Emma (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)Emma is a wealthy and bored young woman in Regency England. She lives the good life in her rural manse, where she lives with her hypochondriac father, and she has just successfully seen a match she's made lead to the altar. Flushed with success, she is determined to continue her role as Cupid, which leads to disaster and comedy at every turn.
Director McGrath proves to have a good eye for exterior shots and comedic elements. The script is delightful, the cast superb, and Rachel Portman's score is faultless. The real problem with this adaptation is dear Gwyneth. Paltrow is absolutely lovely and charming as the heroine here, but she is not Emma as written by Jane Austen, and the discrepancy changes the story entirely. To see this character played to perfection, you must see her played by Kate Beckinsale. Before you click the "No" button, hear me out: watch both films' version of the pivotal scene of the picnic on Boxer Hill, where Emma insults poor chatty Miss Bates. Austen's Emma is intelligent but thoughtless, generous but as yet unkind, in the way that young people can sometimes be. The essential drama of Austen's story lies in Emma's realization that she has been mistaken about oh! so many things, in her growth as she internalizes that realization, and in her discovering love when she becomes worthy of it. By contrast, Gwyneth Paltrow is perfect from the first scene. She exudes sophistication; she cannot help it. You never feel that she does not know what's what and who's who, and therefore she cannot develop as Austen means her to. And that precludes her from playing Emma to perfection. That said, if you are a Paltrow fan, you will love her in this charming film. She is effervescent. If, however, you are an Austen purist, then you MUST see the Beckinsale version instead.
Regardless of your opinion of the film, you WILL be disappointed in this DVD. Apparently Miramax's Harvey Weinstein has heard of neither bells nor whistles. Special features listed are: a theatrical trailer, subtitles in English and chapter selection. And that accurately sums it up. There's really no excuse for such a trifling package.
Now I've had my say and you, dear reader, may click away.

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This delightfully fun and lighthearted comedy is based on the story that inspired the hit movie CLUELESS! Dazzling Gwyneth Paltrow (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS) shines as EMMA, a mischievous young beauty who sets up her single friends. Funny thing is ... she's not very good at it! So when Emma tries to find a man for Harriet (Toni Collette -- THE SIXTH SENSE, ABOUT A BOY), she makes a hilariously tangled mess of everyone's lives. You'll enjoy all the comic confusion ... until Emma herself falls in love, finally freeing everyone from her outrageously misguided attempts at matchmaking.

