Hot Summer in the Country

VISUALS
A treasure trove of rare interview footage has been uploaded to YouTube by one of Jennifer Ehle's most stalwart fans. I posted two of them last time but there have been many more added since, so do not miss terrykip's videos.

Although the most brief, I think this is my favorite (despite perhaps the need for a more clued-in interviewer).



Also, many thanks to sharonalee who let us know about the excellent P&P photo gallery she has created and for volunteering to share it.


Bright Sunshine
After watching Sunshine for the first time recently, Antti Alanen in his Film Diary blog reported his very favorable impressions.

"There are gorgeous female roles in the film, and especially the scenes with the bright Jennifer Ehle radiate with intelligence, courage, sensuality and frank sexuality. - Rachel Weisz would have deserved more screen time, but of course the film is long as it is. Rosemary Harris is excellent as the grown-up Valerie. - Although Ralph Fiennes in his triple role portrays the three main characters, finally, Valerie is the soul and heart of the film, the only one who never loses her inner compass. - A film I decided I want to see again even while still watching it."

Hot Wings
The temperature when I left work yesterday was 100F (37.8C) and will be about the same when I depart today. If the weather has been as unbearably hot where you are as it has been here, keeping animals under your care comfortably cool can be a concern. Let's say, for example, you have chickens. A number of them; maybe seven chickens. If so, Poultryone.com has some valuable tips for you about
Keeping Your Chickens Healthy and Cool in Hot Summer Heat
[...] "Water is essential" [...]"


[picture by T. McCracken via McHumor.com]










Hot Things
The Forsyth County ((Winston-Salem is the county seat) Library site has a fine Biography of John Ehle compiled by Sheryl Monks. Included is a nice photo of him with Joe Pye. It has information not in his Wiki article (so far) and worth a read. Just a sample:

[...] Originally released in 1964 by Harper & Row, The Land Breakers is the first book of seven in a sweeping saga detailing the opening up of the North Carolina Appalachian frontier. Rob Neuland of the Asheville Citizen Times has called Ehle’s series, "the greatest epic of our region." [...]

At livejournal two of our favorite ladies made list of Ashmh'sTop Ten Favorite Miniseries. Mom beat daughter in this one.

2. "The Chisholms" (1979) - This excellent three-part miniseries followed the adventures of a Virginian family during their overland trek to California in the mid-1840s. Based upon Evan Hunter's novel, it starred Robert Preston, Rosemary Harris and Ben Murphy.
[and]
7. "Pride and Prejudice" (1995) - Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle co-starred in what I consider to be the best version of Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel.

Suzanna Bowling in the Examiner writes about some upcoming productions, including The Royal Family and its award-laden cast.

MTC is also bringing The Royal Family. This is the classic comedy of theatrical manners, written by two of the theatre's greatest writers, George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, whose other storied collaborations include Dinner at Eight and Stage Door. This devilishly funny play follows the Cavendishes, the famous family of stage stars, as they go about the drama of the day: choosing scripts, dashing off to a performance, and stealing kisses with handsome beaus. Directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt) with a fantastic cast that includes Emmy nominee Stephen Collins as Gilbert Marshall,Tony winner John Glover as Herbert Dean,Tony Award winner and Oscar nominee Rosemary Harris as Fanny Cavendish, Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Jan Maxwell as Julie Cavendish,Tony nominee Tony Roberts as Oscar Wolfe,and Drama Desk Award nominee Reg Rogers as Tony Cavendish. Previews start September 15th.

The Rosemary Harris film Is Anybody There? earned a favorable review
by John Petrakis at christiancentury.org recently. He wrote, "We are introduced to some of the other Lark Hall residents, who are portrayed by a who's-who of outstanding British and American character actors, including the still-lovely Rosemary Harris as a former dancer."

A short (19 minutes) film, The Monday Before Thanksgiving featuring Rosemary Harris was shown at Worldwide Short Film Festival 2009 . Shannon the Movie Moxie described it as "Adeptly light handling of complex life events and choices"

Party with Liz and Darce
Romance inspired die-cuts are ideal for weddings, St Valentines day, birthdays or just to say 'I love you'.
Meslyncrafts can offer the ULTIMATE in romantic couples 'Miss Elizabeth Bennett and the gorgeous Mr Darcy'.



--------------------------------------

Glorious music and a few thoughtlets

Apologies firstly for the missing post - the result of a few hiccups and a day reshuffle! The crumbs left on the table today:

• Music people Varese Sarabande draw our attention to Pride and Glory's soundtrack, available for pre-order. Among Mark Isham's pieces are Track 9, 'Abby', and Track 4, 'Fran and Abby'. A reminder that the CD - out October 21 - can also be purchased and enjoyed courtesy of Amazon.
  


