Period Drama Week Tag: Part 4

16. Who are your favourite actors/actresses from period drama?

Colin Firth

He's a great actor! He portrayed the definitive Mr. Darcy in the 1995 miniseries for Pride and Prejudice and also earned his Oscar for his portrayal of King George VI in The King's Speech.

Jennifer Ehle

Loved her as Elizabeth Bennet! She captured the wit and brightness that Jane Austen put into her!

Romola Garai

At first, I wasn't quite sure about her Emma. I thought that she was a little annoying, but then isn't Emma annoying at the beginning of Emma? By the time the miniseries was over, I grew to like Emma (just like when I read the book), and I knew Romola Garai was the best Emma. She also acted very well in Amazing Grace.

17. Do you prefer watching a regular-length movie or a more in-depth mini-series? Why?
 I much prefer watching a miniseries. With four or more hours, you get much more of a feel for the characters and their personalities and the story has enough time to develop, which is harder for a regular length movie.

18. What period drama has one of your favorite actors/actresses in it?

Pride and Prejudice

Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. 'Nuff said.

Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey has so many actors and actresses in there that I recognize. Seriously, it's like they took every actor that was in a period drama and casted them in here! Take a look at my review to see the actors and actresses that were in here that were in other period dramas!

19. Which heroine from which movie was your least favorite? Why?
I'll list a couple that aren't on my favorites list.

Nan St. George (The Buccaneers)

I just couldn't take Nan seriously. For the first half of the movie, they show her playing with her sister and friends and they were practically acting like five year olds. Her character also took an immoral route, which I really didn't like. She's just not a very good role model.

Evangeline Eliott (House of Eliott)

I always preferred Evie's sister, Bea, to her since Bea was always much more sensible than Evie. Evie was always emotional and based her decisions on emotion. I kind of like Evie until Season 2 when she came back from Paris. Afterwards, she was portrayed as being more "worldly" (kind of like Laura Timmins, she started to be a know-it-all). Plus, she made some immoral decisions, so I lost respect for her.

Laura Timmins (Lark Rise to Candleford)

I won't say that I always disliked Laura. During the first season of Lark Rise to Candleford, Laura was more innocent and it worked for her. She was just trying to learn how to work in the post office and to do her job right. She continued this way until the fifth episode of Season 2... when she met Fisher Bloom. Suddenly, she wasn't the Laura that I had come to like. Spoiler Then, when Fisher leaves, she spends a couple of episodes moping around about Fisher (understandable: break-ups can be hard). But then when she recovered, End of Spoiler she became this Know-it-all! She started to get a bit irritating. I still like Lark Rise to Candleford, but I definitely would say that Season 1 and 2 were the best seasons. Still, I would say that Lark Rise to Candleford a favorite of mine since Season 1 was so good!

20. Which three period dramas are your least favorite? 

In other words, which period dramas that I disliked the most. Here we go! Feel free to disagree, but respect my opinion on this question. This is just my honest opinion.

The Buccaneers (1995)

This is the one that I dislike the most. I can only describe it as horrendous. Besides the very mature, unnecessary scenes and themes, there really wasn't a character that you could relate to much. At least with me (and my mom also noticed it too), I couldn't take any of the girls seriously: they were much too silly for me. I will say that some of the scenery is okay and some of the costumes were okay (though some weren't), but they weren't enough to save this miniseries. It also seemed like at the end, the main characters were either a) unhappy with their lives or b) happy with their lives, but got it through rotten means.

Middlemarch (1994)

I felt that the whole thing was pretty boring... Plus even after five hours, I still didn't know who half the characters were (which, after five hours, you should not only recognize them, but really know them well). Content wise, it wasn't nearly as bad as The Buccaneers (though there was one scene that you may want to skip). But the whole thing came off as very dull.

