Category Archives: Anglophiles Anonymous

Anglophiles Anonymous: James McAvoy, Natalie Dormer, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Head Star in BBC Radio Adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere

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NeverwhereAs far as I can tell, there are only two types of people in the world: people  who love Neil Gaiman, and people who don’t know they love Neil Gaiman. If by some cruel twist of fate you find yourself in the latter category, then don’t panic. BBC Radio has produced an audio adaptation of Gaiman’s novel Neverwhere, the story of a Scottish mensch (James McAvoy) who gets trapped in a secret London underworld and is shanghaied into assisting Door (Natalie Dormer) in eluding the subterranean sociopaths that murdered her family. You can get your hands on the audiobook version on Audible.com, or you can be thrifty and just listen to it on youtube like the cool kids. Here is part 1, my gift to you. 

–Whitney

 

Jane Austen + Doctor Who = Best Thing to Happen to Me EVER?!

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Books, TV by

Jane TardisSomething you should/probably do know about me is that I am loud, proud, and unabashed fan of all things Jane Austen. And when I say all things, I mean ALL things. You have no idea how much bad Austen fanfiction I have read. Sorry not sorry. (Okay. A little sorry).

Something else that should be readily apparent from reading this blog on the regular is that I also love Doctor Who.  It’s just my cup of nerdy tea.

Now imagine my unadulterated glee when I read this morning that Mark Gatiss, co-creator of another Fangirly favorite (Sherlock) and somewhat regular writer for the good Doctor, has been teasing that he might do a Austen-centric episode.

I.  Would.  DIE.

I wrote enough papers on Austen in college to fill a book, I have read some of her books upwards of 15 times, and if Austenland existed, I would have my ticket. So, it should go without saying that this would immediately become my favorite episode.

Being a Sherlock fan, I know that Gatiss is a total tease, so this could all amount to nothing, but he also wrote the Dickens and Churchill episodes so this is not completely out of the question.

It can and should happen.  In fact, why hasn’t it already?

– Ellen

Fangirly Exposed: Trashy UK Daytime Television

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Fangirly Exposed!, TV by

jeremy-kyle-707104470-1991701I was recently having a discussion with my dad lauding how great British TV has been lately.  Sherlock, Luther, Downton Abbey, Broadchurch, for just a few examples.  While he and I both agreed that American television could take a few hints in terms of season lengths, etc., I thought it only fair to point out that we think British television is great because only the good stuff makes it across the pond.

To further prove my point, I decided to look into trashy British television and from there, I spiraled.  I stumbled upon full episodes of The Jeremy Kyle Show, a show that is very similar to our Maury or Montel in that there are a lot of paternity tests and lie detector results and the dredges of British society are paraded out for our amusement.  I can’t quite explain why, but I have now watched a LOT of The Jeremy Kyle Show.  Like, a lot, a lot.

I could just say that this appeals to that part of all of us that likes trashy television and it does, but I think it goes further than that.  Listen, there are few people that watch more BBC period dramas than this girl, almost to the point where I have romanticized Britain to ridiculous levels.

542801-jeremy_kyle_freaks

That being said, it has been quite cathartic for me to realize that while there may be a few charming blokes with dashing accents, it turns out that there also quite a lot of toothless baby daddies whose accents are nearly incomprehensible.

Jeremy Kyle, I thank you for dashing all my hopes and dreams.

– Ellen 

Anglophiles Anonymous: Luther

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Get with the Program, TV by

Luther-adLuther returns to BBC America tonight and this anglophile is ecstatic.  Also, terrified.  If you have seen the show, you will understand.  It’s a scary show sometimes.

I’m excited for the following reasons:

1) More of this show will always be a good thing because it is amazing.  The psychological crime drama follows London Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Idris Elba) through some truly nail-biting cases, some lasting only an episode, some spanning multiple episodes.  Think of it as a darker Sherlock.

2) Alice is back!  Fellow fans of the show realize the significance of the creepy, cool Alice (Ruth Wilson) returning.  She is obsessed with Luther and is sometimes his greatest ally and at other times, makes his life a living hell.  It makes for some dang good television.

3) Idris Elba?  Yes, please.  (Loving the rumors that he will be the next Bond.  If you watch the show, you will, too. )

4) There hasn’t been much on TV to get me excited lately, so I’m especially excited for the return of some good TV.  It’s about time, right?

The first two seasons are available on Netflix Instant so go check it out and get the wits scared out of you!

