Last Movie Watched "House of Cards"
Marv Soloff
"House of Cards" *UK - 1990) Directed by Paul Seed, script by Andrew
Davies from Michael Dobbs novel. A remarkable four part series on the
machinations of a Chief Whip to ascend to power in the UK. Ian
Richardson is just incredible as Francis Urquhart the Chief Whip and is
backed by a superb ensemble acting company of some of the best actors in
England. Everything about this series stands out - the plot is suitably
Byzantine, the characters comfortable in their roles, the direction is
unobtrusive and straightforward, and the piece exudes realism.
This one is a sit through all four episodes at one time project and a
major keeper. I just wonder how they did it when Hollywood keeps giving
us really boring hospital or cop or CIA shows.
Marv
Adam
I couldn't possibly comment.
But yes, still the odd good series, film or TV thriller out of
the UK. Curiously, Tiger Aspect, a production house that does
UK sit-coms and comedians' shows, has done some very good
no-nonsense hard-boiled thrillers.
Richard Schultz
: "House of Cards" *UK - 1990) Directed by Paul Seed, script by Andrew
: machinations of a Chief Whip to ascend to power in the UK.
Make sure that you watch the two sequels. The first one ("To Play the King")
is IMO as good as "House of Cards," even though the death of the real
Princess Diana puts it into an alternate universe that is even farther from
reality than the original series was. The second one ("The Final Cut") is
not quite as good IMO. It's much darker; AIUI, Ian Richardson agreed to
reprise the role on the condition that F.U. finally got his comeuppance at
the end. I thought that the writing in the third series was less sharp than
in the first two. Even though there's a slight falloff in the quality, it's
still miles ahead of most of the junk that fills our TV screens nowadays.
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
There's something I must tell you, there's something I must say:
The only really perfect love is one that gets away.
moviePig
> In article <8OeIk.358$Rx2....@nwrddc01.gnilink.net>, Marv Soloff <msol...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> : "House of Cards" *UK - 1990) Directed by Paul Seed, script by Andrew
> : Davies from Michael Dobbs novel. A remarkable four part series on the
> : machinations of a Chief Whip to ascend to power in the UK.
>
> Make sure that you watch the two sequels. The first one ("To Play the King")
> is IMO as good as "House of Cards," even though the death of the real
> Princess Diana puts it into an alternate universe that is even farther from
> reality than the original series was. The second one ("The Final Cut") is
> not quite as good IMO. It's much darker; AIUI, Ian Richardson agreed to
> reprise the role on the condition that F.U. finally got his comeuppance at
> the end. I thought that the writing in the third series was less sharp than
> in the first two. Even though there's a slight falloff in the quality, it's
> still miles ahead of most of the junk that fills our TV screens nowadays.
A slightly divergent opinion about 'The Final Cut': I was buoyed
about as well as by its two predecessors, with the exception of only
its denouement -- the final cut, as it were -- which felt somewhat
disjoint and obligatory. (Thus, I could easily accept your notion
about Richardson's pre-conditions.)
--
- - - - - - - -
YOUR taste at work...
http://www.moviepig.com
David Oberman
>. . . even though the death of the real Princess Diana
Why do so many call her Princess Diana?
Richard Schultz
: A slightly divergent opinion about 'The Final Cut': I was buoyed
: about as well as by its two predecessors, with the exception of only
: its denouement -- the final cut, as it were -- which felt somewhat
: disjoint and obligatory. (Thus, I could easily accept your notion
: about Richardson's pre-conditions.)
I felt that F.U. was behaving quite out of character in TFC. Here's a guy
[SPOILER ALERT!!!!]
who threw one lover off of the roof, had another lover's car blown up (as
well as having the car of his closest friend of 30 years blown up), and
didn't lose any sleep over either of those acts ("You *do* trust me, don't
you?"). Now he's suddenly gotten an attack of conscience over a murder
he committed 40 years ago? Not to mention the amazing coincidence that the
original murder took place exactly in the spot where he stands to make a
bundle of money by manipulating a series of political negotiations. In
addition, he makes a number of political blunders that really seem out
of character (then again, even FDR managed to make some fairly asinine
moves -- e.g. the way he went about "packing" the Supreme Court).
