I've started watching "The Crown"... beginning with Season 4. The awfulness of Prince Charles is quite something. Anyway... this ranking is well done and conveys some of what's so amusing about this series.
November 25, 2020
"Prince Charles’s Most Punchable Moments in Season 4 of The Crown, Ranked."
"We’re merely here to marvel at the sheer punchability actor Josh O’Connor manages to convey as the fictional Prince of Wales on Peter Morgan’s work of fiction, The Crown" (Vulture).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
51 comments:
I need an open thread.
https://notthebee.com/article/food-deemed-non-essential-as-new-mexico-governor-shuts-down-grocery-stores
When I predicted starvation in third world countries I did not know I meant New Mexico.
Oh, yeah.
Fuck Prince Charles.
I hope the Queen outlives him by one day.
And this after the huge PR effort to rehabilitate Charles' and Camilla's images.
I have never understood American interest in royalty. We fought - and won - a war to get rid of those freeloaders.
The actor playing Charles is great...and those are his real ears!
The Diana actress is gorgeous and makes Charles seem like even more of a putz.
But boy did they go off the rails with the Thatcher episodes.
Breathtakingly biased...they really rake her over the coals.
Typical lefty crap in an otherwise really well done show.
Young Camilla was a hottie. But all this Royal BS is why my ancestors tossed their ancestors out on their kingly a**es.
Just clarifying: Are you starting season 4 without having seen the prior seasons?
I've only seen the first two seasons. Which go nicely with having seen "The King's Speech" prior to that. I've been reluctant to start on season three, as I'm a bit unsure about the switch in casting to new actors to cover the characters getting older. It'll be like it's an entirely different series with a new cast.
I enjoyed the first two seasons of The Crown, really like Clare Foy as the young Elizabeth, learned a bit of history I had overlooked, but got bogged down in Season 3 and never finished it. I guess now I'll have to, so as to begin Season 4.
Like Game of Thrones, The Crown has a very ear-wormy theme for the opening credits.
Dave Begley, I agree with your sentiments, I tend to think "Why do the Brits put up with this?" and yet I did enjoy those first two seasons.
A year or two ago I saw a stage version of the play "Billy Elliot." I didn't like it that much. Every other word was "f--k". Got kind of boring. It didn't age well either. Thatcher was the villain because her conservative government was shutting down coal mines. I found that kind of ironic in 2018 or 2019.
You mean that climate change activism is just a ruse?
If anybody's going to punch Charles out, Diana's brother Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, is the guy to do it. He has been graciously pleased to express concern about some of the ways his Sis is portrayed on The Crown.
"Just clarifying: Are you starting season 4 without having seen the prior seasons?"
Yes. I do know the story!
I'll go back to the beginning when I finish the season.
"I'm a bit unsure about the switch in casting to new actors to cover the characters getting older. It'll be like it's an entirely different series with a new cast."
I especially love Helena Bonham Carter.
I detest depictions that are unknowable and possibly unfair.
We just finished Season 4. They should've named it "The Man Who'll Never be King." I've pretty much assumed without thinking about it too much that Elizabeth II's refusal to step down the last 20 years stems from a negative view of her son' fitness. This Season (and last) confirms that.
His father, or uncle Mountbatten should've picked him up by the ears and given him a good shaking. Don't know if that would've made him more sensible, but it certainly would've made for must watch TV in 2020 (which seems to be the sole remaining function of the British monarchy).
I'm not watching, and I don't care much about behind the scenes with the Royals. Is it true that they are increasingly aware of being celebrities, and that's what they care about? So series like this are going to make things worse? I don't know. God knows there have been some unhappy celebrities, which always somehow surprises a lot of us.
A few jokes:
1. Giving Charles some credit. The EU wanted to ban the export of Camembert or one of those nice gooey cheeses. Charles said something like: the French have given us some things that are moist, gooey, probably loaded with germs, and delicious--something you can get lost in. It would be a shame to lose them.
