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+)

The Newest Addictions

Over the summer, I developed new addictions that took over my movie, TV, and book preferences.  The first addiction is everything BBC & Masterpiece.  I am absolutely in love with the British and their dramas.  The second, somewhat related addiction is period dramas.  Anything taking place in the past, especially the Jane Austen era, is an absolute must.  And the final addiction is the murder mystery.  Just consider my TV schedule.  Castle, Unforgettable, Psych, and Grimm are all murder mystery shows.  Of course when the addictions overlapped - such as a BBC murder mystery - that was the absolute best.

BBC (non-period drama/murder mystery)

• Primeval Season 4 -- After hearing that this dino-themed sci-fi series was going to be continued after its original cancellation, I was sadly disappointed when the fourth season finally arrived.  While it wasn't terrible, it didn't live up to the first few seasons.  Part of the problem is that they killed off most of the original cast, and the new characters just don't fill those voids.  The other part of the problem was that the show seemed to become overly sensational, like they were compensating for the lack of character development and chemistry with over-the-top, end-of-the-world scenarios.  Will I still watch season 5 if they ever decide to air it?  Yes.  (B-)
• The Last Enemy -- This miniseries starring Benedict Cumberbatch showed just how scary an Orwellian, "Big Brother is watching" government could be.  Mathematician Stephen Ezard returns home to England from China to find his homeland has changed radically since recent terrorist attacks.  Cameras on every corner, ID cards containing your entire life, and computer chips embedded in your skin that can track your every move.  It's a very thrilling story that really makes you think.  Unfortunately, the British seem to hate happy endings, so don't watch this movie and expect to feel good afterwards.  But I'd still recommend this miniseries (best seen as a companion to 1984 by Orwell and A Brave New World by Huxley) simply as a means of opening people's eyes to a possible future.  (A)

Period Dramas (non-BBC/murder mystery)

• Jane Eyre (2011) -- I have seen many versions of Charlotte Bronte's book since it's one of my favorite romances ever.  This most recent movie version, starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska, is a poorly done remake.  While the filmography might be called artsy, the story itself was sadly undeveloped and contained huge holes.  Plus, the eeriness that's felt throughout the book is missing completely from this movie.  Another complaint I have is that Fassbender's Rochester is too calm and gentle.  Edward Rochester is supposed to brusque, brooding, and somewhat violent.  But I could have forgiven all of that had it not been for the ending.  Bronte wrote one of the best endings ever; it's sweet, romantic, and funny.  But this movie version destroyed it, and for that I cannot forgive them.  (D)
• The Duchess --  So depressing!  Kiera Knightley and Ralph Fiennes star in this period drama about a loveless, arranged marriage.  The Duke marries a young woman of good family in order to have an heir, but he doesn't love her and continues to sleep with every other female.  Including her best friend.  The Duchess falls in love with a young politician, becomes pregnant with his child, and has her child forcibly taken away from her.  She then goes home to live with her husband, his mistress, and all of their children as one big family.  After watching this movie, even though I'm tired of them, I had to watch a silly rom-com just so I could watch something happy.  (C)
• Venetia by Georgette Heyer --  I love Georgette Heyer's regency romances, and this one was great.  Venetia is a young woman who is about to resign herself to spinsterhood, when her rakish neighbor, Lord Damerel, returns home and swoops her off her feet.  At first he only does it out of boredom, but he soon discovers that Venetia doesn't fall for his tricks and games, which intrigues him.  He soon realizes that he's fallen in love with her, but as his bad reputation will ruin hers, he refuses to let anything come of it.  But Venetia doesn't intend to let him go so easily.  This story made me smile so much because the bantering and flirting between Venetia and Lord Damerel reminded me so much of the relationship between Castle & Beckett.  This is a fun romance with surprising ending.  (A) 
• Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer --  This book has now caused my three-way tie for best Heyer book to become a four-way tie.  Funny, exciting, romantic- an all-together amazing read.  Sylvester is an aloof duke looking to get married.  His godmother suggests her friend's daughter Phoebe, so he decides to meet her.  Phoebe is an interesting young woman who wants more than anything to publish a novel, which she ends up doing successfully.  Unfortunately, the villain in her story is based off Sylvester himself, and as the two end up growing closer after a series of adventures, her book ends up causing the relationship a great many more hurdles and adventures to overcome.  I loved this book so much, I could not put it down or stop laughing as I read it.  (A+)

