I have my t-shirt ready, and I wouldn’t go anywhere today without a towel. Including the Bill Bailey show tonight.

Want to know what this is all about? Check out the FAQ on TowelDay.org

P.S. It’s Mother’s Day in Sweden tomorrow.

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1. Happy Towel Day 2012!
2. Towel Day
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Miss Potter is nothing to do with Harry Potter’s daughter, but rather that of the creator of Peter Rabbit and his friends, Beatrix Potter (1866-1943).

Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) is a young lady who has always been very keen on drawing images of animals. She’s so connected to her drawings that she thinks of the animal characters as her friends, and occasionally, they come alive and jump off the page.

She’s not terribly keen on things young ladies of the day should be keen on, like finding a good husband, so her parents (Barbara Flynn and Bill Paterson) are somewhat perturbed. Instead, Beatrix wants to publish a book, which is a novel idea, because who have ever heard about a book for children, with little stories about animals? It’s ridiculous.

Rookie publisher Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) is put on the project much as a joke from his seniors, but as luck would have it, Miss Potter’s silly drawings for children are a huge success! If only her love life was the same …

Also starring Emily Watson as Millie Warne, Phyllida Law as Mrs Warne, and Lloyd Owen as William Heelis.

I can’t say that I grew up with Beatrix Potter’s books, because I grew up with Elsa Beskow’s books instead, and they’re not the same. Still, I love the little animations that they show in this film, because all the little rabbits and whatnots are really cute.

Why Renée Zellweger was cast here, I don’t honestly know. Not saying she’s bad, I just think it’s an odd choice. It’s even more odd because the character she plays at times appears to be completely crackers. Sure authors may see their characters as “alive”, but … not to the point of imagining they actually exists.

Ewan McGregor is a sweetheart, as always, and Miss Potter is a nice piece of period drama. As I had no other knowledge of Beatrix Potter other than “the creator of Peter Rabbit”, the insight into her life was interesting. She struggled against the conventions of the time to become a published author, and she got there. Good for her!

How her romantic life panned out? Read and find out. You might want to bring a kitchen roll.

3.7 out of 5 bunnies.

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Charles Darwin (1809-1882) came up with the theory of evolution, which we all take for granted today in educated and/or secular society. (Jibe intended. Get over it.) We might not know that much about how he came up with it, or anything about his life, and that’s where Creation helps us out.

Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) travels around the world, seeing the Galapagos Islands and wherever, on a ship captained by Fitzroy (Ian Kelly). He comes back to Britain and his wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly), and tries to write a book about his obsession for natural history, but it’s not easy. His friends try to make him put his revolutionary ideas forward because people need to hear them, but his own religious beliefs are severely challenged and he becomes indecisive and procrastinates a lot. Will the book ever actually be written?

And that’s sort of the film. Thrown in some very confusing timelines with regards to his daughter Annie (Martha West) and jobs a good ‘un.

Also starring Guy Henry, Anabolena Rodriguez, Jim Carter, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Jeremy Northam, Robert Glenister, Bill Paterson, and the rest of the Darwin children: Christopher Dunkin, Freya Parks, Gene Goodman, and Harrison Sansostri.

My favourite part of the film was the story of the chimpanzee Darwin met in a zoo, despite it being heartbreaking and had me in tears. It was beautiful and poignant at the same time. Perhaps we’re not so very different after all, eh?

Creation is, if you pardon the groanworthy pun, a star-studded creation and a thoroughly fascinating film about that bearded guy we’ve heard about but never really knew much about. It really is very watchable. Not entertaining, per se, but it’s a film about having an idea that challenges everything you have ever been taught to believe, and not knowing how to respond to that.

The scientist in Darwin needed to get the book written and share his ideas with the world, but the man couldn’t bear facing his own fears about what his theory suggested about his religion. Then again, if you’re religious, you could argue that the theory of evolution doesn’t rule out the existence of a god, because who caused things to evolve in the way they did? Who was the spark of creation in the first place? And who put the ram in the rama-lama-ding-dang? He could’ve taken a chill pill and not worry so much is what I’m saying.

But then again, this isn’t the 1800s. (Sadly, when it comes to today’s lack of cravatted necks.)

The thing that confused the crap out of me were the scenes with his daughter Annie. Was she there, was she not there? There were two different timelines going on at once, and that took me until about act three to figure out. Was she there or wasn’t she there? Is she dead? But she was alive a second ago? What’s going on? That’s my only real criticism of an otherwise enjoyable film.

I sure won’t look at Charles Darwin the same again. Now, I’ll picture him with snazzy sideburns and a cravat, looking like the dashing Paul Bettany, for starters!

