I’ve finally caught up with the five-part series Land Girls, which was shown earlier this year on BBC1 in a teatime slot to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I did enjoy parts of it, and loved some of the actors’  performances, but had hoped for more.

Sophie Ward, Summer Strallen and Nathaniel Parker

On the plus side, it all looks gorgeous, costumes, sets and landscapes alike – the series was made in and around Toddington Station on the Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway, a preserved steam line – and the music by Debbie Wiseman is beautiful and haunting. There is a fine cast, with the best-known names probably being Nathaniel Parker and Sophie Ward as Lawrence and Ellen Hoxley, lord and lady of the manor where the girls are based. They both give good performances, as do the actresses playing the various land girls – I think Summer Strallen is especially good as Nancy, a well-spoken office worker who struggles to get used to living on the land, and who gets involved in an affair with Lawrence.

Writer Roland Moore was clearly fascinated by his subject – I found an article by him online about all the research he’d done, which has a lot of interesting background. However, he has mainly worked as a writer on the BBC soap opera Doctors, and I’m afraid I found this very soapy too, with unlikely and melodramatic storylines and complicated love lives for each of the heroines, sisters Annie and Bea (Christine Bottomley and Jo Woodcock), sensible Joyce (Becci Gemmell) and flighty Nancy.

Everyone has a dark secret, and all the characters are somewhat cliched, from the unbearably cold and snobbish Lady Hoxley to the sex-mad American GI, Cal (Christian Brassington) to the lovable rogue of a farmer, Frederick Finch (Mark Benton), who is always coming up with disastrous comic ways to make a little extra cash. Danny Webb’s character, a gamekeeper turned Home Guard officer who fears everyone in sight is a fifth columnist, is somewhat more individual.

Christine Bottomley, Jo Woodcock, Becci Gemmell and Summer Strallen

Different episodes had different directors and cinematographers, and, perhaps as a result, I think the series feels patchy, with flashes of brilliance every now and then amid all the soap. There are several powerful scenes at the station, with shades of Brief Encounter, as Annie walks hesitantly alongside steam trains pulling in or out of the platform. In the first scene she is saying goodbye to the husband she doesn’t love and who makes her feel like a failure, and in each subsequent scene at a station she is wrestling with a new emotion.

I also especially liked the storyline in the second episode where Lawrence is struggling to prevent his horse from being shot after being injured in a fall – there is a great moment where he rubs his face up against the horse.  I’m a fan of Nat Parker anyway and his character in this sometimes had hints of the poignancy he gives Rawdon Crawley in Vanity Fair, a series which I really want to write about here before too long.

The series has been criticised for historical inaccuracies, such as not observing the blackout and giving the girls the wrong uniforms. Since I’m not an expert on the period, this sort of detail didn’t jar with me all that much, but my main disappointment was that we didn’t get much flavour of what a land girl’s life was really like, and how hard it must have been working at a farm in all weathers. All this seemed to be glossed over. Over on my other blog, Movie Classics, I recently reviewed a wartime film called The Gentle Sex about a group of women in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and I thought this older film was much better on the unglamorous reality of working life. I do also have a recording of the film The Land Girls (1998) which starred Anna Friel, and hope to watch this soon and see how it compares.

The four main characters in their uniforms

Tout le monde a un jour ou l’autre entendu parler d’ “Alice au Pays des Merveilles”, ne serait-ce qu’en tombant sur une des multiples rediffusions télévisuelles de la très psychédélique version Disney, dont on devait le graphisme haut-en-couleurs genre j’ai piqué ses champignons magiques à la chenille à la dessinatrice Mary Blair (à qui le Musée d’Art Contemporain de Tokyo rendait hommage jusqu’en octobre dernier).

Pour la petite histoire, tout commença avec Charles Ludwitge Dodgson (1832-1898), timide -et quelque peu sourd- fils de pasteur, gaucher et bègue comme ses onze frères et sœurs. On attribuait ces particularités au fait que ses parents étaient cousins germains et donc consanguins. Extrêmement intelligent et doué, il se prit très tôt de passion pour l’écriture, rédigeant à l’attention de ses frères et sœurs divers magazines familiaux, inspirés des revues littéraires dont les victoriens raffolaient, tout en s’intéressant de très près aux mathématiques (la passion de son père). 1851 marque son entrée à Oxford et quelques années plus tard, en 1855, il devient professeur de mathématiques au Christ Church College. C’est à partir de 1856, en publiant dans le magazine comique “The Train” un poème intitulé “Solitude”, que Charles Dodgson invente Lewis Carroll, ce pseudonyme, créé à partir du nom de jeune fille de sa mère, Ludwitge, et de la latinisation de son propre prénom, lui permettant de séparer l’écrivain facétieux du très sérieux auteur d’ouvrages de logique et de mathématiques. La même année, Dodgson fait la connaissance de la famille Liddell. Henry Liddell (1811-1898), helléniste de son état et par ailleurs doyen du Christ Church College, avait une charmante épouse, Lorina Hanna Reeve, et dix enfants parmi lesquels se trouvait une certaine Alice. Dodgson s’était toujours senti mal à l’aise parmi les adultes et rien ne lui plaisait plus qu’être entouré d’enfants, afin de partager leurs jeux et replonger dans cet imaginaire enfantin auquel il était désespérément attaché, il se lia donc très facilement d’amitié avec les enfants Liddell, les mettant en scène dans ses photographies, sa nouvelle lubie. Ce n’est qu’en 1858, qu’il s’intéresse véritablement à Alice Liddell, l’immortalisant en petite mendiante.

