If You Like Downton Abbey …
21 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Readalikes Tags: Downton Abbey, Edith Wharton, england, readalikes, WWI
The Masterpiece Theater tv series, Downton Abbey, is a runaway success. Maybe you are one of the thousands of people who watched and loved it. Season Two recently concluded. What are you going to do while you wait for Season Three of Downton Abbey? I suggest catching up with the first two seasons of the show (click on the links below to get the library’s copy) or spend some time with a good book that takes you to times and places similar to Downton Abbey!
Downton Abbey
Masterpiece Theater
Lord Crawley sees his family heritage, especially the grand country home Downton Abbey, as his mission in life. The death of his heir aboard the Titanic means distant cousin Matthew Crawley, a Manchester lawyer, suddenly is next in line and accepts moving onto the vast estate with his even more modernist, socially engaged mother, who clashes with his lordship’s domineering, conservative ma the dowager. Marrying off the daughters is another concern. Meanwile the butler presides over a staff which serves the family but also lead most of their entire lives in the servants quarters, intriguing amongst themselves.
 Season 1 |
 Season 2 |
If You Liked Downton Abbey, Read This!
Howard’s End
by E.M. Forster
The book is about three families in England at the beginning of the 20th century: the Wilcoxes, rich capitalists with a fortune made in the Colonies; the half-German Schlegel siblings (Margaret, Tibby, and Helen), and the Basts, a struggling couple in the lower-middle class. The Schlegel sisters try to help the poor Basts and try to make the Wilcoxes less prejudiced.
The American Heiress
by Daisy Goodwin
Be careful what you wish for. Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.
The House at Riverton
by Kate Morton
Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace Bradley’s youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever. Grace went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they — and Grace — know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer.
Anna Massey
07 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Movies, Subject Guide Tags: 18th century, acceptance, adventure, An angel for may, Anna Massey, anxiety, apartment, big city, books on cd, books on tape, boy, British actress, cancer, co-worker, concerts, confusion, cousin, cryptic, daphne du maurier, dog, england, evacuee, family fortune, farmhouse, fatigue, films, friends, genteel widow, grandson, guilt, hallucinations, injury, innocent, journey, kinship, lectures, list, london, machine shop, mad, Mansfield park, mental health, movies, mrs. palfrey at the claremont, nightmare, paranoia, physical health, plot, poverty, prostitute, quality, reason, Rebecca, Saturday Cinema, scotland, terror, Tess of the D'urbervilles, The Machinist, uncle, wealth, wealthy, What to Watch, world war II
Anna Massey was a british actress that passed away on July 5th from Cancer. Here’s a list of films to remember her by:
An Angel For May (2002) Rated NR
While playing in a deserted farmhouse, a boy named Tom is whisked back in time to World War II. Tom is guided by a dog, and becomes friends with a young evacuee named May. The three set off on an adventure with consequences they won’t forget.
The Machinist (2005) Rated R
Trevor Reznik hasn’t slept in a year. The shocking deteroration of his physical and mental health has made his every waking moment an unrelenting state of confusion, paranoia, guilt, anxiety and terror. His only solace from this living nightmare comes from an affectionate prostitute. When cryptic notes turn up mysteriously in his apartment and hallucinations of a co-worker that no one else sees causes a gruesome machine shop injury, he embarks on a journey to find out whether there is an elaborate plot to drive him mad or his fatigue has simply robbed him of reason.
Mansfield Park (1986) Rated NR
True virtue triumph’s over superficiality in 18th century England. Young, impoverished Fanny Price arrives at the elegant estate of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram. Snubbed by everyone except her cousin Edmund, she begins her long struggle for accceptance by her shallow relatives who believe wealth automatically means quality.
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005) Rated NR
Mrs. Palfrey, an elegant, genteel widow, has come from Scotland to London to take up residency at the Claremont Hotel. Though she had high hopes for the cosmopolitan pleasures of living in a big city, such as attending lectures and concerts, as well as making a wider assortment of acquaintances, she is soon filled with a sense of uneasiness and slight gloom as she surveys her drab surroundings at the Claremont. The only bright spot in her decision to come to London is the fact that she will be closer to her only grandson, Desmond.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) Rated NR
When the beautiful and innocent Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting the manipulative Alec proves to be her downfall.
Anna also read books for audio: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
Jeff Conaway
07 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Movies, Subject Guide Tags: 1943, 2011, 9-year old, Babylon 5, boy, California, celebrity, characters, chief security officer, churchill, coast, coma, commander, Critical Condition, diplomats, doctors, Eagle has landed, Encino, Encino Tarzana Medical Center, england, entrepreneurs, family, fifties, films, foster parents, friends, galaxy, german paratroopers, good girl, Grease, greaser, hitler, invisible, Jeff Conaway, life support, list, los angeles times, love, Lt. commander, May 11, may 19, May 26, may 27, movies, musical, new york, New york city, outer-space way station, overdose, pain medication, pet dragon, Pete's dragon, reuters, run away, Saturday Cinema, scalawags, sixteen, taxi, taxi company, taxi dispatcher, telepath, tv series, tv shows, What to Watch, young life
1950-2011
On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances, believed to be pain medication, and was taken to Encino Tarzana Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed as being in critical condition and in a coma. On May 26, 2011, Conaway’s family took him off life support after doctors decided there was nothing they could do to revive him. Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60.