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Wuthering Heights (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Director Coky Giedroyc provides the newly thrice-spliced Masterpiece Theatre with a two and a half-hour remake of Emily Bronte's Gothic classic, "Wuthering Heights (Signet Classics)" that adequately depicts the passionate love/hate relationship made famous by Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff for readers since 1847.
I have not had the pleasure of rereading the novel for a few years, but this adaptation seems remarkably true to the overall spirit of the story. It includes the two generations of Earnshaws and Lintons most noticeably removed from the 1939 film version starring Lawrence Olivier as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Catherine (Wuthering Heights 1939 Classic Black and White with Original Theatrical Trailer (Import, All-Region)). The non-linear time sequencing of the film's plot mirrors the timeline of the novel; the only real difference here is the absence of the novel's first person narrators, Mr. Lockwood (Heathcliff's tenant) and Nellie (housekeeper of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange). Giedroyc's version employs a third person technique in both the flashback and present day storyline to retell the Earnshaw/Linton history rather than rely on the biased comments of Bronte's storytellers.
Lockwood's absence also means the sequence of events revolving around the apparition of Catherine's ghost does not move the plotline. Instead the opening scene treats us to a vengeful Heathcliff, manipulating his sickly son Linton's marriage to the second generation Catherine, daughter of Edgar and his love. In fact, the entire aspect of the supernatural is not touched upon in the film as intensely as in the novel. Heathcliff yearns for his dead companion, and participates in a ghoulish digging up of Catherine's corpse. In a fantastic feat of cinematography the audience is privy to two vantage points: Heathcliff's vision of her--young and fully fleshed as if alive--and then the gruesome reality seen from behind Heathcliff's back--Catherine's decomposing skull. This film emphasizes the real and the gritty rather than the ethereal.
Similarly, it includes some passionate and psychologically intense moments that add carnality to the overall telling of the story that fits well with and enhances the wild emotions portrayed by Bronte. Heathcliff and his Catherine consummate their love on the moors; Edgar desperately makes love to Catherine in their marriage bed and Heathcliff commands that his wife not look at him as he takes her after their impromptu elopement. Somehow these moments add drama and needed adult content and motivation to what the other adaptations skirted around. When Heathcliff realizes that his woman has slept with Edgar, his anger boils over with helpless indignation. He wants revenge and after witnessing his closeness to Catherine, the audience sees him more as a jilted second choice despite his accomplishment; the face of the gypsy orphan still stares back at him.
Not that actor Tom Hardy resembles a gypsy in any way. His incontrollable mop of dark brown hair flops annoyingly onto his face; it definitely could use a trim or a ribbon holding it away. Nevertheless, he does the character of Heathcliff and the Byronic hero justice; he most decidedly reigns supreme in the scenes in which he participates. His passion seems almost Pilate-controlled from a steel core that is both practical and functional within the constraints of his world. However, like the novel's character, he loses himself frequently with a cynic's paranoia that lashes out with the intent to destroy whatever is in its path.
Cathy, on the other hand, as portrayed by Charlotte Riley has a feral beauty that aptly suggests the novel's heroine. However, Riley's Catherine has been "de-bratted"; the novel depicts Cathy with a nasty selfish streak while this Masterpiece Presentation shows us a confused child/woman that indeed does what she chooses but then seems at odds with the results.
Isolation plays a big part in Bronte's novel. However, this film fills the screen with an assemblage of others that makes the entire presentation more real. Rather than just the dire foursome and their progeny, villagers, church-goers, barroom card players and fighting children add authenticity to the period and in comparison more starkness to the actual footage shot on the moors.
Bottom Line? The 2009 presentation of "Wuthering Heights" created for Masterpiece Theatre Classics smolders with a raw sexuality and practical strength that will probably not please most purists. Nevertheless, the film's team put together a good adaptation that brings the feel of the novel to life without imitating other film presentations of the past. Recommended.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"


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Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology, 1978-2006 Review

