Of Swords and Parasols

I've also strarted(2 eps) the now defunct HBO series, Carnivale.  It's interesting, but (aside from a couple scenes with Sofie) none of the characters are really grabbing me yet.  Still, I rather like the story so far, so we'll see.

Also, between 

crumpeteer's Guy of Gisborne/Richard Armitage post and a little exploration on youtube, I'm pretty much sold on BBC's Robin Hood.  Now to actually watch it...

 

Is it really, really bad of my that, in "Swords of Wayland," what stood out the most to me was when the riders were chasing Morgwyn and I thought "so THAT'S where Jackson got those scenes!"(because really, if you look at 80s fantasy, you see the early versions of a lot of LOTR visuals and effects, especially in Legend.)

BTW, watching the outtakes, Praed sure trips and stumbles a lot...and Judi Trott has problems keeping that arrow notched...*is amused*

But, most of you just care about the end, so...

Some of this has come up in replies, but...

1.  I really like how they did King Richard in Robin of Sherwood.  Unlike other productions, where Richard is perfect and shining and when he comes back all is well in England, this Richard is portrayed as a good man, but flawed, and more concerned with battle than anything else...in other words, the way he was, both in history and in legend.  And, like the legends, his return isn't the end of Robin's troubles, but merely a brief reprieve.

2.  Before Judi Trott became Marian, Marian was usually a brunette with straight hair.  Then Judi Troot came in with her curly red hair, and most Marians since have had the same.

3.  The idea of a middle eastern man as part of Robin's band originated in Robin of Sherwood with Nasir.  In fact, TPTB in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves didn't realize that, and almost named Morgan Freeman's character Nasir(opening themselves up for sueing) until someone who worked on both the series and the movie mentioned that Nasir originated with the series, and they changed it.

I am currently amused by a scene where Nasir tries to teach Little John how to say his full name(Nasir Malik Kemal Inal Ibrahim Shams ad-Dualla Wattab ibn Mahmud according to wikipedia-he should just be happy they can manage "Nasir") and it reminded me...Nasir almost never speaks...in fact, I'm not sure he said ANYTHING in season 1.  Granted, in generally he doesn't seem to actually have anything to say.  However, when he DOES speak, he speaks as if he's learning the language, and often when he's spoken to, it comes across as he more understands what is meant than what is said.  Unlike the characters he's inspired, Nasir doesn't speak perfect English.  Instead, even though it's never stated or directly addressed, he comes across as learning as he goes, which makes sense, as he was captured and de Belleme ensorcelled him, and he joined Robin because, hey, stranger in a strange land, this guy killed my enemy and freed me and seems pretty decent and honorable.

2 eps left...

You know one thing I like about Robin Of Sherwood is that it doesn't drag Robin/Marian out.  Typically, Robin Hood ends with Robin rescuing Marian from the sheriff and King Richard shows up, absolves Robin Hood all crimes and throws land and titles at him, and here come the end credits.  Here, Marian is rescued from the Sheriff right of the bat, and that's that for that part of the story.  I also like that they avoid the "Robin and Marian bickerbickerbicker then fall into each other's arms"(which, hey, it's fun, but just because Flynnand de Havilland did it doesn't mean it has to be like that every time...)  Here, when they fight or disagree, it's usually for a pretty good reason, and when it's settled, they move on. They're a lot more comfortable with each other than most Robin and Marian's are, and I like that.  I also like how Marian is very much "one of the guys"(but they still all slink off if there's bickering...unless it looks like Robin's going to be mean) without seeming tomboyish.

Also, in "The Children of Israel," did Gisbourne's confession/proposal to the jewish girl(nod to Ivanhoe, maybe?) remind anyone else of the proposal in the rain in the Knightley/MacFadyen Pride and Prejudice?  Of course, it was even more misguided and had considerably less chance of succeeding, but it reminded me of that scene.  Also, I rather think TPTB realized Gisbourne was coming across as "not so bad, really" and made him be really mean in "The Enchantment."

I only have one disc left (well, 2, but one is extras..) and am eyeing it leerily because I KNOW what happens in it.  Not that it's setting off "nononobadbadbad" warnings(because, actually, it fits with the Robin Hood legend as presented here, and was even referred to in the first story, though at the time, it was meant to display Robin's humility and that it was the job, not him that mattered, as opposed to a hint at things to come, but...)  It's just that I don't want to SEE it.

