M+J: Jane Eyre

M: Jenn and I went to see Jane Eyre last week after having talked about it for a few weeks. We thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to do a joint post! :)

Overall Assessment:
M: I really enjoyed it! I thought it captured the story really wonderfully and I was immersed in every second of it. There were a few scenes that worried/scared me, but I thought it was beautifully done without trying to make everything look so Hollywood beautiful, if that makes sense.
J: I appreciated the craft of this movie (acting, cinematography, music, etc) but I don't think I really loved it. I'm used to watching much longer BBC/Masterpiece Theatre miniseries productions of these kinds of classic novels and I felt like this was just too...short. The romance in Jane Eyre is the epitome of "slow burn" and there just wasn't enough time for that. I was a bit mixed on Mia Wasikowska as Jane. She was really good in scenes where Jane was allowing her "passion" to come through but the rest of the time I thought she was too bottled up and a bit too frail and delicate looking.

Book vs. Movie:
M: So I've read Jane Eyre at least twice, but both times were well over a decade ago. Given that I can barely remember anything in books I read 10 months ago, 10+ years ago = I remember nothing. I have a vague sense that there was a crazy lady in the attic and I knew the main characters were named Jane Eyre (no duh!) and Mr. Rochester, but that was about it. What I remember of reading the book was that I thought it was a bit boring. I thought the movie did a good job of staying interesting. :) I probably should re-read the book sometime soon...
J: I remember the book pretty well. The movie took some liberties and shortcuts in the story (which I think it had to) but I wasn't upset over any of that. The book does get a little boring at points...there's actually a lot of stuff about religion...

Favorite Thing About the Movie:
M: Uh, Mr. Rochester. Michael Fassbender was extremely good-looking, almost reminiscent of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (5 hour BBC version). I cannot wait to see him (the actor) in X-Men: First Class. Also, given that Jane is supposed to be plain, I did like the fact that Mia Wasikowska was not made to look beautiful all the time, just sometimes. Other times with her weird hair, she really did look plain.
J: Ditto on Michael Fassbender, although I'm pretty sure Mr. Rochester was described as not being very handsome in the book. I also liked the scenes with young Jane, and the landscapes and grand houses in these kinds of movies are always wonderful.

Least Favorite Thing:
M: The goatlike Mr. Rivers. I couldn't stop thinking about how he'd make a fantastic satyr/faun.
J: I thought the ending was rather abrupt. After all that I think a little bit more explanation or time with the reunited couple would have been nice. Also I thought Judi Dench was pretty much wasted as Mrs. Fairfax. I've never thought of that as being a particularly interesting or important role. Oh, and the hairstyles in this movie were all pretty unattractive, though I can't comment on whether they were historically accurate.

New Movie vs. Previous Adaptations:
M: Um, yeah, unlike Jenn, I have not seen any previous adaptations...
J: I'm a big fan of the 2006 BBC miniseries with Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. Like I said before, the four hours just gave it more time to develop. The performances are slightly different...Toby Stephens is a bit wilder and Ruth Wilson's Jane had more poise and actually smiled on occasion. In general I liked the miniseries better. Not that this was that bad...

Miscellaneous:
M: Really glad I got to see it! Yet another movie for my 2011 resolutions!
J: I enjoyed it but when I'm in a Jane Eyre mood I'll reach for the miniseries or the book (both of which I own) instead.

M+J: Greek, Final Season

So... Trying something different, Jenn and I decided to blogchat about one of our favorite TV shows right now: Greek!

