Kitewithfish

In which I rewatch Pride and Prejudice (2005), and judge.

2019-02-01T20:26:19Z

Inspired by jerakeen , I thought I would give the 2005 Pride and Prejudice a rewatch, as part of discussion of whether Austen can really be adapted in the space of a conventional film, or if miniseries are always going to be the way to go. Since I re-watched the 1995 miniseries less than a month ago when I was home sick, this felt like a fair comparison.

Short Version: Oh, god, miniseries all the way.

Long Version: The 2005 film does have some great things to recommend it - Keira Knightly is awesome and certainly nothing to sneeze at. Judy Dench as Lady Catherine De Bourgh is finally an imposing figure, instead of just a self indulgent rich lady pissing and moaning about how people do things she doesn't like.

But the 2005 film simply doesn't have enough time to actually get into who Lizzie is - things happen at a breakneck pace, compared to the novel. There's almost no space for the characters to do the kind of careful, Austenish reflection on the people around them and the social implications of people's actions. The B plot of Jane and Bingley seems pretty shallow.

For example - the scene where Lizzie gets the letter from Jane that Lydia has run off with Wickham - shortened immensely. Instead of having a private moment with Darcy where they can both feel privately and deeply the impact of their mutual choice not to expose Wickham suddenly turning horribly against them, as in the novel and the 1995 miniseries, the 2005 adaptation merges that scene with Lizzie telling her aunt and uncle. So Lizzie and Darcy don't get their private moment together, where Lizzie imagines that Darcy is going to give up on a relationship with her forever with this news, and Darcy leaves to immediately go find Lydia and save the Bennets without telling Lizzie what he's going to do. That moment of horrible emotion and guilt and regret that they share is just sort of made weird and stilted because it's not private anymore - the Gardners are there watching the whole thing. It feels less like shared grief and more like just a recitation of "This is where the plot goes next, folks!"

In general, I feel like the film does a good job getting the stuffed into the film, so if you are familiar with the book, you can fill in the blanks without too much trouble. But it's not doing the book any favors, and it makes for a more trite and less interesting story. By the end of the film, I just kind of missed Lizzie Bennet.

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I should have known better.

2013-02-18T23:03:47Z

Just when I expected that I knew all the esoteric sexual practices fandom could throw at me: figging.

COMMUNITY these days seems kind of disappointing and bleh? I mean, yay for new episodes! Yay for the show attempting to survive, because the cast of Community have been my happy place for a good while now, but I feel like the last couple episodes have not taken us to any place new or unexpected. And there's been a weird focus on Jeff doing things off screen or being the center of the show in a way that doesn't feel natural at this point in the series' development. Where are the sharp edges?

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Les Militaribles

2013-02-12T19:30:20Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lZunEARBb6I

Les Miserables ROK Air Force Parody

Honestly, can't even deal.

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blerg

2013-02-11T22:29:45Z

-Bullet points!

-Saw Hunger Games. Deeply impressed.

-Got clawed by cat. Not impressed. Cat phobia continues. Constant vigilance!

-Saw new Community episode! Deeply impressed by show's ability to shove itself up its own ass.

-Spent some of this day working on job acquisition. Feeling better now.

-This week has all the holidays.

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Decaf teas?

2013-02-03T03:08:21Z

In which I rise from a grave of unfinished posts!

Firstly, does anyone have a good recommendation for a tasty non caffeinated tea? It's too cold and miserable in my hometown to forego an evening cuppa, and I can't deal with caffeine late in the day. Peppermint has been a favorite, chamomile is a distant second- I appreciate a good herbal blend but I wouldn't be against a decaf blend that's truly decaf.

Secondly, still job searching. Boo.

Thirdly, I've been mainlining Spartacus:Blood and Sand and Extraneous Differently Named Seasons and Elementary.

Spartacus has a real gift for sexy naked men and more violence than I care for- I kept up with it because there was good press about it's treatment of same-sex romance. On that front, it's not delivering as much as I would like, but after a season and a half, I am surprised to discover that the character development for the supporting cast impresses me- there's really only one character of a cast of a dozen or so getting regular screentime who doesn't have some backstory and development. Mind you, he's an Arab (Syrian) villain who is also rapey, sooooooooooo. There's a problem I saw coming from the writers. But ancient Rome is portrayed as convincingly will of POC's, and I'm holding out for the rest of the season to redeem itself. I was holding out for a well-costumed period piece, and Spartacus is delivering nicely.

But, dammit, I get caught up on certain weird things. Like, the main cast has men who are circumcised when it doesn't make sense for their cultural background. And. Well, that tells you a lot about what kind of show it has been, ne? :) And how the ancient Romans are waaaaaaay less conflicted about oral sex than they were in real life- it's an odd hangup to the modern mind.

Elementary is best enjoyed when I stop trying to mentally compare it to the modern BBC Sherlock adaptation. Lucy Liu is a WONDERFUL Watson and interesting and has a convincing emotional life, and while there Sherlock is not as blindingly clever, he also seem to be shaping up to be intelligent and clever enough to make me think that he's a real detective rather than a deus ex machina. There were a few rough episodes at the start, but the show's hit its stride by episode 6 or 7. I do think that a case can be made that Watson, in both shows, is the main character, but I think that the balance of the BBC show favors Sherlock more as a brilliant mind, and that the America adaptation favors Watson..... but I'm still chewing on it.

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Dammit Tumblr

2012-08-25T06:15:42Z

It's becoming clear to me that I'm going to need to start dealing with Tumblr if I want to keep up on my Once Upon A Time fic

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Dammit

2012-08-17T23:44:27Z

I finished "Once Upon A Time" yesterday afternoon.

I've been rewatching since.

I think I'm doomed. Honestly, truly, madly, doomed.

SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE.

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Once Upon a Time- OMG this is awesome

2012-08-14T15:15:57Z

So, I missed VividCon again, despite it being in my home city, by means of not paying attention and finding out about it by accident too late to attend. Like last year. And the year before that. I need to get myself some alerts or something.

In other news, I have started watched ONCE UPON A TIME and it's amazing! And I can't read the fic yet, because I am seriously behind in the first season (Just watched episode 12 "Skin Deep") and it's KILLING ME. Because this is a show where, despite it being about stories that I sort of know*, they end up twisting the story enough that I can't take anything for granted.

It's kind of like watching really, really well done crossover fiction- connections that scream for attention get made, but also connections you were never expecting and that really, really draw you in and surprise you.

*My God, but this show relies on the Disney-fied versions a lot.

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What You Should Be Watching (With Me).

2011-05-12T23:50:12Z

( Under the Cute: Borgias, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, The Crimson Petal and The White, and Life on Mars )

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Episode Response: Supernatural 520- The Devil You Know

2010-05-01T15:35:40Z

Rewatching 5.20- "The Devil You Know." First part, running commentary- second part, my thoughts on the episode as a whole.

( Running Commentary: Spoilers, ho! )

Total bitch count: 1

( More organized thoughts on the episode. Spoilers thru season 5 )

In keeping with Three Weeks of Dreamwidth, I will not be posting this to my lj kitewithfish account.

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