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
"an optimist is a guy/ that has never had/ much experience"
Richard Schultz
: sch...@mail.biu.ack.il (Richard Schultz) wrote:
:>. . . even though the death of the real Princess Diana
:
: Why do so many call her Princess Diana?
Because they are lazy. If it makes you feel any better, consider the
sentence above modified to read ". . . the real Diana, Princess of Wales."
If you really care about royalty (which I for one don't particularly), you
might want to look up where Prince Philip sits in the line to the
succession to the British throne and consider whether or not King Harald
of Norway should be looking over his shoulder.
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
"Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell bad."
moviePig
> In article <24d3653d-af9b-41ca-9959-bb5453b45...@k37g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>, moviePig <pwall...@moviepig.com> wrote:
>
> : A slightly divergent opinion about 'The Final Cut': I was buoyed
> : about as well as by its two predecessors, with the exception of only
> : its denouement -- the final cut, as it were -- which felt somewhat
> : disjoint and obligatory. (Thus, I could easily accept your notion
> : about Richardson's pre-conditions.)
>
> I felt that F.U. was behaving quite out of character in TFC. Here's a guy
>
> [SPOILER ALERT!!!!]
>
> who threw one lover off of the roof, had another lover's car blown up (as
> well as having the car of his closest friend of 30 years blown up), and
> didn't lose any sleep over either of those acts ("You *do* trust me, don't
> you?"). Now he's suddenly gotten an attack of conscience over a murder
> he committed 40 years ago? Not to mention the amazing coincidence that the
> original murder took place exactly in the spot where he stands to make a
> bundle of money by manipulating a series of political negotiations. In
> addition, he makes a number of political blunders that really seem out
> of character (then again, even FDR managed to make some fairly asinine
> moves -- e.g. the way he went about "packing" the Supreme Court).
[CONTINUED SPOILERS!]
His attacks of conscience, in general, were hardly sudden; e.g., I'm
sure that, over the twelve hours, we all grew somewhat tired of
reliving Mattie's pavement plunge. His errors in political judgment I
attributed to his overall character-arc, i.e., a staple one where
increasing ego and stress join forces to bring inevitable downfall.
But there, I admit to watching the whole trilogy end-to-end while
thinking it rendered a single tale (rather than a serendipity plus two
Further-adventures-of.) The Cyprus coincidence I wrote off as being
somehow historically germane to his and Lady MacBeth's interest in the
place. (I.e., I inferred I'd missed some dialogue. And, yeah,
without that, the script does overrely on the Poetry of Events.)
David Oberman
> the script does overrely on the Poetry of Events.)
I like this picturesque phrase.
moviePig
> moviePig <pwall...@moviepig.com> wrote:
> > the script does overrely on the Poetry of Events.)
>
> I like this picturesque phrase.
(I'll treasure the compliment.) Isn't there a stock phrase denoting
gratuitous coincidence in fiction? I keep thinking 'deus ex
machina'... but the coincidence here (if it was one) accomplished so
little that, alongside it, the 'machina' looked more Rube Goldbergian
than heaven-sent...
David Oberman
>(I'll treasure the compliment.) Isn't there a stock phrase denoting
>gratuitous coincidence in fiction?
There might be. I use Wayne Booth's "Rhetoric of Fiction" for looking
up a lot of things.
Do not confuse Wayne Booth with Wayne O'Neil.
Tom Sutpen
*****
Or Wayne Dyer.
Tom "I'm just sayin'" Sutpen
Opry phantom
> On Oct 12, 1:04 pm, David Oberman <dober...@socal.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > moviePig <pwall...@moviepig.com> wrote:
> > > the script does overrely on the Poetry of Events.)
>
> > I like this picturesque phrase.
>
> (I'll treasure the compliment.) Isn't there a stock phrase denoting
> gratuitous coincidence in fiction? I keep thinking 'deus ex
> machina'... but the coincidence here (if it was one) accomplished so
> little that, alongside it, the 'machina' looked more Rube Goldbergian
> than heaven-sent...
>
> --