New 'Room with a View' Is "Versione Caldo"!

Andrew Davies' adaptation of Forster's A Room with a View will be delivered in a "fresh, engaging way for a modern audience," says ITV's Director of Drama (dream job?) Laura Mackie. More here. --Kim

Teddy Makes the Cut in New Brideshead Adaptation

Here's the news on the new adaptation of Brideshead, straight from Jeremy Brock, the writer who adapted it. This new adaptation will focus on Charles and the "love triangle." As for Sebastian's teddy bear: "Rumours of his demise are premature," writes Brock. "Aloysius does make an appearance in the film - a subtle performance full of quiet authority which seems to hint at his master's latent immaturity without ever resorting to teddy-bear stereotypes." ("What I've Done to Brideshead," The Telegraph) --Kim

Pix of Kate and Leo on Revolutionary Road

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are looking quite charming and dapper, respectively, in their costumes for the adaptation of Revolutionary Road. (pix via Popsugar)

Ripped from the Headlines

Christopher Meloni of "Law & Order: SVU" will co-star in Nicholas Sparks' novel "Nights in Rodanthe," reports RTE Entertainment. James Franco, Richard Gere, and Diane Lane head the cast of the "romantic drama." This time Richard Gere gets to be 'the other man' when he has an affair with Meloni's wife, played by Lane. --Kim

We've Got To Accent-U-Ate the Positive....

...and Elim-inate the Negative....(which in this film's case might be Anne Hathaway.) Oh, I really DON'T want to pick on her. Truly. And yet here I go: The girl's accent is to English what Madonna's accent is to Yankee-speak, at least based on my first glimpse of the trailer. I can only watch it and think, "There's Anne Hathaway," which is probably going to ultimately prevent me from losing myself in the story. And this movie poster with her blithely glancing over her shoulder as if she's shooting an ad for Crest White Strips is just unfortunate. But at least we have James McAvoy and Julie Walters and Maggie Smith and evil Phillip Bauer to enjoy. I'm also not sure what to make of glimpses of James McAvoy's naked bum in the trailer. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the male buttock as much as anyone else....but you know all those Jane Austen Society members who freaked over Keira Knightley's P&P are going to be in absolute fits. -- Amy

P.S. I will try to give Anne the benefit of the doubt until I've actually seen the entire movie.. That would be very gracious and Jane-like of me, indeed.

The Original Martha Stewart

Just finished watching this week's Masterpiece Theater: The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton. Sorry for the late weigh-in, but it took me until tonight to sit down and indulge. My reaction? At first, I thought the whole, "nudge, nudge/wink, wink" asides to the camera were a bit hackneyed and gimmicky. But then I got used to it, and the "girl talk" with the viewer didn't bother me so much. In fact, it seemed perfectly apropos given the intimate tone she uses in her book of helpful domestic advice for everday women. (I particularly liked the way they framed her life story using the various chapters of her book.) All in all, I found the whole thing to be perfectly charming and endearing, and it got me to thinking that if I'd lived in the Victorian era, I would have wanted to be an independent careerwoman like Isabella....minus the whole alcoholic, syphilitic husband, myriad miscarriages and having-to-butcher-a-giant-turtle-on-my-kitchen-counter sort of issues. And by the way, if running a home was like "being the commander of an army," I'd be waving the white flag right about now.

Another by the way, PBS's next installment of "Mystery" features a face that might be familiar to many RomTome stalwarts. Oh yeah, that's Robert Lindsay (a.k.a. Captain Pellew of the Indefatigable from the A&E Hornblower series) in the whodunit mystery "Jericho."

Helen Mirren Is Fabulous

Yes, I know you already know that but my obsession is new, so bear with me. For starters, she was incredible in "The Queen." What a gift to witness her give life to such a seemingly complex, deeply interesting person, portraying her with depth, humanity, and humor.

After seeing "The Queen," I finally started ordering "Prime Suspect" via Netflix and promptly became addicted. I'm on Season 4 and even though crime dramas stress me out, I'm powerless against her magnificent talent. I've also added the HBO series Elizabeth, in which she stars, to my Netflix queue. Now I do love Meryl Streep, but she should also be offered more interesting parts than the one in the overly-praised "The Devil Wears Prada."

