OK. I don’t care how old you are. Go see “Nanny McPhee.”

“Brokeback Mountain” didn’t get me choked up or teary, but this did. It made my friend Elizabeth cry - but we also laughed our asses off.

Emma Thompson - amazing (albeit w/prosthetic nose and warts and unibrow and snaggletooth).
Colin Firth - gorgeous and amazing.
Angela Lansbury - hilarious (albeit w/prosthetic nose).
Kelly MacDonald - just lovely… and she was great in “Gosford Park” as well.
Derek Jacobi - great little role.

The set design and costumes and makeup were G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. The colors just astounded me, as did the whole story. It’s truly magical; I haven’t seen a movie that’s this, well, charming in a long long time.

I must acquire the books upon which this movie was based - and adapted into a screenplay by Emma Thompson herself. Though I shouldn’t be surprised - she’s a brilliant woman and actress and has adapted “Pride and Prejudice”, “Sense and Sensibility” and “Wit” to screenplays already. Old hat at this point, I would imagine.

Emma Thompson, you have my admiration! You’ve done right by Jane Austen AND Nanny McPhee/Nurse Matilda, and that means you’ve done right by researchgirl.

As an FYI to interested parties: it’s based on the “Nurse Matilda” books by Christianna Brand. A quick visit to Amazon revealed that they have a “Complete Tales of Nurse Matilda” hardcover which I have just ordered. Luckily, the only movie tie-in feature is a small sticker on the cover which I will remove promptly! I’m a purist like that.

After the movie, I had tea with Elizabeth and we sat talking and laughing and watching our tea buds unfold (she got some awesome white tea that’s tied into little blossoms that “bloom” when they are immersed in hot water) until almost 2 in the morning. I drove home, got my second wind, and here I am. I’m going to read for a while… and then tomorrow wake up before noon so I can get some money from the bank, perhaps go buy a new pair of pants (yup - my psychiatrist pointed out that I’ve lost weight - yay!**), and then dive into paper-writing since the APA style guide arrived yesterday and I am ready to go.

**His bit of wisdom for tonight regarding some emotional stuff I’ve been contending with lately was, “You cannot hold back the tsunami with your two hands.” This is quite possibly the most abstruse and “Zen-like” thing he’s ever said. No matter - I understood it in context.

A pretty good finish to a week that started off rougher than most.