Austen Blog

I've discovered a most wonderful blog all about Jane Austen and her books, the movies made of them, and anything Austenian. It is called "Austen Blog" and you can find it here. I've also added a link on our sidebar. I look forward to reading "Austen Blog" every day!




















Miss Jane Austen

Ioan's New Role!

I'm very excited that Ioan has a new film role lined up. You can read about it here.

The film is called "The TV Set" and is an "indie satire."

Ioan will be working with David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver.

Here is the plot as we know it so far:

The story follows the making of a television pilot, with Duchovny playing the pilot's beleaguered showrunner. Weaver -- whose father, Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, was a top executive at NBC in the 1940s and '50s -- will play the head of a network, and Gruffudd will play a BBC exec who joins the network.

"The TV Set" will begin filming 18 August 2005, which is tomorrow! I look forward to it!

I am Hermione Granger!

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Really, rather accurate. I've done the Meyers-Briggs test and I am always ISTJ.

Here is the key to such the results:

This type of personality test uses four indexes of personality and the combination of the four is your personality type. The firstindex relates to how you interact with other people and can be Extroverted (E),meaning you're more outgoing or Introverted (I), meaning you keep more to yourself. The second relates to how you make decisions; whether you're Intuitive(N), getting answers from within, or you rely on Sensing (S) information from your surroundings, using your five senses. The third relates to whether you're more emotional and Feeling (F) or rational and Thinking (T). The fourth relates to whether you prefer things to be organized, meaning you're Judging (J), or you prefer things to be more unbound, meaning you're Perceiving(P).

Save the Hornblower Series!

One of my favorite set of films is the Horatio Hornblower Series. They are excellent movies, based on the excellent naval adventure novels of C.S. Forester, and set during the Napoleonic Wars. Horatio Hornblower is an officer in the British Navy.

These films were made by a British company and then shown here in the United States by A & E. In Britain, the films weren't much appreciated, but they have done exceedingly well here. The first set of films, four total, were shown in 1998 and were based on book 1. The second set of two came out in 2000 and were based on book 2. The third set of two were shown in 2003 and were based on book three.

(Photo from Ioan Online)

Horatio Hornblower is played by my favorite actor, a Welshman, Ioan Gruffudd (Yo-awn Griffith), who is currently starring in Fantastic Four. Ioan has called Horatio Hornblower his favorite character and has said, "I'd love to continue with that character - I think it would be interesting to play the character through every stage of his life.

"Sadly, the new powers that be at the A+e network have decided they don't want to make any more but I've always fancied doing a film version of Hornblower, so maybe that could be done."

In 2004, he said his best moment was "Being Cast as Hornblower. It was a career-changing moment."

Unfortunately, A & E has decided to join the reality programming bandwagon and is declining to join in making anymore Horatio Hornblower films.

Even if you have never seen a film and don't care in the least, would you please (I am begging) take a moment (only a moment) to sign this petition asking A & E to reconsider. I would be eternally grateful (and delighted to see more Hornblower movies!). Thank you!

(Cross-posted at A Lady's Ruminations)

"Fantastic Four" on DVD!!!

I've been dying to know when "Fantastic Four" would be out on dvd. It seems we have an answer. Head over to VideoETA for the scoop.

"Fantastic Four" seems scheduled to be released for sale on 13 December. If you click on the "Remind me" box at the top right of the page and fill out the form that comes up, VideoETA will send you a reminder e-mail. I've already done so!

Movie Trailers!!!

Click here to watch the trailer for the new "Pride and Prejudice," starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett.

If you scroll down the page, you may also watch the trailer for "Fantastic Four"!!

Third Time's A Charm

Alright, I've just got back from my third viewing of Fantastic Four. It was just as excellent as the other two viewings.

Since it came out 8 July, Fantastic Four has done incredibly well. According to BoxOfficeMojo, as of 2 August, F4 has made $138,065,785 domestically. Add that to $109,499,621 overseas, for a total of $247,565,406!

The question is, why have critics called it a flop? Every where one looks, the critics have given it bad reviews.

I think the obvious answer is that the critics are often wrong. They forget to factor "entertainment value" into their grades. So Fantastic Four might not be another Lord of the Rings, but how many movies are? The point is, Fantastic Four is a very funny, very entertaining summer movie. It has done super well in the United States and around the world. I don't even think it has opened in every country yet.

I think it is a great movie to see on a hot summer day (and not just because hot Ioan Gruffudd). It's fun!