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wiseheartYeah, loooong title, but not (only) because I've got little to say. In fact, I've got a few thing to tell right now.
So, we were to Vienna. It was great. Nice weather, smooth trip, good founds and all. Mum's legs aren't what they used to be, but she soldiered on bravely, the poor thing. She loves Vienna as much as I do.
We had fun. Went to our favourite places - I mean shopping-wise, a day trip is too short to do anything cultural for somebody of her age and condition -, had coffee in a nice café, bought insignificant little things like chocolate Advent calendars and paper napkins with Christmas motives and the likes.
I checked all the places where one can find DVDs of my special interest (sci-fi and fantasy, mostly), which isn't an easy thing in any given city. I bought the 3rd (and last) season of the 2009 BBC-version Robin Hood and Season 2 of Sanctuary, as well as the new Star Trek film with Benedict Cumberbatch. I was briefly tempted by the new version of V, as the first two seasons were on sale, but in the end decided against it, as what I'd really like to have is the old, the original version. I looked for Season 5 of Primeval but had no luck - unless, of course, I'm mistaken and there isn't a Season 5.
Watching Season 3 of Robin Hood is an interesting experience. Seeing a younger Lara Pulver as Isabella de Gisborne was fun; she plays femme fatales well. Of course, given that the first ever role Is aw her in was Irene Adler, I kept waiting her to produce a whip any given time. *g* Clive Standen is not so different as Archer from the Gawain he played in Camelot, just with a better haircut and cleaner clothes. All in all, the series is growing on me. I still can't stand their Robin, but Richard Armitage is an interesting Guy of Gisborne, and the rest of the gang is not bad, either, especially Much. Much is my favourite.
Speaking of different interpretations, I had an interesting realization lately. I watched the two versions of "The Murder at the Vicarage", with Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwan in the role of Miss Marple, respectively. Now, the McEwan version is supposed to be a modernised one, pushing the event into the 1950, instead of the 1930s, as the original supposedly took place. And yet it smelled a great deal more of mothballs to me than the one with Joan Hickson.
Perhaps it's because the clothes that looked like really bad costumes and not something people actually would wear. Or perhaps because the horribly cheesy environment of the McEwan Miss Marple is so off-putting. I don't tolerate tasteless kitch very well. Or perhaps the way how Mrs Protheroe and Lettice and half a dozen other characters were portrayed didn't fit the image Agatha Christie ewoked in me about British people of a certain era. It might have been a false image, but it didn't clash with the Joan Hickson version of the Miss Marple stories.
And even though the Joan Hickson version is much older, it's the McEwan version that appears outdated to me. Plus, Joan Hickson's Miss Marple is a dignified lady of style and refined manners. McEwans's is a silly old hag who's desperately trying to appear youthful, which only serves to make her look old and ridiculous. Of course, the godawful hairdo and the clothes she's forced to wear don't help. She looks like a clown, sans the red nose.
In her subdued way, Joan Hickson's Miss Marple always looked elegant - I remember her gown in "The Caribbean Affair" or whatever the actual title was. Granted, that wasn't one of the better adaptations, but she managed to keep her dignity, even there. She always does.
The only good aspects of the newer adaptation of "The Murder at the Vicarage" were the guy who played Lawrence Redding (he definitely had more personality), Derek Jacobi as Col. Protheroe and, of course, Mark Gatiss as the Vicar's nervous assistant. Having met him first as the omnipotent and slightly sinister Mycroft Holmes, seeing him in such a vasty different role was great fun.
So, we were to Vienna. It was great. Nice weather, smooth trip, good founds and all. Mum's legs aren't what they used to be, but she soldiered on bravely, the poor thing. She loves Vienna as much as I do.
We had fun. Went to our favourite places - I mean shopping-wise, a day trip is too short to do anything cultural for somebody of her age and condition -, had coffee in a nice café, bought insignificant little things like chocolate Advent calendars and paper napkins with Christmas motives and the likes.
I checked all the places where one can find DVDs of my special interest (sci-fi and fantasy, mostly), which isn't an easy thing in any given city. I bought the 3rd (and last) season of the 2009 BBC-version Robin Hood and Season 2 of Sanctuary, as well as the new Star Trek film with Benedict Cumberbatch. I was briefly tempted by the new version of V, as the first two seasons were on sale, but in the end decided against it, as what I'd really like to have is the old, the original version. I looked for Season 5 of Primeval but had no luck - unless, of course, I'm mistaken and there isn't a Season 5.
Watching Season 3 of Robin Hood is an interesting experience. Seeing a younger Lara Pulver as Isabella de Gisborne was fun; she plays femme fatales well. Of course, given that the first ever role Is aw her in was Irene Adler, I kept waiting her to produce a whip any given time. *g* Clive Standen is not so different as Archer from the Gawain he played in Camelot, just with a better haircut and cleaner clothes. All in all, the series is growing on me. I still can't stand their Robin, but Richard Armitage is an interesting Guy of Gisborne, and the rest of the gang is not bad, either, especially Much. Much is my favourite.
Speaking of different interpretations, I had an interesting realization lately. I watched the two versions of "The Murder at the Vicarage", with Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwan in the role of Miss Marple, respectively. Now, the McEwan version is supposed to be a modernised one, pushing the event into the 1950, instead of the 1930s, as the original supposedly took place. And yet it smelled a great deal more of mothballs to me than the one with Joan Hickson.
Perhaps it's because the clothes that looked like really bad costumes and not something people actually would wear. Or perhaps because the horribly cheesy environment of the McEwan Miss Marple is so off-putting. I don't tolerate tasteless kitch very well. Or perhaps the way how Mrs Protheroe and Lettice and half a dozen other characters were portrayed didn't fit the image Agatha Christie ewoked in me about British people of a certain era. It might have been a false image, but it didn't clash with the Joan Hickson version of the Miss Marple stories.
And even though the Joan Hickson version is much older, it's the McEwan version that appears outdated to me. Plus, Joan Hickson's Miss Marple is a dignified lady of style and refined manners. McEwans's is a silly old hag who's desperately trying to appear youthful, which only serves to make her look old and ridiculous. Of course, the godawful hairdo and the clothes she's forced to wear don't help. She looks like a clown, sans the red nose.
In her subdued way, Joan Hickson's Miss Marple always looked elegant - I remember her gown in "The Caribbean Affair" or whatever the actual title was. Granted, that wasn't one of the better adaptations, but she managed to keep her dignity, even there. She always does.
The only good aspects of the newer adaptation of "The Murder at the Vicarage" were the guy who played Lawrence Redding (he definitely had more personality), Derek Jacobi as Col. Protheroe and, of course, Mark Gatiss as the Vicar's nervous assistant. Having met him first as the omnipotent and slightly sinister Mycroft Holmes, seeing him in such a vasty different role was great fun.
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Date: 2013-10-25 01:18 pm (UTC)