Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Upon waking up this morning I checked, as I always do, my emails from my phone and saw that I had received a blog award from the wonderful Natalie over at In the Mood. Thank you so much! :)

Now, according to the rules, I have to:

• Tell everyone something that no one else knows about
• Link to one of my posts that I personally think best fits the following categories: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful Piece, Most Popular Piece, Most Controversial Piece, Most Surprisingly Successful Piece, Most Underrated Piece, and Most Pride-worthy Piece
• Pass this award on to seven other bloggers

Something that no one else knows about: By "no one else", I'm  presuming it means no one on blogger. I can't think of anything remotely interesting so it's going to have to be that, ethnicity wise, I am a mixture of English, Irish, and Italian. 

I feel a little embarrassed already about selecting my own blog posts for being "Most Beautiful", "Most Underrated" etc. However, I shall try to do my best! ;D

Most Beautiful Piece: I like to think that my Darling Deborah Blogathon: Memories of The King and I post was rather heart-warming and I think that's the closest to beautiful that my writing can achieve. 

Most Helpful Piece: Maybe my 100 Essential Classic Films posts? Maybe to people who are just starting out in classic film, at any rate. (I really need to finish the series!)

Most Popular Piece: Fortunately, I didn't have to hand pick this. According to blogger, my most popular piece is my Sunday Star - Lucille Ball post from back in September, 2010 with over 15,000 page views. A little ridiculous seeing that it's a pretty rubbish post but courtesy of Lucy's 100th birthday last year, it received an insane amount of hits.

Most Controversial Piece: It's a bit of stretch to call in controversial, but I think that my Top 10 Most Overrated Classics is the only one that really fits the bill.

Most Surprisingly Successful Piece: Films I've Seen a Ridiculous Amount of Times #2: Anne of Green Gables. Obviously Anne is an extremely well loved book/film but I really didn't think anyone would care about my post on it. It was lovely to see how much other people cared about Anne too.

Most Underrated Piece: Lol, every blogger must have those posts that they spend hours working on and are really proud of only to publish them and find that only 1 person, or no one, comments on them. SO MUCH PAIN. One of mine would be Films I've Seen a Ridiculous Amount of Times #1: The Sound of Music. I TALK ABOUT THE LADLE DANCE IN IT. Despite me pouring out far too many of my TSOM feelings into the post, the reason it only garnered two comments was probably because everyone has heard it all before. NO1CURR any more.

Most Pride-worthy Piece: I'm sort of proud of my If Fictional Characters Could Live in Our World... post, despite the fact that it makes hardly any sense.

Now I have to tag 7 bloggers. I'll try not to re-tag anyone!

Bette of Bette's Movie Blog

Clara of Via Margutta 51

Audrey of Fedoras and High Heels

Mr. Mythical Monkey of A Mythical Monkey Writes About the Movies

Craig of Blame Mame

Monty of All Good Things

Kate of Silents and Talkies

Thanks for reading! :)

I'm irresistibly sweet, don't ya know?

Rianna of Frankly My Dear, who started writing her lovely, entertaining blog last month, very kindly gave me The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award! Thank you so much :) *

According to the rules I have to:

• Thank and link the person who nominated me 
• Share 7 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 12 fellow bloggers for the award.
• Notify the recipients.

7 Random Facts About The Girl Behind the Blog

1. Whilst I don't start out all my stories with "Well, back in St. Olaf...", I have the same level of skill in storytelling as Rose Nyland - namely, none. 
2. My two favourite tv mini series are Bleak House and Band of Brothers. I love them both with a burning passion and will rave about them to anyone who will listen. I highly recommend everyone to watch them at some point, although Band of Brothers is very violent and bloody, emotionally intense, and swear-y so is not really suitable for younger viewers. ;D
3. I never had chicken pox as a child therefore now I dread contracting it as an adult.
4. I have a dog called Scamp (see photo below).
5. I hope to train to become a Doctor.
6. I play the trumpet.
7. Gillian Anderson is my favourite modern actress - and by favourite, I mean that she is just a teeny bit behind Deborah for first place favourite actress of all time! 

WARNING! 

My dog is so cute you might not be able to stand it and go crazy Old Hollywood style (lots of dramatic hands).

12 of My Favourite Blogs

• Millie of Classic Forever
• Clara of Via Margutta 51
• Bette of Bette's Movie Blog
• Audrey of Fedoras and High Heels
• Meredith of Movie Montage
• Kate of Scathingly Brilliant
• Monty of All Good Things
• Lara of Backlots
• Jennifer of Films of Yesterday
• Emma of Emma's Music
• Amanda of A Noodle In a Haystack
• Craig of Put the Blame on Mame

Once again, thank you so much for the award, Rianna! :)

*I wrote this post this afternoon after I published the Liebster Blog Award post (yes, I am stupid for not putting both of them in the same post) and saved is a draft to post this evening but in the meantime I found out that the lovely Clara from Via Margutta 51 and Bette from Bette's Movie Blog also nominated me. Thanks girls! :)

I received the Liebster Blog Award - twice!

*insert a Greer Garson-like acceptance speech*

Monty of All Good Things and Amanda of A Noodle In a Haystack both very kindly awarded me the Liebster Blog Award. Thanks guys! They both have really wonderful blogs, and I urge you to go and check them out! :) 

According to the rules I must pass on the award to 3-5 blogs who have less than 300 followers but deserve a whole lot more! Here are the bloggers I chose...

Clara of Via Margutta 51 - I check Clara's blog religiously every day to see if she's posted because I don't want to miss any of her witty, wonderful, and always insightful posts! If you're not already following her, you should remedy that immediately. 

Meredith of Movie Montage - I am constantly in awe of Meredith's knowledge of classic film. All of her posts are full to the brim with utter brilliance and wit - I can't get enough of her blog! Also, two of her favourite actresses are Deborah Kerr and Barbara Stanwyck ;D

Mr. Mythical Monkey of A Mythical Monkey Writes About the Movies - MM's blog was one of the first I ever followed and it's thanks to him that I've watched many silent films that I might not have otherwise - thank you! :D You should all go over there and follow him immediately!

Audrey of Fedoras and High Heels - I always enjoy reading Audrey's posts - especially her wonderful  film reviews! I always end up wanting to watch the film as soon as I've finished reading her post about it :D Hop on over to her blog and hit the follow button - you won't regret it! 

Aww, shucks -- I just got my first ever blog award!

Imagine my surprise and delight this morning when I received an email telling me that the wonderful Clara of Via Margutta 51 had chosen me as a Stylish Blogger! I've never received a blog award before and I feel very honoured to receive this one from Clara. Thank you so much! :)

Right, now I have to, according to the rules of the award, leave a link to Clara's blog and then reveal to you all 7 of my deepest, darkest secrets... or, just reveal 7 facts about myself.

1. I love tennis. I sort of stole that one from Clara, but it's a highly relevant fact about me too! I've played the sport since I was 5, which makes it almost 13 years. It's my favourite sport without a doubt.

2. I play the trumpet. I started learning when I was 13, and I love it. There is no feeling that can compare with the thrill that runs through you whilst playing in a jazz/concert band when everyone around you is playing and the music is swelling and... ugh. It's magnificent.

3. I saw The King and I on stage when I was 2 weeks old. No, my mother is not one of those people who brings screaming babies and kids to the theatre -- it was at the dress rehearsal for a production of the show. My brother was in it and so, not wanting to go to the actual show in case I started wailing (and I did a lot of that, apparently), Mum decided to go and watch the dress rehearsal instead. I have a feeling this is where my love of The King and I, and musicals in general, springs from ;D

4. I absolutely love the 2005 BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. I watched this series when it first aired, just a few months before I turned town the dark path of classic film ;D, and it's the first thing I can remember ever being ridiculously obsessed with. I fell in love with the costumes, the music, the breathtaking cinematography and most importantly, the story and Lady Dedlock/Gillian Anderson. I read most of Dickens' books after this, and I've watched Bleak House far too many times every year since 2005.

5. I would love to be a vet. Ever since I was little, I've dreamed of being a vet (well, a vet, an actress, and a professional tennis player ;D) and of all them, I think I have the most chance of becoming a vet. That being said, I'm more "hands on" than academic so I'm not sure how well I would cope with the long years of training and exams that one has to through to become a qualified vet. Also, I believe it's rather hard to get into veterinary college...

6. I have absolutely NO artistic abilities, whatsoever. I'm not joking. I can't even draw stick people without difficulty. I can, however, draw robots. On graph paper.

7. Something random. I had a dream last night that I was Phoebe Buffay in Phyllis Dietrichson's body wearing Baroness Schraeder's clothes (specifically, the carpet skirt she wears during The Lonely Goatherd/Edelweiss scene and a hot pink version of the blouse). I must say, I looked pretty good. In dream land, Phyllis' wig (I didn't have the Baroness' hair, sadly) didn't look really bizarre like it did in Double Indemnity.