4 out of 5 dovecotes, and here’s some bonus material because awesome:

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Bright Star chronicles the love story between the fashionable Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) and poor poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw). Keats and his friend Charles Brown (Paul Schneider) live in the other half of the Brawne family’s house. (Kerry Fox as Mrs Brawne, Edie Martin as Toots and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Samuel, with Antonia Campbell-Hughes as Abigail the housemaid)

After reading some of Keats’s poetry, Fanny becomes interested in the poet himself, and eventually manages to get some poetry lessons from her. She tries ever so hard to flirt with him, but he’s more cautious, considering he has no hope of ever securing her hand in marriage, being a pennyless poet and all. But yet, they do their best and eventually fall in love.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s plain sailing and happily ever after.

I watched this film because it was a period drama, and set in the 1800s to boot (John Keats lived 1795-1821). It’s a story about love that may or may not be requited and it’s actually more melancholic than romantic. After all, even if Keats was interested in marrying Fanny, he hardly had a penny to his name, and if he doesn’t have any money, he really can’t be allowed to marry her, because obviously, her family doesn’t want her to live in squalor.

A testament to the time, I suppose, and not a very happy one. The acting is top notch, and it’s a well done film, but I’m not particularly taken by it, to be honest. Men in cravats is always a plus, and it’s a film well worth watching, but it’s a little too gloomy for my liking.

The problem with biopics is that – like life – they’re not guaranteed to come with a happy ending. This is not fwuffy romantic comedy territory, it’s the story of someone’s life. If that life didn’t end with a wholly holy happily ever after, the film won’t either. It’s admittedly spoilery, but you only need to read the Wikipedia entry on John Keats to know how the film ends. Eh, especially since the film specifically says it’s about the last three years of his life.

But until then, it’s a charming look at times gone by, which isn’t seen through the same rose-tinted glasses that Jane Austen had …

3.5 out of 5 poems.

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Once again I have to admit being somewhat relieved when it’s all over – books I need to review are kind of piling up here – but there are two weeks to go. For the penultimate week, it’s a theme recycled from last year: Brilliant Biopics.

While there are ten to the dozen of autobiographies to buy as books, not all of them make it into film. The ones I have in mind to review in the following week aren’t autobiographies, but about real people and their lives: Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), Charles Darwin (1809-1882), and John Keats (1795-1821).

Or, basically, Miss Potter (2006) with Bridget Jones, Creation (2009) with that bloke off Wimbledon, and Bright Star (2009) with Q from Skyfall. It’s a period drama extravaganza, just the way I like it!

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In this second instalment (a third is apparently on the way) of the anarchic schoolgirls of St Trinian’s, there be pirates! Pirate Fritton, in 1589, robbed an ancestor of Sir Piers Pomfrey (David Tennant), who would very much like the treasure back – starting with a ring.

The girls (Talulah Riley, Juno Temple, Tamsin Egerton, Gemma Arterton, Jodie Whittaker, Sarah Harding, et al.) are having none of it, and stick up for their beloved headmaster Camilla (Rupert Everett), and try to steal the ring back.

Get ready for a bumpy ride full of ghostly possessions, pirate booty, “masculinist” secret societies, infiltrating boys’ schools and Shakespeare!

Also starring Colin Firth as Geoffrey Thwaites, Toby Jones as the Bursar, Celia Imrie as Matron and Katherine Parkinson as the Physics Teacher.

What can I say? I mean, David Tennant and Colin Firth in the same film. That’s a good argument for watching if ever I saw one! Or, if you prefer, Rupert Everett in drag. But still, no, my vote is for the eyecandy.

As fun as the stories about St Trinian’s are, and despite the fact that this particular instalment has PIRATES, it’s not quite as much fun as the first one. Perhaps it’s to be expected of a sequel, but it doesn’t mean I can’t still be disappointed. Although, it’s not much of a disappointment, because I still thought it was a hoot, but maybe I’m just easily amused.

In any case, if you’re expecting high-brow entertainment, The Legend of Fritton’s Gold is going to leave you cold. It’s jolly good, if ridiculous, fun, and that’s all there is to it. Whimsical and silly, yet adventurous and, eh, riotous. It’s entertaining, at the very least, and that’s all I asked of it.

Okat, it’s been too long since I saw this film to remember all the details properly, but you know … Did I mention David Tennant is in it? AND Colin Firth? David Tennant in zany comedy mode, which is all kinds of awesome? I mean, you could giggle like a schoolgirl for less!

3 out of 5 graveyards.

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Young Matilda Wormwood was unfortunate enough to be born into the wrong family. Her father (Danny DeVito) is a dodgy used car salesman and her mother (Rhea Perlman) and brother (Brian Levinson) thinks she’s odd who wants to read books instead of watching television like “normal people”.

Being a bright four-year-old, Matilda (Sara Magdalin) learns how to go to the library and she reads everything she can get her hands on, and she loves learning. In fact, she learns things way beyond her years.

Some years later, it’s time for Matilda (Mara Wilson) to start school. Or, it would be, if her parents thought it was a good idea. Needless to say, they do not. Not until super strict headmaster Miss Trunchbull (Pam Ferris) buys a used car and Matilda’s father realises he can get the troublesome child off their hands, by carting Matilda off to a nightmarish school.