2. One of Charles' hobbies is architecture. He is a bit of a conservative, and has pointed out that the twentieth century mostly built ugly, whether big or small. The offensive joke: Give Hitler credit, when he destroyed buildings in London, he didn't replace them with something worse.
3. One TV show presented the Queen doing the same joke to two different Archbishops, on two similar occasions. Archbishops come to where she is to look after the business of the Church of England: spreadsheets, kind of thing. Aging people wearing glasses, pretty serious work, no doubt in beautiful surroundings in a palace. After a while the Queen sits back and says: would you like a drink? Just name it, I'll get anything you like. In each case, the cleric chose something: sherry I think would be upscale, G and T downscale. Amazingly, in each case the Queen said: I'll fix it for you myself, no need to bother anyone else. Back she comes in a few minutes; in each case, holding exactly one cocktail. Here you go. Archbishop, awkwardly: are you not having something, your Majesty? "I can't, I've given up alcohol for Lent."
I don't know, I find it funny.
He has good taste in architecture and tailoring.
As a family drama it's an interesting show, but in general I think royal families are about as useful as tits on a bull. My wife, on the other hand, was shocked that I didn't know that Elizabeth has four kids.
I haven't seen the latest season(s), and don't plan to, but I have some sympathy for Charles based on earlier seasons. They portray him as an abused child and his attempts to be a more substantial person were mercilessly swatted down by his mother.
"...as I'm a bit unsure about the switch in casting to new actors to cover the characters getting older. It'll be like it's an entirely different series with a new cast."
It is seamless. Except they probably made a mistake using the hottie Foy for the young queen (although she is great in the role). Foy will not look anything like Colman in 25 years : )
"I especially love Helena Bonham Carter."
Colman gets all the press, but Bonham Carter is a great actress. She steals every scene she's in and doesn't even try.
Her Princess Margaret character is the one I root for the most.
Cleanse your palate with The Windsors. On Netflix.
Claire Foy had a star turn on the first two seasons. You really need someone of Irish extraction to pin down the role of an English aristocrat. Michelle Dockery was also great in Downton Abbey. She had just the right amount of languor and aloofness. English aristocrats just can't seem to get the tone quite right. ....Based on a true story. Some of that stuff could have happened the way they portrayed it. Anyway the clothes are accurate.....I read that what the crowd at the Globe liked the best about Shakespeare's dramas were the clothes of the actors. In those days, aristocrats had to keep up with changing fashions and were stuck with last year's clothes. What with sumptuary laws, there's wasn't much of a consignment market for gently used aristocratic finery. The only outlet was to sell those clothes to theatrical companies. The actors could dress up like royals and the groundlings could stand close and ogle the finery to their heart's content. Win win for everyone involved.....The more things change. I note on the Victoria series that Jenna Coleman doesn't wear any of the huge hoop skirts. I guess that's a bridge too far, but the patterns on the clothes are what you see in some of the period photos.
After watching Season 4 of The Crown, I have a better understanding of Megxit. Maybe Meghan is not the villain after all.
I liked Season 1 because I'm a sucker for Eileen Atkins, who played Queen Mary. I haven't watched any other season.
"Maybe Meghan is not the villain after all."
Oh, she's the villain all right : )
Glad we cleared that up...
Sounds entertaining, but it's on Netflix? Sorry - no can do.
By the way, if you think you are gaining important historical insights watching this series instead of just entertainment, consider the comments of historian and Churchill biographer, Andrew Roberts, who was interviewed by Russ Roberts (no relation) of EconTalk. Towards the end of the interview, Russ brings up the subject of the series "The Crown".
Russ Roberts: [speaking at length about his impressions of the series] ...And the last thing I'll say about The Crown is that you can't have the Queen deciding to take up a professional tennis career, as you can in other miniseries to keep reader interest or viewer interest. You are stuck with the historical truth.
Andrew Roberts: No you're not. The Crown is complete rubbish from beginning to end.
Russ Roberts: Okay. Well, that's what I was going to ask you.
Andrew Roberts: A friend of mine--
Russ Roberts: I was going to ask you if these modern, these cultural visions of history are as painful for you to watch as economics are in the movies for me.
