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Jane Austen - Masterpiece Theatre

INTJMom

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Ah, Video Tape... I remember video tape. I was one of those kids who actually knew how to program a VCR. Nowadays I just pay an extra ten bucks a month for Digital Video Recording service on my cable box. It has seriously revolutionized my television watching (for better or worse). If you have a Windows Media edition PC with a cable input, its pretty easy too.
I used to sort of scratch my head at all those jokes about not knowing how to program a vcr until we got the one we own now. You would not BELIEVE all the settings you have to go through to program the doggone thing! The first time I tried, I did it wrong and lost my program that I wanted to see, and now I'm afraid to try it again. I have to use the owners manual. It's very anti-intuitive.
 

Apollonian

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Yeah, usually what I did to learn was set it to record a show in the next 15 min and see if it worked. Then, after a few tries I got the hang of it and became confident that it would work for the shows that I wanted.

The one problem with the DVR is that it isn't always smart enough (if not programmed manually) to catch the program if it starts a few minutes early or ends a few minutes late. There is nothing more frustrating than watching an hour long show on DVR only to find out the last minute of the show was cut off.
 

INTJMom

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Yeah, usually what I did to learn was set it to record a show in the next 15 min and see if it worked. Then, after a few tries I got the hang of it and became confident that it would work for the shows that I wanted.
That's what I need to do, but I keep forgetting.

...
There is nothing more frustrating than watching an hour long show on DVR only to find out the last minute of the show was cut off.
Don't I KNOW it!
 

INTJMom

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I really enjoyed Emma last night. Very well done, good story.
 

skip

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The costuming was quite good for that production of "Emma" but the pacing was off and holy cow was Kate Beckinsale miscast. Her beestung lips were totally inappropriate to that era. She looked and acted like a teenager in an American high school production. Even her accent was horrible (and she's British). The supporting cast was better. Lucy Robinson's Mrs. Elton was thoroughly enjoyable, right on par with Angela Pleasence's Lady Bertram in the 1983 BBC miniseries of "Mansfield Park." Raymond Coulthard played a very strong Frank Churchill. Mark Strong's Knightley was a good effort but a little weak in places. I would have liked to have seen him be more gallant although he did the Box Hill reprimand scene well (always a litmus test for productions of "Emma," for me).
 

INTJMom

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The costuming was quite good for that production of "Emma" but the pacing was off and holy cow was Kate Beckinsale miscast. Her beestung lips were totally inappropriate to that era. She looked and acted like a teenager in an American high school production. Even her accent was horrible (and she's British). The supporting cast was better. Lucy Robinson's Mrs. Elton was thoroughly enjoyable, right on par with Angela Pleasence's Lady Bertram in the 1983 BBC miniseries of "Mansfield Park." Raymond Coulthard played a very strong Frank Churchill. Mark Strong's Knightley was a good effort but a little weak in places. I would have liked to have seen him be more gallant although he did the Box Hill reprimand scene well (always a litmus test for productions of "Emma," for me).
If that was Kate B. who played Emma, then I don't know how they could take someone who is so nice looking and make her so unattractive.

I agree that "the Box Hill reprimand" was well done. I enjoyed the whole movie.

This was the only film that made me want to read the book it was depicting.
 

Jae Rae

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If that was Kate B. who played Emma, then I don't know how they could take someone who is so nice looking and make her so unattractive.

I had the same reaction.

We watched the Laurence Olivier/Greer Garson P&P last night. LOL awful. Karen Morley as Charlotte Lucas is beautiful, not plain. Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine is marvelous, though.

Jae Rae
 

INTJMom

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I had the same reaction.

We watched the Laurence Olivier/Greer Garson P&P last night. LOL awful. Karen Morley as Charlotte Lucas is beautiful, not plain. Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine is marvelous, though.

Jae Rae
I think I know what you mean.
I've tried watching movies from the 40's or whatever,
and they were produced and directed so differently than we're used to.
Oh, dear. They're difficult to bear!
 

heart

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Enjoyed this version very much myself.

What do people think about Emma herself in the written story?

I think Austen did a masterful work with this story. I mean Emma is not really a particularly likable person. Snobby, using people for her own glorification, yet I find myself totally rooting for her happiness and sympathetic to her pains. When she ends up with the man who wants to help her be a better person, I am so happy.

What do others think?

I think I know what you mean.
I've tried watching movies from the 40's or whatever,
and they were produced and directed so differently than we're used to.
Oh, dear. They're difficult to bear!

Yes, I agree. Older period movies tend to come accross stiff.


-------------------------------------------------------------


I also like Clueless! :blush:
 

Jae Rae

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Tomorrow night is Sense & Sensibility, Part I on Masterpiece Theatre.

The little review guy in our newspaper is clapping hard and falling out of his seat. Looks like it's a good one.

Jae Rae
 

INTJMom

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Enjoyed this version very much myself.

What do people think about Emma herself in the written story?

I think Austen did a masterful work with this story. I mean Emma is not really a particularly likable person. Snobby, using people for her own glorification, yet I find myself totally rooting for her happiness and sympathetic to her pains. When she ends up with the man who wants to help her be a better person, I am so happy.

What do others think?...
I read it too long ago to remember, but in this particular film I liked her and was glad she had a happy ending.
 

INTJMom

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Tomorrow night is Sense & Sensibility, Part I on Masterpiece Theatre.

The little review guy in our newspaper is clapping hard and falling out of his seat. Looks like it's a good one.

Jae Rae
Thanks! I'll get my video tape ready!
Apparently, it's 150 minutes long.

PBS description:
"Hattie Morahan (The Golden Compass) plays levelheaded Elinor Dashwood and Charity Wakefield (Jane Eyre) is her impulsive sister Marianne. Though poor, they attract a trio of very promising gentlemen. Will the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love? Adapted by Andrew Davies comes a new adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel."
 

INTJMom

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Alas, no Alan Rickman.

Jae Rae
Mmm.

GQ-9-91.jpg


No. :boohoo:
 

Apollonian

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*laugh* I was actually quite surprised when I saw that version of Sense and Sensibility, not realizing that it featured the likes of Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant. Although, it did make for an interesting film. Alan Rickman seems to play brooding characters spectacularly well. Whereas, Hugh Grant seems to play haphazardly clueless character fairly well. It will be interesting to see how the two characters are characterized differently in this version.

Then again, I really should get around to seeing Emma from last week. What with work and filing taxes, I haven't had as much time as I usually do. I also wonder whether I should wait for part II of Sense and Sensibility to air before watching part I.
 

Jae Rae

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We rewatched S&S with Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant last night, and I have to say she bugged the heck out of me. Too much emoting and lip trembling. I don't think tenderness comes naturally to her.

But I loved her interpretation in Much Ado About Nothing - very witty, feisty, even bitchy, and believably in love.

She's a great comic actress, but I don't like her in dramas. Didn't like Dead Again either.

Jae Rae
 
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