And I can't even say the words

[bennet_7]

I haven't posted in aaaaaages. Sorry about that. Life has been weird.

Item the first: Back at university. This is actually my third week and it's all just going so fast. I'm taking a unit on Shakespeare, a unit on the theory of Comedy (Moliere and the Marx Brothers, woo!) and a unit on revolutionary and Napoleonic Europe. I should really be studying right now as I have a debate on Friday. My team is arguing that pre-revolution France wasn't actually so bad ;-)

Item the second: Got a new job today. I'm going to be waitressing at one of the best restaurants in the country. Seriously. It's won that award twice. The head chef has been awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (France's highest culinary award) and he's been knighted (Chevalier Dans L'Ordre National du Merite).

Question: Should I curtsy when I start next week? Or just kiss his shoes and thank him for giving me this job?

Item the third: I was surprised to discover that three Austen novels have been turned into new mini-series: Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. The official website is also up and running with trailers and galleries.

(Sense and Sensibility is in pre-production.)

Mansfield Park airs this Sunday and stars Billie Piper, James D'Arcy and Blake Ritson (I loved him on Red Cap). Mansfield Park is not one of my favourite Austen novels and I'd never pictured Billie Piper as an Austen heroine (a Dickens character sure) but I'll still be downloading it.

I'm a lot more excited about Northanger Abbey which is my third favourite Austen novel (after Pride and Prejudice and Emma) and was scripted by Andrew Davies who wrote the screenplay for the definitive and most wonderful version of Pride and Prejudice ever committed to screen (SHUT UP Keira Knightley! Go jump in a lake except don't because Colin Firth already did and it was awesome. Take your bangs and never darken my doorstep again!). Then again, Davies also wrote the 1996 version of Emma starring Kate Beckinsale which was entirely sucky and some of it can be blamed on the script. Hmm.

I'm also not much of a fan of Persuasion which lacks so much of the Austen wit. However, this version will star Rupert Penry-Jones in all his prettyness (Side-note: The new season of Spooks starts this friday for those in Oz) and Anthony Stewart Head.

Anyway, here are some pics, courtesy of jellybeanie87, of all three productions.


From Mansfield Park





From Northanger Abbey





Raise your hand if you think the girl playing Catherine looks like Alexis Bledel (Rory on Gilmore Girls).

From Persuasion







$5 says that they start calling Rupert "The new Mr Darcy". He can join the "New Mr Darcy Club" and discuss cravats with Richard Armitage (Mr Thornton in North and South) and Toby Stephens (Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre).

THE Mr Darcy

Comments

[afrocurl.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you back around LJ.

Good luck on the new classes and such.

Are all of the Austen mini-series airing on the BBC? I feel like I would have heard about something like this if they were coming to America right now.

I'm not feeling Billie as an Austen heroine either. That Catherine does look like Rory, I agree. She's quiet enough to pull off that part well, though.

Rupert does look good, and I'll watch Persuasion anytime really.

[bennet-7.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

These aren't BBC productions, instead they've been done by ITV, another British network. I'm not sure if ITV has a distrubution deal with an American network so you may not get these for a while.

[miniglik.livejournal.com]

(SHUT UP Keira Knightley! Go jump in a lake except don't because Colin Firth already did and it was awesome. Take your bangs and never darken my doorstep again!).

YES! GRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.


I like her fine, but the new version didn't work for me AT ALL (her or that other "New Mr Darcy").



The problem with Billie Piper is that I never see her without TONS of make-up, which doesn't work for an Austen character at all. Or the bleached hair.

[bennet-7.livejournal.com]

The new verison of P&P was more like a Bronte novel what with all the moping around in the woods and weather. P&P is about dialog and sparkling wit. *head desk*

I love Billie but I totally agree about the make-up and the hair. Her face is also a bit too modern for the role.