La naissance d’Alice. Le 4 juillet 1862, Au cours d’une promenade en barque sur la rivière Isis d’Oxford en compagnie d’Alice Liddell et de deux de ses sœurs, Edith et Lorina, Charles Dodgson imagine les aventures d’une petite fille nommée Alice dans un monde imaginaire farfelu. A la demande de la véritable Alice, Dodgson couche sur le papier son histoire qu’il achève en février 1863. Bien qu’entre temps ses relations avec les Liddell se soient détériorées, Dodgson remet entre les mains d’Alice Liddell le manuscrit, illustré par ses soins, des “Aventures d’Alice sous la Terre” à noël 1864. Il faudra attendre noël 1865 pour que les “Aventures d’Alice sous la Terre” deviennent l’ “Alice au Pays des Merveilles” que nous connaissons, celui publié par l’éditeur Alexander MacMillan et illustré par le dessinateur John Tenniel (1820-1914), notamment connu pour ses caricatures dans la revue satirique anglaise Punch. Une année plus tard, une suite “De l’autre côté du miroir” est, toujours illustré par John Tenniel, est éditée. Ces deux contes de fées, terme utilisé par Dodgson lui-même pour désigner les aventures d’Alice, firent la réputation de son alter ego littéraire Lewis Carroll: la critique encensa les livres qui se vendirent comme des petits pains obligeant MacMillan à les rééditer très régulièrement. Alice devint ainsi le livre de chevet préféré des petits anglais (puis des petits français à partir de 1869, Dodgson/Carroll supervisant la publication et la traduction de son œuvre) et un mythe littéraire à part entière.

On dénombre près d’une vingtaine d’adaptations d’ “Alice…” pour le petit et le grand écran. J’attends avec une très grande impatience le film de Tim Burton, dont le génie aura sûrement su tirer de l’œuvre de Lewis Carroll toute sa douce folie et son absurdité totalement assumée. Mais pour l’instant je voudrais dire quelques mots au sujet d’une adaptation a priori fort déjantée des aventures d’Alice en son pays merveilleux: “Malice in Wonderland”.

Présenté en octobre dernier au 42ème Festival International du Film Fantastique de Catalogne, le fameux Sitges Film Festival, “Malice in Wonderland” est une réinterprétation contemporaine de l’oeuvre de Lewis Carroll. Alice est une étudiante en droit américain. Renversée par un taxi londonien, elle se réveille frappée d’amnésie dans un monde qui est à des milliers de kilomètres du sien – un pays des merveilles d’un genre particulier. Entraînée par un énigmatique chauffeur de taxi Whitey (connu précédemment sous le nom de Lapin Blanc) dans un monde sous-terrain peuplé de tordus, elle doit faire preuve de malice afin de se souvenir de son nom et pouvoir retourner chez elle en un seul morceau. Sur son chemin, elle rencontre les personnages issus du livre de Lewis Carroll sous une nouvelle apparence. Le chenille est par exemple un dealer, le Roi et la Reine de Cœur ne font qu’un sous les traits d’un travesti seigneur du crime, le Chapelier Fou tient un bordel itinérant… En poursuivant ses aventures, elle apprendra que rien n’est ce qu’il semble être, que vie et destin sont inextricablement liés et que l’amour se cache parfois dans des lieux improbables.

Simon Fellows, le réalisateur: Je veux transporter Alice et le public dans ma vision du pays des merveilles. Un monde réaliste parfois sombre, parfois lumineux, un monde bigarré, étrange et en constante contradiction (…) pas si éloigné de celui où nous nous sommes perdus à un moment ou à un autre. (…) Technique mise à part, ce film doit tout à ses personnages. Pour son personnage principal Alice et le public, c’est comme une balade sur des montagnes russes, ça va à toute vitesse avec une énergie folle, un son et un style qui pousse cette interprétation contemporaine à ses limites cinématographiques.

