https://blackgirlnerds.com/review-downton-abbey-a-new-era-takes-you-on-a-joyful-ride-back-in-time/
Those nine golden notes of the Downton Abbey theme song are iconic and will hold a special place in my daydreams of traveling around English estates and countrysides. These daydreams only intensify with every viewing party hosted of the Downton Abbey series and the 2019 film, Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey: A New Era is an addition to that list. After laughing, smiling, and crying my way through the film, I walked away feeling like a voyeur of the Crawleys, forever changed by their family-first mentality and grasp of the importance of generational wealth. This family is simply a pleasure to watch on screen (on television or in theaters). It truly is a nice break from the real world.
Downton Abbey: A New Era is brought to you by Focus Features and Carnival Films and written by Julian Fellowes, who created and wrote the series and first film. Directed by Simone Curtis (My Week with Marilyn), Downton Abbey: A New Era catches up with the cast from the first Downton Abbey film. Set in the late 1920s, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville, Paddington) and Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern, Clash of the Titans, 2010) take half of the Crawley family to the South of France to uncover the secrets behind a gorgeous villa that was inherited by the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith, Harry Potter franchise). The other half of the Downton crew are home with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery, Anatomy of a Scandal) while a film crew takes over the estate to make a movie with director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy, Confessions of a Shopaholic) and famous actors Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol: 2) and Guy Dexter (Dominic West, The Crown). The film also stars continued favorites Allen Leech, Joanne Froggatt, Penelope Wilton, Laura Carmichael, Sophie McShera, Phyllis Logan, Raquel Cassidy, Robert James-Collier, Brendan Coyle, Jim Carter, Lesley Nicol, Kevin Doyle, and Michael Fox. Imelda Staunton and Tuppence Middleton take on larger roles as Maud Bagshaw and Lucy Smith.
As the world changes, Downton tries to keep up. From the sinking of the Titanic to the Spanish flu to the golden age of talkies, Downton has seen it all. The formidable force behind the estate’s success and its continued growth is, and will always be, the Crawleys and their servants. This franchise is absolutely character-driven.
Downton Abbey: A New Era showcases the inner transformations and the relationships between characters we’ve seen since the start of the television series back in 2010. We have seen their choices and journeys to self-discovery. We have seen them make mistakes and grow into the people they are now. It helps to have seen, at least, the first film because it enhances the way you will experience the story. It’s easy to walk away from this film feeling like you deeply know and understand these characters. They have clear points of view. They have integrity. Tom Branson (Allen Leech, Bohemian Rhapsody) said it best: “They are foolish and silly at times, but I’ve grown to love them.”
One of the things that stands out about writer Julian Fellowes is the attention and love he shows his characters. It is clear he is a fan of them just as much as the audience. I was surprised and thrilled by the care and attention each character received to move their individual story along while also keeping the film’s entire plot intact. I was most impressed with how Violet Crawley, also known as the Dowager Countess, was handled in the story. We found out in the first film that she was dying. A woman of her fortitude and status deserves the best, and that’s what she got from this story. Maggie Smith really can play the grandmother we all want. Tell me you wouldn’t want Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter, Gunilla Goldberg from The First Wives Club, Granny Wendy from Hook, Mother Superior from Sister Act, and now Dowager Countess of Grantham as your guide to the world. From young Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael, The Spanish Princess) to Granny Crawley, Fellowes can deliver beautiful stories regardless of the character’s age or status.
The most entertaining parts of Downton Abbey: A New Era are the scenes of Downton with a film crew. It’s almost meta in nature as the Crawleys and some of the staff show their disapproval of filming a movie in their beloved home. The real fun of it all comes from scenes that can happen on an actual set. From random walkers in front of the camera to the breaking of non-prop items in the house and the star-struck lookers trying to get a glimpse of the actors, the reactions and interactions only highlight how great the actors, writer, and director are at making these characters come to life. Mr. Molesley has the greatest character arc from these scenes as his clumsiness and pure joy, highlighted in the first film when he speaks out of turn to the King and Queen, clear the way for him to showcase his hidden talents and finally make a move on his long-time crush. I’m not the only one that clapped during that scene.
Everything about this movie is fantastic. Even what isn’t there is fantastic. The audience gets what it needs from this glimpse into the lives and goings-on at Downton Abbey. It almost feels like you’re watching a documentary where you know the characters’ lives will continue long after the credits have rolled. I would be delighted to have more or be content with where things are at the end.
Focus Features will release Downton Abbey: A New Era in theaters on May 20, 2022.
Those nine golden notes of the Downton Abbey theme song are iconic and will hold a special place in my daydreams of traveling around English estates and countrysides. These daydreams only intensify with every viewing party hosted of the Downton Abbey series and the 2019 film, Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey: A New Era is an addition to that list. After laughing, smiling, and crying my way through the film, I walked away feeling like a voyeur of the Crawleys, forever changed by their family-first mentality and grasp of the importance of generational wealth. This family is simply a pleasure to watch on screen (on television or in theaters). It truly is a nice break from the real world.