And sure, Trunchbull is a terrifying bully who hates children, and she runs her school like a military academy. Lucky for Matilda, she ends upp in the sweet and kind Miss Honey’s (Embeth Davidtz) class. And then Matilda discovers she has magical powers …

Matilda is based on the Roald Dahl book by the same name, which I’m sure we read in school when I was maybe eleven or so, so I don’t really remember a lot about it. Therefore I can’t really say how true to the original  this adaptation is, aside from it being set somewhere in the United States as opposed to England.

The film certainly doesn’t pull any punches. The Wormwood family and Miss Trunchbull are truly awful, and Miss Honey is truly wonderful. You can tell by the names, really; they’re a dead giveaway.

It’s a fun film with lots of bright colours, and the children playing the titular character are really good. I didn’t even realise who Miss Trunchbull was at first, but when I read it was Pam Ferris, I thought the name sounded familiar. Indeed, she’s one of the nuns in Call the Midwife, which is about a million miles away from her role in this film! (Apparently, she also played Aunt Marge – the muggle who gets inflated – in one of the Harry Potter films! I had no idea!)

Matilda is a great example of how incredibly dark Roald Dahl’s stories really were … which is probably why kids love them so much. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Witches are both very dark as well. In any case, Dahl was a great storyteller.

Having the story narrated by Danny DeVito is a strange choice, though. As he’s the director, you’d think fair enough, but considering he also plays Mr Wormwood, it’s really strange. On the one hand, you have a dispicable crook Matilda in no uncertain terms makes sure we loathe … on the other, the warm and friendly voice of the narrator – and it’s the same voice. Personally, I think it would have been better if someone else had done the narration, because I was left with the thought “why is Matilda’s horrible dad narrating, and why isn’t he in character?”

It’s a fun film for kids, but it’s also enjoyable for adults. We might need to suspend our disbelief a tad bit more (the ending is very unrealistic, cute though it is), but we can still very much enjoy it. After all, Danny DeVito is in a wonderfully creeptastic mode and Pam Ferris is fantastically gruesome. Oh, and Matilda makes sure we know that reading books and learning is good, and that’s a message I can get behind.

3 out of 5 libraries.

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This peculiar film opens with a soldier dying trying to clear a landmine. Back home, his widow and young son try to cope with the loss. Cut to thirty-odd years down the line, and the boy is now all grown up. Bazil (Dany Boon) works in a video rental store and, as luck would have it, takes a bullet to the head.

He doesn’t die, however, but once he’s back out of the hospital, he no longer has an apartment, or a job. He’s taken in by a group of misfits living in a junk yard (Jean-Pierre Marielle as Placard, Yolande Moreau as Tambouille, Julie Ferrier as La Môme Caoutchouc, Omar Sy as Remington, Dominique Pinon as Fracasse, Michel Crémadès as Petit Pierre, and Marie-Julie Baup as Calculette).

While out looking for scrap metal one day, Bazil discovers who were responsible for the landmine that killed his father – and the bullet he has lodged in his head … and he wants revenege. On both companies.

And so begins a very, very strange – but occasionally laugh-out-loud hilarious – film, that also stars weapons moguls Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet (André Dussollier) and François Marconi (Nicolas Marié).

To be honest, the reason why I watched this was because the description said “steampunk revenge comedy”. The person who wrote that description has no bloody clue what steampunk is and thinks just because you have some scrap metal welded together and it moves like clockwork, that makes a film steampunk. Err, not quite?

It is a revenge comedy, though, and boy do Bazil and his team deliver! This was a film I had saved for us to watch together, because hey, it said steampunk. We quickly realised that the film had nothing to do with steampunk at all, but we were intrigued by the quirkiness. By the time the doctors made a decision about the bullet, which is basically right at the beginning, we were hooked. Perhaps because the decision was so unexpected that we both had to pick up our dropped jaws and exclaim “Wait, WHAT just happened?!”

To those of you who would say “I won’t watch it because it’s in a foreign language and I’m so not reading subtitles” – screw you. Unless you’re actually illiterate or have severe dyslexia and therefore physically can’t read (in both cases you wouldn’t be reading this blog, Q.E.D.) there is no excuse to refuse to watch a foreign language film because it’s subtitled instead of dubbed. Dubbing is a nuisance. Unless it’s a film for children, let the actors have their original voices – for better or for worse.

My surviving knowledge of three years worth of French in high school is knowing how to conjugate verbs, but that’s about it. If I was to order something in a restaurant, I’d pretty much have to resort to pointing on the menu and saying “Merci!” and hoping that would work, because “un of those, por favor” sure wouldn’t. Then I’d hope I didn’t order something disgusting by mistake because I couldn’t decipher the menu.

And I still prefer the original French soundtrack in films.

Anyway, I digress as usual. Micmacs is surprising, fun, engaging, nail-biting and very, very odd. But in a good way. If you get a chance to see it, it’s well worth a watch.

4 out of 5 bugged fireplaces.

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