It arrived!
Jul. 15th, 2003 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castaliaGot my copy of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" in the mail yesterday! 40 sketches in which Stephen and Hugh are witty, sexy, and very very funny. These two have great chemistry in whatever they do, and I just adore them. They look so young, too! (the sketches were done in '87, '89 and '90). Plus, Hugh sings! And plays the piano and the mouth organ! *happy sigh*
In watching this tape, I've noticed a trend in their work. Stephen hits Hugh a lot, but I've never seen Hugh hit Stephen. They do this in ABoF&L and in Blackadder (in the last ep of the third series, there's a scene where both Stephen and Rowan punch, slap and kick Hugh about 20 times, poor lamb). In an internet chat, Stephen even mentioned how good Hugh is at being hit (the skill is all in the reaction of the person getting hit, not the one doing the hitting). I find this terribly amusing.
Hugh is also good at falling. In one sketch, he "accidently" falls backwards off a chair, and it looked so real one could almost believe it wasn't planned (in the same chat above, though, Stephen said it was indeed planned). That's hard to do.
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sensefille and viola_cesario, I'll be making you copies as soon as I get your tapes. I think you'll enjoy these sketches! :)
In other news, I saw League of Extraordinary Gentlemen yesterday. I'm of mixed feelings about it, and in some cases I'm not really sure how I feel at all. Spoilers behind the cut-tag.
Well, I have quibbles. I had quibbles right from the beginning, where the opening text narration places the time as 1899 and then goes on to describe the weapons and warfare tactics used during the Civil War and how they are just now changing. In 1899. They're about 30 years too late, here. Sheesh.
I'll say right now that I haven't read the comics, so I'm not quibbling about comic canon or anything. My quibbles were with the characters taken from literature, literature I love and characters I adore. Allan Quatermain I liked, he was fine, but then, I didn't know anything about him until now. Plus, Sean Connery. Mina Harker, the vampire, was also fine. Capable, smart, etc.
When they introduced Captain Nemo, my first thought was, "what the hell?" Then I remembered that bit from Mysterious Island where we find out Nemo is Middle-Eastern. He was okay, though very quiet. They gave him a motor car (in 1899...yeah) which was ok, but the Nautilus looked nothing like it was described in Jules Verne. It almost looked like an ocean liner than could go underwater. Feh. However, Nemo grew on me and by the end, I really liked him. He kicked ass in all the fighting scenes and had some good lines as well.
The Invisible Man wasn't the same man from the book, so I wasn't sure what to expect here. They introduced him as a thief named Rodney Skinner who had stolen the formula from the original IMan. I liked him right from the first, surprisingly. Cocky, swaggering, a bit of a smart-ass, with an almost Cockney accent. He was a bit of a cliché with the whole "thief with a heart of gold" theme, but it worked well and I liked him the better for it.
Tom Sawyer, all grown up as a secret agent. Well, I had no quibbles, really. He was cute and impulsive, the only youth in the group. Most of his screen time was with Quatermain, and they developed a nice father-son, mentorish relationship.
Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde was played by Jason Flemyng and was, I think, my surprise favorite. They took some liberties here too, b/c although Hyde is supposed to be completely evil, here he seemed to be on the path to redemption (to be fair, he did have some incentive). However, I didn't really mind the artistic license, and Flemyng did a remarkable job playing the mentally tormented doctor. He spent a good deal of time on screen being half-naked, too, so that was a bonus ;)
Now we come to one of the biggest reasons I saw this film - Dorian Gray. This is where I had most of my quibbles. The good: Stuart Townsend was a great choice. He looked the part, had some great lines, and was terrific in the fight scenes as well. The bad: Although he was good, Townsend wasn't truly my Dorian Gray. We got a few throwaway lines about his love of vice, but no real evidence. He should've been flirting with everyone on the screen, male or female (especially male, this is Wilde we're talking about). As it was, we got one scene where he seduced Mina Harker (and that, I could've done without). They made him a sort of villian as well, working for the main villain who had "kidnapped" his portrait.
Speaking of the portrait, they got it all wrong. Here, they explained it as the portrait only aging for him, making him immortal (he also couldn't be harmed at all, bullet wounds healed instantly, etc). When we did get to see the painting, it was less than impressive, just an aged, zombie-looking figure. It should've been grotesque, the embodiment of evil, as the portrait is supposed to be feeling the effects of all of Dorian's evil actions and life of sin. Instead, it just aged, and the curse was broken when Dorian looked at it (he was impaled on a sword at the time, so he died, too). Wrong, wrong, wrong.
I like Richard Roxburgh, but his villian confused me a bit. He was listed on IMDB as playing Mycroft Holmes, who is the older brother of the famous Sherlock (and who is definitely not supposed to be a villain). However, in the movie, Mycroft is never mentioned, and instead he's revealed as Moriarty. Huh.
I was expecting more lit references, but they were few are far between. At the beginning, there's a lovely mention of Phileas Fogg which made me happy. However, there's a less than subtle Moby Dick ref when Nemo's first mate introduces himself - "Call me Ishmael." Ouch.
