Classics Challenge - Adaption - 2 for 1 deal! Sanditon/Emma

My plan was to read and review Sanditon. I did read it. And I liked it. Of course, it's greatest flaw is that it is unfinished. I read it in the form of this  which was completed by another author. The Austen part was a great set-up and I have no doubt she would have finished it well. Some of the secondary characters like Parker siblings are just classic Austen figures. I loved them. So much potential, why did she had die so young!

And while for the purposes of this review, I'm pretty much sticking to the classic part, the ending which I believe was added in the 70s, was not horrific. Unlike the PBS series which started out promising with a few odd sections (like what is going on with those "siblings" and why does the heroine never wear her hair up!) and within a few episodes was cring worthy. Then the ending made a bad situation worse. Just don't. Don't. It was so bad I just couldn't even make it my Classics Challenge selection because I need to pretend that adaption doesn't exist.

So because that was so vile, I had to get the taste of bad Austen out of my mouth and started re-reading some of her other works. Some in written form, some in audio. While I often struggle with audiobooks for initial reads, I find them great for re-reading books I love and know well. Because I'm not totally lost if it gets loud for a second or I zone out and it prevents me from skimming and forces me to really take in the story at a slower pace. And with the quarentine, I went ahead and got Emma. so now I can at least have a good adaption to ponder for my real Classics Challenge selection.

Emma. My first Austen. My favorite Austen for many years . It might be surpassed by Persuasion now. But nostalgia comes back when I read or watch it so I'd actually have to say its a tie and whichever I'm currently reading is my favorite.

It really does hold up to repeated reads. It's so witty and funny. The characters are both amusing but also not dickensian. You can imaging actually meeting these people.  A lot of time you might not want to, but you can! I was struck by how different Emma feels from other Austen's works in that it was so very home centered. Emma didn't travel to Bath or London. It's all about her home and community which seemed very relevant right now.

I've heard others say it isn't the best introduction to Austen but I think for teens, it's great. At least it was for me. I totally felt like Emma as a teen. I wanted to do something, to be somebody and at times, I thought it all figured out. As does Emma. But as a teen (or 30-something) when you figure out that maybe the world still wouldn't be perfect if everybody just acted the way you want them to and you don't have all the answers, it's nice to have the idea of Emma and the family and community that still love her, faults and all, to depend on.

Now onto the movie. It was surprisingly good. I'll admit I was skeptical.

I knew it would be beautiful. And it was.

I knew the costumes would be aamzing. And (with a few oddball pieces as exceptions - Why was Frank Churchill wearing stretchy pants?), they were.

It was just so enjoyable to see onscreen. And hear, the music was delightful. It features a bit more prominently than I was expecting but I did like it.

 But my worries were that the previews had portrayed it almost farsical. And besides knowing Miranda Hart would make an excellent Ms. Bates, I wasn't so sure about some of the casting.

Johnny Flynn did not strike me as Mr. Knightley. But, it was kind of amusing but at the time I was watching it, I was also reading Mansfield Park and it struck me as similar - although I'm not sure that's a compliment to myself!

Her brother was not handsome: no, when they first saw him he was absolutely plain, black and plain; but still he was the gentleman, with a pleasing address. The second meeting proved him not so very plain: he was plain, to be sure, but then he had so much countenance, and his teeth were so good, and he was so well made, that one soon forgot he was plain; and after a third interview, after dining in company with him at the Parsonage, he was no longer allowed to be called so by anybody. He was, in fact, the most agreeable young man the sisters had ever known, and they were equally delighted with him. 

So he did grow on me. It's a very different sort of telling of Mr. Knightley's part of the story than Gwenyth Paltrow version that I am also fond on, I really liked him in the role. He played the line between showing his emotions and frustrations and being a bit more privately bumbling and still being the dignified gentleman in public. He might have been my favorite actor to play him which is saying a lot because Mr. Knightley is my favorite male book character. Yes, he beats Mr. Darcy. Now, I still really like the Jeremy Northam's Mr. Knightley a lot too. Neither is quite the book Knightley but there is room in my movie life for both versions.

Ms. Bates and Mr. Woodhouse were as expected, wonderful although they didn't get a lot of screen time. In fact, I can't say I disliked any of the cast. Emma herself wasn't my favorite part of the movie but she did a good job and Anya Taylor-Joy does a good job with her faces.

But my one disappointment was that it really did rely on the facial acting and the scenery and costume to tell a lot of the story. They did the job well but I found it didn't have the verbal wit I love about Austen's works. I am pretty flexible with my views on adaptations in that I don't mind them changing lines or scenes as long as they stay true to the book's ideas and don't stray towards obnoxiously anachronstic. I like both the the movie and the books endings of North and South for example. I didn't mind the nosebleed nor have a problem with Mr. Knightley's tuches making an appearance and I don't really fault this version for not having the verbal wit because it just went a different direction, I just missed it. On of my favorite scenes is when Emma and Mr. Knightley have there little verbal spat over Harriet and I think it is so because its on of the few where the words are really flying in a way that reminds me of the book.

