SWEENEY TODD

Sweeney Todd is an AMAZING movie!!!  I soooo wish I had seen this performed on stage.  Of course, at least with the movie version, I get to see Johnny Depp any time I so choose!!!  And I choose to do that every semester with all of my 113 classes, so I typically get to watch it an average of 3 times a semester....it has yet to get old!!!!

It's a literary person's dream as a story.  It has a wonderful point about the single-minded determination of revenge NOT being such a good idea.  It has surprises.  It's funny in an ironic way.  There are tons of ironies that make the story so much more interesting than your typical slasher story.  The visual images throughout the story truly set the stage for not just the story (the plot) but also the dark tone of the whole story.  It actually has a PLOT!  So many slasher stories we get nowaways are just slasher movies for the sake of slasher movies, but this story is a slasher movie with a true story!!!  It even has music!  I know that's what turns many people away from this particular story, but it's a major part of the appeal for me!

I love every person who sings in this movie!  I didn't expect any of them to be able to hold his/her own when I first heard who would be playing the major roles, but every actor/actress truly does an amazing job!  Granted, the "Johanna" song where Anthony is wandering through the streets of London singing "I feel you Johanna" is probably one of the most annoying sounds on earth, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be that way.....it's effective...that's for sure!!!!!

The story is full of wonderful personification--what with the razors being Todd's FRIENDS and the barber's chair being the instrument that sends people to their doom like the grim reaper!  And the pies!  Oh, don't forget the irony of the pies being personified!!!!  Oh, that's so not supposed to be funny......but it SOOO is!!!!

Of course, Arsenic and Old Lace is a sweet laugh-out-loud funny story about serial killing that is overly obvious in its attempt to make light of a very serious subject while Sweeney Todd is more subtle in the parts that are comical.  They're not REALLY laugh-out-loud funny in the same way as Arsenic and Old Lace, but at the same time, I find myself going ahead and giving a good belly laugh anyway.  One of my favorite parts is just after Todd has killed Perelli....Mrs. Lovett comes in the room and begins to berate Todd for killing Perelli.  Todd tells her that Perelli had not only recognized him, but that Perelli expected half of Todd's wages to keep his secret; so he HAD to kill Perelli.  Mrs. Lovett then says, "Well, that's a whole other matter" as she proceed to steal Perelli's money purse!!!

And who can stop from laughing when Todd and Mrs. Lovett discuss killing folks in order to have "meat" for pies?! 

Oh, Sweeney Todd is just so wonderful!!!!

"The Mortal Immortal"

My TTh British lit class read "The Mortal Immortal" this week.  I really like this short story.  It's another Mary Shelley story and another one by her that I thoroughly enjoy.  I honestly don't know why anyone would read Percy's work over Mary's....her works are so much more interesting and relatable!  Not that I can relate to being immortal or bringing a creature to life, but still......LOL!

Of course, this story brings to mind all the stories we've all been exposed to over the years about immortality.  One of my favorites is the original Highlander series with Christopher Lambert as Duncan McCleod--"There can be only one!"  Oh!  Soooooo AWESOME!!!!!  Not to mention an adorable Scottish actor with an even more adorable Scottish accent!!!  Oh, wait a sec, I was talking about the theme of immortality.....yeah.  That's what makes the Highlander series so awesome....well, THAT and Christopher Lambert!!!!!!

I'm also looking foward to the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie that's due out this summer.  Captain Jack Sparrow goes in search of the Fountain of Youth--immortality.  Of course, isn't that what he's been after all along?  Immortality?  In the first movie, he lost it because the curse was broken.  In the second, he dies.  And in the third, he gives up his opportunity at immortality to save his friend, Will Turner.  Will he be successful in the 4th movie???  I can only wait on pins and needles to find out!  I'm so excited!

Would I want to be immortal if I had that door open to me???  Not here on this earth.  I expect a type of immortality when this life here on this earth is over, but I would NOT want to live forever here on earth.  I love my life.  I love the people I know and associate with--including my family--odd, I know!  I love my job--what I do and where I do it.  I love my house.  I just love life.  But to live forever here on earth?  Nahhhh.....even if I had the people I love to be immortal with me, by some chance, I wouldn't want to live forever.  Things have to come to their natural conclusions and that includes life.  I don't mind thinking about death....(Here comes a little bit of content about my faith, so if you don't want to read about that, you can stop reading now).....

