Book/Film Review: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

“Well, when I am fifty-three or so I would like to write a novel as good as Persuasion but with a modern setting, of course. For the next thirty years or so I shall be collecting material for it. If anyone asks me what I work at, I shall say, 'Collecting material'. No one can object to that.”
                                          ― Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm

	Book: Cold Comfort Farm Author:  Stella Gibbons Pages:   260 Format:  Paperback, Kindle/ebook Publisher:  Penguin Classics (org. ed. 1932) Book Source:   Public Library Category:   Classic Literature Style:   Humor, Parody
	Film:   Cold Comfort Farm (TV movie)  Starring:   Kate Beckinsale Released:   UK:  1995; US:  1996 Format:  available in DVD (95 minutes) Produced by:   BBC Films, BBC Film Source:   Netflix Category:   Romantic Comedy Style:   PG for brief sounds of heavy breathing

Synopsis from GoodReads:

THE DELIRIOUSLY ENTERTAINING Cold Comfort Farm is "very probably the funniest book ever written" (The Sunday Times, London), a hilarious parody of D. H. Lawrence's and Thomas Hardy's earthy, melodramatic novels. When the recently orphaned socialite Flora Poste descends on her relatives at the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm in deepest Sussex, she finds a singularly miserable group in dire need of her particular talent: organization.  Read movie synopsis at IMDB.com.

My Take:

I've wanted to see this movie ever since I saw Kate Beckinsale plug it on Letterman way back in the day, but I never got around to it.  Since then, I've followed Ms. Beckinsale's work from Much Ado About Nothing to Emma to Van Helsing and everything in between.  She is a talented actress, even as kick-butt vampire Selene in the Underworld series. When I finally caught Cold Comfort Farms on Netflix, she did not disappoint.  I enjoyed it so well, I had to scrounge our local library and actually read the book.  (As much as I like Gwyneth Paltrow, Ms. Beckinsale ruined Emma for any other actor).

Film Review: Sherlock

Film:  Sherlock (miniseries)

Starring:  Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) & Martin Freeman (Dr. John Watson)

Installments:  2010 (3), 2011 (3)

Format: available in DVD & Blueray

Produced by:  Hartswood Films, BBC Wales, PBS
Book Source:  Independent Purchase

Category:  Murder/Suspense

Style:  some scenes of violence & nudity 

I caught the last fifteen minutes of the last installment of Season 2 the BBC's Sherlock on PBS last night and was so blown away, I had to write about it.  Luckily, PBS has all three episodes online until the 20th of June, so I'm catching up on what I've missed.

The History

My husband has always loved and loves to own Sherlock Holmes videos.  Which Sherlock?  Take your pick.  So, a few years back, I picked up this book off a bargain table at my local Barnes & Noble.  It sat on the shelf unread.

Then, an elderly friend of mine fell and ended up in a rehab facility for several months.  The lady has macular degeneration and can see very little, so a few times a week I would visit her and read to her.  She loves murder mysteries, and so we read (aloud) this book from cover to cover—all 752 pages of it.

Honestly, by the time she was released from rehab, I was good and ready for that book to end, and I came to think precious little of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  I found his narrative pedantic, his plots thin and predictable (to say nothing of redundant), and Sherlock's reputation for amazing deductive powers overblown.  But then, we're rather jaded, are we not—we of the CSI generation?

Film Review: The Three Musketeers (2011)

When I first stumbled over the previews for this 2011 Summit Entertainment release, I got the goose bumps. I mean, who wouldn’t? A timeless tale, swashbuckling heroes, stunning cinematography and Matthew McFadyen, Orlando Bloom, and their other manly men co-stars all rolled into one. How can you go wrong with that? I found myself counting the days until its release date. Then, I promptly forgot all about it. Only last week did I realize that T3M had been released on DVD, and so, of course, I picked it up from Red Box.

The cast: Matthew McFadyen (Pride & Prejudice, Little Dorrit) plays Athos, the high-minded leader of the band, with a tormented past. Milla Jovovich (The 5th Element) plays the evil seductress without a soul. Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans) plays Aramis, the ambitious cleric soldier discontented with his lot, and Ray Stevenson (Return of the Native) plays Porthos, the muscle-bound giant with a heart, as well as a taste for finery and women who can afford it. Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) plays young D’Artagnon.