Emma/Sandition is (are?) my Adaption Classics for the Back to the Classic's challenge. 

Back to the Classics Challenge: Persuasion

Ah, Persuasion. The under-appreciated Austen novel. Which is kind of ironic considering how Anne is the under-appreciated heroine in this book. But I really do like both Anne and the novel even if I forget it sometimes. I knew I read Persuasion in high school and when I made my list of books for the Classics Challenge, I was thinking I hadn't read it since but I recently realized I read through all of them back when Lucy was first born. And then of course I had to watch all the movies. That's really the big "problem" I have with Jane Austen. I can't seem to just read or watch one of her stories without going on to read them all. The struggle is real.

But every time I read this one, it grows on me more. First of all, I love Anne. If I had to describe myself as Jane Austen character, I probably would still say Elinor (which is the real reason why Lucy's middle name is Elinor. Yes, spelled like that!) but I could easily say Anne too. They are actually quite similar in character and personality I think, just different in circumstances because while Elinor is different from her mother and sister, she still has a good relationship with them and while they may not understand her, they do understand that they need her. But Anne, she's all alone. But she's so good. What else is good about Persuasion. Well, uhm, let's see - The Letter. And yes, I think it really needs to be capitalized like that. I'm not really normally a big "Romantic moment" type gal, more of an appreciate the everyday sort. But even I swoon at The Letter. It just can't be helped.

I also appreciate that it seems to be less about outside circumstances and more about our two main characters thoughts. Now, I say "seems" because I think you could make the case otherwise and there are some things that need to line up, like a certain other couple falling in love, but unlike other Austen works where I might be actually wondering how things would align so my characters could be happy at the end, in this, for the most part, we're just waiting for our main couple to figure things out. But I love how we get to watch that unfold. Add in the idea of regrets and living with past decisions, right or wrong they might have been or seemed at the time you made them, and this really is a book that ages well with a person. Those are things that are just easier to relate to the more you experience life.

Or maybe that's not it at all. Maybe it just seems fresher because I haven't read it as much as Austen's other works. Actually, I think that's my big problem with Jane Austen. I've read them all already. Oh Jane. You were gone too soon.

Persuasion was my Re-read a Classic from School selection. Head over to Books and Chocolate for more reviews!

Oh happy day!

Do you remember when I mentioned the new BBC version of Emma was on it's way? Well, it's now on youtube! Go here to find all 4 episodes. I've only watched the first two hours but so far it has been delightful - lots of gentlemanly Mr. Knightley, confused but kind Emma, worrisome Mr. Woodhouse (played by dumbledore no less), silly Harriet and ridiculous Ms. Bates. All in fairly decent quality. Enjoy!

Another Austen Anecdote

Oh my goodness, this cracked me up.

Austen Anecdotes

1. How is it that I haven't heard of this until now!?! 4 hours of Emma, could I be more excited!

Of course, I can't seem to find reliable non-uk release date information and am always a bit wary that they will botch it up and make another "Mansfield Park" but I'm ignoring that part of my brain right now.

2. I just finished this book. I thought it was
delightful - which is code for I stayed up way to late reading til the end but I just couldn't not finish it. I'm even willing to go to the neighboring city to pick up her other book .It's not an Austen continuation/other viewpoint novel or whatever those are called, but if you like Jane Austen's writing, I'd guess you will probably like Indiscretion too.

3. I watched Becoming Jane at work last week. It was my second time seeing it and I dislike it more than I remember. But the cover looks so nice, sad day :-(

Sense and Sensibility: A review

This was a two-parter and I was worried that I would forget too much of the first part to do a good review, but most of it came back when I started watching again last night so I don't think that happened.

I liked it, in fact, while overall I was disappointed with the movies, this one is about even with the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version that I also adore.

Unlike almost all the others, I actually liked almost all of the castings picks.

Elinor - I liked that she was a more realistic age than Emma Thompson. It made the contrast between her and Marianne's personalities seem more like just that, a personality/character difference, and not just the fact that she was older and wiser. And I could really see her struggling with her situation, but still remaining composed outwardly - a hard thing to do. I especially liked her crying at the end mostly because that is the one part of the E.T. version I do not like. Emma Thompson sounded like a dying animal when she cried.

