Review: Pride and Prejudice (1980)

Couple of things before you read this review: 1. I am a bit biased for this review since I not only have seen the 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, but I absolutely love it and it's one of my favorite things to watch. 2. I'm not much of a fan of the older BBC period dramas (though there are some that I absolutely love *cough* Barchester Chronicles *cough*). So as you read my review, you may or may not agree with me. But this is my opinion of this version of Pride and Prejudice.

Box Art

Synopsis - Taken from Pride and Prejudice (1995) Review
Mrs. Bennet is trying to marry off her five daughters. When the rich Mr. Bingley moves into the neighborhood, Mrs. Bennet is determined that he marry one of her daughters. Mr. Bingley takes an interest in Jane, the eldest daughter, while his friend, Mr. Darcy, offends Elizabeth, Jane's sister.


Characters
I only recognized two members of the cast. Elizabeth Garvie (Elizabeth Bennet) I have seen in the second season of The House of Eliott as Lady Elizabeth Montford (Does she tend of have characters with the name Elizabeth a lot?). I also saw that Judy Parfitt (Lady Catherine de Bourgh) was in here: I have seen in Little Dorrit as Mrs. Clennam.

Elizabeth (Elizabeth Garvie) with Jane (Sabrina Franklyn)

Most of the characters I was severely disappointed in. (Forgive me, but I'm going to have to make some comparisons here). Sabrina Franklyn's Jane Bennet was pretty, but I thought that she just wasn't Jane; I pictured Jane as being much more quiet/gentler in her manners and way of speaking. Elizabeth Garvie's Elizabeth just isn't Elizabeth, but more on Elizabeth Garvie's Elizabeth later. Mary Bennet was portrayed as being much too silly: they made her more like Kitty and Lydia, especially at the beginning (honestly, did Mary really care that Mr. Bingley was renting Netherfield Park like everyone else?). Kitty seemed like she was either coughing or crying the entire time (plus when Mr. Bingley returned, suddenly Mrs. Bennet wanted him to marry Kitty?!), but Lydia does exhibit her usually annoying character (though I think Julia Sawalha was more entertaining to watch in the 1995 miniseries). Mr. Bennet seems to be much more malicious than he is supposed to be: he always sounded annoyed at everyone and the lines that were supposed to be said in a light way were said quite angrily. Mrs. Bennet was annoying, which she should be, but she lacked the over dramatic personality that Alison Steadman was a much better in portraying in the 1995 miniseries. I will say that I did like Irene Richard's Charlotte Lucas, though everyone remarked on how she was plain, but I didn't think she was that plain, but even her character wasn't as accurate as it should have been. A lot was added when Elizabeth visited her and Mr. Collins at Hunsford. If you didn't like that in the 1995 miniseries that Mr. Darcy jumped in the lake for a swim, you probably won't like that Mr. Collins had an "aqua hat" and that he actually wore it to pick stuff out of a pond with Charlotte. And it seemed like if Lady Catherine said something about cleaning the house (or in this case, chairs), Charlotte would personally attend to it on her hands and knees. Would Charlotte have done something like that? I don't believe so. Lady Catherine herself could have had a home improvement show: when you first see her, she's giving all this housekeeping advice. It was much overdone.

Elizabeth Garvie is not a very good Elizabeth Bennet. She seemed to be more catty than she should have been. I've never thought of Elizabeth as catty, but rather as someone who was offended by Mr. Darcy. In this Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth seemed to be actually in love with Wickham for a while and everyone seemed to know about it and she seemed to express it pretty obviously, which isn't supposed to be. Also, the way that she delivered some of her lines at some serious moments was almost done comically. If she wasn't comical in the delivery of her lines, she was quite dull. Honestly, Elizabeth Garvie's Elizabeth can't even compare to Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth in the 1995 miniseries. Jennifer Ehle had a way of speaking Elizabeth's lines that was very easy and natural to her -- and it came out very natural and sounded like the Elizabeth in the book. Elizabeth Garvie seemed to not only say her lines in a way that was quite dull, but she also made Elizabeth look more catty than she should have been.

Mr. Darcy (David Rintoul) proposing to
Elizabeth (Elizabeth Garvie)

Let me say this: David Rintoul is not Mr. Darcy. All his lines were said very, very dully and with absolutely no emotion. It seemed like the whole time, he was just spitting out his lines as quickly as possible. Even when Elizabeth ran to Pemberly to tell him about Lydia's elopement (which is definitely not the way it happened in the book), he failed to be at all affected by Elizabeth crying in front of him. It seemed like he was merely speaking the lines and not acting them. He barely moved as he was talking, resembling a block of wood. Spoiler I'm also not one for romantic scenes much, but could Mr. Darcy's second proposal possibly be any duller? There seemed like there was absolutely no emotion in the entire scene (I know the emotion is not supposed to be excessive, but it ought to have been subtle. It was just entirely lacking here). Again, it's another example of both Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul just saying the lines and not acting as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. End of Spoiler I think I am much more far assured that Colin Firth is the definitive Mr. Darcy.


Scenery
You can't really expect very breathtaking scenery from a BBC miniseries made in the 70s or 80s. The outdoor scenes were okay, but nothing special. The miniseries does come off like a play (as do many period dramas of the 70s and 80s). Comparing to other period dramas from the 80s, I would say the quality is about the same.

Wickham telling Elizabeth how Mr. Darcy
wronged him.

Costumes
The costuming was okay. Everything looked for the most part period accurate. I notice that many of the women wore chemisettes under their dresses, which would be accurate to the time period. A lot of lace in the necklines for evening wear was used, though, which is something that I've never noticed before. I don't have any reason to say that it's inaccurate, but I haven't seen it before and I've seen quite a bit of movies that take place in the Regency Era.


