March 27, 2007
Time travellin' Tudors and Sexy Joe Stalin
The last episode of Rome has aired and how I miss it, so I cast around to see what I could see and reluctantly took a look at the Showtime series "The Tudors". Let me begin by asking isn't absolute monarch enough? Does he have to be rock-star absolute monarch? I fully understand the "sexy edge" it is supposed to confer (rock-star vampires) and a modern sensiblity is not going to find late medieval power politics sexy per se. But Henry the VIII is a king even the most history hating have heard of and are minimally aware of the six wives the divorces etc. Strutting around in an open collar and thigh high boots with maidens in flowing prom hair (bangs!) is so far from the mark that I had to scramble for the clicker. He is an attractive young man in a ferrety sort of way and as a fictional character on the sidelines of the Tudor court he would be very compelling. Where are the hats? Where are the squishy toed platypus slippers? Looking sexy in the real clothes of the period takes skill, possibly more skill than this actor possesses.
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Posted by at 12:56 PM
September 25, 2006
Flim Review - Flyboys
As observed in a previous review, a note at the beginnning of a film that it is "Inspired by True Events" generally means it will be followed by some very creative "history". Flyboys is no exception.
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Posted by Walter at 02:31 PM | Comments (9)
August 28, 2006
Film Review - The Illusionist
We just saw "The Illusionist". I liked it. The period details were good, and the feeling was generally pretty plausible. They, of course, prefaced it with "Based on true events" which generally means that they will play fast and loose with any well known historical characters who happen to stumble into frame. This was, of course, what they did here.
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Posted by Walter at 12:36 PM
August 03, 2006
Movie Review - Beowulf and Grendel
Last night my wife and I saw "Beowulf and Grendel". It is a joint British, Canadian and Icelandic production based on the epic Anglo-Saxon poem.
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Posted by Walter at 08:45 AM
May 26, 2006
"The Proposition" Movie Review
Well, if you need a movie to give you a feeling for what a horrendous fly-choked dung heap the Australian Outback was in the 1890s, then "The Proposition" is the film for you.
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Posted by Walter at 11:32 PM
May 15, 2006
HBO Elizabeth I series, Part 2
Oh well. After a very promising start, I'm afriad the second part, which focuses primarily on the relationship between Elizabeth and Essex, was not quite up to the standard of the first.
In its defense, it did cover most of the major events of their complicated relationship, and presented what could be a plausible interpreation of how they behaved in private.
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Posted by Walter at 12:06 PM
April 25, 2006
Elizabeth I Part 1 on HBO
After the dismal "Elizabeth" movie of a few years ago, and the rather bizarre Henry VIII and Elizabeth series that came out of the BBC recently, it was very refreshing to see HBO's very historical treatment of the second half of the life of Queen Elizabeth I.
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Posted by Walter at 06:57 PM | Comments (2)
March 10, 2006
Movie Review-The Libertine
I will give "The Libertine", with Johnny Depp, a conditional endorsement.
I enjoyed it, it presented a fairly good representation of the seedier side of the Restoration upper class world, and the costumes were pretty good.
My primary criticism would be that it seemed a bit pat and even melodramatic at times, and often had the feeling of a very modern sensibility.
However, John Malcovich was very good as Charles II and it is definitely worth seeing, if only to encourage Hollywood to make more historical costume movies.
Posted by Walter at 02:35 PM | Comments (2)