Note: When I say "cinema," I mean either the big fancy movie theatre or your good'ol down-home theatre! Whichever...
Oh, the weather outside is frightful!
And we live in campus housing so there's no fire that's delightful
And since we've no place to go -
Let's have a Cinema Weekend!
The weather's bad outside, so what better way to spend an afternoon-evening than with a trip back in time? All the way back to the 1500s we go with "The Tudors" - Season 3!
Now I absolutely LOVE this show. It's so bad at times (haha) but I'm a sucker for history and period pieces, and I really have been pleasantly surprised by Showtime's storytelling. They're pretty accurate on most matters and they do an amazing job of exploring the complexities of Tudor England and all the mess that was going on! Best of all, we're all "allowed" to hate hate hate Henry 8 (fabulously played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers). He certainly isn't portrayed as a sensitive figure; everyone else around him is, but he isn't, and that's one of the things I like about the show - they're not afraid to make the main character the villain also.
And it's a fun show to watch just because of the awesome costumes and set designs!
Okay, so here's Season 3's setup:
Henry 8 has just gotten rid of that troublesome wife Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer - I miss her already!) by having her beheaded, and he's wasted no time in marrying Wife No. 3 Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis). There's this weird eyepatch dude named Sir Francis Bryan (Alan Van Spring) running around doing Henry's dirty work, and I'm not exactly sure what he's all about just yet. Henry's Secretary Thomas Cromwell (James Frain) wants nothing more than to launch a Reformation in England and rid the kingdom of all things Catholic, so he sets about burning heretics and shutting down abbeys and so forth. Meanwhile, Henry's eldest daughter Mary (a grown-up-but-still-cute-as-a-button Sarah Bolger), a devout Catholic, tries to reconcile with her father while maintaining loyalty to Rome. Cardinal Von Waldburg (Max Von Sydow) recuits the help of a rogue priest Reginald Pole (Mark Hildreth) to undermine the Reformation in England. A bunch of ticked-off Catholics in Yorkshire and the Northern Counties launch a rebellion against the shutting down of the monasteries, under the guidance of Henry's former lawyer Robert Aske (Gerard McSorley). Henry sends his oft-crapped upon best buddy Charles Brandon (Henry Cavill - the guy who was almost Edward Cullen) to crush the rebellion, and the traumatizing experience leaves Brandon psychologically scarred. Well, Henry finally gets his long-desired prince (Edward VI), but poor Jane dies shortly after the process. Henry actually shows some remorse at the loss and goes temporarily bonkers, only allowing his court fool (David Bradley - we know him better as Argus Filch from Hogwarts!) to keep him company.
What will happen next?!?! Who will Henry marry?!?! Who will live?!?! Who will die?!?!
My friends and I only have a few more eps to go, and we can't wait to see how frumped-down they make Joss Stone look!
So check out "The Tudors" - 3 seasons in all! Only be warned: there's a bit of language, some violent/disturbing scenes (like people getting beheaded, hanged, burned @ the stake, etc.) and really stupid and annoying and totally overrated sex scenes. I swear, I bet I've seen Jonathan Rhys Meyer's butt more times than his own mother! jk.
