You asked for it, so here’s an occasional open thread to bitch about anything tangentially related to history, costume, movies, or TV shows! Or whatever else is on your mind right now. Note that URLs are automatically held for moderation, but most anything else goes as long as you’re not bitchier than we are!
The weather is slowly turning from summer to fall, and with that comes new frock flicks as Hollywood gears up for Oscar-bait season.
What are you excited about?
Not Frock Flicks, but the two new Stephen King adaptations coming out look intriguing. I’m probably in the minority, but I hated the original Running Man because it was SO different from the book. This new one looks promising. :)
I just watched Washington Black on Disney+. I’d be interested in your take on the frocks in this story set in 1837. It’s got several themes that the FF team have been looking for – people of colour in an historical setting, a main character who ‘passes’ white, Rupert Graves and Charles Dance, and more. I have thoughts on how the story played out, but I’ll keep those to myself to avoid spoilers for others. The show motivated me to buy a copy of Esi Edugyan’s book!
Interesting! I looked like a kid’s show when I first saw it, but maybe I’ll take a shot.
There are two timelines, one with 11-year-old Wash and one with him as an adult. Even the 11-y-o timeline has some stuff going on that’s not kid-friendly. There’s a definite VSF angle with flying machines and SCIENCE! and there are definitely some deviations from historical accuracy for the sake of the story. But it’s very pretty, although my own uneducated eye can’t tell if the costumes are period accurate :)
Netflix is doing another adaptation of P& P- although nothing can compare to 95, I am cautiously optimistic after seeing the cast.
The costumes look awful.
Agh! Hollywood has run out of ideas #1375!
I wish someone would remember Northhanger Abbey exists.
Be careful what you wish for – the Monkey’s Paw might driver exactly what you asked for, but not in any form you’d actually want (For not all adaptations are GOOD adaptations).
The Thursday Murder Club movie should’ve been a series. Too much was left out to make a coherent narrative. The characters were caricatures. Was it bad acting (Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan hamming it up) or bad directing? At least the scenery & set design was nice.
All the above, Noel. What a huge waste of talent. I actually got bored and switched over to Ozark for some real acting, plot and fleshed out characters. The direction of TMC was frothy, sketchy, episodic (yes, a series!), and the story even more improbable than it should have been. The attempt at cuteness was off the charts. The best character was the policewoman who played a nicely understated yet compelling foil for the screen chewers.
Everything wrong with the 1st Wuthering Heights trailer and go! 1. Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshawl! 2. Some hot white twink as Heathcliff!
I’m saving up till Snark Week bec. I’m full of white hot rage about that thing!
Rubs hands evily
Oh, bloody hell, another one? I had managed to forget about the idea of Robbie playing a character young enough to be her daughter just because she can–and now I eagerly await Trystan’s vengeance.
I’m looking forward to Frankenstein. The buzz has been good and I watched the filming (lots of cranes and scores of support trailers) at Burghley Park near where I used to live. I think the costumes might be good. Also Nuremberg with Russell Crowe has gotten some attention, though I don’t know how much frock flicks love it will get.
I’m sorry The Bride won’t be released until next March.
I found a website by accident and it looked like it might be someone here’s jam. It’s a shoe company called American Duchess and it’s all vintage-looking shoes made for modern wearers. It’s probably aimed at theater productions, but it looks like a LOT of fun. You can shop by era! They have stockings! They have patterns! I thought of this crew immediately. If you’ve shopped there or have another favorite, let me know! It’s pricy for me but I’d love to try them.
Absolutely, many of us here at FF have several pairs of shoes by them!
They make the prettiest shoes (if you like a vintage look) hands down. I have way too many, and I’m coveting the new Edwardian pump that’s too high for my old feet. I’m thinking buy them anyway and put them on display.
I’m eagerly awaiting your take on Wuthering Heights (my computer tries to correct it to Withering, which may be a better title), because I’m fully in support of team #MocktheFrock.
I plan on watching Frankenstein, ’cause it looks like something I would enjoy.