A Christmas Carol (2009)

Two words: Jim Carrey. Okay, right from the movie poster, you could tell what kind of a movie it was, but Jim Carrey didn't help. I know there are a lot of people who really like Jim Carrey (though I never really did) and in certain roles, his hyper acting can be useful, but it really didn't work here. I mean, at the end when Scrooge was overjoyed, it wasn't Scrooge at all -- it was just Jim Carrey... Plus there were moments that resembled The Lord of the Rings than A Christmas Carol and there were costuming issues in the flashbacks (I know, I'm criticizing a animated movie on costuming, but it wouldn't be that hard to draw in/animate historically correct costuming). I can't say that a young child would enjoy it -- there are moments that would be too frightening for young children (hey, it was almost a little much for me!). My suggestion: watch another version of A Christmas Carol...

And that is all of the questions! Thanks for reading!


God Bless,
 

Period Drama Week Tag: Part 3

11. Which period drama which you haven't seen yet do you most want to watch?

There are a couple on my list of movies to watch. I'm not sure which ones I want to watch the most, but on the list (at least the ones which we own the DVD for) are...

Sense and Sensibility (1971)...

...Elizabeth: The Golden Age (My mom got it for Christmas, so we'll have to watch it eventually)...

...and Lost in Austen. I've heard that people either love this film or hate it, so I'll have to see what I think of it!

But they might have to wait for a little while: my mom and I started to watch The Duchess of Duke Street a little while ago (and we're enjoying it). It stars Gemma Jones, who was Mrs. Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Mrs. Fairfax in Jane Eyre (1997). When we're done watching Season 1 (out of 2), then I'll review it.

And, of course, I'm eagerly awaiting Season 2 of Downton Abbey (Which better be good! Season 1 left so many loose ends!).

12. Which period drama has the prettiest soundtrack or background music?
That's one of the things I love about period dramas -- the soundtracks. I'm not sure if I can pick just one soundtrack that has the prettiest, so I'll list a couple here.

 

The Pride and Prejudice (1995) soundtrack is very lovely. There are a number of very pretty pieces in there.

Another lovely soundtrack is the Sense and Sensibility (1995) soundtrack. Unfortunately, Kate Winslet's singing parts were left out, but the rest of the music is very lovely.

Unfortunately now on CD, there are a number of lovely background pieces in Little Dorrit (2008). The tone is a bit sad, but they are still pretty.

The main theme of Downton Abbey is amazing. Although there is one piece I swear is straight out of Little Dorrit, but overall, there are very lovely pieces in there. The soundtrack has not been released yet, so I haven't heard any of the songs outside of the series.

Lots of great pieces in The King's Speech Soundtrack. Love the rehearsal song!

13. Which period drama has your favorite screenplay/script? Why?

I love, love, love, love, love the screenplay for Pride and Prejudice (1995): it stays true to the original novel (in other words, I don't go through it thinking "You didn't say that! She did!") and it's very well written. The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies, who does make some really good scripts (though lately he's been adding some unnecessary scenes).

14. Do you like having multiple versions of some period dramas? Do some period dramas need a newer version? Or are the older versions better?

Sometimes I like multiple versions, other times not so much. For Pride and Prejudice, for example, I absolutely love the 1995 version, so if I watch another version of Pride and Prejudice, I'm usually disappointed (let's face it, Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy). I have seen the three latest versions of Emma, though. I love the 2009 version of Emma, but I did also like the Gwyneth Paltrow version (though it does seem to go by quickly!)

Mansfield Park (2007): What did you think of it?

As for new period dramas, there are a couple that I think need a better version. I've only started reading Mansfield Park not too long ago and never seen any of the movie versions, but from what I've heard, I think there needs to be a better version of it that most people can agree upon as the best version. There's at least one good version of each of Jane Austen's novels except Mansfield Park (though Northanger Abbey (2007) could have been improved by a lot script-wise, but it'll do for now). After Mansfield Park, there does need to be a better version of Northanger Abbey: from what I've heard about the 80's version, it's not good at all, and while the 2007 version had good actors and good acting, the script needed improvement (plus a great deal of it must have been invention).

