As part of my Project 52, I wanted to watch the Pillars of the Earth movie. It is a 10 part miniseries done for Showcase or HBO about a year or two ago, based on Ken Follet's novel. It did air in Canada, but I missed it. Well, I was going to rent the DVDs, but then CBC decided to rebroadcast the series. Every Tuesday night, for the last 10 nights, at 9:00pm. I watched each episode including the finale which aired last Tues night.
What did I think? For a mini-series, it was pretty good. Lots of good actors, and suspense, and twists and turns in the plot. As a reproduction of the book, it paled in comparison. The book was just so full of details and character development, that the movie didn’t have a chance of repeating. As a result, the movie did not follow the book 100%. The writers obviously took a lot of liberties with the story line, as a lot of the stuff in the movie just didn’t happen that way in the book. But, that’s not to say it wasn’t a good movie. It was, and I did enjoy it. It was, in its own way, entertaining…. Just different from the book is all.
What really twisted my noodle was this guy….
What did I think? For a mini-series, it was pretty good. Lots of good actors, and suspense, and twists and turns in the plot. As a reproduction of the book, it paled in comparison. The book was just so full of details and character development, that the movie didn’t have a chance of repeating. As a result, the movie did not follow the book 100%. The writers obviously took a lot of liberties with the story line, as a lot of the stuff in the movie just didn’t happen that way in the book. But, that’s not to say it wasn’t a good movie. It was, and I did enjoy it. It was, in its own way, entertaining…. Just different from the book is all.
What really twisted my noodle was this guy….
His name is Matthew Macfadyen, and in Pillars of the Earth, he played Prior Phillip. I spent the better part of 2 or 3 episodes, trying to pinpoint where I had seen him before. And then, I looked him up on the internet (what would we do without Google?) I knew I recognized him!! He also played Mr. Darcy in Pride and Predjudice (one of my favourite movies... it's the one I have on my iPod, and I watch it all the time when I'm travelling)
In Frost/Nixon, he played alongside one of my other favourite actors, Michael Sheen. (that’s Matthew on the right).
AND… he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the most recent Robin Hood movie (with Russell Crowe). What a coincidence, but we have that movie on DVD, and we recently watched it again too!!
He’s an interesting actor to watch. He definitely gets into each role, and portrays each character with a style that you don’t find in many mainstream actors. I think I find him intriguing because he’s a fellow Scorpio. Or, maybe it’s because he’s British. But, his style and versatility do remind me of another British Actor, who recently won an Oscar for Best Actor… Colin Firth. Who, by the way, is also one of my faves (loved him in Love Actually) and who also played Mr. Darcy in a version of Pride and Prejudice. Don’t you just love coincidences?
In Frost/Nixon, he played alongside one of my other favourite actors, Michael Sheen. (that’s Matthew on the right).
AND… he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the most recent Robin Hood movie (with Russell Crowe). What a coincidence, but we have that movie on DVD, and we recently watched it again too!!
He’s an interesting actor to watch. He definitely gets into each role, and portrays each character with a style that you don’t find in many mainstream actors. I think I find him intriguing because he’s a fellow Scorpio. Or, maybe it’s because he’s British. But, his style and versatility do remind me of another British Actor, who recently won an Oscar for Best Actor… Colin Firth. Who, by the way, is also one of my faves (loved him in Love Actually) and who also played Mr. Darcy in a version of Pride and Prejudice. Don’t you just love coincidences?
1 comment:
I've only seen Matthew MacFadyen in Pride & Prejudice, which I didn't love. I know a lot of people did, but I am just so in love with the longer BBC version that all the things cut out for MacFadyen/Knightley's version just bothered me.
As a result, I haven't really given him much of a chance. I should check out some of his other movies. You've convinced me.
I'm also going to check out Pillars of Earth. I haven't read the books, so I'll watch the mini-series first and then go back and read the books.
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