I was expecting slash opportunities, because hey, Dorian Gray, but my expectations were for naught. There was a sort of "last minute pairing" towards the end with, of all people, Captain Nemo and Dr. Jekyll, who cling a lot and almost cuddle when they're in mortal peril. It could be cute, I guess.
The effects were ok, but the editing was the typical modern "let's make this so choppy you can't tell what's happening" trend. I left the theatre with a headache.
Due to all my adventures yesterday, I'm terribly behind on LJ, so I'm off to tackle my friends list and try to catch up. Toodle-pip!
In watching this tape, I've noticed a trend in their work. Stephen hits Hugh a lot, but I've never seen Hugh hit Stephen. They do this in ABoF&L and in Blackadder (in the last ep of the third series, there's a scene where both Stephen and Rowan punch, slap and kick Hugh about 20 times, poor lamb). In an internet chat, Stephen even mentioned how good Hugh is at being hit (the skill is all in the reaction of the person getting hit, not the one doing the hitting). I find this terribly amusing.
Hugh is also good at falling. In one sketch, he "accidently" falls backwards off a chair, and it looked so real one could almost believe it wasn't planned (in the same chat above, though, Stephen said it was indeed planned). That's hard to do.
sensefille and viola_cesario, I'll be making you copies as soon as I get your tapes. I think you'll enjoy these sketches! :)In other news, I saw League of Extraordinary Gentlemen yesterday. I'm of mixed feelings about it, and in some cases I'm not really sure how I feel at all. Spoilers behind the cut-tag.
Well, I have quibbles. I had quibbles right from the beginning, where the opening text narration places the time as 1899 and then goes on to describe the weapons and warfare tactics used during the Civil War and how they are just now changing. In 1899. They're about 30 years too late, here. Sheesh.
I'll say right now that I haven't read the comics, so I'm not quibbling about comic canon or anything. My quibbles were with the characters taken from literature, literature I love and characters I adore. Allan Quatermain I liked, he was fine, but then, I didn't know anything about him until now. Plus, Sean Connery. Mina Harker, the vampire, was also fine. Capable, smart, etc.
When they introduced Captain Nemo, my first thought was, "what the hell?" Then I remembered that bit from Mysterious Island where we find out Nemo is Middle-Eastern. He was okay, though very quiet. They gave him a motor car (in 1899...yeah) which was ok, but the Nautilus looked nothing like it was described in Jules Verne. It almost looked like an ocean liner than could go underwater. Feh. However, Nemo grew on me and by the end, I really liked him. He kicked ass in all the fighting scenes and had some good lines as well.
The Invisible Man wasn't the same man from the book, so I wasn't sure what to expect here. They introduced him as a thief named Rodney Skinner who had stolen the formula from the original IMan. I liked him right from the first, surprisingly. Cocky, swaggering, a bit of a smart-ass, with an almost Cockney accent. He was a bit of a cliché with the whole "thief with a heart of gold" theme, but it worked well and I liked him the better for it.
Tom Sawyer, all grown up as a secret agent. Well, I had no quibbles, really. He was cute and impulsive, the only youth in the group. Most of his screen time was with Quatermain, and they developed a nice father-son, mentorish relationship.
Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde was played by Jason Flemyng and was, I think, my surprise favorite. They took some liberties here too, b/c although Hyde is supposed to be completely evil, here he seemed to be on the path to redemption (to be fair, he did have some incentive). However, I didn't really mind the artistic license, and Flemyng did a remarkable job playing the mentally tormented doctor. He spent a good deal of time on screen being half-naked, too, so that was a bonus ;)
Now we come to one of the biggest reasons I saw this film - Dorian Gray. This is where I had most of my quibbles. The good: Stuart Townsend was a great choice. He looked the part, had some great lines, and was terrific in the fight scenes as well. The bad: Although he was good, Townsend wasn't truly my Dorian Gray. We got a few throwaway lines about his love of vice, but no real evidence. He should've been flirting with everyone on the screen, male or female (especially male, this is Wilde we're talking about). As it was, we got one scene where he seduced Mina Harker (and that, I could've done without). They made him a sort of villian as well, working for the main villain who had "kidnapped" his portrait.
Speaking of the portrait, they got it all wrong. Here, they explained it as the portrait only aging for him, making him immortal (he also couldn't be harmed at all, bullet wounds healed instantly, etc). When we did get to see the painting, it was less than impressive, just an aged, zombie-looking figure. It should've been grotesque, the embodiment of evil, as the portrait is supposed to be feeling the effects of all of Dorian's evil actions and life of sin. Instead, it just aged, and the curse was broken when Dorian looked at it (he was impaled on a sword at the time, so he died, too). Wrong, wrong, wrong.
I like Richard Roxburgh, but his villian confused me a bit. He was listed on IMDB as playing Mycroft Holmes, who is the older brother of the famous Sherlock (and who is definitely not supposed to be a villain). However, in the movie, Mycroft is never mentioned, and instead he's revealed as Moriarty. Huh.
I was expecting more lit references, but they were few are far between. At the beginning, there's a lovely mention of Phileas Fogg which made me happy. However, there's a less than subtle Moby Dick ref when Nemo's first mate introduces himself - "Call me Ishmael." Ouch.
