British Movie Extravaganza!

I spent a good share of my work-free weekend watching movies. As a family we watched Shrek Forever After, which turns out to be the only one of the Shrek movies that I really loved. As a couple, Sean and I were entertained by Knight and Day with Cameron Diaz & Tom Cruise. But by far the majority of my time was spent watching movies filled with British actors and scenes of my beloved England.

First up: Nanny McPhee Returns. Loved, loved, loved it! What's not to love about Emma Thompson playing a magical nanny who teaches children more lessons that Kevin Leman on speed. I wish she'd spend a week in our house...of course, there's that whole "when you want me but no longer need me, then I must go" thing. I couldn't bear to part with her.

The next entree on my silver-screen buffet was an obscure movie loaned to me by my friend Heather. Relational Values stars Dame Julie Andrews, which was more than enough to get me to watch it. The plot was a bit quirky, but a nice surprise was Stephen Fry as--surprise!--the butler. (What ho, Jeeves!) Not one I'll watch again, but it was more fun than watching Sean play Dr. Mario out in the living room. :-)

Tonight rounded out the Anglophile fest with The Young Victoria. Hey, Sean was at youth group, so I didn't have to worry about boring him with the intrigues and scandals of the British monarchy. The constumes were amazing, the music was beautiful (Schubert!), the cinematography made me want to hop a plane to London, and the story was well written. Definitely not an action film, guys. But what a love story! The scenes at Windsor Castle and Blenheim Palace brought back wonderful memories of visiting those places.

The weekend is at an end, tomorrow starts another busy week, and so I'm off to bed. But I enjoyed my little English vaca while it lasted. Maybe I'll even dream in a British accent tonight...