I can’t WAIT for Trystan’s take on Wuthering Heights.
Frankenstein’s costumes look AMAZING, but I’d expect nothing less from Kate Hawley after Crimson Peak!
I just saw a post about a French production of “Phantom of the Opera” that is supposed to be more closely based on the book by Gaston Leroux, and not a musical. It’s listed on imdb as “Le Fantôme de L’Opéra”, the post had a slightly worrying comment that it was taking cues from…..Twlight…..
I’m watching the images coming out from the new Pride and Prejudice adaptation and guessing that this will be something more adequate than awesome. I agree with commenters who would prefer some new material than yet another adaptation of the same old stuff, but I also think that to modern eyes, Wickham is very identifiable as a groomer, and it ought to be interesting to see a post “me-too” movement version of the story.
One of the few real failings of the 1995 version is that the script hinted at an early connection between Lydia and Wickham, when I think the point of the book is that he was focused on other targets with more money until he was in Brighton and getting desperate.
On the other hand, I haven’t seen any pigs yet in the photos that have come out, so there is still a possibility that this adaptation will tone down the porcine content.
I also wanted to note that, with the seemingly endless flow of Philippa Gregory adaptations drying up, the blog-owners will need material for next year’s Snark Week, and bad Austen and Bronte adaptations never disappoint.
I’m speed viewing Downton Abbey before I watch the new movie. I’m really going to miss the Dowager Countess’ bon mots though, Dame Maggie Smith was a gem.
I suspect I might like this one more than the other 2 movies though, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. At the very least, we know it will be easy on the eyes.
Came across a French film situated in the French countryside in 1889. The Taste of Things stars Juliet Binoche and focuses on a master chef and his “cook”. It is very slow and is filmed automatically au natural. All the sounds are from this world. There is now background music at all. I doubt the clothes will excite anyone but despite a somewhat sad ending, I found it compelling. It’s on several streaming services if you’re interested. Most of the time is spent cooking which is sensual and enlightening. The love of the food is palpable. But…it is slow so be warned.
I keep seeing these videos about historical dressing from English Heritage and Historic Royal castles, which some of them are amazing but some less so. I keep noticing that they keep cross-lacing styles date before 1830s like Tudor kirtle or stays which is weird because they are introduced as historical reenactor/interpreter so I thought they would know better. Maybe I am becoming a bit of a snob :D. Please let me know
The Tudor Tailor ladies started out with either English Heritage or one of the palaces (can’t remember which) & combined practical reenactment w/a scholarly approach, but that was decades ago, so alas, standards may have slipped. No idea what’s up :(
Is there some reason you review almost no non-Anglophone films/shows (other than French)? Just curious.
Pretty simple – we live in the United States & have easiest access to U.S. & U.K. media. Also, Kenda is a francophone so she seeks that out (& it’s easier to find). As we’ve said before, we review stuff we want to watch!
https://frockflicks.com/we-cant-get-to-everything/
There’s tons available on Netflix, Kanopy, and the like so it would seem it’s related more to the second part of your comment. Thanks for clarifying!
Having watched the BBC’s KING & CONQUEROR episodes to date, I can report that it’s a reasonably solid bit of political drama that has a bad habit of defaulting to Medieval-ish (Though Earl Godwin for one absolutely looks as though he just stepped off the Bayeux Tapestry) and the good sense to show women exerting their influence even in an era where they were allotted power only through the men in their lives.
This far it’s not one for the ages and sometimes strikes a false note in a minor key, but it’s worth watching … though not for the costumes (Also, Harold Godwinson needs to WASH HIS FACE: he’s a Lord, not a child!).
Sad to learn of Robert Redford’s passing. Did you ever do a MCM on him?
Alert! 1670 just got a second season in Netflix!
It looks like PBS is using Pride and Prejudice 95 as a way to lure in more members (and who can blame them, now that their federal funding is gone). It’s kind of sad actually, because the telethon people have pointedly mentioned how expensive the BBC licensing fees are, but this would be the series I’d have picked to show off too.