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(More customer reviews)Finally, the original Superman series hits Blu ray. I still don't get why this didn't happen way back in 2006 when the dvd set came out. All we got were a poor transfer of the extended version of the first film, a great transfer of the Donner Cut of part 2, and a fairly poor transfer of Superman Returns. Here we get 'em all, plus they are all new transfers from the previous releases making it beyond worth picking up.
All, and I mean ALL, the special features from the previous dvd set is included in this eight blu ray disc box set. Now maybe someone out there can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall, on the box set dvd or the blu ray, the previous releases of Superman Returns having the deleted scene of Superman returning the barron and destroyed planet Krypton searching for life in his crystal spaceship. I've never seen this five minutes sequence before in my life. I've only seen snippets of it on the theatrical trailers for the film. Well, I got to see it for the first time today. While Returns is no great film, this scene should have been left in. It would've opened the film up more. Even weirder is this scene is completely finished. All the effects are GREAT and finished and polished. I can't believe they cut this scene. Hell, there were even action figures made of Superman's space suit and his ship back in 2006 for a sequence that was never even seen by mainstream film goers. Whatever. All the other deleted scenes and extended cuts are here too. All the films have their commentaries included, except Returns which never had one unfortunately.
Of course some of the special features are repetitive. The commentaries repeat some of the info give in the featurettes and documentaries. Back in 2001 a box set for the first four films was released on dvd. Only the first film had special features and an extended cut. The documentary, cut into three parts, is included. While this doc repeats a lot of what is on the eighth disc's featurettes regarding the whole series' history, it does skim over the on set tensions and the firing of Richard Donner from the directing duties of part 2. So, essentially, if you're a hardcore fan like me, you will have to view both. We get the first feature film of Superman starring George Reeves called Superman and the Mole Men, not really in HD unfortunately. Even better is we the classic animated shorts from Fleischer studios. They're not cleaned up but they look pretty good in a low grade version of hi def. The audio of all movies has been upgraded and it reall shows.
Shockingly to me, is that the AWFUL Superman IV: The Quest for Peace looks really good in hi def. I mean, it never looked that good, and all the edges of the effects always showed, but the blu ray transfer doesn't make them MORE apparent, but the colors look good. Go figure. My favorite part of the part IV disc is the deleted scenes. Now these scenes make the film seem more whole and help it make a ton more sense, especially towards the third act, but the movie stilled would've been just as awful. It just would've been a comprehensible mess as opposed to what it is. I also appreciate co-screenwriter Mark Rosenthal committing a commentary to this disc, as well as an interview for the 8th disc docs. He is frank and never once tries to polish this turd that he worked on. He's the only one from this film that even bothered to comment, so I more than appreciate it. Something about filmmakers talking about movies that didn't work always intrigues me more than the ones that do, just see the Joel Schumacher commentary for Batman and Robin. Superman Returns FINALLY looks the way it should. The colors pop and the sound booms. All previous dvd and blu ray versions of this film were terrible, and even more so when you see the new disc, which kept all the previous releases special features and included the video diaries which were an exclusive to the Superman tin from 2006.
Finally, the last thing I'll mention, is Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. This is the best special feature ever made for any movie ever made in the history of movies. I'm super happy that Warner Brothers paid to have this experiment made, that Donner cared enough to give it a whirl, and that it was worth watching. Most people who initially reviewed this movie just DIDN'T GET IT. It wasn't a complete representation of Donner's vision for Superman II. Most people complained that it had the same ending as the first film. Well, if you bothered to listen to the commentary or watch the doc that accompanies the disc you would know that they were behind while shooting both films back to back, and decided to hedge their bets and not assume that Superman: The Movie would be an instant hit. They stole the ending from part II and stuck it on the first film. Since Donner never got to make part II he has no ending to put but the one that was scripted when he was making the film over thirty years ago. So this is more of an experiment than a competition for the theatrical Lester version. This is as close to Donner's movie as we'll ever get. Personally, I loved it. The screen test footage sticks out like a sore thumb, the acting and writing is GREAT, and Superman's reveal to Lois is clever and fun, as opposed to the dumb Lester version of Clark tripping into a fire. If you watch the doc or listen to the commentary you will understand what shots were all Donner stuff. If you have a keen eye for film you'll now anyway. The effects work and photography and choreography for Donner's footage is sooooo much more graceful and classy. While his films have goofy humor, the villains from Krypton are played straight and malevolent, unlike the Lester version. Now I don't hate the Lester version. It's enjoyable, but an obvious step down in tone and quality from the first film. It will forever be the offical sequel due to Donner never having filmed or even been give the opportunity to come up with a third act. Now the only annoyance of the Donner cut for me, beyond the reused end of the first film, is that the middle section is very choppy. The scenes that cut between the alien invasion and Superman and Lois falling further in love are harshly edited and don't always breath enough. That's it. Donner reveals much bitterness regarding not having stayed on board for all the Superman movies, but he seems jovial all the time. I'm happy he was able to get some closure, and really happy that fans like me could have such a neat gift. It's also bittersweet in the sense that the Donner cut shows so much potential it makes you feel slighted regarding what he eventually got with the series and the downward spiral it took.
All discs are upgraded in audio and visuals so for any Superman fan it's a no brainer. This is an upgrade. Now I understand if you don't care to own the later films, but you will have to wait as I'm sure they will all be released individually just like the Batman films. This will probably happen to coincide with the release of Zach Snyder's upcoming Superman film next year. I'm hoping the next Superman film is truly just a tale of Superman and NOT another origin story. It's been done in the comics, movies, cartoons, and tv shows. NO MORE. Who doesn't know Superman's origins at this point. I will be very bored if that's the case. We'll see. Fingers crossed.

