Easter Eggs, Parades, and Rabbits

 Today was a good day. I couldn't say that last year. Last year was awful. The pandemic was killing people, lockdowns kept a lot of families from being together, and the political environment in the States was the pits. Between media companies and social media hyper inflating factions in the country (that continue even more today), the very wealthy just getting even more wealthier, a lot of good people losing their jobs or companies shutting down or dying completely, and lots of hospitals filling up with folks soon-to-be on ventilators. It was awful. I remember that Sunday morning with "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965) from Turner Classics on television while I just wept all the way through it, so sinking in depression I wondered if I would break from the misery. And it, of course, go much worse. But this year was a bit better. No, a lot better. I helped my mother hide Easter eggs for the kids to find, enjoyed the beautiful weather with lots of blue sky, cool temps, and sun. 

Then I returned home for a quick nap, throwing on "Peter Rabbit" (2018) for an evening of CGI rabbits and other talking animals making life hell for Domhnall Gleeson, after inheriting a manor and vegetable garden when distant relative (he didn't even know), Sam Neill (just unrecognizable under a white beard), who collapsed from a coronary after years and years of bad health choices. Rose Byrne is just adorable as Gleeson's countryside neighbor, a painter who has bonded with Peter Rabbit, Peter's sister rabbits (Robbie, Debicki, and Ridley) and buddy rabbit (Moody). The animation is superb, really, and Corden as Peter gives him a mischievous but charming quality, synching with the CGI looking to endear him to kids. Gleeson's combative rivalry with Peter and the other animals from the surrounding natural landscape makes for a lot of outrageous cartoonish violence. Of course, both Gleeson and Peter Rabbit want to keep Byrne happy so their fighting has to be outside her scope of view...until it results in a tree dropping on her house from a dynamite explosion!

"Easter Parade" (1948) was a nightcap. Last year, I just wasn't into it. Any musical wouldn't have really landed with me considering I was in no mood for song and dance. But Astaire and Judy Garland are a winning combo. Their "bums dance number", "We are a couple of swells" was my favorite as was Astaire's opening Easter number which sets up the plot of his seeking revenge on Ann Miller's ditching him for a solo Ziegfield's act by locating Garland in a bar, vowing to take someone unknown and make her a star. He does, but Garland certainly compliments him when the two are together on stage. Miller's first number is real razzle-dazzle. Amazingly, Astaire was "retired" and requested by Gene Kelly (after breaking a leg competing in some sort of recreational sport) to replace him...he does so without a hitch. Yes, this is lots of musical soap opera as Miller feels the pressure to outstage Garland, egging Astaire to join her for an old song and dance. Garland wanted Astaire to see her as more than a dance partner and prop, to actually act like a human being instead of "just a pair of dancing shoes". I was able to get a bigger screen for the bedroom, so this film popped off the screen. I love Garland, so being impressed with her was no real shock. I think it is a shame Garland and Astaire were only in one musical together...their chemistry is undeniable.