| Today’s post will be a long one, so if you’re not interested in my reviews, please come back another day… |
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| The three series being reviewed are “Pride And Prejudice“, “Stranger Things” and “The Punisher“. P&P is on DVD and the other two were both viewed on NetFlix. |
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| Pride And Prejudice (1940) — movie review; (1995) — series / movie review |
| Starring Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy and Greer Garson as Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennet, this is the black and white version which appears on cable channels periodically – which is where I caught it one afternoon while casually channel surfing. Because I enjoyed the 2005 version, so much and the 1995 version, too, I thought I’d give it a view. The story is essentially: small village with landowner family of five female daughters is thrown in a tizzy over the arrival of a very “suitable” bachelor. Even better, the bachelor comes with a friend, who is also a very suitable bachelor (Darcy). Lizzy takes an immediate dislike to Mr. Darcy while the oldest sister (Jane) falls madly in love with the first bachelor (Mr. Bingly). Blah, blah, blah, happy ending. |
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| In this version, I was left with a “satisfied” grin. It was enjoyable to watch, and, because I’m so familiar with the story, I’m looking for my favorite parts. Unfortunately, while Olivier and Garson “seemed” good in their roles individually, to me, they lacked the chemistry to make the story believable. There are also a couple of changes in the film which I found curious. For one, the costumes seemed more modern and more American than British. This impression may be just in comparison to the 1995 version. Another difference was that Darcy’s aunt refuses the marriage to Lizzy as a test of her love, whereas in the other versions, the aunt is doing it for reasons of societal class difference and because the aunt believes Darcy to be “given / promised” to her own daughter since childhood. Basically, it makes the aunt a redeemable character, which I don’t believe she was meant to be. I guess, I’ll have to read the book to find out ultimately. |
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| Final recommendation: moderate. It’s okay. I guess anything with Olivier is considered a “classic”. I say it has historical interest, just as I enjoyed “Bride And Prejudice” (2004) because of the Indian / Bollywood interpretation. (Review here.) |
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| Having watched the 1940’s version, I decided to re-watch the 1995 BBC version. Starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, this is widely considered one of the great BBC television productions of all time. Running time is not quite 5-1/2 hours long and therefore this version has the time to flesh out the characters more than the more recent 2005 film version which I have seen multiple times. My daughter (Rebecca) says she considers this the “definitive” adaptation of the novel to film. I beg to differ with my favorite being the 2005 version. I would put this a very close second though. |
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| With this second viewing and having seen some of his other works, I am thoroughly a Colin Firth fan. He kills this role. Even though I’ve seen this version before, I must admit, I didn’t really remember it. It has time to add a lot more to the story and IMHO, this makes the whole version better. There is a “famous” scene of Darcy approaching a lake on his property. If you know much about England, you know that even on the warmest of days, open water is rarely warm. This is actually one of the reasons accidental drowning is so common there (several hundred each year). Anyway, Darcy is despondently approaching a lake and my first instinct was “plot twist, this isn’t going to end well”. But then, of course, we get the now famous and career making wet T-shirt (ok, it’s a cotton long-sleeved pullover) scene of Darcy stumbling upon Lizzy on his way to the house to dry off. Ladies still swoon… LOL |
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| Final recommendation: Highly!! I struggle to find things to criticize about this version. Okay, it’s longer than the 2005 movie and Mrs. Bennet and Kitty are much more annoying in this version, but this slight comment is simply evidence of how good the whole is. Well, worth re-visiting! |
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| Stranger Things (2016 / 2017) — series review |
| Stranger Things is a two-season (so far) science-fiction, horror, coming of age made for NetFlix series. There are 17 episodes. Eight in the first year and nine in the second. The series occurs in the 1980’s, in a rural / sub-urban town in the mid-west (Indiana). The series has lots of references and homages to earlier works of music and film from that period. The series was recommended to me by my son (James), who advised me it was “MUST” see. Even more than THOR, the (at that time) up-coming Justice League, Punisher or Longmire… So, okay. I watched it. The series is very much an ensemble cast so I’m not going to bother listing all fifteen to twenty of the “main” actors. |
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| Absolutely, terrific!! The series has adults, older teens, younger teens, nerds, jocks and just regular folks. It also has hell-hound aliens, extra-dimensions, mind-control, telekinesis and X-mas lights! My son said, he hopes I don’t scare easily at night or I’ll have to watch all 17 hours straight through. It wasn’t anywhere near THAT intense, but it is very good. Basically, I’m (again) late to the party and this was the smash hit for NetFlix last year. I’m jumping in here, one month after the release of the second season. As per normal for NetFlix, the whole series for the year is released on the same day to encourage binge watching. So, I did. Season 1 on day 1 and Season 2 on the following day. |
