Thursday, December 31, 2009

Robin Hood Trailer (and some Great Big Sea)

While I'm sharing movie trailers today, I'll add in the somewhat disappointing one for Robin Hood. Loving most things fairy tale and folklore, Robin Hood has long been one of my favorite legends.

I'm not saying the film will be disappointing, just that this first trailer pushes none of my buttons, assuring me that I'm not in the primary target audience. Of course, it has almost no dialogue and is mostly full of gritty, violent imagery, rather a thrown together effort. So I'll reserve judgment, just admit to some trepidation. And I am admittedly a character-driven person when it comes to my entertainment choices.

Then again, I can't imagine anything much worse than Kevin Costner's version or the final third season of the recent BBC series starring Jonas Armstrong and Richard Armitage. We enjoyed the first two seasons as reasonable campy fun, but this last season was brutally bad, watched more in fast forward when we bothered to watch it at all. Killing off Maid Marian was a bad mistake among many others...not even adding an interesting Father Tuck helped.



I admit I am most excited about the movie for a reason shared by few. Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea plays Allan A'Dayle in the film. Granted, it's a smaller role, but I'm an unabashed fan and that's enough to woo my interest in the movie, too. Great Big Sea is the one band guaranteed to improve my spirits, make me happy and cause me to bruise my hands from clapping when I see them live. Yes, my left hand was a big purple bruise for days after the last time I saw them.

And in looking up their stuff, I noticed that several of their songs are currently available for free download as MP3s on Amazon. Not sure how long the deals will last, but one really can't argue with free. See:

When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)

Excursion Around The Bay

Mari Mac (Live)

Feel It Turn (Live)

I love all their work, but one of their most popular is The Hard and the Easy which is all interpretations of older music, not their usual mix of old and new compositions that appear on their other albums. It is one of my favorites although I can't pick a favorite Great Big Sea album for myself.

I foresee a Robin Hood Week on this blog sometime near the release date of the movie.

5 comments:

  1. The 3rd season of BBC Robin Hood was so disappointing! I don't know why they killed off Marian. The new female lead isn't as charming, nor is Gisborne's sister. Admittedly, I haven't watched the very last episode yet, but I'm not really too eager to. The first two seasons were infinitely better. :)

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  2. I finally watched the last episode this past weekend so I could clear it off the DVR. The last five minutes were the most watchable, but I am relieved the series has been cancelled and we won't be offered a season starring Archer, the long lost brother in the flavor of what ruined Monarch of the Glen, too.

    And, yes, both Gisborne's sister and Kate were horrible. I didn't realize how much I liked Marian until she was gone.

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  3. I just can't understand that The Powers That Be a) decided to kill off Marian, whatever their reason might've been and b)didn't realize what trash Season 3 was. The only redeeming feature was Mr. Armstrong himself, who seems to become a better actor and more handsome as time passes. I basically watched when he was on the screen, then went to the bathroom or got something to eat when anyone else was on.

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  4. RH3 was bad, but i was only watching it for Richard Armitage anyway. He stunned me in BBC's North and South.

    I'm glad i've discovered your blog. It's fascinating!

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  5. thanks for posting those links to great big sea - i'm a recent fan. that robin hood trailer really didn't grab me either, yet it might be worth watching if they work in some great big sea music.

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