PSA (and GIP)
So here we are heading into another weekend without club football, and those of us who support England can only realistically look forward to another clueless performance in a match that will be about as exciting as watching paint dry. But fear not! I'm here to help ease our collective suffering by recommending alternative entertainment, in the form of two movies I recently enjoyed enough to watch multiple times each within a week.
The first is Stardust, a quirky, Princess Bride-esque fantasy based on a novel by Neil Gaiman. It's a love story in which our heroes (ordinary-young-man Tristan and fallen-star-in-human-form Yvaine) become reluctant companions, bicker a lot, get chased by various baddies, fight said baddies, and generally have Adventure. It's full of battles and betrayals and secrets and rescues and escapes, plus snarky dialogue with plenty of humour. What's not to love? Check out the trailer and you'll see what I mean. Other bonuses include a cameo by the always hysterical Ricky Gervais, a now-infamous scene featuring De Niro's Captain Shakespeare, the absolutely beautiful score, a blooper reel, and this fantastically cheesy theme song by Take That. Go on, wallow in the cheese. I won't judge. *shamelessly sings along*
The other is Banlieue 13, a.k.a. District B-13, a semi-futuristic French action flick with intriguing (and disturbingly prophetic) sociopolitical messages, based on a story by Luc Besson. It's a love story in which our heroes (ghetto-dwelling Leïto and undercover supercop Damien) become reluctant companions, bicker a lot, get chased by various baddies, fight said baddies, and generally have Adventure. It's full of battles and betrayals and secrets and rescues and escapes, plus snarky dialogue with plenty of humour. Wait...
No, seriously, I swear I'm not making any of that up. The basic story elements are exactly the same as in the fantasy rom-com above, and if either of the lead characters were female this movie would totally be shelved under Romance instead of Action. Hilariously, even the official trailer backs me up. But I digress. The point is, you really want to see this film. Allow me to explain with the help of some eye candy.
The first thing you need to know is that the movie features the sport/art of parkour, known in the U.K. as free-running. Parkour is incredibly difficult, insanely dangerous, illegal in some places, and in all other ways MADE OF AWESOME. Seriously, even if you just rent the movie and fast-forward through everything except the action scenes you will get your money's worth. I promise you will be sitting there with your mouth hanging open and your eyes popping out, and not just because Leïto and Damien are major hotties. *g*
That brings me to the second thing you need to know, which is that Cyril Raffaelli, a.k.a. Damien, and David Belle, a.k.a. Leïto, are super-fit, highly trained athletes who do all their own stunts. David is actually the co-founder of parkour, while Cyril is a prolific stuntman, martial arts champion several times over, and all-around bad-ass who choreographed the stunts and fight sequences for the film. In other words, these guys do things that the human body was simply not designed to do, and they make it look easy. Ninety percent of the ridiculously improbable stunts you will see are real and performed in real time, no wires, no pads, no computer effects. It's beyond impressive.
The thing is, Cyril and David met during the preparation for the film and became really good friends, the kind that communicate without words and have their own inside jokes and are very comfortable with each other physically. Whether intentionally or not that chemistry really comes through on screen, which makes the film more interesting on an entirely different level. Observe:
From the moment they meet, thusly,
whenever they're not leaping off of rooftops, kicking bad guy ass, or doing gun-fu, Damien and Leïto spend their time handcuffing each other to stuff...
...having intense verbal and physical arguments...
...and generally invading each other's personal spaces a lot.
If you are a normal person you will see this as typical fun buddy-movie bonding. If you're a hopeless romantic like me you will be touched and amused by Damien and Leïto's snarky, muscly French lurve. Either way, you're guaranteed eighty-odd minutes of very pleasant viewing. ;)
If you do get the DVD (And why wouldn't you, with such incentive?) there are two things you must not do:
1) Do not under any circumstances watch the dubbed version. The English dubbing is frankly laughable, and not in a good way. Watch it in the original French with subtitles, and if you happen to understand French you can amuse yourself by catching the occasional bizarre mis-translations.
2) Do not skip the extras. The outtakes are fun, but the Making Of... segment is quite interesting in general and downright hysterical in parts. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes footage of Cyril and David practicing their stunts and talking between takes, and they seemingly spend all their time alternately cuddling and cracking each other up. Like, to the point of knee buckling and uncontrollable, open-mouthed guffawing. Not only is this funny, it is completely adorable, like so:
Also, at one point the boys are practicing a fight sequence and they are both unconsciously making their own sound effects like little kids, for real. It is HILARIOUS. ♥
In conclusion, just look at them:
It takes a stronger person than me to resist that, and I wouldn't have it any other way. XD
Anyway, yeah. I actually am going to watch the England match tomorrow, but afterwards a bit of escapism will most likely be the order of the day. I may indeed be turning to one of these trusty allies in my hour of need, and I encourage you lot to do the same.
