John Adams
I know what you are all thinking this morning. "So Em, what did you think of the John Adams miniseries?"
And then you run for cover.
I have the same general assessment of everyone else: the acting is exceptionally good, the writing is pretty good, the history is tolerably good, the editing is mediocre and the cinematography is abysmal.
The first episode has so many issues I'm not sure where to start. Yes, the right starting point is the Boston Massacre. The time line skips forward in skips and jumps and the show doesn't let you know that the years are progressing from 1770... to 1773... to 1774. Paul Giamatti is excellent as John Adams but he has trouble wavering between the dialogue crafted out of real letters between John and Abigail Adams and dialogue from actual court records and dialogue that is simply dialogue. The entire episode is wrong in places, the timelines are messed up, and they don't tell you the Paine in the episode is Robert Treat Paine which is, uh, a distinction worth making.
The second episode was much better. Tom Wilkinson's Ben Franklin makes everything better. I could watch Ben Franklin the Mini-Series quite happily forever and ever and ever.
The second episode has something to work with. The First and Second Continental Congresses were full of idiocy and stupid so that makes for a certain amount of entertaining watching. Stephen Dillane's Jefferson felt a little too old for 33, but he was dressed right on -- no wig, French-style wealthy landowner coat, lace -- and made me so happy when he couldn't speak to human beings and when handed over his original draft of the Declaration he fretted about every word and oh, meanwhile, while writing it? built a better chair out of the blind mechanism on the window of the inn. Because he was bored. *glee*
John Dickinson was appropriately Quaker conciliatory to the British and Edward Rutledge was appropriately a huge throbbing jerk although they seemed to confuse Edward with his elder brother John several times. I was not happy that they dropped the arguments over slavery in the Declaration of Independence because that's where the Civil War really began although it would take a very long time to sizzle.
They did throw me a small bone and showed the shelling of Boston AND the appearance of General Henry Knox. YAY HENRY KNOX. I want to see a miniseries just about Henry Knox and his unlimited grab-bag of Awesome.
Someone needs to shoot the cinematographer. What is with the sideways shots and the shaky-cam? I was feeling seasick by the end of the second episode.
Since the next episode is the first foray to the French Court, it will be all Adams, Jefferson and Franklin all the time. As the second episode was years better than the first episode, I hold out hope that the third episode will be years better than the second.
After everyone left last night, Eric yelled at me for spoiling the later episodes when I found a screen shot of the swearing-in ceremony for President Washington at a pretty well recreated Federal Building in NYC. *hangs head*
In completely different news, I am having a once-every-six-months craving for all RUSH all the time.
And then you run for cover.
I have the same general assessment of everyone else: the acting is exceptionally good, the writing is pretty good, the history is tolerably good, the editing is mediocre and the cinematography is abysmal.
The first episode has so many issues I'm not sure where to start. Yes, the right starting point is the Boston Massacre. The time line skips forward in skips and jumps and the show doesn't let you know that the years are progressing from 1770... to 1773... to 1774. Paul Giamatti is excellent as John Adams but he has trouble wavering between the dialogue crafted out of real letters between John and Abigail Adams and dialogue from actual court records and dialogue that is simply dialogue. The entire episode is wrong in places, the timelines are messed up, and they don't tell you the Paine in the episode is Robert Treat Paine which is, uh, a distinction worth making.
The second episode was much better. Tom Wilkinson's Ben Franklin makes everything better. I could watch Ben Franklin the Mini-Series quite happily forever and ever and ever.
The second episode has something to work with. The First and Second Continental Congresses were full of idiocy and stupid so that makes for a certain amount of entertaining watching. Stephen Dillane's Jefferson felt a little too old for 33, but he was dressed right on -- no wig, French-style wealthy landowner coat, lace -- and made me so happy when he couldn't speak to human beings and when handed over his original draft of the Declaration he fretted about every word and oh, meanwhile, while writing it? built a better chair out of the blind mechanism on the window of the inn. Because he was bored. *glee*
John Dickinson was appropriately Quaker conciliatory to the British and Edward Rutledge was appropriately a huge throbbing jerk although they seemed to confuse Edward with his elder brother John several times. I was not happy that they dropped the arguments over slavery in the Declaration of Independence because that's where the Civil War really began although it would take a very long time to sizzle.
They did throw me a small bone and showed the shelling of Boston AND the appearance of General Henry Knox. YAY HENRY KNOX. I want to see a miniseries just about Henry Knox and his unlimited grab-bag of Awesome.
Someone needs to shoot the cinematographer. What is with the sideways shots and the shaky-cam? I was feeling seasick by the end of the second episode.
Since the next episode is the first foray to the French Court, it will be all Adams, Jefferson and Franklin all the time. As the second episode was years better than the first episode, I hold out hope that the third episode will be years better than the second.
After everyone left last night, Eric yelled at me for spoiling the later episodes when I found a screen shot of the swearing-in ceremony for President Washington at a pretty well recreated Federal Building in NYC. *hangs head*
In completely different news, I am having a once-every-six-months craving for all RUSH all the time.
So, watchable it seems?
CU
CU