Music
Not the best music. I wouldn't say that the background music is representative of the music of the time. And the Mr. Collins theme was horrid! It sounded like a song out of some really bad comedy. A little bit of a side note: I noticed that Mary Bennet would always sing the song "Early One Morning". I instantly recognized the song since I am a fan of the show Bonanza, and that was a song most notably sung by the character Adam Cartwright. (By the way, Adam sung it much better)


Overall: 1.5/5
There are a lot of people who really love this version of Pride and Prejudice: I'm not one of them. There were just so many elements of the story changed and many of the characters were not the way that they should have been. This miniseries was much more duller than it should have been. I would definitely say that if you only want to see one version of Pride and Prejudice, skip this version and watch the 1995 one: it's much more accurate to the book and a lot more fun to watch.

Pride and Prejudice is available on DVD and VHS and is also on Netflix Instant Streaming. It runs for 265 minutes and is made up of five episodes.

Review: Persuasion (2007)

I watched this version of Persuasion a while ago: half on Youtube, half on Masterpiece Classic (which was shortened and edited). When I first watched it the whole way through, it really didn't make too much of an impression on me. But recently, I re-watched it and have formed a better opinion of it. I guess I noticed more than when I first saw it. I had also recently finished reading Persuasion: it wasn't my favorite Jane Austen book, but I still liked it.

Box Art



Synopsis

Eight years ago, Anne Elliot was proposed to by Frederick Wentworth, a poor man who joined the navy, and accepted his proposal but was persuaded by her godmother, Lady Russell, to break off the engagement since Anne would be taking a big risk marrying him. Now twenty-seven and still unmarried, Anne assumes to be an old maid. When Captain Wentworth comes back into her life, having made his fortune in the navy and now looking for a wife, he is very cold to her and she thinks that he cannot forgive her for what she had done eight years ago.

Characters
Couple of members of the cast I recognized in here. Most notably:  Stella Gonet (Mrs. Musgrove) was Bea Eliott in The House of Eliott, Peter Wight (Admiral Croft) was also in a couple of episodes of Lark Rise to Candleford. I also know that Rupert Penry-Jones (Captain Wentworth) was also in the 1997 adaptation of Jane Eyre, but I had only seen clips of it.

Sally Hawkins as Anne Eliott

Sally Hawkins was absolutely lovely as Anne! I think she really captured Anne's meekness and quietness very well. In Persuasion (the book), a good part of it is what Anne is thinking or feeling: there can be pages of her thoughts and emotions. To illustrate this, the film-makers had Anne keep a journal to write down her feelings, some of which was spoken through a voice-over of Anne. In this case, I think it really worked to do that: they included that part of Persuasion which could be difficult to include and it was done fairly well. Spoiler What I didn't care for was Anne's marathon through Bath at the end. It wasn't at all like the book. She ran out of Camden Place (without a bonnet, by the way), met Mrs. Smith (who should be crippled, yet she was walking; and did anyone else find it kind of funny that her name is Harriet Smith? Any Emma fans out there?) to find out that Mr. Eliott isn't honorable (and added something that included Mrs. Clay that wasn't in the book, at least to my memory), ran to the Croft's residence to find that they had left and Captain Harville gives her Captain Wentworth's famous note, runs to find the Crofts and discovers that Captain Wentworth had just left them, to which she runs a great distance and happens to bump into Charles Musgrove, her brother-in-law, and Captain Wentworth. (Woo... That was confusing). It seemed to be unnecessary to add this whole running escapade; could anyone help thinking "Run, Anne, run!"? End of Spoiler But excepting that part, I think Anne was portrayed very well in here.



Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Frederick Wentworth

Rupert Penry-Jones's Captain Wentworth... I'm not fully convinced by it, but I'm about 90% convinced. I mean, I didn't hate his Captain Wentworth, but it didn't seem quite right. To me at least, he looked too young (I know Rupert Penry-Jones was actually about 36 or 37 for the role, and Captain Wentworth is supposed to be in his early thirties): it didn't look like he had been in the navy at all. His acting, however, was pretty good. Although Captain Wentworth isn't my favorite Jane Austen hero (he seemed to be purposely trying to ignore/hurt Anne a lot of the time, which I didn't like), but I think overall Rupert Penry-Jones did justice to Captain Wentworth as far as acting goes. I still think they could have made him look more like a Captain Wentworth that had been in the navy and worked hard to get his fortune: here he only looks like he didn't have to work hard to get his fortune.

I really didn't like Anthony Head's Sir Walter. I never pictured Sir Walter as a creepy guy... Arrogant and narcissistic, yes, but not so much creepy. There was something in the way he said lines that made him a little creepy, which isn't the effect you want for Sir Walter. You want to portray him as a caricature of an arrogant narcissistic baronet, and I just don't think that effect was expressed in here. I did think that Elizabeth Elliot was portrayed well: uncaring, selfish, and trying to be fancier than she really is.

Scenery

Good scenery in here, but sometimes it can be a little bleak, especially at Lyme. I didn't care for the darker scenery at Lyme: Persuasion is one of Jane Austen's more serious novels, but I didn't picture it as dark. If they used the darker scenery at Lyme after Anne's sister-in-law, Louisa, gets hurt, it would make sense, but during the whole time? It just didn't seem to fit. The rest of the scenery was very good: the houses were very nicely furnished and there is lovely outdoor, country scenes to be seen.

Lady Dalrymple: notice the hair piece

Costumes
Great costuming! Wonderful costuming! All the dresses looked lovely! My only complaint is towards the end at the concert in Bath, Elizabeth Elliot, Mrs. Clay, and Lady Dalrymple were wearing hair pieces that didn't become popular until the 1830's; I don't think they were even worn in the Regency Era or even in the early 1820s. Other than that, everything seemed pretty accurate to the period.

Music

All the music sounded similar, but it was still very lovely. It really expressed the serious tone of the novel.

