#whatshouldwecallcollege

Time perception during the summer:

Time perception during the school year:

First GIF via http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/dean-winchester-gif?before=1343754393

#whatshouldwecallpeoplewatching

When I people-watch on my way to work every morning...


I think it's like:

They think it's like:

It's actually like:

Persuasion (1995)

Full Cast (IMDB)

This is one of my favorite Jane Austen novel adaptations.

It's one of the few movies that doesn't have Hollywood Syndrome, where beautiful people are cast to play the plain and average-looking characters. One of the victims of this Beast to Beauty transformation (and a big one) is Jane Eyre's Rochester.

Take the latest adaption for example. Even if you don't think Michael Fassbender is hot, you have to face the fact that most other people do. The actors who portray Rochester in Jane Eyre adaptions are often just roughed by the makeup department to crank up the Byronic aspect, and that only serves to make them hotter. 

ANYWAY, this tangent has a point. Austen did not write Persuasion's Anne and Captain Wentworth to be striking, and the actors are properly average looking. Ciarán Hinds brings great charisma to Cap'n Wentworth, and you come to think of him as attractive due to that (and his lovely eyes!) He also happens to have played Rochester in the 1997 adaption (And I thereby justify the above Jane Eyre rant.)

This was a quality adaption, with a great cast. Just be aware that it's been a while since I've read the book, and I've forgotten most of it, so physical appearance is where I end the comparisons.

Anne Elliot

Although Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) was excellent, I just LOVED the supporting cast members.

A) The Family

Walter Elliot enjoying Mrs. Clay's flattery

Corin Redgrave as Sir Walter Elliot, Anne's father, was excellent as the peacock of the family, and Phoebe Nicholls as Elizabeth Elliot played the shrill, self-satisfied daughter to perfection.  I really enjoyed the family and the details that fleshed them out. Walter Elliot's love for flattery, for instance. Its power almost attaches him, (as the Victorians would say) to Elizabeth's simpering friend, the widow Mrs. Clay (Felicity Dean.) 

Elizabeth Elliot was stick thin despite constantly appearing on screen with a box of chocolates. If I have any complaints, one is that I would have liked the actress to be a little chubby to reflect her rich diet and lazy lifetyle. Otherwise, I just distracted myself with theories.

Elizabeth (left) and Mrs. Clay (right)

As for Sir Walter Elliot and Elizabeth Elliot as a duo, they showed constant disrespect and disregard towards Anne, and raised the mindless Mrs. Clay far above her. Poor Anne had quite the family to deal with. Two of them were social climbing, class-worshipping jerks, and the other (Anne's married sister, Mary Musgrove, played by Sophie Thompson) was a hypochondriac. A loud, complaining hypochondriac.

B) More about the Elliots, the quarters

I wasn't a big fan of Anne's coral jewelry, but the costumes were good overall, and I loved those white-on-white rooms that the Elliots rent in Bath. They were so overdone and superficially grand, which is a great setting to represent the Elliots and their ambition.

C) The super small roles

I also enjoyed Mrs. Smith (Helen Schlesinger) and her maid / companion / helper. They play small parts, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. I'd totally take tea with them. They're among the few characters who give Anne the appreciation she deserves. Yes, the maid kind of looks like she should be running a brothel, but I'll take that over Elizabeth's upturned nose.

D) The Weasel

William Elliot

Lastly, I'm not going to deal out any spoilers, but there is a reason that Anne's cousin, William Elliot, (Samuel West) looks faintly like a weasel.

Fabulous Feature: Elizabethan Costume

Mrs Bertin's Jewelry Box: Dress of the Day: Elizabethan Costume: An Elizabethan-inspired dress with gold embroidery and a hint of the fantastical, featured for your viewing pleasure! This is an appropriate reblog for us as a site that features not-quite-historically-correct pieces of art (AKA movies featuring Gerard Butler and set in Spartan times where everyone is naked and Native Americans with shaved chests) that are nevertheless quite beautiful

#whatshouldwecallSparta

I was watching 300...

First Gerard Butler was like:

And I was like:

But then Michael Fassbender was like:

And I was like:

gifs via http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/300-gif, shineemoon.tumblr, http://vipvictor.tumblr.com/post/7726360085/michael-fassbender-gif-animation-from-300-edited, http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/supernatural+gif, crazy-jensenackles-fangirl.tumblr, 

#whatshouldwecallart

<< On my search for naked men in photos to draw from >>

When I can't find the nude reference photo I need on a respectable stock photo site, I'm like:

And I end up doing weird searches on youtube to grab a screencap out of desperation. Everyone is there for this:

gifs via http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/pride-and-prejudice-gif?before=1336673040, http://fyeahlostinausten.tumblr.com/page/4, http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/eric-northman-gif

#nexttimeGoogleit

When I assume that Elizabeth Gaskell's unfinished novel was unfinished because she didn't edit it, then reach the 600th page to find out that there IS no end

First I'm like:

Then I'm like:

via http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/downton-abbey-gif

#whatshouldwecallenglishmajor

How I think I'd be as an English teacher:

How I'd actually be:

via http://fuckyeahjaneausten.tumblr.com/page/6 and

#whatshouldwecallsnarkyvictorian

When I get into a fight with someone and I explain the situation to my friends...

