non-French Steampunk.

Anyway, as the oldest science fiction movie (and oldest Steampunk movie? Yes?), it is an important educational experience to watch this film. Plus, it is adorable.

Post-Steampunk Ball, and 1960s Clothes

The Steampunk Ball was lovely, and all sorts of wonderful people came. I ought to be more on top of things and take pictures of wonderful people in good clothing, but that did not happen. Perhaps I will find some pictures to steal from somewhere, because a lot of the outfits were really great.

Then today I spent some time with some very nice friends from Sarah Lawrence who had come down for the event. We went to the garment district, and I bought a fantastic beige dress. It is very late 1950s to early 1960s, and has a little jacket. When I have my midterms a little more under control I will have to take some pictures of it. A little while ago, I watched the movie An Education. It had serious plot and serious messages and all that, but I just kept seeing pretty clothing and hairstyles (it being set in the 1960s). What beautiful things to look at! Seriously, I usually go for the earlier fuller skirts, but this makes me want gorgeous 1960s clothes and hair.