Probably a lot of scary images for really young kids (under 6) but they have probably seen scarier on Disney's Sleeping Beauty, etc...
Take your spouse, your parents, your teenagers, and your grandparents.
It's that good. It may just make you want to hug them afterwards. And your dog, too.
Wendell Jamieson twists a look at my favorite movie of all time, asserting that, had George Bailey never been born, citizens of Bedford Falls would, indeed, have been better off--that the smarmy alternative town would have been more fun and more profitable.
Interesting. Most likely, sadly, true. Nevertheless, I choose Bedford Falls, where neighbors take care of each other without government interference, where everyone knows everyone else in town, where corruption is the exception and morality is the rule.
TOMORROW (1972) with Robert Duvall
Tears streaming down my face...wow. Are there men like that left? Were there ever any like that?
Overt sexuality at the expense of children, which, I guess, had a role in starting the action, but that could have been accomplished in other ways.
Cute premise--Dad has daughter guess which of the ladies in his life story turned out to be her mom. Dragged in places. I almost fell asleep, which is very unusual for me in a movie theater.
Ridiculously too much information about Dad's love and partying life given to a young child--completely poor example of parenting. Precocious child, of course. Nevertheless, innocents should remain so as long as parentally possible.
I thought the casting was awful. The pretty Ann Margaret look-alike, Isla Fisher, is fetching and lovable. But Elizabeth Banks is unlikable, hard, harsh, and kinda butchy in this.There was absolutely no on screen chemistry between her and Ryan Reynolds, whom I liked, for the most part. Rachel Weisz is pretty, but again, I didn't see any sizzle on screen. Besides, I don't buy that Will would go for a slutty graduate student, sleeping with a drunk professor who calls himself Daddy AND had a prior lesbian affair with his girlfriend. I dunno, I'm not a guy, so maybe what I think doesn't matter when it comes to the women. I just want to be able to believe the story.
Bottom line: Don't spend ten bucks for a ticket. Rent it later if you don't have young kids in the room. I don't even want my 15 yr old to watch it. No lessons learned here. And the ending was so cheesy, I, the incurable romantic, was disgusted.
So what if the Boston Globe isn't a great fan of "Persuasion," the first broadcast tonight--fans of Austen's novels will relish seeing her characters brought alive, will compare them to the novels, and either approve or not. At least we've got the enviable opportunity:
As if to squash viewer fears about the alterations in the series, PBS is introducing the "Masterpiece" rebranding with "The Complete Jane Austen," a months-long string of new and old adaptations of Austen novels. Austen is like a beloved rock star on PBS. And the Austen series will include an all-time favorite, the 1995 "Pride and Prejudice" miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, as well as an Austen biopic called "Miss Austen Regrets." The series begins tomorrow night at 9 on Channel 2 with a new take on "Persuasion," Austen's last completed novel.
A fan of "Masterpiece" and its efforts to endure in the changing TV landscape, I wish I had been more enchanted with this "Persuasion." Not only does it pale in comparison with the extraordinary 1995 version, but it fails to deliver in its own right. The pace is too fast and, by the end, choppy; the writing, by Simon Burke, is reductive; and the casting is misguided. Certainly the sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the more satirical comedy involving Sir Walter Elliot's desperate snobbery has its moments, but on the whole the movie is hurried and forgettable.
Ah, well. One must needs remember that everyone believes oneself to be a critic.
From the New Yorker:
PBS’s Austen promotion is part of a rebranding campaign to raise the
worn-down profile of “Masterpiece Theatre,” which is thirty-seven years
old and no longer attracts corporate support. Lashing itself even more
tightly to the word “masterpiece,” the network is now using the word
alone as a rubric under which it will present “Masterpiece Classic”
(what used to be called “Masterpiece Theatre” and, as of this season,
is hosted by Gillian Anderson, late of “The X Files”), “Masterpiece
Mystery!” (formerly known as “Mystery!”), and, to show that there is
room at the PBS inn for programs that are set in the years since the
telephone was invented, a new category called “Masterpiece
Contemporary.” There’s something a little sad about the Austen hoopla,
though; two of the six offerings—the Beckinsale “Emma” and the
Ehle-Firth “Pride and Prejudice”—were on A&E more than a decade
ago, and both have been available for sale or rent for many years.
