Robin Hood discussion

[cleolinda]

Okay. Robin Hood. We have to talk about this. I have a headache, but I'm going to try.

Originally, this began as some weird thing called Nottingham (that was, in fact, the original entry tag I had for news about it), where Russell Crowe was going to play both Robin Hood and the Sheriff, and at one point it was supposedly a multiple personalities

Comments

[catystorm]

...okay, good to know. I think I'll just go see Iron Man again.

[elizardbits]

I predict this decision will lead to happiness, both in and out of pants.

[infinityshark]

...I so need to use that quote.

[cho_malfoy]

Pretty much my thinking.

[neintales]

...why did they even bother calling it Robin Hood?

From what you describe it'd be a servicable movie of a generic historical fiction variety about the war and stuff, but it otherwise is..uh..WTF?

(PS I join you on the Alan Rickman, but when I was little actually my BIGGEST crush for that movie was Micheal Wincott as Guy of Gisbourne because omg I love his voice too.)

[witchcat07]

That's what I say! If they are going to totally muck with the story they should just call it something else and be done with it. Didn't the same kind of thing happen to the King Arthur saga a while back? Darn you, Hollywood! Stop messing with our legends!

And Alan Rickman, totally hot as the Sheriff. And most everyone else he has ever played.

[rosewood39]

I hated the King Arthur movie ,that is not King Arthur. I am not sure I want to see this movie now.

[sirinde]

Yeah, I heard they were all "Let's research what actually might have happened!" Read some actually good books on the topic, then some time later were all "well that was boring, let's keep the Romans in and just make shit up!"

I don't know who 'they' were though...

[cmdr_zoom]

Hey, I'm down with the foxes. Like you, I grew up with 'em. And yes, Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman stole that movie right out from under the paperweight that was the alleged leading man. And some of those early alternate takes sound like they might have been cool, in a weird way.

What you actually saw? Yeah, not so much. I think you've got it just right about what it's supposed to be, thematically, and I'm sorry to hear this version is so very, very not that.

Everything's gotta be the start of a damn franchise these days.

[cleolinda]

Honestly, as much as I love Robin Hood himself, I would have really enjoyed seeing it from Nottingham's perspective. I think there's probably a really great Tragic Hero retelling in there.

[harper_knight]

Hell yeah! I mean, I love Robin, but.. the Sheriff, just trying to *do his job*, possibly in love with Marian (and less likely to be able to get her than Robin, seeing as he's actually a part of society and not the outsider who doesn't care) faced by a band of outlaws who not only keep getting away with it, but mock him mercilessly all the time as well? Poor guy.

[pointedulac]

Same. I'm sort in love with the idea of unreliable narrator and taking the same story from multiple perspectives, not to mention that the fact that 99% of the time the villain in a story sees themselves as the hero - so the Nottingham version would have been a fun new twist on the Robin Hood story. Shame they went in for politics and historical "accuracy" instead.

[ich_faultier]

That's exactly now I feel about this movie. All my English friends kept commenting on Russell Crowe's accent(s) and how perhaps it would go unnoticed in the States...

I kept noticing things that really took me away from the movie, such as that French landing ship which looked exactly like something that was used when they landed at Calais during WWII.

[neintales]

He doesn't have the Nottingham Twang!

[ich_faultier]

See, I don't even care if he doesn't have that twang, at least just do what Cate Blanchett did and do the Oop North accent! I just heard the Welsh accent!

[neintales]

I can't tell, so sorry if I'm misreading by thinking the reference was not one that was gotten- it's a joke from Eddie Izzard about the Americanization of the Robin Hood legend- and our actors' often inability to do real English accents ^_^

[robinmc]

True story: the Disney version of Robin Hood was one of my favorite favorite favorite movies when I was a kid. I watched it all the time, the version that we had recorded from the tevee, so I always associated it with awesome Wendy's commercials and ads for the epic 80s miniseries North & South, starring everyone.

Anyway, years later we were at the Stratford Theatre Festival in Canada, and we were seeing a show starring Brian Bedford, who I'd only heard of because Ralph Fiennes had beaten him for the Tony Award pretty recently. So I'm reading his bio, and I see that he provided the voice for Robin Fox, and I proceeded to go all fangirl squee in my seat until my mom told me to be quiet, I was being an embarrassing American.

Also: I haven't seen the new movie, but I'm pretty sure this entry is more entertaining (not to mention cheaper) than the film on which it's based. I hope your head feels better soon!

[dramaturgca]

Brian Bedford totally rocks. I got to do a theatre workshop with him when he was doing Moliere in LA and he was absolutely fabulous.

[robinmc]

Holy shit, that's awesome! I got to see him in several more shows over the years, and I became a huge fan.

[dramaturgca]

He's brilliant. I was so upset when he didn't win that Tony.