I also finished the 13 episode anime, Saikano, that I started on Sunday.  It tapped out my angst meter in episode 12(the first anime to tap out my angst meter) so I was(fortunately) rather dulled to episode 13.  It's about Chise, a tiny, awkward, clumsy girl with a hopeless crush on Shuji, a brash jock(who's tall enough to use her head as an armrest if he wants)  With her best friend Akemi's urging, she confesses her feelings to him, and he accepts(think It Started With A Kiss if Zhi Shu just couldn't think of a logical reason to say no) and they soon fall in love.  But they also live in a world where World War 3 is starting(it's not referred to as such, but that's pretty much what it is) and Shuji soon learns that military experiments have turned Chise into a living weapon(the absurdity of the military choosing a tiny schoolgirl to be their ultimate weapon is something you have to ignore, but isn't a huge impediment)  The series is about young love, and the(many and sometimes very very bad) mistakes you can make then, and what it means to be in love in a time of war, when one of you has to go to war.  It has the same hopelessly tragic feel as Wolf's Rain, only without the hope of Paradise at the end, or, maybe  more accurately(for the few who know what I'm talking about, the feeling of impossibility of Damo.  And really, there's little more complimentary I can say when comparing and anime or dorama than favorably comparing something to those to(at least when it comes to angst or tragedy)  The series is narrated in a form that reads like excerpts from Shuji's diary, much later(though that's not really a possibility)  The one downside(for me) is that, while I don't dislike the animation, I don't particularly like it either.  It's pretty, but the characters often look like they got caught somewhere between normal animation and chibi, and most have perpetual blushlines.

I've seen through "The Fool King"(or something like that...the King Richard ep) and about half of the next episode("The Prophecy"?)  Obviously, I'm doing this at work, as opposed to at home with the set beside me for referrence.

Given that everyone has new clothes and slightly more stylish hair in "Prophecy"(and I swear, Robin's hair has about 5 more feathery layers and are those highlights I see?) and that the "King" ep had a bit of a "just in case this is the end" feel to it, I assume I've started season 2.  Incidentally, I swear that that's the first time I've seen Johnathan Rhys-Davies without a full beard.  I mean, even in Gargoyles, which was animated, Macbeth had a full beard both in the past AND the present(not counting kid-Macbeth)  If it wasn't forthebeard, I wouldn't have recognized him.

crumpeteer  helped me realize yesterday why it is that, while I usually like Robin himself well enough(with the exception of Costner), it's usually just in the contect of he's a good hero, but this Robin I adore(not as much as Will, but...)  Largely, I think, because Robin is always self-assured and confident and has no doubts in his plans, abilities or leadership skills.  While Praed's Robin also has these qualities, they aren't in himself, but in his friends and his knowledge that it doesn't matter who's doing it, it just needs to be done.  He's the one doing it now, but he fully believes that all his death would affect is who's doing it...on his death, someone else will take on the job, and he expects his friends to help that person, no matter who it is.  Unlike the other Robins, there's no feeling that he gets off on being an outlaw and leading his band in the forest...it's just what he does.  He also lacks the cockiness that only Errol Flynn and Cary Elwes could really pull off...while he has his cocky moments, he has them because it's how he needs to be and there's a certain sheepishness to it.  Like when he tells King Richard he has to pay for his meal...he means it and part of him is enjoying it, but he's almost bashful about it with his little grin-like he's only doing it because it's what his friend expects.  And when we see him and Marian walking in the village after Richard pardons them(not that it lasts)  you can see that it's what he REALLY wants...to just be a normal guy again(but not in a way that he begrudges his current life) which is a feeling that I've only ever gotten from Richard Todd's Robin.

But you know, while he may not be as pretty, Will Scarlet is still my favorite.  I think he summed it up best when the rest were going to Nottingham after the pardon...everyone he trusts and everyone he'd die for was standing right in front of him.  He doesn't care about Richard or, really, even the safety of the realm...helping people is all well and good, but the only reason he's hanging around here instead of off causing soldiers trouble somewhere(well, frankly, he would have picked the wrong fight and gotten killed by now, but that's not the point) is because he wants his friends to stay alive, and together.  As much as I love my stalwart heroes, I often go for the angsting guy(and few characters have more justified angst than this one) busy keeping said hero alive, and this is no exception.

I also find myself fond of Guisborne.  Guisborne is always a bit of a bumbling fool(usually more than a bit) but usually, there'sthe feeling that he's stupid AND inherently nasty...this Guisborne comes across as someone  who MIGHT have ben nice and decent at one point, but has become very much a product of his world, and his master(Nottingham)  In the Alan A Dale ep(and how much did I love Will's mocking Alan?   I'm fond of Alan, just, you know...Will usually gets rewritten as an Alan knockoff) there's the feeling that, even though he can't and won't say or do anything, what's being done to the girl is wrong and he feels sorry for her(which is interesting, giving the earlier ep where he had a woman and her husband declared witches and devil worshippers because she refused him, but then, he's a man of his times and one's a noblewoman and the other a peasant.)

And on a completely unrelated note, I got forgottenpolishhooked on the Dresden Files books.  This is significant because I almost literally had to bully her into watching the first episode with me a few months ago(a support system was required, just in case)

As there has been some interest expressed, I bring you pics for the late 90s show The New Adventures of Robin Hood, which tried the  to play Robin Hood myth like the Xena and Hercules shows...except that what worked there failed miserably.  I watched about 10 minutes, and all I recall is Robin, Marian and randoms who I assume were Will Scarlet, Alan A Dale and Little John, bursting into John's throne room with Marian dressed like a Herc/Xena walk on and striking up a pose while Robin did his thing...and that Prince John's mistress or whatever had a poodle.

So, I got home Saturday and saw that  the mailman had tried to deliver my Robin of Sherwood DVDs but, of course, since they couldn't fit in the mailbox, they spent the weekend atthe post office.  It made me sad because I've been waiting for those DVDs, so I pulled out a couple of my OTHER Robin Hood DVDS(me, a fan of romantic angstridden outlaw legends involving copious amounts of swords and bows and arrows and damsels in distress and dashing heroes?  Whyever would you think that?)

First up was the much(and usually rightly) maligned Kevin Costner vehicle Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  The casting of Robin(and, as a sad result  for age compatibility for them to be childhood friends, Marian, even though I think she did a good job-but the idea of a close blood relative of the king's being Maid Marian in her thirties is more absurd than there are words for, because she would have been married of about half her life earlier) is laughable, and in their "research" they almost named Morgan Freeman's character Nasir because they didn't realize the character originated in Robin of Sherwood.  On the other hand, they made a real attempt to go back to the earlier versions before Errol Flynn and the cartoon where Robin and his men aren't all chipper and charming and...well..."merry" as we mean it today, and to incorporate older traditions of the story.  Of course, the vast majority of what REALLY works in it(aside from the high production values...I give it props for, Robin's accent and his and Marian's ages being flat out wrong for this stage of the story aside, having a "real" feel if you're simply watching it) is Christian Slater as Will Scarlett.  Now, why Marian chose the dry and "look at me, I'm charming and the lead" Robin over the more dashing, intense, and angst-ridden Will is beyond me, but this is one of only two versions of Will Scarlett I know of where Will reminds us why he's called "Scarlett."  It's also, as far as I know, the only version that incorporates the idea of Will being a relative of Robin's(usually a younger cousin) and I think it and it remembers that Prince John's involvement was a more recent addition to the Robin Hood legend.  So, yeah, most of what works is borrowed from Robin of Sherwood, but it has enough  qualities worth defending.  And I bought the extended edition a while back, which I guess means something.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights is the Cary Elwes and Mel Brooks Robin Hood parody.  If you don't love Robin Hood, Mel Brooks or Cary Elwes, you'll hate it, but if you like any of the above, you'll probably love it.  Its targets, of course, are Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood(the most famous version) and Prince of Thieves(the then most recent version) but it has nods to others, and even to Princess Bride(most notably when Marian leaps off the balcony and onto the horse wearing a fluttering white gown)  It's very, very much a not-so-guilty pleasure.

And then FINALLY I went to get my Robin of Sherwood DVDs from the PO this morning and watched the 2 part opener.  I have this odd fondness for 80s fantasy and historical productions, I think because they had fewer tech options and didn't have endless special effects to fall back on.  I do love this series, free of the flash and camp where Robin is a woodsman and Marian, while high born, isn't the king's ward or close cousin and it's not about all saving England by collecting Richard's ransom but is instead about survival and simply doing what's right and what needs to be done, and if you manage to get revenge in the end, then all the better.  And, again, aside from POT, it's aboutthe only place you can find the REAL Will Scarlett...here, as a man whose wife was raped by soldiers and then trampled to death by their horses after, and Will was arrested for killing three of them after.  "Will Scarlett" isn't the name he was born with..."Scarlett" is the name he chose for himself after that.  There's one scene where Robin and Little John are fighting because Robin is about to go rescue Marian and John thinks he's being stupid and Will gets in between them.  The last line in the argument is John saying something to the effect that Robin is stupid for letting something as unimportant as a woman cloud his judgement, and then they see who's between them and they just stop.  And, as soon as he sees that they're through, Will turns around and even though you can't see his face, you can see that he has to compose himself(and likely keep himself from killing John right then and there) and it's a long time before he's able to turn back around.

Also, mostly to remind myself to check it out, crumpeteerposted this link to her LJ: A Will Scarlet Comprendium.