Downton Abbey: A New Era is brought to you by Focus Features and Carnival Films and written by Julian Fellowes, who created and wrote the series and first film. Directed by Simone Curtis (My Week with Marilyn), Downton Abbey: A New Era catches up with the cast from the first Downton Abbey film. Set in the late 1920s, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville, Paddington) and Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern, Clash of the Titans, 2010) take half of the Crawley family to the South of France to uncover the secrets behind a gorgeous villa that was inherited by the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith, Harry Potter franchise). The other half of the Downton crew are home with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery, Anatomy of a Scandal) while a film crew takes over the estate to make a movie with director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy, Confessions of a Shopaholic) and famous actors Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol: 2) and Guy Dexter (Dominic West, The Crown). The film also stars continued favorites Allen Leech, Joanne Froggatt, Penelope Wilton, Laura Carmichael, Sophie McShera, Phyllis Logan, Raquel Cassidy, Robert James-Collier, Brendan Coyle, Jim Carter, Lesley Nicol, Kevin Doyle, and Michael Fox. Imelda Staunton and Tuppence Middleton take on larger roles as Maud Bagshaw and Lucy Smith.
As the world changes, Downton tries to keep up. From the sinking of the Titanic to the Spanish flu to the golden age of talkies, Downton has seen it all. The formidable force behind the estate’s success and its continued growth is, and will always be, the Crawleys and their servants. This franchise is absolutely character-driven.
Downton Abbey: A New Era showcases the inner transformations and the relationships between characters we’ve seen since the start of the television series back in 2010. We have seen their choices and journeys to self-discovery. We have seen them make mistakes and grow into the people they are now. It helps to have seen, at least, the first film because it enhances the way you will experience the story. It’s easy to walk away from this film feeling like you deeply know and understand these characters. They have clear points of view. They have integrity. Tom Branson (Allen Leech, Bohemian Rhapsody) said it best: “They are foolish and silly at times, but I’ve grown to love them.”
One of the things that stands out about writer Julian Fellowes is the attention and love he shows his characters. It is clear he is a fan of them just as much as the audience. I was surprised and thrilled by the care and attention each character received to move their individual story along while also keeping the film’s entire plot intact. I was most impressed with how Violet Crawley, also known as the Dowager Countess, was handled in the story. We found out in the first film that she was dying. A woman of her fortitude and status deserves the best, and that’s what she got from this story. Maggie Smith really can play the grandmother we all want. Tell me you wouldn’t want Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter, Gunilla Goldberg from The First Wives Club, Granny Wendy from Hook, Mother Superior from Sister Act, and now Dowager Countess of Grantham as your guide to the world. From young Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael, The Spanish Princess) to Granny Crawley, Fellowes can deliver beautiful stories regardless of the character’s age or status.
The most entertaining parts of Downton Abbey: A New Era are the scenes of Downton with a film crew. It’s almost meta in nature as the Crawleys and some of the staff show their disapproval of filming a movie in their beloved home. The real fun of it all comes from scenes that can happen on an actual set. From random walkers in front of the camera to the breaking of non-prop items in the house and the star-struck lookers trying to get a glimpse of the actors, the reactions and interactions only highlight how great the actors, writer, and director are at making these characters come to life. Mr. Molesley has the greatest character arc from these scenes as his clumsiness and pure joy, highlighted in the first film when he speaks out of turn to the King and Queen, clear the way for him to showcase his hidden talents and finally make a move on his long-time crush. I’m not the only one that clapped during that scene.
Everything about this movie is fantastic. Even what isn’t there is fantastic. The audience gets what it needs from this glimpse into the lives and goings-on at Downton Abbey. It almost feels like you’re watching a documentary where you know the characters’ lives will continue long after the credits have rolled. I would be delighted to have more or be content with where things are at the end.
Focus Features will release Downton Abbey: A New Era in theaters on May 20, 2022.
Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote / Artist: Alexandre Tefenkgi / Image
It’s been a little less than a year since the first issue of The Good Asian came into the world. It entered the world at an eerily appropriate time, with almost prescient thematics and character. Edison Hark, a Chinese-American detective uncovering a vast conspiracy, has been through quite the gauntlet on behalf of his adoptive family. His surrogate brother, dead. His ex-girlfriend, the mastermind behind the inciting incidents that nearly killed Edison. His adoptive father, somehow implicated in his mother’s murder. We have been through quite the roller coaster, and one way or another, this mystery has to come to an end.
The Good Asian #10, in classic noir form, starts with a flashback that quickly gets the main cast in their places and kicks off the final issue with a kinetic start and emotional jolt. Tefenkgi’s art and Lourghridge’s color do an absolutely spectacular job of staging the non-linear scenes and conveying a full spectrum of expression and shock. There are moments where we are simply observers of the events. Then, there are pages where we get to see the world with Hark’s keen observational skills, spotting key details and making quick connections, and deftly bringing the entire series’ timeline into vivid clarity.
