AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
6 Degrees Entertainment

Downton Abbey: A New Era [Blu-ray Combo]
(Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, et al / Blu-ray+DVD+Digital / PG / 2022 / Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

Overview: It’s time to return to Downton in DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA, available to own with bonus content on Digital June 24, 2022, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD on July 5th, 2022 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

The much-anticipated cinematic return of Downton Abbey follows the Crawleys and their staff as they welcome a movie crew and their glamorous stars to Downton for the filming of a new silent movie, while other members of the family go on a grand adventure to a villa in the south of France to uncover a mystery about the Dowager Countess and her past.

Blu-ray Verdict: You will recall that one of the most satisfying tying up of loose ends in the 2019 movie was the introduction of a very likable character Lucy (Tuppence Middleton), offering hopes of ending Tom Branson’s (Allen Leech) seven years of lonely widower life.

Picking it up directly therefrom, A New Era opens with their wedding. Together with the wedding, a funeral bookends also A New Era, but I digress.

You may also recall that at the end of the 2019 movie was a revelation of what might be characterized as the beginning of the end. Violet Grantham (Maggie Smith) told her most beloved granddaughter Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) about her failing health. Death was not imminent but inevitable.

This was sad but not tragic as she had lived a long and satisfying life. In A New Era, we see Violet gracefully taking this final journey, but not without the sparkles that light up the scene every time she is around; but allow me to backtrack a little, if I might.

In the 2019 movie, everything evolved around a single plot line: the royal visit - the King and Queen were to stop by Downton Abbey for 24 hours on their tour. A New Era has two parallel plot lines, a tale of two estates, you may call it: Downton Abbey, and an exquisite villa in France.

Exotic as it may sound, the French villa plot is quite uneventful. An old flame of Violet’s had put this piece of property under her name decades ago, a few months before the birth of her son Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville). Upon the Frenchman’s death, his widow now refuses to surrender the villa to Violet, although her son is more amicable and invites the Downton Abbey masters and entourage to pay a visit to the villa.

Of far greater concern to Lord Grantham than the property is the innuendo that he is really the son of the recently deceased Frenchman, hence a fraud all these years as the master of Downton Abbey. False alarm, as it turns out, but I never told you that.

Far more interesting is what happens back home. It’s about the making of a silent movie (the year is 1928) using Downton Abbey for most of its scenes. With Lord Grantham and Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) away in France, Mary is in charge of handling this mayhem which, incidentally, will help significantly in bringing money needed rather badly for maintenance of the estate (particularly the roof, as already mentioned in the previous movie).

Not exactly royalties, the movie crew is yet equally formidable, with three key characters shaking up the idyllic, quiet life in Downton Abbey.

Impacting the Downton people least directly is gorgeous idol-goddess star Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock), with a haughty presence that hides her job insecurity. With her strong Cockney accent giving away a humble childhood (one character comments on this noticeable Achilles heel that George Bernard Shaw has even written a play about it), she wouldn’t survive the alarming, growing popularity of talkies.

This character is instrumental to some good scenes in which Daisy Parker - yes, she has married Andy - (Sophie McShera) and Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt). These two, as the Downton people closest to Dalgleish (being assigned to look after her), come to understand her so well that they finally succeed in talking her into becoming a better person.

Secondly, the charming director Jack Barber is played by Hugh Dancy who got my attention in quite a few movies (King Arthur, The Jane Austin Book Club, et al). Matured from Galahad he played in King Arthur, Dancy is now more like a Lancelot, whose charm becomes almost irresistible to cool Lady Mary.

Providing opportunity is the fact that her Europe-roaming, racing-car-fetish husband Henry is away in the entire movie (last time he at least made a cameo appearance in the end). Well, perhaps Matthew Goode was too busy filming the TV series The offer which, incidentally, is a brilliant dramatization of the story behind the making of The Godfather. But I have digressed once more, sorry.

The third of the three key characters from the movie-making hoard is the male lead in the silent movie, Gable-ish bachelor superstar Guy Dexter, played by veteran, prolific actor Dominic West.