Marianne - I have to confess that I really don't like Marianne. I realize that she is supposed to be free spirited and romantic and all that but even in the book I just end up thinking she is silly and rude and kinda selfish. But I liked this Marianne because I could really see her progression from being that silly girl to being a woman with a bit more wisdom while at the same time keeping her romantic spirit. I liked the part when riding in the buggy, she talked about how he was the true romantic for all the good he had done for his love even after she had died.

Margaret - I like Margaret and was so glad to see her in the movie. I watched some old version and they left her out completely and it made me so sad.

Mrs. Dashwood - Also good, a bit more convincing as someone with a Marianne-type personality, especially with her struggles to live within the means of her new lifestyle.

Edward - Okay, I wish he connected more with Elinor but he wasn't bad.

The Steeles - I liked them both. I was glad to see Lucy's sister make an appearance and thought she was great. And I think Lucy did a good job of trying to be sweet and innocent while really just wanting to get her way and make sure Elinor was kicked out of the picture. The first couple times I watched the other version (and granted, I was fairly young) most of Lucy's deliberate actions were too subtle to be noticed, I thought she actually was sweet and innocent.

Col. Brandon - I liked that he was younger, although watching them gradually try and make Alan Rickman look younger is always comical. I also liked that you knew he loved Marianne but he was able to control it. He did what he did for others because he is a good guy, not because he wanted Marianne to think he was a good guy.

The only casting that I didn't care for was Willoughby. He was supposed to be all dashing and whatnot - but he wasn't. Didn't anybody else notice that he was funny looking and short? I did.

I also missed Sir John, his mother-in-law, and of course, Mr. Palmer (but who doesn't love Hugh Laurie?). They were so great in the E.T. version but I suppose one can't ask for everything. I did however like the photograph style "still shots" when the Dashwoods first entered Sir John's house and when they met Mrs. Ferres, which is quite the compliment as I normally don't like weird camera view stuff (that is the technical term I am sure).

Overall, It was good. It had a more old-school period piece feel as compared to the E.T. version and they are quite different but I think there is room in my heart for both. I would say this was my favorite of the whole series (excepting Pride and Prejudice, but I don't count that as I had already seen it). And since that was the end of the Jane Austen series, I guess they ended on a high note. All in all though, I was not as pleased with this series as I was expecting to be. That is what I get for expecting movies to be as good as the books.

UPDATE: Other reviews of S&S can be found here and here.

Emma: A Review

I have so many posts I need to do including the third (and final, I promise) vaca recap but I have to postpone those till another day for I have to write about the latest M.T. Austen film. This week it was Emma.

I have to confess that I love love love the Gwyneth Paltrow (GP) version. It was my first taste of anything Jane Austen related so I have a hard time criticizing it at all, even if I should. But I did try really hard not to dislike this movie just because it was different. And I succeeded, mostly.

The Good:
I like Emma. She was played a little different that Gwyneth did but again, that is okay with me. She seemed a bit less intelligent, a bit more silly and since that is what makes Emma, Emma I can't really complain about it especially since she does it in a way that still makes Emma seem likable and kind. And she was great in the scene where she does NOT tell Harriet how to respond to Mr. Martin's proposal! Harriet was good too, I liked how she was more of a pretty, sweet, but very naive young lady as opposed to so clumsy and stupid.

Frank Churchill was also good. I like Ewan in the original, but I think I liked him too much since you aren't really supposed to like him all that much. He isn't really a bad guy, just selfish and you should notice his lack of character and ill treatment of Jane Fairfax and Emma. In this version, you really could so I give him thumbs up.

The Bad (or maybe just not as good):

Miss Bates was not nearly ridiculous enough for me but I do believe it is the comparison that is doing this version in for me. In the GP version, the Miss Bates was so great. Very amiable yet very silly. This time she just talked a lot but it wasn't the same.

Mr. Elton was not nearly ridiculous enough for me either, again it's the comparison. Mr. Elton is a lot like Mr. Collins, although not quite that bad. It is a good thing Jane had Edward Ferris become a minister or I would have though she disliked clergymen altogether. But until his weird proposal, he seemed like a nice fellow. And while Emma is supposed to be oblivious to his real character, I think the audience shouldn't be shielded from that. Even after his refusal, he didn't seem mean, just a little hurt from being snubbed as would be expected. Mrs. Elton could have been better too. The only reason I thought she was insufferable was because Emma kept telling me so. Her one good scene was at the picnic when she got all mad at being told what to do.

The Ugly:

Mr. Knightley. Yes, he was not as attractive as Jeremy Northam but that could have been overlooked. And while I do love the GP version of him, enough to name my cat Mr. Knightley, it wasn't that Jeremy was better, it was that this versions was just bad.

He and Emma didn't seem to have much of a friendship at all. Where was the witty banter? And he gets mad at her too often. Yes, he is supposed to get upset after she insults Ms. Bates but the other times he is supposed to teasingly criticize Emma's faults but remain levelheaded and calm. He didn't remain level headed and calm so he just came off as grouchy and mean. Plus, he isn't enough in the story and the conversations. He seemed almost like an outsider of the community when he is really supposed to be the one they all look up too, the ideal gentleman, the man every man wants to be, the man every woman wants to marry. He summons his carriage for the poor old maid, he dances with the snubbed girl even though he dislikes dancing, he sends people meat and fixes their glasses. He may have done some of those things in this version, but they didn't seem to contrast his character with Frank Churchill's enough even though with this better Frank it should have been easier to see what a great guy Knightly was. Badly done.

The dream moments when Emma imagines people getting married or when Frank Churchill's picture comes alive were just weird and I didn't like them at all.

Mansfield Park: a review

I wasn't really planning on writing about each Austen movie shown Sunday nights on PBS, but I had to write about this one because it was so bad. And nothing gives me inspiration to write more than a badly done Austen film.

I knew it was going to be bad when in the first 5 minutes, Fanny told us that she was in love with Edward. I shouldn't have been told that, I should have been shown that. That was the case in the whole movie. People were doing the right things (well, kinda, they left a lot out) but they had to tell us, or have others tell us, what they were feeling and thinking. Lame.

Also, Fanny was a bit annoying. Why was she always running and skipping and giggling? She was supposed to be shy and meek and frail. And her hair was always down. She just looked like a really big 12 year old. The movie didn't give you any idea of who she was. And don't even get me started on the fact that she caved and was in the play. The whole point of that part of the book was that she wouldn't be in the play even when Edward caved. Silly director/producer/script writer people.

I must say though, the end where Edward has the epiphany that he loved her, was highly amusing. I thought he was having a seizure or something. Although to be fair, I think Edward's acting was the one good thing about this adaptation. But when the two of them danced, it went from amusing to embarrassing. The kind of embarrassing when you turn red that you are even having to watch the scene.

Overall, it was very very bad. I would recommend the '99 version but I didn't really like it either. It was too opinionated about slavery which came from right field. So if you want to know what happens in Mansfield Park, you had better read the book.




Oh, I found the horrible scene on YouTube. Here is when Edward finally figures out that he has loved Fannie the whole time. And all because she choose purple. Who knows what would have happened if she had said maroon? It is just the first minute or so. But if you keep watching you can see another huge blunder when Edward goes into her bedroom while she is getting ready for bed. Highly improper.

Northanger Abbey: a review

If you are male, or a female who doesn't like Jane Austen (do those exist?) you should stop reading because this will be very boring to you. It might be very boring to those of you who do like her but that is a risk you can decide for yourself whether to take or not.

Anyway, on to the review. Northanger Abbey is actually one of the (or maybe the only) Jane Austen book I have not read so I can't really say how well the movie followed the story but I can say that I like it. It probably was not as good as the book but now I want to read the book so I’ll know for sure later. It was pretty obvious that it was her first book because it was much simpler than her later works with less characters, simpler plot, etc. I actually liked that because it gave the characters a chance to develop in the short 90 minutes they had. And Austen's characters are really the best part of the books, imho. I adored Catherine, especially since even though she was young and naive to begin with, she was able to learn and develop without being hit over the head by the lesson unlike others (cough, cough, Marianne, cough…sorry, but she gets on my nerves sometimes, and yes, I know she isn’t a real person).

Other, more trivial but still important, aspects of this movie I liked:

1) Costumes were very well done. Here is an article all about the bonnets in the movie. The movie did have exceptionally nice bonnets.

2) Characters were not ugly. Nothing is worse than a homely actress who is supposed to be playing a pretty young girl whom all the gentleman adore. Except perhaps an ugly actor playing the love interest, see here (but before you click on that link, promise me you will not judge me by my former Xanga). Or when the initial love interest that turns out to be a scoundrel is hot but the new love interest is not. Tragic. But nope, in this movie, Catherine was quite pretty and Henry Tillney (aka – good guy) was cute, even with the elf feature, while John Thopre (aka – bad guy) is, well, ...not. In fact, he reminds me of Jemaine from FOTC , although I'm not quite sure why. Weird.

3) I could understand what they were saying. In some of the older versions, they seem to try too hard with the accents, leaving me unable to interpret the dialogue, which is really quite frustrating.

In short (or long), I hope that the other productions that I haven’t seen but will be watching in the upcoming weeks will be as good.

Oh my goodness

Let me repeat - Oh, my goodness. I am so super stoked about this that the tragedy of me missing the first week doesn't even put a dent into it. Months of Jane Austen. I hope my heart can take it.