Drama > J Drama > Jarrold, Julian

Jane Austen-the early years

Advantages: good film and choice of characters
Disadvantages: n/a

...that all the ladies in Becoming Jane are likeable without being too uninteresting. Jane Austen has clearly been portrayed as a woman in her 20s, more or less unaware of life itself. Then there's Mrs Austen, a firm but caring woman and Eliza de Feuillide, a sightly flirty french woman with her eyes set on Janes brother. There is bound to be a few people you are going to recognise in this film. Anne Hathaway plays the lead as Jane Austen and despite ...
...did not give a wooden performance and was completely beliveable in her role. The ever lovely James McAvoy as Thomas LeFroy managed to pull off the key arrogance, charm and sensitivities needed to make his character be liked but not liked at the same time. Then you have James Cromwell (Farmer Hoggett from Babe) as Mr Austen. The voice of reason. Julie Walters, who seems to excel in being cast as the mother figure, as Mrs Austen. Maggie Smith also ...

crezzie 03.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Becoming Jane (DVD)

Somebody's Watching Me!

Advantages: The best of all the "Cracker" stories
Disadvantages: Can be a little unpleasant at times

...copy is that all the Cracker DVDs have been withdrawn prior to a relaunch in October 2006. This means that you either need to wait and get a new copy of this for £9.99 from Play.com, or go looking elsewhere. The Amazon Marketplace has copies of this story on its own from £6.29, or eBay has it from 49p. If you're a new fan of "Cracker", the Amazon marketplace offers a VHS version of this story and One Day a Lemming Will Fly", the one that will explain ...
...£4.99, which is well worth the price for two great dramas. There is nothing to be gained by buying "To Be A Somebody" on DVD as opposed to on VHS as none of the versions on DVD, either the older version or the soon to be released version, contain any extras thanks to the age of the original material, this having been shown on TV way back in 1993 when no-one thought to save material for that purpose. Indeed, the layer change on the DVD is so clumsy ...

Soho_Black 10.09.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Cracker - To Be A Somebody (DVD)

Mildly entertaining but an insult to Waugh

Advantages: Very little
Disadvantages: Weak plot, weak character representation, little from the original

...loved Evelyn Waugh's classic novel, Brideshead Revisited, as I have, they will be thoroughly disappointed with this new adaptation. The film is very different to the original book and popular 70s/80s series, bearing little similarity to the main details. Basically, the story has been re-written to suit this new, hour and a half adaptation. Do not get me wrong, the film is not a disaster and it could be described as fairly entertaining. However the ...
...Overall, the new film of Brideshead Revisited is not a success. The plot appears very weak and mumbled and far too much attention is payed to the homosexual endeavours of Sebastian and Charles Ryder. Mildly entertaining but an insult to the glorious work of Evelyn Waugh - I imagine he will be turning in his grave. Not recommended in the slightest. ...

maxwellwilliammyers 18.04.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Brideshead Revisited (DVD)

I won't Revisit this

Advantages: Costumes were great, great scenery shots
Disadvantages: The acting, the plot, the pace

...hearts are broken - but Brideshead remains the centre of it all, and is constantly a part of their lives. Will Charles ever be able to win the approval of Lady Marchmain, will Sebastien ever come to terms with his demons and will Julia ever be true to her heart? Or has Brideshead left the Marchmain family cursed? This film was the choice of my fiance who put it on our "to watch" list after seeing it on the shelf in the library a few weeks ago. We ...
...the house used to represent Brideshead is just glorious. It suits the period and the feel of the movie, and the fountain was incredibly well used in the movie too. The scenes in Italy were enjoyable, as were the scenes in Oxford, but people who know Oxford will notice some errors in location in the earlier scenes which annoyed my other half, but I suppose they edit it to make it look all the better for the movie! The costumes were very good for the ...

mummy2harry 18.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Brideshead Revisited

"There's Only One Maltese Falcon"

Advantages: Great acting, great dialogue
Disadvantages: May not be for those who prefer lots of action

...I wouldn't say I'm the world's greatest fan of Film Noir or even of Humphrey Bogart. I like them, but other genres are higher on my list. When I first watched this, although I had heard of Humphrey Bogart, I had no idea what he looked like. I hadn't seen terribly many black and white films either. One fine day, some years ago, my mom got Turner Classic Movies. I can't remember why I turned it over onto TCM or even if it just happened to be on when ...
...and when I got to the end, I realised I needed to see it from the beginning as it was that good. And when I watched it again from the beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed it and have since watched it several times. The Story Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade, a private detective in 1930’s San Francisco. One day a woman walks into his office asking him to take on her case. She says that her sister has got involved with a man and that she wants him ...

Rebeccs 14.12.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Maltese Falcon (DVD)