We believe in cozy around here.

First I need to acknowledge that I am a sentimental goofball. Because next I’m going to acknowledge that I cried a lot while watching The Sound of Music recently.

Livia and I watched this awesome Christmas present (again, thank you, Jeremy!) over a period of three to four sessions. I’m pretty sure each session involved me folding laundry because the laundry situation around here is just that bad. I was impressed that Livia, lover of animation, stuck it out and watched the whole show with me. Loved that.

Is there anything better than the dramatic score of The Sound of Music? I’m pretty certain is was the soaring musical numbers that got me all teary. Maria in her wedding gown? Goosebumps and glossy eyes. The entire family climbing over the Alps at the end? Definite tear-jerker:

Climb every mountain
Ford every stream
Follow every rainbow
Till. You. Find. Your. Dream.

Such intense moments require singing along, so then I, the laundry-folding mommy, end up with arms raised in triumph in the living room, singing along in my best warbling and dramatic falsetto.

Oh, Julie Andrews, how I love thee.

**January Reflections are writing prompts from the thoughtful and creative Corrin of The Glorious Impossible.

Welcome to Entertainment Week on the Prairie Box. Audience participation required (suggested? demanded?). It’s the first week of August which means summer, as we know it, is quickly coming to an end. So this week I’m interested in what the masses do for fun.

Today’s question isn’t limited to summer viewing though:

What is one of the best movies and one of the best television programs you’ve seen in 2008? And why?

(Only answer why if you can do so without dropping spoilers. Oh spoilers! The bane of my non-cable-watching existence!)

I’ll go first. For movies I’ll pick Wall-E for all its Pixar-y goodness. It was great to see a movie on the big screen that my whole family could really enjoy. And while watching the film, I was very aware that I wasn’t catching every fascinating detail, that there was a lot more to discover during future viewings. Wa-a-ll-eeeee! Ev-ah! Who could resist such charm? For tv shows I’ll go with a recent delivery from my Blockbuster queue: Mad Men. I almost quit watching the show (note that it’s not recommended for everyone) because it got dark and somewhat discouraging. But I love history that comes alive and with Mad Men I’m constantly wondering about historical accuracy as it relates to the show’s central office, a marketing firm on Madison Avenue. It may not be the “best” of 2008, but certainly one of the most interesting programs I’ve seen.

Per Michelle W’s request, I’m going to list a few movies and TV shows we’ve recently watched… and liked. There is a shorter list of shows we didn’t like–I haven’t decided yet if I’ll post those or not.

Once
I was informed by Renae that I’d love this movie, and she was correct in her estimation of my opinion. Once is a small, comfortable film with no dazzle or special features. It’s about a guy and a girl and they seem so real, and it’s about music, the kind of music you’ll be humming under your breath for days, the kind of music that puts a smile on your face when your husband finally buys the album on iTunes.

Rescue Dawn
This movie is a POW tale. I know, I know, we’ve all seen enough of those movies. But Werner Herzog, an amazing director, brings fresh insight to Rescue Dawn. I was impressed by how Herzog chose to tell this story with a refreshingly small amount of violence and a healthy dose of reality. Christian Bale as the lead is, as always, great, but the comedic actor Steve Zahn is the surprising standout here.

Miss Potter
This sweet film, which I watched by myself, had me in one moment calling out to Jeremy about how charming Ewen McGregor was and, in the next moment, weeping in my peppermint ice cream. And goodness knows how much I enjoy being delighted and tortured with tears all in the same film. I avoided Miss Potter for the longest time because I couldn’t stand to hear Renee Zellweger doing another British accent. But darn it all, Zellweger as Potter was an excellent fit and this flick made my night quite special.

Also recommended: The Namesake (not fabulous, but good), Amazing Grace (really wonderful bit of history), Deep Water (a fascinating history lesson), and Music & Lyrics (silly but good for a laugh; Friday Night Lights fans need to watch for Jason Street).

Here we go, folks. The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and it looks like I either need to go to the movies a lot more or I should just forget about the whole thing. I haven’t seen any of the Best Picture nominees, and yes, my head is hanging low in shame. For a complete listing of nominations, go here.

For those of you who have seen The Aviator, is it really all that good? Eleven nominations… Reminds me of Return of the King from last year, which of course I thought was deserving of every Oscar it won.

One more thing. I’m wondering how nominations work for Best Music (Song). I understand it has to be a new, original piece of music, but honestly, it seems like Andrew Lloyd Weber whipped out “Learn to Be Lonely” just to win an Oscar. The moment I heard the buzz about ALW’s new song and how Minnie Driver sang it and how it was played on Phantom’s credits, well, I knew it was fodder for the Oscars. Bleh.

