Non-Austen Films for Austen Fans: Walking on Sunshine (2014)

So after you watch every single version of Jane Austen movies, what do you have to watch next?

Hmm…I don’t know!

That’s why I started this list, to have non-Austen films that Austen fans can enjoy.

I can’t stop watching!

Here we go with:

So lately Amazon has been horrible in their recommendations, they have bee listing off films and TV shows I have zero interest in.

I was scrolling through the list of recommendations and I saw this ’80s jukebox (songs that are not by the same artist or band) and I had to watch it. I love anything ’80s!

Taylor (Hannah Arterton) is from England vacationing in Italy before she starts University. While on her vacation she met a handsome Italian man, Raf (Giulio Berruti) and the two fall in love.

Raf wanted her to stay with him, and logical, practical, always sensible Taylor thought about it. After all her friend Elena (Leona Lewis) fell in love and is staying. But as tempted as she is, she can’t and instead says goes home-singing Holiday.

Three years later Taylor has just graduated from University and is called by her sister Madison (Annabel Scholey) to join her for vacation in Italy. Taylor arrives in the same place she had vacationed years earlier, Puglia. Taylor is pleased to be spending time with her sister as she’s been so busy with school. She also is looking for some girl time as her sister has finally broken up with her horrible boyfriend Doug, they have been on and off for the past five years.

She arrives and finds their family friend Lil there too and the biggest surprise of her life-her sister has only been there a few weeks and has fallen in love, along with being engaged to be married to an Italian guy, and is going to be married in two days.

This isn’t the first time Madison has made a horrible decision regarding men and love as she is extremely romantic, emotional, and always going with what feels right in her heart.

Madison will not be swayed, espechially after Lil drops that Taylor had a lover in Italy. Madison is surprised her sensible sister could ever have a fling as she has never dated anyone, this “Italian guy” must really be special if he is the only one to ever touch her heart. Madison tells Taylor that they will have dinner with her guy, and she, after singing Venus, goes to get ready.

Taylor starts to the beach and runs into her friend Elena and Raf’s friends. She wants to see Raf, but her friend’s warn her that things are different now. She doesn’t stay but searches the beach for Raf, singing How Will I Know. When she reaches Raf he’s mad. He asked her to stay, and she left him brokenhearted.

The two are starting to talk with Madison comes over and introduces her fiancé Raf to Taylor. 

Both Raf and Taylor are in shock. Raf never put it together as she and her sister look nothing alike, Taylor is a super common name, they have only been together for weeks so he hasn’t met her family until now. Taylor is just stunned.

Dinner that night is an awkward affair for Raf and Taylor, but Madison is full of happiness for all those she loves to be together. She then sings The Power of Love. 

Raf is not pleased with this turn of events and wants to tell Madison right away. He doesn’t want any secrets, but Taylor convinces him to keep it secret as it will only hurt her sister and might break them up and damage the relationship with her sister.

The next day is the day before the wedding and Madison has a whole list of things that need to be taken care of-asking her maid of honor and sister to do it with Raf. Raf and Taylor do not want to spend anytime together, but do everything-people commenting that they are an adorable couple and it makes them both upset as feelings surface and they end up spending the whole time arguing.

Meanwhile, Madison ran into her ex-boyfriend Doug (Greg Wise) who is a horrible player of a man. He wants her to get back with him, but she refuses as she is getting married. The two sing “Don’t You Want Me Baby” but Doug convinces her to have one last dinner with him to say goodbye.

Back and the villa, Raf and Taylor return, having argued about how much they loathe each other and they run into Madison. She is happy that everything has worked out and asks if Taylor wants to bring the only man she ever loved, her Italian lover from three years ago. Raf is stunned as he thought Taylor saw him as a check off her summer list, all these years he didn’t realize she cared as deeply as he did.

Hmm…

He leaves, and Taylor and Madison talk. Flowers arrive from Doug and when Taylor questions Madison she just laughs it off as a farewell dinner with Doug. No big deal.

Taylor feels otherwise, but Madison is stubborn and unconvinced. While Madison gets ready for her date and hen party/bachelorette party and Taylor and friends all go to the Tomato festival. They are supposed to throw tomatoes at each other and this scene gets hilarious fast as Taylor and Raf angrily sing Walking on Sunshine at each other. But even though they are upset, a little spark is kindled.

They go to the beach to clean up and Taylor sings about her feelings and how much she still cares with Eternal Flame. She kisses Raf and then after realizing what she has done, runs off.

Uh oh

Madison and Doug have an extremely romantic dinner in the Coliseum. But while it is everything she has ever wanted, Madison realizes that no-she doesn’t want Doug. This part, the wooing, the chase is what he does well but the commitment boyfriend part-not so much. She wants more.

She heads back home to get to her hen party/bacheleorette party when she runs into Raf and Taylor talking. Madison quickly puts together that the Italian guy from Taylor’s past is Raf. She is shocked, but Taylor quickly shares that yes he was, and that Raf wanted to tell but she convinced him not to. She is sorry that she was pulled along by the memories and kissed him b-but she does not have feelings for him anymore.

Really Taylor?

Madison loves and trusts her sister so the girls get dressed up like Tina Turner and Madonna and the boys like Boy George. They go out singing  Girls Just Wanna Have Fun/The Wild Boys. After the night out Taylor realizes she does love Raf and leaves for the airport-as she can’t stay and cause trouble between her sister and him. She loves her sister more and wants her to be happy.

Meanwhile, after the party, Doug is waiting at the villa to try and seduce Madison by singing Faith. Madison tries to fight him off, almost gives in, and is surprised by a proposal by Doug.

Wow!

Lil went to the airport with some pilots she met and discovers that Taylor there. Lil convinces Taylor to come back as she is the only family that Madison has, and she needs to be there. They hurry to White Wedding. 

Taylor does come, but the groom is missing as one of his friends drunkenly taped him to a tree. He does get there and the wedding goes on, with Doug trying to object to it and being ignored.

They are going to say I Do, when Madison actually stops the wedding. She realizes that she doesn’t know who she is-she came to Italy to get over a love and just went right into another relationship. She turns him down as she doesn’t love him, but loves love.  She cares for him but realizes that someone else truly is in love with him.

Raf is furiously heartbroken. First one girl rejects him, and after three years he opens himself to love another girl, who rejects him.

Taylor decides to finally take a chance and goes after him-telling him she has loved him for the last three years and wish she never left him in Turn Back Time.

We end on a happy note with Raf and Taylor reunited, Doug after Madison but she choosing to be single and figure out what she wants, Elena and Enrico discover they are going to hve a baby, and Lil and Mikey together with Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.

So in a lot of ways it feels like this movie was copying Mama Mia. We don’t know a lot about the characters-whos is the younger or older (I’m assuming Madison is older), what Taylor was studying in school, what Madison does/why she is in Italy, etc. But the story was cute and the music is awesome as I like the songs.

But why do I recommend it for Jane Austen fans?

Hmm…

The first thing it made me think of was Sense and Sensibility. We might not know a lot about Taylor, but all the characters comment and allude that Taylor is the logical, responsible, and practical one. She never lets loose, she is never one to take chances or risks, only does what is a sure thing. She had a fling in Italy on her holiday and the guy asked her to stay with him, and she thought about it-but she knew she could never do it as it isn’t sensible or practical. Of course she needed to go back to her real life and university. The rest of the film she plays it the same way until the very end when she realizes she does want to open her heart-she does want to take a risk and fall in love-not knowing if it will work out-she throws all that aside and takes a leap.

Madison on the other hand is such a Marianne. She is emotional, is in love with love, and doesn’t make the best decisions when it comes to men. Taylor lists off her past relationships and Madison is just a romantic and can’t resist L’amore. Before Raf she was perviously dating a rascally rogue (played by Greg Wise [who was Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility (1995]). I mean she hardly knows Raf, but loves him and is getting married. I like that they made Madison not dumb as they often do (a smart sister and pretty sister) but she was just hopeful and trusting-things that Marianne also shared. I liked how we saw her progression of character as she decides she doesn’t need to throw herself into another relationship, but to figure out who and what exactly she wants.

Madison in the end has learned to temper her feelings and use sense, while Taylor to open herself up and release her sensibilities.

One thing the movie did really was show the way the death of their mother affected the girls. While the loss of their mother made Madison search for love and ultimately be a little too desperate in her search for happiness, Taylor has become more closed off to love as she doesn’t want to lose anyone. While the characters of Elinor and Marianne were formed to events prior to their father’s death, it made me wonder if that affected Marianne in her pursuit of love. Maybe Marianne wouldn’t have thrown herself so hard at Willoughby if they had their father around, maybe she wouldn’t have been so overtly searching for love if she didn’t have a hole from her loss.

The other thing I liked about this was that I thought it also echoed the sisterly love and devotion we see in Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Both the Bennets and Dashwoods care about their sisters and will keep secrets to protect them, nurse them, do anything they can for them. In this Taylor wants to protect her sister and have her be happy, so she doesn’t tell her the truth about how she feels for Raf. She goes to the wedding to be there for her sister, even though watching her love marry someone else is more painful than anything. At the church steps Madison gets cold feet, but Taylor just encourages and supports her. Madison shows the same love and devotion when she refuses Raf, knowing they would have a wonderful happy life together-but he’d have a better one with Taylor his true love.

This film also made me think of Persuasion. In Persuasion, Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth fell in love and were engaged, but Anne ended it as she was persuaded it wasn’t a good decision. They are young, he’s going off to war, he could die, her father wouldn’t like it or help her, etc. Years later, she has never married and Frederick has returned-a captain and is hurt over the past. They are put together in situations and it can be very awkward. In fact, the awkward tension the dinner table in Walking on Sunshine made me think of the scenes when they are thrown together in Persuasion. Not to mention seeing the person you love into someone else.

That last scene of Raf and Taylor singing Turn Back Time, I wish someone would recut Persuasion with it because it was perfect. In Persuasion, Captain Wentworth realizes he was a fool and still loves Anne, has only loved her, and writes her a beautiful love letter. In this Taylor does what she said she would never do-she sings her love for Raf from the rooftops.

If interested, this film is on Amazon Prime. 

For more Non-Austen Films for Austen Fans, go to Super Power Girl, Blackmail, Gangsters, and a Serial Kidnapper: Strong Woman Bong Soon (2017)

For more ’80s music, go to Darcy’s ’80’s Power Song

For more Greg Wise, go to Sense and Sensibility (1995)

For more musicals, go to Pride & Prejudice: A New Musical

Happily Ever Aftermath: Grimm (2012)

“Its two distinct states of existence simultaneous within one physical body. The duality of humanity. The yin and the yang. The Ike and Tina Turner of it all.”

So Grimm is a show that I have gotten really into. It’s modern day telling of the Grimm Fairy Tales but with a twist. Creatures from the fairy tales live among us, appearing as human to all but a select few. Instead of being the “brothers Grimm”, the Grimm are certain people who have the ability to see those monsters, or Wesen as they are called, from the tales. It is their job as Grimms to destroy all of them. Grimm is passed genetically, and sometimes it can miss a generation or skip a few, but all Grimms are related if you go back far enough on the family tree.

In the series the main character is a homicide detective named Nick Burkhardt, who is played by the very handsome David Giuntoli.

OMG I just find him so attractive. He has these really intense green eyes that just bore into you. He also has an amazingly adorable little boy/mischievous smile. Sometimes I’ll be watching the show and lose track of what has been happening because I’m too caught up in staring at him.

What can I say? He’s dreamy. Anyways let’s get back on track.

So the “Grimm sight” didn’t come to Nick until he was in his 30s. He discovers that it’s up to him to destroy all the creatures, but Nick actually does things much different. Because he is a cop, he likes to ask questions first before shooting, maiming, beheading, etc. Because of this he actually befriends a lot of Wesen.  He meets up with a vegetarian Blutbad (Werewolf) named Monroe, who helps him figure out what the monsters are and how to take them down. Later on they recruits a Fuschbau (Fox) named Rosalee. It’s really cool as they bring to life all those fairy tale stories you used to love as a kid, but at the same time they also use a lot of German and the culture; promoting the same thing the Brothers’ Grimm did. There also is a lot of mystery and intrigue with a story that spans over the three seasons (can’t wait for season 4!!!)

