Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas, everybody!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Have a lovely time! Have fun! :) Xxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS.'

A wonderful Christmas song! I love Judy Garland! :)

The World Of Peter Rabbit & Friends ep. 5 - The Tailor of Gloucester

A sweet Christmas story. I love it. :) xx

Dean Martin - Let it Snow!

I love this song. Hope it gets everybody into the Christmas spirit!! :)

Meet Me In St. Louis 1944- The Trolley Song

I love this song. It makes me feel happy. xx

Downton Abbey Series One, Episode Three

 

 

Late November 1912. Cora is pleased when Lady Mary informs her that Evelyn Napier, the wealthy son of a peer and a possible suitor, will be visiting. However, he arrives with a dashing Turkish diplomat, Mr. Kemal Pamuk, who is in London for the Albanian independence negotiations, and Mary is completely smitten with him. Mary is not the only one: Thomas gets a little too close to the Turk. Pamuk offers to spare Thomas punishment for his indiscretion, provided he will do something in return. Edith tries to interest Matthew by offering to show him the local churches. To her disappointment, he is far more interested in the buildings than herself. Bates purchases a device to correct his limp, but this proves to be extremely painful and injurious, until Mrs. Hughes discovers it and makes him get rid of it. Gwen's (a housemaid) secret is revealed: she has been training to be a secretary, by correspondence. She is dejected by the other servants' scepticism and disapproval of her choice, but Bates and Anna encourage her, as does Lady Sybil.  During and after dinner, Lady Mary has eyes only for Mr. Pamuk, but when he surprises her by forcibly kissing her, she rejects him.

 

 

 



Undeterred, he goes to her room that night, led by Thomas. He seduces her, but in the middle of the night he suddenly dies in her bed. To avert a scandal, Mary is forced to seek the help of Anna and her mother to move Pamuk's body back into his own bed. Unknown to them, Daisy, the scullery maid, sees them carrying the body. Cora is horrified by Mary's behaviour but promises not to tell Robert, as it would break his heart. Mary is extremely upset by Pamuk's death. And in the aftermath, from Mary's behaviour, Napier realises he doesn't have a chance with her.

 

 

 

 

I love Mary's costumes in this episode and I also like that Mary's personality becomes softer after her scandal with Pamuk. xx

Downton Abbey Series One, Episode Two

 September 1912. Matthew Crawley, a young solicitor and the new heir to the Grantham earldom and estate, arrives at Downton Abbey with his mother, Isobel. He is reluctant to adapt to his new mode of life but his mother feels that they should avoid satisfying the family's assumptions about their class and behaviour. Matthew ridicules the prospect of marrying one of the daughters, when Mary suddenly appears and he is immediately attracted to her. The Dowager is openly hostile towards Isobel, as is Mary towards Matthew. There is also some culture clash between the families due to their differing aristocratic and upper-middle-class backgrounds. Matthew astonishes the Dowager when he declares his intention to continue working as a solicitor. Isobel, too, is determined to hold her own against the Dowager and, as she trained as a nurse during the Anglo-Boer War, occupies herself with the local hospital.

 

 

Meanwhile, Mr Carson is extremely distressed by a letter, and Anna sees him stealing food. It turns out that Carson is a former music-hall performer and is being blackmailed by his show partner Charles Grigg, now a petty thief hiding from the law, to whom he's been providing food and lodging. However, only Mr Bates, Anna, Lady Sybil and Lord Grantham are privy to this, so there is no fear of exposure.

Lord Grantham is merely amused by Carson's background and pays off Grigg, threatening to turn him over to the police if he returns. The hostility between Mrs. Crawley and the Dowager escalates when Isobel pressures Dr Clarkson into performing pericardiocentesis on a hospital patient suffering from dropsy. The Dowager tries to prevent this, but the treatment is successful, and Robert decides to make Mrs. Crawley chair of the hospital board, feeling that his mother has too much control. The Dowager herself begins to consider the possibility of Mary marrying Matthew, but Mary is firmly opposed to this plan.

 

 

 

 

This is the first time we see the gorgeous Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley! ;) xx

Holiday Inn (1942)

Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire star in Holiday Inn as a popular nightclub song-and-dance team. When his heart is broken by his girlfriend, Crosby decides to retire from the hustle-bustle of big city showbiz.  He purchases a rustic New England farm and converts it to an inn, which he opens to the public (floor show and all) only on holidays.  Oddly enough, the most memorable song in the bunch, the Oscar-winning White Christmas, is not offered as a production number but as a simple ballad sung by Crosby to an audience of one: leading lady Marjorie Reynolds. Fred Astaire's best moment is his Fourth of July firecracker dance. 

Well, it seems that Astaire wants to make a film about Crosby's inn, starring their mutual discovery Reynolds.   Bing briefly loses Reynolds to Astaire, but wins her back during the filming of a musical number on a Hollywood soundstage.

This is truly one of the great musicals to ever grace the silver screen.  Between the great song, the dance numbers and the chemistry between Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, this film really is one of the the all time classics. What really makes it great is that it pretty much plays like a great Broadway review that uses the different holidays as an excuse to display the individual talents of each of the film's stars. However, the thing that this film will truly be remembered for is the fact that it introduced one of the all time classic song's to the world, "White Christmas."

 

 

Another thing that makes this film so beloved is that it came out during a time when America needed somewhat of a diversion, World War II. This film helped to give people something to put smiles on their faces as the whole world was going through hell.

 

 

 

At least for two hours, this film helped America to forget its troubles and put a smile on everyone's faces.  This was the film that brought us the all time best-selling Christmas song, "White Christmas."  Holiday Inn is stylish, funny and a very romantic musical.

 

 

 

 

 

What's there not to like?  The singing and dancing is remarkable!  A true classic! :) xx

 



Elf (2003)

 

 

 

Christmas family comedy directed by independent filmmaker Jon Favreau. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a human being who has spent his whole life believing himself to be an elf. Brought up by Santa (Edward Asner) and his elves at the North Pole, Buddy has spent the last 30 years happily working in Santa's toy workshop. But when his ungainly size starts to become a liability in the elf-sized working environment, Santa suggests that Buddy head to New York City to find his biological father (James Caan). Needless to say, the unlikely spectacle of a 6'5' man dressed from head to foot in bright green stands out a mile on the streets of the Big Apple, and the good-natured Buddy finds himself in all sorts of scrapes as he gets used to his new family and surroundings - and they get used to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun! :) xx