.......because I know that I have a mansion of gold waiting for me, my children are waiting to welcome me home, I'll have a new, glorified (no longer FAT) body, and, best of all, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is waiting for me with arms wide open!  Yeah!  Why would I want to give all that up to live on earth forever????

2011.Book #7.MACBETH

Of course I've read MacBeth before.  Several times before.  At one time in my life, I even had certain passages from the play memorized.  I wish I could say that I still do.  It's always interesting to me, though, to come back to a book/play and re-read it after not having anything to do with it for a while.  I've always said that MacBeth is one of Shakespeare's better plays and that it's definitely at the top of my list as one of my favorite Dramas of Shakespeare's.  It's difficult to forget not just the story, but the imagery within this play.

Lady MacBeth is one of the most amazing characters ever in a play.  If I ever got involved in the stage, there are two characters (women) I've always said I wanted to play:  Aunt Abby in Arsenic and Old Lace--I'd love to run around on my tip-toes and to pout as I'm being told it's WRONG to kill!!!--and Lady MacBeth--her scene where she's trying to rub the blood off her hands even though she's only imagining the blood is one that is absolutely unforgettable.  It's also pretty amazing when she does the whole "unsex me" soliloquy.  I admit that I would have a difficult time with that part.  In that scene, she's essentially selling her soul to the devil and, even though I would be acting, even acting something like that feels wrong to me!  (LOL.)  Besides, it's a given that she's grabbing her female parts as she's saying these things and that wouldn't be fun to do........I'm not going any further with that.....!!!!

Anyway, in re-reading MacBeth, I am reminded again of how amazing this story really is.  I've found it interesting that I'm underlining or highlighting something on every page of the play!  I'm having to FORCE myself to put my pen/highligher down and just read the story!  There are so many great lines and so much wonderful imagery and symbolism....and amazing details within this story!!!  The subtleties that I'm catching and seeing now that I'm an older adult and have read the play several times previously make me wonder how in the world I missed them when I was younger and read the play!

I remember listening to my professors at ECU talk about this play in a manner similar to the way I am now, but back then, I had the same look on my face as my students do now...."Huh?  What are you talking about?  I didn't get/see that in the story!" 

It is a wonderful reminder of why I don't mind reading books more than once.  I'm often asked why I don't just use the library when I read certain books; why do I have to buy them [from Barnes & Noble]?  Because I read my books more than once.  There are very few books in my collection (and it's quite a large collection--4 6-foot tall bookshelves + 2 of the bookshelves with 9 squares that's 4-feet tall AT HOME and then several bookshelves at school--yes, mostly full of textbooks for school, but still a lot of novels and such!--(back to what I was saying) that haven't been read more than once.  I don't read books several times because I don't have anything else to read.  I always have something new to read.  In fact, right now, I have about 5 books in line to be read (not for school) that are new books that I've never read before. 

But, just as I love to watch some movies over and over again and again, I love to read my books over and over and again and again.  And every time I read them again, I get something different from the story that I didn't get the first time.  Every time the book is an adventure that makes me love the story even more than when I read the book the first time!

MacBeth is certainly a story/play that everyone should read more than once.  Definitely, everyone should read it either in high school or college, but then everyone should read it again 20 years or so later.  We have our preconceived ideas of the story when we re-read it, but that doesn't take away from find new treasure within the story!!!!

One book I hope never to read again, after saying all that, is Old Yeller.  I still remember the ending of that book as if I read it just yesterday....and I was younger than Samuel is now (he's 9 and a half) when I first read it.  I remember that I finished the book on the bus ride home from school.  I was sobbing so hard as Travis grabbed the gun and ran outside to.....oh, wait a sec.....not everyone has read the book or seen the movie!!!!!  Anyway, I was sobbing so hard, I almost missed my bus stop.  Thank goodness I had an older brother who actually cared whether or not I got off the bus!  (Thank you, Kenny!)  There's no way I'll ever read that book again unless I just have to.  I've been keeping it away from Samuel.  He's so tender-hearted.  When we watched the movie Garfield and Odie went missing, he bawled like a baby!  When we went to see Toy Story 3, last year, his shirt was soaking wet from his tears!!!!  Maybe he's ready for it, but I don't know if I'm ready for him to read it yet....

