Friday, January 20, 2012

"In these moments, you can normally find an Italian who isn't too picky."

Apologies for the lack of posting this month. With the big move approaching, I have had a lot going on and not much time to get to the movies or do much writing. Unfortunately, this will probably not improve much for a few weeks. However, thanks to Netflix, I was able to watch the show Downton Abbey and am now officially a fan.


I had not heard much about the show while it was airing on PBS last year. My mother may have mentioned it, but she watches a lot of random British shows and movies on PBS and BBC all the time and I tend not to pay attention to a lot of them. It was not until the last few months when award nominations came out that I started reading about how good this show is and figured I should give it a chance.

The first season centers around the Crawley family, the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and their servants and takes place before the start of World War I. In the first episode, the Titanic has sunk and it turns out that the fiancee of the eldest daughter was onboard. He was also the heir to the title of Earl of Grantham and the family must now figure out how to keep their family from having to move out of Downton Abbey.

The household deals with scandal, devious servants, jealousies and the second season brings the start of the war and all that comes along with that. The acting is excellent and the writing is smart and addicting. Of the cast, my absolute favorite character is the Dowager Countess of Grantham, played by Maggie Smith. She steals every scene that she is in and I love her. Of all her fantastic lines, these are some of my favorites:

Isobel: I take that as a compliment.
Countess: I must have said it wrong.

Sir Robert: I thought you didn't like him.
Countess: So what? I have plenty of friends I don't like.

Lady Mary: Sybil is entitled to her opinions.
Countess: No, she isn't. Until she is married, then her husband will tell her what her opinions are.

Isobel: Are you planning to divide his loyalties?
Countess: I wouldn't say I was planning it.

Countess: (after a Turkish diplomat has been found dead in his bed) Of course it would happen to a foreigner. It's typical.
Lady Mary: Don't be ridiculous.
Countess: I'm not being ridiculous. No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else's house - especially somebody they didn't even know.

And finally....

Countess: Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

That last line is not all that funny in itself, but when it comes out of Maggie Smith it makes me laugh hysterically. She is just so prim and proper but so snarky and it is fantastic! I highly recommend checking out this show immediately.

I move to Austin a week from Sunday and have a lot of packing left to do, but I will try to get a few more posts up before I leave. Thank you for bearing with me and I promise that once I am settled I will get back into my old routine.

xoxo
c
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