PopBetty

A Love Letter to Pop Culture

The Bletchley Circle

by

Aside from Sherlock, I never quite connected with PBS’ current Sunday night line-up of British mini-series. While they’re all relatively good, for me  Downton Abbey has too much soap opera plotting, Call the Midwife has too many women screaming in agony, and Mr. Selfridge has too much Jeremy Piven.

The Bletchley Circle

From left: Julie Graham as Jean, Anna Maxwell Martin as Susan, Sophie Rundle as Lucy and Rachael Stirling as Millie.

But with The Bletchley Circle, a trilogy about 4 former WWII codebreakers hunting down a mass murderer & rapist, I’ve finally found another show to love.  It’s beautiful to look at (the costume & set designers deliberately muted the color palette to create a somber, sepia-toned landscape), and well-acted. What’s most interesting for me, though, is the tension of watching women who saved lives during the war trying to fit back into the narrow roles available to them after the war ended. Available on Netflix Streaming.

Hayao Miyazaki Craft Round-up, Part I

by

PopBetty - Hayao Miyazaki Crafts Round-up
From left to right, row by row: Nausicaa Ohmu bento box by Anna the Red // knit Totoro baby cap by Hello Yarn {via} // Howl’s Moving Castle papercraft by Ben Millett // amazing Miyazaki-themed nail art by AttackedAstoria {via} // paperdoll sweater pattern Totoro hack by Marianne (UPDATE: tutorial) // Catbus cake by Coco Cake  // Catbus embroidery tutorial by Chelsea Bloxsom // Totoro crochet plushie instructions by heavens_hellcat {via}.

Right now, I’m putting finishing touches on the next Queen of Reversals recap (expect it tomorrow!). In the meantime, here’s a roundup of awesome crafts inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki. All relevant links & info should be in the caption above, save for two notes: one, that I’ve previously featured Anna the Red’s sleeping Totoro bento box; and two, as the original model is no longer available, here’s an alternate free papercraft model download for Howl’s Moving Castle.

To See: Encounters at the End of the World

by

We just watched this on Netflix Instant watch, and it is weird and wonderful and makes me want to watch everything Werner Herzog ever made:

Herzog’s perspective is so unusual, his obsessions so primal, and his humor so grimly Teutonic (“I loathe the feeling of sun on my celluloid and on my skin”) that I love him and yet want to parody him at the same time. Apparently, I’m not alone; there’s a Youtube series featuring “Werner Herzog’s” (not really him) interpretations of children’s classics. Below is my favorite, “Werner Herzog Reads Madeline”; the dark reading of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is another gem.

“Children are next door to sociopaths.”

To See: Jane Eyre

by

Jane Eyre 2011 PosterLast Friday, my friend and I went to the Jane Eyre 1:30 matinee with about 3 dozen retired women. Going to a film like Jane Eyre during off-hours introduces you to an odd & immediate fellowship; strangers’ unsought confessions (“I love Jane Eyre so much, I even went to see Jane Eyre the Musical!”) are met with sympathy, rather than alarm.

As to the movie, it was a solid adaptation. The film’s poetically shot (director Cary Fukunaga is also a cinematographer). We both liked Mia Wasikowska’s Jane, and have new obsessions with Michael Fassbender. The supporting cast was excellent (Judi Dench! Sally Hawkins!) and I loved some of the updated dialogue.

At the same time, we were bursting with criticisms–simply, it was too short, too much was cut, and even though we were prepared for that, we did not like how the cutting was handled (see below the cut for more detail). But we are totally buying the DVD.

Here’s the trailer, with a spoilery mini-critique after the break:

[Read more…]