–Ellen

John Hurt As the Doctor? Sign. Me. Up.

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iknowwhoyouareI’ll be the first to admit that I’m not 100% sure what the deal was with the appearance of John Hurt in last Saturday’s Doctor Who finale. Here is what I do know:

1) Hurt (Harry Potter, Merlin, 1984) will be playing a previous incarnation of the Doctor. I know that there are those folks who think that Hurt is the “forgotten” 9th Doctor (which, in actuality, would make Eccleston the 10th, Tennant the 11th, and Smith the 12th regenerations of the Doctor, respectively). I’m not going to rule this one out, but really, since when has Moffat ever made it that easy for us? I say back to the drawing boards, kids.

2) Is it just me, or did John Hurt suddenly become a fox? Please, if the producers didn’t want us to crush on him then they wouldn’t have put him in that leather get-up.

3) November is going to RULE. Oh, wait, what’s that? IT’S ONLY MAY!?! …Blerg.

-Whitney

Anglophiles Anonymous: Ripper Street

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, TV by

RipperMain_1644262aAs per tradition in my family, my Easter basket this year was filled with candy and a DVD.  Because my mom gets me, she got me a BBC series, which have been sadly lacking from my life now that I no longer have BBC America, called Ripper Street.

I publish this post knowing that I am way behind the times seeing as how this aired a while ago, but in the likelihood that it flew under some radars, I have to recommend this one.  It takes place right at the height of Jack the Ripper Mania in London.

Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, played by Matthew Macfadyen with his adorable face and lovely, deep voice, heads up the Whitechapel H Division but struggles with never having caught the infamous Jack the Ripper. The series follows Reid and his crew as they solve cases in a time that was seeing strides in explosives, forensic science, and new forms of debauchery.

It is all kinds of creepy, good fun!  It’s Sherlock Holmes meets CSI, in the best way possible.   If this sounds like something that is up your alley, I am going to have to insist that you check it out.

– Ellen

Whitney’s Application to be the New Doctor Who Companion

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous by

Clara_OswaldFor the record, I think that Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) is the coolest, smartest, least irritating Doctor Who companion since Donna Noble. However, just because I wholeheartedly approve of the Doctor’s latest choice of BFF doesn’t mean I wouldn’t kill to have the job myself. And because Time Lord traveling companion jobs are so hard to come by these days, I thought I’d submit my application in the event that Clara gets sucked through a hole in the space-time continuum, or gets zapped by the Silence, or sprains an ankle and has to go on disability (all equally plausible on this show).

Name: Whitney

Desired Position: Must… resist urge… to write… euphemism…

Education History: Have seen every episode of Doctor Who at least five times, well versed in the Doctor’s Rules, extensive knowledge of…. Oh, you mean like, school? My bad.

Employment History: Server in a Mexican restaurant. Which, frankly, isn’t any less cool than being a shop girl (Rose), or a temp (Donna), or a resurrecting nanny with the computer hacking skills of Nolan Ross and the baking skills of Paula Dean (Clara). Actually, forget about that last one…

Why I would be right for the job: I’m a twenty-something female with a spotty employment record and a passion for intergalactic hijinks! A better question would be, how am I WRONG for this job?

Joking aside, this is probably the strongest job application I’ve ever written. Seriously.

-Whitney

 

 

Web Bytes: Doctor Who Teasers!!!

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Web Bytes by

series-7-part-2-filming-bike-london-busAll things considered, I feel that I’ve been very cool about the impending return of Doctor Who. No frenzied posts featuring endless series 7 teaser trailers. No frantic texts to Ellen about how this may or may not be Matt Smith’s last year as the Doctor. So yeah, I’d say I’ve been pretty good. Then I saw the latest trailer and went a bit… nuts. Here’s a just a few of the clips I’ve been geeking-out about this morning.

Ok, if THAT didn’t get you in the Doctor Who spirit you’re either dead inside, or you were recently converted into a Cyberman. Either way, my condolences.

-Whitney!

Fangirly Investigates: How Many Adaptations is Too Many?

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Fangirly Investigates, Movies, TV by

Pride and PrejudiceMy love of all things Jane Austen is well-documented and thorough, so it should come as no surprise to you that I recently spent a Sunday watching the 5 hour 1995 Pride and Prejudice.  Imagine my (non) surprise when this marathon viewing only fueled my urgency to watch the 2005 adaptation within the hour.

