Ammonite (Movie, 2021)

[Libraraptor]

I wonder if anyone else has seen Ammonite yet, the movie about Mary Anning and her fictious relationship with Charlotte Murchinson. I just have and in my opinion it´s not directly a must see, but still a rewarding watch. Here´s the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd_nsFJAXV4

[Gwangi]

There is a thread about it here somewhere that was started with the movie was first released. I saw it and it was somewhat of a mixed bag for me. The acting from Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet was great, so was the cinematography. The story itself though was somewhat of a slog and I'm still not sure about how I feel about the liberties they took with Mary Anning's life. It's funny how people will complain about the accuracy of extinct animals in an action movie but in a serious drama they can just fictionalize a real person's life without much backlash over it. Anyway, I would probably give the movie a C+ rating overall, maybe a B-. I have to watch it again.

[Fembrogon]

Mark Witton wrote up a review a while back, and I think he had a similar opinion: a good story being told in the wrong place. I haven't seen it myself, and I don't feel very inclined to, regrettably.
If the film hasn't seen much backlash, I'm guessing there just aren't enough paleo-fans who even saw it - no visual-effects dinosaurs to market with, after all.

[Duna]

Mostly the only interest here is the relation between the two friends (just like the novel the movie is based on) and less of her remarkable achievements and hard life, the trailer just says all.

Isn't there a good documentary that tells the life of this incredible woman? I would like to show it to my girls, not this movie. They are only 5, and one day I told them about Mary Anning, I thought it was simple a nice story for them (as I told other stories from other paleontologists) and several weeks before, they just asked about a concrete question about the most complete plesiosaur that Mary Anning found (I wouldn't have thought they could remember her name!). I ended my answer telling them that being a woman can't ever stop you for whatever you want to do.

[BlueKrono]

Mark Witton wrote up a review a while back, and I think he had a similar opinion: a good story being told in the wrong place. I haven't seen it myself, and I don't feel very inclined to, regrettably.
If the film hasn't seen much backlash, I'm guessing there just aren't enough paleo-fans who even saw it - no visual-effects dinosaurs to market with, after all.

It really could have done with a vibrant CGI shot of the Mesozoic seas she was uncovering. I saw it as soon as it came out, and it was, in a word, dreary. Lots of grayscale shots of the stormy English coast. I also found it odd that they completely fabricated the focal relationship of her life. Seems a weird thing to do when making a movie about anyone. I doubt we'll see more movies about her, unfortunately. This one wasn't exactly a box office smash hit, even with the star power it brought. I don't regret seeing it though, as Mary Anning is one of my biggest heroes. 

[Flaffy]

The movie should've been something like Hidden Figures. Celebrating the scientific achievements of women whom are often overshadowed in the history books.

And NOT a fanfic love story about a real persons life.

[Gwangi]

Mostly the only interest here is the relation between the two friends (just like the novel the movie is based on) and less of her remarkable achievements and hard life, the trailer just says all.

Isn't there a good documentary that tells the life of this incredible woman? I would like to show it to my girls, not this movie. They are only 5, and one day I told them about Mary Anning, I thought it was simple a nice story for them (as I told other stories from other paleontologists) and several weeks before, they just asked about a concrete question about the most complete plesiosaur that Mary Anning found (I wouldn't have thought they could remember her name!). I ended my answer telling them that being a woman can't ever stop you for whatever you want to do.

There are several children's books about Mary Anning that your children might like, here's one example.
https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Lady-Linda-Skeers/dp/172820951X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1E0N51644UMRJ&keywords=mary+anning&qid=1645636088&s=books&sprefix=mary+anning%2Cstripbooks%2C63&sr=1-3

Mary Anning was in an episode of Dino Dana, although hardly a documentary or biography your girls might appreciate it.

[stargatedalek]

The movie should've been something like Hidden Figures. Celebrating the scientific achievements of women whom are often overshadowed in the history books.

And NOT a fanfic love story about a real persons life.

Gonna be honest, that wouldn't have saved it for me. That's just not a very interesting topic for a feature length movie. Movie biographies don't tend to be very interesting even when their plots follow action movie stars or famous criminals.

I'd much rather watch a documentary summarizing the subjects of her work than a biography about that work getting done. That just doesn't hold my interest in the same way.

And while it continues to annoy me greatly that it's near impossible to find lesbian narratives in media outside of tragedies, melodramatic period pieces (like this one), and high school rom-coms, women in sciences is a lot more normalized.

I don't like this movie, and I don't think it manages to accomplish much. But I would say even just by means of existing and pushing its trailers it helped normalize wlw just a tiny bit. So I'd gladly take yet another melodramatic period piece lesbian drama over a melodramatic period piece about two platonic friends looking for fossils.

Darn it, I just want fun action stuff with wlw characters (who don't get killed off immediately)... but nah, more period piece dramas...

[Duna]

There are several children's books about Mary Anning that your children might like, here's one example.
https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Lady-Linda-Skeers/dp/172820951X/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1E0N51644UMRJ&keywords=mary+anning&qid=1645636088&s=books&sprefix=mary+anning%2Cstripbooks%2C63&sr=1-3

Mary Anning was in an episode of Dino Dana, although hardly a documentary or biography your girls might appreciate it.