I think I'm like:

I'm actually like:

http://pollyplush.tumblr.com/post/11055849437

#whatshouldwecallJaneAusten

That first half of the movie where Jane Austen's heroine becomes enamored with the asshat before she realizes how awesome the Actual Hero is...

The whole time, I'm just like: 

Sherlock Holmes / Stevie Miller, Guest Writer

The Snarky Victorian is happy to have Stevie Miller guest reviewing a steampunk-influenced Victorian flick this week: "Sherlock Holmes," starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Enjoy!

---

Sherlock Homes: The Case of the Steampunk Film Review

Entertaining and exciting, Sherlock Holmes (2009) offers Holmes as an action hero and not just an intellectual. Robert Downey Jr. gives a superb performance in the title role, showing us a Holmes who is brilliant, obsessively observant, a bit mad, and an all-around badass.

What are you in for when you see this film? Expect top-notch scenery, costuming, props, and music—and enough good things cannot be said about the music. Hans Zimmer’s score combines a distinctly British cultural flavor with a dark undercurrent appropriate for London’s back-alleys, then weaves it all together with Holmes’ trademark violin. A few clever transitions are used between Holmes plucking at his violin strings and the music in the score to draw this connection without slowing down the plot to make the audience sit through a recital.

What’s really going to polish your goggles in this movie, though, is the amazing banter between Holmes and Watson. This Watson, affectionately referred to as “Hotson” by the crew, is an updated version of Holmes’ sidekick, played by Jude Law. This Watson is no portly or slow old fellow who plods along cheering for Holmes’ every deduction. He’s a witty, sharp-dressed, former military man who won’t take any crap from his longtime friend. The lines Downey Jr. and Law toss effortlessly to one another are sharp, subtle, and brilliantly timed. You’ll spend half the movie laughing—if you’re clever enough to keep up with those two.

With all the good, there must be a bit of bad. That unfortunately comes in the form of Irene Adler, played by Rachel McAdams, Holmes’ former lover and ongoing obsession. Where Holmes and Watson are throwing witty barbs by the dozens, something just doesn’t quite work between Adler and Holmes. The first time they meet in the film, McAdams seems a bit off, even shy, next to Downey Jr., and there’s a distinct lack of chemistry between the two.

Things pick up a bit in the next scene, as Holmes follows Adler through the back alleys of London, and says to himself “There’s the Irene I remember,” as she shows a bit of spunk. The problem is the actual interaction between Adler and Holmes. Is this really the only woman to be Holmes’ intellectual equal? She just can’t seem to hold her own with him. Compare this to the restaurant scene with Holmes, Watson, and Mary, Watson’s girlfriend (played by Kelly Reilly), where she proves herself more than able to handle what the detective dishes out.

What does this film have to offer Steampunks? There’s a lot of delicious Victorian aesthetic to be had in the setting, costuming, language, and mannerisms. You’ll have a jolly good romp through a very realistic old London, along with a smattering of “SCIENCE!” in the form of a couple laboratories and some early versions of biological weapons.

On the flip side, this film doesn’t have some elements that would traditionally classify it as Steampunk. Arthur Conan-Doyle isn’t typically grouped with the “founding fathers” of Victorian science fiction that comprise Steampunk’s forebears. Realistic and rational like its hero, this movie doesn’t contain any outright magic, fantasy, or overly-stretched science—at least, not any that isn’t revealed by our favorite detective by the end.

That said, this film does a great job of getting into Holmes’ head and showing us—not telling us—how he thinks. You’ll see his hyper-awareness, peculiar mood-swings, and what he gets up to in his off-hours. While not all of these elements are necessarily part of the original Holmes fiction, they do provide a very interesting individual to get to know and follow around. The bottom line? You will have a jolly good time watching this movie. Smashing!

---

Stevie Miller is a writer, artist, gardener, and Steampunk enthusiast who has an inexplicable affection for cephalopods. You can find her serialized Steampunk adventure, Society for the Promotion of Tentaclebeasts.

#whatshouldwecallfinals

During finals

I'm like:

After finals

I'm like:

---

My last final is tomorrow! To celebrate that, I have a cheerful video for you.

#whatshouldwecallessaywriting

When I first start my essay on Postcolonialism in 19th century literature...

I'm like:

Two hours later...


I'm like:

#whatshouldwecalldarcy

When I've been using Pride and Prejudice as background noise, and Darcy's proposal scene comes on.

I'm like:

Hey folks! Finals are coming to an end in a couple of weeks, and that means freedom & more movie reviews. Stay tuned.