Of course, my MWF British Lit class chose to read Frankenstein this semester and I'm SOOOO happy!  This is one book that NEVER gets old!  I'm having so much fun!!!  My poor students.....!!!!!!  What is adding to my excitement about it this semester is the fact that Young Frankenstein:  the Musical is showing in Charlotte this March, so I'm going to try to get a group together and go!!!  Yahoo!!!  How cool!



I know.  I'm weird.  And..........?????????????

2011.Book #6.A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

I think that next semester when my students are choosing what we'll read as far as Drama is concerned, I'm going to take A Midsummer Night's Dream OFF the list of possibilities.  It's a great play and definitely fun and interesting to read, but I've had to "read" it almost every semester now for several semesters and I'm getting tired of it.

Don't get me wrong and think that I don't like A Midsummer Night's Dream; I do like it.  It's just that when something is done in excess, it just gets old after a while.  And there are a lot of other really great, just as good plays available for us to read.  I realize that most of the time, my students choose this particular play because it is one of the shorter plays available to read.  I understand that.  But there are other relatively short plays available to read, too. 

I'm just A Midsummer Night's Dream-ed out.....I don't even have the energy to try to stretch out our discussion of the play for a whole class....that speaks volumes, especially when I'm typically rushing to get everything in during our one class hour!!!!

Kenneth's Branaugh's FRANKENSTEIN

OK.  Who, on God's green earth, allowed Kenneth Branaugh to put in his title for his Frankenstein "Mary Shelley"????   And then proclaimed that THIS version is THE definitive version of the novel?!?  OMG.....From the frist scene, I was disgusted.   This movie is NOT definitive by any stretch of the imagination!!!  The ONLY scene in the whole movie that comes close enough to be of any value whatsoever is the scene where the creature and Victor have their conversation so the creature can ask Victor to create a mate for him.  That scene is definitely very well done and worth watching.  I will at least show that scene in my class, but there's NO WAY we're watching the WHOLE movie.....UGH!

And what's up with Victor creating HIS OWN wife by taking parts of Justine and Elizabeth and sewing them together????  And then dancing around with this monstrosity as if it's still Elizabeth?!  I do think there's a possibility that Victor and Justine had something going on between them.....think about it....Mary Shelley did, according to our understanding of her life, believe in "free love."  The people, especially the men but the women, too!, slept with everyone else.  She was having an affair with Percy WHILE he was still married to his first wife.  Some texts claim that when Percy's first wife killed herself, the child she was pregnant with was Percy's, so Percy obviously was not exclusive with Mary.  So if Mary Shelley lived that kind of life-style, it goes without saying, really, that it's possible that Victor loved (in the Biblical sense of the word) both Elizabeth and Justine.  As we know, sleeping together before marriage doesn't lessen the excitement of the wedding night......

I have to admit that since I hated that part so much, I loved the fact that the Elizabeth/Justine creature has sense enough to kill herself.  That suicide is actually funny--in the same type of context as Sweeney Todd funny.....Which bring to mind....isn't it interesting that Helena Bonham Carter has had death scenes in at least 2 movies where she dies VIOLENTLY by fire????  Hmmmmmm.....maybe it's a fetish of hers....????!!!!

Anyway, now that I've seen the Kenneth Branaugh version of Frankenstein, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we'll watch in class the scene from this version where Victor and the creature talk and the creature asks Victor for a mate, but that's the only scene we'll watch.  From there, we'll watch Young Frankenstein.  At least Mel Brooks doesn't pretend some DEFINITIVE version.  He purposely is parodying not just the novel, but all the movie versions of the story that had been made up to 1974 when Young Frankenstein was released.

I am excited to watch Young Frankenstein not just because it's a FUN, FUNNY version of the story, but also because in March, Young Frankenstein:  The Musical will be showing in Charlotte.  I'm hoping to take a group to see it!  Even if no one else joins me, I'm planning on going for sure!!!

http://www.youngfrankensteinthemusical.com/