“Your impression of him as a respectable man brings to my mind the work of a painter whose pictures show attractively at a distance but unpleasantly up close." ― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come This quote is from John Bunyan's 1678 work of Christian allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress From This World, To That Which Is To Come. The tale is told as a dream, related by the narrator and is the story of the protagonist's -Christian's- journey from the City of Destruction (the world) to Celestial City (Heaven). In this section, Christian is traveling with his friend Faithful and they meet up with another fellow named Talkative. Faithful is impressed with this new acquaintance, who speaks well and knowledgeably about matters of faith. When he mentions this to Christian, Christian cautions him that fine words don't make a fine person (see the above quote). He says that Talkative is from his hometown and he knows the man's true character: "Deceived! you may be sure of it; remember the proverb, "They say and do not." But the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. He talks of prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only to talk of them. I have been in his family, and have observed him both at home and abroad; and I know what I say of him is the truth. His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savor. There is there neither prayer nor sign of repentance for sin; yea, the brute in his kind serves God far better than he. He is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion, to all that know him; it can hardly have a good word in all that end of the town where he dwells, through him. Thus say the common people that know him, A saint abroad, and a devil at home. His poor family finds it so; he is such a churl, such a railer at and so unreasonable with his servants, that they neither know how to do for or speak to him. Men that have any dealings with him say it is better to deal with a Turk than with him; for fairer dealing they shall have at their hands. This Talkative (if it be possible) will go beyond them, defraud, beguile, and overreach them. Besides, he brings up his sons to follow his steps; and if he finds in any of them a foolish timorousness, (for so he calls the first appearance of a tender conscience,) he calls them fools and blockheads, and by no means will employ them in much, or speak to their commendations before others. For my part, I am of opinion, that he has, by his wicked life, caused many to stumble and fall; and will be, if God prevent not, the ruin of many more." Related Posts:“Your impression of him as a respectable man brings to my mind the work of a painter whose pictures show attractively at a distance but unpleasantly up close." Related Posts:Shorter Review: It was bad. Longer Review: It was really bad. It is a truth universally acknowledged that I don't particularly like romantic comedies. There are one or two exceptions, but admittedly the chances were never good that I would enjoy Austenland. A couple of misguided individuals thought that, since I enjoy reading Austen's books- and watching film adaptations of them- I might like a send up of Austen's works and fans. This is certainly possible: I enjoy clever humour even when it's directed at works that I love. Certainly Austen herself had a fondness for satirical writing: see Northanger Abbey. But the thing about satire is that it has to be witty and clever... Austenland is neither. It's basically one joke stretched out over an hour and a half: a pathetic thirty-something woman with a Mr. Darcy fetish blows her savings on a trip to a Jane Austen themed resort in England where guests spend their stay living on a recreated Regency era estate. Even having spent all her money, she can only afford the cheaper package so doesn't get the elite treatment the other guests enjoy. Are you laughing yet? Now, don't be shocked, but there are two handsome men in play, one charming and sympathetic and one crabby and sarcastic. And-get this- it turns out that the charming guy isn't what he seems. I haven't really described the plot, such as it is; things happen, but they're not particularly interesting or funny... I don't think I laughed once. Even the presence of Jennifer Coolidge, who made me laugh a couple times when a sister coerced me into sitting through A Cinderella Story, couldn't help Austenland. This is, of course, the opinion of a self-confessed Rom-Com hater, so it's entirely possible that some might find this film mildly entertaining. I can't imagine though, that anyone would find it particularly funny- or romantic, for that matter. Because it's not. Related Posts:The scene below is from the delightful 1952 movie musical Singin' In The Rain, which stars Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor. It is set in the late 1920's when silent movies were transitioning to "talkies" and highlights a true to life problem encountered in the film industry at this time. Many of the silent stars, chosen for their looks and ability to emote silently, didn't have voices suited for the new medium. Also, movie dialogue suited to appearing on title cards would sound ridiculous if actually uttered by the characters. Added to this were the difficulties associated with figuring out how to mic the actors so that their dialogue was consistantly audible. All of these problems occur in the hilarious scene below. Lina Lamont is a big star of romantic movies, but her nasally voice and diction are more suited to a fishwife than the French noblewoman she's supposed to be portraying (in reality, Jean Hagen who played Lina had a lovely voice). Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), the leading man, assumes that he can get by just uttering the trite sentiments he used to mouth in love scenes, and the awful dialogue cuts in and out whenever one of them moves in the exaggerated gestures they're accustomed to using in silent films. The resulting film, The Duelling Cavalier, is a complete diaster and it may very well end both Don's and Lina's careers if something isn't done to solve the problem. While this makes for a very funny musical, the truth is that many silent film stars could not make the transition to sound and faded away into obscurity. Just for fun, here's the disatrous premiere of The Duelling Cavalier:
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