Murder Mysteries (non-BBC/period drama)

• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie -- I read this book because my sister was taking a detective literature class, and both she and my mom liked the book.  It was so amazing!  Absolutely intense, gripping, and mind-bending.  I had no idea who the murderer was; every theory I had was completely wrong.  Definitely one of the best murder mysteries out there.  (A+)
• Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series --  I started reading these mystery novels after finishing Christie's And Then There Were None.  I loved the television version of these novels, starring David Suchet, so I figured the books would probably be even better.  They were.  The best of all them was Murder on the Orient Express.  Christie is gifted when it comes to keeping her readers on their toes.  In every one her books, I was completely amazed by the ending.  (A to A+)
• Heat Wave by Richard Castle -- This first book from the fictional TV author isn't bad, but it's definitely not one of the best mystery novels I've read.  Honestly, I didn't expect it to be amazing, since it is from a TV show..  It was like reading the script for an episode of Castle, except the mystery wasn't that quirky or exciting, and Castle & Beckett's counterparts end up together.  I'll probably stick to the TV show rather than read the rest of the Heat series.  (B)
• Castle: Season 3 -- What can I say about this show that I haven't said already?  It's still just as amazing as ever, but I'm starting to agree with my sister about the Beckett's mom story arc.  Could they just solve it and move on already?  The more twisted it gets, the more I lose interest.  The rest of the season was great however, especially the steampunk episode.  And nothing could have prepared me for that season finale.  Now that the 3rd season's out on DVD, I can't wait to get it and rewatch all the Castle/Beckett awesomeness.  (A+)

Title:  The Snow Queen
Format:  Netflix
Genre:  Fantasy/Miniseries
Rating:  B-

Synopsis (from All Movie Guide):  This lavish adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen stars Bridget Fonda as the icy-hearted title character. Arriving incognito at the alpine inn run by a man named Wolfgang, the embittered Snow Queen makes it her mission in life to ruin all chances of romance for Wolfgang's beautiful daughter, Gerda. To this end, the Queen exercises her magic over Gerda's bellhop boyfriend Kai, literally freezing the boy in his tracks. In order to save her beloved, Gerda must undertake a grueling odyssey through the Four Seasons (each of them briefly appearing in human form), culminating in a final, frigid showdown with the spiteful Snow Queen.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A lavish adaptation with mediocre actors and a stilted script.  Yes, the settings were beautiful, and the special effects were of higher quality than I'd expected.  But the actors were either stiff and emotionless, almost speaking in monotone, or over-the-top and practically screaming to get their emotions across.  There was also an extreme lack of chemistry between the two main characters.  Their romance seemed so forced.  And then there was this weird thing about the devil and a mirror that just came out of nowhere.

The best parts were the interpretations of the seasons.  Spring is a sweet, motherly woman who lives in a cottage covered in flowers, where she tries to keep Gerda young and childish.  Summer is a sultry Indian princess, living in a palace.  She attempts to find a new lover for Gerda, since summer is the season for romance and passion.  After escaping into fall's territory, Gerda discovers that Autumn is a red-headed gypsy woman who leads a band of cutthroats who party and throw bonfires to try to keep back winter's chill.  And then of course, there's the Snow Queen.  Beautiful but cold, she resides in a manor of ice and looks for a way to be rid of the other seasons.  These portrayals of the seasons were creative and fun, and without them, the miniseries would have been a lot worse.

