John Adams

[maxx02]

Well I've more or less skipped through a lot of this now and what strikes me most other than the fact that Rufus doesn't have much of a role and how much I like Stephen Dillane is how egotistical and selfish these people are.

John Quincy walks through the middle of a slum in a country he's trying to build and the only thing that upsets him is the smell and the fact that his son is living in it. He moves into the White House built by slaves with little more than a passing . He disbands the army despite the fact there is war brewing because he wants to punish Hamilton... the list goes on and on.

Of course this was a different time, but it seems from this series that these men only founded the United States because they were hungry for power. The good of the nation or the people living in it had nothing to do with it.

The US Constitution would seem to belie that. Which makes me wonder have we gotten this ugly and cynical that we even imagine our founding fathers were self-serving bastards like our modern day politicos? At any rate they've managed to make JA look like a really unlikeable and arbitrary man.

At any rate this has got to be one of the dullest things ever put on celluloid. They should have either chosen different actors for the leads or centered it around a different founding father. I don't think Paul Giamatti has the charisma to pull something like this along. I won't even get into the talent. His scenes with Laura Linney are just mind numbing in their plodding.

so... I LOVED IT! heh...

[pitzel]

Maxx02 Hi I mostly agree with you. I also fast forwarded some of" John Adams". I like to freeze frame the scenes with Rufus, but it wasn't one of his best rolls. Not that he was bad just not enough screen time. I just watched an oldie but a goodie ..".Uncorked" with Minnie Driver(understand they used to date) I don't really care much for her but the movie is a gem and Roof was great. He really does well with wordy dialog...making it all look so natural and easy. I really loved this film. The new movie "Vivyan" seems dark and depressing. He does that well too. He is just a great actor all around.

[maxx02]

I'm going to screen cap them ASAP. It may have to wait until the long weekend but I'll add them to the website and you can gaze at them all you like.

[GreenEyesToo]

Just found some nice pics of Rufus in JA from a blog:





< my favourite


digresjoner.blogspot.com/2009/01/rufus-sewell-hothotheat.html

[Famke]

Pics taken by one of the extras cast in John Adams:











Here I am, standing in my breeches and drinkin' from my paper cup...and how come no one is talking to me?

[quoll]

Just bumping this one for the Aussie girls - was watching SBS last night and there was a nano second of a clip for John Adams - no Rufus - but the implication being that it was going to be on during the summer season!!!! Will now go and hunt through the SBS site and see if and when it is happening!

[GreenEyesToo]

Here you go: www.tvtonight.com.au/2009/11/airdate-john-adams-2.html

9:30pm Sunday, 6 December on SBS ONE

[peach]

Upon reading the previous early comments, it seems I have learned more from watching films such as these and yes including the musical "1776" which is still fun, then I ever learned in school. Which truly does not bode well for our educational system in the states. For I have not been in school for more years than I care to mention, but in the years I was in school, not counting some college, I can count on one hand the teachers who made an impact on me. I hate the direction in which this country is going. And I've more than had my fill of politicians. It's still a very elite group of mostly men, white men I may add, with too much money and have lost a grasp on reality, and forgot who they are supposedly representing. A sad commentary from a disillusioned citizen.

[quoll]

Gee GE2, you are ahead of the game! Yup next Sunday it is!

[judypatooty]

I just noticed that the DVD of the whole series is on sale at Amazon.com for only $19.99 ($40 off the regular price).

I loved the book, but never saw the whole series, so it's on its way to me as an early Christmas present for myself!

[tipou]

ALRIGHT! just saw a commercial stating that our historia channel will show john adams starting next week!
although i wonder what voice they will patch over my darling rufus' unique raspy sounds in the french version.

peach: its not only in your country that education is casually overlooked and underestimated, here too, unfortunately... as much as politicians keep on using education as one of their favourites keywords, very few actually put the money where their mouth is.
i remember one english lit teacher, one french writing teacher, and one fine arts teacher, who made the difference for me and helped me define who i am and how i would grow after my formative years. some others did leave an impression, but a more one, as in "this is what i do NOT want to become..."
the problem with learning history from media is that sometime the truth is warped. but... it is often true for some teachers' points of view too, so...
in the end, we have to grab knowledge where we can find it, and use our minds to sort out what is likely from what is not.
after all, even in medieval times, theater was used to teach folks. so TV and movies might not all be so bad, as long as we keep our critical third eye wide open.

and to maxx, although my response come in late: unfortunately, every state around the world has its history of power abuse and disrespect for human beings. learning about history does not necessarily makes us more sympathetic as a species, does it?
even worse, as sting sang (he used to be a teacher): "history will teach us nothing" since we keep on repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

[rueful]

Restoring posts lost in the "incident." Again, this is all they have, so if you replied later, it's lost for good. Sorry.


Numbat


Re: John Adams
« Reply #11 on Jul 3, 2010, 6:06am »

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Now i know there are some comments for John Adams above, but i have to say that i absolutely loved this.