“Malice in Wonderland” devrait sortir sur les écrans britanniques le 28 janvier 2010. Je ne sais pas si une date de sortie française est prévue mais le film sera disponible dès février en dvd zone 2. En ce qui me concerne, j’ai très envie de voir ce film. L’impression que j’ai du teaser est celle d’un joyeux désordre, ce qui se rapproche assez de la description -citée plus haut- que Simon Fellows fait de son film. Les personnages ont tous l’air tarés et Alice me fait penser à un lapin pris dans les phares d’une voiture -ce que je trouve assez ironique puisqu’elle se fait renverser par le lapin blanc au début de l’histoire. Puis c’est aussi l’occasion de revoir quelques acteurs anglais que j’aime bien tel que Danny Dyer (que j’avais trouvé absolument hilarant dans l’excellentissime “Severance” de Christopher Smith) et Nathaniel Parker, connu du grand public pour son rôle de Thomas Linley dans la série policière anglaise “The Inspector Linley Mysteries” d’après les romans d’Elizabeth George mais que, personnellement, j’adore depuis “Far From The Madding Crowd”, une production de la BBC d’après le roman de Thomas Hardy, où il jouait Gabriel Oak (*love*).

Sur ce (et comme le chante le Chat de Chester chez Disney):

“Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe ;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.”

(je précise qu’il s’agit du Jabberwocky)

N.B : Concernant “Malice in Wonderland”, j’ai trouvé la plupart de mes informations sur ce site et celui-ci étant très régulièrement mis à jour, je pense qu’il est toujours bon d’y jeter un œil.

Stardust is a great romance and action movie. It is about a man who makes a promise for his beloved woman and win her heart. In order to win her heart he goes across the wall of his land to bring a star for his beloved. But there is a turn around. The star is actually a woman. After their adventures together they meet a pirate in the sky who helps them see that their love for each other cannot be hidden as well as helping the man become more of a fighter than a coward.

But not only that the 3 wicked witches are on an adventure to capture the heart of the star for eternal life and beauty. They go through the far lands to try and capture her until the end but the girl is protected by the man. Who do not know it yet but love each other. It all falls in to place.

This is practically what it is about. It has comedy romance adventure and action. A great great movie. On average I would give this movie a 10/10 it is a great movie. I love it with all my heart. A perfect movie for teenagers and adults. This is still my favourite movies of all time after all the other movies who have come out after this one. For all the people with a thirst for romance, comedy and adventure this is movie is for you!

Originally published in Rip-In Magazine, Issue 039, 2007

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance
Starring: Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Nathaniel Parker, Ian McKellen (Voice over), Dustan Thorn, Peter O’Toole, and Rupert Everett.
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writer: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn

Fantasy is always about the crossing of worlds. There is one pertinent question that fans of the genre ask: How do the different worlds meet? In this case, the answer resides beyond a very long wall of an old English village called, well, Wall.

The exposition of the film was rather terse and clumsy. The short and coarse editing of Stardust commenced a choppy prologue. While it was marginally disorientating, the interjection of Dustan Thorn’s (Parker) foray and adventure into the old world of magic enabled the birth and destiny of his gauche and awkward son named Tristan (Cox).

The young and idealistic protagonist portrayed the village dreamer that girls scorned and adults tolerated. The prudent decision to cast Charlie Cox worked for the film as he shifted seamlessly from an adolescent romanticist to the mature, sword-buckling buccaneer. Driven by the need to impress his teenage sweetheart within Wall, Tristan made the decision to leap through the one-old-man-guarded brick barricade to commandeer a fallen star for his beloved. Unfortunately (and hilariously), the hobbling old guard was a high-kicking, somersaulting, and staff-cracking martial artist. Later, the boy realised the history of his birth and the transgression of his father’s love beyond Wall. Tristan uncovered a priceless gift by his mother, a black candle, which transported him into a crater where Yvaine (Miller) was first introduced as the fallen star trapped in mortality.

The crater was a sign that lifted the anchor of fantasy and let sail the magic and voyage of two individuals who, at first, could not stand the sight of one another but necessarily had to stay together. In their journey, the audience was introduced to the three witches of the old world, one of whom was called Lamia, centrally played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Her character was at once deliciously evil and insatiably contemptuous. A short discussion with the rest of the reviewers unanimously agreed that one just can’t get enough of her. Her multidimensional expression and interpretation of Lamia showed both the comedic and detestable, the complex shift of hopelessness to triumphant arrogance. Pfeiffer was paradox stuffed in one ravishing yet incalculably old body. One almost wished she didn’t die in the end. Who cared if evil lived as long as she was delectably wicked? My vote is still affirmative.

Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, Stardust (2007) enraptured the audience without high-handed or cluttering visual spectacular. The adapted story, written by Jane Goldman in collaboration with the director Matthew Vaughn, was masterfully shaped not so much for children but for adults. This was evident through the affecting and memorable entrance of Captain Shakespeare (De Niro). At first glance, it seemed the script writers executed a paltry attempt to unveil a crass and disgruntled pirate. But like all good storytelling, the depth of his character later revealed the endearing comedy of a fey, camp and closeted transvestite that respected and dutifully performed his vulgar and oafish heritage. Few fantasy films would dare conspicuously exhibit a queer character for fear of audience and profit ostracisation. For this alone and more, Stardust deserves an applause.

In summary, the postmodernistically foreboding, risqué, camp, and romantic montage of the film were accomplished with delightful humour and style, although its editing needed more finesse. Stardust exceeded expectations not because of its adapted narrative or imaginative visuals but because the casts and characters were exceedingly dynamic, animated and insatiable.

Just a quick taster of a few coming costume drama attractions on British TV this autumn and winter … these are nearly all BBC series or films, with one from ITV. I don’t think Channel 4 has announced its autumn season yet, but will hope to post something about that as and when it does.

The most eagerly awaited series has to be the new Sandy Welch adaptation of Emma, and there has also been a fair bit of information about a Cranford follow-up in store at Christmas – here’s a link to a fan site on the series -  but there are also several other goodies to look forward to:

Desperate Romantics – on BBC2, a major new six-part series about the Pre-Raphaelites, apparently starting later this month – written by Peter Bowker who scripted  Blackpool (not really a costume drama but I loved it) and also the latest version of  Wuthering Heights.  Starring Aidan Turner, Rafe Spall, Tom Hollander, Samuel Barnett.
There is already a fan site for this series which has brought together a lot of info, interviews and pictures.

Garrow’s Law - on BBC1, a four-part 18th-century legal drama inspired by the life of pioneering barrister William Garrow, starring Andrew Buchan, who was in Cranford, and Alun Armstrong.

Small Island - two-part drama on BBC1,  adapted from Andrea Levy’s novel and set in 1940s Jamaica and London. Starring Ruth Wilson, who took the title role in the Andrew Davies version of Jane Eyre, with Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, Ashley Walters and Naomie Harris.  

Land Girls - new BBC1 daytime drama about the Second World War, with an impressive cast including Nathaniel Parker and Christine Bottomley – this is apparently being shown in September:

Enid Blyton, Gracie Fields and Margot Fonteyn - three one-off dramas for BBC4 which all look to have really impressive casts, especially the first of these, which stars Helena Bonham-Carter as Blyton, with Matthew Macfadyen and Denis Lawson. The Gracie Fields film stars Jane Horrocks of Little Voice fame, and the Margot film stars Anne-Marie Duff, who played Queen Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen – other casting hasn’t been announced for these two yet.
As well as the general press release, here’s a link to another release with more detail about the Enid Blyton drama.

Wuthering Heights -  on ITV, this adaptation has already been shown in the US but not over here – it is supposed to be coming up here this autumn or maybe at Christmas, and is adapted by Peter Bowker, starring Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley. There are rumours this could be the “last ITV costume drama” – I certainly hope not, and I find it very hard to believe that will be the case in the medium to longer term!

Thomas Hardy has been one of my favourite writers and I loved almost all his novels since my degree. One among them was Far from the Madding Crowd.

Today, I saw the movie based on his novel.

Bathsheba Everdene (Paloma Baeza) is a beautiful young woman without a fortune. She meets Gabriel Oak (Nathaniel Parker), a young farmer, and saves his life one evening. He asks her to marry him, but she refuses because she does not love him. Upon inheriting her uncle’s prosperous farm she moves away to the town of Weatherbury.

A disaster befalls Gabriel’s farm and he loses his sheep; he is forced to give up farming. He goes looking for work, and in his travels finds himself in Weatherbury. After rescuing a local farm from fire he asks the mistress if she needs a shepherd. It is Bathsheba, and she hires him. As Bathsheba learns to manage her farm she becomes acquainted with her neighbour Mr Boldwood (Nigel Terry). On a whim, she sends him a valentine with the words “Marry me.” Boldwood becomes obsessed with her and becomes her second suitor. Rich and handsome, he has been sought after by many women. Bathsheba refuses him because she does not love him, but she then agrees to reconsider her decision.

That very night, Bathsheba meets a handsome soldier Sergeant Troy (Jonathan Firth). Unknown to Bathsheba, he has recently impregnated a local girl Fanny Robin (Natasha Little) and almost married her. Troy falls in love with Bathsheba, enraging Mr Boldwood. Bathsheba travels to Bath to warn Troy of Mr Boldwood’s anger and while she is there, Troy convinces her to marry him. Gabriel has remained her friend throughout and does not approve of the marriage. A few weeks after his marriage to Bathsheba, Troy sees Fanny, poor and sick; she later dies giving birth to her child. Bathsheba discovers that Troy is the father. Grief-stricken at Fanny’s death and riddled with shame, Troy runs away and is thought to have drowned.

