Things
Stimulus Package thingie: I get it. Got it. Whatever. Why, though? Our household income isn't *low*, not by any reasonable definition. Okay, I earn peanuts, but hubby doesn't. We may not be Alan Bond, but we ain't starving either. I hadn't paid much attention to the story, assuming it was all about Deserving Households... this doesn't make sense. Nice surprise, but economically defensible I don't think.
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A Cure for All Diseases: hmmmmmm. Nice it is to have the Fat Man back; that said, however: I don't really buy him talking to Mildred; the Pet jumping him thing was fun but silly (and no, not 'cos he's Andy - I'd hit it! - but because it seemed so OOC for her); and having to wade through all Charley's misspelt, breathless babble was annoying. The real niggle tho' is why on earth did Hill feel the need to explicitly point out - not once but several times - that the weird bond between Pascoe and Franny Roote isn't sexual/isn't gay/isn't homosexual, ra de ra de ra? Feels... icky, somehow, especially having Peter ponder upon't in those terms. Not Needed, surely, given there's never been any implication there...? Nothing in the story raises that idea; nothing in the history... so why on earth put it in?
The more I think about it, the more it jars.
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On the Oh No, She's Not On About That Bloody Film Again front: I got my copy of Mama - aka Rock and Roll Wolf. The Russian version, that is. Very interested to see it wasn't just re-shot but edited together quite differently - definitely affects the story. Things like the Equilibrium and playing-with-Mum sequences being *before* Titi Suru's complaints about the kids' behaviour and noisiness make a lot more sense. In the English version those scenes are just sort of stuck in the middle somewhere, no rational context... and the fair is there throughout the film, instead of arriving as a Plot Development as in the Russian one.
...and the Russian songs are more evenly mixed; miss the dynamics but much glossier sound
...and it's kinda more fun not knowing what the songs are about really
...and the Parrot seems much, much more freakyboo insane
...and the village seems more cohesive, the characters more rounded
...and it's gorgeous clear widescreen
...and the set-pieces are filmed differently... different *shots*, more CUs
...and now I want to cut Titi Suru's dance sequences to a Bollywood soundtrack :)
Wotthehell archy. The whole thing's even *more* hallucinogenic :)
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A Cure for All Diseases: hmmmmmm. Nice it is to have the Fat Man back; that said, however: I don't really buy him talking to Mildred; the Pet jumping him thing was fun but silly (and no, not 'cos he's Andy - I'd hit it! - but because it seemed so OOC for her); and having to wade through all Charley's misspelt, breathless babble was annoying. The real niggle tho' is why on earth did Hill feel the need to explicitly point out - not once but several times - that the weird bond between Pascoe and Franny Roote isn't sexual/isn't gay/isn't homosexual, ra de ra de ra? Feels... icky, somehow, especially having Peter ponder upon't in those terms. Not Needed, surely, given there's never been any implication there...? Nothing in the story raises that idea; nothing in the history... so why on earth put it in?
The more I think about it, the more it jars.
===
On the Oh No, She's Not On About That Bloody Film Again front: I got my copy of Mama - aka Rock and Roll Wolf. The Russian version, that is. Very interested to see it wasn't just re-shot but edited together quite differently - definitely affects the story. Things like the Equilibrium and playing-with-Mum sequences being *before* Titi Suru's complaints about the kids' behaviour and noisiness make a lot more sense. In the English version those scenes are just sort of stuck in the middle somewhere, no rational context... and the fair is there throughout the film, instead of arriving as a Plot Development as in the Russian one.
...and the Russian songs are more evenly mixed; miss the dynamics but much glossier sound
...and it's kinda more fun not knowing what the songs are about really
...and the Parrot seems much, much more freakyboo insane
...and the village seems more cohesive, the characters more rounded
...and it's gorgeous clear widescreen
...and the set-pieces are filmed differently... different *shots*, more CUs
...and now I want to cut Titi Suru's dance sequences to a Bollywood soundtrack :)
Wotthehell archy. The whole thing's even *more* hallucinogenic :)