Not from a fangirl point of view because obviously there is nowhere near enough Rufus. But from the point of view of someone who really knew nothing about this stuff, i found it engrossing and exciting - yes exciting. As a story i think it's one of those cases where truth is sometimes more interesting than fiction. And because i didn't know what was going to happen next it was a fascinating tale.

I'm not going to go into all the details - it's obviously far, far too long and complex and i understand that there are some historical inaccuracies, but as the story of a nation and of the personal life of Adams and his family, it was terrific.

Rufus was gorgeous as Alexander Hamilton in his uniform and in his green velvet breeches - it was just a shame there couldn't be more of Hamilton because the glimpses we got of him were of a very interesting man. Again, i knew very little about him beforehand other than he was the first Secretary of the Treasury and he died in a duel, and i would have loved to have found out more. I know Rufus has said that he and some of the other actors were frustrated by the small part their characters played when they had researched and knew so much fascinating information about them. But in the end it was John Adam's story and not Alexander Hamilton's. Shame though.

So i'm certainly glad to have seen it. In the same way that i enjoyed Band of Brothers even though it was something that i wouldn't have normally watched, i enjoyed the story and the fantastic ensemble cast and the very high production values.

And i have to say the ending blew my mind - and again was something that i wasn't aware of. If it had been a fictional story i think you would say that having Adams and Jefferson die within hours of each other on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was just a little far fetched!!! Truth is indeed, stranger than fiction!!!

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F*** 'em if they can't take a joke!! (Rufus in the London Evening Standard, 26 May 2006)

GreenEyesToo
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Re: John Adams
« Reply #12 on Jul 3, 2010, 8:44am »

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Jul 3, 2010, 6:06am, numbat wrote:I know Rufus has said that he and some of the other actors were frustrated by the small part their characters played when they had researched and knew so much fascinating information about them.



It was even worse than that - Rufus, at least, had filmed a lot more than was shown. He (reputedly) was so ******off that his role was hacked to pieces that he declined to take part in any of the pre-screening publicity rounds.


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“My daddy’s potty-trained, and he has a friend called Zorro” ~ Billy Sewell

francesca
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Re: John Adams
« Reply #13 on Jul 3, 2010, 1:27pm »

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I have only watched 1 disc of J.A .so far .
Have not even got as far any of Rufus 's part BUT I am thoroughly enjoying it.
I found the scene at the end of Disc 1, of the count of congress to declare independence, was so moving that I was blinking away the tears
Re comments in earlier postson this thread about maybe Founding Fathers being greedy self seekers , I hope not. I hope they were courageous men of integrity.


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nell
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Re: John Adams
« Reply #14 on Jul 3, 2010, 6:46pm »

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I did find this one a bit hard going if I'm honest. This was my second viewing & I didn't find it quite as drawn out as the first time, probably because I already knew Rufus didn't appear until later in the series however I still found it a bit stilted and long winded.
I can't understand why the book was pulitzer prize wining and yet something just didn't gel for me with the series.
The good points I though were the actual filming was nicely done, the sets were really good, the make -up incredible the way the characters were aged. There were also some pretty good actors and actresses in there too.
I didn't like the delivery from John Adams his "William Hague" type voice I found a bit grating and I didn't find him at all charismatic - but then maybe John Adams did speak like that and was a bit of a bore who knows.
It came across as more of a history lecture rather than a drama and having just watched Charles 2 I felt the opposite when watching that. I must confess that I knew nothing of the story beforehand - I didn't even know who John Adams was, however the subject matter did interest me enough after my first viewing to google the characters and educate myself a bit more. None of this was covered in my history classes.
We didn't see nearly enough of Rufus in it - that goes without saying. I wonder just how much ended up on the cutting room floor, not only of Rufus but other bits that may have held the attention a little longer.
I preferred the family scenes to the courtroom/senate speeches and the last couple of episodes were IMHO the best of the set but all in all I can't say it's something I'll rush to watch again.

[francesca]

I had watched disc 1 of this and then took the rest away with me. i must say both M(o)B and I enjoyed it as a series . I thought it was very well done
One big disappointment of course, was lack of Rufus's scenes .
Numbat said that his part was badly hacked . indeed they might as well cut it all out for the sense it made to the story.
Along with" Paris,Je T'Aime,"If you blinked you missed him!!
Shame.

[ophelia]

Received a copy of John Adams today. Will watch it over the next few days. However I see from previous posts that Rufus's part was hacked badly.

Numbat wrote:I know Rufus has said that he and some of the other actors were frustrated by the small part their characters played when they had researched and knew so much fascinating information about them

It was even worse than that - Rufus, at least, had filmed a lot more than was shown. He (reputedly) was so ******off that his role was hacked to pieces that he declined to take part in any of the pre-screening publicity rounds.


Alexander Hamilton was an indepth character. The first United States of the Treasury, an aide to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, he was a leader of American nationalists calling for a new Constitution and he was one of America's first constitutional lawyers. Hamilton was the Nemesis of John Adams, and his life seemed very colourful, and the famous duel that lead to his death.

Knowing me, will probably zoom to Rufus's bits and then watch all later.

[Petruchio - Good God]

Found these pics yesterday - behind the scenes of "John Adams".... ;D ;D ...funny...