Tudor Mania!
Well ever since seeing "The Other Boleyn Girl" in theaters a few weeks ago (which I very much enjoyed, despite its inaccuracies--but then it is based on a *fictional* book, and I think they did a decent job for translating a monster-book into only 2 hours...), I have been in high Tudor-obsession mode. I mean, I am always obsessed with them, but I've been especially so in the last few weeks. ;) So since then I've been re-watching all my favorite Tudor-related movies and miniseries (and seeing some new ones for the first time!), and re-reading my favorite Tudor fiction. This included:
Movies/TV:
-The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC, 1970--starring Keith Michell, the definitive Henry VIII!)
-Elizabeth (1998--only got about 2/3 through it though, couldn't bring myself to finish it yet, it's so bad and overblown to the point of being ridiculous & eye-roll inducing!)
-Henry VIII (Masterpiece Theatre, 2003--starring Ray Winstone as a Henry with a weird lower-class accent!)
-Anne of the Thousand Days (1969--w/ Richard Burton as Henry and Genevieve Bujold as my favorite Anne Boleyn in one of my all-time fave films!)
-Lady Jane (1986--starring a pretty bad and whiny Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Jane Grey, though getting map props for showing a *gasp* sympathetic Mary!)
-A Man For All Seasons (1966--starring recently deceased and incredible Paul Scoefield as the definitive Sir Thomas More; one of the best Tudor films ever, well-deserving of its Best Picture Oscar!)
-The Tudors, Season 1 (2007, episodes 1-8 so far--pretty inaccurate, with a terrible Henry in JRM and an annoyingly ridiculous Sir Thomas More interpretation (he may have been moralistic, but he was no naive fool! You don't get to be one of the cleverest lawyers of your time by being stupid!), but still rather entertaining....I especially like that they show little Mary in it (the Tudor I'm most interested in) and Maria Doyle Kennedy is quite good as Catherine, despite her inaccurate, stereotypical coloring. I hope they will show Mary in season 2 as well, though they need an older actor, she's in her mid-to-late teens by then!)
Books:
-Mary, Bloody Mary (by Carolyn Meyer--a FANTASTIC, very gripping and moving, not to mention well-researched, novel about Mary I's growing years, up to when she's 20--it's the book that first interested me in the Tudors, and the reason why Mary still remains my 'favorite' Tudor for all her mistakes and faults--I feel sorry for her, and find her story to be the most tragic/compelling...)
-Doomed Queen Anne (also by Carolyn Meyer in the same series--quite interesting companion to "Mary, Bloody Mary," with its entirely different (and more fair of course) POV overlapping the same time period--to the extent that there are certain scenes exactly mirrored in this book from MBM, but from Anne's POV!)
-Patience, Princess Catherine (same series again--about my favorite wife of Henry, Mary's mother Catherine, and with some parts from young!Henry VIII's POV. Interesting interpretation on the consummation issue, etc)
-Beware, Princess Elizabeth (same series--there are 4 in all--it gives Eliz a chance to give her voice and perspective, though you only see her as an adorable little baby/toddler in MBM. Perhaps my least fave of the series, though, I just don't find Eliz as interesting as the others for some reason).
-Royal Diaries' Elizabeth: Red Rose of the House of Tudor (not really one of my faves, but I saw it on the bookshelf with my other old books and couldn't help it....hate the ridiculous portrayal of Mary as a villanous characiture--at least in Meyer's work she a) provides the party in question with the chance to show their side (like with Anne Boleyn in "Mary, Bloody Mary"), or b) it's based on how the relationship was and how the person was perceived by the viewer. For example, Mary in MBM insists Anne was an evil witch, and the one time they interact Anne is mistreating her--but the record shows Anne was pretty mean towards Mary, and I'm sure Mary did see her as a witch. There's no evidence, however, that Mary was "full of knavery" and plots to kill her brother to take the throne" (especially when she was his godmother and loved him and his mother well!)! *rolleyes* [/rant]).
Anyway, I also got some inspiration to make my latest fanvid, a tribute to Catherine of Aragon using footage from the "Six Wives" Catherine Annette Crosbie (who is the only Catherine I've ever seen with the correct coloring of red hair and blue eyes!), which I like especially because the episode actually shows her before she married Henry, and how happy their relationship was in its early years--I hate how most Tudor things only pick up with the end of their marriage, squeezed into the story of Henry and Anne--H/C early on is quite a story as well, especially early!Catherine's story! So yeah, I dashed this one off in record time instead of studying for finals! ;) Enjoy!