Andrew Roberts: I gave up after the third or fourth episode, when mistake after mistake--egregious, intended, many of them. A friend of mine called Hugo Vickers has written a pamphlet in which he numbers 1000 factual errors in The Crown. And that's just the first series. So, if anybody takes it as history, they must stop doing that right now. It is pure entertainment. It's not even info-tainment. It's solely entertainment.
The Crown theme and Duck Shoot.
The best thing about the second season is the portrayal of JFK. Jackie doesn't come off too well, either.
but it's on Netflix? Sorry - no can do.
I think you can still watch for 7 days for free.
BTW - actor Josh O'Connor played the part of writer Laurence Durrell in the series The Durrells in Corfu - a thoroughly enjoyable 4-season series, in my opinion.
More dish from the same site:
https://www.vulture.com/2020/11/how-true-is-the-crown-princess-diana-tell-all-book.html
Btw, AA, you will love HBC in season 3, episode 2 : )
I have never understood American interest in royalty. We fought - and won - a war to get rid of those freeloaders.
Same thing with France, at least when I was reading their magazines. They killed their king in the 18th century but couldn't get enough of minor European royals in the 20th.
But boy did they go off the rails with the Thatcher episodes.
Agreed. Scully speaks like someone who got punched in the throat, looks like an aged cougar, nothing like what I recall about Thatcher. Unwatchable.
"Agreed. Scully speaks like someone who got punched in the throat,..."
Saw her in a Dickens mini-series...her speech was almost a whisper. I wondered if she'd had throat surgery.
In 'real life,' she is a total nut job. Probably a hello of a lot of fun on a Saturday night though ; )
"I'm a bit unsure about the switch in casting to new actors to cover the characters getting older. It'll be like it's an entirely different series with a new cast."
Yes it is, a bit; but they lampshade the change brilliantly in the opening minutes of season 3.
I don't have a lot of affection for the Brits; my 4th great grandfather killed quite a few of them at Bunker Hill in 1775. But they did turn out to be quite useful in saving the world from Hitler in 1940 and thereafter -- and Maggie and Ronnie and the Polish Pope saved the western world from Communism a bit later.
So, yes, there's a lot wrong with the current series of The Crown. So far, the depiction of Maggie Thatcher is the worst thing in the show. The depiction of the Queen herself is truly BORING -- which maybe is true to life, I don't know, but it's no good theatrically. Josh O'Connor is really good as Charles (as Joe Smith says at 1:56 pm); I've watched him in the "Durrells in Corfu" twice, playing a very different character, and he's really a good actor.
Years ago I saw a video of the young Prince Charles when he was overseeing an attempt to raise a sunken British warship from the Elizabethan Era. The wreck had been raised almost to the surface when a support gave way, and it sank back into the sea. Charles said, "But we're British, so we carried on." That comment, for me at least, made up for a lot of stupid things he's said about modern architecture.
It's a shame Meryl Streep couldn't reprise her prior portrayal of Thatcher in the Crown. Even though that movie was awful, she did a much better Maggie than Anderson's tortured wraith. It seems like Anderson completely missed Thatcher's joie de vivre, humour and upbeat demeanor. For some reason she plays her as about 20 years older than she was at the time.
You need to start with season 1. Season 4 is too much like the tabloids.
"For some reason she plays her as about 20 years older than she was at the time."
I wondered about that...
Doing quick math, Thatcher was 54 or 55 when she had her first audience with EIIR.
She plays the part as if she's at least 70.
Odd, unless it's just another way to make Thatcher look bad.
I prefer the Great British Baking Show.
Imagine an NBC drama series about the Trumps in the White House.
Compute how historically accurate you think it is likely to be, as to facts and as to the real personas of the leading characters.
Apply the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect.
The Crown must be telling us a lot about what the Queen, Prince Chuck, Lady Di and Mrs Thatcher were like.
Sheesh.
Punchable? The Germans have a word for it: Backpfeifengesicht
Loosely translated: A face badly in need of punching.