Mira: So I'm super excited for this final season of Greek!
Jennifer: Me too, I'm glad they designated this as the last season so they can wrap everything up, hopefully.
Mira: Yes! And I'm liking how they are rolling the main characters back into the mix.
Jennifer: Yeah it's kind of unrealistic that they're ALL coming back but oh well.
Mira: I'm kinda wondering where exactly they're going to go with Ashleigh's return to CRU... Plus, I'm not looking forward to potential Ashleigh-Rusty coupling...
Jennifer: Yeah I was excited that Ashleigh was the one who was getting out there in the real world.
Mira: But how she just picked up and ran away is at least somewhat understandable for her character... NYC can be scary!
Jennifer: Especially since she was an unpaid intern...
Mira: And she's obviously a pampered pretty girl who doesn't understand the concept of roughing it...
Jennifer: Right. I thought it was crazy that she thought Casey being in DC was going to help. That's far!
Mira: Haha, yeah, but closer than OHIO! (That's where CRU is, right?)
Jennifer: I think so...the part of Ohio where it never gets cold, haha.
Mira: LOL, that's totally true!
Jennifer: I think Cappie commented on that once.
Mira: Ooh, Cappie! I'm glad they have a chance to give us good closure on Cappie-Casey!
Jennifer: I like seeing Cappie actually try too. I'm curious to see if he'll actually pick a major. It has to be something appropriate though. Not sure what!
Mira: Yes, I'm wondering if this philosophy thing will be it actually. :) Though I like this revelation about Calvin.
Jennifer: Yeah I guess we never really did know what Calvin was studying
Mira: Nor has much been developed about Calvin beyond OX and being gay.
Jennifer: Right..I'm a little disappointed that he gave up the presidency though
Mira: Especially since Chip is frickin' annoying!
Jennifer: Seriously!
Mira: I'm wondering when Dale's betrayal is going to come out...after HE was the reason Calvin got ousted as president!
Jennifer: Was it really Dale who called the cops on the KTs?
Mira: Yeah, I think so. His trade off for a bid... No pledges for KT, and Dale gets OX...
Jennifer: I guess that makes sense but it seems a little too mean for Dale.
Mira: Dale can be extremely self-serving and selfish, though. That's been evident throughout.
Jennifer: That's true, he was really competitive with that science project thing
Mira: The stupid robot wars! HAHAHA. BTW, I like Spidey, the pledge. Mini-Rusty! :)
Jennifer: Haha I don't even know his real name!
Mira: Okay, okay, I guess we can go off tangentially (Peter Parks? Park? Not quite Parker)... but let's focus a bit -- what do you hope to see at the end of this series?
Jennifer: Definitely Casey and Cappie closure of some kind. I want them to end up together but not in an unrealistic way. I think I'm already ok with where everyone else is. I like Rebecca as ZBZ president.
Mira: I definitely want Casey and Cappie together. I'd also like Cappie and Evan to get back to being friends. I liked them a lot as friends.
Jennifer: That's a good one. I'm not sure what they're doing with Evan this season either. I guess he's still trying to prove himself outside of his name
Mira: Yeah, that's true. I like Evan with Rebecca but it's always weird how he is with Casey. Sigh. But I'm Casey-Cappie all the way. I also want really want Katherine to have more of a presence in the show and in their lives. She's such a fun character.

Jennifer: Definitely, I was really happy to see her back. We've really only had ZBZ girls on the show.
Mira: Hahaha, I was thrilled, too! :)
Jennifer: So it's nice to have someone different
Mira: And not annoying! like Katherine's sorority sister (the president)?
Jennifer: I'm not really a fan of Rusty's girlfriend Dana...I like the idea of Dana (smart and nerdy and not a sorority girl) but not so much her specifically.
Mira: I'm okay with her. Actually it's weird this season, cuz we're getting a lot on the fraternities, OX and KT, but because Casey's not really a part of the sorority anymore, I'm wondering how much of the sorority life they'll roll in... I really liked the little bits they've included in the past, like the singing competition.
Jennifer: Yeah, and I do like the peripheral ZBZ girls.
Mira: I really wanted Abby to end up with Dale. Except now Dale is a tool and doesn't deserve Abby either.
Jennifer: I totally forgot about that. I think Betsy is hilarious too.
Mira: She is! You know it's this thing where Cappie doesn't graduate... But what about his brothers? Beaver??
Jennifer: Haha, I guess they've never specifically given the years of the other brothers. But it's definitely plausible that Beaver is a super senior.
Mira: PLUS, Cappie's been president for three years... Or two years. The show operates on a weird schedule. Weren't there other actual upperclassmen in KT?
Jennifer: Well there was the Asian guy Wade, who got kicked out.
Mira: Maybe I'm just not supposed to question this... :)
Jennifer: At least they're clear what years the main characters are in. Unlike say, Friday Night Lights.
Mira: Haha, true. Like Rusty is actually a junior now.
Jennifer: Right, Rusty, Calvin and Rebecca are all juniors.
Mira: Oh, Rebecca's president as a junior! And not that ditzy blonde.
Jennifer: Rebecca needs a new storyline, too.
Mira: Other than Evan?!?! Sigh. Agree!
Jennifer: We don't know what her major is either, do we?
Mira: Nope, no clue. In any case, I'm really enjoying this season so far. I like where it's going and I cannot wait to get to happily ever after. It better end on happily ever after!!!
Jennifer: I hope so too. I'm sad it's ending but glad that it didn't get cancelled before resolving anything
Mira: Yeah, I much prefer a show that chooses to end to one that gets ended. It's a tiny bit surprising that they didn't choose to end it at a more final point. Either Casey's graduation last season or Rusty's graduation in another year. But maybe it'll end on Cappie's graduation. ;-)
Jennifer: Well I don't think they necessarily chose to end it. I think ABC Family decided to give them a final season.
Mira: Oh, boo. Oh well. I like closure and so we have a shot at that. And if it continues to be as awesome as it has been -- buying the full series DVD set! :)