"I was naked for a day. You will be naked for eternity." Chaucer is a real writer from this period and he did exactly what he said. There are two characters in his writings that were described extremely vividly, including boils and descriptions of their low character. And there is a gap in Chaucer's life when there was no record of what he was doing for a few years in his twenties. Maybe he was following a knight around, acting as his herald?
Even if they've heard of him, most people don't know what a badass Chaucer was. He was part of an invasion force when England invaded France, he was literally sent on secret missions abroad by the royals, and later on he became a Member of Parliament. He got a pension from King Richard II which was continued by the King who overthrew Richard. And that's not even mentioning that he helped transform writing, making English an acceptable language for literature (and not just something for the "common folk" while the nobs stuck to French). Also, he probably invented Valentine's Day as a romantic event! What a lad.
The fact that she didn't know him is an extremely sad commentary on UK schools. Chaucer isn't even taught in the US anymore. If there was no Chaucer there would be no modern fiction
@@allenruss2976 One of my greatest high school experiences was of my senior year English class making adaptations of the Canterbury Tales. My group had the Wife of Bath's Tale and we totally went to town on it. Somewhere out there might still be a video of a girl from our group dragging my flailing body out of the classroom to the uproarious laughter of the entire class including the teacher. It was an absolute blast.
And like.. the obviousness of the title of the movie that basically everyone misses, and how that fits into the playful tone and over the top characters, the big literary themes of changing your stars, a secret prince knighting you, simple heartfelt emotions that could be saccharine but are delivered just right, it all works incredibly well as a play on its source materials.
Also this movie specifically takes place in a certain year (don't remember which one) in the 1370s. Which is why the soundtrack is from "the '70s", and the setting lines up with this gap in Chaucer's life. Most or all of the movie was filmed in the Czech republic. And the into to We Will Rock You was improvised by all the Czech extras. IIRC it wasn't initially planned but the production team loved it so they decided to keep it and work it in
"They don't understand what he's talking about!" They literally didn't. This movie was filmed in the Czech republic and most of the extras didn't speak English. When Mark Addy (Roland) prompted the crowd to cheer, that was unscripted. "Her outfit doesn't fit the time!" According to the costume designer, the outfits were designed to reflect the 1973 Rolling Stones World Tour. I love this movie!
The deliberate use of anachronism, to get the FEEL of things across, is just perfect. The clothes, the music, changing from a historic-ish dance to something we recognize... a joust was a superbowl, basically, Jocelyn is very high up so she dresses in very chic couture, etc. It's a wonderful comedy, but there's so much depth under it that is so so easy to miss.
Your first fun "fact" is untrue/exaggerated. (A common problem with early 2000's movies). Even just thinking about it logistically, there's way too many cuts in the scene for it to be an organic unscripted moment. [CUT] [CUT] [CUT] [CUT] There's no way they could have possibly had all those camera shots set up at the same time.
That one line "I can't believe Wash is back." is so profoundly emotional and hard hitting. Pure poetry and a testament to the artistry of Alan Tudyk and Joss Whedon.
I mean, the Black Prince did decloak along with Chief-Executioner Sir Axey MacChopperton and High-General-of-the-Secret-Police-and-Making-Problems-Disappear Sir You don't need know his name. He couldn't have said "I dare you" more loudly. I love this scene so much.
If your comment is in reference to her intro, I don't think she was talking about men not enjoying 10 TIHAY. I think she was talking about Brokeback Mountain, which made her flush, which historically is enjoyed much more so by women than men. In fact Brokeback ranks as a top 250 film on IMDB based on female only ratings, it barely makes the top 1000 based solely on male ratings. It's one of IMDB's widest discrepancy as far as male/female ratings go for feature films. The Notebook is another one with wide discrepancy.
to kick 'Fong' is an actual word from old English, which directly translated means: 'to kick'. So when Wat says "I'll fong you" he is actually saying, "I'll kick you.
Must have watched the film a hundred times and yes I will watch it a thousand times more. It's just perfect in every scene and a feel good movie in every way.
They knew they were supposed to clap at the end of the speech. The issue is none of them spoke English, so they didn't realize the speech was over, until he cheered lol.
Jousting and sword fighting on horseback are why the Brits drive on the left. It allowed you to keep your dominant arm free (usually the right) to wield your weapon like a lance or sword, so the horses would be ridden down the left side of the road.
Plus most people are right handed, right handed people tend to mount/dismount a horse on the left hand side, so riding on the left also ment not dismounting into the road
@@okami36 The idea is to attack where you are not having to swing, pary, and thrust across your body. Watch jousting, for example. They hold the lance or spear on their right and ride at each other from the left, just like I mentioned. That's how they attack, not just during a tournament.
One of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is the Summoner's Tale, for whatever that's worth. Tournaments didn't just have the jousting with lances, there were also brawls on foot with blunt(-ish) weapons
Alan Tudyk is in a SyFy Channel show called _Resident Alien._ He plays an alien stranded in a small town in Alaska. There have been two seasons so far and a third will air later this year. I'm sure you'd enjoy it.
"Resident Alien" was HEAVILY influenced by the show "Northern Exposure." It's just snarkier and the town doctor is from outer space rather than a big city.
The first season of R.A. Is great then falls off a bit.. hope they right the ship on the 3rd season although not getting my hopes up as syfy cut season 3’s episode count down
16:55 The joke is he's describing the tent fabric behind her, hence why he's sewing a new tunic with that fabric while they work on dancing. "It's called a lance. Helloooo?" 🤣 Fuckin' love Alan Tudyk.