• The Sun offers an 'exclusive' clip of the film and interestingly suggests a later UK release of November 7. Ireland's Herald informs us that Colin Farrell is to receive a special pre-Oscar award.
  
  
• On the reviews board, Flixer is mixed - giving a pessimistic prediction for the film whilst praising some of its component parts. Record Online do some similar weighing-up, finding the pace to be the problem area but accentuating the film's plus points:

[...] Though it's got big stars and dirty cops, Pride & Glory has a truly independent heart. ... the story teems with originality by spending a lot of time with its families. Unfortunately, as each character is given a distinct personality, the story slows to a crawl, making the film feel longer than its two-plus-hour running time. Pride & Glory has some great dramatic twists. It just takes too long to arrive there. [...]

Finally in the Glory Pot is a little 'Reflections' piece from the crew at Woodstock, and a trailer-ish selection of film clips from Odeon Filmcast (at about 08.25 mins in).

• In the Rains Pot, Canada's Pique News Magazine is rather unforgiving, claiming that despite a 'dedicated' performance from Rahul Bose, the film 'never rises above mediocrity and that’s largely because it offers nothing new on the subject of the British Raj.'
  


• One blogger left the film much happier, acknowledging a few 'nay' elements but recommending the film and praising its 'genuine and matter of fact' portrayal of emotion. Another, on Movies Wawa, cannot find fault at all it seems:

[...] Beautifully filmed. Richly sound-tracked. ... Linus Roache does a great job ... but the show is totally taken by the performance of Rahul Bose. ... The leading lady here is Nandita Das who also does a wonderful job. The supporting cast is too numerous to list individually, but I think everyone was great. ... They make it easy to forget this is acting. Because this story is so compelling and believable its easy to get swept up into. [...]

The only glimmer of a criticism is considered 'not all bad':

[...] To me, what passes prior to this film, and after, are as interesting ... than the film itself. But, we are left without explanation of what precedes and what follows this portion of the story. That may not be all bad however. It leaves much for us to think and talk about. [...]

Outside the Rains/Glory sphere, a writer on the Hagood Blog gives Sunshine 8.5/10, and after mentioning a 'great' supporting cast, praises its magnetism:

[...] This movie has a great beginning; it pulled me right into it. This is something not usually seen in movies of this type, so it makes it an unusual, yet pleasant experience. [...]

A little something for everyone

Just to let everyone know, Blogger seems to be having a bit of trouble with polls right now, so if you are unable to submit your vote in our poll (on the right sidebar), please use the Chatter box to give us your opinion.

Well, there is nothing news-worthy to speak of, but here are a couple of tidbits:

• In his "Memo to Colin Farrell," Richard Horgan is optimistic about the upcoming film, Pride and Glory. Here is the relevant bit:
  

  [...] Your New Line crime drama Pride and Glory is technically a studio film, but it’s written and directed by an American director with the same name as Irish actor Gavin O’Connor (can’t hurt), and would appear to return said filmmaker to his pre-Miracle, Sundance Film Festival Filmmaker Trophy days. It’s also the first time you’ve been paired with Ed Norton, a combo that somehow feels to me like it can only be dynamite. [...]

  There hasn't been a lot of buzz about Pride and Glory thus far, but the folks at the IMDB message board are speculating that a trailer for the movie will make an appearance in January '08.
  
• Most of Jennifer Ehle's films seem to be available for reduced prices at amazon.co.uk right now, including Alpha Male, Backbeat, Melissa, Possession, Pride and Prejudice, Sunshine, and The River King. There are some great bargains so now might be the time to beef up your collection.

For today's Jane Austen fix:

• In addition to offering some words of praise for the BBC Pride and Prejudice, Shuttsie recommends a literary quiz-book called "So You Think You Know Jane Austen?" Here is how it is described at amazon.com:
  

  [...] Designed to amuse and divert, the questions and answers take the reader on an imaginative journey into the world of Jane Austen, where hypothesis and speculation produce fascinating and unexpected insights. Whether you are an expert or enthusiast, So You Think You Know Jane Austen? guarantees you will know her much better after reading it.

• And, Carole Goldberg of the Hartford Courant provides a list of movies, websites, and books, all relating to our dear Miss Austen.

Our Coast of Utopia devotees might be interested to know that Martha Plimpton was recently interviewed by Leonard Lopate about her role in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare in the Park. Visit WNYC.org to listen to the interview. Very good stuff! (Note that you can also see a picture at WNYC's photo page.)