Pichetshote’s ability to weave such a mystery together is nothing short of inspiring. The classic noir monologues and all of the pieces falling into place leave me with a very specific elation because all of the lingering threads are tied with an intense intent. The circumstances involving Ivy Chen’s disappearance manage to dovetail perfectly into the other long-standing question of the series. It all culminates with the imperfect Hark launching into a perfectly justified diatribe against the society that fostered all of this needless death borne of prejudice.
But like other famous film noirs before it, The Good Asian #10 has an ending that is not so perfectly cut and dry. Even though a mystery has been solved, the world is still very much in disarray. However, Pichetshote has manages to bring this chapter of the story to a perfect close.
This is a comic that you’re going to see in classroom’s one day, at least if I had my way. This is a comic that you should buy in singles, and trades, and the fancy hard cover full collections. This is a comic that is so brilliantly executed on a writing and artistic front. Its very core is rooted in the complicated struggle of being an Asian American to the point that even though it’s set in 1936, it speaks to 2022 so perfectly. I love this comic, and I figure I’m going to have to wait a while before I get more, so I’m going to savor this and laud it more in the interim.
10 “Lawful Acts” out of 10
Enjoying The Good Asian? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.
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Afronerd Radio can now be heard LIVE courtesy of Apple Music/Itunes
Happy Sunday, loyal Afronerd Radio Machine listeners! Before we get started.....check out this revised/deepfake trailer for The Batman, featuring the late Adam West....simply whoa!
Ok..now that we've gotten the cool kitschy stuff out of the way, welcome to the latest installment of Afronerd Radio's Grindhouse broadcast, airing each and every Sunday at 6 p.m. eastern on BTalk 100. Listen to your bionically-engineered AFROnerdist hosts unpack the following topics: It seems like Florida isn't the only place that has a "Don't Say Gay" stance relating to Disney IPs, hence the announcement that the upcoming Dr. Strange sequel will be banned in Saudi Arabia due to the inclusion of the America Chavez character who is canonically LGBTQ....let's discuss; more information and speculation about the MCU's forthcoming Halloween special featuring Werewolf by Night (and other supernatural characters); now we're hearing that a Haley Atwell Captain Carter series may be on the table; now Marvel has a Predator comic to add to their roster and we have to ask-How (or if) does it relate to the recent Alien/Marvel CB connection?; legendary director, Tim Burton might be revisiting his past IPs, Beetlejuice, and Mars Attacks and we have our thoughts; scientists (and "political" scientists like Dburt) are beginning to theorize that extraterrestrial sentient life will probably look a lot like other human beings; And lastly, Dburt (on his late grind) has to ask what is all the hoopla around Spider-Punk?
One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF
Call us LIVE at 508-645-0100. AFTER CLICKING ON THE HIGHLIGHTED LINK, GO DIRECTLY TO AFRONERD RADIO!!!
Also, Afronerd Radio's podcast format can be heard via BTalk 100 Pandora, Spotify, and, IHeartRadio....more formats to follow!
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince / Artist: Martín Morazzo / Image
Welcome back to my continual coverage of the weird existential anthology series that is Ice Cream Man. Last time we talked, there was a cockroach that became a human, last issue evolved some etymology, and this time around, we’re attending the funeral of a W.M. Parson (and the fact that the character question shares the initials and physical similarities with the author of the comic is not lost on me in the slightest).
Ice Cream Man #29 starts out eerily normal for the series, as it opens with a man at a bar mourning his friend. It then pivots to a funeral where the eponymous Ice Cream is reading a eulogy that explains the complete normalcy of Parson’s life before casually mentioning a squid living in his sternum with a little too specific details of physical sensations for a metaphor. Then, you remember that this is a comic predicated on the surreal, and that this is only the start of the descent of the madness that is the monthly dose of Ice Cream Man.
And as the story oscillates between the dramatic retelling of Will Parson’s life and his initially unnamed friend processing grief through, and I quote, “a grand and great adventure of loss” as described by a foxy carnival barker, there is a fascinating cadence that develops. Ice Cream Man #29 revolves around the things the dead leave behind, both in the grand senses and the mundane senses. The wishes for our loved ones, the regrets we had, and the weird processing of grief.
And despite the carnival barker fox, this is a surprisingly grounded issue . There are still plenty of bizarre visuals courtesy of Morazzo having a lot of fun with the escalating odd imagery that Prince has stuck into the script, but at its core, it’s not that functionally different than any other story of grief that starts at a bar. Of course, there’s a very unsettling narrator and a slightly untethered sense to it all, but it all works.
Every time I pick up an issue of Ice Cream Man, I garner more and more appreciation for the anthology. I have come to love the loosely connected tales like episodes of The Twilight Zone, and the ability to revel in a weird world and have a small bout of existentialism on a Wednesday. It’s oddly comforting in a way, to be confronted with your own mortality and sense of self.
9.6 “Old DVDs” out of 10
Enjoying Ice Cream Man? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.
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