If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly

I'm retiring this blog 'cause I never post here. But go to my other blog, The Stuff that dreams are made of for movie stuff!

Wuthering Prejudice

Saw the new Pride and Prejudice adaptation this past weekend and was pretty underwhelmed. Well, actually, the movie was about as I excepted (Jane Austen gets the Bronte treatment), but so many people (critics, bloggers, and normies) had raved over the film and said how romantic it was (that should have been my first tip-off, of course, since P&P is not really a romance so much as it is a romantic comedy, for lack of a better term), that I thought I'd better see it and see what all the fuss is about. Cacciaguida makes the comparison to the Firth/Ehle miniseries, and notes that the miniseries still has the advantage, but he's far too generous and forgiving of the new film, IMO. The movie has its merits, I'll admit (mostly the gorgeous cinematography). And I do agree (much to my surprise since I normally hate her) that Keira Knightley is a good Lizzie.

But the whole thing just felt a little off; the plot elements were there, for the most part, but the tone of the film was all wrong. It wasn't funny enough; several of the characters had been made less outrageous and more sympathetic (Mr. Collins comes to mind); and too much of the film was melancholy and misty. Why does Darcy propose the first time in the rain? Why are they standing near some old monument instead of sitting in a drawing room? Why does it look like they are about to kiss when Elizabeth, at that moment, is furious with Darcy and hates his guts? None of it bears any resemblance to the novel, except maybe a few snatches of dialogue (and not nearly enough of Austen's words found their way into the film for me). In the end, when I'm looking for that P&P fix (and the book is unavailable), I'd rather watch Firth and Ehle and the rest of that wonderful cast in the mini than endure this shadow version.

For critics with whom I agree, more or less, see:
a snippet from Mark Steyn (via Peter Chattaway)
Donald Sutherland looks stoned
Hater of the Snog and more
and my favorite, Anthony Lane from the New Yorker

New Look!

New year, new look. Orange is my favorite color, but the old template just wasn't doing it for me anymore.

Also: Please draft him Detroit

Make your own superhero!

Harry Potter Quizes

Not really blogging, but I am haunting the comments box

. . . of Jeff Overstreet, where a fun little debate has started over the faults of the new Narnia movie. I've been arguing from the pro-Narnia movie and pro-LOTR movies stance. Most others are arguing that Adamson's Narnia is mediocre/okay but not nearly as great as it could've/should've been. Others are arguing that LOTR is crep, and that Narnia is far superior. For my part, I've seen LWW (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) three times, and cried every single time, loved Aslan as much as I've loved any character on screen, and thought it was a truly wonderful film. But, of course, it's no Peter Jackson-LOTR. Frankly, I don't think we'll ever see a fantasy film that will compare with LOTR, so I wasn't expecting it from LWW. I'm of the opinion that the book Lewis wrote is just not as good as the one Tolkien wrote (though I do adore the Narnia books a great deal), so I never expected a Narnia-inspired film to be as good as PJ's LOTR.

Blog rolling

Some additions to the roll call:

Scrutinies, funny teacher blog
Mansfield Fox, mostly because of the cute picture of the fox (and being a Yankees fan) (and also being smart, which seems redundant, I know)
The Anchoress, who needs no introduction
The Cornell Society for a Good Time, best name ever
For God, For Country and For Yale, also well named and has Latin of the Week

Finally, though I'm leaving it on the blog roll, Fanboy Rampage! will be blogging no more! My nearly daily stop for comics news and fanboy snark will be missed.

Some actual real blog posts to come! (including reviews of old *obscure* horror films from the 30s)

Chesterton on the Victorians

"What was really unsatisfactory in Victorian literature is something much easier to feel than to state. It was not so much a superiority in the men of other ages to the Victorian men. It was a superiority of Victorian men to themselves. The individual was unequal. Perhaps that is why the society became unequal: I cannot say. They were lame giants; the strongest of them walked on one leg a little shorter than the other. A great man in any age must be a common man, and also an uncommon man. Those that are only uncommon men are perverts and sowers of pestilence. But somehow the great Victorian man was more and less than this. He was at once a giant and a dwarf."

from The Victorian Age in Literature

Avast, ye scurvy bilge rats!

It be Talk Like a Pirate Day! We at the Flying Inn shall see what crawled out o' the ol' bung hole and raise a glass o' grog to the Jolly Roger!

And for today ye may call me Mad Jenny Kid! Arr.

My pirate name is:

Mad Jenny Kidd

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.