Overall: 3.75/5

Left to Right Background: Anne Elliot, Elizabeth Elliot, and
Mary Musgrove. In front: Sir Walter Elliot

Overall, I liked this version of Persuasion. It might not be exact to the book (especially at the end), but I still think that it was still a great film. Sally Hawkins was wonderful as Anne and Rupert Penry-Jones's Captain Wentworth was good. The costuming is very beautiful and a pleasure to look at. The scenery could sometimes be a little bleak, but most scenes are very nice and pretty. I enjoyed this film and wouldn't be sorry to watch it again.

Persuasion is available on DVD either with Sense and Sensibility (2008) in a special collection or on it's own. It runs for 120 minutes.

Review: Great Expectations

Box Art

I've never read Great Expectations, but I was aware of it and knew it was a classic. I noticed this film in a store once, but I kind of glanced past it. After a while, I noticed this movie on Youtube, so I thought I would give it a try on Youtube and see if I liked it or not.

Synopsis
Young Pip is invited to the home of Miss Havisham to entertain her and Estella, a orphan that she raised after her fiancee abandoned her on her wedding day. Years later, Pip comes into a great fortune from an unknown benefactor that quickly changes his life.

Characters
I only recognized three members of the cast. Though I haven't yet seen Amazing Grace (but I really want to!), I knew of Ioan Gruffudd (though I never realized it, he was also in 102 Dalmations, which I loved to watch as a kid) and he was Pip in this version of Great Expectations. Justine Waddell from Wives and Daughters was also in this adaptation as Estella. The last actor that I recognized: I saw Jaggers come onto the screen and I thought "Where have I seen him before", and it dawned on me that he was in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (though not my favorite Star Wars movie). Other than those three, I didn't recognize anyone else in this Great Expectations.

Miss Havisham (seated) with young Estella
and young Pip

The acting overall was good. However, this was one of those movies where you like a couple of character, and the rest you either don't like too much or they just irritate you. Characters like Joe and Herbert I found to be likable, and, at first, I found Pip likable. Pip kind of got on my nerves after he got money: I thought he started to spend money irresponsibly, but this was probably the angle that Dickens was going for to prove a point; maybe Pip was similar to Mr. Dorrit in Little Dorrit -- how Mr. Dorrit got his money and started to act like a jerk to everyone from his past, only in Little Dorrit, there wasn't much of a sign that he was running out of money while he was spending it while in Great Expectations there is talk of Pip running out of money. But back to my original point, before Pip became rich, he seemed a lot more likable. Other characters, like Miss Havisham, Estella, and Mrs. Joe, I couldn't like too much. Well, maybe I felt more sorry for Estella after she got married, but before that I really didn't like her. Miss Havisham seemed to be a little "off her rocker" (for lack of a better phrase), and Mrs. Joe seemed to treat young Pip unfairly all the time.

Scenery
Since the story isn't really a happy story, you won't find much bright, colorful scenery as you would in other period dramas. Most scenes have a grayish tinge to them and, for the second half of the movie, take place in the middle of London. There are some scenes in the country, but they aren't anything spectacular.

Costumes

Justine Waddell as Estella

The costumes were good! Estella's dresses were very lovely to look at; they seemed to dress her in a lot of red (at least to my memory). Miss Havisham had only one dress: a Regency era wedding dress. It would make sense for her to have Regency fashion: yes, she is wealthy, but she also hasn't left her home in a very long time and she is also older.

Music
There wasn't much music to speak of. If there was a soundtrack to this miniseries, it would be composed of probably only one song: a very eerie song that seemed to pop up every once in a while. 

Overall: 2/5
I found this Great Expectations to be only tolerable. Some of the costumes were okay to look at, but not much else recommended itself to me. While the acting was good, I found a lot of the characters to be dislikable or irritating. I'm not quite sure if this version is accurate to the original story (though, from what I read on a synopsis, the ending was different), so if anyone out there has read the novel and can compare it with this adaptation, I would be thankful. Honestly, I probably wouldn't watch this version again, but maybe if a new version of Great Expectations came out (which, from what I hear, there are two in the making), I might watch it.

Great Expectations is available on DVD. It is a two part movie that runs all together for 168 minutes.

Review: Under the Greenwood Tree

I happened to be looking through Netflix to see what movies I could watch. It occurred to me that I have seen Under the Greenwood Tree mentioned on Old-Fashioned Charm. And (to my liking) I found that it was available on live streaming. So I watched it one evening.


Box Art


Synopsis
Miss Fancy Day, a young educated woman, comes to live in a village in order to care for her ailing father and becomes the teacher of the local school. Three men immediately fall in love with her and want to marry her: the rich Mr. Shiner, the poor, hard-working Dick Dewey, and the local vicar Mr. Maybold.

Characters
There are two members of the cast that I recognized. Keeley Hawes (Fancy Day) was Cynthia Kirkpatrick in Wives and Daughters (her character I found more likable in this movie), and Ben Miles (Mr. Maybold) was Sir Timothy Midwinter in the first season of Lark Rise to Candleford.

This story was a lighthearted story, so most of the plot didn't have anything too sad in it. Part of the story has to do with the church choir being replaced with a harmonia played by Fancy. This plot was funny and comical. It was one of the elements of the movie that really added a light tone to the entire story. I even found the romance of the story comical! The two characters Mr. Shiner and Mr. Maybold were so comical in their own way (Dick Dewey was the only one of the three that I took seriously Spoiler since it seemed like him and Fancy really loved each other, so I could tell they would end up together End of Spoiler).

Fancy Day in the front. In the background from left to right:
Mr. Shiner, Mr. Maybold, and Dick Dewey.

Scenery
A lot of shots were taken to a tree (hence why the title is Under the Greenwood Tree). I'm not quite sure what the significance is (if anybody would like to help me out on this, I would be grateful). But the colors are very nice and the scenery is very pleasant to look at.

Costumes
The movie take place in the 1840s, which would be before the crinoline (hoopskirt) was used. I really liked some of Fancy's dresses. The red ball gown that she had for the first party that she attended in the village was so cute!


Music

Fancy Day

The music can vary between the music played in the background, the music that is being played or sung by the characters, or the dance music. All of which are lovely! The music that is sung is mostly by the choir and includes Christmas carols and church music. The choir had a lovely sound to it! The music that was played by the instruments was also very nice, and the dance songs were good too!

Overall: 4/5
I really enjoyed this movie. It was light-hearted and entertaining, perfect for an evening at home. This isn't a story that would bring you down from a happy mood, but rather would make you feel better after a bad day. I was amused throughout the entire movie and I wouldn't be sorry to watch it again!

Under the Greenwood Tree is available on DVD and is about an hour and a half long.

Review: Emma (1997)

This was the first version of Emma that I saw. It was on Masterpiece: Classic one weekend a couple of years ago, so my mom and I sat down to watch it.

Poster/Box Art


Synopsis
Synopsis taken from Emma (2009) Review

"Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich" is a woman living in the English town of Highbury with her father. After making a match that lead to the marriage of her governness, Miss Taylor, and Mr. Weston, Emma (Kate Beckinsale) had fancied herself to have a knack for matchmaking. She is determined to make a match between Mr. Elton, the local vicar, and Harriet Smith (Samantha Morton), much to the chagrin of her father and her brother-in-law, Mr. Knightly (Mark Strong).

Characters

Both Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong are fairly well known, but you might recognize some of the cast in Emma. Samantha Bond (Mrs. Weston) was in one episode of Downton Abbey and Lark Rise to Candleford and was also in Mansfield Park (1983). Samantha Morton (Harriet Smith) was in Jane Eyre (1997). Olivia Williams (Jane Fairfax) was also in Miss Austen Regrets. Lucy Robinson (Mrs. Elton) was also in Pride and Prejudice (1995). And I believe Raymond Coulthard (Frank Churchill) was also in He Knew He Was Right.

Emma Woodhouse with Frank Churchill (Left)
and Mr. Knightley (Right)

Kate Beckinsale was okay as Emma (though not my favorite as Emma and even though I thought her imaginings were getting to be too much), but to me, Mark Strong is not Mr. Knightley. He seemed to be always yelling whenever he got upset, like he was going to throw a chair or something. I mean, was it really like Mr. Knightley to start yelling when he heard that Frank Churchill went to London to get his hair cut? I could see Mr. Knightley making a sarcastic remark about it, but to actually start yelling?

I didn't particularly care for Samantha Morton's Harriet. In the book, she is supposed to be a pretty looking girl, and I don't think that she was pretty enough. Olivia WIlliams's Jane Fairfax I liked. She was elegant and pretty, as she is in the book. I particularly disliked Frank Churchill in here, though. He just seemed too full of himself and he really irritated me (well, more than Frank Churchill usually does).I also thought that Miss Bates was too old. When I picture Miss Bates, I see someone in her late 30's or in her 40's; this Miss Bates could have been in her mid fifties or later.

Some of the acting I thought was forced and not "real". It just seemed like some of the lines were just said... It seemed like there were some spots where there could have been a little more emotion or if an emotion was expressed, it came out fake.

Jane Fairfax (Background) and Harriet Smith (Left Foreground)
and Emma Woodhouse (Right Foreground)

Scenery

There are some nice outdoor scenes, but I thought that some of the overtones were a little dark for Emma. Emma is a light-hearted story, so the scenes ought to be light and vivid, but the scenes were dark. Scenes take place outside either in Highbury, out on the country roads, or outside of Hartfield or Donwell Abbey, or inside the different homes of the characters.

Costumes

Some of the costumes I liked, others not so much. I never really liked the extra high neckline, so when Harriet had a white dress with a really high neckline, I didn't like that dress. I also thought that they over-did some of the neck kerchief frills: the ones without the frills were much better. The rest of the gowns, overall, I thought were good.

Harriet and Mr. Elton married?! One of Emma's many
imaginings...

Music
Some of the music is very light and bouncy (like the theme song and dance numbers), but there were times during Emma's imaginings that the music got very serious and completely unlike the tone of Emma. Overall, the music is kind of a hit and miss.

Overall: 3/5
I didn't completely hate this version of Emma, but I much prefer the 2009 miniseries to this version. The acting wasn't the best and the scenery could have been a lot lighter and more fitting to the tone that the book had. If you don't have too much time to spare and want to watch a version of Emma, this version or the Gwyneth Paltrow version are both okay, but if you really want a good sense of Emma and have the time to spare, watch the 2009 miniseries.

Emma is available on DVD. It runs for 107 minutes.

Review: Lark Rise to Candleford - Series 4

Since I first saw Lark Rise to Candleford, I fell in love with it! It was good, fairly clean family fun. Though Series 1 is still my favorite season, I continued to enjoy Lark Rise to Candleford and was glad that a fourth season was coming. However, I was sadden by the fact that Season 4 was going to be the last season and that it was only going to be six episodes (Nooooo!). Although I thought the third season wasn't the best, I still want Lark Rise to Candleford to go on...

Note: There are going to be spoilers from previous seasons in this review. If you haven't seen Lark Rise to Candleford, you might want to take a look at the previous seasons. First -- Second -- Third

Box Art

Synopsis

When Gabriel Cochrane (Richard Harrington) loses his wife, home, and factory in the same year, he goes to Candleford to find justice for the wrong that he claims the bank did against him. When postmistress Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha) gives him a job at the forge, the two form a friendship.

Characters

The only major cast change from Series 3 to Series 4 is Robert Timmins (Brenden Coyle) -- he did not appear in Series 4, though he is mentioned often. In the show, we find out that he is working in Oxford and sending money home to his family while Emma takes care of the house and children; in real life, Brenden Coyle started acting in new series Downton Abbey and left Lark Rise to Candleford. But back to the show. As much as Robert was getting annoying (he always seemed to be arguing with someone at any opportunity), his presence was missed in Series 4.

Ruby Pratt briefly left Candleford in Series 3... and she came back in the first episode of Series 4. During the first couple of episodes, it seemed that any character development that they made for her vanished. She became very bitter since her romance from Series 3 broke apart. She does revert back to her more developed character in Episode 3, but for the first two episodes, it seemed like she hadn't changed from Series 1 (or even went backwards from Series 1).

Laura continued to get on my nerves. She just seemes to act more and more like a know-it-all. Back in Series 1, she seemed to be more innocent and naive which worked for her, but during the middle of Series 2, she wasn't naive anymore, but instead was a know-it-all.

In the last episode, Alf's mother, Caroline (Dawn French), comes back. I guess since she was gone for so long, I didn't really miss her too much. We all got used to the idea that she was in prison a lot, so when she came back, it was like "Okay, she's back. Whatever."

Gabriel Cochrane (Richard Harrington)

The addition of Gabriel Cochrane wasn't too bad. There's a lot of conflict between him and Dorcas, some of which would be something a married couple might fight over, Spoiler so it was kind of obvious that they would end up together. End of Spoiler Dorcas seemed to be trying to impress him in later episodes (like trying to buy more feminine clothing), which didn't really seem to match Dorcas's character from previous seasons.

Scenery
The scenery continues to be excellent! You do get to see a little more of the fields than you did in previous seasons, but overall the scenery didn't change very much.

Costumes


Minnie and Dorcas at a Church festival

Still lovely! Pretty much the same type of clothing as in previous seasons: late Victorian. Everyone's style still remained the same: Dorcas was professional looking, Ruby and Pearl wore the same thing as each other and had current fashions, Laura still dressed fairly young. Minnie is seen in other dresses other than her maid's outfit, but we started to see her in other dresses last season.

Overall: 4/5

Most of the episodes were good: the exception was the third episode (it wasn't good at all). The rest were okay. I'm still sad that it ended, but at the same time, any other seasons aren't going to be like what the first (or even second) season was. Overall, I really liked the series, and I would still recommend it to anyone.

Queenie and Alf

Spoiler The last episode made a really good attempt at tying everything up at the end. Margaret is finally going to have a baby, Dorcas and Gabriel fall in love with each other and (we can assume) might be engaged or very soon will be, Caroline Arless is determined to change her ways, Queenie forsees change in the future, and Minnie and Alf are engaged. My only question is what happens between Laura and Daniel: there was a little bit of a cliffhanger there. Last we see of them, Daniel tells Laura that he cannot publish her article because it's not her and that she needs to write about her surroundings like she always does. I was kind of hoping that they would get engaged or something. Oh well! End of Spoiler

Lark Rise to Candleford - Series 4 is available on DVD. It has six, one hour long episodes.

Review: House of Eliott - Series 1

One of my hobbies is sewing, and I am also interested in the business world; House of Eliott combines both of those aspects. I had never heard about this series before until my mom mentioned it to me and bought it. We would sit down in the evenings to watch a couple of episodes. It was really interesting. I'm not too big of a fan of 1920's fashion, but this series did do 20's fashion justice.

Box Art

Synopsis
When their father dies, Beatrice (Bea) and Evangeline (Evie) Eliott (Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard) have to find a way to support themselves. Bea is able to get a job working for photographer, Jack Maddox, who becomes a friend of the two sisters. Both Eliott sisters are able to sew and design their own clothes: eventually, they start up their own couture fashion house called the House of Eliott.

Characters
There aren't too many faces that you may easily recognize in House of Eliott. Stella Gonet was in the most recent adaptation of Persuasion as Mrs. Musgrove, and Louise Lombard was on popular show NCIS. Those are the only two that I can think of. The creators of the series are well known, though. This series was created by Eileen Atkins (Deborah Jenkyns in Cranford) and Jean Marsh (Mrs. Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility); these two women were also the same women who created popular 70's series Upstairs Downstairs.


Of the two sisters, I prefered Bea to Evie. Bea was more sensible than emotional and naive Evie. Since Evie had no mother, Bea had to act as a mother to her (and because of the fact that Bea was much older than Evie). I didn't dislike Evie, but I thought that she was a little too naive at times. It seemed that she was more driven by emotion, while Bea was more driven by what was sensible.



The one character that I really disliked was Penelope Maddox, Jack Maddox's sister. I don't really think she added much to the story other than she was controversial. It seemed like that was her only purpose: to be controversial. She got irritating quickly. If she wasn't in the series, the storyline would have gone on smoothly without her. She seemed to be an unnecessary addition to the show.

Scenery

The scenery is very nice. You can tell that the episodes were not filmed on sound sets. Outdoor scenes take place both in nice London neighborhoods and in poorer neighborhoods. Since House of Eliott takes place in London, there aren't many opportunities to see country scenery. You do occasionally see country scenery, but there are very few scenes of them. The interiors of some of the buildings are also very nice to look at.

Costumes

Evie in her party dress

One of the main aspects of House of Eliott is the costuming, since the show is about fashion. I never was much of a fan of 1920's fashion, but Wow! is it awesome in here! Towards the beginning of the series, Bea and Evie's outfits aren't all that great (since they were poorer), but as the series goes on and they develop their fashion house, the costuming gets better. The costuming is not limited to what the main characters are wearing: there are also fashion shows that show off the collections that the House of Eliott had been working on. It's very interesting to see.

Music
I love the theme song and credits song! They are very upbeat pieces and, just a warning, they may get stuck in you head! There are a couple of dance scenes with some nice 20's music. A very good soundtrack, overall.

Bea at a party with her date.

Overall: 4/5
A very good start to the series. There is one episode where there is a mature scene at the end of it, but it was only in that one episode (Episode 2, specifically). There are some mature topics discussed, but they don't get really graphic, but there are things implied. The costuming is very lovely and the plot lines are very interesting. Each episode continues to the next, similar to a miniseries, but this was a regular TV series. I would recommend this show.

House of Eliott - Series 1 can be purchased on it's own or along with the show's two other seasons in a complete collection. There are twelve, 50 minute episodes on four DVD's.

Review: Sense and Sensibility (2008)

I had gotten a couple of requests on here about this version of Sense and Sensibility. I was a little skeptical about this version, since I am so fond of the Emma Thompson version. I know with the Emma Thompson version, they did leave out a lot of scenes and characters (which I found out as I was reading the book), but I still liked it a lot despite all that was missing. Then I watched this version, and I still liked it, but I did notice some similarities and differences. Here are my thoughts on this version. Note: I do tend to make comparisons to the 1995 movie in this review, so be warned. :-)

Box Art

Synopsis - Taken from the review for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Sense and Sensibility follows the story of two sisters: sensible Elinor Dashwood (Hattie Morahan) and passionate Marianne Dashwood (Charity Wakefield). When their father Mr. Henry Dashwood dies, his property, Norland, is passed to his son from his first marriage, John Dashwood. Before he died, Henry Dashwood made John promise to take care of his current wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret). John promises to take care of them and wants to give them some money, but he is persuaded by his wife, Fanny, not to. Meanwhile, the Dashwood women prepare to receive John and Fanny, and when they arrive, Fanny announces that her brother Edward Ferrars (Dan Stevens) will be joining them. Edward arrives and him and Elinor form an attachment, which is broken off by Fanny.


Characters
There are a few actors and actresses that you might recognize. Linda Bassett, who was Mrs. Jennings, was on Lark Rise to Candleford, Dan Stevens (Edward Ferrars) is on Downton Abbey, and Hattie Morahan was on one episode of Lark Rise to Candleford.

A lot of the characters that were left out of the 1995 movie were included in this miniseries. We get to see Lady Middleton (she was dead in the 1995 movie), the Middleton children (there were no children in the movie), Harry Dashwood (John and Fanny's son who wasn't in the movie at all), Anne Steele (who wasn't in the movie), and Mrs. Ferrars (who was only mentioned in the movie). There were also scenes that were included in this version that were left out of the 1995 movie: Willoughby's confession scene, the dinner with Mrs. Ferrars, among others.

Anne and Lucy Steele talking with Elinor.

The addition of Anne Steele, Mrs. Ferrars, and the Middletons were very good editions. I have always wondered with the 1995 movie what it would be like if those characters were added in. Anne Steele was very amusing: Spoiler the scene where she tells Fanny about Lucy's engagement to Edward was hilarious! End of Spoiler I thought, however, that there should have been more scenes with Lady Middleton and Mrs. Palmer, but definitely with Mrs. Palmer. She wasn't in the miniseries as often as she should have been. I was happy that they included the dinner with Mrs. Ferrars; the 1995 movie left out that Edward was supposed to marry Miss Morton, but I'm glad that they included that with the dinner scene.

Margaret Dashwood's character, I could nearly swear, was taken from the 1995 movie. In the movie, she was hiding under a table in the library and was prone to be a little shy. Here, they have her hiding under the bed, hiding up trees, and (in a similar scene) she was crouched down behind a table in the library at Norland and from the screen view almost looks like she was hiding. Also, like in the movie, they show the friendship between her and Edward, something that was not in the book. I am glad that they made Margaret thirteen instead of a few years younger like in the movie.

Left to Right: Colonel Brandon, Edward Ferrars,
John Willoughby, Marianne Dashwood, and Elinor Dashwood.

Elinor and Marianne were portrayed well. I thought that Marianne should have been a little more emotional (just enough to prove Jane Austen's point on how over-emotion can be a bad thing). But overall, I thought these were good portrayals of Elinor and Marianne.

I thought that the actor who was Willoughby was too creepy for his role. I know he isn't a good character, but the Dashwood women were supposed to notice how handsome, charming, and unthreatening he was. Here, it seemed that anyone would be creeped out by him and you couldn't trust him just by looking at him. *shudders*

Scenery/Scenes
The scenery was a little dark for an Austen adaptation. I know Sense and Sensibility isn't as lighthearted as Pride and Prejudice or Emma, but I didn't think that it was very dark, just serious. The colors were also a little washed-out and dull for my taste; it seemed like many days were cloudy for the Dashwoods. The scenery would have been much better if there was more color present.

There were a couple of invented scenes. Like the 1995 movie, invented was the scene in which Marianne goes out for a walk in the rain at Cleveland, gets sick, and needs Colonel Brandon to bring her back. There were also scenes added to develop Edward's friendship with Margaret.

I also want to include a small note: I did not watch the first scene of this miniseries. A while ago, I saw what it was and turned it off. It was a bit of a mature scene (which I thought was out of place since Jane Austen didn't go into detail about that part). But when I heard that it was the only mature scene throughout the whole miniseries, I gave it a second chance. I can assure you that throughout the rest of the miniseries there weren't any more mature scenes.

Elinor, Marianne, and Mrs. Jennings at the ball in London.

Costuming
I did like the costuming, although I found the dresses to have a rather low waistline for the Regency era. The costuming seemed to go back and forth between Regency era gown to Gregorian gowns, which for some characters I found a little confusing, namely for Mrs. Ferrars. Mrs. Ferrars is rich and in London, in the middle of the English fashion world: why, then, was she wearing out-of-date fashions for a dinner party? I would imagine her character buying the latest fashions, not using old gowns. I noticed that Mrs. Jennings occasionally would wear older gowns, but she also had Regency gowns.

Elinor and Marianne both dressed nicely. I liked Elinor's dark purple over robe that she wears on the cover; it has a similar build to the over robes in the 1995 movie. Marianne tended to dress in bright, colorful gowns while Elinor's tended to be more sedate (showing their contrasting personalities).

Music
The music was okay, but it was mostly serious. Most of the songs had a sad overtone and were a little slow moving. There was one piece of music, however, that I thought didn't fit in with the time period. In the scene where Colonel Brandon goes out to look for Marianne at Cleveland, there was kind of an odd beginning to the piece, almost as if it came out of an 80's action movie. It seemed a little out of place, but it was a small issue.

Overall: 4/5
I'm still partial to the 1995 movie (in fact, I probably like that one a little bit more). For the 1995 version, even though characters and scenes were left out, I thought that the overall gist of Sense and Sensibility was capture (overtones, character personalities, etc.). Here, it stays closer to the book as far as scenes and including characters goes, but I thought it was a little darker than what Sense and Sensibility was written to be. But I did enjoy watching this miniseries. I wouldn't be sorry to watch it again!

Sense and Sensibility is available on DVD either on it's own or can be purchased in a collection along with Persuasion (2007). It runs for 180 minutes and it is divided into three episodes.

Review: Downton Abbey - Series 1

I had heard about Downton Abbey before it came out on Masterpiece Theater, but I didn't think too much about it. When my mom and I were at Barnes & Noble, we picked it up and bought it along with North and South (which I will review soon). I knew there were a lot of actors and actresses from other period dramas, so I was a little curious about seeing them in Downton Abbey.

Box Art

Synopsis
When the Titanic sinks, the heir of Downton Abbey it is discovered was on there and presumed dead, leaving the future of Downton in question. Robert Crawley/Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), Earl of Grantham and lord of Downton, feels that his daughter, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), should inherit Downton, but the entail will not allow her to. Downton instead will have to go to Matthew Crawley, Lord Grantham's third cousin and a lawyer.

The episode plots include plot lines that involve both the Crawley family upstairs and their servants downstairs. For example, in addition to the whole entail business, there is the sibling rivalry between Lady Mary and Lady Edith, the maid, Gwen, looking for a secretary job, Matthew and Isobel Crawley adjusting to life near Downton, etc. The episodes continue one after the other, so one episode will end with a cliffhanger that will lead into the next episode. In that respect, it kind of acts like a miniseries, but it is actually a new TV series (in fact, Series 2 is already in production, so I hear!).


Characters
There are a lot of actors and actresses from different period dramas... A lot. At the end of this review, I'll list the ones that you may recognize. I set it up in a table (kind of) that includes the actor or actresses name, their character in Downton Abbey, and another period drama they were in.

A small group of the servants that run Downton Abbey.

In addition to the lives of the Crawley family, it was also interesting to see the lives of the servants. In a lot of period dramas, you don't usually see what needs to happen to get food on the table for a grand party at a big estate: it's just there. Usually, you don't get the back stories of the servants, unless they happen to be a main character in the story, but even then, it might be only one or two servants. In Downton Abbey, you really get to know most of the staff that runs the estate and a little bit of their back story. Not only do the Crawleys have their family secrets, but so do the servants. Past lives of the servants come into the episode plots as one of the main focuses. Sometimes, the plots of the servants intertwines with the Crawley's plots, and vice versa. Somehow, most of the plot lines are intertwined by the end of the episodes.

Maggie Smith was hilarious in Downton Abbey! She plays the part of Lord Grantham's mother, Lady Violet. She constantly goes to Downton and voices her opinions. She has had a couple of funny remarks during her visits or when she comes for dinner. One of the plots that goes on is the "rivalry" between her and Isobel Crawley, Matthew Crawley's former nurse mother.

Lord and Lady Grantham (Hugh Bonneville
and Elizabeth McGovern)



Lady Grantham (or Cora, her name) was supposed to be American, but I didn't think that her accent sounded American. The actress was actually born in America, but I didn't think she sounded American, unless I am mistaken with her accent and it's just an accent that I am not familar with. She was a likable character, although you had to feel sorry for her because she places a lot of trust in O'brien, her maid, except O'brien is out for her own interests.

Brenden Coyle left Lark Rise to Candleford to be in this new series. Let me say... His character here (John Bates) is so much more likable! In Lark Rise to Candleford, his character, Robert Timmins, was getting more and more disagreeable to me, but here he's a lot more likable here. Here he is Lord Gratham's old friend who becomes his valet. At first, a lot of the other servants do not think that he should be working there since he has to use a cane to get around, but they do accept him and befriend him eventually. He really is a sympathetic character.





Scenery
As usual, BBC succeeds in bringing an interesting period drama with lovely scenery! The colors are absolutely stunning. Scenes take place inside of Downton Abbey, both upstairs where the Crawleys live and downstairs where the servants work and live. Scenes do take place outside on Downton's grounds and inside a hospital and a cottage.




Lady Mary dressed for dinner.



Costumes

There must have been some of the best costuming that I have seen in Downton Abbey. A lot of the evening dresses are very ornate and very pretty to look at. Some of the dresses had transparent sleeves, which I usually do not see in period dramas (at least the ones that I have seen). Some of the day dresses are also very nice to look at.

Some characters seem to favor a particular outfit. Lady Violet is seen often in her purple hat and outfit during the daytime making calls at Downton. Lady Grantham, when on an outing, has a white jacket with black frogs (not the animal, of course) around it.

The hats are very striking. I was never a fan of the big hats of the early 1900s, but I did like some of these. They were trimmed very nicely with bows, ribbons, and flowers.

Music
The music is much more serious in Downton Abbey than most other period dramas. In Episode 1, I thought I detected a soundtrack piece from Little Dorrit (2008). If you have seen Little Dorrit, you remember the music that plays whenever Fanny Dorrit and Mrs. Merdle meet? I think that song (or an incredibly similar one) played during the first episode. If that is the case that it is the same song, that song keeps with the serious nature of the show.


Overall: 4.5 / 5
Why, oh why did it have to end with so many cliffhangers? I really wanted to know what happens next! Well, I guess I'll have to wait for next year to see Series 2... Anyway, this was a really gripping series: at the end of each episode, I really wanted to know what happened next! There was a chance to get to know each of the characters, upstairs and downstairs. Just a warning: there were some mature themes and accompanying scenes, although I would say that the scenes were mostly in the first couple of episodes (the 1st and the 3rd, specifically). In the rest of the episodes, there is a scandal that is talked a lot about, but that was about it. I would still watch this at your own discretion. But overall, this was a very good series: great costumes, great acting, and lovely scenery! I can't wait for Series 2 to come out!

Downton Abbey - Series 1 is available on DVD and Blu-Ray. There are seven episodes in it, the first and the last being one hour long while the others were about 45 minutes long.

Recognizable Actors/Actresses

Actor -- Role in Downton Abbey -- Other Period Dramas

 

  Hugh Bonneville -- Robert Crawley -- Mr. Grandcourt from Daniel Deronda

Michelle Dockery -- Lady Mary -- Ermina Whyte from Return to Cranford

Maggie Smith -- Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham -- Lady Gresham from Becoming Jane and Betsey Trotwood from David Copperfield (1999)*
Jim Carter -- Mr. Carson -- Captain Brown from Cranford

Brendan Coyle -- John Bates -- Robert Timmins from Lark Rise to Candleford and Nicholas Higgins from North and South*
Dan Stevens -- Matthew Crawley -- Edward Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility (2008)* 

Penelope Wilton -- Isobel Crawley -- Mrs. Hamley from Wives and Daughters

Samantha Bond -- Lady Rosamund Painswick -- Mrs. Weston in Emma (1996)

* Information from Melody from Regency Delight ~Jane Austen etc.~. Thank you, Melody!

Review: Lark Rise to Candleford - Series 3

I love Lark Rise to Candleford! When I finished Series 2, I could not wait for the third series to come out. I was anxious to see what would happen since Series 2, since a lot of changes took place in the storyline.

Warning: this review contains spoilers! If you don't want to know what happens in this season until you've seen the others, you might want to skip over some parts of the review. If you are interested in Lark Rise to Candleford, you can find the review for Series 1 here. I also reviewed Series 2 here. I highly recommend this series!

Synopsis
Daniel Parish, a journalist, arrives in Candleford to inform Emma Timmins (Claudie Blakley) that she inherited a fortune from some relatives; meanwhile, Laura (Olivia Hallinan) takes a liking to Daniel since they share a love of writing. Thomas Brown and Margaret Ellison were married at the end of Series 2, and now they begin married life together. Dorcas (Julia Sawalha) adopts Sydney and strives to make him comfortable. At the stores, Ruby (Victoria Hamilton) and Pearl Pratt are keeping secrets from each other: Pearl hasn't told Ruby that their business is not doing well, and Ruby hasn't told Pearl that she has been writing letters to a man in Pontefract that she found in the personals section of the newspaper
Characters
Laura continues to get on my nerves a little more. It seemed kind of fake how in the first episode, she says that she wants to hate Daniel, but she can't, even though she would naturally be quite angry with him with what he did. I think that ever since Fisher came in Series 2, Laura has been getting increasingly annoying, which is sad because I really liked her character in Series 1. Oh well...

Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan) and Daniel Parish (Ben Aldridge).

Most of this season, I really disliked Daniel! I think it was around episode 8, 9, or 10 that I actually started to think he was tolerable. I guess I still thought that what he did in the first episode was really bad and it took me a while to, like I said, find him only tolerable. Spoiler However, when Fisher returns to Candleford to try to win Laura back, I thought that Laura should stay with Daniel (since I disliked Fisher from the start and never grew to like him). End of Spoiler

Sydney is a pleasant addition to the show... when he appears on screen. There are some episodes in which you wouldn't even know he was in the show, but he makes an addition to the episodes in which he does appear. Dorcas becomes his adoptive mother and their mother-son relationship develops throughout the season.

The relationship between Minnie and Alf begins to develop in Series 3, although a question remains: what happened to Nan from Series 2? Not that I liked Nan all that much, but it seemed that her and Alf could almost have been married, and then all of a sudden she is gone? She just disappeared in the third series. They should have written her out somehow. And Alf also got over her pretty quickly. Still, the Minnie/Alf relationship is a good plot line to have in the show.

In the middle of the series, Ruby leaves (NOOO!), so there is more time to develop Pearl's character. She becomes much softer towards the end of the series than she was at the beginning of the show. She even shows signs that she even cares for Laura towards the end.


Episode Plots
As the season goes on, the episodes do get better. The first couple of episodes I did not like, specifically episodes 1, 2, and 4. Episodes 5 and 6 weren't too bad. The rest from then on were good.

Episode 2 had a lot of superstitions in it, which is why I didn't like it too much. It seemed to revolve too much around the superstition. It seemed to be more fantasy than realistic in my view, and Lark Rise to Candleford is supposed to be about daily life in Victorian England.

A character from Series 1 comes back in Episode 7! Lady Adelaide, wife of Sir Timothy the squire, returns for one episode. I'm only sorry to say that Sir Timothy did not return; I would have liked to see how he behaved towards Dorcas since he left at the end of Series 1.

There are some episodes with scandals in them. While Episode 10 included a more serious scandal, other episodes such as episodes 6 and 8 had less serious scandals.

Scenery
Lark Rise to Candleford continues to have lovely scenery! Scenes still take place in Lark Rise (inside the hamlet houses and outside): in this season, we get to see more of the fields that many of the Lark Rise men work on. In Candleford, scenes still take place in the usual spots with an addition of the Brown's home, since they were married.


Pearl and Ruby hide secrets from each other in Series 3.

 Costuming

The costuming continues to be lovely! Everyone pretty much has their usual style of clothing. The exception would probably be Minnie. Before, we would only see her in her maid's uniform, but in this season, she begins to wear more of a variety of clothes, which are nice and very pretty.

Overall: 3.5/5
I still love Lark Rise to Candleford, but this season wasn't as good as the earlier ones (the first was the best). The first couple of episodes I didn't really like, but the rest of the episodes were good. There are some more double entendres than there were in previous seasons, but Lark Rise to Candleford still remains PG.

Lark Rise to Candleford: Series 3 is available on DVD. There are twelve episodes that are one hour long in this season.