Whitney and Ellen gab about their favorite period dramas (and boy, do they have opinions on those). Plus, the stirring conclusion to their Oscars pool in which Whitney has to try and struggle through a dramatic reading of horrible fanfiction featuring multiple Batmans (Batmen?) and a buff Mickey Mouse. You have to hear it to believe it.
You can listen and subscribe HERE on iTunes or you can go HERE to listen and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Whitney and Ellen are joined by their cousin Sam (for the male perspective) to go over some of the big releases that we have to look forward to in 2016. Is this the year we finally get sick of superhero movies? (Mmm, probably not). Does Whitney’s roommate have really bad taste in music that she blasts through their apartment? (Spoiler: Yes). Also, the gang throws out some crazy hypothetical situations to try and stump each other. Is there any situation in which Ellen would not go on a date with a Marvel Chris? Listen to find out.
*Circumstances led to Ellen having to use a very bad mic. Apologies in advance.
You can listen and subscribe HERE on iTunes or you can go HERE to listen and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Rumors of an impending film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice
and Zombies started circulating the day the book hit shelves. No surprise. Take one of the most successful novels of all time, dress it up with karate and a trendy horror shtick, and suddenly you’ve got a movie that will, if all goes well, appeal to two rarely intersecting demographics. Moms and fourteen-year-old boys the world over will set aside their petty differences in the hopes of seeing Jane Austen’s vivid work come to life on screen and a lot of gore, respectively. And if that’s all you’re looking for too, then you will enjoy this movie.
Because there are things to enjoy here. The cast is invariably British and beautiful, there are lots of fun fight sequences, the humor is sufficiently tongue in cheek, and the core love story remains (for the most part) intact. Also, I feel safe in saying that Matt Smith’s turn as perpetual-butt-of-the-joke Mr. Collins will never, ever be topped in any past or future P&P adaptations. (His dancing in the Netherfield Ball scene will destroy you. You’ve been warned).
But if you’re expecting the film to have the same satirical self-awareness as the novel, you might be disappointed. One of the things that made PPZ so funny was how the addition of zombies into Regency society didn’t really change things much. The heroines 
are given moves a Cobra Kai would envy and the finest dojo in all of Hertfordshire, and it still
doesn’t significantly improve their situation in life or offer any freedoms they might not have had otherwise. That was the joke. Just because society is crumbling in the wake of a zombie apocalypse doesn’t mean you aren’t still beholden to it. And some of the satire
of the book is lost in translation; there are even moments when the movie takes itself just a little too seriously, not totally unlike Seth Grahame-Smith’s last adaptation Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Also, and this is just me being picky, there were some strange nods to the 1995 BBC production of P&P. Including but not limited to, Mr Darcy (Sam Riley) taking an impromptu swim in a handy pond. Sounding familiar?
I can’t tell if the movie is playing with us, or whether there are people in Hollywood who aren’t aware that scene isn’t in the book.
What I’m saying is that the people who made this film took the title very literally. It’s Pride and Prejudice… and zombies. Elizabeth and Jane and Darcy and Bingley all exchange furtive glances while they stave off the End of Days. Bodices are ripped. Bosoms are heaved. Brains are eaten. And, full disclosure, that’s still a movie I’ll absolutely pay to see.
–Whitney Weldon
February 5, ladies and open-minded gentlemen. The day that Jane Austen’s original vision for her timeless classic Pride and Prejudice finally comes to fruition. I present to you selected clips from a love story for the ages, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
–Whitney Weldon
My 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
Fangirly 