Fabbo Friday and a Fab Forties Flick

If you like 1940s film noir then I highly recommend “Leave Her To Heaven”.

 I've seen it twice now and it's amazing how your point of view changes with each viewing. I don't want to give too much away but the character Ellen (Gene Tierney) is depicted as a monster.

 When I saw it last Saturday night, I was surprised to find myself having a lot more empathy for her; she seemed to be more mentally ill than evil. And how irritating were some of the 'so-called-good' characters! The self-absorbed author-husband, Richard Harland (this makes me smile as I know a Richard Harland writer) neglects his new bride on their honeymoon leaving her to entertain his disabled brother, then wonders why she gets really, really mad at him.

And I also found the foster sister, Ruth, incredibly annoying. She was obviously all over Ellen's husband, flirting away, whilst Ellen was pregnant and once again he wondered why she became really irate.

This was one of Fox's highest grossing film in the 1940s. It's one of Martin Scorcese's favourite films and also one of mine.

And on this Fab Friday leaving you with an image of the lovely Johnny Depp as we head towards another steaming hot Sydney weekend.
Thanks for visiting me. xx
johnny depp image source
Leave Her to Heaven book source
Ellen and Richard together source
Gene in pool source
Gene in boat source

Fabbo Friday a Fab Flick and Farewell for now. xx

Hello,

I'm going away for a couple of weeks on a research trip to Tasmania. Whilst away I will only be blogging at my writing blog HERE in case you miss me.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with the wonderful Johnny Depp and the movie The Tourist which I saw yesterday whilst the Scribe took our daughter to Tangled.

Despite a ludicrous plot it's still worth the ticket as I love the retro-slightly Polaroid look. It took me back to Venice, one of my favourite places. In a recent interview Johnny Depp talked about how he would walk the streets of Venice late at night and the ghosts would come out for him then. Venice is a city of ghosts and dreams.

I shall never forget my holiday with the Scribe there and how we had a 'room with a view' as we were staying during the time of the floods and the hotel kindly upgraded us. If you haven't visited this dream of a city, I urge you to go. And in the meantime you can feast on both Depp and Venice in The Tourist. 

xx 
johnny in boat image source  
scene from the tourist image source

Fabbo Friday and Lady on a Train for Christmas Telly

Lady on a Train is a great 1940s movie that I highly recommend for Christmas. It's a mystery which stars the wonderfully perky Deanna Durbin, lover of detective novels and witness to a murder whilst on a train. Yes, shades of Agatha Christie here but a lighter romp than anything the Duchess of Crime came up with.

It's a lot of good fun and is set in New York at Christmas time, making it an ideal Christmas flick.

The movie had the potential to be a lot darker in a Daphne du Maurier or film noir way but it plays it safe with a good frolic. But still, totally fab viewing and Deanna wears some out-there hats throughout.

Deanna also performs a beautiful version of Silent Night which, as Bill Collins said, is well worth watching this great old classic for.

However, Mr Collins failed to mention in his introduction on Foxtel that one of the stars, David Bruce, bears an almost uncanny resemblance to JOHNNY DEPP. And he plays his character like an early Ed Wood. Bruce plays Wayne Morgan, the very likeable and slightly bumbling mystery writer who Deanna's character, Nicki, enlists to help her solve the murder.

 I'd love to see a remake of this one starring Johnny Depp as Wayne Morgan. And so in place of my usual Johnny Depp image today, I shall leave you with a photo of his early doppelganger (see below).

Enjoy your weekend as we head towards the Summer Solstice and Christmas. xx
images source

