Kicked off a gorgeous morning with reading. There's an essay and a couple of poems on Columbus Day in the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. For material written in the 40's and 50's, they're surprisingly honest about what Columbus did and didn't do. He didn't actually discover America, or find the gold of Asia as he'd hoped...but he did discover, or further explore much of the Caribbean and South America.
Had a quick breakfast after finishing, then baked Chocolate Chip "Old School" Muffins from a recipe in Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food. Yum! That recipe always comes out super-moist and tasty, and this was no exception. I added cinnamon for extra flavor.
Watched The Road to El Dorado while I worked. Miguel (Kenneth Brannagh) and Tulio (Kevin Kline) are con men in Spain in 1519 who inadvertently stow away on a ship bound for the New World. They wash up on beach with a horse (Frank Welker) in tow and a map to the fabulous golden city of "El Dorado" in their pockets. Upon finding El Dorado, they're surprised to discover it's inhabited by a whole civilization, including the kindly Chief Tannabok (Edward James Olmos) and sacrifice-obsessed priest Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante). With the help of thief Chel (Rosie Perez), they pass themselves off as gods and gather as much gold as they can. Miguel, however, comes to love El Dorado and it's people, while Tulio is more interested in Chel. Miguel wants to stay...but he may not have a choice when the jealous Tzekel-Kan first turns a magical jaguar on them, then reveals the secret of El Dordo to explorer Cortez (Jim Cummings). Now the trio and their equine friend will have to work together to save El Dorado and its gold from the greedy conquistador.
This is just such a fun movie. Brannagh and Kline recorded together and supposedly ad-libbed a lot of the dialogue, and it shows. There's some hilarious lines here, including my brother Keefe's favorite, "You da god!" at the ball game. It also features Elton John's second-best score for a movie after The Lion King, including my favorite of his songs, "Someday Out of the Blue." Mom took Keefe to see this when it came out in 2000, and they both loved it. If you're a fan of John or the cast, or you're also looking for an animated movie for upper grade-school and tween boys, you can't do better than this hilarious and touching romp.
Headed out to work as soon as the movie was over and the muffins were out of the oven. Work was mildly steady for most of the afternoon. I spent the first half of my shift sweeping and shelving loose items, and the second rounding up carts, gathering the outside trash and recycling, and cleaning the bathrooms. No wonder we weren't that busy. It was gorgeous when I was outside, sunny, breezy, and warm without being overly hot or humid.
Went into writing when I got home. Brett prepares to take off almost as soon as she meets the boys. She has to find the Wizard Gene and rescue her prince, who was turned to stone by the cruel Queen Malade. The men try to point out that it's getting dark, but she wants to get moving...and presumes they'll be joining her. Richard protests, but Charles points out that they have nothing to lose. She did help them get the tax money from Skutch.
It was almost 7:30 by the time I broke for dinner. I had leftovers quickly while watching a spooky episode of Laverne & Shirley from the second season. The two women bring Lenny and Squiggy to a notorious local "Haunted House" to get a couch cheap. Shirley is convinced that there's some hairy thing living in the mansion, and it looks like she's right when the boys vanish and they hear noises and chains. They're ready to run, until Shirley finds a diary that brings a lot of fascinating history - and the owner of the house - to light.
Finished the night after a shower with Stan & Ollie. Stan Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (John C. Reilly) are past their prime in 1953. Hoping to earn money and regain past glory, they undergo a music hall tour of England and Ireland. At first, they play smaller venues that are barely advertised by producer Bernard Delfont (Rufus Jones), but after he does finally do some publicity photos, word about them spreads and leads them to better bookings. Stan is writing gag material for a new movie he's hoping they'll be able to star in, but there's no interest in it. Their relationship becomes strained after their wives Lucille (Shirley Henderson) and Ida (Nina Aridana) arrive. Not only do the women fight, but they remind Stan of the time he left their boss Hal Roach (Danny Huston) and Ollie did a movie without him. They argue over this and break up, though they continue to perform. The strain is too much for an already-ailing Ollie, who has a heart attack when they're judges at a beauty pageant. He's told to stop performing, but Stan won't go on without his long-time partner...and it takes almost losing him to make him realize just how important Ollie is in his life.
As a long-time Laurel & Hardy fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this look at the ups and downs of one of the sweetest and most remarkable friendships in Hollywood history. Coogan and Reilly were excellent as the two men who discover that there's no one they'd rather be doing pratfalls with than each other. Despite a melodramatic and rather predictable second act, if you're a fan of Laurel & Hardy too, you're definitely going to want to look up this brief and charming tale.
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