Lastly, you might find ShrineMathGuys's latest blog entry excessively diverting! (Of course this is not the Jennifer Ehle, but wouldn't it be hilarious if she taught a class on blogging?)

You can never have too much Sunshine...

Here is an article by BBC Online Entertainment correspondent Tom Brook, written around the release of Sunshine. The ladies behind the character of Valerie have some nice things to say:

Ms Ehle seems to be impressed by the attitude of leading man, Ralph Fiennes:

There is no element of showing off. It would be tempting at some point when you are playing three characters to say, "Look what I can do".

Meanwhile she was able to identify with the character of Valerie in terms of her somewhat transient existence:

I had quite a rootless upbringing, so that was something just very personally that probably pushed a few buttons.

Rosemary Harris meanwhile admitted that at least part of the reason she was drawn to the role was 'because it was a chance to work with Jennifer'.

Later, when watching the finished product, Ms Harris implies she discovered some sort of a genetic imprint in terms of acting:

I was amazed when I saw the similarities we bear and which I wasn't aware of. I think its in the hand gestures or something.

Meanwhile, she describes what it was like to work with director Istvan Szabo:

Each scene I did with him felt like a master class. ... He would slowly nudge you with little taps on the nose here and there until he got what he wanted. ... Sometimes he would get it in a first take and sometimes he would go on for ten takes.

While we're on the theme, here are a few things mentioned by Ms Ehle in the DVD's special features. With regards to the script, Ms Ehle says:

I'd never read anything like it really. I loved it. I loved the story - it was incredibly unusual and not formulaic at all. I loved the script - I loved the story, the people. ... One of the things thats so wonderful about Istvan is how much he loves and respects his characters, and he treats them very humanely - not at all in a sentimental way, or patronising, just with love.

On Szabo, she says:

Istvan is so extraordinary. Whatever he knows about the script from having written it, and from the families he knows who have been through this...it's not intimidating that he has all of this inside him. He's so generous with it and he's so specific and his imagination is so rich. ... He will tell these stories that just make it all so clear. It's a wonderful experience to work with somebody who knows their subjects well.

There is clear praise in the other direction too, as Szabo explains how Ms Ehle ended up as Valerie:

I needed somebody who had a warm, charismatic smile. ... Glenn Close introduced me to Jennifer Ehle at a party... I saw her smile, and asked my casting director to invite her for a discussion, and after having done the discussion, it was clear that Jennifer should do the role.

Meanwhile, I am very intrigued by the aforementioned extra's comment about Alpha Male being filmed in a country house in Bedfordshire. I lived in that county for nine years, and would be interested to know which house it was, if anyone knows. A National Trust place perhaps? Not exactly the best county in the country (I'm a Cambs/Herts girl myself). Some places are...tolerable I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me...

Zig and zag

• Tune into Charlie Rose tonight (Wed 7) to catch his interview with Tom Stoppard. Thanks to Paula for the tip!
• At ATC there's a review-count for Shipwreck:

  12 pro
  New Yorker, Post, Times, Time Out, Daily News, USA Today, AP, New York Mag., Newhouse, WSJ, NY1, Newsday
  4 mixed
  Village Voice, Bergen Record, Gannett, Bloomberg

• Brendan Lemon at the LCT blog responds to the Isherwood-lead backlash (eg. at the Washington Theatre Review blog and Amy Ettinger's).
  
• Eccentric Iguana reflects on completing Utopia - and is eager to come back for more!

  Second in theater news, I finished The Coast of Utopia Trilogy. Each play stands out on it's own. Voyage was a Chekhov-esque drama, with many characters to be introduced and each scene moving by the year. What Stoppard did that was brilliant was how he lead you into the mood of the show through a character who in fact wasn't the main character of the series. It was like giving the audience exposition, but first hand.
  
  Shipwreck soon showed you who the next two plays would revolve around. Of the three I enjoyed this one the most. It started off with the same grandeur as Voyage, but in the second act soon became much more human and intriguing to watch. As well as heartbreaking.
  
  The final, Salvage, brought the series to a close, or did it? Do we forget that after 1866, Russia still went through much more historical events.
  
  Hello Lenin.
  
  But for the final piece I have to say it combined the complexity of the first part with the enjoyability of the second. It was great. So after the show naturally I bought a ticket to a marathon day...
  
  Yes that's one day, ALL THREE plays. It's a 12 hour day kids. Starting at 11 am, and ending at 11pm. Granted I get a lunch and dinner break. It's going to be intense!!! I can NOT wait. To see it all together.