If you remember from the 2019 movie, Thomas Barrow (Robert James Collier) who succeeded Mr Carson (Jim Carter) as Downton Abbey’s butler found true love in his sort of counterpart in the Royal staff during the King and Queen’s brief visit.

Unfortunately, that was the early 20th century when there was no whatssap. Long distance romance was difficult to maintain. Ah, but what about Tom and Lucy? you ask. Well, their romance by correspondence was blessed by Violet who quipped I’ll lick the stamps myself.

Anyway, it is another loose end nicely tied up when Dexter, planning to move to Hollywood, offers to take Barrow on as his personal dresser, a career move that is about a lot more than just a career. Barrow finally finds true love, and lives happily ever after. Another fairy-tale closure.

I have covered most of the important stuff in the movie. All the familiar people that I have not specifically mentioned are here, but with not much happening to them. One thing that absolutely must be mentioned however is one other loose end beautifully tied up - Molesley (Kevin Doyle) and Baxter (Raquel Cassidy).

While this couple has captured our hearts many times over, the immovable obstacle is his inferiority complex that his extremely modest salary as a school teacher is not adequate to provide her with a decent (not lavish) material life she deserves.

Everything changes when the good director, upon discovering Molesley’s writing talents, offers him an ongoing commission of script-writing, with handsome remuneration. Who would not love a fairy-tale ending?

Downton Abbey (TV series and movies) before Maggie Smith joined the ride midway through was already top-notch. She has managed to take it a few notches up. Violet Grantham will be missed in the next installment (can’t see why there shouldn’t be one, in my humble opinion). Unfortunately this is not the Marvel universe and they wouldn’t be able to bring back a character that has died ... or will they?!

And then, Downton Abbey will not feel complete without a Lady Mary/Carson embrace. Rest assured. With the entire weight of not only Downton Abbey, but also the entire village to carry on her shoulder, Mary needs a shoulder to lean on herself when things get tough. Who best to provide it than Carson, who has been like a second father to her ever since she was able to walk and talk? [HY]

4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAYTM, DVD & DIGITAL BONUS FEATURES:
• Good To Be Back - The cast is happy to be back at the estate and making their next film. Hear what it was like for them to see one another again and learn about their character’s continuing story arcs.
• Return to DOWNTON ABBEY: The Making-of A NEW ERA - A production as large as DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA takes incredible preparation, people, and craftsmanship. This in-depth making-of piece delves into the work that each department contributed to bring this film to life.
• A Legendary Character - Take a look back at the legendary character that is the Dowager Countess of Grantham and see why Maggie Smith was born to play the role.
• Creating The Film Within The Film - Take a deeper dive into the making of the film within the film, highlighting the extra research and details that were taken into consideration, from set design and vehicles to the plethora of period-accurate film equipment and props.
• Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia - Learn the real history behind Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia, and why it was a perfect vessel to play the cross-channel ferry in the film.
• Spill The Tea (Time) - Sit down with Allen Leech (Tom Branson) and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith) as they spill all the details of what life on the set of DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA was really like.
• Feature Commentary with Director Simon Curtis

DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA will be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-rayTM, DVD and Digital.
• 4K Ultra HD delivers the ultimate movie watching experience, featuring the combination of 4K resolution and the color brilliance of High Dynamic Range (HDR).
• Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.

The motion picture will also be available in a Limited-Edition Gift Set, featuring the Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and Digital Code, presented in exclusive packaging along with vintage-style postcards, a photo book and a collectible Downton Abbey branded stainless steel tea strainer with a velvet bag.

Available only while supplies last, this special offering is the must-own gift for any Downton Abbey fan or to add to your own collection.

With a screenplay by Julian Fellowes and starring the original cast alongside exciting new additions, DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA is packed full of exuberant moments, excitement and humor, tears of joy and sadness and new beginnings for all your favorite characters.

DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA is also available to stream on Peacock on June 24th, 2022.

Official Trailer

Official Website

Official Facebook Page

Official Twitter Page

Official Instagram Page





...Archives