Lost in Austen
While the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice may serve as a textbook example of how not to tackle a Jane Austen classic and its famed 1995 cinematic reincarnation, Lost in Austen is a Pride and Prejudice-based TV show that certainly doesn’t let its book parent down, giving us a surprisingly fast-paced and fun (yes, we’re using the word ‘fun’ when talking about a 18th-century novel) watch.
The plot follows an Austen-junkie Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper), who one fateful day discovers that her puny London apartment has a secret door to the Pride and Prejudice world, to which she gladly escapes. But the dream turns into a nightmare when Amanda realizes that her cow-on-ice actions mess with the established course of events. A liberal and comical take on Jane Austen’s most famous creation, Lost in Austen is delightfully and quite deliberately over-the-top, a trait highlighted by the masterfully grotesque acting of the show’s exceptional cast that includes British TV veterans Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Alex Kingston (Doctor Who).
Little Shop of Horrors
Our Oscar for the best musical remake goes to Little Shop of Horrors, a 1986 movie adaptation of the namesake Broadway show. Directed by the celebrated puppeteer-turned-filmmaker Frank Oz, this rock musical comedy horror film (what a package) tells a chucklesome but sinister story of a florist shop worker who learns that his beloved flytrap plant can speak… and is hungry for some human interaction. Crazy plot, vivid characters, and a terrific soundtrack – you wouldn’t wanna miss it.
When Marnie Was There
Revered by many, the now-retired anime colossus Hayao Miyazaki chose to dedicate his swansong to one of his favorite children books: When Marnie Was There by the British author Joan G. Robinson. Another weird and wonderful Studio Ghibli experiment, Omoide no Mānī mixes a poetic coming-of-age story with a mysterious atmosphere of a good-quality ‘whodunit’ and weighty hamletian themes. While spending her summer holidays in a twee seaside town in Hokkaido, Anna Sasaki meets Marnie, an enigmatic girl who quickly becomes her friend whilst also embroiling her in her life full of secrets. But solving Marnie’s riddles helps Anna discover the truth about her own family.
Lauded for being ‘a rare kids’ movie that grown-ups will like’, the film’s worth watching if only for its mesmerising animation created by the rising Japanese filmmaking star Hiromasa Yonebayashi, whose work should reassure distressed anime fans that Hayao Miyazaki leaves his line of trade in very good hands.
American Pastoral
One of cinema’s most rhetorical questions is: can Ewan McGregor ever do anything wrong? Of course not, ‘cause he has the movie high-ground. From the Star Wars prequel trilogy’s saving grace Obi-Wan Kenobi to a larger-than-life drug addict in Trainspotting, this Scottish actor’s filmography abounds with killer performances that can embellish any movie night.
McGregor’s first directorial endeavor, an adaptation of a 1997 Philip Roth novel American Pastoral sees him taking a role of a dad struggling with his truth-seeking (read: extremely troublesome) daughter. Debonair and well-to-do Seymour ‘Swede’ Levov (Ewan McGregor) and his pageant queen wife Dawn (Jennifer Connelly) lead a perfect family TV-ad kind of life in the idyllic setting of rural New Jersey. This all ends with a bang when their daughter Merry (Dakota Fanning) decides to shake off her Goldilocks image and becomes a raging political revolutionary heavily involved in the 60’s US social turmoil. A heartrending, albeit very stylishly and thought-provokingly presented, family drama ensues, leaving the audiences partly reaching for their hankies, partly sketching an ardent Rotten Tomatoes ode to McGregor’s artistry. What’s there to say – it’s a beautiful movie.
The US Office
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Office, the best remake of all time according to our humble opinion. Ok, we get it: big claim alert. Let’s make it one of the best remakes of all time, shall we? Either way, the American reboot of the Office, the British TV show first broadcast in 2001, gets our personal vote. Adapted by Greg Daniels, this is a nine-season mockumentary that follows the day-to-day life of a company dealing in a riveting world of paper sales and headed by the obnoxiously funny boss Michael Scott and his funnily obnoxious self-proclaimed right hand Dwight Schrute.
While the British version is more caustic and dry-humored, the US Office is much more heart-warming, overtly funny, and just all-round brilliant. It also beats its British counterpart by having a gem of a cast that includes the likes of John Krasinski and Steve Carell, who even got a Golden Globe for his performance (and boy was he worth it). So give it a go if you haven’t already, and if you have, why not rewatch it; you just can’t go wrong with dabbling in an episode or two (or ten, guilty as charged), especially at the end of a long day at the office.
Enjoy! Yours truly, ITMO.NEWS