• More love for Salvage at ATC from WilliamHacker, concluding:

  [...] But after seeing the conclusion, it just felt immensely moving and satisfying seeing the story of such an influential, important figure, who is yet almost unknown in this country, brought to such complete and rich life on stage.
  
  Obviously this type of work isn't for everyone, but for me, I found it to be one of the best things I've seen in thirty years of seeing theatre in NYC.

  Also from jesse21:
  

  [...] However, inside the theatre, I sat among as savvy an audience one is likely to encounter in this city. Our attention was riveted on the stage as "The Coast of Utopia" roared to its conclusion, magnificently rewarding us with one of the most memorable experiences of, not just this, but any season.

• Film blogger Emma, who's raved about Jennifer Ehle in Alpha Male in the past, gives one more special mention:

  [...] It’s been over 10 years since Jennifer Ehle showed graced our TV screens as the wonderfully sweet Lizzie Bennet, and Alpha Male is probably her best performance since. Her portrayal of the put-upon mother who loses a husband and slowly loses her family is wonderfully realistic and sweet. She steals every scene she’s in, and provides the basis for a potentially dull film, making it totally watchable. [...]

• Sunshine shoutout from funky_cowgirl:

  [...] It seems that the love stories are used as a breathing space, because those do take up a bit of time (busy filming schedule for Fiennes, love scene wise! ;-) ) but I didn't find it problematic. The relationships with the women do make the story flow. Especially Jennifer Ehle and her real life mum (as her older version) are amazing...She's as much in love with life as her character in Pride & Prejudice. [...]
  

• There's constant baseline squeeing for Pride and Prejudice on blogs which we largely ignore, but Adam's is notable because c'mon, he's a he (and wants to be Darcy) and also somehow finds a connection with CS Lewis' biography.
  

  Beth and I sat down to watch our newly acquired 1995 BBC/A&E 5 1/2 hour version of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" on Sunday afternoon. I was expecting to appreciate it, even enjoy it. Instead, I craved it and hated stopping. We watched half Sunday and finished it Monday. I dreamt about it both nights.
  
  Part of it was the ridiculously talented interpretive acting of Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in the main roles. I loved the commitment in their eyes at all times. Ehle in particular connected her words with body language that fit the character perfectly and often resulted in movements that I had never seen on film before. So, anyway, point A: I'm very much in love with those two actors right now...but mostly Ehle...because she's a girl...and looks strikingly like Beth (but she'd heard that already). [...]
  

Etc

YouTube video of John Ehle doing a book reading.

New Spider-Man 3 trailer and a detailed writeup that includes a photo and description of a scene that Rosemary Harris is in. There's also a mention of her in an article about a new animal welfare food labelling scheme.

Interview with Jack O'Brien, Coast of Utopia director.

[...] The Coast of Utopia, whose first part is now in previews and opens Nov. 27, is a much-anticipated project. The three plays that make up Stoppard's epic- Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage - chronicle the lives and ideas of five artists and thinkers who laid the groundwork of the Russian Revolution: socialist writer Alexander Herzen, anarchist Michael Bakunin, novelist Ivan Turgenev, poet Nicholas Ogarev and critic Vissarion Belinsky.

"Tom never writes a play about one thing," O'Brien said. "He writes a play about a lot of stuff. This play is historical. All of these things actually happened to these people. It's very witty. It has to do with philosophy. It has to do with the evolution of independent thinking in Europe and Russia in the 19th century."

O'Brien previously directed Stoppard's Hapgood and The Invention of Love, but they didn't really prepare him for The Coast of Utopia, which the director called "the theatrical equivalent" of Wagner's Ring cycle. "It's some sort of experience," he said. "It's like watching a novel."

The cast of 44 includes Billy Crudup, Jennifer Ehle, Ethan Hawke, Amy Irving, Brian O'Byrne and Martha Plimpton, an unusually starry group for a long run with a nonprofit theater company.

Part Two of the trilogy begins in December and will play in repertory with Part One as Part Three is being rehearsed. By Valentine's Day, all three will be up and running in tandem and continue through mid-March. The last three Saturdays of the run in February and March are marathons when all three plays - a total of 81/2 hours - can be seen in one day. The marathons are already sold out.

O'Brien thinks a marathon could be too much. For out-of-towners, he suggests catching consecutive performances of the three plays over two days by taking advantage of the Wednesday and Saturday matinees.

"So in an overnight, you can see all three plays, but you're not sitting there for an entire day and you have a little time to think and absorb it. I think that's the best way of doing it." [...]