The Crown is one of the very best series on Netflix. So well done, eye candy as well as pretty accurate to history. I keep googling every scandal and event to remind myself of the details. Charles is a cad, but also a victim of his circumstances, they, the royal family, should’ve never pushed Camilla into a marriage so as to get her away from Charles, it didn't work anyway. Diana didn’t have a chance of a successful marriage in that family. She was used and abused by her own family and the royal family. I remember when she died, just when she was starting a new life.
Oh and as someone said upthread, watching the Kings Speech makes watching The Crown a better viewing experience.
PBS’s Victoria is another worthwhile series. I can’t wait for Season 4, which I’ve heard won’t be anytime soon.
PBS’s Victoria is another worthwhile series.
Jenna Coleman is much prettier than Victoria ever was, yet she leaves the accurate impression that Victoria was a real pill--though that may not be the writers' intent.
I've seen the Queen, up close. Way back in March, 1980, when I was a very young engineer, I spent a couple of months in the dead of winter doing a project at a small manufacturing plant my company had in Cumbria, just north of the Lake District. On the Friday I was leaving for London the Queen and Prince Phillip came to Workington to dedicate a new arts center. I left the plant early and went to the town center and stood for 2 hours in the snow and freezing cold to see them. After the opening they came out the door and the Queen stopped and talked to the woman standing right in front of me, just.a few feet away. She was very nice and all the ladies around me just loved her. She was very good at small talk and putting everyone at ease. I thought she would be very stiff and formal and was surprised at how casual it all seemed. Phillip walked a few feet behind her, as required, and just observed, never saying anything. Somewhere in a box I have packed up a slide tray with almost a full roll of Ektachrome slides I took of the event. About 10 years ago they came back for another opening and the the local paper celebrated by running some photos from the 1980 visit. And i was in one of the photos! An old friend from those days sent me a copy.
Birkel, agreed. I went to Walmart in Bernalillo two days ago at 7:30 AM and the line to get in was already around the the building. I passed and went to an Albertson's and just slipped in before they started forcing people to wait. I went to an independent grocer in a small town today and I'm pretty sure they were ignoring the rules. The parking lot was packed.
I'm watching season 4 of The Crown as I write this. Charles is a Dick, but he was raised to be one I think. British aristocracy and royalty are screwed up. It is like the rules don't apply to them, even though the Queen seems to try to adhere to them. I guess she is the only one.
Of course, the same can be said of our politicians. And I'm willing to bet the NM governor is going to have more than five people over for Thanksgiving. Yes, here in NM we are supposed to have only five people in your home.
Screw them.
"I've seen the Queen, up close."
So have I, and it is interesting to see someone that famous close up.
When my wife-to-be's parents lived in London in the early '80s I went to a polo match where Charles played.
We have an old beat up polo ball as a souvenir laying around somewhere.
For all the talk in the series about the palace being a 'prison,' there are a few billion people who would trade places with them.
For me, the best thing would be to end up rich and anonymous...somebody who blends in (as I do) but with a hefty bank account (still working on that one)...
My dad's Annapolis roommate shook Elizabeth's hand at a Buck House garden party on the day her engagement was announced in 1947. They were on Youngster Cruise (after plebe year).
I’ve met the queen. USS Ranger CV-61, 1982 (3?). She was gracious.
My mom was proud!
I don't support child porn, only companies that buy and distribute chi!d porn. My entertainment needs are vast and worthy of a few childhoods destroyed.
If you don't like child porn, for God's sake then don't consume it dear boy, but feel free to encourage and financially support the companies and their Obamas that do.
It's all for the greater good, whatever and who(m)ever I support merely by virtue of it being me doing the supporting.
Guildofcannonballs is right.
On another matter it is funny how this item brings out all the stories typical of England as they said in former times: "He danced with the woman who danced with the Prince of Wales."
All sharing stories of how close they came to Royalty. (Ha: in the 80's my wife's hair dresser was also Diana's in a small South Kensington salon)
Post a Comment