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Persuasion (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Persuasion" is tied with "Pride & Prejudice" as my top favorite Jane Austen novel. I was looking forward to this version, after being a little disappointed with the 1995 adaptation (actors were a bit too old for their roles, I thought, but that's another review).
While "Northanger Abbey" is a story of young love, "Persuasion" is a story of love lost. Anne Eliott was once engaged to Frederick Wentworth but has had to give up the engagement due to the persuasion of her friend Lady Russell. Anne is the daughter of a baronet and Frederick is a young lieutenant with little prospects and was deemed by her friends and family as not worthy enough to marry Anne. Fast forward to 7 or so years later, and Anne's family is in dire circumstances. Her family has to move from their large country estate to Bath in an effort to retrench and avoid further debt. Frederick returns to England as a wealthy and highly eligible naval captain and his and Anne's paths meet again. Frederick is pursued by 2 of Anne's younger sisters-in-law while Anne is left to wonder what might have been. After a stressful visit to Lyme, Frederick and Anne's paths briefly separate. Anne moves to Bath where she is pursued by her cousin William Eliott and she crosses paths with Frederick again. Will love triumph the second time around?
Whether you agree or disagree with my assessment of the 1995 version starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, I think you will find that Rupert Penry-Jones and Sally Hawkins are wonderful in their roles as Frederick Wentworth and Anne Eliott. Sally Hawkins - unknown to me until now - gives a soul-stirring and endearing performance as Jane Austen's long suffering heroine. Rupert Penry-Jones is aptly dashing and handsome, though perhaps a little bland, as Frederick (I'd take him over Ciaran Hinds any day). The supporting cast is solid - with a few exceptions - and the screenplay, up until the last 10 minutes, stays true to the tone and spirit of the book. The production values, costumes and locations are excellent. This scores points for actually filming in Bath and Lyme (actual locations from the book). Another high note is Martin Phipps (who also composed the amazing score of BBC's "North & South) who delivers yet another stirring score.
The reasons for the 4 stars are as follows (warning, spoilers!):
a) Casting - I absolutely detest Amanda Hale as Mary Musgrove. She is annoying and stands out in a bad way from the rest of the cast. Julia Davis is also off as Elizabeth Eliott and looks more like Anne's wicked stepmom than her older (by 2 years) sister. Elizabeth is supposed to be beautiful and elegant, and Julia Davis is nowhere near this. Surely there are more than enough talented British actresses who could have played these roles.
b) Changes - Some long-time fans will be a little irritated with the changes made to famous scenes from the book. This is where the 1995 version triumphs over this version. While the Amanda Root version remained faithful to the book, this version strayed in some of the vital scenes such as the dialogue between Captain Harville and Anne on woman's constancy; and the scene where Frederick writes a letter to Anne.
c) The last 10 minutes - where Anne runs around Bath like a headless turkey - almost completely ruined it for me. Whoever thought of sending a docile, elegant, poised, upper-class lady like Anne to run around town like a servant girl is beyond me. The adaptation would have been outstanding except for this miscalculation. I am not a purist, but there is just so much a long-time Jane Austen fan can take and this one crossed the line for me.
All in all, however, I give it 4 stars for Sally, Rupert, most of the supporting cast, Bath, the score and the first 80 minutes. It goes along swimmingly up until the climax, at which point I have to fast forward to skip the part I detest. A good and solid adaptation, but "Northanger Abbey" starring JJ Feild and Felicity Jones gets my vote as my favorite of the recent Jane Austen adaptations.

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Jane Austen’s romantic masterpiece comes to DVD in a thrilling new production from the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre. Anne Elliot fell deeply in love with the handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend him, Anne was persuaded to break off her engagement. Eight years later, Anne has lived to regret her decision. She never stopped loving Wentworth, and when he returns from sea with a fortune and rank, she can only watch as every eligible young woman in the district falls at his feet.

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