I have to admit -- I'm curious about this offboard buffista stuff.

You can listen to a snippet of "Collide" from Amazon here: [link] It's a cute little inoffensive pop song but oy, so wrong for an Austen film.

Since we were talking about the cinematic depiction of British monarch:

Trailer for Libertine, [link] where John Malkovich plays Charles II. So, both Sam Neill and John Malkovich played the same king. This reminds me of the game I used to play with some online pals, in which one would give the names of two actors who have played the same character as the clue, and the rest of us would have to guess which role. So, "Cate Blanchett and Bette Davis" = Elizabeth, and "Winona Ryder and Katharine Hepburn" = Jo March, and so forth. It was fun, then people started cheating and looking things up in IMDb. Ah, well.

The reviews of P&P have been interesting -- at least one rave (from Salon), but the Jane Austen Society was on NPR this morning just bashing it. One English teacher said "If a student decided to watch this movie instead of reading the book, they'd fail the exam."

I heard that piece, too, and thought "Wow, the Jane Austen people are to the 'istas as the 'istas are to normal people"

And I think the exam comment is par for the course with book adaptations.

We just got spoiled with the BBC version.

The bit about choosing to set it earlier, for more fitted dresses, was interesting. Apparently, there was a draft of something that turned into P&P that early, even though it wasn't published for another decade or so. I don't recall the years, though

I think the exam comment is par for the course with book adaptations.

As it should be! They are different media, after all.

Exactly -- you should flunk a lit exam that you studied for by watching the movie.

The review in Slate mentions that even though the marketing campaign is atrocious the movie was charming enough to make up for it. I don't always agree with David Edelstein but the review is persuasive.

Ooh, just got this emailed to me:

Superhero Hype got official word from Warner Brothers that the Superman Returns trailer will indeed be playing with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The confirmed earlier reports that the trailer will run one minute thirty three seconds, and that it will be attached to Potter.

Dammit. Now I have to go see that.

I am deeply skeptical of GoF.

That Salon review is a rave indeed. She states that she didn't like the BBC mini though, which makes me go, hmmm. Can't quite imagine how Keira Knightley (whom I find to be a fairly limited actress, although with a pleasant-enough screen presence) would be a better Elizabeth than Jennifer Ehle, but I guess I'll have to see for myself. Of course, it won't open here for another couple of weeks and I seemed to have agreed to being dragged to see "Jarhead" tonight. Bah.