Oh, thank you! I think that's just the book I was looking for!  I've browsed other titles but I love the story-telling and the illustrations of that one (the illustrator is Spanish, by the way, from my mother's hometown!)

[HD-man]

Mary Anning was in an episode of Dino Dana, although hardly a documentary or biography your girls might appreciate it.

How does it compare to Dino Dan? I know at least some of the animals look better/more accurate, but what about the fact-checking (E.g. Dan claims that pterosaurs are flying dinos)? Is the acting/dialogue any better/less cringy? Is it any more clear/consistent about what's real & what's imaginary in the context of the show? The latter made Dino Dan especially annoying from a story-telling perspective. Put another way, to quote a review of The Boss Baby, "The big problem with this film is, if it was all a fantasy, there's no real reason to be invested because we have no concept of its reality. The world keeps changing, but not in a stable way we can all latch onto and therefore can't really enjoy."

Darn it, I just want fun action stuff with wlw characters (who don't get killed off immediately)...

Are you specifically referring to movies? If not, there are a few good shows that fit that description. My favorite examples are Harley Quinn & Camp Cretaceous.

[Gwangi]

Mary Anning was in an episode of Dino Dana, although hardly a documentary or biography your girls might appreciate it.

How does it compare to Dino Dan? I know at least some of the animals look better/more accurate, but what about the fact-checking (E.g. Dan claims that pterosaurs are flying dinos)? Is the acting/dialogue any better/less cringy? Is it any more clear/consistent about what's real & what's imaginary in the context of the show? The latter made Dino Dan especially annoying from a story-telling perspective. Put another way, to quote a review of The Boss Baby, "The big problem with this film is, if it was all a fantasy, there's no real reason to be invested because we have no concept of its reality. The world keeps changing, but not in a stable way we can all latch onto and therefore can't really enjoy."

I find Dino Dana significantly less cringe than Dino Dan. Aside from the animals being more accurate and rendered better the stories are generally better with better acting from the main cast. Of the 3 series (Dino Dan, Trek's Adventures, Dino Dana) Dino Dana is far and away the best. That said, it's still far from perfect and plagued by a lot of the problems that Dino Dan had. What it does improve on makes it more tolerable but Dino Dan sets a pretty low bar.  My daughter has watched all of the episodes of all three and while I have no issue with her watching Dino Dana I try to avoid Dino Dan and Trek's Adventures like the plague.

Inaccuracies and iffy information still abound. The show pushes outdated hypotheses like Titanis having claws, and I seem to recall them having an episode entertaining the idea that Sinornithosaurus was venomous. There is an episode where Dana is trying to figure out if Archeopteryx is a dinosaur or pterosaur which is predictably cringe and infuriating. I get that there are particular ideas and concepts that they're trying to use to educate children in an understandable way but presenting information that's flat wrong isn't the answer.

The show is not anymore clear about what is real or fantasy than Dino Dan was, so you're once again forced into assuming that Dana has schizophrenia or something. But, the Dino Dana movie released recently does clear some things up and long story short, the Dino Field Guide has magical properties that actually allow you to see dinosaurs. All in all, a huge improvement over its predecessors, and good for kids, but don't watch it unless you have to. Hope that helps, H @HD-man.

[stargatedalek]

Darn it, I just want fun action stuff with wlw characters (who don't get killed off immediately)...

Are you specifically referring to movies? If not, there are a few good shows that fit that description. My favorite examples are Harley Quinn & Camp Cretaceous.

There are a few examples from anime as well. I wasn't yet caught up on Camp Cretaceous, but that sounds like a pretty good reason to get on it.

[HD-man]

Thanks @Gwangi , that does help

I wasn't yet caught up on Camp Cretaceous, but that sounds like a pretty good reason to get on it.

Personally, their dynamic is 1 of my favorite aspects of CC. Not only is it super cute, but it reminds me of Harley/Ivy's dynamic in Harley Quinn (I.e. 1 girl is more bubbly/extroverted, the other is more bitter/introverted, & together, they bring out the best in each other). If you don't mind spoilers, you can read more about that & my other favorite aspects of CC here: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=9658.0

[Duna]

By the way, @Gwangi I've just received the book about Mary Anning from Amazon, and I must say IT'S ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! I can't wait to show it to my girls!

The book is large, perfect size for kids. And the story about Mary is told in a lovely way, nothing missing. I've liked it A LOT. And the drawings are very nice, too. Lots of drawings of the fossils, the skeletons (very well drawn by the way). If you have young kids, they will love it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBxuWMBmGsQ

[Gwangi]

I'm glad you liked the book @Duna. I don't personally own it but your glowing review shall force me to get it for my daughter. 

[Duna]

I'm glad you liked the book @Duna. I don't personally own it but your glowing review shall force me to get it for my daughter. 

I'm sure she'll like it. It's very inspiring. I love the last sentence: "And she did all that with a homemade hammer, a chisel, and a never-ending quest to fearlessly keep exploring - and learning". I've just read-translated the book to my girls (too young to read and less in English) and they have asked me a lot of lovely questions about women in universities, scientifics who laughed at her and if her brother learnt as much as her about fossils.