Day of the Horse, December 10th

Well, it's the weekend and fifteen days before Christmas. The Christmas shopping rush/crunch is on. I just got back... and am very sad to say that I STILL DON'T HAVE ANYTHING! During my shopping outings since Thanksgiving, I've bought wrapping paper, hot chocolate, and stuff to make cookies.

Anyway, if you, like me, are looking for something other than shopping to do today, go watch a horse movie to celebrate the Day of the Horse. I say watch a movie, because that seems to be the easiest thing to do without plans. If you want to devote your entire movie time to horses, I would recommend Black Beauty the 1994 version with one of my favorite actors, Sean Bean. While he's not really in the movie, he narrates the movie, giving us the opportunity to listen to his beautiful voice for a little over an hour.

If you just want a movie with horses instead of cars, try the new Pride and Prejudice 2005. I was a bit indifferent about seeing the new P&P movie because I thought that the A&E 1995 version was fine. I think that I was probably the only girl in Utah County that hadn't seen the new one until last night. I found it beautiful and poignant, on a completely different level than the 1995 version. I almost hate to say it, but Keira Knightly is a better Elizabeth than Jennifer Elhe, although I never knew there was anything lacking in Jennifer's performance until last night. Comparing the two, Knightly captures the loneliness that surrounds the time when people fall in love, whereas Elhe tends to have the air about her that she would be fine without Mr. Darcy, she could just continue with her life of walking and reading.

Anyway, if you haven't already, I would recommend the new P&P movie for Horse Day. Notice how the director uses distance throughout the movie. He even uses horses for this concept. There is a scene where Mr. Darcy rides a horse away from Lizzy when she is angry at him.

See, it's not so big of a stretch.