According to IMDB, Mirren has two projects currently in the works: "Inkheart," a fantasy set in Medieval times and the Nicolas Cage action flick "National Treasure: Book of Secrets."Hmmm. Guess I'll be ordering from the back catalog. --Kim

The Nutcracker

Moppet Elle Fanning (Dakota's sis) will play Clara to John Turturro's Rat King in a forthcoming retelling of The Nutcracker, reports Variety. Nathan Lane also stars as Drosselmeyer in the film, which is based on the fairy tale that inspired Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. (That said, I don't know how much serious ballet will be involved in the movie. Probably not much.) Lyricist Tim Rice ("Jesus Christ Superstar," "The Lion King") is penning words to accompany eight new songs using Tchaikovsky's scores, and of course, there's lots of CGI planned. I dunno. As someone who enjoyed seeing real people with giant mouse heads flinging themselves around a stage, I'm not entirely on board with an update, for much the same reason they shouldn't have turned "The Grinch" into a live action movie. But I'll let my co-blogger (the definitive authority on X-mas time Nutcracker viewing) weigh in.

Not Quite the Naked Chef or Inside the Victorian Kitchen

Before The 1900 House I got some perverse pleasure out of imagining that all Victorian kitchens were akin to the Gothic scullery in the Gormenghast Trilogy, hellishly hot and governed by a terrifying head chef brandishing a meat cleaver. I kid. Anyway, Chow's blog The Grinder has the 411 on the new PBS special "The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton," author of "a massive 1861 tome that instructed Victorian housewives on how to be a crinolined domestic goddess."

The PBS site reveals that Mrs. Beeton was not a middle-aged matron. In fact, she died of a "dark secret" at the youngish age of 28.
--Kim

Deep Thoughts on New Movie Trailers

Atonement is one of my absolute favorite novels of the last decade. Have Joe Wright (Dir.), Keira Knightley, Romala Garai, James McAvoy, and the other players collaborated on something even half as memorable?

Evening broke my heart. Will the adaptation be equally touching or too sappy for words? Only time will tell. But with Meryl Streep and Toni Collette on board, I'm hoping this one will be a Terms of Endearment or even a Steal Magnolias, but please, Lord, not a Mr. Holland's Opus.

And The Golden Compass took me on a fantastic adventure. Will this first film in the trilogy be the next Lord of the Rings or a Hulk of a mess?

Watch the trailers via the links above and don't forget to call your bookie! --Kim

For His Lady's Honor...

Unseemly message board comments directed toward his fiancee, Alice Evans, have prompted Ioan Gruffudd (in a move so very Horatio-like) to withdraw his support (financial and otherwise) of his fan website, Ioan Online,.

Thank you, Ioan, for showing us that chivalry is far from dead. And while we here at RTT have publicly lamented that the end of your bachelor days are nigh, we can take comfort in the fact that neither we nor our readers ever bashed your ladylove. (Unless you count wanting to crash your wedding at the eleventh hour ...but seriously, it's nothing personal. She'd be devastated for a while, yes, but time heals everything.)

Bottom line, you've got our number. Okay, you don't. But we're listed. It's never too late!!! (Just don't mention this to our significant others.)

Ioan Looking Fantastic Per Usual

RomTome patron saint Ioan Gruffud looked as dashing as ever at the new Fantastic Four premiere or some such thing in Australia. To see pix of the other stars like Jessica Alba, if you care, hit up popsugar. --Kim

Silk Sneak Preview...

Found this YouTube preview of Silk, which is based on the novel by Alessandro Baricco. It's about a young silk merchant in the 19th century who travels to Japan and has an affair with a concubine while his dutiful wife (Keira Knightley) remains in France. Contrary to this seemingly chaste photograph, the preview is pretty darn steamy!

George Eliot's Love Letters

Ed's daily roundup reveals that George Eliot's letters to her lover Henry Lewes are now available online. Details here. The letters here.