come and visit the wonderful murderous villages of Midsomer

Article first published as DVD Review: Midsomer Murders, Set 17 on Blogcritics.

A new-to-the-U.S. DVD set, Midsomer Murders, Set 17 features four episodes from the British detective series, based on the novels by Caroline Graham. These were originally aired in 2009, and like the rest of the series, are set in the multiple-murderous villages of Midsomer. The discs include some extras including fun facts and interview material with guest stars, but the main attraction is Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and his quirky Midsomer beat.

From the looks of the place, Midsomer should be a sleepy, idyllic place to live, but like its American counterpart of Cabot Cove, ME, which sometimes seems to have a higher death rate than population, Midsomer can be a dangerous place to live. Thank goodness Barnaby, played by John Nettles, and Det. Sgt. Ben Jones, played by Jason Hughes, are as able to sort out whodunnit as ever. Wonderfully creepy music has always leant a touch of atmosphere to this series and continues to hint at what lurks beneath the surface. According to The Telegraph, the music "is rerecorded for every episode using an unusual instrument called a theremin."

In "The Dogleg Murders" an exclusive golf club provides the backdrop for extortion, a beyond-dysfunctional family, and some not-so-friendly gambling between golfing buddies. Snobbery and rivalry between the village folk and the more affluent golf club members is also on display, as the villagers, not allowed in the main clubhouse, are relegated to "the cooler" — "the "shed behind the carpark." Apparently England's class struggles have never completely gone away. Barnaby "doesn't speak golf," but still needs to find the killer. Even more alarming — he may be roped into playing badminton as a team sport by the Mrs. if he isn't careful.

"The Black Book" opens with a succession of truly Idyllic landscapes — the surrounding dales of Midsomer — immortalized by local artist Henry Hogson. A newly-discovered Hogson painting fetches a huge sum at auction and prompts a quick cycle of greed, murder and suspicions of forgery. Only Barnaby can determine what part fly fishing, pigs, and art therapist Susannah Harker play in his investigation.

The third movie in the set, "Secrets and Spies," finds Barnaby wrestling for control of his murder case with the former spies holed up in in a local safehouse. But ex-spies never seem to ever retire completely. Barnaby reveals his own brief time with MI6 as he sorts through a museum break-in with nothing taken, attacks on sheep by the mythical "Beast of Midsomer," and a rollicking cricket match. Mata Hari-like guest star Alice Krige aims to please — pretty much all-comers — "Whatever we can do to make your stay more pleasurable" — effortlessly vamping her way from guest bed to hayloft to the back of a van. As usual, there is lots going on under the surface in Midsomer.

An American entrepreneur tangles with university professor George Jeffers over an invention, "The Glitch," while local bikers are at odds with drivers who don't want to share the road. When a female biker riding Jeffers's bike is killed, Barnaby must determine whether her death was connected to Jeffers's public life, private life love triangles, or unhappy son. Meanwhile, Joyce (Mrs. Barnaby) and their daughter Cully join the cycling club for an exciting and possibly deadly race to the finish.

The cast and the environs are so likable that the viewer may not be too concerned with the actual solution of the crime. Like Agatha Christie, usually the citizens who get bumped off are not so very nice to begin with. Midsomer Murders manages to use an environment as its main feature, some extremely likable regular characters, with the murder mystery to give it the slightest structure. And it all works beautifully. These stories can be revisited again and again, along with the villages of Midsomer.

for Edward Gorey fans ...

The universe is revealing more Edward Gorey these days, which is of course, most unpleasing, to be sure! On our sojourn to a museum the other day we were lucky enough to find an Edward Gorey coloring book, The Wuggly Ump and Other Delights. "We pass our happy childhood hours, in weaving endless chains of flowers." Here is one for you to color.