I was expecting slash opportunities, because hey, Dorian Gray, but my expectations were for naught. There was a sort of "last minute pairing" towards the end with, of all people, Captain Nemo and Dr. Jekyll, who cling a lot and almost cuddle when they're in mortal peril. It could be cute, I guess.
The effects were ok, but the editing was the typical modern "let's make this so choppy you can't tell what's happening" trend. I left the theatre with a headache.
Due to all my adventures yesterday, I'm terribly behind on LJ, so I'm off to tackle my friends list and try to catch up. Toodle-pip!
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 10:27 am (UTC)Hmmm, I might have to see League just for the literary references! And Sean Connery, of course... :)
toodle-pip!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 11:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 12:52 pm (UTC)Poor ole Hugh, always the one to get whomped on. He's just too whompable for his own good.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 04:34 pm (UTC)lol. Very well put!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 04:06 pm (UTC)I had that chat handy on my browser, so I'll link in in case anyone else wants to read.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/8889/sfrychat.htm
Good stuff!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 04:59 pm (UTC)Thanks for the link! I hadn't bookmarked it. It really is good stuff. Wish he'd do it again so we could participate!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 09:30 pm (UTC)That would be great if he had a chat again! I wonder if he will when Bright Young Things comes out? *hopes*
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 09:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 07:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 07:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-15 08:39 pm (UTC)Ditto on the "America" song. My, but Hugh looked hot in that one, hair all slicked back...yum.
The one with the bad poetry was quite funny, and all the sketches that relied on the use of language to be funny (like the one with the barber who had only cut all the hairs on a man's head once, hee!). The sex education one was cute, and the one in the jewelry shop. Oh! And the one with Hugh as a German officer interrogating Stephen *g*
Yes, if the reaction of the person being hit isn't realistic, that's when it looks fake. Hugh goes all out. The bit in that Blackadder ep when Stephen boots him in the backside and he falls into the table...I wouldn't be surprised if he had bruises from that one, it looked so real. Poor thing :)
Re:
Date: 2003-07-16 08:08 am (UTC)My, but Hugh looked hot in that one, hair all slicked back...yum.
Yuh-huh. ;p For some reason I thought he was really cute as the homeless guy and old man, too. ;)
You're a terrible influence because now I want to brush up on good old Blackadder. I really liked that particular episode, what with the Prince being shot and all. Sigh... Too bad things like that aren't on the telly anymore. We discussed it once before, but television nearly sucks now.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-16 09:39 am (UTC)As far as I've seen, this tape is the only one available on NTSC format. It's a shame, really, 'cause there are so many more sketches out there!
The little soft shoe shuffle and slap was so cute! And yet another sketch in which Hugh gets bashed, poor guy *g*
I agree, he did look good as the homeless guy (which is odd, b/c he shouldn't...) and I liked the one where he was the old man. He was rather cute in that wig, and he's quite good at accents as well.
You're a terrible influence because now I want to brush up on good old Blackadder. I really liked that particular episode, what with the Prince being shot and all.
Hee! I like being a bad influence. That's such a great ep, poor Hugh suffers a lot in it. Stephen had a very good guest starring role as Wellington. We got to see the beginnings of the Melchett below in that one. Bahhhh! :)
Sigh... Too bad things like that aren't on the telly anymore. We discussed it once before, but television nearly sucks now.
I have the 3rd and 4th season and two eps of the 2nd season that I taped off PBS, but it doesn't come on here anymore. I really want the DVD set, but it's $100 and I can't afford it right now. I want more access to British tv, dash it.
Re:
Date: 2003-07-16 01:55 pm (UTC)I'm not too well versed in Blackadder--I know, I know sacrilege--but from the few episodes I've seen, it's terribly awesome. I was poking through the old library catalogue and saw some complete set thing on "order"--in other words, it'll take a dashed long time to arrive--and put a reserve on it. Not holding my breath for that one. ;) Too bad the DVD set is so expensive...why? why? why?
Sigh, I've never seen any episodes on PBS; my PBS station pretty much sucks in all things good, I don't know if they've ever shown it at all.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-16 02:25 pm (UTC)Blackadder is indeed awesome, one of my very favorites. Hugh and Stephe are, as always, brilliant :) Sorry to hear your PBS station sucks (mine's not showing much of anything right now either). You might be able to find it on VHS for rent. If *my* local video store has it, I'm sure one of yours should.
Re:
Date: 2003-07-16 03:04 pm (UTC)PBS has been on the decline for I don't know how many years...damned pity, really. The VHS tapes are at my library, but I have to make a wild rampage of placing reserves on them because they're a popular set of tapes--really curious about their "complete" thing, but there's no info posted other than "on order"; smarmy that. It was one of those things I've been meaning to do for some while, but now I am properly motivated. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-16 09:15 pm (UTC)Glad to have properly motivated you! They really are worth finding. It's the same lovely blend of intelligent humor and silliness that I love about most of Stephen and Hugh's work.
Re:
Date: 2003-07-17 09:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-17 02:42 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-07-18 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-07-16 02:26 pm (UTC)