With Troy supposedly dead, Mr Boldwood becomes more and more emphatic about Bathsheba marrying him. Troy sees Bathsheba at a fair and decides to return to her. Boldwood holds a Christmas to which he invites Bathsheba and again proposes marriage. Just after she has agreed, Troy arrives to claim her. Bathsheba screams, and Mr Boldwood shoots Troy dead. He is sentenced to life in prison. A few months later, Bathsheba marries Gabriel, now a prosperous bailiff.

“SilverFin: Young Bond, Book One” by Charles Higson (read by Nathaniel Parker) ISBN 078683661X

Many of us growing up with “Bond, James Bond” as a favorite quotation in our dialogues wondered how it must have been to be him as a child.  Was he ever a child?  Somehow he just manifested into the adult portrayed so well by Sean Connery.  It must have taken a certain amount of boldness to attempt to write the story of James’ youth and I dare say though I have not read many of the books (though I did see a few movies, the hated phrase of many a librarian!) I think Charles Higson has done well with his premise and created a series that is apt to grab the attention of a segment of the youth readers.

I listened to it on CD and I think that Nathaniel Parker did an excellent job with all the voices ranging from American, to Cockney, to Scots and all the places in between.  Though some passages were a bit long or a bit effusive about the splendor of eels the pace contniued smoothly and I enjoyed it. 

Though the professional reviews aren’t as effusive about the splendor of this book – it has ranked a 4 star with Amazon Readers … so I am not certain what to say — yes, it was a little wordy but when starting a new series with a character that has to end up one way (ie Sean Connery) you have to tread very carefully.  I started this series at book 3 — “Double or Die” and think that any hesitation in “SilverFin” is gone by then.  On the whole — this might not be a great “reluctant reader” series ( I do agree Anthony Horowitz is a great choice with lots of action) this is a great suggestion for the more thoughtful reader who has great dreams which include lovely ladies and martinis, shaken not stirred.

From Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Young-Bond-Silverfin-James-Adventure/dp/B000FDFW8M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239207682&sr=1-2

Editorial Reviews

I first became interested in Hardy when I had to study Far from the Madding Crowd for O-level back in the 1970s. It’s a book  I’ve reread many times over the years since then (and studied for other exams), and I still love it . His world view here is sunnier than in late masterpieces like Tess of the d’Urbervilles or Jude the Obscure, but starting to darken, and the title, quoted from Gray’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard, is definitely ironic. The madding crowd is never very far away from woman farmer Bathsheba Everdene and the three men who court her.

Although the 1967  John Schlesinger movie starring Julie Christie, Terence Stamp and Alan Bates is the most famous adaptation of this novel (I have now reviewed that version too), I think the 1998 ITV mini-series is also a  fine production, and it sticks much more closely to the book. It was directed by Nicholas Renton, who also made the excellent BBC mini-series of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters a year later, and, like that production, has a rich, multi-layered feeling to it, with achingly beautiful landscapes and at times an underlying flavour of melancholy.  It’s interesting to see how similar the sleeve of the  British DVD of this production is to the sleeve of the Schlesinger version!

For me, Paloma Baeza is perfect as Bathsheba, looking exactly as I’d imagined the character, and giving her just the right blend of confidence and determination with an underlying vulnerability. She makes Bathsheba grow from the lighthearted girl at the start to, by the end, a woman who has suffered and knows life – and who knows what she wants.

Baeza’s portrayal of Hardy’s heroine dominates this production, but the other leads are all well-cast too. Jonathan Firth, younger brother of Colin, plays Sergeant Troy with a dashing, toothy caddishness. I was quite surprised to see that he gives the character a West Country accent – I don’t remember if Terence Stamp has a Dorset accent in the 1967 version, but I don’t think so. However, to me the accent seems right, bringing out the fact that, although Troy might be the son of a nobleman, he is also the son of a servant, and illegitimate. “I’m a bastard”, he tells Bathsheba in a bedroom scene, showing her the gold watch which is all he ever had from his father - one of the moments where his character is made more understandable, without his behaviour being any less appalling. I think it’s one of the strengths of this novel that Troy  has far more depth as a character than a later villain like Alec in Tess, and Firth brings out the varying shades of his nature.

After seeing Nathaniel Parker play Rawdon Crawley in the BBC production of Vanity Fair – made the same year as this Hardy adaptation – and the aristocratic  hero of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries, at first I was slightly surprised to see him as Gabriel Oak. But his West Country accent seems fine to me (adding that I’m from the East of England so not the best person to judge!) and, like Baeza as Bathsheba, he makes the character grow and deepen through the film.  

