Entertainment hourly.
Last night Gossip Girl staged a satisfying setup. All characters are headed back to New York to start the school year off on a dramatic foot, but there are a few literary and pop culture references to note first. The conniving Juliet, whose own fate is alluded to with a literary reference in last week's episode, proves she did her sophomore lit reading when she says, "The life of Serena van der Read more
I probably shouldn't admit this or commit it to writing, but when I was a kid I had an imaginary friend. I knew she was fake, but I wanted her to be real. Straight out of the 19th century, we'd discuss the differences between life then and in the late 20th century. I suddenly sound like a very dull child! Well, I think the creator of Sex and the Austen Girl and me ran in the same Read more
While we are still learning about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, one thing we do know is that she apparently reads Pride and Prejudice every year. You may not be an Austen junkie like Kagan and Kathleen Kelly in You've Got Mail (who read it "about 200 times"), but do you have a book you read on a yearly basis? Or maybe just a book you can't help but read over and over again? Please Read more
Born 234 years ago on Dec. 16, it seems fit to honor famed author Jane Austen today. Unlike Emily Dickinson, much is known about the prolific writer from Bath. If we don't know her through her novels, then we know her through their movies; loose interpretations of her work like Bridget's Jones's Diary; or the biographically based Becoming Jane. But let's focus on her novels — which do you love Read more
Most women either love Jane Austen's novels, or have a girlfriend in their lives who does. What lady doesn't go weak in the knees at the thought of Mr. Darcy? If one of those Austen-adoring ladies you know and love has recently gotten engaged, why not treat her to a fabulously witty Jane Austen engagement card? This An Engaged Woman Card ($4) from Letterary Press is printed on recycled card Read more
It's called Pride and Predator (no, seriously!) I'm reminded of the line in He's Just Not That Into You — included in most of the previews on TV and in the trailer — when Jennifer Aniston's character is talking to Ben Affleck's character about marriage and Affleck says, "This. . . feels like a trick." That is precisely my reaction to this movie news: "Will Clark is set to direct Pride and Read more
Hey, reimagining Jane Austen's novel Emma so it takes place in SoCal and centers on a valley girl worked for Clueless, so I guess why not make a hip-hop version of the classic work? Set in a contemporary inner-city high school, this tweaked version of Emma will revolve around a stepbrother and stepsister and "will include at least 15 song-and-dance numbers." Variety has more: Screen Gems topper Read more
Today's holiday gift guide is for all the bookworms in your life. The ideal recipient for these gifts loves good writing — and has a great sense of humor. Always raiding your friends' impressively stocked bookshelves? Get them this Personal Library Kit, complete with date stamper and "for reference only" stickers, and maybe they'll exempt you from any overdue fines. Author Anna Quindlen's ode Read more
Sounds a little unusual, but the UK arm of MTV's Movie Blog is reporting that Lily Allen will make her film debut as Lydia Bennet in a movie spoof of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Further details on the project are scant, beside a few names reportedly joining her in the cast, like Stephen Fry and Carrie Fisher. Comedian Russell Brand will play her husband. I'm wondering if she'll be some Read more
In Becoming Jane, the filmmakers purport that a possible love affair Jane Austen may or may not have had with roguish Irish lawyer Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy) was the fodder for all of Austen's love-fueled novels. Weaving together fact and fiction (along with bits of Austen's well-known works), the movie is at best an adequate romantic drama of star-crossed lovers, presumably presenting the Read more