The movie was deliberately anachronistic. The director wanted to convey the feeling of the time. For example, for them jousting was the equivalent of today's Super Bowl or World Cup, and the leading jousters were famous celebrities. Geoffrey was Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of the Canterbury Tales, and Chaucer really did eviscerate Simon the Summoner in his writing. I expect you didn't notice that was Paul Bettany, AKA Jarvis & The Vision from the MCU. I don't know if you've seen it, but Heath was also in 10 Things I Hate About You, a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Very well done.
My dad, who passed away September 3rd of 2022, was the spitting image of William Thatcher's, father. The beard, the shaggy hair, a perfect likeness. The ending sequence always gets to me, but especially now that my dad is gone. It hurts even more knowing that that tremendous actor and incredible human being is gone as well. There's an old saying called life is pain. I understand that now, because as we get older we suffer more loss than others. I lost both my parents in the last 3 and 1/2 years, and I barely survived covid in July of 2020. I spent 16 days on a ventilator with a 1% chance of survival. I had to learn how to drink, eat, stand and walk again. My children had to go through the pain of watching me almost die and slowly struggle to get better. You have been one of the staples of my entertainment as I find ways to enjoy life. Again. Thank you for just being you and being special. I don't remember if you've watched rogue One, but wash is in that as well
Great reaction Dawn. Everything about this movie should not work. Modern songs, medieval setting, basic plot. However, it is far and away one of the best and most enjoyable movies I have ever lay bare to witness. This is a testament to the excellent script and the phenomenal acting of the entire cast. Much love and keep on keepin on J.
This movie just has so much heart. Plus Shannyn Sossamon was the perfect 90's dream girl (even if she was mainly the 2000's). Wristcutters, 40 Days/40 Nights, Sleepy Hollow
I love how serious they played the knighting scene. Every actor added a weight to the scene. This film has so many great moments but that to me is special.
"No one understands what you are saying." That was litterally true. All the extras were Czexh and didn't understand English so thay had no idea when they were supposed to cheer - until Mark Addy started them off. They kept it in the movie because it was funny.
Excellent choice Dawn! This movie is soooooo, sooo amazing in so many ways. Really all there is to say. Its got that interesting sort of modern take on the Middle Ages, its fun, its got action, its got everything lol.
A movie that by all rights shouldn't work at all, setting, theme, language, comedy, music, anachronisms... but it does so, so exceptionally. A perennial favorite.
One of the best soundtracks ever. First exposure to Alan Tudyk the comic genius! Heath was perfect in this role, extremely talented and under rated movie. Only question going in will be does Dawnie know who Geoffrey Chaucer is?
I remember having to read Chaucer in high-school OLD ENGLISH is hard for a country boy on this side of the pond. Loved the sound track D. Bowie golden years Thin Lizzy boys are back in town!❤❤❤❤❤ Great Flim !
I jousted at the NY Renaissance Festival for two seasons in the 1980s and then trained another team to take over after I retired. The worst part of it is, when done well, it looks easy and everyone thinks they can do it. Consider this: We wore steel helmets and a gorget, which is a metal piece to protect the throat and collar bones. The rest of our outfit was velvet gowns over fake knitted chainmail and leather boots and gloves. The heavy 20 gauge steel shield was kept steady on my left arm while also holding my horse's reins, collapsing my elbow when struck to soften the glancing blow without pulling the rein into the oncoming horse. My right arm carried the 18 foot oak lance and both shield and lance had to glide forward completely horizontal without any up and down bounce. It was an open field joust, meaning there was no wall or rail between us. If we were too far apart, we missed each other's shield. Too close together and we knocked knees at a full gallop (yeah, it hurts). All done while looking through a slit in the face of our helmets. Easy, right? I loved the jousting sequences in this movie but was taken aback by the modern songs and dance.
I actually saw Paul Bettany here first, then recognized him in _A Beautiful Mind,_ and later in the Marvel stuff as Vision. I saw Tudyk here first, too, but didn't recognize him until a recent rewatch, after I'd become a Browncoat. And I sort of recognized Adhemar when I saw him later as Lord Melbourne in _Victoria._ He's much more polite in that one. Thanks for sharing your reaction, Miss Dawn.
This is absolutely my favorite movie and having an opportunity to re-experience seeing for the first time again is a rare treat. Thank you for making my weekend 🤗.
Chaucer did go on to eviscerate Simon the Summoner and Peter the Pardoner in fiction. In The Canterbury Tales, he describes them as hideous beyond measure - covered in sores and boils - oily, sweaty pigs. In that time, good guys and bad guys in fiction were identified by their looks. Heros were handsome and bad guys were ugly. In TCT, the two characters weren't really villians, but Chaucer used these names in his story, and described them as horribly ugly. Take that, gambler abusers!! Naked for eternity. Also, Wat - a very volatile fellow indeed - was, in fact, none other than Wat Tyler, the eventual leader of The Peasants' Rebellion in 1381. He had come home and found the tax collector ravishing his daughter. In a rage, it is said he brought his tiler's hammer down on the tax man's head so hard that blood spattered all four walls of the house. Don't mess with Wat. He'll FONG you!!
The guy who plays Wash in Serenity is also in Death at a Funeral - which is hilarious. Geoffrey Chaucer was a real writer who wrote The Canterbury Tales - which includes the Knight's Tale. The Tales are notoriously bawdy.
Fun fact: There was an actual jousting champion named Ulric von Lichtenstein. The movie makers did their research so they could get everything just right enough that they could mess it up deliberately.
16:39 It’s easy to miss, all he does is describe the fabric hanging in the background behind the girl. They took a lot of liberties with dialog, costume and, most obviously, music. But that’s part of why it’s so fun.
Being a Brit you might not appreciate Heath Ledger in “The Patriot (2000)”. Being a Scot & a Queen fan you might enjoy their entire soundtrack of “Highlander (1986)”. Please consider both because they’re great stories that will make you feel all the feels. Great reaction!
The amazing thing about this movie is that; despite it's slapstick nature, it's one of the more historically accurate medieval movies ever made when it comes to the details. It's far from perfect (they missed some funny opportunities with coats of arms for example) but it gets a lot right that almost all medieval movies get wrong.
10:04 amusingly enough, that's quite literally true, none of the extras there spoke English, so they couldn't understand him. That's why Mark Addy did that little sidemouth fake cheer, to cue the extras that it was time for *them* to cheer. It just ironically worked out well in giving the impression that everyone was bamboozled by Chaucer's over-the-top speech. 😂😂
This is one of the movies I've seen that was the most surprising to me in a good way. When I was in my last year of high school, I was on the verge of not graduating due to being too lazy to do homework. I was missing some elective credits so I had to take a night class to make them up. I took a class on film and one of the projects was I had to go to the movie theater and see something and then write a report on it. My whole family went on the weekend and there was literally nothing playing that any of us had heard of and gave a shit about, so we randomly picked A Knight's Tale even though none of us knew anything about the movie and wouldn't you know it, we all LOVED it. What was once an annoying waste of a Saturday afternoon to do school work I didn't care about turned into a really good time. Great movie!
Great movie. You should also see 10 things I hate about you with Heat Ledger. Also another great love story movie is Roxanne 1987. Also great movies with the guy who plays the bad guy here are Dark City and The Illusionist.
One of my comfort movies. Always leaves me uplifted and just happy. There are jousting tournaments. I know people who competed in some. There are parts of reenactment festivities all over Europe and I heard there are some in the USA as well. jousting tournament
A silver coin in 1350 would be worth about $50 US each today. I'm sure this answer is close enough. Heckling like RDJ in Back To School. Love it. You can find jousting events in Renaissance fairs, Excalibur Hotel in Vegas, Medieval Times restaurants (in S. California at least) and other such events around the world.
'The silver coin' was 1d. The rest were units of account or bullion. It would be the day rate for a labourer, so that is roughly the value... 2s or 24d is not... a lot of money...
@@gracesprocket7340 Saw that, but the $50 figure is the approximate buying power of the coin in today's money, which would be less than a day's pay today.
When I first saw this in the theatre I had no idea what to expect. After 20 minutes I found I would just roll with it. It's a good story, no way historically accurate, but it's still a blast.
Chonser wrote the cantibary tails, and there was 6 months where no one knows where he was this movie is supposed to be that 6 months and a knights tail is in the book
Laura Fraser (the blacksmith), the bonniest of all Scottish lasses save perhaps our fair host, punches above her weight here in a role that doesn’t reward her. She’s also incredible in the movie Titus and sadly dies via “artificial sweeteners” in a US TV series…
If you cross the pond, and come to the States, we have a place called “Medieval Times”, where they have knights jousting, among other tournaments, and “side quests” (as you put it), where you can eat turkey legs and the like, and are served by “wenches”. Lots of fun. I know they’re are a few on the west coast of the USA, but idk where else they me be.
Good one. To fong some one is to whip them. A horses fanks What is a horse's flank? Equine anatomy - Wikipedia Flank: where the hind legs and the barrel meet, specifically the area right behind the rib cage and in front of the stifle joint. Chaucer was/is a famour writer.
There is a series out there starring "Wash" called "Residenr Alien" that you might enjoy. He plays an alien stranded on earth that kills a rural doctor and poses as a doctor whilw he tries to figure out how to return home or conquer Earth, all while trying to keep his true identity... and the murder... a secret. It is a comedy and he is fantastic!
Part of the script that was cut was a scene where Prince Edward discover’s Adumar’s cheating with the lance, banning him from competing in his realm and sending heralds out to all the other great cities to inform them of the ruse
37:18 His "pointed" lance broke off into his shoulder. Remember that? Even if it didn't break off; do you really think he's just gonna let you hop off the horse and steal it? 🤣 Nooo! 😆
But it is legal today, go to one of the many events at NT or HE (or the Scottish or Welsh equivalents) and there will be themed events... commonly jousting at castles or medieval towns. Civil war battles crop up as alternatives, and when the budget doesn't stretch to jousting a few folks doing demonstration of fencing or foot tourney is fairly common.
14:18 they used to put metal coronels on Lance's back then which makes it more hardcore. In modern jousting (yest jousting still a very popular international sport today❤️) there are various regulations. In some cases only balsa wood. It breaks more easily (and more spectacularly) but also in larger chunks for safety though wood splinters still a major risk in the sport. You will get the occasional competition where it has been decided to use hard woods and metal tips (coronels) to make the challenge more historically accurate and next level up. You were commenting on the odd shap of the helmet earlier in the movie? That is to aid in deflection of the Lance or other weapon. Jousting helmets also tend to have smaller oculars (the eye slits) again to avoid splinters. A French king while jousting died from a jousting splinter that entered through the ocular, into his eye and brain. For royal members to compete sometimes diddn't wear their own colours (heraldry) so the their competitor could, with dignity, claim ignorance of the true identity of their opponent. But a lot of the time it wouldn't be a fair match as they'd let the royal or VIP win in fear of the consequences. The Prince in this film was historically known to like jousting and he would wear his mother's colours/heraldry which was a black background with one white ostrich feather. Some believed this is where he got the nickname "The Black Prince" as he, his armour, shield and horse decoration, would have appeared predominantly black with the occasional white ostrich feather. Much later in history Henry the 8th was also a fan. His jousting armour towers over the other jousting armour of that time. Even by today's average heights he was a tall man. When he was younger he athletic and loved jousting.
H VIII's unfinished foot combat armour for the cloth of gold is amazing... the completed set he actually used is likely more typical (big skirt, rather than intricately articulated hips and buttocks), but the 'metal man' set looks so good...
That was not the ocean, nor was it the english channel but was likely the river Thames crossing from south to north…. The chain would be anchored on either short with the chain running through the boat…. It could only have serviced ferries crossing in one direction at a time unless the ferries has a method of detaching one boat from the chain, and passing around the other boat to reattach. A more sophisticated process would have at least two chains with the ability of the ferry to transfer to the other chain at the shore
I loved how much you got this movie and it's silly humor and rock music. I love it to bits and my friends think I'm a moron because it's just a silly movie. Well I say "Better a silly boy with a movie and a stick than I silly serious person with no sense of humor".
"Your style doesn't represent the time you live in." Um, the crowd was just singing, "We Will Rock You." They aren't really concerned with that. Somehow, thecwriter/director of this wrote my favorite film, LA Confidential. The ferry was acre Iss a river, not the ocean.
This one is one of the bestest, firstest Heath Ledger movies I ever saw! This, and Ten Things I Hate About You. That one is a very cute version of Taming of the Shrew. Heath, and Julia Stiles as Kat, are excellent in it! Oh, and Wash, or Alan Tudyk, has a supporting role in the Sandra Bullock movie 28 Days. As a gay German ballet dancer, or something similar, in rehab. Worth a watch.
"I was naked for a day. You will be naked for eternity."
Chaucer is a real writer from this period and he did exactly what he said. There are two characters in his writings that were described extremely vividly, including boils and descriptions of their low character. And there is a gap in Chaucer's life when there was no record of what he was doing for a few years in his twenties. Maybe he was following a knight around, acting as his herald?
Even if they've heard of him, most people don't know what a badass Chaucer was. He was part of an invasion force when England invaded France, he was literally sent on secret missions abroad by the royals, and later on he became a Member of Parliament. He got a pension from King Richard II which was continued by the King who overthrew Richard. And that's not even mentioning that he helped transform writing, making English an acceptable language for literature (and not just something for the "common folk" while the nobs stuck to French). Also, he probably invented Valentine's Day as a romantic event! What a lad.
The fact that she didn't know him is an extremely sad commentary on UK schools. Chaucer isn't even taught in the US anymore. If there was no Chaucer there would be no modern fiction
@@allenruss2976 One of my greatest high school experiences was of my senior year English class making adaptations of the Canterbury Tales. My group had the Wife of Bath's Tale and we totally went to town on it. Somewhere out there might still be a video of a girl from our group dragging my flailing body out of the classroom to the uproarious laughter of the entire class including the teacher. It was an absolute blast.
And like.. the obviousness of the title of the movie that basically everyone misses, and how that fits into the playful tone and over the top characters, the big literary themes of changing your stars, a secret prince knighting you, simple heartfelt emotions that could be saccharine but are delivered just right, it all works incredibly well as a play on its source materials.
Also this movie specifically takes place in a certain year (don't remember which one) in the 1370s. Which is why the soundtrack is from "the '70s", and the setting lines up with this gap in Chaucer's life.
Most or all of the movie was filmed in the Czech republic. And the into to We Will Rock You was improvised by all the Czech extras. IIRC it wasn't initially planned but the production team loved it so they decided to keep it and work it in
"They don't understand what he's talking about!" They literally didn't. This movie was filmed in the Czech republic and most of the extras didn't speak English. When Mark Addy (Roland) prompted the crowd to cheer, that was unscripted.
"Her outfit doesn't fit the time!" According to the costume designer, the outfits were designed to reflect the 1973 Rolling Stones World Tour. I love this movie!
The deliberate use of anachronism, to get the FEEL of things across, is just perfect. The clothes, the music, changing from a historic-ish dance to something we recognize... a joust was a superbowl, basically, Jocelyn is very high up so she dresses in very chic couture, etc.
It's a wonderful comedy, but there's so much depth under it that is so so easy to miss.
And the Bowie scene was taking cues from Ziggy Stardust of course
Your first fun "fact" is untrue/exaggerated. (A common problem with early 2000's movies). Even just thinking about it logistically, there's way too many cuts in the scene for it to be an organic unscripted moment.
[CUT]
[CUT]
[CUT]
[CUT]
There's no way they could have possibly had all those camera shots set up at the same time.
@@jasonschuler6882 In this case, he's literally just repeating the story that's on the dvd commentary with the director and Paul Bettany.
Always thought that Kate (the armorer) was 10,000 times hotter than Jocelyn (the princess)
Plus she's a Scot, like our bonnie Dawn :)
I agree with you 1,000%
her Chamber maid is pretty beautiful too
@@marcusfridh8489 No lies detected ;)
Saaame 😍
Your absolute glee when you recognized Alan Tudyk is EVERYTHING.
it got me that she called him WASH threwout the whole flick
@@rp8pi YES!!
That one line "I can't believe Wash is back." is so profoundly emotional and hard hitting. Pure poetry and a testament to the artistry of Alan Tudyk and Joss Whedon.
I'm a leaf on the wind...
But did not bat an eye when introduced to Jeffery Chaucer. SAD!!!
Speaking as a father, the scene where Will meets his Dad after all those years still makes me blurb like a baby. Phenomenal acting.
"How would you beat him?"
"With a stick as he slept. But on horse with a lance, that man is unbeatable."
Such a tragedy Heath died so young. He was a great actor in both comedy and drama.
“This is my word and it is beyond contestation!”
I just love the thunderously unspoken “Anyone got a PROBLEM with that?!”
Can't argue with Mark Antony.
Yeah really lol basically "I'll run this country soon... I say he's ancient royalty.... who wants to call me a liar?"
@@KS-xk2so In the actual scene, you can here a woman in the crowd say "Oh, so it's like that, is it?"
I mean, the Black Prince did decloak along with Chief-Executioner Sir Axey MacChopperton and High-General-of-the-Secret-Police-and-Making-Problems-Disappear Sir You don't need know his name. He couldn't have said "I dare you" more loudly. I love this scene so much.
I protest! I'm a guy, and I loved 10 Things I Hate About You! I can quote that movie. Its awesome.
If your comment is in reference to her intro, I don't think she was talking about men not enjoying 10 TIHAY. I think she was talking about Brokeback Mountain, which made her flush, which historically is enjoyed much more so by women than men. In fact Brokeback ranks as a top 250 film on IMDB based on female only ratings, it barely makes the top 1000 based solely on male ratings. It's one of IMDB's widest discrepancy as far as male/female ratings go for feature films. The Notebook is another one with wide discrepancy.
Ah, okay. I misunderstood. Thank you.
Brokeback was a great movie.
to kick
'Fong' is an actual word from old English, which directly translated means: 'to kick'. So when Wat says "I'll fong you" he is actually saying, "I'll kick you.
On the DVD, they explained they had to clarify it for the FAA so they didn't have to beep it out on flights.
Christopher Cazenove's acting when Will returns to see his dad, just gets me every time.
Bloodthirsty Dawn..."Kill him! Don't stop there! Kill him with his own lance!" 🤣
"HA HA HA HA HA! Chop his head off!"
Then eat the hand because it's made out of sugar 😂
Must have watched the film a hundred times and yes I will watch it a thousand times more. It's just perfect in every scene and a feel good movie in every way.
"He looks like the Benedict Cucumber guy."
An endless source of great quotes, this channel.
The "Yeah" to get the crowd cheering was improvised and real. The extras didn't know to clap after the speech and his "yeah" got them going.
They knew they were supposed to clap at the end of the speech. The issue is none of them spoke English, so they didn't realize the speech was over, until he cheered lol.
Jousting and sword fighting on horseback are why the Brits drive on the left. It allowed you to keep your dominant arm free (usually the right) to wield your weapon like a lance or sword, so the horses would be ridden down the left side of the road.
Plus most people are right handed, right handed people tend to mount/dismount a horse on the left hand side, so riding on the left also ment not dismounting into the road
Excellent fun facts!
I appreciate information like that. Thanks for sharing.
Except, if you're jousting or fighting on horseback, you want your enemy on your left side, so you can make use of your shield.
@@okami36 The idea is to attack where you are not having to swing, pary, and thrust across your body. Watch jousting, for example. They hold the lance or spear on their right and ride at each other from the left, just like I mentioned. That's how they attack, not just during a tournament.
One of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is the Summoner's Tale, for whatever that's worth.
Tournaments didn't just have the jousting with lances, there were also brawls on foot with blunt(-ish) weapons
Now you have to watch "Tucker and Dale" with Alan Tudyk
🤣🤣😝
seconded.
Hmm, thought she already had.
Any movie that makes Dawn laugh this much is pure gold.
Love how you keep calling him Wash 🥰 Browncoats forever 😃
Alan Tudyk is in a SyFy Channel show called _Resident Alien._ He plays an alien stranded in a small town in Alaska. There have been two seasons so far and a third will air later this year. I'm sure you'd enjoy it.
That big smiling "it's Wash!", she gave us over and over really lifted my heart in a way I didn't see coming.
"Resident Alien" was HEAVILY influenced by the show "Northern Exposure." It's just snarkier and the town doctor is from outer space rather than a big city.
The first season of R.A. Is great then falls off a bit.. hope they right the ship on the 3rd season although not getting my hopes up as syfy cut season 3’s episode count down
Alan is great in his series Con Man, and it has alot of the Firefly cast in it. Resident Alien is based on a comicbook.
@@Kevin_Lazaryou had me at “not getting my hopes up because SyFy.”
16:55 The joke is he's describing the tent fabric behind her, hence why he's sewing a new tunic with that fabric while they work on dancing.
"It's called a lance. Helloooo?" 🤣 Fuckin' love Alan Tudyk.
"Benedict Cucumber guy..." had me on the floor! You are the most entertaining reviewer on the internet. Keep them coming, Dawn!
The movie was deliberately anachronistic. The director wanted to convey the feeling of the time. For example, for them jousting was the equivalent of today's Super Bowl or World Cup, and the leading jousters were famous celebrities.
Geoffrey was Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of the Canterbury Tales, and Chaucer really did eviscerate Simon the Summoner in his writing. I expect you didn't notice that was Paul Bettany, AKA Jarvis & The Vision from the MCU.
I don't know if you've seen it, but Heath was also in 10 Things I Hate About You, a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Very well done.
My dad, who passed away September 3rd of 2022, was the spitting image of William Thatcher's, father. The beard, the shaggy hair, a perfect likeness.
The ending sequence always gets to me, but especially now that my dad is gone.
It hurts even more knowing that that tremendous actor and incredible human being is gone as well. There's an old saying called life is pain. I understand that now, because as we get older we suffer more loss than others. I lost both my parents in the last 3 and 1/2 years, and I barely survived covid in July of 2020.
I spent 16 days on a ventilator with a 1% chance of survival. I had to learn how to drink, eat, stand and walk again.
My children had to go through the pain of watching me almost die and slowly struggle to get better.
You have been one of the staples of my entertainment as I find ways to enjoy life. Again. Thank you for just being you and being special. I don't remember if you've watched rogue One, but wash is in that as well
Great reaction Dawn. Everything about this movie should not work. Modern songs, medieval setting, basic plot. However, it is far and away one of the best and most enjoyable movies I have ever lay bare to witness. This is a testament to the excellent script and the phenomenal acting of the entire cast. Much love and keep on keepin on J.
This movie just has so much heart. Plus Shannyn Sossamon was the perfect 90's dream girl (even if she was mainly the 2000's). Wristcutters, 40 Days/40 Nights, Sleepy Hollow
I love how serious they played the knighting scene. Every actor added a weight to the scene. This film has so many great moments but that to me is special.
Agreed. Chaucer’s (Bettany’s) face spoke volumes without words. “Oh my God. He did it!”
Paul betteny as Geoffrey Chaucer, a real.author who wrote a knights tale
And many other "tales"
"No one understands what you are saying."
That was litterally true. All the extras were Czexh and didn't understand English so thay had no idea when they were supposed to cheer - until Mark Addy started them off. They kept it in the movie because it was funny.
I love Alan Tudyk, he never gives a bad performance.
Him and Stanley Tucci are two of the most underrated actors ever.
I just love this film so much... "without con... tes... tation." 😂😂😂
Great watchalong with you, thanks Dawn!
William's father deserves so many awards for his performance. He is my favorite part of this movie.
Metal armor protects from cuts and piercing blows but like bulletproof vest they stop the metal but not the trauma or shock of the blow.
Excellent choice Dawn! This movie is soooooo, sooo amazing in so many ways. Really all there is to say. Its got that interesting sort of modern take on the Middle Ages, its fun, its got action, its got everything lol.
You should review the medieval fantasy/romance movie Ladyhawke from 1985,.Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Rutger Haur and Matthew Broderick.
Good luck with that one. Super obscure.
A movie that by all rights shouldn't work at all, setting, theme, language, comedy, music, anachronisms... but it does so, so exceptionally.
A perennial favorite.
One of the best soundtracks ever. First exposure to Alan Tudyk the comic genius! Heath was perfect in this role, extremely talented and under rated movie. Only question going in will be does Dawnie know who Geoffrey Chaucer is?
I don't think she knows who Chaucer was either.
@@johnfriday5169 I think I have seen a half dozen reactions to this movie, not one knows.
I remember having to read Chaucer in high-school OLD ENGLISH is hard for a country boy on this side of the pond. Loved the sound track D. Bowie golden years Thin Lizzy boys are back in town!❤❤❤❤❤ Great Flim !
So happy for this. Not enough reactors do this movie ….. I think it’s one of the most fun things ever made.
Here in America we have a theme restaurant called Medieval Times that features live jousting tournaments.
Been to the one in Peoria Illinois, way back in middle school was a school field trip. Had a BLAST!
20+ years ago, my high school history teacher took a busload of us to the one in (or near?) Myrtle Beach, SC. Kicked ass!
I absolutely love this film. one of my fall time faves
I jousted at the NY Renaissance Festival for two seasons in the 1980s and then trained another team to take over after I retired. The worst part of it is, when done well, it looks easy and everyone thinks they can do it. Consider this: We wore steel helmets and a gorget, which is a metal piece to protect the throat and collar bones. The rest of our outfit was velvet gowns over fake knitted chainmail and leather boots and gloves. The heavy 20 gauge steel shield was kept steady on my left arm while also holding my horse's reins, collapsing my elbow when struck to soften the glancing blow without pulling the rein into the oncoming horse. My right arm carried the 18 foot oak lance and both shield and lance had to glide forward completely horizontal without any up and down bounce. It was an open field joust, meaning there was no wall or rail between us. If we were too far apart, we missed each other's shield. Too close together and we knocked knees at a full gallop (yeah, it hurts). All done while looking through a slit in the face of our helmets. Easy, right? I loved the jousting sequences in this movie but was taken aback by the modern songs and dance.
I actually saw Paul Bettany here first, then recognized him in _A Beautiful Mind,_ and later in the Marvel stuff as Vision. I saw Tudyk here first, too, but didn't recognize him until a recent rewatch, after I'd become a Browncoat. And I sort of recognized Adhemar when I saw him later as Lord Melbourne in _Victoria._ He's much more polite in that one.
Thanks for sharing your reaction, Miss Dawn.
This is absolutely my favorite movie and having an opportunity to re-experience seeing for the first time again is a rare treat. Thank you for making my weekend 🤗.
Brilliant movie, the best character in the movie was played by Paul Bethany. He was hilarious in it.
Recognizes *_everyone_* except Paul Bettany 🤣
(thats Vision from the MCU, for anyone who missed it)
Chaucer did go on to eviscerate Simon the Summoner and Peter the Pardoner in fiction. In The Canterbury Tales, he describes them as hideous beyond measure - covered in sores and boils - oily, sweaty pigs. In that time, good guys and bad guys in fiction were identified by their looks. Heros were handsome and bad guys were ugly. In TCT, the two characters weren't really villians, but Chaucer used these names in his story, and described them as horribly ugly. Take that, gambler abusers!! Naked for eternity.
Also, Wat - a very volatile fellow indeed - was, in fact, none other than Wat Tyler, the eventual leader of The Peasants' Rebellion in 1381. He had come home and found the tax collector ravishing his daughter. In a rage, it is said he brought his tiler's hammer down on the tax man's head so hard that blood spattered all four walls of the house. Don't mess with Wat. He'll FONG you!!
"Benedict Cucumber-guy"...
🤣🤣🤣
The guy who plays Wash in Serenity is also in Death at a Funeral - which is hilarious.
Geoffrey Chaucer was a real writer who wrote The Canterbury Tales - which includes the Knight's Tale. The Tales are notoriously bawdy.
Not one person that ive seen react to this has noticed when he's describing the tunic that hes describing the tent the lady is standing in front of.
Yeah, but when the tunic didn't end up looking like the tent I was disappointed. It really would have made a nice tunic.
This is how I understood that the "Herald" position in medieval courts is basically your hypeman.
OMG I just now realized he described the tent that was behind her.... 17:00. oh man i love this movie so much!
Fun fact: There was an actual jousting champion named Ulric von Lichtenstein. The movie makers did their research so they could get everything just right enough that they could mess it up deliberately.
16:39 It’s easy to miss, all he does is describe the fabric hanging in the background behind the girl.
They took a lot of liberties with dialog, costume and, most obviously, music. But that’s part of why it’s so fun.
Being a Brit you might not appreciate Heath Ledger in “The Patriot (2000)”. Being a Scot & a Queen fan you might enjoy their entire soundtrack of “Highlander (1986)”. Please consider both because they’re great stories that will make you feel all the feels. Great reaction!
Actually she might, she's not a Brit she's a Scott
Patriot is a sucky film though.... Much better is "Sweet Liberty".
"Flash Gordon" also had a great soundtrack by Queen.
She's BOTH a Scot and a Brit. All Scots are Brits, but not all Brits are Scots.@@alaneskew2664
This was a surprise. Love the energy you had in this reaction.
While I have always enjoyed this movie it has grown on me over the years. A truly stacked cast. Your reaction is fantastic Dawn!
The Benedicit Cucumber guy ..... you're thinking of Benjamin Cabbagepatch.
The amazing thing about this movie is that; despite it's slapstick nature, it's one of the more historically accurate medieval movies ever made when it comes to the details. It's far from perfect (they missed some funny opportunities with coats of arms for example) but it gets a lot right that almost all medieval movies get wrong.
10:04 amusingly enough, that's quite literally true, none of the extras there spoke English, so they couldn't understand him. That's why Mark Addy did that little sidemouth fake cheer, to cue the extras that it was time for *them* to cheer. It just ironically worked out well in giving the impression that everyone was bamboozled by Chaucer's over-the-top speech. 😂😂
This is one of the movies I've seen that was the most surprising to me in a good way. When I was in my last year of high school, I was on the verge of not graduating due to being too lazy to do homework. I was missing some elective credits so I had to take a night class to make them up. I took a class on film and one of the projects was I had to go to the movie theater and see something and then write a report on it. My whole family went on the weekend and there was literally nothing playing that any of us had heard of and gave a shit about, so we randomly picked A Knight's Tale even though none of us knew anything about the movie and wouldn't you know it, we all LOVED it. What was once an annoying waste of a Saturday afternoon to do school work I didn't care about turned into a really good time. Great movie!
You're accent is so beautiful.😍 ❤
She is a true Scottish lass
Great movie. You should also see 10 things I hate about you with Heat Ledger. Also another great love story movie is Roxanne 1987. Also great movies with the guy who plays the bad guy here are Dark City and The Illusionist.
One of my comfort movies. Always leaves me uplifted and just happy.
There are jousting tournaments. I know people who competed in some. There are parts of reenactment festivities all over Europe and I heard there are some in the USA as well.
jousting tournament
A silver coin in 1350 would be worth about $50 US each today. I'm sure this answer is close enough.
Heckling like RDJ in Back To School. Love it.
You can find jousting events in Renaissance fairs, Excalibur Hotel in Vegas, Medieval Times restaurants (in S. California at least) and other such events around the world.
There is a "Medevil Times" In Myrtle Beach, SC also......
@@CoastalNomad Cool. I'm just too lazy to look that up right now. Thanks for the update.
'The silver coin' was 1d. The rest were units of account or bullion. It would be the day rate for a labourer, so that is roughly the value... 2s or 24d is not... a lot of money...
@@gracesprocket7340 Saw that, but the $50 figure is the approximate buying power of the coin in today's money, which would be less than a day's pay today.
When I first saw this in the theatre I had no idea what to expect. After 20 minutes I found I would just roll with it. It's a good story, no way historically accurate, but it's still a blast.
the speak at the end was from the bible Daniel 5:25 -27 when Daniel told Belshazzar this rule . cool reference
Chonser wrote the cantibary tails, and there was 6 months where no one knows where he was this movie is supposed to be that 6 months and a knights tail is in the book
Yes that's Walsh. Robert. Joker. And vision. Lol 🎉🎉🎉
The actor playing Chaucer is also Vision from the MCU.
Clearly he is Stephen Maturin.
@@gracesprocket7340 Film credits list him as Paul Bettany
@@robertboyer1086 Maturin is the lesser of two weevils.
And he is Silas in the DaVinchi code
I’m sure I’ve said it before, but your laugh is absolutely adorable! Keep it up!
I like how Roland has to look at the tent he plans on cannibalizing into making a tunic.
Not many people know about a movie called "The Sin Eater" (aka "The Order") which included William, Roland, and Jocelyn from this movie.
25:40 His arm is dislocated. They're trying to pop it back in place.
Laura Fraser (the blacksmith), the bonniest of all Scottish lasses save perhaps our fair host, punches above her weight here in a role that doesn’t reward her. She’s also incredible in the movie Titus and sadly dies via “artificial sweeteners” in a US TV series…
She's also a crazy badass in BB.
I Luv Dawns recalls, "that Benedict cucumber guy" 🥒(Comberbatch) gets me Everytime! Thanks for sharing Dawn Marie ❤️💛
In Dallas there's a diner theater in a jousting area where you can watch knights knight it up every night while having a meal and drinks
6:30 ish.... championness is now my favorite word...i am thieving it and spreading it across the globe like sugar
With King Robert, Tucker and Vision on his side how could you not expect Sir William to win in the end. I've always liked this movie.
If you cross the pond, and come to the States, we have a place called “Medieval Times”, where they have knights jousting, among other tournaments, and “side quests” (as you put it), where you can eat turkey legs and the like, and are served by “wenches”. Lots of fun. I know they’re are a few on the west coast of the USA, but idk where else they me be.
nice to have a light hearted movie
Good one. To fong some one is to whip them. A horses fanks What is a horse's flank?
Equine anatomy - Wikipedia
Flank: where the hind legs and the barrel meet, specifically the area right behind the rib cage and in front of the stifle joint. Chaucer was/is a famour writer.
This is what happens when The Joker, Robert Baratheon, Vision, the Droid from Rogue One and Gus’s business partner join forces: Pure Cinematic Gold.
There is a series out there starring "Wash" called "Residenr Alien" that you might enjoy. He plays an alien stranded on earth that kills a rural doctor and poses as a doctor whilw he tries to figure out how to return home or conquer Earth, all while trying to keep his true identity... and the murder... a secret. It is a comedy and he is fantastic!
Your joy at recognizing Wash (Alan Tudyk) was wonderful, love your laugh!
BEST SURPRISE EVAR!!!
Part of the script that was cut was a scene where Prince Edward discover’s Adumar’s cheating with the lance, banning him from competing in his realm and sending heralds out to all the other great cities to inform them of the ruse
“…the Benedict Cucumber guy.”
I call him Backitup Thundercats.
37:18 His "pointed" lance broke off into his shoulder. Remember that? Even if it didn't break off; do you really think he's just gonna let you hop off the horse and steal it? 🤣 Nooo! 😆
This one of my feel good movies that i like watching when feeling down
Jousting was illegal in England for long periods for the same reasons duels were later illegal in France
But it is legal today, go to one of the many events at NT or HE (or the Scottish or Welsh equivalents) and there will be themed events... commonly jousting at castles or medieval towns. Civil war battles crop up as alternatives, and when the budget doesn't stretch to jousting a few folks doing demonstration of fencing or foot tourney is fairly common.
14:18 they used to put metal coronels on Lance's back then which makes it more hardcore. In modern jousting (yest jousting still a very popular international sport today❤️) there are various regulations. In some cases only balsa wood. It breaks more easily (and more spectacularly) but also in larger chunks for safety though wood splinters still a major risk in the sport. You will get the occasional competition where it has been decided to use hard woods and metal tips (coronels) to make the challenge more historically accurate and next level up. You were commenting on the odd shap of the helmet earlier in the movie? That is to aid in deflection of the Lance or other weapon. Jousting helmets also tend to have smaller oculars (the eye slits) again to avoid splinters. A French king while jousting died from a jousting splinter that entered through the ocular, into his eye and brain. For royal members to compete sometimes diddn't wear their own colours (heraldry) so the their competitor could, with dignity, claim ignorance of the true identity of their opponent. But a lot of the time it wouldn't be a fair match as they'd let the royal or VIP win in fear of the consequences. The Prince in this film was historically known to like jousting and he would wear his mother's colours/heraldry which was a black background with one white ostrich feather. Some believed this is where he got the nickname "The Black Prince" as he, his armour, shield and horse decoration, would have appeared predominantly black with the occasional white ostrich feather. Much later in history Henry the 8th was also a fan. His jousting armour towers over the other jousting armour of that time. Even by today's average heights he was a tall man. When he was younger he athletic and loved jousting.
H VIII's unfinished foot combat armour for the cloth of gold is amazing... the completed set he actually used is likely more typical (big skirt, rather than intricately articulated hips and buttocks), but the 'metal man' set looks so good...
That was not the ocean, nor was it the english channel but was likely the river Thames crossing from south to north….
The chain would be anchored on either short with the chain running through the boat…. It could only have serviced ferries crossing in one direction at a time unless the ferries has a method of detaching one boat from the chain, and passing around the other boat to reattach. A more sophisticated process would have at least two chains with the ability of the ferry to transfer to the other chain at the shore
it´s an all around feel good movie....
loved it from the first time, i saw it in theatre....
The “Flank” is on the side of the horse behind the rib cage & the front of the hind leg.
Great reaction Dawn. This is a favorite of mine. What is wild is that is a story from one of Chaucer's Tales.
I loved how much you got this movie and it's silly humor and rock music. I love it to bits and my friends think I'm a moron because it's just a silly movie. Well I say "Better a silly boy with a movie and a stick than I silly serious person with no sense of humor".
"Your style doesn't represent the time you live in." Um, the crowd was just singing, "We Will Rock You." They aren't really concerned with that.
Somehow, thecwriter/director of this wrote my favorite film, LA Confidential.
The ferry was acre
Iss a river, not the ocean.
Dawn Marie: "What the hell is that on your head? You look like a lamp."
Damn you woman, you made me blow Coca-Cola out my nose I laughed so hard. LOL
This was a fantastic movie, with a great cast, script and soundtrack. Pure entertainment.
The Boys Are Back in Town, Thin Lizzy Dublin, Ireland.
This one is one of the bestest, firstest Heath Ledger movies I ever saw! This, and Ten Things I Hate About You. That one is a very cute version of Taming of the Shrew. Heath, and Julia Stiles as Kat, are excellent in it!
Oh, and Wash, or Alan Tudyk, has a supporting role in the Sandra Bullock movie 28 Days. As a gay German ballet dancer, or something similar, in rehab. Worth a watch.