On my list. Spent some time trying to figure out how I could get to a theater where it was showing while I was stuck in Palo Alto while my car was in the shop, but the logistics were too hairy. (I really sympathize with people without a car or who can't drive!)
And I'm certainly glad we're back out of the period of the latest crop of TV Austen adaptations, none of which were really very good - unlike the stuff from the 80s and 90s, which was all enjoyable even when (as frequently) not very Austenesque.
Oh, I dunno: surely Lady Susan's fate could be terms nearly worse than death.
I thought that the guy who plays Sir James was utterly brilliant. He stole the show. I forgot to notice if Manwaring spoke a single word in the film, but he's clearly the polar opposite of Sir James.
I'm in the midst of re-reading Austen, as it happened, and ruminating, this time, on the changes as her work matured. Fascinating.
Sir James definitely stole the show. I fully expected Stephen Fry to play that part. He was good as Mr. Johnson, though he only had mere moments on screen. But that actor was just wonderful. Verses and poetry--we were gasping for laughter. Also, the subdued horror in the entire family's faces when he and Susan showed up at the end!
It's on my list, too. Predictably, it's only playing in one venue in this half of the state--the last independent cinema, which still has to devote half its screens to multiplex standard films, because (as they told me in all seriousness), art-house patrons don't buy enough from the concession stand.
We art-house patrons did win one, um, concession: We can bring in our own coffee and water-bottles.
I've seen the film now. Quite delightful. Beckinsale is brilliant. Those asides! It's a match for her epochal turn as Flora Poste twenty years ago (a very different character, but equally manipulative).
Stephen Fry was in that movie too, playing Mr. Mybug, a fine display of fatuousness which should indeed suggest him for Sir James this time, and I think he'd have done very well in it, except that he's now too old for the part. I thought the guy who did play it is was quite different from how Fry would have done it but also exceedingly funny, with a perfect air of not having the slightest idea of what he's going to say until it comes out of his mouth.
Admittedly this was a weekday matinee, which does put a damper on the variety of attendees, but that's when I normally go to the theater, and this is the only time I can recall when everyone else in the audience was a woman older than myself.
Only complaint: I caught a couple anachronisms in the wordings of greetings.
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And I'm certainly glad we're back out of the period of the latest crop of TV Austen adaptations, none of which were really very good - unlike the stuff from the 80s and 90s, which was all enjoyable even when (as frequently) not very Austenesque.
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I thought that the guy who plays Sir James was utterly brilliant. He stole the show. I forgot to notice if Manwaring spoke a single word in the film, but he's clearly the polar opposite of Sir James.
I'm in the midst of re-reading Austen, as it happened, and ruminating, this time, on the changes as her work matured. Fascinating.
Reply
Sir James definitely stole the show. I fully expected Stephen Fry to play that part. He was good as Mr. Johnson, though he only had mere moments on screen. But that actor was just wonderful. Verses and poetry--we were gasping for laughter. Also, the subdued horror in the entire family's faces when he and Susan showed up at the end!
Reply
We art-house patrons did win one, um, concession: We can bring in our own coffee and water-bottles.
Reply
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Stephen Fry was in that movie too, playing Mr. Mybug, a fine display of fatuousness which should indeed suggest him for Sir James this time, and I think he'd have done very well in it, except that he's now too old for the part. I thought the guy who did play it is was quite different from how Fry would have done it but also exceedingly funny, with a perfect air of not having the slightest idea of what he's going to say until it comes out of his mouth.
Admittedly this was a weekday matinee, which does put a damper on the variety of attendees, but that's when I normally go to the theater, and this is the only time I can recall when everyone else in the audience was a woman older than myself.
Only complaint: I caught a couple anachronisms in the wordings of greetings.
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