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| But, what is the show about? Well, there’s a government experiment gone wrong. They are developing children into “X-men”, with various abilities. Season one is mostly about a girl with telekinesis abilities. Season two brings in her “sister”. Not really her sister, but they grew up together. So, girl escapes and meets young boy from town. Fall in love, blah, blah, blah. In the meantime, the government agency has accidentally opened a gate into another dimension, which is a lot like ours, but it has been conquered by an alien (large spider-like shadow) which controls a bunch of little flesh eating aliens. At the end of Season one, the girl saves her friends and the world by closing the portal. Season two opens a year later and girl is still missing and the original abducted kid knows the aliens are coming back. Blah, blah, blah, teen angst, blah, blah, blah, child angst, blah, blah, blah, adult angst. Big finale, the kids kick alien butt and the girl saves the world. Afterwards, smoochy, smoochy at the Winter Ball. |
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| Final recommendation: Strong to highly. This is a well made combination of practically every kids science-fiction movie you’ve ever seen. Some of the references are almost (but not quite) tongue in cheek, but they work and this is a series well worth the time to watch it. I’m not sure if I’ll watch it again soon, but I’m almost certainly up for another binge before the release of season 3, next year. I would caution that although kids play predominant roles in this series, this is NOT for below age-12 viewing. Some scenes can be intense and there is a moderate amount of alien violence. |
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| The Punisher (2017) — series review |
| This series is a spinoff from the DareDevil series also on NetFlix. The Punisher appeared in season two – and pretty much took it over – so, now he has his own show. Basically, the family of a military expert is killed and he takes revenge against the killers. In DareDevil, he does most of the work. In this series, he almost finishes the job. He leaves one guy, who he promises to come back for. Blah, blah, blah. Segue to season two… |
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| Does it work and is it any good? If you like this kind of thing (explosions, excessive violence, gratuitous sexual scenes, explosions, hand-to-hand combat, lots and lots of guns and gun fire, and did I mention explosions), and I do, then you’ll enjoy this series. And, I did. So, I enjoyed it… The question was is it any good? As a comic book adaptation, it is very good. As an action / adventure / who-dun-it, it’s pretty good. As a realistic portrayal of armed and unarmed combat, uh, it’s a comic book… |
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| The series stars Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as his partner David Lieberman / Micro, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo (Frank’s wartime friend who ends up being a bad guy), Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani (Homeland Security Officer), Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson (a confused Vet who becomes a domestic terrorist), Paul Schulze as William Rawlins (the main gov / CIA bad guy from “the war”), Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle (the Vet “do-gooder” medic), Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman / Micro’s wife, and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page (a carry over from Daredevil). |
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| The series is mostly dark, in the same vein as the DareDevil series, the Chris Nolan / Batman movie trilogy, and the recent John Wick movies. It deals with a host of issues, from right and wrong, free press, privacy, vigilantism, friendship, personal loss, and a rather bizarre attitude that “justice” almost always ends with violence – particularly gun violence. While the depiction of violence is pretty accurate, the depiction of physical recovery is essentially: “and then a miracle happens.” There are scars, but recovery is almost instantaneous. Like I said: comic book… |
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| Final recommendation: moderate. This series would be rated higher if they had let the actors simply act more and kill / maim less. It is definitely for mature audiences ONLY. It feels strange to say (admit) it, but I enjoyed the acting and the story more than I did the violence. Go figure… |
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| Final comment: I was not a follower of “The Punisher” character in the comic reading days of my youth. I was reading them when he was introduced in DareDevil and Spiderman, but the character never “really” captured my pre-teen and teen imagination. During my Army days though, I was an avid follower of “The Executioner” book series written by Don Pendleton, which was the basis for the comic character. The monthly book series currently runs to over 400 episodes and is being ghost written since Pendleton’s sale of the series and subsequent death. |
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| Thanks to any who managed to make it through the entire post. Let me know if you agree / disagree with my reviews… |
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| On This Day In: |
| 2016 |
Feeling Warm Yet? |
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Four Documentaries |
| 2015 |
Just Like All The Others |
| 2014 |
In My Own Vanity |
| 2013 |
Filled With Words |
| 2012 |
Lectio Auget Existentiae Meae |
| 2011 |
Lied Lately? |
| 2010 |
Born To Work At Faux News |
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Lost Again (Uh, Make That Still) |
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Qui Genus Humanum Ingenio Superavit |
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They’re Back… (Part 1) |
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