This is what I love about adaptations.  The 1995 version will forever be my favorite because of its fidelity to the novel, its general humor and lightheartedness, and the Colin Firth-iness of it all, but I cannot deny that the passion and sweeping romantic splendor that Joe Wright infused into his adaptation gets to me, despite some of quibbles with it.  For example, I become incensed when Charlotte Lucas lectures Lizzie about her plight in having to marry Mr. Collins and how upset she is because it zaps out every ounce of Austen’s commentary on that character, which is that women did that all the time back then and they were perfectly contented to do so.  I am willing to recognize, however, that this would have worked against the passionate, romantic vibe that Wright and co. were setting for the film.

It is due to this example and several others, that, in the opinion of this humble reader and movie-goer, one novel can never have too many adaptations.  As long as said adaptation is bringing something, anything, new to the table, it will always be valid.  I find it fascinating to see what tones directors set or what story arcs the writers decide to focus on.

I get the argument that Hollywood can’t think up any new ideas anymore and I get that you may not want to pay money to see yet another story that you have seen before. But I don’t think I want to live in a world where the possibility of new Harry Potters doesn’t exist, nor one in which a perfect adaptation of my favorite Austen work, Persuasion, can be produced.

What are your thoughts on adaptation? Is enough, enough?  Or do you feel as I do that the more the merrier?

-Ellen

Sweet Streams: Spy

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Sweet Streams, TV by

tv_spy_darren_boyd_jude_wrightThe hipster in me loves finding new delights from across the pond.  “It’s some show, you’ve probably never heard of it.  It’s British.”  Or even better, when the show inevitably gets adapted for American audiences, I can say, “The British version was better.”  (See: Coupling, The Office, Sherlock, Da Ali G Show, Being Human, Trading Spaces, What Not to Wear, etc.).  Of course, the Anglophile in me, also loves saying that last one.

Now, when the awfully funny Spy gets adapted for American TV, don’t you want to be a cool kid, too?  Well, you can be because it’s on Hulu.  In case, Hulu hasn’t already gotten you with their incessant self-promotion, let’s see if I can sway you.

Spy is about the unassuming Tim Elliot, a man who is always trying to impress his ambitious and genius son, Marcus.  To up his game, Tim decides to get a better job and accidentally applies to be an MI-6 agent.  The show becomes part workplace comedy, complete with the kooky boss and office crush, and part family comedy as Tim fights his ex-wife and her new boyfriend for custody of Marcus.

This show is so rife with hilarious characters that I have a hard time picking my favorite.  Is it Marcus, who runs gambling rackets out of his bedroom or runs his student council with the kind of iron fist that would make Stalin cower?  Or maybe it is Tim’s boss, known only as The Examiner, who eagerly awaits his next torture and opportunity to impress Tim? It could be Tim’s friend, Chris, who could be a lawyer but finds it easier to just hack bank accounts.

Just check out the first episode below already.  Of course, I’m mourning the fact that the second season just ended and it will undoubtedly be another year before the third season starts.  Crazy Brits and their weird TV programming schedules.

– Ellen

Fangirly Investigates: Who is Clara Oswin Oswald?

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, TV by

6402_10151323011974516_127340701_nEver since the premiere of this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special, and subsequent reveal that Oswin and Clara are the same person, I’ve been going nuts trying to solve the mystery behind the Doctor’s newest companion. This isn’t the first time my obsessive tendencies have gotten the better of me, but it just might be the worst. So for the sake of my mental health, I’ve compiled a list of all my craziest theories. And while I’m pretty sure that none of these theories are anywhere near correct, you can’t blame a Whovian for trying.
1) She’s Jenny!
Why: Clara/Oswin has the habit of dying and popping up in different times and places, a talent that we know the Doctor passed on to his baby girl in the season four episode, “The Doctor’s Daughter”. Also, Clara/Oswin’s phrase “run you clever boy” sounds a lot like Jenny’s favorite saying, “love the running”. Tenuous? You bet.
Why Not: My love for Doctor Who could make me forgive a lot of things, but I’m going to have to draw the line at incest. If Clara/Oswin really is the doctor’s long lost daughter, then their impromptu make-out sesh suddenly lost a lot of its adorability. I mean, a lot.
2) She may be another Time Lord (Time Lass? Time Lady?)
Why: Girlfriend is coming back to life and traveling through time and space. Sounding familiar?
Why Not: This particular plot device seems to be a little played out, if you ask me. First there was the return of the Master, and then the reveal of River’s quasi-Time Lord status leaves me feeling like our new companion will probably not turn out to be yet another time-hopping humanoid.
3) Clara/Oswin may be the twelfth reincarnation of the Doctor.
Why: This is by far my favorite of all the theories floating around at the moment. Personally, although my heart beats for Matt Smith, I think it would be beyond awesome to have a female Doctor. Not to mention that she is by far the cleverest of all the Doctor’s companions, maybe as clever as the Doctor himself. And let’s be honest, weirder things have happened on this show.
Why Not: There are just way too many holes in this theory . Firstly, we have so far seen three separate reincarnations of the same girl. Somehow I don’t think that the Doctor would, or could, regenerate into the same body three different times. Also, if Clara/Oswin is the Doctor then why wouldn’t she be aware of it herself? While I would love to have a sister piloting the TARDIS, I really don’t think it’s going to happen.
So there you have it, all my wildest Doctor Who theories! If you have any DW musings you want to share, feel free to go nuts in our comment section!

