Everything Austen II Reviews
Here are my reviews for the books I've read so far/movies I've watched.
1. BBC's Emma
2. Lost in Austen
3. Mansfield Park (1995)
4. Mansfield Park (2007)
5. Mansfield Park (Novel)
1. BBC's Emma: Words cannot describe how much I loved this. I thought it was just perfect. Romola Garai was brilliant as Emma, as was Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightly. I also enjoyed Michael Gambon as Emma's father, even though I hate him in Harry Potter (but that's another story). The writing was wonderful, and it was very well produced. It was easy to follow, very enjoyable and very romantic. I haven't read the book yet, so when I watched this, I wasn't sure who was the love interest, but it became apparent quickly. In the words of AustenProse, Five out of Five Regency Stars (Estimable) for this lovely version of Emma. I could rewatch it every day and never tire of it.
2. Lost in Austen: This I hated. Absolutely hated. Has anyone ever enjoyed this movie? I found the main character very annoying (also, they named her Price, which was not only confused, but felt seriously ignorant) and really wanted Elizabeth to go back to her own world. The changes they made to the plot were ridiculous, like Jane marrying Mr. Collins, Caroline Bingley being a lesbian, and declaring that Georgiana made all the terrible things about Wickham up. This movie is unnecessarily crude (Amanda flashing Jane? What was that?), which made me think that Jane Austen would certainly not approve. It wasn't even fun. There were two things I liked about this: Mrs. Bennet and Wickham. I normally hate Alex Kingston, but I thought she was good in this, and I liked that she hated the main character. I really enjoyed Wickham. He was a lot of fun. All in all, this movie gets One out of Five Regency Stars (Pitiable) and I hope to never have to sit through it again.
3. Mansfield Park (1995): I found this movie pretty boring, actually. I watched it once and don't really recall what was going on. I love Jonny Lee Miller, but even he couldn't save this movie for me. The parts I do remember were very weird, like Mary Crawford undressing Fanny for no apparent reason (couldn't Fanny have taken her own clothes off? I'm sure she did in the book, or if she didn't then it was certainly less awkward). I also recall Maria and Henry having sex AT Mansfield? What in the world is that? I enjoyed the scenes with Fanny and Edmund, but overall I thought the movie was boring, with a side of unnecessary. I hereby give this film Three out of Five Regency Stars (Agreeable), and will most likely rewatch this sometime, if only for the lovely JLM (who apparently never ages).
4. Mansfield Park (2007): I don't recall much about this film either, except that Fanny was quite boring. I can't even remember her having any lines. Did she speak? I love Billie Piper, but I'd rather watch her on Doctor Who. She did a lot of running around, which made little sense. The scene that sticks most in my mind is Edmund chasing Fanny down the stairs, then sitting with her at breakfast and staring at her. I hadn't seen any motivation for his sudden change of heart, so I was very confused. I hardly recall anything else about the movie, except that it was short. I'll have to rewatch this one, which also gets a rating of Three out of Five Regency Stars (Agreeable), though I feel it will be marked higher than it's predecessor (either with the decrease of stars for that one, or the increase of stars for this one) upon rewatch.
5. Mansfield Park (Novel): This I just finished about twenty minutes ago, and I quite enjoyed it, though I found the ending rather unsatisfactory. I read a bit of the beginning aloud to my sister, and she only said "this is so boring!" I was actually surprised that she thought so, because I was finding it very interesting. I thought the novel was very well crafted and I actually liked Fanny. She actually surprised me when, after reading Edmund's long letter to her, she was furious! I thought for sure she would only dwell on the lines saying she was now his only friend and yada yada yada. I thought it was wonderful that she was actually mad. I think my least favorite part of the novel was the section on the theatre. It wasn't very interesting, and it was very long. Also, the end was very unromantic, in my opinion. Fanny has been pining after Edmund for at least eight years, and when he finally realizes Mary will never have him, he thinks "hm, well, I could probably convince Fanny to turn her sisterly affections to matrimonial ones!" and there you have it. The way it is written makes me believe that Edmund turned to Fanny merely out of convenience, though I don't think that's the case. Still, not the best ending. Overall, I thought the book was very interesting, and I give it Four out of Five Regency Stars (Accomplished).