Not spectacular or high-quality, but worth at least one watch.  B-

Title:  Hercules
Format:  Netflix
Genre:  Fantasy/Miniseries
Rating:  D

Awful special effects and bad acting/writing made this miniseries a chore to watch.  There were such talented actors in this; it could have been better.  But even they couldn't save the terrible script.  And some of the other actors were definitely not skilled; combine their lack of talent with that writing and voila! Instant crap.  Maybe they should've spent less money on getting big-name actors and more on good writers and special effects.  D

Title:  Meteor
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Sci-fi/Drama/Miniseries
Rating:  B-

I really don't think a synopsis is necessary for this one.  If you can't figure out what the miniseries is about from the title or the picture, I can't help you (you're beyond help).  A pretty standard disaster flick.  Think Armageddon or Deep Impact, only longer and kind of average.  There was nothing special about it.  The only part that I felt strongly about was the ending.  I hate movies that end on a "cryptic" note.  Everybody else is happy, but one person is already spreading pessimism and despair.  Blah.  B-

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+

Title:  The Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare Retold
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Shakespeare adaptation
Rating:  A-

Description (from wikipedia):  Katherine Minola is a career politician, who is told her abrasive personality is bad PR and that it might be good for her image to get married. When penniless nobleman Petruchio shows up, interested at first in Katherine's money, sparks fly in more senses than one. The relationship and battle of wills brings surprises for both parties.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I think this installment of the Shakespeare Retold series is my favorite.  It feels the most believable of the adaptations, and the modern elements and unexpected twists add even more excitement to an already amusing story.  The actors and dialogue were amazing.  Rufus Sewell and Shirley Henderson are the perfect choices for Petruchio and Katherine.  Both of them are incredibly talented, and they brought so much to their characters.

My only complaints are about the final scene and the Bianca storyline.  The final scene, where Katherine makes her statements about the role of women, was so forced.  Yes, she had made an amazing transformation in some ways, but she hadn't changed enough to make her "Women should be subservient to men" speech seem believable in any way.  And her sister Bianca's storyline was just annoying and unnecessary.  I've always felt that way about every adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew that I've seen.  If they just cut Bianca out after the beginning scenes, the story would be perfect.  A-

Title:  Going Postal
Format:  My brother had it on his computer
Category:  Miniseries/Fantasy/Book adaptation
Rating:  A

Description (from imdb.com):  Based on Terry Pratchett's 33rd Discworld novel, this TV adaptation involves a skillful con artist Moist Von Lipwig who finds the tables turned, and it's he himself who's conned into becoming the Ankh-Morpork Postmaster General. A position that has not been filled in years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When my brother told me they were making another Terry Pratchett book into a miniseries, I was really excited.  I loved the first two movie adaptations they made-- The Hogfather and The Color of Magic.  So it's really no surprise that I loved this one too.  

The story was fun and exciting and definitely original.  Who else would think to have golems and thieves and pin collectors run a post office?  I think what I love the most about the Pratchett adaptations is that they have adventure, comedy, suspense, drama all rolled into one, without ever feeling forced or drawn out.  And Going Postal's even better, because now it's thrown a really cute romance into the mix.

The miniseries' portrayal of the Discworld and its people is really cool too.  I would definitely visit, if it actually existed.  What makes it so cool is that it's very similar to any American or British town during the Industrial Revolution-- the buildings, the clothing, the technology.  But it has fantastical twists added to it that just make it so interesting and different.  Nowhere else would you find the Unseen University or a place called Ankh-Morpork.

The actors were great too.  I could not believe that the villain was played by David Suchet.  I've only ever seen him as Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective.  And he's nothing like Poirot in this.  If my brother hadn't told me ahead of time, it probably would've taken me a long time to recognize him.  My favorite characters were definitely Von Lipwig and Stanley.  Stanley is just endearing, and Von Lipwig won me over a lot faster than his love interest.

