The Newest Addictions (cont'd.)

BBC Murder Mystery

• Sherlock: Season 1 --  I love Sherlock Holmes, and I love almost every one of its adaptations.  This newest one is no exception.  In fact, it may be my favorite so far.  Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as a perfectly matched Holmes and Watson, this modern retelling of Conan Doyle's detective is witty, fun, and exciting.  With both actors currently involved with the filming of The Hobbit, the second season had to be postponed.  But I know it will be worth the wait if it is even half as good as the first.  (A)
• Case Histories: Season 1 -- This murder mystery series just aired on PBS this past month, and despite many negative reviews, I liked it.  The mysteries and characters are interesting, the dialogue is good, and the settings and scenarios are realistic.  Some call it depressing, but I think they may have only watched the first episode.  I personally think that the episodes get less dark and morbid as each time, as if it symbolizes the progression of the main character's life and perspective.  Except for a few awkward scenes that could've been edited out, it was a good series.  (A-)

BBC Period Drama

• Small Island --  This miniseries that takes place in England in the 1940s deals with the racial drama that occurred when the Jamaican soldiers tried to make better lives for themselves in "Mother England."  The story centers around Queenie, a white woman in London whose husband goes to war but doesn't return home immediately after.  In order to survive, she takes on boarders, including black Jamaican soldiers.  These characters' lives are forever entwined, and the racial hatred in 1940s England makes things extremely difficult for all of them.  The characters are genuine and interesting, and the story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.  Definitely worth a watch.  (B+)
• Jane Eyre (2006) --  Once, I thought the only good version of Jane Eyre was the 1997 TV movie with Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton.  And then I saw this miniseries, and every other version pales in comparison.  Thanks to the benefit of having more time in a miniseries, many of the details often left out in other adaptations are able to have a place here.  Plus, the eeriness and darkness is definitely felt in this version.  And the chemistry between Jane and Rochester is amazing.  I still love the 1997 movie, but this 2006 version is now my favorite.  (A+)
• North & South --  My love for this miniseries is slightly biased, due to Richard Armitage playing one of the main characters.  But even if he hadn't starred in the series, I still would love it.  It's another Pride & Prejudice, only it takes place in more modern times (at least modern compared to Austen's time) and also focuses on the lives of the mill workers and their plight as they strike.  The characters, the dialogue, the settings, the costumes- this miniseries embodies everything that I love in a period drama.  And I love all romances that build over time and adversity, rather than the "love at first sight" kind.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I may just have to go home and watch it right now.  (A+)
• Wives & Daughters --  I watched this miniseries at the beginning of the summer, and I think the one overall impression I had for it was "Wow.  There are a lot of whiny people in this series."  The father whines about the son, and vice versa.  The stepdaughter whines about her love life.  The stepmother whines about her ungrateful daughter.  Luckily the main character is not a whiner; she actually seems to be the only levelheaded one amongst her family and friends.  Unfortunately, she also happens to be the quietest one.  (B-)
• The Way We Live Now --  Definitely not my favorite miniseries.  First, Matthew MacFadyen as the bad guy?  Shirley Henderson's shrill voice?  Cillian Murphy and Miranda Otto as a couple?  Miranda Otto with a cowgirl accent?  What were they thinking?  This miniseries ended with maybe one happy couple and lots of miserable people.  I think this show's only saving grace was David Suchet's amazing performance as the villainous Melmotte.  (B-)
• Northanger Abbey --  The 2007 TV movie adaptation is such a sweet and funny movie that you don't have to know Jane Austen's book to enjoy it.  The dialogue is fresh and witty, and the two main characters seem to have real chemistry.  This is the one Austen book I haven't read yet, and now I'm going to have to read it to see if it's as fun as its adaptation.  (A)
• Downton Abbey: Season 1 --  A superb series, worthy of every Emmy it earned.  The show starts with the main family, the Crawleys, receiving news of the sinking of the Titanic.  Two of their relatives (the heirs of their estate) perished on board, and it changes their lives forever.  Meanwhile, the family's staff of maids, footmen, cooks, butler, and housekeeper have their own dramas and lives that are intertwined with each other and their employers.  The actors are fantastic, and the story dramatic.  Each character has a story to be told, each as interesting as the next.  I cannot wait to see what is in store for them in the next series as they enter World War I.  (A)
• Little Dorrit --  I know my sister did not appreciate this miniseries as much as I did, but I can understand why.  The story takes forever to get anywhere.  You have to have a great deal of patience to stick with anything written by Dickens, and this adaptation is as close to the book as you can get.  Fortunately, the plot does eventually start to gain momentum, and the many storylines reach satisfying resolutions.  The acting is also superb with such a great cast: Matthew MacFadyen, Andy Serkis, Claire Foy, and James Fleet.  (A)
• Under the Greenwood Tree --  What could have been a great romance turned out to be an awful movie simply because they rushed it.  This movie felt so fast from beginning to end that all the characters and relationships were undeveloped and two-dimensional.  If they'd spent more time on character development before throwing everyone into a ridiculous love triangle, and then wrapping the whole thing up in 90 minutes, this could have been a great love story.  (C+)
• Cranford --  This miniseries focuses on the small town of Cranford and the women living there, and how the approaching railroad affects their community.  The small romances that happen here and there are sweet, and the messes and mix-ups the characters find themselves in are fun and humorous.  The only downside is how many of the great characters they kill off.  Maybe if they'd let a few more of them live, I would have given the miniseries an A+.  (A-)
• Return to Cranford --  While the first half of this Cranford story was sweet with a few sad parts, this second half is sad with a few sweet moments thrown in here and there to keep it from being depressing.  Within the first few minutes of the show, they kill off one of the best characters and her unborn child.  And it just gets worse from there.  So many more people die, or have their lives screwed up.  Sure, there are a couple of romances, and a small family is reunited in the end, but that's about as good as it gets.  (B-)
• Lark Rise to Candleford: Season 1--  And now for the most recent of my addictions.  This series is about two neighboring towns in England, one a tiny hamlet of farmers, the other a small but wealthy town, and how these two communities interact.  The story is told by a girl who grew up in Lark Rise and has now moved to Candleford to work at the post office with her mother's cousin.  You see the lives of all these people through her keen eyes.  The series is very much like Downton Abbey, with the two classes being both separate and intertwined, and with each character having their own story and well-developed personality.  That's what makes both of these series so amazing, the character development.  I've also noticed something else that Lark Rise, Downton Abbey, and North & South all share-- Brendan Coyle.  He's a fantastic actor who plays similar roles in all three of the series, but he plays them extremely well, and is one of my favorite characters in all of them.  I love this first season so much, I've bought the boxed set of the complete series, and I'm dying for a free Saturday when I can curl up in bed with a cup of tea and watch the whole thing, beginning to end.  (A+)