Babylon 5 (1994-1998) Rated NR
Babylon 5 is an outer-space way station, a port-of-call for diplomats, entrepreneurs, and scalawags of all species. Commander Jeffrey Sinclair–aided by chief security officer Michael Garibaldi, Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova, and resident telepath Talia Winters–tries to keep apprised of all the intrigues swirling around his little corner of the galaxy, but things invariably spiral out of control.
Taxi (1978-1982) Rated NR
Louie De Palma is a cantankerous taxi dispatcher for a New York City taxi company. He tries to maintain order over the varied collection of strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his “cage,” they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.
Grease (1978) Rated PG
It’s love when a greaser falls for a good girl in this musical depicting young life in the fifties.
Pete’s Dragon (1977) Rated G
A 9-year old boy and his pet dragon (invisible to all but him) run away from his foster parents.
The Eagle Has Landed (1976) Rated PG
Sixteen German paratroopers are dropped on the coast of England in 1943 with orders to kidnap Churchill and bring him back to Hitler.
Information cited from Reuters, May 19, 2011 and Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2011.
Oscar Films
19 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Movies, Subject Guide Tags: Academy Awards, Best Picture, Big Whiskey, boating accident, bride, Broadway Melody, Casablanca, death, england, FBI, film awards, First wife, Gigi, Great ziegfeld, guilt, hollyweird, Hollywood, Hurt Locker, middle class family, Midnight cowboy, movie awards, musical, Musicals, Ordinary People, Oscar films, Oscar Movies, outlaws, psychiatrist, psychopath, Psychopathic serial Killer, Rebecca, serial killer, Silence of the Lambs, suicide, unforgiven, Wyoming
It’s that time of year when Hollywood is a buzz about what they do best—films. To honor that in some insignificant way is our list of oscar films; that you may have or have not watched. So, without further ado-The Oscar goes to…
Broadway Melody (1929) Rated NR
This is the first musical to win a Best Picture Oscar. Anita Page and Bessie Love star as two sisters in love with the same man.
Ordinary People (1980) Rated R
The “ordinary” existence of an upper middle class family is shattered with the death of the older son in a boating accident and the struggle of the younger son against guilt and suicide.
Rebecca (1940) Rated NR
A young bride is brought by her new husband to his manor house in England. There she finds that the memory of her husband’s first wife haunts her, and she tries to discover the secret of that mysterious woman’s death.
Silence of the Lambs (1990) Rated R
FBI agent Clarice Starling is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath, Hannibal Lecter, who used to be a respected psychiatrist.
Unforgiven (1992) Rated R
Two retired, down-on-their luck outlaws pick up their guns one last time to collect a bounty offered by the vengeful prostitutes of the remote Wyoming town of Big Whiskey.
Honorable mentions:
Casablanca (1942) Rated PG
Gigi (1958) Rated G
Great Ziegfeld (1936) Rated NR
Hurt Locker (2008) Rated R
Midnight Cowboy (1969) Rated R
Thanksgiving Films
20 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Movies, Subject Guide Tags: alzheimer's, america, england, farmer, film, fims, financial difficulties, first thanksgiving, fruitcake, idaho, lower east side, movies, National Lampoon's Holiday reunion, new york, Old fashioned thanksgiving, Pennsylvania, pieces of april, pilgrims, squanto: warrior's tale, Thanksgiving films, thanksgiving movies, time to remember, widow, writer
National Lampoon’s Holiday Reunion (2004) Rated PG-13
Against the wishes of his wife and kids, Mitch Snider is determined to have a traditional Thanksgiving holiday with all the relatives. And it looks like that’s what he will have once he receives an invitation from his long-lost cousin Woodrow in Idaho. However, cousin Woodrow and his family turn out to be nuttier than a holiday fruitcake.
Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (2008) Rated NR
Things are so bad for recently widowed farmer Mary Bassett and her three children that this Thanksgiving they may not even be able to afford a turkey for their dinner. Suddenly, Mary’s wealthy and estranged mother Isabella comes for a visit. Although Isabella finds a kindred spirit in Mary’s eldest daughter and budding writer Tilly, Mary resents her mother’s attempts to help them out of their financial difficulties. It will take more than money to heal the emotional wounds that exist between mother and daughter.
Pieces of April (2003) Rated PG-13
Family outcast April lives in a beat-up apartment in New York’s Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby. In order to spend some time with her dying mother, April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast. While she frantically tries to complete the meal, the family drives in from Pennsylvania sharing less-than-pleasant opinions about April’s lifestyle. Her dad tries to think positively, while sister Beth flaunts her good-girl status and brother Timmy captures it all on film.
Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale (1994) Rated PG
Indian brave Squanto is kidnapped from America and taken to England to be put on display as a savage. He escapes and when he returns home he brings peace among Pilgrims and a tribe, thus bringing the first Thanksgiving.
Time to Remember (2003) Rated NR
Two estrange daughters return to the family home on Thanksgiving to find their relationship with their mother even more difficult than before. As strong-willed widow Maggie busily prepares for a perfect family celebration, her recently diagnosed Alzheimer’s condition becomes more apparent.
