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The Tudors - 1x01 review
Apr. 9th, 2007 02:05 pm(Not an actual post; something I wrote up last week and only now found the Internet with which to post it. As for the icon, it just felt right.)
I actually wrote this review last Tuesday, after watching the episode for the first time. I did have to go back and rewatch a few scenes to double-check certain things, and I plan to watch the entire episode again before I go into the second one, but that won't be for some time yet.
Overall, I would have to appropriate![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
atropos333's term and call myself cautiously optimistic. Only one thing in this first episode *truly* annoyed me, but there were a few other niggling issues, some of which I am willing to acknowledge might be due to the fact that I've not read up on Henry VIII recently, having been more occupied with his father and various others--other than Carolly Erickson's biography of Anne Boleyn that I found by accident at Half-Price Books last week and have just started--and therefore don't remember the chronology as well as I might like.
( Full review below. Spoilers for 1x01. )
In all, as I said, I'm cautiously optimistic. The first episode definitely established Henry's character, which I can only imagine was intentional since he's the focal point of the series and everybody else orbits around him, as it were. All the major players seem to have been at least introduced, and I'm certainly looking forward to the next episode.
I actually wrote this review last Tuesday, after watching the episode for the first time. I did have to go back and rewatch a few scenes to double-check certain things, and I plan to watch the entire episode again before I go into the second one, but that won't be for some time yet.
Overall, I would have to appropriate
atropos333's term and call myself cautiously optimistic. Only one thing in this first episode *truly* annoyed me, but there were a few other niggling issues, some of which I am willing to acknowledge might be due to the fact that I've not read up on Henry VIII recently, having been more occupied with his father and various others--other than Carolly Erickson's biography of Anne Boleyn that I found by accident at Half-Price Books last week and have just started--and therefore don't remember the chronology as well as I might like.( Full review below. Spoilers for 1x01. )
In all, as I said, I'm cautiously optimistic. The first episode definitely established Henry's character, which I can only imagine was intentional since he's the focal point of the series and everybody else orbits around him, as it were. All the major players seem to have been at least introduced, and I'm certainly looking forward to the next episode.
Henry VIII: Rockstar?
Mar. 4th, 2007 01:55 pm(Apparently I'm spamming today)
I just found out -- literally about five minutes ago -- that Showtime is doing a series based on Henry VIII.
Judging from the previews it could be good, or it could be absolutely utterly horrendous. The goal for the series, it appears, is to portray a younger and more approachable Henry. Which I can certainly understand and find interesting. That being said, the screenwriter is the same man who wrote Elizabeth, which automatically puts me on my guard. Decent enough film, absolutely butchered the history.
And, of course, this being Showtime, lots of violence and general debauchery à la Rome. Not a bad thing, just an observation.
However, the series does have Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Henry), Sam Neill (Wolsey), and Jeremy Northam (Thomas More). Plus an unknown playing Anne Boleyn who actually looks like she can pull it off (though in my mind she will need to compete with Genevieve Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days, very difficult to do).
Apparently the Tudors are popular these days. Not surprising, given the Philippa Gregory juggernaut. Now, if only someone would wander back a few decades so they could add a chapter to my dissertation...
ETA (14:20): A number of comments on YouTube focus on how much JRM does not look like Henry VIII, as in he doesn't have red hair. I'm actually not bothered by this, since Richard Burton didn't have red hair either and he still did a very good job playing Henry VIII. I suppose it will all depend on the performance.
And is it proof of my fount of useless knowledge that I recognised every single piece of music used in the Showtime trailer?
I just found out -- literally about five minutes ago -- that Showtime is doing a series based on Henry VIII.
Judging from the previews it could be good, or it could be absolutely utterly horrendous. The goal for the series, it appears, is to portray a younger and more approachable Henry. Which I can certainly understand and find interesting. That being said, the screenwriter is the same man who wrote Elizabeth, which automatically puts me on my guard. Decent enough film, absolutely butchered the history.
And, of course, this being Showtime, lots of violence and general debauchery à la Rome. Not a bad thing, just an observation.
However, the series does have Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Henry), Sam Neill (Wolsey), and Jeremy Northam (Thomas More). Plus an unknown playing Anne Boleyn who actually looks like she can pull it off (though in my mind she will need to compete with Genevieve Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days, very difficult to do).
Apparently the Tudors are popular these days. Not surprising, given the Philippa Gregory juggernaut. Now, if only someone would wander back a few decades so they could add a chapter to my dissertation...
ETA (14:20): A number of comments on YouTube focus on how much JRM does not look like Henry VIII, as in he doesn't have red hair. I'm actually not bothered by this, since Richard Burton didn't have red hair either and he still did a very good job playing Henry VIII. I suppose it will all depend on the performance.
And is it proof of my fount of useless knowledge that I recognised every single piece of music used in the Showtime trailer?
NerdMoment™
Dec. 10th, 2004 07:39 pmI just came back from spending about five and a half hours in the Rare Books Room at the University Library.
What was I doing?
Poking through a nine-volume genealogical history of French nobility.
Why do I do this?
Because, in my strange and twisted mind, it's ever so much fun. Seeing how they fit together. Seeing how truly messed-up everyone was. Finding out that Guilhem IX the Troubadour Prince of Aquitaine was just as much of a lech as I'd read in other sources. That Geoffroy à la Grand Dent did technically exist and did have a reputation for burning down monasteries. Now my question is, did the name stem from the legend, or did he have one giant tooth?
Of course, part of this was viable research on the Courtenays. Must do more over the next few days before heading to Swansea. But quite a bit of it was my own perusal of Aquitaine (Guyenne), Anjou, Lusignan (Lezignem), and de Montfort for random novel backstory. None of it is actually going to show up in the novel, but as far as I'm concerned, it makes things make sense to me, and that's all that matters.
I've reserved one of the books (the one I didn't finish with) to work on tomorrow. And I actually woke up at a decent hour--9:30 AM--today! Go me!
What was I doing?
Poking through a nine-volume genealogical history of French nobility.
Why do I do this?
Because, in my strange and twisted mind, it's ever so much fun. Seeing how they fit together. Seeing how truly messed-up everyone was. Finding out that Guilhem IX the Troubadour Prince of Aquitaine was just as much of a lech as I'd read in other sources. That Geoffroy à la Grand Dent did technically exist and did have a reputation for burning down monasteries. Now my question is, did the name stem from the legend, or did he have one giant tooth?
Of course, part of this was viable research on the Courtenays. Must do more over the next few days before heading to Swansea. But quite a bit of it was my own perusal of Aquitaine (Guyenne), Anjou, Lusignan (Lezignem), and de Montfort for random novel backstory. None of it is actually going to show up in the novel, but as far as I'm concerned, it makes things make sense to me, and that's all that matters.
I've reserved one of the books (the one I didn't finish with) to work on tomorrow. And I actually woke up at a decent hour--9:30 AM--today! Go me!