Now, on to Emma (Novel)!
1. BBC's Emma
2. Lost in Austen
3. Mansfield Park (1995)
4. Mansfield Park (2007)
5. Mansfield Park (Novel)
1. BBC's Emma: Words cannot describe how much I loved this. I thought it was just perfect. Romola Garai was brilliant as Emma, as was Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightly. I also enjoyed Michael Gambon as Emma's father, even though I hate him in Harry Potter (but that's another story). The writing was wonderful, and it was very well produced. It was easy to follow, very enjoyable and very romantic. I haven't read the book yet, so when I watched this, I wasn't sure who was the love interest, but it became apparent quickly. In the words of AustenProse, Five out of Five Regency Stars (Estimable) for this lovely version of Emma. I could rewatch it every day and never tire of it.
2. Lost in Austen: This I hated. Absolutely hated. Has anyone ever enjoyed this movie? I found the main character very annoying (also, they named her Price, which was not only confused, but felt seriously ignorant) and really wanted Elizabeth to go back to her own world. The changes they made to the plot were ridiculous, like Jane marrying Mr. Collins, Caroline Bingley being a lesbian, and declaring that Georgiana made all the terrible things about Wickham up. This movie is unnecessarily crude (Amanda flashing Jane? What was that?), which made me think that Jane Austen would certainly not approve. It wasn't even fun. There were two things I liked about this: Mrs. Bennet and Wickham. I normally hate Alex Kingston, but I thought she was good in this, and I liked that she hated the main character. I really enjoyed Wickham. He was a lot of fun. All in all, this movie gets One out of Five Regency Stars (Pitiable) and I hope to never have to sit through it again.
3. Mansfield Park (1995): I found this movie pretty boring, actually. I watched it once and don't really recall what was going on. I love Jonny Lee Miller, but even he couldn't save this movie for me. The parts I do remember were very weird, like Mary Crawford undressing Fanny for no apparent reason (couldn't Fanny have taken her own clothes off? I'm sure she did in the book, or if she didn't then it was certainly less awkward). I also recall Maria and Henry having sex AT Mansfield? What in the world is that? I enjoyed the scenes with Fanny and Edmund, but overall I thought the movie was boring, with a side of unnecessary. I hereby give this film Three out of Five Regency Stars (Agreeable), and will most likely rewatch this sometime, if only for the lovely JLM (who apparently never ages).
4. Mansfield Park (2007): I don't recall much about this film either, except that Fanny was quite boring. I can't even remember her having any lines. Did she speak? I love Billie Piper, but I'd rather watch her on Doctor Who. She did a lot of running around, which made little sense. The scene that sticks most in my mind is Edmund chasing Fanny down the stairs, then sitting with her at breakfast and staring at her. I hadn't seen any motivation for his sudden change of heart, so I was very confused. I hardly recall anything else about the movie, except that it was short. I'll have to rewatch this one, which also gets a rating of Three out of Five Regency Stars (Agreeable), though I feel it will be marked higher than it's predecessor (either with the decrease of stars for that one, or the increase of stars for this one) upon rewatch.
5. Mansfield Park (Novel): This I just finished about twenty minutes ago, and I quite enjoyed it, though I found the ending rather unsatisfactory. I read a bit of the beginning aloud to my sister, and she only said "this is so boring!" I was actually surprised that she thought so, because I was finding it very interesting. I thought the novel was very well crafted and I actually liked Fanny. She actually surprised me when, after reading Edmund's long letter to her, she was furious! I thought for sure she would only dwell on the lines saying she was now his only friend and yada yada yada. I thought it was wonderful that she was actually mad. I think my least favorite part of the novel was the section on the theatre. It wasn't very interesting, and it was very long. Also, the end was very unromantic, in my opinion. Fanny has been pining after Edmund for at least eight years, and when he finally realizes Mary will never have him, he thinks "hm, well, I could probably convince Fanny to turn her sisterly affections to matrimonial ones!" and there you have it. The way it is written makes me believe that Edmund turned to Fanny merely out of convenience, though I don't think that's the case. Still, not the best ending. Overall, I thought the book was very interesting, and I give it Four out of Five Regency Stars (Accomplished).
Now, on to Emma (Novel)!