Sunday 28 February 2016

Film Review - "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"


I need to start with a confession.  I have never read Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" - and I have never watched any of the adaptations. Obviously, a few of the characters are known - Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy, of course.  You know that she seems a bit of a snob whereas he seems to be remarkably arrogant.  It's almost as though you absorb some of the knowledge by osmosis.  I have, however, read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and I watched the film with a work colleague who has not only read Jane Austen's original work but prides herself on having seen every single film/tv adaptation.

As for the plot, whereas I was thinking that, in some areas, it deviated quite wildly from the "PPZ" book, my colleague was actually impressed at how much of Austen's original work was very apparent in this film. Essentially though, it does what it says on the tin - it's "Pride and Prejudice"...with zombies.  Set around half a century after a Zombie "pandemic" has essentially cut off London, the well-bred Bennett sisters are not genteelly sewing but happily sharpening swords and cleaning muskets whilst discussing their neighbours or marriage.  They carry on this typically 19th Century obsession with marrying well whilst quite matter of factly beheading and slaughtering zombies - and this juxtaposition works well on screen mainly due to the fact that the cast play it totally straight.  The main strength of the film is definitely the cast.  Lily James and Sam Riley make a great Elizabeth Bennett and "Colonel" Darcy, Lena Headley as zombie slayer and eye-patch wearer, Lady Catherine De Bourg, comes close to stealing the film but the real thief of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is, of course, Matt Smith as Parson Collins.


Matt Smith really does steal every single scene he's in - his Parson Collins is just hysterically funny.  So much so that, following a dramatic and quite stunning martial arts contest between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy, culminating in Elizabeth sitting in a chair and crying, the group of people in the row behind us at the cinema immediately started chuckling when Parson Collins was spied passing the window.  Thankfully, the character of Parson Collins and his storyline is one of those areas where they veer away quite dramatically from the book - and I, for one, am hugely relieved for that.

It's very hard to categorise "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" - is a comedy?  A drama? A horror?  A romance?  Actually, it's pretty much all of them - and it works brilliantly.  I think it's been classified as a "horror-comedy" which is fine...however...there's not exactly a huge amount of gore.  For a film with zombies, it's surprisingly light on the more bloody kind of horror - and that was a disappointment for me.  Probably the only disappointing part of the film but a disappointment nonetheless.

It really is crying out for a sequel - however ... it's not exactly doing brilliantly at the box office.  In fact, some cinemas in the UK have started to pull it already.  See it as soon as you can - or you will miss your chance.

Rating - 8/10 (it lost 2 points for the lack of "bloody" horror...)




Saturday 20 February 2016

Screencaps - Jemma Redgrave - "Holby City - A Partnership, Literally"

A batch of screencaps of Jemma Redgrave from her second Holby City episode, "A Partnership, Literally",  have been uploaded to the Who-Natic Gallery. Samples below - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions - please feel free to take and use.








More in the Who-Natic Gallery.

Thanks again to Jonathan at Combom for the lovely, high quality caps.


Thursday 18 February 2016

Peter Capaldi to appear in "The Complete Walk"


Created to mark the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's death, the Globe will make 37 short films - one of each of Shakespeare's plays. The films - called "The Complete Walk" - will be shown on screens along a two-and-a-half mile stretch of London's South Bank on 23 and 24 April 2016. Part of each 10-minute film will be new material, shot in the location where each play is originally set.

Peter Capaldi will play Titus Andronicus, filmed in Rome.  The cast for the films also currently includes Simon Russell Beale, Dominic West, James Norton, Hayley Atwell and Jonathan Pryce.

Throughout 2016, the project will be presented in cities across the UK and internationally - currently confirmed as Liverpool and Santa Barbara, California.  The films will also be available on Globe Player.

Venues, opening times and more information will be released in March 2016.


Wednesday 17 February 2016

Screencaps - Matt Smith Clip - "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"

A batch of screencaps of Matt Smith from the "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" clip released last week (you can watch it here),  have been uploaded to the Who-Natic Gallery. Samples below - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions - please feel free to take and use.







More in the Who-Natic Gallery.



Monday 15 February 2016

More Photos - Matt Smith - 2016 BAFTA Awards

More photos have emerged of Matt Smith at the 2016 BAFTA Awards - including a few quite delicious black and white "portraits".  The images are courtesy of zimbio.com and are, of course, in the Who-Natic Gallery:














More in the Who-Natic Gallery.


Sunday 14 February 2016

Photos - Matt Smith - BAFTA Awards 2016

Matt Smith attended the BAFTAs tonight - presenting the award for Special Effects with Emilia Clarke.  The photos below are courtesy of zimbio.com, justjared.comBBC One and, of course, farfarawaysite.com - full size versions are also in the Who-Natic Gallery: