Ad Copy from the Planet Clueless

[primsong]

I can't help but wonder who gets paid to write the schlock I so often find on some of my favorite movies or books - jacket blurbs that seem to indicate the writer never even scanned the book, much less actually read it, 'summaries' on dvds that make you go "are they talking about this movie or just making something up - and just how many drinks did they have first?"

I would love to see publishers of media offer fans of those works a chance to submit 'reviews' for the packaging - certainly would be less annoying.

And what brought this little rant about? I just got a copy of one of my old favorites, The Scarlet Pimpernel, the one with Ian McKellen and Anthony Andrews on dvd... and what does it say on the back?

The swashbuckling classic comes to rip-roaring life in this lavish production, filled with breathless romance and derring-do!.... ack....gack.... ptui! ptui!

Then to add insult to injury, they add a quote from the 'New York Times' - "A whale of a yarn! Crammed with adventure...lavish...sumptuous!"

Just kill me now....A whale of a yarn? The Scarlet Pimpernel is a whale of a yarn???

Help!

Comments

[agape4rivendell.livejournal.com]

Good grief! I didn't know Ian McKellen was in a remake of this. My favorite, of course, is the one with Merle Oberon... what a classic.

And yes, I know exactly what you mean. Poor Baroness Orczy would be rolling in her grave!

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I love that one too - Leslie Howard is a favorite of mine - but, yup! This movie is all I knew McKellen from pre-lotr, and I was confident that they had someone good because he's such an amazing Chauvelin. Jane Seymour is a beautiful Marguerite as well. I've watched it more times that I can count - certainly worth the looking up.

[lothithil.livejournal.com]

"Crammed with ___"? Is that supposed to be a good thing?

Yikes! *comforts you*

[piplover.livejournal.com]

Couldn't they just say, "They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere...?" I think that right there pretty much sums up the books, and is a lot more poetic than "A whale of a yarn." Yuck!

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

I think some "reviewers" just have index cards with phrases on them. (These days it might be a computer generated program.) So for this movie, for example, they go to their "adventure" file, pull out some random comments and fill them in on the dust jacket or DVD cover.

PS. That is my favorite version of "Scarlet Pimpernell".

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Sink me! That would have been the perfect touch. Good thing Baroness Orczy isn't around to see what they've done, what?

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Lud love me, such conjectory could drive a man insane - but you may have hit upon it, I think - like those slogan generators, which would allow copy to be written by illiterates... :-P Or Chinese.

And yes, this has been in my top list for years - wonderful show. I also greatly enjoy the broadway musical, the version with Douglas Sills and Terrance Mann. Mann has the most amazing Chauvelin voice, and Sills is (as always) simply fabulous. His rendition of "Prayer" makes me want to cry. (all of us still end up saying things like "Poor Percy!" when we hear it)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Anything "crammed" can't be good.... except maybe "crammed with dark chocolate"...that sounds not so bad...

[acciochocolate.livejournal.com]

Mine, too! I've seen the Leslie Howard one, and it's very strange, because of the lack of incidental music--took me a while to figure this out.

The Anthony Andrews version, I am given to understand, was a re-working of the Howard script--I think the production company was the same!

[acciochocolate.livejournal.com]

I'm a Frank Wildhorn fan from way back, early 90s, when the music store I was working in one Christmas season for extra bucks got in a sample of songs from the concept album for "Jekyll and Hyde". Linda Eder, his now-ex-wife, was just amazing as one of the female leads. I did see a national tour of J&H with Chuck Wagner in the lead, but have never seen any of Wildhorn's other musicals, more's the pity.

[acciochocolate.livejournal.com]

Sir Ian is da bomb as Chauvelin. The way he "romances" Marguerite, well, the lust is just oozing off the screen. *grins wickedly*

But the most amazing scene in the whole movie, and Tony's acting tour-de-force, is when Percy is informed at the wedding ball that his new bride is a French spy for the Republic. I'm in thrall everytime I watch this scene, as Percy goes from looking in the mirror as Marguerite slowly approaches from across the ballroom and looking very haunted, to turning in slow motion, all in one take, and the camera catches all of this, as it pans (again all in the same take), and presenting a smiling face to his wife. How Tony does that, and how the character of Percy manages to do this, is just amazing. One of the most exquisite things that I have ever seen on the small screen. Or any acting anywhere, for that matter.

Andrews is like some of my other favourite actors, he should have had a huge career, based on talent alone. :) If I were ever to meet him, I would just be ga-ga, and I've met many famous people along the way. :)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Oh, I *completely* agree - if I had to choose one moment that makes my jaw drop at the acting, that's it. Amazing.

Did you know the chap who plays Tony was Prince Hugh (I think that was his name) in Five's ep, "The King's Demons"? :-D I found that out when I had to go see what else he had been in, because I admired his work in Pimpernel.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Oh what I wouldn't have given to see SP onstage - I'll have to investigate J&H, as I've heard good things about it before. If you haven't heard the Pimpernel's music, btw, order it! You won't regret it. Get the one with Terrence Mann if you can, his voice was (I think) better suited to the music for Chauvelin over his later replacement (Rex Smith).

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I am (among many other things) also a Leslie Howard fan so I very much enjoy his version too - but Anthony Andrews remains the definitive Percy for me.