If you like Pratchett's books or his book adaptations, or if you just like a really good miniseries or fantasy, I would absolutely recommend this miniseries, as well as The Hogfather and The Color of Magic.  A

Title:  A Midsummer Night's Dream: Shakespeare Retold
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Shakespeare adaptation
Rating:  B-

Description (from wikipedia):  Theo and Polly visit Dream Park inclusive leisure facility to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Hermia to James Demetrius. The engagement party is, much to the irritable Theo's horror, disrupted by Hermia's true love Xander. Despite their own disagreements, the fairy rulers of the woods around Dream Park, Titania and Oberon, have a duty to ensure a happy ending, so Oberon gets Puck to try to sort things out with "love juice" eyedrops, while Oberon and Theo discuss their marriages. Puck's efforts inevitably lead to more confusion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

There are so many ways this retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream could have been improved.  Better actors, fewer slow parts, and less focus on Nick Bottom-- just doing one of these things would have made this movie so much better.

The movie had very good actors, but it doesn't matter how talented you are if there's no chemistry.  Titania and Oberon are supposed to be a couple in love who happen to be in the middle of a fight.  You never get that from actors Lennie James and Sharon Small.  There's no electricity, no chemistry, no spark between them.  And there's no passion in their acting.  They don't seem to ever get into their parts.  In one scene, they're supposed to be fighting, but they might as well have been talking about the weather.  It was like they made no effort at all.  Luckily, the other actors make up for them.  Imelda Staunton, Bill Paterson, and Rupert Evans are all superb in their parts.

There were a few parts of this movie where the action seemed to just come to a standstill.  I found myself fast-forwarding through them.  Most of the scenes with Nick Bottom and his friends just bored me to tears.  If they'd just shortened them, or left a few of them out altogether, this movie would have earned a much higher rating.  B-

Title:  Alice
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Miniseries/Book adaptation
Rating:  A+

I think it's amazing that I haven't been disappointed by a miniseries yet.

Description (from Barnes & Noble):  Director Nick Willing puts a new twist on Lewis Carroll's classic tale in this fantasy mini-series depicting Alice as a 21 year old woman who ventures into Wonderland in search of a lost love. Almost immediately after presenting Alice with an ornate family ring, handsome Jack Chase is abducted by a pair of hulking brutes. Approached by a well-dressed man named White Rabbit who claims to know Jack's whereabouts, Alice follows the stranger into a mirror and finds herself in a surreal new world of fantasy and wonder. When the Queen of Hearts discovers her son bestowed a virtual stranger the ring that gives its owner power over the looking glass, it's up to Alice to determine what she should do with it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once again, RHI Entertainment, Syfy, and director Nick Willing put together an amazing miniseries that challenges our perceptions of a well-known, classic story.  When I saw Tin Man, all I could think was how much I hoped Syfy would make another miniseries, and then I heard about Alice.  Alice is a new spin on the classic Lewis Carroll stories that is exciting, romantic, funny, and just plain awesome.

The characters were phenomenally well-done.  The thought and development that went into creating these memorable characters is evident, especially Alice, Hatter, and the White Knight.  Caterina Scorsone was very different from every other portrayal of Alice I've ever seen.  Rather than a confused blonde, Scorsone's Alice is a kick-butt (brunette) martial arts expert with a lot of courage and intelligence.  The White Knight was definitely the comic relief.  And I was so surprised to learn that the actor playing him was Matt Frewer, or as I always knew him, Big Russ Thompson from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  His background story as well as his ridiculousness make him a very lovable, believable character.  The best character in the whole movie has to go to Hatter, played by the adorable Andrew Lee Potts.  You instantly fall in love with him.  He's sweet, sarcastic, heroic, fun, and wonderfully flawed.  (He wouldn't be so great if he was perfect; perfect people are annoying.)  The supporting characters are fantastic too.  Kathy Bates is perfectly evil as the Queen of Hearts, and Colm Meaney plays her blundering husband very well.

