Not feeling all that well last night, I pulled out my copy of North and South - a BBC Production based on the novel of the same title by Elizabeth Gaskell. I believe it was actually a miniseries as it is about 4 hours long - and a wonderful way to spend four hours.

As many of you know, I am a huge fan of the BBC America series Robin Hood. One of the stars, playing Sir Guy of Gisborne, is Richard Armitage. Mr. Armitage plays John Thornton in North and South and has had women swooning for year over it. If you are a fan of Richard's, this is the one to watch - and if you are not a fan of his, you have been missing out so get this on your list of 'Videos to Watch' right away!

From the Amazon website:

North & South is a splendid, four-hour adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 19th century novel about an unlikely, and somewhat star-crossed, love between a middle-class young woman from England's cultivated south and an intemperate if misunderstood industrialist in a hardscrabble, northern city. Daniela Denby-Ashe plays Margaret Hale, forthright and strong-willed daughter of a former vicar (Tim Pigott-Smith) who relocates his family from a pastoral village outside London to unforgiving, largely illiterate Milton, a factory town where John Thornton (Richard Armitage) and his mother (Sinead Cusack), survivors of poverty, rule their cotton mill with an iron hand. Thornton befriends Margaret's father but incurs her wrath for his severity with his workers. What she doesn't notice is Thornton's core sense of responsibility for his employees' welfare. On the other hand, he misinterprets some of Margaret's own actions and intentions. Equally stubborn, the two drag out their obvious attraction over many painful months and events.

Pride and Prejudice lovers will likely love this story as well. It has all the angsty elements of a good love story, a brooding and handsome leading man who gives an outstanding performance and a headstrong leading lady who fails to see the forest for the trees mostly because of her own self.

And....there was a preview of The Way We Live Now starring the totally edible Matthew Macfadyen! Ah...silver linings!!

**All images are borrowed from photobucket and not owned by me

My hubby and I watch Death At A Funeral last night. This is a British comedy in the classic sense - lots of slap stick and 'freaking out' sort of humor. Someone says the word sh*t every other sentence - no kidding. It started off a bit slow, but once drugs were introduced into the plotline, things picked up considerably.

Most of the cast is British and likely unrecognizable to the average American audience with the exception of Matthew Macfadyen who played opposite Keira Knightly in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. Fans of BBC America's MI-5 will also likely recognize Keeley Hawes.

As an aside, some British as being fairly aggressive about claiming this movie as a 'proper Britsh comedy' and really do not want Americans commenting on it all that much. Not sure what is up with that, but I was surprised by that attitude when I went to the IMDb site to look for the spelling of a couple of names. I guess that is testiment to how well the 'British farce' that is the essence of this movie was done. Hate to break it to the Brits who are being so stingy, but Frank Oz, the director, is an....American.

All is all, I can recommend this movie - which is a story of a family trying to be what they are not and pull off being sophisticated and well put together at the funeral of their father who they dearly loved. Turns out, they are just like all the rest of us - flawed and just trying to make it through the day - and, they are funny!