-Whitney

Anglophiles Anonymous: Being Human

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Sweet Streams, TV by

These days, there’s nothing I find more annoying than sexually driven supernatural TV shows (I’m looking at you, True Blood). They are everywhere, and although I remain an avid fan of The Vampire Diaries, I was starting to find the vampire/witch/ghost/werewolf monster-mash melodrama a bit tedious. Then I discovered that there are some shows that are so witty, so well written, and so awesome that they can transcend their spooky, sordid roots. Enter Being Human.

Ok, yes, it’s a show about vampire Mitchell (Aidan Turner), ghost Annie (Lenora Crichlow), and werewolf George (Russell Tovey) cohabitating and trying to navigate their respective supernatural situations. And if that were all there was to it, I would have stopped watching a long time ago. But this British import is also hilarious, sweet, and surprisingly poignant. The best example of this is probably George, who lost his job, his girlfriend, and his family after getting mauled by a werewolf while on a Scottish vacation. Here’s a clip of George going bananas.

This show has experienced quite a shake up since last season, including the arrival of three new lead characters, but I think season 5 is going to rule nonetheless. The first three seasons are available to stream on Netflix, something to keep in mind the next time you get a hankering for quality British TV. Which, of course, is always.

-Whitney

Anglophiles Anonymous: The Return of Doctor Who!

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, TV by

My love of TV is pretty well documented. It’s honestly one of my favorite things. But there are some shows that are so important, and so awesome, that they’re nothing less than sacred. Well, I say some. There’s really just one: Doctor Who. And after almost a year of “Silence” from Moffat and the Who crew, my favorite show is back with a new season and, judging from the season 7 premiere, a new attitude.
Before I get ahead of myself, let me explain why I love this show. For starters, it’s one of the best written shows on TV. It’s exciting and funny and sweet and very often deeply emotional, which is kind of rare when you’re dealing with sci-fi shows. Here’s one of my favorite examples, when the tenth Doctor says goodbye to Rose, his companion of two seasons.

Ok, I’ll give you a second to pull yourself together.

The other reason why I adore Doctor Who is because it totally appeals to the kid in everybody. Just watch this scene from the first episode of season 5. The Doctor’s just regenerated and has a case of the Time Lord munchies.

(From here on out I am initiating a full-fledged Spoiler Alert, so if you haven’t see the latest episode, DON’T READ ON).

This season, however, seems to be going in a different direction. While I absolutely LOVED the newest episode, it did seem a little… dark. For example, the season 7 premiere “Asylum of the Daleks” opens with us learning that Amy and Rory are splitting up. In the pre-season “Pond Life” promos we did see that the Ponds might be having marital problems, a fact that was verified when we actually see Amy sign divorce papers. Ouch. Luckily, the episode ended with a fairly long make-out sesh, so I think everything is going to be ok.
Then there’s the Doctor himself. I’m getting the feeling that this is a newer, broodier Doctor than we’ve seen before. Is the show headed to a darker place? And if so, will it lose the fun and charm that made us fall in love with it in the first place? It’s hard to say. What I am sure of is that Steven Moffat has given us two unbelievably awesome seasons, so I’m more than willing to give him a little leeway.

-Whitney

Anglophiles Anonymous: Spaced

Posted in Anglophiles Anonymous, Sweet Streams, TV by

For our inaugural post, we decided we needed to write about something very dear to us.  Something that is an essential for fangirls and fanboys, for that matter.  It is for this reason that I am going to try and convince you to watch Spaced (available on Netflix Instant).