The settings are beautiful and definitely worthy of Wonderland.  I think the Knights' kingdom is done the best.  I would actually want to live there.  The plot is exciting, with lots of twists and no slow moments.  It never feels like you're watching a three hour miniseries.  And the sci-fi elements and twists add so much to an already unique and well-done story.  Another thing I loved about this Syfy production is that, unlike Tin Man, my entire family, including my 8-year-old sister, could watch this.  A+

50 Word Review 12

Title: Extremely Dangerous
Category: Miniseries/Action drama
Medium: Netflix
Rating: C-/D+

I wish they'd given this a rating, because I would have avoided it had I known how much rated-R level violence and smut was going to be in this. The plot was exciting, but sometimes confusing. The secondary characters were stereotyped and stiff, but Sean Bean was, as always, awesome. C-/D+

Miniseries rock!!

Title: Tin Man
Format: DVD/Miniseries
Rating: A-

I am officially hooked on miniseries! Pride & Prejudice, The 10th Kingdom, Lost in Austen, and now Tin Man. I can't wait to see what's next!

Description (from Barnes & Noble): Produced for the Sci-Fi Channel, this twisted variation on L. Frank Baum's classic tale follows a young girl named D.G. and her newfound friends as they embark on a wondrous adventure through the Outer Zone (O.Z.) on a mission to locate a powerful wizard known as the Mystic Man, and break the spell of the wicked sorceress Azkadellia. An ordinary girl suddenly thrust into an extraordinary world, D.G. arrives on the Outer Zone prepared to follow the fabled Old Road and fulfill her destiny. When D.G. discovers that the evil Azkadellia has cast an oppressive spell over the Outer Zone, she enlists the aid of half-brained eccentric Glitch, kindly-but-cowardly beast Raw, and heartbroken former lawman Cain in seeking out the wisdom of the fabled Mystic Man who lives at the end of the Old Road. With the future of the Outer Zone hanging in the balance, this adventurous group ventures down a perilous road that will find them doing battle with nightmarish flying monkey bats and Azkadellia's malevolent henchmen as they attempt to break a spell with the power to destroy them all. Perhaps before their journey is over, D.G. and her new friends will discover a few things that they never even knew about themselves as well.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First, I must say Thank You to my coworker Lori for lending this to me! This miniseries was awesome! Complex characters, a great story, plot twists, and a beautiful setting. It was so good, that as soon as I finished it, I watched it again with my sister (who also loved it).

Some fun quotes:

Glitch: Even with half a brain, I can tell we gotta get out of here.

Azkadellia: Well if it isn't the great and terrible blah blah blah himself.

Cain: You know, sometimes it amazes me that you were once an adviser to the queen.
Glitch: I know, me too!

Glitch: I actually don't like heights.
DG: When I first met you, you were hanging from a ceiling.

Zooey Deschanel is perfect as the wide-eyed heroine, thrust into a strange world that seems oddly familiar to her, trying to save this world while also trying to figure out who she is. I loved her reactions to everything going on around her and her interactions with the other characters. I was a little disappointed with the lack of romance, but the series is so exciting, I didn't feel like it was missing anything important.

Her fellow adventurers are also great. Alan Cumming as the "scarecrow" character Glitch is hilarious. He actually reminds me of Dug, from Disney-Pixar's Up. And Neal McDonough as the Tin Man... amazing! By far, he is my favorite character. His storyline within the movie was just as exciting as DG's, and I could have watched this movie if it was all just about him.

The story's main adversary, Azkedellia, was the perfect combination of evil and cunning. Her facial expressions and the way she talked just exuded maliciousness. I loved the series' portrayal of the flying monkeys as well.

I think the best part of the film was seeing how the SciFi channel interpreted the story of the Wizard of Oz. Modern touches, like contemporary clothing and complex machines, and new interpretations, such as the Tin Man being a human cop (which is why he's called a tin man) and the scarecrow being a human too, only he's actually missing half of his brain-- these new additions mixed in with the old magic of the original story made this a thrilling adventure to take part in.

My complaint is the same as most of my others. Please edit out the one or two scenes that make it impossible for me to share this with the whole family. Otherwise, it's perfect. 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).