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I recently discovered the most delicious, easy and impressive dessert! If you're like me, you LOVE pear or apple desserts of any kind. Well -this is baked pears in red wine with a touch of cinnamon and some vanilla. Sounds good huh? Well, the recipe is on a recipe blog I check out once in awhile, but I'll give you the easier, simplified, ARCHITECTDESIGN formula....I mean recipe....
Basically - chose one Bosc pear per guest - chose the ripest you can find and also the prettiest -with stems left attached. Wash the pears ( please....wash them.... ) and cut off the bottoms so they stand up straight ( try to get them so that the stem stands straight, not lopsided when you cut the bottom ). Take a shallow baking dish ( I use pyrex ) thats just a little larger than the amount of pears you have and put a few drops of pure vanilla extract on bottom. Coat the bottom of the cut pear with ground cinnamon and place in the baking dish. Cover the pears with red wine, there should be aboue 1/2 an inch in the bottom of the pan as well. Then cover the pears with refined granulated sugar with a little bit of ground cinnamon mixed in ( just plain, cheap, white sugar such as domino brand ).Place in an oven pre-heated to 425 degrees for 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes spoon some of the red wine over the pears and cover in another layer of sugar. In 45 minutes, you'll have the most BEAUTIFUL and delicious dessert! Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Spoon some of the sauce from the bottom of the pan over the pears and ice cream ( it's a reduced red wine, sugar sauce that is SO GOOD -and kid friendly -the alcohol bakes off ). The smell this creates as it's baking is as close to heaven as you're likely to come smell-wise in the kitchen.
You can read the original recipe online at Ms. Glaze's blog
Sophia Coppola's movie is based on Antoinia Fraser's in depth book on Marie Antoinette ( antoine to her friends ). The book is extremely well researched and a fascinating story, but rather dry - almost academic. Still a good read.
Sophia's movie is basically a remake of that movie except more lush and accurate. I mean...word for word in some parts! THe 1938 version is more of a hollywood 30's spectacle and goes more for the feeling of 18th century france than anywhere near a faithful depiction -however a few things stand out in the movie such as the shot of Marie running down the huge staircase of the garden behind Versailles into the Orangerie for the part about the 'affair of the necklace'. A GORGEAUS shot and one that is actually pretty accurate visually speaking. Definitely check out this movie -it is full of 1930's fun with ELABORATE costumes -one shown below. 
Now, she wasn't ugly by any means - she is what I beleive you call 'a handsome woman'. Here are some of the more accurate and most famous portraits of her by Le Brun, above. As you can see, she is no Kirsten Dunst ( who is charming and seen on the movie poster below ) or Norma Shearer ( one of the screen beauties of the 30s, against the red background ). 
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