If you like the musical, you’ll like the movie. If not, save yourself a few bucks and a few complaints. I LOVED it. (Pssst, Sweetie. I’m still laughing about the time you leaned across the table at the Rococo Theatre after two songs of Jekyll & Hyde and oh so innocently asked, “Is this a musical?”)

Jeremy and I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It’s that time of year where it’s too cold to go outside at night for walks around the neighborhood or for gardening in the backyard. Also, the sun goes down around 5:30pm, turning our living room into a cozy haven of warmth and light which we don’t enjoy leaving for more than a few minutes to run to Blockbuster (and maybe to get some ice cream). Jeremy’s into a good book right now, but I’m not, plus movies are something fun we can enjoy together. Unlike someone else I know, I am most definitely not a movie reviewer… But here’s what I think about what we’ve seen recently:

Super Size Me
Did you know most fast-food hamburger patties are composed of the meat of thousands of cattle? This tidbit comes from a special feature on Super Size Me where Morgan Spurlock (director, writer and experiment-conductor) sits down with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, and just so you know, I find this piece of information very gross. I will credit this documentary with helping to knock me off my fast food habit, the one where I absolutely crave McDonalds and can’t be satisfied with any other hamburger. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this restaurant… I have fond memories of dining in Ronald McDonald land as a kid, sitting on a fake stump under a fake tree, eating the hamburger patty solo when I didn’t like the buns. Oddly enough, its greasy food has always been desirable to me even when all other foods caused nausea; I ate a cheeseburger All-American meal on my wedding day when my tummy was rocking crazily with anxiety. But, supposedly, all good things come to an end, so I thank Mr. Spurlock for pushing me over the edge. And when I begin to crave the golden arches again? Then I’ll read Mr. Schlosser’s work.

The Terminal
This movie got knocked by several critics and called slow and unimpressive by others, so we skipped watching it until now. But really, I thought it was great. Tom Hanks was fun to watch and the plot was interesting enough to keep me engaged. My favorite moment during the film? When Jeremy says, “Hey, that looks like that one actress!” Me: “Catherine Zeta-Jones?” Jeremy: “Yeah.” Me: “It is Catherine Zeta-Jones.” Jeremy: “Oh.” I think her bangs threw him off.

The Last Castle
Brook keeps adding to her DVD collection and every so often we enjoy a free movie, so this is one of her recommendations. I can’t say I would purchase it (though I’m glad YOU did, Brook!) but it was enjoyable to watch. For the past few years I’ve been really interested in the military, so the notion of a military prison, and a three star general who was sent there, intrigued me. Robert Redford and James Gandolfini were okay in their roles. I really like Mark Ruffalo, though, and imagine I’d watch him in just about anything.

Cheaper by the Dozen
No, I haven’t seen the original movie, and no, I’ve never read the book. I went into this flick (a recent Blockbuster purchase) with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It made me laugh. It made me think with fondness about family. It made me appreciate Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt for their comedic abilities. It was fun! This is the kind of movie a diverse audience can watch, which make it a decent addition to our DVD library.

Pieces of April
This film has been added to my Top Ten favorite movies. I’m not sure what the other nine are but give me some time and I could name a few. I love this movie. I love the pacing. I love the storyline. I love the yellowed camera shots and the sometimes crooked camera angles. I especially love the acting. Patricia Clarkson and Oliver Platt give standout performances and Katie Holmes partially redeems herself for all those years of Dawson’s Creek. If you want to know what kind of movie I like, well… this is it. Good stuff.

The race to watch as many Blockbuster rentals during one month as we possibly can continues! My goal in this endeavor is to walk into the 16th & Q store and pick out the first new release I’ve always wanted to see but haven’t yet. (Usually I pick one and Jeremy picks one.) Quite a few of my selections are romantic comedies. Something happened approximately six years ago when I got married: my romantic comedy movia quota dropped dramatically and I began to appreciate the finer sides of science fiction, fantasy and action films. At any rate, a lot of my movie selections this month are good for a few laughs and 1.5-2 hours of checking out of reality.

