What DVD are you watching lately?
Posted by _Dalida_ on Feb 09, 2009 · Member since Jan 2009 · 966 posts
I have BBC's Persuasion on, but I can't really get into. I've heard thought that BBC's Sense & Sensibility is good. Of course I"ve watched the Ang Lee Emma Thompson version which is superb... I may get it this week to see :P
Bright Star. A Jane Campion film, which could have been beautiful to look at if not for her self-indulgent camera angles etc.
Basically the life and loves of John Keats and Fanny Brawne. A good performance by Allison Cornish, but I doubt Keats ran around half-shaved like a modern guy, soul patch and all. There were one or two crashing anachronisms in the script as well. 4/10.
The Affair of the Necklace With Hilary Swank about countess Jeanne de la Motte Valois and Marie Antoinette. I thought it was good in terms of acting, story, the whole thing. I guess a lot of people didn't like it, because it's not true to the real story...but I am ignorant on that matter. 4/5
Daniel Deronda 4 parts. I thought this would be one of the better British series, but it was really quite average. Acting and background were good, but none of the characters were very likable for most of the story. Overall solid, though. 4/5
Stuck Better than average horror. Quite horrific tale! Not overly gory. 4/5
The Bleeding House This was not at all bad, but it was pretty predictable. Acting was slightly weird, and nothing was special about it. 3/5
Boot Camp This had so many good reviews. I think they recruited a bunch of former tough love camp people to review... This was pretty bad. I can respect the fact that they are trying to tell the "true story," if that's so, but it was not done well. Excessive. I can't say the acting was bad, but it just didn't all come together. 2/5
Mum & Dad Surprising horror! I think this is new to Netflix, and probably a must watch for horror "fans." Very horrific and quite gory, but within the story's limits. Out there! 4/5
P and I are into season 7 (last season) of TNG, which is quite sad (to be finishing).
I'm currently watching Middlemarch (6 parts), which is so far one of the most boring and plodding series.
Why did I get so into these British drama series? I have no idea.
Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda as novels aren't very convincing or well-written either. George Eliot tends not to like her own characters very much, which is odd for a writer, but there it is. I trudged through Middlemarch the book 2 and a half times before giving up as I realised the author had no sympathy for any of the characters she herself had created. I think the lady had issues.
I really don't think I would enjoy any of these series as books (and never have in the past). I think I mainly like them for the portrayal of the time in history.. seeing the way of life, costumes, environment, and scenery. One can obviously imagine such things, but there's something comforting in viewing them. I think I've watched/queued most all of these things, but what are your favorite of these books?
Oh definitely--you have stumbled on the reason period piece films are so popular!! You don't watch them so much as look at them. The clothes, the hair, the houses and furnishings and lovely tea tables and all the rest of it. In Jane Austen films, you have the dancing and music and stuff too, and the social conventions. I think this is why Agatha Christie remakes are so popular--it's the cars, the clothes, the houses...and the cocktail houseparty cricket match thing.
Of course I'm a hardline Austenite, but for different reasons than most. I'm still waiting for a decent film of Mansfield Park, though. I'd like to see what Jane Campion would do with that book.
BTW, have you seen Lark Rise to Candleford or Cranford?
BTW, have you seen Lark Rise to Candleford or Cranford?
Nope, but those don't appear to be on Netflix.
Have a look on IMDB about them. They were HUGEly popular over here. I have to say, I enjoyed the books much better than most "classics." Particularly Lark Rise to Candleford.
Une Folle Envie (A Burning Desire). No, it's not porn. It's a comedy about a couple's obsession with getting pregnant. Good performances, OK script, but...I just really can't get into the "must reproduce" comedies that are so popular here. It seemed to be about encouraging French people to want a baby, given the aging population etc.
What I did enjoy was watching Clovis Cornillac at work (the boyfriend; in this movie French people only get married *after* they've had a child together). He handed in some fantastic acting (the overheard Skype conversation was a case in point) and I have to applaud the makeup team who made him look much younger than he is, and convincingly so. If I hadn't seen his name on the credits I wouldn't have believed that it was the same man who played Viking in Brigade de Nuit 8 years ago.
Jose watched this with me, and though he usually doesn't share my enjoyment of discussing the finer points of filming, acting etc, he was the one who said, "Man! He has really grown as an actor!"
Al Pacino's Merchant of Venice. Masterly, of course. I love his work.
Bagdad Cafe. The movie, of course. I discover to my horror they made a series spinoff with Whoopie Goldberg, of all people. Sounds dire.
Cowboys and Aliens....meh. :-\
I'm alternating between Hitchcock and classic Bond movies...I've recently watched Dr. No, Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, Marnie, and North by Northwest.
I never realized how freakin' HOT Sean Connery was. OMG. I've only ever thought of him as an old man with a beard, but when he was in Bond movies and Marnie....whoa. Total hottie!
I fell in love with Connery the first time they showed To Russia With Love on US TV when I was about 6. Totally wow. But I thought he was Dutch because of his glottal accent. He sounded like the old Dutch grandpas in my hometown.
I got a copy of "Titus" (Titus Andronicus) with Anthony Hopkins Saturday. I haven't watched it yet...I know it's going to be unpleasant. Trying to talk my husband into being my "film buddy."
Coriolanus is supposed to come out next month. I'm there!
Tried to watch This Happy Breed. What started out as a Noel Coward play was changed out of all recognition into a propaganda film in about 1940.
Managed to watch about an hour and a half but it started to take forever. Worst editing I have ever seen. They took way too long on the first 5 years (1930-35) and it really dragged, which is odd because it was so patchy, like a bunch of slides. I finally gave up.
Started to watch Titus. Seriously. Freaking. Bizarre.
Excellent performances, particularly by the infelicitously-named Alan Cumming as the evil Emperor Saturninus.
But dude--talk about a mix! For a minute there I thought those Roman soldiers were gonna dance a haka!!
Today it's "The Hollow Crown", aka Richard II. I have never seen this before, I don't think I'd ever read the play. The performance by the actor doing Richard is some serious cheese but he does make the others look more sympathetic by comparison. I do think he overdoes the limp-wristed thing, though. I got the impression he thought he was doing Marlowe's Edward II instead.
I guess I'm the only one who posts here anymore. Ah well.
Just finished watching The Artist. I had to buy it to see it but the DVD cost me less than 2 cinema tickets.
It's good, I guess. Well photographed and all, and of course the viewer has to write your own dialogue. But about 30 min into the film it seriously bogs down, only to have a Quicky-wrap ending in the last 15.
Five Oscars? Really? I hope the dog got one.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.....I want the hour and a half of my life back. What a load of crap.
Reprise on Richard II: I saw an interview with the actor who plays the title role, and he simply *is* that mannered and swish. He wasn't acting.
Today it was Henry IV. Watching Prince Hal send up Jeremy Irons as his father the king was hysterical, he had him down pat, vocal mannerisms and all.
Watched Henry IV Part 2. Yes, two separate plays. Jeremy Irons had a very convincing stroke, followed by literally dropping dead. Excellent acting. Even my husband jumped in his chair!!
I'm rewatching all seasons of Northern Exposure. Just started season 4.
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