Another Year at the Oscars

I always have the Oscars on my TV even if i don't watch every minute. This year was more interesting than usual with the charming young co-hosts and the beneficent linguistic shadow of the King's Speech hanging over the proceedings. And no one was surprised when the movie and Colin Firth won. That lack of surprise itself is perhaps the mark of greatness -- a performance so impeccable and outstanding that everyone knows it will win. I still haven't seen it because I can't afford the time right now, but I will soon. Yet every short clip of the movie makes me sure that I will love it, and I have always loved Geoffrey Rush's and Colin Firth's work.

What great performances and performers stick out in your memory? There are some that I watch over and over, and I believe that no one will ever replace them in my heart or mind. I think the greatest film of all time is Casablanca, the greatest actress is Ingrid Bergman, and there are a few actors contending for the greatest actor -- Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Anthony Hopkins (I lived in the same London neighborhood as his 1st wife and daughter, whom I met), Sebastian Koch (the German actor), and Johnny Depp. Who are your favorites?

Their Troubles, Our Troubles

An earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, revolutions in the Middle East, and strikes in Wisconsin ...

How are all these literally earth-shattering events related? Why should we care? What should we do? How do these events affect us? All these questions come to mind, but coming up with the answers may take time.

The Greatest Love Stories (on the occasion of Valentine's Day)

What are your favorite love stories from film, literature, or real life? Here's my real-life wedding photo from May 1990.

The film love story that I like best is Casablanca. Of books and films by the same name, I love Doctor Zhivago, Wuthering Heights (especially the Tom Hardy movie version), Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina, Beauty and the Beast, and The Sound of Music. Others that I like include Now Voyager, Dark Victory, The African Queen, Three Coins in a Fountain, Roman Holiday, It's a Wonderful Life, and The Lives of Others (German). On the light side, there are Tangled, Princess Bride, and Notting Hill. What new love stories are yet to be told? What about yours?

Sunday Night for Blogs and Masterpiece Theater

It is Sunday night again. Where do the weeks go? Though tonight I have to work on my thesis, I thought I would spend just a few minutes blogging about Sunday nights, which is usually the time I set aside to look at class blogs, perhaps write something on mine, and watch Masterpiece Theater, which I generally find irresistible because of my Anglophilia (which parallels my Russophilia).

Masterpiece Theater (on Channel 13) has included so many wonderful programs over the years. It has just broadcast 4 weeks of Downton Abbey, which you can still watch on the website http://video.pbs.org/video/1724131531/. This latest addition to the Masterpiece family lives up to every expectation I have for good historical drama and romance: the perfect setting, fabulous acting, splendid costumes, and a captivating story about characters that one can love or hate, as the case may be.

I prefer Masterpiece Classic and Masterpiece Mystery (Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and others) to Masterpiece Contemporary, but even that can be good. Classic often includes dramatizations of the novels of Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Thomas Hardy, just to name a few. But not all the productions are about English literature. There was an interesting version of the Russian novel Doctor Zhivago a few years ago. Last semester I showed Anna Karenina to my Russian Lit class, and they also became fans.

Television presents so many choices these days, including an incredible amount of nonsense, but you never have to worry about wasting your time on a bad program if you watch Masterpiece Theater. The programs are fabulous, and you may even benefit from the online materials about teaching various literary works. Give it a try if you haven't already! Happy viewing!