Goin' Boleyn

... I crack myself up...

So, I watched most of A Man for All Seasons yesterday, and I have to say that I was mightily unimpressed. There is remarkably little Henry VIII (played as a simpleton and a lout by Robert Shaw) in a story that is ostensibly about him (and no Anne, who was the reason for the uproar- though I suppose the real reason was the lack of male heir- except for a teensy little cameo- played by an even younger than Mary Queen of Scots Vanessa Redgrave). There is, however, a lot of Susannah York, as Moore's daughter Margaret- who, as far as I can tell, was thrown into the story as eye candy.

I had not previously seen the movie, though I do remember that it got lots of Oscar nominations, and some wins. I can't for the life of me figure out why. The writing is wooden, the acting is wooden, and the costumes are so distractingly bad that I would not be able to appreciate the acting or writing even if it had been stellar. The fabrics are obviously modern, they don't drape properly at all (there's no heft to any of them- it's like they were woven from polyester and air. Except for the vinyl which masquerades badly as leather). I could even see machine stitching on some of the hats. By contrast, the outfits in Mary, QoS, AotTD, and especially The Tudors, are magnificent.

But that doesn't really matter, since the story is about on par with the costumes- instead of this being the drama of Thomas Moore's dedication to his religious beliefs and his deteriorating relationship with his friend and King (which The Tudors played out very well), it's a power play between Cromwell and Moore, and a little toady named Richard Rich (I have no idea if he was a real person. I hope not). I'll finish watching it today, but I won't be buying a copy for myself.

I did put that time to good use though- I continued work on the Twisted Leftover Mitered Cuff socks for the Sock Summit. I have 2 more rows of miters, and then heel/foot/toe construction as per usual.

I have The Six Wives of Henry VII coming, but after that, I may switch to Rome Season 2, for my fictional history fix. And if I want Robert Shaw doing what he did best, I'll stick with Jaws or The Sting.