ETA: *Squee* OMG! If you don't want to be vaguely spoiled, scroll past the comment-fic of awesomeness below. Or not! *g*
ETA2: Somebody stop me! I'm going to burn in hell for this, and I can't seem to help myself.
The first is Stardust, a quirky, Princess Bride-esque fantasy based on a novel by Neil Gaiman. It's a love story in which our heroes (ordinary-young-man Tristan and fallen-star-in-human-form Yvaine) become reluctant companions, bicker a lot, get chased by various baddies, fight said baddies, and generally have Adventure. It's full of battles and betrayals and secrets and rescues and escapes, plus snarky dialogue with plenty of humour. What's not to love? Check out the trailer and you'll see what I mean. Other bonuses include a cameo by the always hysterical Ricky Gervais, a now-infamous scene featuring De Niro's Captain Shakespeare, the absolutely beautiful score, a blooper reel, and this fantastically cheesy theme song by Take That. Go on, wallow in the cheese. I won't judge. *shamelessly sings along*
The other is Banlieue 13, a.k.a. District B-13, a semi-futuristic French action flick with intriguing (and disturbingly prophetic) sociopolitical messages, based on a story by Luc Besson. It's a love story in which our heroes (ghetto-dwelling Leïto and undercover supercop Damien) become reluctant companions, bicker a lot, get chased by various baddies, fight said baddies, and generally have Adventure. It's full of battles and betrayals and secrets and rescues and escapes, plus snarky dialogue with plenty of humour. Wait...
No, seriously, I swear I'm not making any of that up. The basic story elements are exactly the same as in the fantasy rom-com above, and if either of the lead characters were female this movie would totally be shelved under Romance instead of Action. Hilariously, even the official trailer backs me up. But I digress. The point is, you really want to see this film. Allow me to explain with the help of some eye candy.
The first thing you need to know is that the movie features the sport/art of parkour, known in the U.K. as free-running. Parkour is incredibly difficult, insanely dangerous, illegal in some places, and in all other ways MADE OF AWESOME. Seriously, even if you just rent the movie and fast-forward through everything except the action scenes you will get your money's worth. I promise you will be sitting there with your mouth hanging open and your eyes popping out, and not just because Leïto and Damien are major hotties. *g*
That brings me to the second thing you need to know, which is that Cyril Raffaelli, a.k.a. Damien, and David Belle, a.k.a. Leïto, are super-fit, highly trained athletes who do all their own stunts. David is actually the co-founder of parkour, while Cyril is a prolific stuntman, martial arts champion several times over, and all-around bad-ass who choreographed the stunts and fight sequences for the film. In other words, these guys do things that the human body was simply not designed to do, and they make it look easy. Ninety percent of the ridiculously improbable stunts you will see are real and performed in real time, no wires, no pads, no computer effects. It's beyond impressive.
The thing is, Cyril and David met during the preparation for the film and became really good friends, the kind that communicate without words and have their own inside jokes and are very comfortable with each other physically. Whether intentionally or not that chemistry really comes through on screen, which makes the film more interesting on an entirely different level. Observe:
From the moment they meet, thusly,
whenever they're not leaping off of rooftops, kicking bad guy ass, or doing gun-fu, Damien and Leïto spend their time handcuffing each other to stuff...
...having intense verbal and physical arguments...
...and generally invading each other's personal spaces a lot.
If you are a normal person you will see this as typical fun buddy-movie bonding. If you're a hopeless romantic like me you will be touched and amused by Damien and Leïto's snarky, muscly French lurve. Either way, you're guaranteed eighty-odd minutes of very pleasant viewing. ;)
If you do get the DVD (And why wouldn't you, with such incentive?) there are two things you must not do:
1) Do not under any circumstances watch the dubbed version. The English dubbing is frankly laughable, and not in a good way. Watch it in the original French with subtitles, and if you happen to understand French you can amuse yourself by catching the occasional bizarre mis-translations.
2) Do not skip the extras. The outtakes are fun, but the Making Of... segment is quite interesting in general and downright hysterical in parts. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes footage of Cyril and David practicing their stunts and talking between takes, and they seemingly spend all their time alternately cuddling and cracking each other up. Like, to the point of knee buckling and uncontrollable, open-mouthed guffawing. Not only is this funny, it is completely adorable, like so:
Also, at one point the boys are practicing a fight sequence and they are both unconsciously making their own sound effects like little kids, for real. It is HILARIOUS. ♥
In conclusion, just look at them:
It takes a stronger person than me to resist that, and I wouldn't have it any other way. XD
Anyway, yeah. I actually am going to watch the England match tomorrow, but afterwards a bit of escapism will most likely be the order of the day. I may indeed be turning to one of these trusty allies in my hour of need, and I encourage you lot to do the same.
ETA: *Squee* OMG! If you don't want to be vaguely spoiled, scroll past the comment-fic of awesomeness below. Or not! *g*
ETA2: Somebody stop me! I'm going to burn in hell for this, and I can't seem to help myself.