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New "Brideshead Revisited" film opening 7/25/08 (spoilers)
Meryl:
Oh dear. :(
Guess I'll just hang onto my memories of Jeremy and Anthony, Claire and Sir Larry. :-\
Thanks for scouting it out and writing such a perceptive, though damning, review, Paul. :-*
P.S. - I like Jonathan Cake (Johnnycake, heh!), too. He was very good (and hot) as a gladiator in "Empire" on TV a few years back.
*waves to John*
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: Meryl on July 26, 2008, 12:35:39 am ---
*waves to John*
--- End quote ---
Hi, Meryl! Take a look--I posted the photos of our lovely outing today! Thanks again! J
Aloysius J. Gleek:
From The New York Times Video:
Screen Test: Matthew Goode
Lynn Hirschberg speaks with Matthew Goode, one of the stars of the movie version of "Brideshead Revisited."
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=130dffc247754ca375dadf61f2b9f5b3211080e3
(He's actually adorable. He thinks so too, but regardless. The video is 5:28.)
oilgun:
--- Quote from: southendmd on July 25, 2008, 11:47:46 pm ---Just got home. Time to scribble a review.
Brideshead Revved: All revved up and no place to go.
Opening night at the splendiferously Art Deco Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. Just a few dour-looking Anglophiles in line behind my friend Vin and me. Not a good sign. No previews for some reason; straight to the film.
I expected that condensing the novel would be a challenge. It started and ended with wartime Charles, but went backwards before going forwards, even inexplicably repeating a scene on the ocean liner.
Very rushed, very loud at the beginning. So rushed, that none of the relationships made any sense. There was no time for the attractions to develop, and even so, no chemistry among the triangulaires. Lots of fake, coarse dialogue not from the novel. Heavy-handed symbolism at every turn: close-up on the dropped rosary; close-up on Julia's crucifix. We get it, they're Catholics!
Strangely, the film slowed down in the last reel, slow like a diamond-encrusted turtle.
Overly dark interior shots, odd camera angles, lots of statuary framed against the sky. It seemed that half the film was the same close-up of Matthew Goode, showing the same face with the same expression. Granted it's a nice face, with big greenish eyes. But it managed to convey absolutely nothing. His Charles was very unsympathetic; always peering in doorways, he seems as shallow as a gold-digger.
Poor Ben Whishaw. (Sorry, Gil.) His Sebastian is neither cute nor charming. Rather, he's slight, high-pitched, whiny, sing-songy and pathetic. So he doesn't really have too far to fall. The kiss was completely chaste and forgettable.
Hayley Atwell as Julia. Hmm, well, at least she looked like she could be Ben's sister.
Emma Thompson surprised me: she was not the she-devil I had expected from the trailer; rather the opposite. Hers was the most subtle performance, even while uttering some awful lines.
I liked the guy who played Rex (Jonathan Cake). He made a great and believable cad.
The rest of the cast were caricature cameos; most were given 8.2 seconds. Even Anthony Blanche was boring.
Directing: choppy.
Script: coarse, obvious, no poetry.
Cinematography: annoying.
Cast: unsubtle, no passion, no chemistry.
Costumes: some strange choices, but I liked Sebastian's red pyjamas.
Music: maybe the best thing.
Castle Howard: too many scenes at the damned fountain.
Venice: completely wasted.
Miscellaneous: why were there giant cargo planes landing in Brideshead's backyard?
My friend Vin's review: "why bother?"
Summary: Brideshead Reader's Digest.
--- End quote ---
Yikes! Maybe I'll skip this one and see THE LAST MISTRESS instead! :o
optom3:
--- Quote from: Meryl on July 26, 2008, 12:35:39 am ---Oh dear. :(
Guess I'll just hang onto my memories of Jeremy and Anthony, Claire and Sir Larry. :-\
Thanks for scouting it out and writing such a perceptive, though damning, review, Paul. :-*
P.S. - I like Jonathan Cake (Johnnycake, heh!), too. He was very good (and hot) as a gladiator in "Empire" on TV a few years back.
*waves to John*
--- End quote ---
O.K Methinks I will give this one a miss. I loved the original T.V series.
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