Saw The Other Boleyn Girl last night....

[Rhoda Collins]

I thought it was pretty good and pretty true to the book. There was a part at the end that was "off" the book, but if you liked the book, I think it is a good one to see. I liked the costumes and the settings. Henry was very hot, lol. I think Mary could have been 'prettier'....since Henry liked her so well, but I liked Anne. I know Anne is getting bad 'reviews' but I thought she played the part very well.
Rho

[dms]

It's been about two years (I think) since I read this book. I really liked it; so much so, in fact, that I went looking for other books by the same author, and was disappointed. But then, a few months ago, I did buy two more, one about Henry's first wife (Catherine of Aragon) and one about his fourth and fifth wives (Ann of Cleves and Katherine Howard -- cousin to Mary and Anne Boleyn). I enjoyed both of those. In the afterword, the author said she was going to write one about Jane Seymour and one about Katharine Parr. I do have another one sitting in my reading pile, called "The Queen's Fool," I think. Also about Henry and one his women. Haven't had a chance to read it, yet, but it looks like I'll enjoy it. Perhaps I only like her books when Henry's in them. :)

Have you ever seen The Tudors on Showtime? I tried watching some of it, but was not impressed. I think they played a little too fast and loose with history. I can handle it sometimes, when the history is hazy to begin with (as with HBO's Rome, which I thought was *superb*, but with which some historians really took issue), but I don't like it when they do it purely for dramatic purposes, without really considering how much they're messing with the histories of real people and real places.

I think one of my favorite movies about Henry and his wives was "Anne of a Thousand Days." Genevieve Bujold was fantastic. And, of course, Richard Burton as Henry! Well, that man could read the yellow pages and make it seem like Shakespeare :)

I also enjoyed (if that's the right word, the movie is so dark and sad, really) "Lady Jane" with Helena Bonham Carter, Cary Elwes, and Patrick Stewart.

It's unlikely I'll go to the cinema to see this movie, but I will watch it when it hits DirecTV, and I am looking forward to it. I'm always a sucker for costume dramas! :)

Debi

[Rhoda Collins]

Debi,
I watched a documentary type thing on PBS right after I originally read OBG. Henry was an odd duck, lol. What an odd time to live during, I would think. Even with our world in the shape it is in, I like it. There is more 'communication' and I would not want to go back to ANY other time period. Child sex abuse is talked about; wife abuse/etc. There is more support for these people now. Not that that has ANYTHING to do with OBG, lol. Just stating why I like life 'now'.... :) I will have to check out some of your movies! You are very knowledgeable! I love all the insight!
Rho

[dms]

Just about all royals are "odd ducks" in my opinion. The more I read about them, watch movies and documentaries about them, research them on the Internet, the more convinced I am. I think it has something to do with all that inbreeding :)

I remember a couple of years ago my daughter came home from school one day, after learning about Henry in history class and the thing that had stuck in her mind was that he was obsessed with how his legs looked. He thought he had the greatest legs in the known world, apparently, and loved showing them off (so her history teacher had told her). To prove her theory, we spent about an hour on the Internet looking up paintings of Henry and, you know what, I think they're right. He's always standing like a peacock with his legs just so. Even when he got to be positively enormous, those legs are still very prominent. It must have been doubly hard for him when he developed that wound that never healed in his leg. Ouch!

D

[Rhoda Collins]

LOL! That is a funny story! I would agree on the inbreeding tho.