 As far as the older period dramas being better goes, it depends: there are some older versions of period dramas that can't be improved upon much more, so any future ones would be looked upon possibly as a disappointment (see what I said above about Pride and Prejudice). But if there really isn't a "good", older version of a period drama, then I think the newer ones tend to be better. Like I said, it depends.

15. "What is the longest period drama you've seen?"

Miniseries: probably Little Dorrit (2008) (which was about six to seven hours long)

Regular Series: Lark Rise to Candleford (2008 - 2011) (4 seasons, 40 episodes)

 Stay Tuned for the Final Part of my Period Drama Week Tag!

God Bless,
 

Period Drama Week Tag: Part 2

Continuing my Period Drama Week Tag! Here's part 2!

6. Which author do you like the adaptations of their works best?
 Obviously Jane Austen! But I also liked the Elizabeth Gaskell adaptations (but to me North and South was only okay).

7. Which period drama characters are the funniest to you (Keep it under three)?

Lady Violet (Downton Abbey)

Lady Violet is the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey. She constantly butts heads with Cora, the current Countess of Grantham. There are a number of great lines from her and said perfectly by Maggie Smith. She's hilarious! I love her quote "So put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

Twister Turrill (Lark Rise to Candleford)

Okay, I'll admit that I liked him a lot better in Season 1 (halfway through Season 2, he got a little annoying), but Twister is an amusing character. One of my favorite quotes from him is this (though I'm recalling this purely from memory; the actual quote may be different) "Young Alf, can I borrow your hat? I was going to do a trick for our squire, the one where I make my hat disappear, and it in't anywhere to be found."

8. Which period drama characters are the most annoying (Keep it under three)?
Ooh! We all have them! Those characters that just annoy you! Here are some of them. There are probably a lot more.

John Willoughby (Sense and Sensibility)

He doesn't take his responsibilities. He makes women believe that he loved them and then leaves and breaks their hearts! Plus, he was speaking so cruelly about Colonel Brandon!

William Dorrit (Little Dorrit)

I did feel sorry for him at the beginning of Little Dorrit: poor guy, he had been cooped up in the Marshalsea for twenty-one years.Spoilers But when he got his fortune, he turned into a really big jerk! He valued his eldest daughter Fanny, who's very rude, over Amy who is all kindness! In fact, he would put down Amy frequently for not "acting like a lady" because she didn't do nothing all day. End of Spoiler

Edward Rochester (Jane Eyre)

*Ducks for Cover* I know there are a lot of girls that love him, but I honestly can't see how. He just absolutely irritates me! He is very rude; he messed with Jane's feelings and made her think that he doesn't care for her; he lied to Jane; and then he wanted Jane to do something that would censure her from society; he can't control his temper or emotions (he obviously hasn't read Sense and Sensibility). Again, I know there are a lot out there that would disagree with me, but still...

9. Which period drama characters are in your top three?
Again, I'm probably going to have to exclude Jane Austen characters since they would take up my three. But, if you would like to read about them, click here for my Jane Austen Week Questions.

Cora (Downton Abbey)

Like I said before, she cares for her daughters and tries to get them good husbands since Downton is entailed away from them.

Amy Dorrit (Little Dorrit)

Again, Amy is a very caring character -- she takes care of her family even though they don't appreciate her as they should, and she continued to care for them.

Beatrice Eliott (House of Elliot)
I really like Bea -- she was a lot more sensible than her sister, Evie, she had a mind for business, and she loved to sew.

10. When you watch period dramas, what is it that you pay the closest attention to (ie. costuming, scenery, etc.)?

I pay attention to a number of things when I watch period dramas. I'm not quite sure which I pay the most attention to, but there are a couple of things that I pay very close attention to. Costuming definitely, since I like sewing historical costumes. When I pay attention to the costuming, I can also usually pick out any anachronisms in the fashion. I also notice quickly if I've seen an actor or actress in another period drama.

Stay tuned for Part 3!




 God Bless,
 

Period Drama Week Tag: Part 1

Like last time, I also want to participate in the tag. Here is the first part in what I plan to be four parts of my answers. Enjoy!