Movies/TV:
-The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC, 1970--starring Keith Michell, the definitive Henry VIII!)
-Elizabeth (1998--only got about 2/3 through it though, couldn't bring myself to finish it yet, it's so bad and overblown to the point of being ridiculous & eye-roll inducing!)
-Henry VIII (Masterpiece Theatre, 2003--starring Ray Winstone as a Henry with a weird lower-class accent!)
-Anne of the Thousand Days (1969--w/ Richard Burton as Henry and Genevieve Bujold as my favorite Anne Boleyn in one of my all-time fave films!)
-Lady Jane (1986--starring a pretty bad and whiny Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Jane Grey, though getting map props for showing a *gasp* sympathetic Mary!)
-A Man For All Seasons (1966--starring recently deceased and incredible Paul Scoefield as the definitive Sir Thomas More; one of the best Tudor films ever, well-deserving of its Best Picture Oscar!)
-The Tudors, Season 1 (2007, episodes 1-8 so far--pretty inaccurate, with a terrible Henry in JRM and an annoyingly ridiculous Sir Thomas More interpretation (he may have been moralistic, but he was no naive fool! You don't get to be one of the cleverest lawyers of your time by being stupid!), but still rather entertaining....I especially like that they show little Mary in it (the Tudor I'm most interested in) and Maria Doyle Kennedy is quite good as Catherine, despite her inaccurate, stereotypical coloring. I hope they will show Mary in season 2 as well, though they need an older actor, she's in her mid-to-late teens by then!)
Books:
-Mary, Bloody Mary (by Carolyn Meyer--a FANTASTIC, very gripping and moving, not to mention well-researched, novel about Mary I's growing years, up to when she's 20--it's the book that first interested me in the Tudors, and the reason why Mary still remains my 'favorite' Tudor for all her mistakes and faults--I feel sorry for her, and find her story to be the most tragic/compelling...)
-Doomed Queen Anne (also by Carolyn Meyer in the same series--quite interesting companion to "Mary, Bloody Mary," with its entirely different (and more fair of course) POV overlapping the same time period--to the extent that there are certain scenes exactly mirrored in this book from MBM, but from Anne's POV!)
-Patience, Princess Catherine (same series again--about my favorite wife of Henry, Mary's mother Catherine, and with some parts from young!Henry VIII's POV. Interesting interpretation on the consummation issue, etc)
-Beware, Princess Elizabeth (same series--there are 4 in all--it gives Eliz a chance to give her voice and perspective, though you only see her as an adorable little baby/toddler in MBM. Perhaps my least fave of the series, though, I just don't find Eliz as interesting as the others for some reason).
-Royal Diaries' Elizabeth: Red Rose of the House of Tudor (not really one of my faves, but I saw it on the bookshelf with my other old books and couldn't help it....hate the ridiculous portrayal of Mary as a villanous characiture--at least in Meyer's work she a) provides the party in question with the chance to show their side (like with Anne Boleyn in "Mary, Bloody Mary"), or b) it's based on how the relationship was and how the person was perceived by the viewer. For example, Mary in MBM insists Anne was an evil witch, and the one time they interact Anne is mistreating her--but the record shows Anne was pretty mean towards Mary, and I'm sure Mary did see her as a witch. There's no evidence, however, that Mary was "full of knavery" and plots to kill her brother to take the throne" (especially when she was his godmother and loved him and his mother well!)! *rolleyes* [/rant]).
Anyway, I also got some inspiration to make my latest fanvid, a tribute to Catherine of Aragon using footage from the "Six Wives" Catherine Annette Crosbie (who is the only Catherine I've ever seen with the correct coloring of red hair and blue eyes!), which I like especially because the episode actually shows her before she married Henry, and how happy their relationship was in its early years--I hate how most Tudor things only pick up with the end of their marriage, squeezed into the story of Henry and Anne--H/C early on is quite a story as well, especially early!Catherine's story! So yeah, I dashed this one off in record time instead of studying for finals! ;) Enjoy!
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