Highly Excellent Character Portrayals
584537
All the characters seem to have written themselves in a very sympathetic manner.  I was forced to like everyone except for two country bumpkins and two skinheads; very minor characters..  I really got involved with the characters in this book.  The book isn't particularly long, but that just signifies that there is no chaff.  Satisfying read.
3031477
Totally engaging with great acting and story lines.
4070072
Excellent acting, what appears to be some really meaningful character build-up over a long arc, and some of the best action sequences on TV.  While the main characters do talk a bit too much over the phone, their chattiness does move the plot along, and there are enough twists and surprises to keep one coming back for the next episode.  Interesting how the show is perfectly equitable in sharing out evil amongst both male and female characters -- if anything the women are a tad more dangerous.  Recommend this series highly.
3741151
As always, the movie didn't do the original work justice.  I loved the multiple, yet intertwined story lines.  The detail of both the artistry and plot coupled with the length of the story make it thoroughly satisfying.

Some characters are trying to be heroes by being as brutal as the criminals they are trying to stop.  Some are following a path that they didn't choose for themselves.  Some hold onto secrets that are silently destroying them and the relationships with those closest to them.  All of this going on while a terrible, yet well meaning, plan is being methodically carried out.
Grab a cup of your favorite coffee and curl up in a comfy chair to read this.  You will read, be thoroughly entertained, and trying to put together what actually looms over everyone throughout the book.

Just as a side note, my favorite character is Rorschach.  He is oppressingly logical and handles problems with the most swift and brutal means possible.  Despite his methods, and sometimes flawed thinking, he has an almost unwavering sense of responsibility and honor.  He does, or tries to do, what no one else is willing to do because he thinks he's doing what is right.

Great graphic novel.  I'm so impressed that I think I will buy 'V for Vendetta', written by the same author.  If that work is even half as good as this I will not be disappointed.
244052
Absolutely amazing!

 It's like one eight hour long detective movie. Superbly acted, even the side actors and supporting cast.  It's rare that side actors and supporting cast Are as believable as the stars of the show.

The main characters have so much depth to them they feel real.

The content might be a little disturbing at times, but i feel that adds to the authenticity of the show.

 I'm not sure you could've picked to better actors for the main role of the police detectives.  McConaughey and Harrelson work together so well!
3273770
Although the miniseries title and episodes focus on the life of John Adams, the strength of the film lies in the exceptional ensemble cast. It was impressive to see such giants as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, as well as the lesser known individuals, truly inhabited by the actors.

The challenge of the series was to breathe life into those stories and lives we know so well. The filmmakers worked closely to David McCullough's outstanding book for the details, along with the human side of the story captured in the voluminous correspondence of John and Abigail Adams. The political, military, and personal issues were all thoughtfully brought to life. The design values of the film were also superb. Nothing looked stagy or stilted in the sets and costumes, which provided an unusual authenticity of period style for television drama. With each appearance of George Washington (David Morse), it was hard not to gasp due to the believability of his character.

The drama of America's breaking from England for independence was an improbable story and one dependent on the courage and idealism of the individuals portrayed in this film. The personalities of these great figures make this program an accessible and rewarding experience for the entire family. For the patient viewer, what emerges from the John Adams miniseries is not merely a history lesson, but a drama with great relevance today. Simply put, we need more people in our country right now just like John and Abigail Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Knox, and, above all, the ordinary human beings heroically portrayed in this fine film!
1438052
One of the most disappointing things about most of the fiction that I've read in the past few years is the lack of character development.  Good guys are normally easy to spot, notwithstanding a stereotypical flaw - whether it be wine, women, or other.  Bad guys are all cruel and calculating genuises with tortured childhoods.  Sometimes the stories are good, but the characters are the same.
The best thing about The Epicure's Lament is that Ms. Christesen has given us a true character with depth. He's mean, completely self-absorbed, and lazy.  He's more than happy to allow himself to rot in his parents' mansion while sucking down endless cigarettes and whiskey while planning his next mean quip. Hugo Whittier is a a true curmudgeon with few apparent redeeming values.  You want to dislike him, but you also find him compelling.  He claims that he justs wants to be left alone, but in his relationships with his brother, his paramour, and his ex-wife, I found myself wondering whether anyone can truly be an island unto himself.
Beyond a wonderful character portrayal, Ms. Christensen is a wonderful writer.  She has a rich and abundant vocabulary that reminded me of Nabakov in her use of arcane words to illustrate a scene or pepper a conversation.  The wordplay never distracts from the story, which moves at a good pace.
3142606
I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation.  The actors chosen for the characters were superb and believable.
4392937
This film looks beautiful with that particular fresh and green loveliness that typifies the gentlefolk's 18th / 19th century England. It's a delight to watch, and the screenplay itself is wonderfully done, combining the sensible and likeable characters with the truly absurd characters, not to mention those whose characters are morally enfeebled. Jane Austen's depiction of human frailty as well as goodness has always impressed me as being true and very apt, striking home not merely with insightful viewing of human beings but also the very particular aspects that define a person of English gentility in the 1800s.

Emma Thompson has certainly done a splendid job with the screenplay. Unlike the recent unfortunate adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice", this adaptation includes virtually all of the essential story threads, and gives appropriate screentime to all the characters. One becomes thoroughly engrossed not only in the travails of the two Dashwood sisters, but also all of those they encounter.

Kate Winslet is simply perfect as Marianne Dashwood, the sister with all the sensibility. She embodies every aspect of the character - her winsomeness, her charm, her gaiety, the immoderate way in which she throws herself into life, and her lack of prudence. In appearance and behaviour, no better Marianne could have been found.

Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon, the somewhat shy but intelligent gentleman of excellent morals and strong feelings, whose qualities Marianne learns to appreciate after the tumultuous miseries of her relationship with Willoughby, is excellent - which is no surprise. Is there a role in the world that Alan Rickman cannot play, and play more convincingly than anyone else?

Greg Wise as the unreliable Willoughby, whose dashing good looks and romantic persona gain Marianne's love but who ultimately proves to be a man of straw whose self-interest will always lead him to disappoint the hopes of others in pursuit of his own gain, is wonderfully cast.

The scheming Lucy Steele is played with extraordinary deftness by the excellent Imogen Stubbs, who portrays not only the machinating and self-serving aspects, but also the encroaching sweetness that deceives so many.

Every part, in fact, with the exception of two, is superbly cast.

I do consider the film has two flaws - the casting of Emma Thompson as Elinor, and far worse, the casting of Hugh Grant as Edward. Emma Thompson is a wonderful actress, but I find it impossible to think of her as Elinor, both on account of her being visibly too much older than the nineteen of Miss Dashwood in the novel, and also in her portrayal somehow seeming rather too ruefully pragmatic. I suppose I have always envisaged Elinor as being a different type - sensible, calm, yes, but not visibly self-dampening, and of course younger. Hugh Grant as Edward seems to me to have been the film's only major mistake. One does not sense from the novel that Edward is supposed to be a completely inarticulate gentleman, stiff-necked, addicted to such high cravats that he appears to be choking, and with scarcely any qualities that would lead one to suppose him the type likely to attract Elinor. I have always thought of him more as a calm and sensible young man with deep feeling, whose reluctance to communicate with Elinor after he realised he was falling in love with her was due ONLY to his knowledge of his existing entanglement with Miss Steele - not to a reticence and inarticulation that are embedded in his character.

I overcame my qualms with regard to the casting of Elinor - after all, Emma Thompson is never less than charming, and she is a wonderful actress indeed. But Hugh Grant as Edward strikes me EVERY time I watch this DVD as... simply wrong.

Yet in spite of these things, the film works beautifully in almost every way for me. I'd prefer to give the film 4 and a half stars rather than five, but without that option, let it be five.

Abandon the few qualms and enjoy the delicious beauties and witty understanding of human nature in this delightful period piece.
485814
They have done a fantastic job staying true to the original story, and casting characters that work with the personalities sculpted in the books. I have been very impressed and as a fan of the book series, I can't wait for more.
21742
I have seen some REALLY BAD contemporary adaptations of the Bard's works (the worst has to be the vomitous travesty "Romeo & Julliet" starring DiCaprio), but I must say that I was captivated from the very beginning of this great film.

The opening scene occurs in a graveyard, where the Three Witches are depicted as demented schoolgirls vandalizing the angels and crosses, and it is a powerful scene (as are the several other scenes in which they appear).  Miranda Nation, Chloe Armstrong, and Kate Bell really make this film outstanding.  Their acting is top notch, the photography is flawless, and kudos to the special fx team who created the sumptious layout for their potion's ingredients -- that was a very difficult set to create, and it looks magnificent.

All the actors did well, and this adaptation was really great.  One of the best films I've seen in recent years.  Highly recommended.
1767851
The acting is the greatest feature of this mini-series. David Morse as Gen. Washington is but one of the many best examples.in this character driven play. I was so caught up in the drama that by the time the fourth episode came, I was in tears the entire time through. I was so impressed, I bought the series.
2475008
The Team are an excellent cast of characters. I became very quickly attached to them. Duffy's slow inexorable method of illustrating the decline of civilization is excellently crafted. Recommend highly.
3004580
I was young and footloose when China Beach was originally aired, so I was introduced to the series in syndication and on grainy VHS copies in the mid-nineties and became a huge fan despite these impediments of chronology and quality.  These glimpses into characters and situations as well written as many novels led me to seek out discarded copies of recorded shows, occasionally  buying on ebay at usurious prices.