Title:  Persuasion
Format:  DVD
Category: Jane Austen adaptation
Rating:  A

Description (from pbs.org):  Unhappily unmarried at age 27, and dealing with family financial peril, hope is fading from Anne Elliot's life. Circumstances bring Captain Frederick Wentworth, a dashing naval officer she once deeply loved, back into her life eight years after Anne was persuaded by her family to reject his marriage proposal. Having returned from sea with a new fortune, Wentworth is surrounded by swooning women while Anne broods at the periphery, longing to be in Wentworth's favor. Now Anne comes face-to-face with the deep regret of her old decision, and her abiding love for Wentworth, as she wonders if a long ago love can be rekindled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Persuasion is probably my favorite Austen novel, so I am incredibly critical when watching adaptations.  But both this version and the 1995 movie are amazing!  This movie has excellent character development, a great cast, and an amazing attention to detail.  And they stay completely true to the book, which is extremely important to me.

I think my one issue, practically a non-issue, is that I keep seeing Captain Wentworth as a dark, swarthy man like Ciaran Hinds, instead of the fair Rupert Penry-Jones.  I still love Penry-Jones and his performance; he's a wonderful Captain Wentworth.  Alice Krige was amazing as Lady Russell, but it's very hard for me to separate her from her role as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact.  I just can't get that image of her out of my head, which is really unfair to her because she's such a great actress.