So season one is Nick trying to figure things out, as everything is completely new and a little hard to understand. Season two he has a better handle on it, but also faces issues of trying to conceal or reveal to his close friends. He also gets involved more in the political intrigues and history of the Grimm. In the third season we have a guy who really has it together but faces a lot of issues as an enemy from the past is trying to kill him, a new Grimm comes to town, and much, much more. I highly recommend it!

So now that you all have a better handle on the background, lets move on to the episode. So this episode falls in the first season when Nick is still floundering, trying to figure out a lot. What is a Grimm? What are these creatures? How do I stop them? What really happened to my parents? What is this secret key that was given to him by his aunt? Etc. Now the episode I choose isn’t really a Halloween episode, but it was one that I thought was done very well. To be honest, the material that these episodes cover could be used for any Horrorfest post. Just like Supernatural, they cover a lot of “supernatural” things that are ripe for the Halloween countdown.

Okay, I’m sorry. Back to the episode. So the reason I chose this was because I liked how they presented the material. So here we go.

So the film starts off with a Ponzi-scheme guy committing suicide. Arthur Jarvis, handsome, rich guy is listening to the radio when he hears about the Ponzi scheme and the suicide. He becomes extremely worried as he has invested all his money with him.  He doesn’t want to upset his new wife, Lucinda, and instead goes to her godfather Spencer Harrison to ask him what to do. He tells him that the only thing he can do is to go to Lucinda’s stepmother, Mavis,  and ask her for money. He doesn’t want to go there but has no other choice.

No no no no no

They go to see her but she refuses.

Mavis has always hated her stepdaughter, and feels that Lucinda and Arthur will have to deal with it. That upsets the Arthur and Spencer. The two leave to try and figure things out.

That night Mavis is going to bed when she hears a noise

She looks under the bed and sees a Horned King-like creature!

AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mavis runs out of the room, but the creature  follows giving off this loud screeching that destroys all the glass in the house; blows the her eardrums, eyeballs, and arteries. Mavis goes falling off the stairs and hits the floor. DEAD.

Victim #1

The next day her daughter, Tiffany, stops by and discovers the body. She calls the police, and Nick heads to the crime scene.

He and his partner start investigating and find it very strange in how she was killed. They then go on to question the two daughters, Tiffany and Taylor. Thats when they discover that there is a third sister (Lucinda). Apparently Lucinda received nothing from the estate as her father gave everything to the stepmother. The stepmother hates her so much that she promised she would never give her a cent.

Nick also discovers that Lucinda’s husband and godfather came asking for money, but were refused. The husband and godfather are the top suspects now.

The Nick and his partner Hank Griffen go down to talk to them. As they are about to question the two, Lucinda (who knows nothing) walks in. Nick and Hank tell the three that Lucinda’s stepmother is dead. As they say this they discover that Harrison isn’t who they think he is. In fact he is a Wesen.

Nick sees the change and knows that something is up. He decides to bring the three in for questioning to try to figure out what’s happened.

When they question Lucinda, they discover that Mavis never really cared for her. She hated her and always gave her daughters everything while Lucinda received nothing.  When her father died and left everything to the stepmother, her home life was awful. Luckily she met Arthur at a benefit and was able to get away.

Sound familiar?

Her alibi is that she was home all night with her husband.

They then question Arthur. He tells them that he knew Tiffany and Taylor, Lucinda’s stepsisters before he met Lucinda. He met them at a benefit and danced with them, but when he danced with Lucinda he fell for her. She was “so beautiful” that he couldn’t help it. Sound familiar?

His albi, that he was also home all night.

They then question Spencer, who tells them the backstory of Lucinda and her family. Her mother died when she was 6, and then her father remarried when she was 11. He died 7 months later. Mavis has always disliked Lucinda, and Spencer was worried about what might happen to Lucinda. He promised her father that he would watch over her and always tries to.

Getting the picture?

