TV/Movies Megathread

[Sheilbh]

When we got home I watched an episode of the 60s show on tv.  It was interesting how daughter Wednesday went from just a bit character in the tv show, to probably having more screen time than her parents in the 2019 movie.  She also switched from being 6 to being in junior high, and from being the younger, to the older, sibling.

I feel like that started with the 90s movie - admittedly they had Cristina Ricci who could act as a child playing Wednesday. But she definitely became more prominent than her brother. Though I think they were about the same age at that point.

[Sheilbh]

This I can see: folk or pre-Christian practices that were never given the full sanction of law and which were eventually outlawed.  But that's not the same as saying the practice is fictitious.

Yeah but they may never have existed. I'm almost certain in the case of Napoleon and Venice there were definitely punishments that the rational lawgiver abolished despite there being little to no evidence they ever actually existed.

[FunkMonk]

The Outlaw King is a much better version of what Braveheart was going for. It's on Netflix so go watch it now.

Plus it has Stannis Baratheon, the One True King, as Edward Longshanks. Perf.

[The Minsky Moment]

Agree with the Malthus review of Braveheart - it's not just the letter (the sartorial detail and specific dates) but the spirit (who Wallace was and why he fought) that is wrong.  The kilts and the blue face is a big deal because it is the most obvious surface manifestation of the core of what the movie was doing - recasting a true historical personage and his times to fit a modern romance with very different historical roots.  And in doing that, it missed what could have been a more interesting story about the complexity of identities and loyalties on a medieval borderland during a time of social change and upheaval.

[The Brain]

My main problem with what little I saw of the movie was that it sucked ass.

[Sheilbh]

The Outlaw King is a much better version of what Braveheart was going for. It's on Netflix so go watch it now.

Plus it has Stannis Baratheon, the One True King, as Edward Longshanks. Perf.

And it is - rightly - about Robert Bruce

[The Larch]

Also - Edward "Longshanks" in fact died of dysentery on his way to fight the Scots again, and his last request was, allegedly, to have his skeleton flayed, tied to his horse, and lead against the enemy in battle!

Which is, like, the most metal thing ever.  A zombie Longshanks in a medieval battle would have been awesome.

(Sadly, they didn't actually do that.)

That is literally part of the legend of El Cid.  Minus the flailing, I guess.

[grumbler]

My main problem with what little I saw of the movie was that it sucked ass.

But it did have a guy riding a horse through a house (the only bit I remember, and maybe the only bit I saw bar what is on YouTube).

[FunkMonk]

The Outlaw King is a much better version of what Braveheart was going for. It's on Netflix so go watch it now.

Plus it has Stannis Baratheon, the One True King, as Edward Longshanks. Perf.

And it is - rightly - about Robert Bruce

And seeing a piece of Wallace's quartered body in the beginning was :chefkiss:

[The Brain]

My main problem with what little I saw of the movie was that it sucked ass.

But it did have a guy riding a horse through a house (the only bit I remember, and maybe the only bit I saw bar what is on YouTube).

Through the mud hut?

[Razgovory]

Agree with the Malthus review of Braveheart - it's not just the letter (the sartorial detail and specific dates) but the spirit (who Wallace was and why he fought) that is wrong.  The kilts and the blue face is a big deal because it is the most obvious surface manifestation of the core of what the movie was doing - recasting a true historical personage and his times to fit a modern romance with very different historical roots.  And in doing that, it missed what could have been a more interesting story about the complexity of identities and loyalties on a medieval borderland during a time of social change and upheaval.

When I was in 9th Grade we had a speaker come to talk to the school in the auditorium.  He claimed that all war was based on ethnic conflict and showed parts of Braveheart to illustrate his claim.  What I didn't know then, and presumably the speaker didn't know either, was that Wallace, de Bruse, and King Edward were all part of the same ethnic group.  He also claimed that the Mercator projection was a conspiracy to denigrate the third world and boost Europe and that making a map of the world without distortion was in fact possible.  Now, even as a dipshit freshman I knew that was incorrect.

[Berkut]

OK, howl away then.

How about creating a nationalistic myth based on hate and lies that has real world implications? Is that worth howling about?

That would be - has that happened?

[Oexmelin]

This I can see: folk or pre-Christian practices that were never given the full sanction of law and which were eventually outlawed.  But that's not the same as saying the practice is fictitious.

No, it's not the same thing. But the practice was fictitious. https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo3629910.html

You can compare that, if you want, to the oft-told story about how people in the past believed the earth was flat.

[dps]

Agree with the Malthus review of Braveheart - it's not just the letter (the sartorial detail and specific dates) but the spirit (who Wallace was and why he fought) that is wrong.  The kilts and the blue face is a big deal because it is the most obvious surface manifestation of the core of what the movie was doing - recasting a true historical personage and his times to fit a modern romance with very different historical roots.  And in doing that, it missed what could have been a more interesting story about the complexity of identities and loyalties on a medieval borderland during a time of social change and upheaval.

I haven't even bothered to watch the movie, so I can't really comment on it directly, but yeah, I pretty much agree with this.  I realize that it's not reasonable for historical movies to get all of the minor details right (though they might pull me out of the film because I know enough history to notice a lot of the details), but the real problem is when they mischaracterized people and events.

[viper37]

The Outlaw King is a much better version of what Braveheart was going for. It's on Netflix so go watch it now.

Plus it has Stannis Baratheon, the One True King, as Edward Longshanks. Perf.

yeah, I want to see that, at some point.