1. How did you get into period dramas?

It all started when I watched Pride and Prejudice (1995) with my mom. I really enjoyed watching it with her. After that, my mom would start to buy period dramas for us to watch that she would find browsing through Amazon, and she's continued to do so ever since... Either that or we go to Barnes and Noble and find period dramas to watch :-D

2. What is it that you like about period dramas?
A couple of things:
  1. Unlike most movies/TV shows today, the best period dramas offer good moral lessons. It seems like a lot of the recent movies/TV shows of today show us windows into the worst aspects of human nature. With period dramas, there is usually at least one (if not more) characters that you can relate to and see more of the positives in human nature. Granted that there are some characters in period dramas that do not exhibit good morals, but they do not outshine the good characters.
  2. The costuming is amazing! I spend quite a bit of time while I'm watching a period drama simply looking at the dresses.
  3. For the most part, period dramas don't get as graphic as most movies/TV shows today do. I know, there are a couple that do have one or two scenes that are inappropriate, but from what I've noticed there's a lot less of it in period dramas than in a lot of modern movies. Plus in period dramas, you can usually skip those one or two scenes easily and not miss out on anything important.

3. Do you usually read a book and then watch the adaptation or do you watch the adaptation and then read the book?

 I usually end up watching the adaptation before reading the book. If I see a period drama that I really like, I usually plan on reading the book so I can get the little details that I missed. I know you're supposed to read the book then watch the movie, but that rarely happens with me ;-)

4. What are your top three period dramas and why?
I'm going to have to exclude Jane Austen period dramas for this question, since my top three period dramas are Jane Austen period dramas, which you would have already seen for Jane Austen Week. In which case, it would have been Pride and Prejudice (1995), Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Emma (2009), but you can read about them at my tag for Jane Austen Week here... Anyways, for non-Jane Austen period dramas...

Downton Abbey

I really love this series, but it does have it's issues (namely two scenes that are inappropriate and unnecessary). Excepting those scenes (which are found in episodes 1 and 3 if you want to avoid them), the rest of the show is very good. The costuming is spectacular and great to look at (especially the hats), the acting is very well done, and if you've seen a lot of period dramas, you may recognize a good deal of the cast. Why did season 1 have to end with so many cliffhangers? Can't wait for season 2 to come out on DVD! So I highly recommend this series, but with an asterisk (maybe not a literal asterisk, but you get my point).

Little Dorrit

Again, another very interesting period drama and I recommend it, but when I do recommend it, I warn that there are two major scenes that you may want to skip (Episodes 2 and the end of 13 and beginning of 14). But besides those two scenes, the acting is very good and very enjoyable to watch. The entire miniseries is 6-7 hours long, so be prepared to sit down and watch it for a while over a couple of nights.

Lark Rise to Candleford: Season 1 and 2
I say Seasons 1 and 2 since I didn't think 3 and 4 were as good (in fact, they probably didn't help the series very much), but still, I love Lark Rise to Candleford! It's something that you can sit down and watch and not have to really worry too much about.

Some runner ups (no particular order) - Cranford, House of Eliott, The King's Speech, He Knew He Was Right (for the subplots), The Barchester Chronicles

5. From those three period dramas that you picked, who are your favorite characters in each one?
From Downton Abbey

Ahh! There are so many characters that I like in Downton Abbey, but just one favorite? Hmm... How do I pick between Robert, Cora, Lady Violet, Anna, and Bates? Hmmm... I think my absolute favorite character in Downton Abbey is probably Cora. She cares for her daughters: she tries to get her daughters married so they can be settled and taken care of since Downton Abbey is entailed away. Tough choice, though!


From Little Dorrit

Amy, of course! She's such a sweet character. She does so much for her family and she continues to help them even though they don't appreciate her. She doesn't complain, she simply does what needs to get done.

From Lark Rise to Candleford

Hmmm... Another tough one. Probably Dorcas Lane. Yeah, she does get too much involved in other people's business, but she means well. She also keeps up a professional appearance at the post office even though a lot could be going on in an episode.

 Keep an eye out for Part 2!

God Bless,