Fabbo Friday and Fab Flick Enid

This is the first movie I've ever watched that I had taped to view later and straight after viewing it ordered from Amazon. It was always going to be a winner with me for the following reasons.
Helena Bonham Carter.
Enid Blyton.
The frocks. Yes, I know thanks to the post on The Washerwoman's Blog that they're not authentic vintage and are Cath Kidston's but I still loved them.
The mystery of what was the 'truth' in the Enid Blyton story.
Enid Blyton’s two daughters, Imogen and Gillian, tell vastly different stories of their mother. They may as well be describing different women. I found that idea so fascinating that it formed quite a large part of the plot of my mystery novel, Poets Cottage. I've always been interested in families’ varying points of view and how that can shape and alter future events . The family unit is such a potent dynamic to work with even when things seem to be in balance - when they're not, it's gold for a Tale Peddler.
The Scribe loathed the character of Enid in the film and some of the scenes are painful to watch. In particular, the scene where Enid has her tiny fans around to enjoy romps and a Blyton tea whilst her banished daughters look on from a distance longingly.
It's interesting to know that the film had to wait to be made until Gillian (daughter who always loved and supported her mother) had died. This left more control to Imogen (daughter who was much harsher in her judgements of Enid).
I am far more forgiving of Enid than the Scribe, who wasn't raised on a diet of Blyton books as I was.
I adored Enid with a passion that I still have to this day. I get misty-eyed thinking of midnight suppers in boarding schools, scummy food with chocolate cake, boiled eggs and lashings of ginger beer. Rabbits holding cosy tea-parties in trees. Fairies hiding in dolls-houses. Talking tea-pots, smugglers, gypsies, wishing-chairs, French-mistresses, argumentative teddy bears. spoilt children and Cherry-tree farm. When I see the words Kirren Island, my heart gives an excited thump.
She gave my childhood (which wasn't always idyllic) some magic, mystery and excitement.
Enid knew full well the power she had on young minds around the world. She took that responsibility seriously. One of the great things about being a mother is I get to revisit all the Blyton worlds and watch my daughter falling under the Blyton spell. Daisy has adored her books from about two. There isn't another storyteller who holds her interest as much as Enid Blyton.
I have no doubt that Enid neglected something to enable her prolific writing (about 700 books in all).
Which raises another question I've been musing over - do you neglect your own children if you know you can make millions of children around the world more joyful, imaginative and caring beings? Which legacy is ultimately more important if you are a writer who has this talent to awaken the imaginative mind?
Have you seen Enid? Let me know if you have what you thought of it. Love or Loathe Enid Blyton? I thought Helena was inspired casting for Blyton. She's English to the core and watching her walk, the manner in which she spoke to people in the film – it was very true of a lot of writers I've met.
Here's a link to a newspaper article on this topic. There was a rather good article on this on the UK Telegraph several years ago but it's been removed.
And my favourite new Blog for the week is a Swedish woman by the name of Chez Larsson. She has a stupendous Blog if you are interested in organising, culling and making life neater around you. I badly need her services. Her post on magazines was particularly impressive. Here's a link.
Signing off for another week with the incredible duo of Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp.
Enjoy your weekend. Hope it is filled with family, fun and lashings of ginger beer. xx
"Mothers were much too sharp. They were like dogs. Buster always sensed when anything was out of the ordinary, and so did mothers. Mothers and dogs both had a kind of second sight that made them see into people's minds and know when anything unusual was going on." (The Mystery of the Hidden House.) - Enid Blyton

images of enid film source

johnny depp and vanessa source

Fabbo Friday and a Fab and Funny French Film

My lovely neighbour and friend lent me the French movie I Do and this week was the perfect week for watching it. If you enjoy a funny, light romantic film then I highly recommend it. I'd had a pretty dismal week but I managed to put my woes behind me and laugh out loud a few times.
Alain Chabat plays Luis Costa, a happily confirmed bachelor who lives in an immaculate apartment and works as a 'nose' for a perfume company. His five sisters and interfering mother are trying to marry him off. Enter Emma played by Charlotte Gainsbourg whom Luis pays to be the perfect partner that his family will all fall in love with and then dump him at the altar, leaving him heart-broken so his family will leave him alone. The cunning plan backfires when his family fall in love with Emma too much and then he is forced to change his plan, hiring Emma to become the girlfriend from hell for the benefit of his family.
It's a lovely escapist film and Charlotte looks incredibly elegant, slim and stunning. But what would you expect with her parents? I do love Serge and Jane Birkin sooo much and have happy memories of visiting Serge's grave in Paris and seeing all the funny notes, cigarette butts,, metro tickets and quirky toys left for him. With a gene pool like that, Charlotte had to be exceptional.
Enjoy your weekend. Hope it is filled with lots of laughter and inspiration. Thank you for visiting me. xx

Charlotte Gainsbourg image source:

Jane and Serge image source:

Jane and Serge with infant Charlotte image source

Fabbo Friday and a fab froggy film

I know it's not French, art house, a Cocteau, or featuring Johnny Depp. Several mothers I've spoken to have hated it, but surprisingly enough (and this is the year I hope to surprise myself) I enjoyed this children's movie far more than I thought I would.
It was my daughter's first ever cinema experience. We had given up hope that The Wizard Of Oz was going to run in Sydney on the big screen. I am not a big Walt Disney fan by any means but reading that this pic was hand-drawn in the old style of animation interested me enough to escort Daisy and the Scribe. The Scribe was eager to see how Daisy enjoyed her first trip to the pictures, which of course was the only reason he came along!
I found the movie charming although the soundtrack a bit of a disappointment to what I had been expecting. I loved the ethos of 'it's okay to wish and believe but you also have to work hard'. And the voodoo scenes were great although perhaps a little scary for small ones.
Daisy, I hastily add, wasn't afraid at all of the bad spirits, being far more interested in the popcorn. I also enjoyed the scene where Ray the firefly loved the star who he believed to be a firefly. I can hardly believe I've written that on a public Blog. But my favourite moment - which did bring a tear to my eye (yes, total saddo that I am) - was when Mama Odie the Voodoo good magic mama says to distinguish between needs and wants. Then the heroine, Tiana, is told that her much-loved father who never achieved his dream of opening his restaurant didn't get what he wanted but he had what he needed (his wife and daughter). Such a lovely sentiment! And a really great topic to muse over yourself - what is the difference between what you want and what you need?
The Scribe thought the whole thing was pretty pants. I suspect he did like the alligator Louis who wanted to become a professional jazz player and having been to New Orleans he enjoyed seeing how accurately that beautiful city was drawn. Daisy I know was more interested in the popcorn than the film although she has talked about it a lot and recited dialogue from it constantly And of course, Tiana is Disney's first ever black princess and heroine. Can you believe it has taken so long?.
I was interested to read that Oprah Winfrey plays Eudora, Tiana's mother. So fitting this great American lady was involved; the themes are close to her heart. The movie has been so successful for Disney that they plan to release regular hand drawn animations. And of course the merchandise has already hit the shelves: cookbooks, Tiana's costume, tiaras and kissing frogs.
Do you enjoy any children's movies? I loved The Wizard Of Oz and watched it just the other day. I also want to see Mary Poppins again but I want to read the book first. I am looking forward to watching some great old classic children's films with Daisy.
Enjoy your weekend. I hope it is filled with joy and buckets of creative fun. Thank you for visiting me. There is a link below to the UK Independent which has an interesting article on the hand drawn aspect of The Princess and the Frog. I welcome this return to Disney studios of the art which they previously scrapped. Hand-drawn animation contains true magic in my opinion.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/leap-of-faith-the-princess-and-the-frog-1870801.html

image of tiana and frog source

tiana image source

Fabbo Friday and a fab flick - Miss Potter

The eternally fab, crafty Pip from Meet Me at Mikes did a blog about the movie Miss Potter recently which reminded me of how much the Scribe and I enjoyed this film on Christmas Night. I love Christmas Night when magic still hangs in the air but all the hard work and hectic pace is over. I can think of no better way to spend it than snuggled up with the Scribe, a box of Christmas chocolates, a glass of wine and a good 'Christmas type film.' By this, I mean a movie that's not too heavy but something that contains a touch of magic to complement the day.
I had avoided seeing Miss Potter as I'm not a big fan of Renee Zellweger. However, I have to admit that I enjoyed seeing this movie. It made me curious to read more about the real Beatrix Potter. I loved seeing how her characters took over her mind and life as I've often felt the same way when I'm writing, and the early scenes of Beatrix as a child reminded me of my own daughter. I also enjoyed seeing how her publishers got it so totally wrong with their contemptuous attitude towards her 'bunny book'.
The Scribe and I visited the Lakes District but shamefully didn't get to view Hill Top Farm. We did go to Ruskin's marvellous house however. Next trip we will have to visit Hill Top. It is interesting to ponder how different the Lakes District would look if it wasn't for Beatrix Potter taking on the evil developers.
Enjoy your weekend. I shall be spending mine resting this back. Be kind and keep creating. Thank you for visiting me. xx

image of Miss Potter source:
image of Nutkin squirrel source: