Heathcliff wasn’t that twisted

Both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights make it onto the list of 'The 50 Best Movies Like Pride and Prejudice' compiled by Gizmo Story.

13. Jane Eyre

Director: Cary Fukunaga

Writer: Moira Buffini

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell

IMDb Ratings: 7.3

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Let’s take a breather from Jane Austen and come to Jane Eyre. The era-defining novel by Charlotte Brontë is no less than Pride and Prejudice. Although Jane Eyre has been adapted into multiple films the 2011 version definitely stands out. A young Jane arrives at  Thornfield Hall as the governess to the Adèle Varens.

During her stay in the estate, Jane Eyre slowly acquaints her with Edward Rochester, the owner of Thornfield Hall. As she begins to fall in love with him, dark secrets of his past begin to haunt their relation. The stunning work by the team in the film makes Jane Eyre a stunning watch. It retains the elements that make the novel so special, thus winning the hearts of fans. [...]

38. Wuthering Heights

Director: Andrea Arnold

Writer: Andrea Arnold, Olivia Hetreed

Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Oliver Milburn, James Howson

IMDb Ratings: 6.0

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video

Let’s head towards the brilliance of  Emily Brontë. The love story of Heathcliff and Catherine hardly has any parallels in the literary world. It was not easy to capture the bitterness of their love on the screen. But that is exactly what the movie manages to achieve.

Their story is narrated long after Catherine had departed the world and Heathcliff was turned into a human with the emotional capacity of a stone. Yet it is fascinating to visualize him falling in love with his foster sister. The movie does justice to the dark and savage nature of the characters. The setting is stunning and the overall product is one worthy of admiration. (Mohit)

A couple of columnists from The New York Times talk about junior United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz.

Gail: Here’s my scenario for the future: Congress passes part of the Biden plan. Squabbling abounds and then we move on to the next election cycle, in which the public will get to decide whether it wants to support the current administration or rally around … Ted Cruz. Or the governor of Florida.

Bret: Gail, you know that whenever you mention the name of the junior senator from Texas, I think: Eddie Haskell wasn’t that unctuous. Veruca Salt wasn’t that obnoxious. Sherman McCoy wasn’t that full of himself. Uriah Heep wasn’t that sycophantic. Heathcliff wasn’t that twisted. Dorian Gray wasn’t that self-absorbed. Elmer Gantry wasn’t that hypocritical. Willie Stark wasn’t that corrosively ambitious. Faust wasn’t that morally compromised. Lady Macbeth wasn’t that sinister. Iago wasn’t that conniving. Richard III wasn’t that malicious. Mr. Wickham wasn’t that dishonorable. Gollum wasn’t that oleaginous. Norman Bates wasn’t that disturbing. Inspector Clouseau wasn’t that ridiculous.

Sorry, what were we talking about?

Gail: Wow. Ted Cruz does make you … upset. (Gail Collins and Bret Stephens)

The blunder of the day is courtesy of Ultimate Classic Rock speaking about Stevie Nicks's 2011 album, In Your Dreams.

In the same vein of fantasy, “Wide Sargasso Sea” alludes to Jean Rhys’ 1966 feminist and anti-colonial interpretation of Charlotte Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Taking a cue from the film adaptation of the novel, Nicks sings the sensual tale with a wild jungle drum beat. Her warbling voice portrays the life of a character who, for hundreds of years, has been reduced to the “mad woman in the attic.” (Stephanie Hernandez)

It's not the first time that Charlotte is mentioned as the author of Wuthering Heights, but we do think it's the first time that Wide Sargasso Sea is described as connected to Wuthering Heights.

225 Baton Rouge recommends Rachel Hawkins's The Wife Upstairs. Crónica Global (Spain) interviews theatre director Carme Portaceli who refers to the fact that she had a tribute to Isabel Allende's La casa de los espíritus in her stage adaptation of Jane Eyre.