I was prepared to dislike Win a Date with Tad Hamilton based upon some review I once read. Instead I really liked it’s sweetness and cheese… Good stuff. Didn’t enjoy The Rundown. Ugh. I managed to find other things to do during the latter half of the movie—exciting things like scrubbing formula out of Livia’s bottle nipples and applying stain removal spray to the shirt I spilled ketchup on last week. Let’s see… What else did we see? We braved the heights and bitter cold along with the two mountain climbers in Touching the Void. This movie plays like a documentary accompanied by narration from the real-life climbers. Watching it is literally breathtaking and I found myself gasping, in empathy and horror, many times. Definitely worth renting. On my own I took in The Company with Neve Campbell. I heard a friend once say this movie is more like a documentary and he was right. At times I was a bit bored with the dance scenes. Though I love the stage and elements of ballet, lighting and set design, I wasn’t captivated by the exotic dances. That being said, the film reminded me that I need to get to the theater more often—for dances, for symphonies, for plays or musicals, whatever. There’s nothing like seeing performances live on a stage. I was also pleased to see James Franco (Freaks and Geeks, Spiderman movies) in this one though his role was minimal. Favorite scene? Neve’s character’s “duet” dance on an outdoor stage while a storm rolled in. Simply beautiful.

Finally, I’ve got Calendar Girls on pause downstairs (paused to attend to a screaming baby and now to blog). I am totally enjoying this flick! It’s delightfully funny—so much so that I paused it to call my mom and laugh with her since I am watching it alone. The movie stirs up a very strong desire to go explore the English countryside, though for now I must leave that duty to Bethany in Oxford. It’s also awakened the age-old discussion regarding art… What’s the difference between being naked and being nude? What is tasteful art and what is pornographic? Hmmm… Chew on that, if you will, and leave any comments. I’d like to hear what you think!

Several years ago I attempted to read Tolstoy’s War and Peace, “attempted” being the operative word. I got knee-deep (okay, maybe ankle-deep) in this great piece of literature before abandoning it for other reading endeavors. So, a few weeks ago, in the traveling library we like to call the Bookmobile, I was somewhat suprised that the cover of another Tolstoy novel beckoned to me… Anna Karenina. Upon seeing the Oprah’s Book Club symbol I almost put the book back out of embarrassment as if reading an “Oprah” book was too trendy and housewife-ish. I’m glad I didn’t let pride interfere with this book choice, though, as I now understand why Tolstoy is such a revered author. His command of the written word is truly amazing and if I had not been reading a borrowed copy of the book I would have highlighted and underlined enormous sections of the novel. I believe Tolstoy has exceptional insight into human nature, which he then records in astounding detail. My one recommendation is that if you choose to read Anna Karenina, pick the version translated by Volokhonsky and Pevear; I’m convinced their meticulous translation allowed me to enjoy and finish the entire novel.

After completing the book I got online and looked around for some analysis on the tale—lo and behold I discovered Bernard Rose’s motion picture, released in 1997. A quick look at the cast revealed great promise: Sophie Marceau as Anna, Sean Bean as her lover Count Vronksy, and Alfred Molina as Levin (my favorite character). With great expectation, and forgetting that typically movies are never as good as their written counterparts, I watched the flick and discovered that looks aren’t everything. The movie is beautiful—the actors, costumes and sets are very well-done—but I was disappointed at the film’s outset due to Levin’s voiceover narration (which annoyingly continued throughout the entire movie). In addition, I disagreed with the director’s interpretation of the tale’s two romantic relationships (Anna/Vronksy and Levin/Kitty) as being parallel stories. Tolstoy’s novel contains several examples of love and marriage, infidelity and fidelity; these two storylines are simply the most prominent. My last complaint is somewhat minor, but nagging nonetheless… All actors spoke English (with a smattering of Russian), but each with an accent from his or her own country. You’ve got Molina and Bean with British accents, Marceau with a French twist, and even worse, Mia Kirshner (a darling Kitty) with an American accent. Argh! If Kirshner had attempted even a semi-British accent I would have been much happier. (The same thing bothered me in Troy as well.)

As often is the case, the book is excellent and the 1997 movie is fair-to-middling. If you want to conquer Tolstoy, I’d suggest Anna Karenina… but don’t take my word for it [said in Lavar Burton voice]. For just a hint of Tolstoy’s genius, read the first two paragraphs of this passage on Levin’s adjustment to married life.

We’re officially doing the Blockbuster-imitates-Netflix-deal for the next month. Couldn’t resist when they offered $10 off the normal price. So hold onto your hats, it’s movie time. If you want to get in touch with us for the next four weeks, plan on leaving a message&#151’cuz, baby, we’re watchin’ the boob tube! Pookie’s sleeping (which means I need to grab a quick nap, too), so for now I’ll leave a review of our recent viewings.