Greetings, everyone, and a Happy New Year to you all.
Since my hunk o' burnin' love dragged me to see the new "Zorro" movie on Friday night (it was somewhat diverting), last night he allowed me to drag him to a chick flick: the latest Pride and Prejudice movie.
Was I just not in a movie mood last night, or was that an entirely forgettable film? And what was up with that extra scene at the end? It was way sappy and completely out of place. ("Mrs. Darcy" [kiss], "Mrs. Darcy" [smooch], "Mrs. Darcy" [snoggle], "Mrs. Darcy" [slurp]....) There seemed to be an awful lot of groaning in that scene, too, but that might have been me.
Listen, I'm a romance writer. I'm not averse to a good love scene. But if P&P had needed all that Mrs. Darcying at the end, dear Jane would have written it that way, all right?
My remarkably astute husband noticed my disgruntled state (I'm sure I never mentioned it more than half a dozen times--after 30 years he is amazingly attuned to my moods) and drove directly to the nearest Starbucks. But they were closed! So we came home and ground some of Caribou's excellent "Rainforest Blend" beans and I was happy again. Especially when I remembered we hadn't yet eaten the rum-laced chocolate mousse my guy had made earlier to accompany our dinner of baked red snapper and vegetable-stuffed potatoes. After the mainline hits of chocolate and coffee, I was myself again, so I cruised over to iTunes and downloaded the soundtrack from Pride and Prejudice.
I'm listening to it right now. Lots of very sweet piano pieces, and--big surprise here--one of the nicest tracks is the very last, which is entitled, for some strange reason, "Mrs Darcy."
14 comments:
I didn't like this version much either. Not the world's biggest Keira Knightly fan.
Best wishes for a great year.
I have heard that several other places - you are not alone -
As an avid lover of the A&E version - that movie fell short - but watching it on the big screne made up for some!
(found your blog on romancing the blog - just peeking!)
I saw the previews, and decided against seeing it. It seemed rather gray. I liked the previous one so well, and wanted to keep that memory. I, also, am not a Keira fan. :-)
More the Colleen Dewhurst type.
I am loving the image, and sound track, of Colleen Dewhurst -- cigarette in hand -- trash talking Colin Firth during the Hunsford proposal!!
Colleen could have taken him best two out of three.
As for P&P3, a big shrug.
Sue
I admit, I'm not dying to see the new P&P. The BBC version was so excellent, my heart was pounding while I watched it on DVD. I didn't intend to watch all the episodes one after the other, but I couldn't stop.
Plus, I've seen that new Mr. Darcy actor when he was on MI-5 and I couldn't imagine him being as strong and Darcy-ish as Colin Firth--as soon as I saw Colin in the BBC version, I was like, "He is SO Mr. Darcy!"
Camy
I find Keira Knightly very overrated. I just don't get the American obsession with her. I find her acting totally one-dimensional, and her speaking voice gets on my last nerve.
Happy New Year!!
I'm afraid I liked it. I did love the BBC version, but I liked this one as well. I think I'm just easily pleased by a well-fitting coat.
Can't say as to the last scene: we didn't get it in the UK, but I thought the UK ending was just wrong. The last scene is Elizabeth talking to her father with Darcy waiting outside. I can't see who thought that would work - we'll focus the film almost exclusively on the Elizabeth-Darcy relationship, but end the story thirty seconds before the couple get together... All I needed was her to walk out to him, and him to smile. An end - or a beginning, depending how you'd look at it. It was like watching the LoTR, and Peter Jackson ending it just before Frodo got to the top of wherever-it-was.
I know Austen doesn't have an end-of-book love scene, but she does at least finish the story very thoroughly, and lets the reader know what happened to all the characters. So I'm waiting impatiently for the DVD which'll hopefully have the US ending hidden somewhere about it's person.
Dennie, thanks for checking out my blog.
Marianne, what a weird place to end it! Yes, there were two scenes after that.
I agree with most, my (now ex) wife "forced" me to buy and watch the A & E BBC mini series, and I loved it. I can't imagine I would like the Hollywood rendition so I skipped it. Maybe someday.
No, Storm, just put it out of your mind. You can live a happy and productive life without ever seeing that movie. ;-)
We're usually kindred spirits, Brenda, but I loved this movie. Saw it twice in one week. And I'm a die-hard Regency fan, beginning with Austen and progressing to Heyer. I thought the costumes and photography in general were beautiful, Darcy was adorable, and I have no objection to Keira (except in my opinion she's more beautiful than the woman who played Jane, which is wrong). I thought Donald Sutherland did an outstanding job as dear old dad.
Ok Brenda,
You asked what makes me/us laugh-- this did. :-)
"I am loving the image, and sound track, of Colleen Dewhurst -- cigarette in hand -- trash talking Colin Firth during the Hunsford proposal!!
"Colleen could have taken him best two out of three"
I didn't mean Colleen for the role in P&P, but since Susan cast her, I have had half a dozen internal laughs over it. :-)
Oh, go ahead and laugh out loud. That sort of thing is quite acceptable on this blog. ;-)
Yes. I, too, just watched that film.
And guess what? I TOTALLY hated that bit. It was like "Mrs. Darcy. Mrs. Darcy. Mrs. Darcy." and I'm like ewww! Why don't you call her Godd Essdivine if you're so incandesently happy?
I, unlike you, hated the ending number, though.
(I'm 14)
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