One thing I’ve always liked about the book is that, interwoven with Troy’s flashy courtship of Bathsheba on the surface, Hardy has also included scenes which show Oak’s deeper love for her unfolding in a less showy style. The famous courtship set-piece scenes are the one where Troy helps Bathsheba to move a swarm of bees and the one where he shows her the sword trick,  both beautifully done in this production. Set against them are the darker scenes where Oak struggles to save Bathsheba’s ricks and she tries to help him as a rainstorm approaches – and the one where he saves her sheep after the fight between them. Troy’s scenes might glitter more, but Oak’s  scenes are the real moments of farming drama. Gabriel, the good angel,  repeatedly “saves” Bathsheba, but her own love of farming and dedication to the life, something she shares with him but not with Troy, also come across.

Parker and Baeza play these scenes out perfectly and Parker gives a feeling of simmering passion he constantly has to restrain, which is especially poignant in the scenes where Oak has to sympathise with Farmer Boldwood about his loss of Bathsheba – without giving any sign that he loves her too. Nigel Terry looks rather older than I’d imagined as Boldwood, who I think is around 40 in the book, but I imagine this casting choice was probably made to make him clearly older and more staid than Parker as Oak. At times I feel as if his character is slightly elbowed out, with a greater focus on Oak and Troy, but then, perhaps that also happens in the book a bit .

Natasha Little, who played Becky Sharp in the BBC Vanity Fair,  looks almost unrecognisable as the frail but determined Fanny Robin. Fanny’s story is slightly expanded in this version from her character in the novel, with a bedroom scene between her and Troy and a couple of scenes showing her hard life after they separate, as she works on a farm in the winter trying to conceal her pregnancy. These scenes seem to be borrowed from Tess, but I think they work well here in underlining that, despite all the beautiful scenery, Hardy’s countryside is always a tough place to survive. 

The running time of this mini-series,  with four 54-minute episodes (all  run together as a single movie on the promotional DVD I have) means that far more of the events of the novel can be included than in the Schlesinger movie. Obviously not everything is there, but I didn’t notice any major incidents which were missing. I was also impressed by how much of Hardy’s dialogue has been kept in the screenplay by Philomena McDonagh, with whole conversations very much as I remember them from the novel.  

Most of the material which has been added to the novel seems to have the effect of making the story a little earthier – for instance, Troy’s sex scenes with both women, which are not graphic but do bring out his seductive abilities, and some sexy moments with minor characters from the village. The villagers’ chats in the pub might also be a little earthier at times than in the novel.  

Watching this series again, I was struck by just how good it is – and wondered if it might be better-known if it had been shown on the BBC rather than ITV.

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De mycket intressanta och läsvärda bloggarna Kattlådan samt Kvinna, tjej, tant/Utsikt från andra våningen, har  hedrat mig med en utmärkelse.

Tackar ödmjukast!

Några frågeställningar följer med utmärkelsen. De är som följer;

Fem saker jag inte kan vara utan:

1, Barnen

2, Musik

3, Litteratur

4, Vännerna

5, Datorn

Sju sanningar om mig själv:

1, Jag skjuter alltid upp allting så länge som möjligt. Jobbar bäst emot en deadline!

2, Jag gillar att sparka uppåt.

3, Jag är väldigt kategorisk, men mixar det med diplomati, varför jag funkar i de flesta sociala sammanhang.

4, Jag  tycker att böckerna skrivna av Elizabeth George är de bästa jag någonsin läst.

5, Jag tycker att René Pape, Nathaniel Parker, Jan Eliasson och Harald Treutiger är skitsnygga och jättesexiga!

6, Fick jag välja mellan en stor gräddglass med mycket choklad på och en fläskkotlett, så valde jag det sistnämnda.
Redan som mycket liten stod min håg till späck, fett och fläsk.

7, Jag älskar grisar!

Denna utmärkelse vill jag gärna skicka vidare och i stället för att välja ut några, så uppmanar jag alla som känner sig manade att ta emot den.

Alla mina bloggvänner – ni hittar dem under Blogroll i högerspalten – är värda guld! Dessutom alla som kommenterar men som inte har egna bloggar, ni förgyller min tillvaro!