His alibi was that he stayed at the Jarvis house, as he and Arthur had gone late into the night working.

There isn’t enough evidence to hold anyone so they have to release all three.

That night we see Arthur and Lucinda fighting. Lucinda wants to go see Tiffany and talk to her, but Arthur wants her to stay home. He’s afraid that one of the sisters killed their mother and will kill Lucinda.

Spencer goes to find Lucinda at the Jarvis’ home but he’s too late. Lucinda has gone out to see her sister. Spencer is mad that Arthur allowed her out as he is supposed to protect her.

Back at Tiffany’s place, Lucinda has come to talk to her sister. Tiff won’t have any of it as she hates Lucinda for how she has treated the family. Lucinda pleads with her, that the past is the past and that they should move on. Tiff just ignores her.

Lucinda tells her stop and woges out, revealing her true self and transforming into a monster. She uses her screeching powers to murder Tiffany.

Meanwhile Nick and Monroe meet up at his Aunt’s trailer that houses a collection of Grimm items. The look through one of the Grimm diaries to figure out what Spencer is. As they look through the book they discover that the cause of all this is a Murciélago Matraca, or a batlike creature.

After reading about how their screeching can destroy vital parts of you body, Nick becomes worried. How is he going to stop this thing? They discover a special weapon that also gives off a high screeching sound. The two test it out.

He goes looking for Spencer and heads over to the Jarvis’ home. Lucinda and Arthur tell him they haven’t seen Spencer since earlier that morning. Arthur tells him, how he was planning to head over to Tiffany’s. Nick rushes over to Tiffany’s home and finds Spencer, along with Tiff. Tiff is doing a wonderful recreation of  The Birds. 

Nick takes Spencer in as he is sure he is the one doing the killing. However, Nick has issues actually charging him as they can’t really pin the murders on him. They have no murder weapon, (the cops besides Nick have no clue how somone could have killed the girls) and Nick can’t tell anyone that Spencer is a wesen. However, they are saved when Spencer says he wants to confess. He tells the truth, and unfortunately it sounds crazy and unbelievable.

He then tells Nick the whole story. Cinder-I mean Lucinda is the villain. She is the Murciélago Matraca and has no conscience whatsoever. She is a blend of the yin and yang, as she is pretty on the outside but pure evil on the inside. Spencer has been taking care of her all these years, giving in to every demand as, as long as she is happy things are fine. However, this financial crisis of the Jarvis family proved to be too much unhappiness for her. Nick freaks out and goes to his partner to talk it over. His partner tells him that if the rest of her family dies, then she gets everything.

Just as they are discussing it, Spencer breaks out and heads over to the Jarvis house. There he finds Arthur drunk and upset. Lucinda told him that she never loved him and she took off.

Spencer hunts her down at Taylor’s as does Nick. Lucinda goes running into a barn to hide from the two. Monroe meets Nick there and they set up the device to create the screeching sound to take down Lucinda. As they do that, Lucinda goes running out of the barn and right into Spencer. He attacks her as he knows that is the only way to end her. As he is apologizing for killing her, she “awakes” and kills him.

Nick finds their bodies.

Monroe asks Nick how he is going to explain everything. And Nick just gives that smile and tells him he has a plan.

Back at the police station, Nick shows his boss the device he used to stop Lucinda and tells him they found it at the crime scene. “Apparently” it was what they used to create the sound that killed everybody. Another case and monster destroyed. Also leaving us with that old adage:

And:

I know its a little unusual, but be expecting to see more Grimm in the future!!

To start Horrorfest III from the beginning, go to Even a Man Pure of Heart

To go to the previous post, go to Only a Woman

For more on Cinderella, go to Episode VI: Return of the My Favorite Movie Lines List

For more modern twists on classical literature, go to A Hunky Helping of Manwich

For more on fairy tales, go to For She Filled Their Lives With Sunshine

For more on monsters, go to What Is This Thing?

For more TV shows based on books, go to Quite a Horror Story

For more of my fav quotes, go to In Their Proper Place

For more bible verses, go to Unbound

For more on Supernatural, go to You Can’t Have Just One