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fancy dress

Movie and fashion buffs take note: CUT! Costume and the Cinema is on view through April 17 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art and delivers a feast for the eyes of embroidery, fabrics, construction and all the skill's of the film costumer's art. The costumes on exhibit are all from British costumer, Cosprop Ltd. and encompass a wide variety of historical and period films, including Ever After, The New World, Sense Sensibility, and The Golden Bowl. It's a virtual Who's Who of some of the more opulent-looking films of the last few decades.

Part of the fun in getting so up close and personal to the garments is that the viewer can see how they measure up to the stars. Much like the footprints at Mann's Theater in Hollywood, you can now see that some actors, like Colin Farrell (costume for John Smith from The New World) and Robert Downey, Jr. (corduroy jacket suit from Sherlock Holmes, contrasted with Jude Law's costume as Watson) may be taller than you ever thought, while an actress like Natalie Portmanis revealed by her gown  from Goya's Ghosts as absolutely tiny.



The show and its costumes also helps cast a little perspective on some of the body image claptrap which also always seems to bedevil actresses. Keira Knightley's costumes from The Duchess, which are exquisitely detailed and won an Academy Award for Michael O’Connor for costume design, also show that she is indeed tall and slender, but certainly no more than the equally tall Nicole Kidman. Kidman's costume from The Portrait of a Lady is pointedly contrasted with Renee Zellwegger's gown from Miss Potter and Scarlett Johansen's from The Prestige, with Kidman towering over the two petite actresses. In fact Zellwegger is so surprisingly tiny she is almost dwarfed by petite Johansen. But everyone ends up enormous and larger-than-life on the movie screen. The other eye-openers relating to image and perception were costumes worn by Kate Winslet, from Sense and Sensibility and Finding Neverland. Winslet has frequently been portrayed as being a little heavier than her too-skinny Hollywood counterparts, but both of her costumes reveal a medium-height, medium size woman. Certainly not skinny, but not zaftig, either.

There is an emotional component to the show too, as we can view the late Heath Ledger's gorgeously appointed costume from Casanova and Natasha Richardson's simple yet elegant gown from The White Countess. There are over 40 costumes on display and the viewer is likely to have seen a great majority of the films represented, which makes it fun to walk through the show, an added guessing game.

The only criticism I would level is that it would have been nice to have some stills from some of the films accompany the costumes. While I have a distinct memory of Emma Thomson's gown from Howard's End, which I have seen more than once, and got an added kick out of seeing it up close, and Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow's costume from Pirates of the Caribbean, it still would have been helpful to see the rest of the costumes in context. The show's curators have blown up some backdrops for a few of the costumes - why not actual film stills? This would have helped immensely with some costumes from lesser-seen films, like the Dior-inspired show-stopper worn by Lara Flynn Boyle and designed by Phoebe de Gaye for Land of the Blind, a movie I had never heard of before, but now am interested in seeing.

If you are in the vicinity of this exhibition, CUT! Costume and the Cinema is a must-see, especially for people who love the movies. The touring exhibition's next stop is Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Images from top:  Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow's costume from Pirates of the Caribbean, detail of  Keira Knightley's costume from The Duchess, Lara Flynn Boyle's costume from Land of the Blind.

computer + drinking = no

I just got my beloved MacBook Pro back from Apple. A week without one's computer can be quite tense, let me assure you. Amazingly, even though it required seven new or refurbished parts to get my lifeless life extension back to its old self, not one of those parts was the hard drive, so all of my data was fine.

This is a lesson kiddies, they're not joshing when they say to keep a glass of something far from your computer. Of course, after more than a decade of owning computers, using them at the workplace, and, I cannot lie, eating and drinking all manner of things in their vicinity, this is the first time something of this kind has happened. But be warned.

The other signal that maybe my recent series of unfortunate events may be taking an upturn is that all the work that went on under the hood cost me not a red cent. Thank you Apple. Thank you laptop gods. I got the message. I am a new woman. Now excuse me while I get up a find my glass in the distant kitchen, as all of this typing makes a girl thirsty.

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