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Lush production design and sparkling special effects make The Haunted Mansion pretty to look at. Terence Stamp (The Limey), as a malevolent ghost of a butler, provides a suitable air of menace as dematerializes to and fro. Marsha Thomason (Black Knight) is lovely as a real estate agent hired to sell a haunted mansion, but in truth the ghostly owner of the mansion believes she is the reincarnation of his lost love. Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre) and Dina Waters (Six Feet Under) make a modestly amusing comic pair as a ghostly husband and wife who bustle about. Jennifer Tilly (Bound), as a green disembodied head in a crystal ball, glitters appropriately. The movie also features endless clich�s, futile attempts at humor, and Eddie Murphy. If you’re looking for a movie based on a Disneyland ride, try the very clever Pirates of the Caribbean instead. –Bret Fetzer

Haunted Mansion is available at Amazon for $23.74. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• National Treasure 2 – Book of Secrets (Widescreen)
• Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition)
• Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest (Widescreen Edition)
• Cars (Widescreen Edition)
• Chicken Little

From the studio that brought you PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN comes the fright-filled comedy adventure with eye-popping special effects, presented for the first time through the magic of Blu-ray Disc technology! Eddie Murphy stars as a real estate agent whose family comes face-to-face with 999 grim, grinning ghosts in the creepy old Gracey Manor! Experience each supernatural effect in 1080p High Definition, and hear each ghostly wail in astonishing 5.1 48 kHz, 24-bit uncompressed audio. The unparalleled realism of Blu-ray Disc technology delivers you directly into THE HAUNTED MANSION . . . if you dare to venture inside.

Lush production design and sparkling special effects make The Haunted Mansion pretty to look at. Terence Stamp (The Limey), as a malevolent ghost of a butler, provides a suitable air of menace as dematerializes to and fro. Marsha Thomason (Black Knight) is lovely as a real estate agent hired to sell a haunted mansion, but in truth the ghostly owner of the mansion believes she is the reincarnation of his lost love. Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre) and Dina Waters (Six Feet Under) make a modestly amusing comic pair as a ghostly husband and wife who bustle about. Jennifer Tilly (Bound), as a green disembodied head in a crystal ball, glitters appropriately. The movie also features endless clich�s, futile attempts at humor, and Eddie Murphy. If you’re looking for a movie based on a Disneyland ride, try the very clever Pirates of the Caribbean instead. –Bret Fetzer

The Haunted Mansion [Blu-ray] is available at Amazon for $16.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets [Blu-ray]
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [Blu-ray]
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest [Blu-ray]
• Cars [Blu-ray]
• Chicken Little [Blu-ray]

From the studio that brought you PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN … here’s the fright-filled comedy adventure loaded with hair-raising laughs and eye-popping special effects! Eddie Murphy (DADDY DAY CARE) stars as a real estate agent whose family comes face-to-face with 999 grim, grinning ghosts in the creepy old Gracey Manor! Now with the help of supernatural psychic Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly, LIAR, LIAR) they must hilariously battle to break the mansion of its age-old curse … and do it before the clock strikes 13!

Lush production design and sparkling special effects make The Haunted Mansion pretty to look at. Terence Stamp (The Limey), as a malevolent ghost of a butler, provides a suitable air of menace as dematerializes to and fro. Marsha Thomason (Black Knight) is lovely as a real estate agent hired to sell a haunted mansion, but in truth the ghostly owner of the mansion believes she is the reincarnation of his lost love. Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre) and Dina Waters (Six Feet Under) make a modestly amusing comic pair as a ghostly husband and wife who bustle about. Jennifer Tilly (Bound), as a green disembodied head in a crystal ball, glitters appropriately. The movie also features endless clich�s, futile attempts at humor, and Eddie Murphy. If you’re looking for a movie based on a Disneyland ride, try the very clever Pirates of the Caribbean instead. –Bret Fetzer

The Haunted Mansion (Full Screen Edition) is available at Amazon for $13.49. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition)
• National Treasure 2 – Book of Secrets (Widescreen)
• Cars (Widescreen Edition)
• Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest (Widescreen Edition)
• Monster House (Fullscreen)

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Jag är mätt.

Proppmätt!

Det känns som om jag har tusen tegelstenar i magen, och ändå åt jag faktiskt minst av alla denna julafton. Ett par skivor skinka, två prinskorvar, en köttbulle, två ägghalvor… Sen kaffe och lite senare blev det “Ris à la Malta” på LCHF-vis.

Jag tror jag spricker snart! Och jag vill inte se åt julmat mer i hela mitt liv! Någonsin!

Kanske bäst att låta maten stå framme så nån snäll liten tomteskara kan förbarma sig över resterna…

.

…dansar Mossenissarna på bordet!

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Maggie Grace (The Jane Austen Book Club) has replaced Mischa Barton (FOX’s The O.C.) in the lead of Malice In Wonderland, a British re-telling of Lewis Carroll’s famous book. Since both girls are very pretty, this probably means that the American Maggie is more convincing in an English accent than the British Mischa… Anyway, the movie will probably be the better for it, since even though Maggie Grace hasn’t really proven herself as an actress yet, she’s miles ahead of the incredibly wooden Mischa Barton, who couldn’t emote if her life depended on it.

Described as an action movie, Malice In Wonderland co-stars  Nathaniel Parker (St. Trinian’s, amovie ironically starring Mischa Barton). It is directed by Simon Fellows and written by Jayson Rothwell (who already worked together on Second In Command). The film is now currently shooting.

