Wednesday, April 6, 2011

ROBIN HOOD

First there was the incomparable Error Flynn, with Olivia DeHavilland as Maid Marian. She was lovely - he wore green tights - go figure. Love is blind I guess. No, just kidding, Error was the best Robin Hood, ever.



A few years later there was another Robin Hood. This time it was Kevin Costner. When he made Dances with Wolves Kevin could do no wrong, he was golden. Then he dumped his wife and no one liked him anymore, he made the movie about the postman in a world filled with water (can't remember the name), he made Robin Hood. Maid Marian is now a little spunkier - ok a lot spunkier - than Olivia de Haviland. She also sees Robin's naked bottom as he swims. I would not have complained if they had included that with Error, but I digress. Alan Rickman plays the Sheriff of Nottingham, an evil almost rapist, a fiend, but very neat.




Of course, then there was the drama of Mel Brooks' Robin Hood - Men in Tights



Now we come to a truly awful version - the Russell Crowe movie with mumbles in the lead and Max Von Sydow - what a waste of a great actor. Von Sydow I mean, not mumbles. There is also my wonderful Matthew Macfadyen as the evil Sheriff with yet another bad hair day for Matthew, at mark 1.24 I believe. Matthew may want to check out some of these hair weaves he's getting for these movies. Could be that's why he's not in anything right now, until 3 Musketeers at least. He was so good in his little part that the director didn't have him killed off like the script wanted. He kept showing up in scenes where he wandered by and said something funny or nasty. He was the very best part of the movie. You will also notice now that Maid Marian stomps around like a stevedore and shoots arrows and wields a sword. You will also notice in this and the next video that people are getting sloppier looking. Don't know what that means exactly.



Now the BBC version which I avoided watching all these months because I didn't know Richard Armitage was in it - what was I under a rock for these months? Anyway, now I'll have to find the series again and watch it. He has bad hair too but somehow he pulls it off better than my Matthew.

4 comments:

LucyParker said...

A little Robin in the Hood tonight! Errol Flynn - a gorgeous man by anyone's standard, coupled with Olivia, it's a classic. I absolutely agree with you on all your other RobHood reviews. Except I can't comment on RA's video, as I'm still on Season 1, where his hair is a bi-level cut. Season 2 hair is in this video, which makes me want to hurry to get to it. That's a lot of treadmill time.

Poor MM, his hair is always goofy. Even RA's wild hair makes him look good, menacing, but good.

Why aren't you writing movie reviews? Or teaching a master class on how to YouTube?

Karen V. Wasylowski said...

Run faster. RA is there up ahead, scowling in his makeup chair.

Karen V. Wasylowski said...

I have a link to the new blog up on the right top there and I would do movie reviews but they are so awful. I;ll have to drag Rich to Jane Eyre and do that one. Isn't this background pretty? I get so easily bored

LucyParker said...

Oh no, there are THREE seasons of Robin Hood! Your video is from the third season, if RA's hair is any clue. RA's eye's gets darker every episode, he's undoubtedly gone through a few makeup chairs. And, I'm gonna need a new treadmill before this is all over.

I love this background. It's fresh and peaceful. (Like Sherwood Forest.) It shows up nicely when my tabbed sites are tiled on my desktop.

You never got back with me about the European book tour. I can't go next weekend, going to Arkansas, but I'm free anytime after that.