Spaced is written by and starring Simon Pegg (Mission Impossible: Ghost Prots, Shaun of the Dead) and Jessica Hynes née Stevenson (Son of Rambow) and directed by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead).  Now, in my opinion, all of that should be enough to convince you, but I’ll keep going.

The show centers on Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Stevenson), two aspiring artists, comic book and writer, respectively, who lie about being a couple to get an apartment.  The initial premise becomes less important as we follow them and their friends on their crazy exploits.  The “crazy” comes less from what they are doing and more from what happens when this group does them, as is evident in the following clip where Tim and his friend Mike (the awesome Nick Frost) explain “male telepathy” and what happens when Tim and Daisy are set upon by a group of ruffians:

The best thing I can equate Spaced to for us American audiences is Community (six seasons and a movie!).  Both shows aren’t afraid of genre-bending here and there, they both find time to focus on the relationships amidst the chaos, and both are aware that we as a society use our shared experiences of movies, TV shows, etc. to communicate.  Take, for example, this clip from the premiere of series 2 that aired the summer after Star Wars: The Phantom Menace came out:

When I sat down to write this post, I was struggling to find a way to sway you readers into watching.  The reality that I had to face is that not everyone is going to love Spaced as much as I do.  Should they?  Yes. But can I make them?  No.  It’s a quirky little show that makes obscure references.  But it is for these reasons that I love it.  There is a moment near the end of the series that references the obscurest of my favorite movies.  I’m talking about Bugsy Malone.  This movie is so far off people’s radars that when I meet someone who has seen it, we become instant friends.  That’s how I know Spaced and I have formed an unbreakable bond and I think that if you watch, you too can find your Bugsy Malone reference.  .

– by Ellen

Welcome to Fangirly!

Posted in Agree to Disagree, Anglophiles Anonymous, Choice Picks, Crush of the Week, Fangirly Exposed!, Fanmanly, In with the Old, MBK, Movies, Music, Nostalgia, Sweet Streams, TV by

The day has finally come, the moment that only we have been waiting for, the launch of our new website, fangirly.com! We really have been excited to start and judging from some of the stuff that we have planned the fun is just beginning.

Like our tagline suggests, we consider ourselves to be fairly intelligent, discerning human beings, but you stick us in front of TV screen, movie screen, iPod/Pad screen, really any screen, and something strange happens. We lose all sense of how rational people behave. We squeal, laugh hysterically, sob, and do this weird thing that only select members of our family do, rub our hands together out of excitement.

We wanted to give you a little taste of the fun that is to come, so here are some of the features we will be doing here at Fangirly:

Sweet Streams: Do you ever sit down in front of your Netflix account and wonder what you should watch next? “Sweet Streams” will be our recommendations for what you should be streaming to your myriad of devices.

Grade A, Choice Picks: We’re going to give you our top picks for a variety of categories. Curious as to our top food fight scenes?  Top movies based on SNL skits? Top TV bromances? We are going to rank whatever our little hearts desire, because it gives us a false sense of superiority.  Join us, won’t you?

Fangirly Exposed!: Look we all have things that we are embarrassed to like, guilty pleasures, if you will. We are going to do the smart thing and announce ours on the internet!

Fanmanly: While we here at Fangirly enjoy our fair share of romance and polka dots and… other girly stuff, we still like to get down and dirty with the boys. (Insert innuendo of choice here). “Fanmanly” is our look at shows, movies, etc. that leave us feeling just a little more hardcore.

Anglohphiles Anonymous: Whether it be the accents, the dry wit, or the general regal air, we love the Brits and their entertainment (at least everything that makes it across the pond).  Check out picks for the finest that the UK has to offer.

Agree to Disagree: Let it be said that we agree on a lot, but there are also some things on which we will never see eye to eye.  Enjoy as Ellen wins every argument (No, Ellen didn’t write this).

In with the Old: Remember the day when movies and TV shows weren’t all spinoffs, sequels, remakes, and re-imaginings? Us, too! With this feature we hope to remind the future generations that we  were once able to come up with novel concepts.  Because we believe the children are our future.

Marry, Boff, Kill:  We once spent an entire camping trip playing this game, arguing over our choices, and disowning each other for killing certain people.  Now we are bringing the game to you guys so you can relish in watching us argue over (never going to happen) hypothetical situations.

Fangirly Crush of the Week: Pretty self-explanatory, but our spotlight on who is rocking our world.  At least for that week.

We have a lot planned and we are really excited to start.  Hopefully you will find the time to stop by and see what we are up to!  – by Ellen and Whitney