In the meantime, you can catch (sooner or later, depending of where you live) Maggie Grace is the amazingly badass actioner Taken, co-starring Liam Neeson (Seraphim Falls) kicking ass and Famke Janssen (the X-Men films) moping around. I caught the flick at the beginning of the year, and if you hadn’t guessed, I strongly recommend it. Taken is directed by Pierre Morel (District B13) and written by the Luc Besson/Robert Mark Kamen team (the Transporter films).

Meanwhile Mischa Barton, whose career is fading faster than you can say “hey!”, is resorting to staged paparazzi outings to keep her name in the papers (true story) and is seeing all her post-O.C. efforts go straight-to-DVD in the States. In fact, her latest turd, Virgin Territory, was released last week. The film co-stars Hayden Christensen (Jumper) and Tim Roth (The Incredible Hulk) and was written and directed by David Leland (The Land Girls). Also, don’t buy it (more about that here).

Other Alice In Wonderland movies to be released in the next few years include the adaptation of American McGee’s Alice video game (which has been gestating forever it seems) and a new Disney film by Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street). Both of these movies will give a darker spin to the tale.

Source

The sequel you haven’t been waiting for will start filming next month in South Korea and Los Angeles under the direction of Mitchell Klebanoff, who co-wrote the first film and will make his helming debut here. Klebanoff also wrote this film, which is titled Tokyo Jones: The Legend of the Dancing Ninja. Moviehole has the plot:

Caucasian but raised by an Asian family after a mix-up at sea when he was a baby, Ikki grows up knowing that he’s different from those around him, but also quite confident he is a ninja and not just any ninja, but the legendary Dancing Ninja. Ikki gets to prove himself when his beloved Sensei is murdered and Ikki goes to Hollywood to track down his killer, the evil action movie superstar Ansel LaDouche.

Ansel LaDouche, how subtle. No word on who will star in this sequel, but a casting notice went up early August with further details on some of the characters (link here).

The original 1997 film, which had a similar storyline, was directed by Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess With The Zohan) and starred the late SNL performer Chris Farley, as well as Nicollette Sheridan (ABC’s Desperate Housewives), Chris Rock (Madagascar) and Nathaniel Parker (Stardust). Beverly Hills Ninja, which I haven’t seen, isn’t regarded as a very good film, but it does have good visibility among moviegoers thanks to its goofily memorable movie poster. I could see a sequel working as a straight-to-dvd affair, not too sure about theatrical though.

Source

I am plagued with anticipation and aggravation for the few movies that I want to see the most. I have favorites monthly that I would like to see or will definitely see but these few “special” movies have a place of their own in my heart and mind. The movies I am referring to are:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1/Part 2, and The Hobbit. ( NOTE: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Stardust and The Golden Compass are also “special” to me they just are not on the same level)

I have been patiently awaiting these movies even before they were EVER set to be made. As soon as I saw the first LOTR movie I said “They better make the Hobbit”. As soon as I saw the first Harry Potter movie I was hooked and have been following it ever since.

I have so much hope and excitement stored for these movies. I cannot believe I still have until November for HP Yr 6, Until the end of 2010 for The Hobbit and HP yr 7 part 1, and then the beginning of 2011 for HP Yr 7 part 2….. OMG so much can happen in that amount of time. I HATE being left to sit and wonder and wait. I really hope some trailers come out soon. I would even be fine with a teaser trailer right about now. I am so worked up about seeing these movies that I even went to youtube and watched the Fan made trailers…UGH!

I do not know about any of the rest of you but sometimes movies take over my heart and soul and I find no peace until I get closure (by getting to watch the movie). It ends up starting all over again though after I watch the movie in the theater until I get to buy it on DVD. Speaking of DVDs, they better release my “special” ones on Blu-ray!

Anna Maxwell Martin’s performance as the resourceful heroine Esther Summerson anchors Bleak House from beginning to end. Martin’s consistently excellent work here won her many critical plaudits when the miniseries originally aired, and deservedly so. Her natural and unobtrusive style balances out some of the scenery-chewing supporting turns, such as Nathaniel Parker’s shiftless freeloader Harold Skimpole.

Esther Summerson: My So-Called Dickensian Life.

Esther has many scenes (a few in the growlery) with her guardian Mr. John Jarndyce, owner of Bleak House. As played by Denis Lawson, Mr. Jarndyce seems to be vying for the title of Nicest Guy in the World.

Mr. Jarndyce: Benignant expressions are his speciality.

There are many more wonderful characters and memorable performances in Bleak House. When, after eight hours, you finally bid adieu to your newfound TV friends, you’ll probably wish to revisit all of them sometime soon, preferably on a cold, wintry night.