Oh my, now I have to choose seven stylish bloggers to give this award too. HOW CAN I PICK JUST 7 OUT OF ALL YOU INCREDIBLY STYLISH PEOPLE? Here goes...

• The unrivaled Queen of Crazy: Millie of ClassicForever fame.
• The absolutely fabulous and unbelievably stylish Kate of Scathingly Brilliant
• The amazingly witty and knowledgeable Meredith of Or Maybe Einstein Should Just Relax
• The wonderful and sweet Bette of Bette's Classic Movie Blog
• The marvellous Sally of Flying Down To Hollywood
• The glorious Amanda of Time Machine to the Twenties
• The wonderful Jennifer of Films of Yesterday

I urge you to check out their blogs if you haven't already, because they are all seven really amazing!

My Favourite 1930s - 1960s Best Picture Winners!!

Greer and James at the 15th Annual Academy Awards

Unlike many of my online friends, I am not watching The Oscars tonight. For one thing, we don't have Sky and my laptop does not take kindly to me watching live streams. It's also on rather late here in England. The main reason, however, is that it would be a waste of time because I've only seen one of films from 2010, Inception.If I'm honest, the only other films I'm interested in seeing from the films nominated for Best Picture are The King's Speech, 127 Hours, and Toy Story 3. Anyway, I thought I'd pick my favourite Best Picture winners and also my favourite from the films that were nominated but didn't win, from 1930s-1960s.

1930's Best Picture Winners (also including 1928 and 1929 winners)

1928 - Wings

1929 - The Broadway Melody

1930 - All Quiet on the Western Front

1931 - Cimarron

1932 - Grand Hotel

1933 - Cavalcade

1934 - It Happened One Night

1935 - Mutiny on the Bount

1936 - The Great Ziegfield

1937 - The Life of Emile Zola

1938 - You Can't Take It With You

1939 - Gone With the Wind

Favourite 1930's Nominations

1934 - The Thin Man

Honourable Mentions

1932 - Shanghai Express

1937 - Stage Door

1940's Best Picture Winners

1940 - Rebecca

1941 - How Green Was My Valley

1942 - Mrs. Miniver

1943 - Casablanca

1944 - Going My Way

1945 - The Lost Weekend

1946 - The Best Years of Our Lives

1947 - Gentlemen's Agreement

1948 - Hamlet

1949 - All the King's Men

Favourite Film From Nominations

1942 - Random Harvest

Honourable Mentions

1941 - Blossoms In the Dust

1943 - Madame Curie

1944 - Since You Went Away

1945 - Mildred Pierce

1950's Best Picture Winners

1950 - All About Eve

1951 - An American In Paris

1952 - The Greatest Show on Earth

1953 - From Here To Eternity

1954 - On the Waterfront

1955 - Marty

1956 - Around the World In 80 Days

1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai

1958 - Gigi

1959 - Ben-Hur

Favourite Film From Nominations

1958 - Auntie Mame

Honourable Mentions

1952 - The Quiet Man

1956 - The King and I

1960's Best Picture Winners

1960 - The Apartment

1961 - West Side Story

1962 - Lawrence of Arabia

1963 - Tom Jones

1964 - My Fair Lady

1965 - The Sound of Music

1966 - A Man For All Seasons

1967 - In the Heat of the Night

1968 - Oliver!

1969 - Midnight Cowboy

Favourite 1960's Nominations

1964 - Mary Poppins

Honourable Mentions

1960 - The Sundowners

1961 - Judgement at Nuremberg

I was going to post a list of the people who should have won several Oscars but who in actual fact didn't win even one (Deborah, Stany, Maureen (she hasn't even been awarded an Honorary Oscar. HANG YOUR HEADS IN SHAME, ACADEMY!)... to name but a few) but that would take too long and I would end up bashing Grace K. and her ridiculous Oscar before moving onto Audrey Hepburn and her almost equally ridiculous RH Oscar (Really though... DEBORAH, AVA AND LESLIE (I haven't seen Maggie in TMiB) and you give the award to Audrey in one of the dullest films of all time?!! I'm sorry, I just can't help myself. You all know I love Audrey... but really?!). Anyway, have a photo of a Greer and Walter kissing at the 15th Academy Awards...

... they make everything better :D

If you're going to be watching the Oscars tonight, enjoy yourself!! And I hope The King's Speech wins everything, even though I haven't seen it, because... come on, the cast is awesome!! ;D

P.S. Let me know which are your favourite winners (and nominated!) films from each decade!!