This speaks to the power of China Beach as classic television and timeless storytelling.  The depth and realism of the characters is the strongest element of the series.  As Socrates said and few of us remember, great virtue and miserable flaws exist side by side in the same person.  McMurphy, the protagonist and heroine contrasts the predictable characteristics of the ministering angel as a nurse in a field hospital during the VietNam war with the corresponding flaws of a self-righteous, hypocritical, sometimes misogynistic good girl.  The prostitute, K.C.,  has not only that well trammeled  heart of gold and a heart of greed, but both turn out to be armour for a strong woman avoiding as best she can the pain she knows life will inevitably dish out.  The setting of Vietnam's infamous China Beach is peripheral, this is really a character study of people playng the cards of character and circumstance they are dealt by fate.

Warner's Please release the entire series on DVD.
3551402
The first Cranford is a favorite in our home:  it has well drawn characters in deep and subtle situations that are fraught with emotion, with historical change, with personal development and hope.  It is one of the most beautiful mini-series I have ever seen, yet never gets precious or maudlin.  SO it was only a matter of time before we got this one.

On the one hand, there are many  strengths to this production.  The characters develop, some in very surprising yet believable ways, including tragedies, changes in plans, and unexpected love.  This is very fun and makes it much more than a simple follow-on.  The period atmosphere is also elegant and plush, vividly and accurately evoking a period in history - my kids had many questions about it.  On the other hand, the story feels rushed.  Not only is there too much going on too fast, but the viewer lacks the time to integrate it all.  That translates into a kind of overload and a complete lack of the meditative, almost poetic, pauses and asides that makes the first production a meal to savor.

As far as the plot goes, the train remains a controversial issue, with many complications and the need for continuing negotiations with owners and changes of attitude.  (This was one reason why train networks spread in the US much more swiftly.)  The son of the reigning aristocrat also returns too late, though after some brutal machinations he is whisked away all too quickly.  The wonderful boy who is charged with getting an education in order to create a school for the town also faces a significant and unexpected crisis.  Nonetheless, while most of the principal characters are there, the doctor no longer serves the town.  His loss is partially made up with a group of very good new characters, but again, it feels rushed.  One very interesting character is a Scottish aristocrat, who arrives in town to visit a relative - sparking a major fight - and astounds everyone with her decision to stay.  That is all I can say without giving away too much.

I would recommend this to fans of the first series.  It is very good, if not as perfectly outstanding as we had hoped.
4504515
Noelle Sickels has the most amazing way of bringing characters to life. I ended up reading this whole novel in one day because I couldn't put it down once I got involved with the characters.  There is a warm and touching story here within the backdrop of the superbly-researched setting of  late-19th Century Philidelphia.  Sickels takes great care in making  each character -- even the most minor of them -- come alive and seem like  real, well-rounded individuals.  There are no flat characters within this  book.  Each character is given unique qualities through not only  description from the narrator, but through their dialogue, their actions,  and their interactions with other characters.  For example, the reader is  able to see the character of Mr. Edwin not only as the narrator's employer,  but as a husband, a shopkeeper, a son, a brother, and so on.  Also, there  are such vivid details (like his rotten teeth/foul breath, his sketches of  window displays, and the way he likes his wife to hold his foot) that  really make him seem like a real person and not just a fictional character.  The attention to details that Sickels has mastered blows me away.  She paints a complete picture of so many layers of this story all unfolding  at once.  There are many descriptions of places and events that stand out  in my mind.  Also, there are so many touching moments in this story, and  the way in which Sickels presents emotional issues from blossoming romance  to suicide is wonderfully understated.  She does a great job of not falling  into the trap of over-dramatization.  One of the most amazing parts of  the writing in this novel is the way that the author turned a murder case  into a fight between different realms of social thought.  I was impressed  by the author's ability to incorporate such heavy issues as those involved  in the birth of women's rights into such a well-crafted story.  I do not  think that writing with such an agenda often works for writers (whose works  sometimes read like info-mercials), but Sickels handles this beautifully.  She lays out all sides of the issues so well and, yet, does not let it  overpower the story as a whole. Her balance and control of language  impresses me beyond words.  This book has it all: mystery, suspense,  drama, history, tragedy, romance, and friendship -- all intertwined with  gender issues in a beautifully written novel that unwraps itself slowly and  carefully to stay with its readers long after it's been read.
4845618
Many different characters and voices.
Great impersonations