(They, and two of the four new adaptations, were by Andrew Davies.)
Still, the Austen logjam has many pleasing aspects—as well as aspects
that will vex Austen maniacs, but, as far as I can tell from the
various Web sites devoted to the author, being vexed is part of the joy
of being an Austen maniac.
Exactly my sentiment!
From The San Jose Mercury News:
Over the next three months,
"Masterpiece Theatre" will offer what it's calling "The Complete Jane
Austen" - made-for-television versions of all six of the author's works
airing at 9 p.m. Sundays (Ch. 9). There will also be a new
dramatization of her life and loves.
A quick rundown:
• "Persuasion" (tonight):
Sally Hawkins ("Little Britain") plays Anne Elliot to the Capt.
Wentworth of Rupert Penry-Jones ("MI-5"). While Hawkins is terrific,
Anthony Head ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") just about steals the film as
Elliot's father.
• "Northanger Abbey" (next Sunday):
Among Austen's novels, "Northanger Abbey" is a relative novelty: a
witty parody of Gothic fiction. Felicity Jones ("Meadowlands") plays
Catherine Morland, who is addicted to the genre.
• "Mansfield Park" (Jan.
27): The complex novel gets a fresh makeover with pop
singer-turned-actress Billie Piper ("Doctor Who") as Fanny Price, a
young woman trying to navigate the social mores of the time.
• "Miss Austen Regrets" (Feb.
3): "Masterpiece" is billing this as the "real" story of Jane Austen -
as opposed to last summer's theatrical film "Becoming Jane" with Anne
Hathaway. This time around, Olivia Williams ("Rushmore") portrays the
author.
• "Pride and Prejudice" (Feb. 10, 17 and 24):
This 1995 TV miniseries is considered the defining film version of the
novel by many Austen-ophiles. That may be, in part, because of the heat generated by Colin Firth ("Bridget Jones' Diary") as Darcy.
• "Emma" (March 23): A highly regarded 1997 take on the novel with Kate Beckinsale ("The Aviator") as matchmaker Emma Woodhouse.
• "Sense and Sensibility" (March
30 and April 6): Hattie Morahan ("The Golden Compass") and Charity
Wakefield ("Jane Eyre") play sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood - one
level-headed, one impulsive. The marvelous David Morrissey ("Viva
Blackpool") turns up as the dashing Col. Brandon.
- Charlie McCollum,
Mercury News
I think it only appropriate, nay necessary, that we do Ms. Austen and PBS the honor of watching the rest of her repertoire. PBS's press release promises that four of the seven programs are new productions -- including some new never-imagined thing called "Miss Austen Regrets," which is not one of her novels but something about her real life.
We owe her so large. She gave us Darcy. But she also gave us Captain Wentworth from "Persuasion" (the first movie that PBS will air), he of all that flash and dash. She gave us a peek into 19th-Century British life as lived by the wealthy and charming, the sort-of-wealthy and their kin, and the land-poor and levelheaded. She gave us proof, before anyone really could believe such a thing, that a woman could write and do it well. She gave us our first blush of literary desire. She gave us women with spunk and brains and hormones. She gave us time away from our teenage reality, and it was time well spent.
Amen! And, may I add, she also gives us time away from our grown up reality. 
.Here's to finding our Mr. Darcy, girls!
Andrew Davies on his screenplay adaptations
I AM NOW IN LOVE WITH BRUCE WILLIS' CHARACTER....SIGH...ALRIGHT, PEOPLE, SOMETHIN'S GOTTA GIVE--I'VE GOT FAR TOO MANY HAWT PRETEND BOYFRIENDS GOIN' ON HERE. ISN'T THERE A DECENT, CONFIDENT, EMPLOYED, CHRISTIAN, SLIGHTLYNAUGHTYJUSTFORME MAN IN ALL OF OREGON??
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