If you like Austen and/or period films and/or a good romance, you'll love this.  A

Title:  Mansfield Park
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Masterpiece Theater/Jane Austen adaptation
Rating:  A

Description (from imdb.com):  At age 10, Fanny Price is sent by her destitute mother to live with her aunt and uncle, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram. As a child she was often made to feel that she was the poor relation, but by the time she reaches 18, and in the absence of her uncle who leaves on a business trip for an extended period, she begins to enjoy herself. When Henry Crawford and his sister Mary become neighbors to the Bertrams, opportunities abound. Edmond Bertram falls in love with Mary but she wants to marry a man with money, not someone destined to life as a clergyman. Meanwhile, Fanny's love for her cousin Edmond prevents her from accepting Mr. Crawford's proposal of marriage.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It seems that no one really likes Austen's heroine Fanny Price.  And I only say this because in every Mansfield Park adaptation I've seen, Fanny is nothing like the way she was written.  She is described in the book as very quiet and timid, a doormat for her aunts and cousins, and very moral.  Some of her critics would call her a prude.  But in every movie/miniseries based on the book, Fanny is only a little quiet, intermittently outspoken towards her aunts and cousins, and sometimes completely forgets her the morals.  In the 1999 movie, she was even a feminist.  In this 2007 adaptation, Fanny is more timid than her previous feminist portrayal, but she's still more outspoken than Austen ever intended her to be.

I'm also always surprised with how Mr. Bertram is portrayed in these adaptations as well.  He's supposed to be stern in the beginning and then soften later, but these adaptations seem to love making him into a very mean, overbearing brute.  He's not quite so mean in this adaptation as he is in the movie, but I feel like he's wrongfully portrayed.  At least they got Mrs. Norris right.  And they gave Mrs. Bertram more depth and intelligence than anyone's ever afforded her before.

One of my favorite aspects of this Mansfield Park is how closely it follows the book.  They don't take too much creative license with it; they just stay true to the story.  And I loved their interpretation of Austen's most frustrating and unsatisfying romantic conclusion-- "I only entreat everybody to believe that exactly at the time when it was quite natural that it should be so, and not a week earlier, Edmund did cease to care about Miss Crawford, and became as anxious to marry Fanny as Fanny herself could desire."  Their interpretation was believable, romantic, and much more satisfying than Austen's own ending.  A

Title:  Emma
Format:  pbs.org
Category:  Miniseries/Book adaptation
Rating:  A+

Another amazing miniseries!

Description (from pbs.org):  A fiercely funny new adaptation of Jane Austen's delightful love story starring Romola Garai as a young woman whose attempts to play cupid go disastrously awry. Jonny Lee Miller stars as Mr. Knightley, and Michael Gambon as Emma's father.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Look out, Gwyneth Paltrow.  This miniseries puts your movie to shame.  Everything about this adaptation is amazing.  A great cast, amusing dialogue, and a classic romantic plot.  And since it's a miniseries, not a movie, there's more room for character development and background.

The cast is probably the best part of the whole miniseries.  Romola Garai is exceptional in every movie/series she's ever made.  She seems to be the popular choice for period piece films.  Emma, Amazing Grace, As You Like It, Nicholas Nickleby, Daniel Deronda, Vanity Fair-- Garai shines in every one of these films, even when she only has a small role.  Her portrayal of Emma is her best performace yet.  And her costar and love interest, Johnny Lee Miller, is also brilliant as Mr. Knightley.  I loved him as Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park, but as Mr. Knightley, Miller excels.  He provides Austen's hero with a lot of warmth, making him seem less stuffy and more human.

The rest of the characters are amazing too.  What makes them so great is that they aren't irritating at all.  In the 1996 Emma movie, Miss Bates, Frank Churchill, Jane Fairfax, and Harriet Smith are all extremely annoying, but in this miniseries, I liked every single one of them.  I think it's mostly because, in the movie, they only had enough time to scratch the surface of these characters.  So they seemed superficial and over-exaggerated.  Because this was a miniseries, and there was more time for character development, everyone had more depth and emotion and personality.  They weren't just caricatures of themselves.