Misc "saw it, liked it": Dan, HEad of the ages, Andrew Guest:

[...] Last night we saw Voyage the first part of Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" trilogy of plays. Thoroughly dramatic opening, with a stunning special effect of waves crashing on the stage got me to sit up in my seat. It was long and wordy, no surprise for Stoppard, but I was mesmerized. It helps to have read some Turgenev, to understand how modern ideas of the self came to Russia really at just the wrong time. To our eyes and ears, the Russians seem almost laughably naive, but they were struggling against a thousand years of groupthink, and needed time to adjust to seeing themselves as individuals in a modern setting. I hope to get back to see parts two and three next year. [...]

Sunshine review from a Jewish perspective.

Latest word from Verve Pictures is that Alpha Male has been entered for consideration for the 2007 BAFTAs. Nominations come out in January.

More blog mini-reviews: DBG is disappointed but there's love for Voyage at One scheme of happiness despite lack of preparation. She delivers this high praise:

[...] Of course, a cast boasting Ethan Hawke, Martha Plimpton, Amy Irving and Billy Crudup guarantees a full house, even if the show were a dissertation on the redeeming qualities of cat poop. Luckily for us all, Stoppard's jaunty script provoked far more interest and humor and kept the audience closer to the edge of their seats than any litterbox chatter I've encountered recently. [long, read on]

New post at the LCT blog on how actors spend their waiting time between scenes.

During a technical rehearsal last month for Voyage, when a light cue was being rewritten and much of the cast was hanging out in the audience seats of the Vivian Beaumont, Ethan Hawke remarked, "The waiting is harder than the acting."

Many actors would agree. Passing the time between set-ups, in fact, is such an integral part of the actor's life that it's a wonder no Stanislavsky or Uta Hagen has written a guide on The Art of Waiting. [...]

Sherry Grindeland of the Seattle Times recounts her trip to the city that never sleeps, meeting Voyage company member Erika Rolfsrud.

Another giveaway of the Pride and Prejudice 10th anniversary box set at Elegant Variation.

Plus, we just passed the 100 000 visitors mark recently. Yay!

Sunshine on Buffalo telly

This falls into the time-critical category.

Thursday
11:30 PM [5] "Sunshine" ('99) Ralph Fiennes, Rosemary Harris. Three generations of a Jewish family are caught up in the successive political upheavals affecting their native Hungary. (CC) (2:00) 98879

I'm guessing this means Sunshine is on Channel 5 today in Buffalo and environs.

Sunshine blog review

From She thinks therefore she is:

Sure Ralph Fiennes's acting was seamless and well done, especially considering he played a different role for each generation. But, I was really truly most impressed by the talents of both women who played Valerie Sors, younger (Jennifer Ehle) and older (Rosemary Harris). They were truly the heart of the film.

Budapest Sun on Sunshine

A Hungarian perspective.

Despite the strong and often shameful subject matter, Sunshine is a film for which Hungarians can be really proud. Directed by István Szabó, the epic spans generations and covers weighty topics such as history, religion, roots, love, hatred and prejudice. It is the first film for a long while to earn the title of a truly great work of cinema.
...
Gustav (James Frain), the left-wing conscience of the story, is in love with his adopted sister Vali who falls for Ignác (Fiennes). Vali’s character is played by the talented actress Jennifer Ehle (This year’s love, Wilde), her real life mother actress Rosemary Harris plays Vali in later life.

Although the three characters Ignác, son Ádám and grandson Iván are all played by Fiennes, it seems like Vali is at the real core of the film. Her character spans the generations, and as a photographer she observes the events of history, both personal and the larger east European tragedy.

English Sunshine official site

Yay, the Paramount site is (back?) up. It has the usual photos, trailer, cast bios, etc. In the "Sonnenschein Family Album" section, you'll find the proper English versions of the quotes I attempted to translate earlier from the French official site.

Jennifer Ehle says: “I simply adored Valerie as a person. She is very different from many female characters that we see onscreen. She is strong, and while she never tries to please people, it is important to her that those around her are happy. She wants everything to be stable and balanced which is a difficult job in this family. Valerie tries to keep the peace, but without ever compromising herself or what she believes.”
...
Rosemary Harris says: “Valerie is truly an extraordinary woman for her time. She doesn’t go with the flow, she has her own thoughts and feelings about things and she sees through other people’s subterfuge. Since I took the part I’ve learned a lot about Hungarian history and how people’s fortunes were swayed by the winds of change in the politics. But Valerie remains steadfast throughout. She doesn’t get easily swayed, she has her own compass set and she stays on her own course all her life. Playing the role with my daughter Jennifer means knowing what we each feel about the character without having to spell it out.”