I love Austen, and her story of finding love when you're not looking for it is timeless.  This is definitely the best adaptation of Emma I have ever seen.  A+

50 Word Review 1

Title: Pride & Prejudice
Category: Historical romance
Medium: Netflix
Rating: A-

This movie received mixed reviews from the critics, but I actually liked it. It doesn't compare to the Colin Firth version, but nothing ever will. It did feel rushed, and way too modernized. But I liked it anyway. Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFayden were perfect as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. A-

Surprisingly wonderful

Title: Austenland
Author: Shannon Hale
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 208
Genre: Chick Lit/Romance
Date Started: October 13, 2009
Date Finished: October 14, 2009

Rating: A+

Description from Barnes & Noble: Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man—perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Predjudice. When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I have to admit, I was a little nervous when I ordered this book. Considering my past experience with chick lit, and taking into account that Jane Austen is one of my all-time favorite authors, this book was a risk. Don't you just love it when risks pay off?

Austenland was such a breath of fresh air. Finally, a chick lit/romance with a main character who didn't whine constantly, several secondary characters with depth, and an awesome ending. And no smut! Perfect for me. Jane is a very likable character whose great aunt (hilarious scene-stealer) gives her a vacation to an estate in England where you go to live and breathe Austen. There she runs into several very interesting guests, as well as some pretty awesome "Regency" men. Most of the book deals with her struggle to balance both the world of pretend with the real world, and try to find love before the tension between the two causes her to break down completely.

The book also did justice to Austen and her world. References to all of her books are made, and Jane Hayes and her fellow guests each get to live a part of them. I loved Hale's descriptions of Jane's inner battle to immerse herself into this "Regency" vacation. It might have been easier for her if they actually removed all modern amenities. Hale's character notes how cell-phones, modern clothes, and American slang aren't allowed, but make-up, electricity, and indoor plumbing are.

If this book is a typical example of Hale's work, I can't wait to read more of her books. Especially since it left me yearning not only for more, but it also made me want to pick up the closest Austen novel and reread it. A+

WWJAT?

Title: Lost In Austen
Format: DVD
Rating: A-

What would Jane Austen think?

Lost in Austen, a 2008 British miniseries, explores the idea that so many of us dream of-- a modern day girl getting thrown into her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. I know it's something I've dreamed of, especially with this book.

Description (from Barnes & Noble): Amanda Price is sick of the modern world. She yearns for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen. But she's about to get a rude awakening as one fateful evening, she is propelled into the scheming 19th century world of Pride and Prejudice while that book's Elizabeth Bennet is hurled into hers. As the book's familiar plot unfolds, Amanda triggers new romantic twists and turns within the Bennet family circle as she clumsily tries to help the sisters nab husbands and even captivates the tantalizing Mr. Darcy herself. But what about Elizabeth ... and what will become of one of the world's greatest love stories?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I saw Barnes & Noble advertising this on their website, I almost bought it right then, without ever seeing it. It would be like watching my own dream come true. But I counted to ten, stopped hyperventilating, and decided to rent or Netflix the movie instead. Imagine how happy I was when I got home, and my sister said, "I was on Netflix and there's this movie called Lost in Austen so I moved it to the top of the queue." Such an awesome sister!

After watching the series, and recovering from such an amazing love story, I had to sit back and think, "WWJAT? What would Jane Austen think about this series?" With Amanda Price's arrival into the novel and Elizabeth Bennet's departure thereof, a chain of events is set in motion that completely rocks the P&P world. Would Austen be amused? Or would she react the way Amanda thinks she would?

Amanda: "Hear that sound, George? Duh-uh-uh-uh! That's Jane Austen spinning in her grave like a cat in a tumble-dryer. " (They call it a tumble-dryer! I love the British!)

I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that if you're a Jane Austen purist, you will not be very happy. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't too fazed by the changes Amanda makes, but my 15-year-old sister, who just read P&P for school, was offended by some of the character changes. Go figure. I think the change that upset her the most was George Wickham's role and character. Wickham is always supposed to be the bad guy right... right?

Another reason (or 3) why this series is amazing....

Mr. Darcy :) ............... Mr. Bingley................ Mr. Wickham



Pretty good reasons, huh? ;)

My only complaint was that this wasn't something I could watch with my whole family. They are all Austen or P&P fans, and I think they would have enjoyed this. But there were some modern elements thrown in by Amanda Price that I wouldn't feel comfortable letting my younger sisters see. Otherwise, I have no other complaints. A-

And my favorite image to take away from this film (I hope it makes you laugh as much as I did).