Visual Stimuli
Okay, am finally getting around to talking about some of the movies I've seen over the last couple of weeks. It's a diverse list, and I still have Prick Up Your Ears to finish at home tonight (damn that young Gary Oldman, he's simply too engaging and crazy at the same time).
Gangster No. 1 was a bit of a surprise. Okay, I only rented it because I'm on a combined Thewlis/Oldman kick, but I ended up really enjoying it. The movie is the story of the rise to power of a hoodlum in 1960s London, from two-bit lackey to right-hand man to psychopathic head gangster. There's some very interesting and solid character work from both Bettany and Thewlis, as well as wonderful '60s sets and costumes. The film also has a very engaging voice-over narrative provided by Malcolm McDowell, who plays the eponymous main character in later life. The violence of the film isn't too excessive, although it is still there, but the worst of the stuff is more suggested than shown. As the final added plus, the palpable sexual undercurrent between the characters played by Bettany and Thewlis is simply squee-inducing.
And, not to beat it over the head, but probably one of the best ever Harry Potter AU/Cross-overs was a re-write of this film. Gryffindor No. 1 posits a world in which Remus Lupin is the crime king of Hogwarts, and Sirius Black is the reckless amateur aiming for his spot. The story is so amazingly spot-on in dialogue, characterization and tone (in regards to the original movie), that I simply have to bow to its authors. Crack!fic at its finest.
My Wife is an Actress is probably one of the sweetest, funniest, and best "romantic comedies" I've seen in years. Loosely based on the real-life relationship of Charlotte Gainsbourg and Yvan Attal, the stars of the movie (as well as writer and director, in the case of Yvan), the movie follows the ups and downs in the marriage of Yvan and Charlotte, a sports writer and famous actress. The humour in the movie takes a lot of interesting philosophical turns about living in a celebrity-obsessed culture. I'd never really felt sorry for such people before, but I did once Yvan started being obsessively chatted up by a stranger in a bar about how Yvan's wife gave the guy erections. Really, really good movie, and I'm an absolute sucker for anything shot on location in Paris (although a large part of the film is also set in London and in English). Try finding this one for rent the next time you want a romantic comedy.
Okay, thank you dollar cinema! I was very happy to get to see Stardust. Although it deviated a great deal from Neil Gaiman's original novel, the essence of the story is there, and I really enjoyed it. Charlie Cox was very winning as Tristran Thorn, even if they never did get around to explaining why the character has one misshapen ear. Some of the changes seemed too bizarrely different and unnecessary (De Niro's character), but I suppose were thrown in for some Hollywood logic about selling more tickets. Plus, Septimus is way hotter in the film than he ever is in the book. I was a bit miffed with the overly happy ending, but I guess that's another Hollywood stand-by for you; Gaiman's ability to balance fantasy with pathos is one of my favorite things about his books, and I was sad to see his understanding of the reality of situations jettisoned for formulaic pap. But, oh well, overall it was very good, and highly enjoyable, even if Claire Danes still does annoy the everloving shite out of me.
Okay, and saving the rant for last, on to...
WTF?!?! This really should have been titled Elizabeth: How we're going to rape history to get a few bucks, now with pretty costumes!. I was prepared for a highly shorthanded version of English history, but this film went straight from shorthanded and into fictional. THERE WAS NO LEICESTER OR ESSEX! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU TELL THE STORY OF ELIZABETH IN THE SECOND PART OF HER REIGN WITHOUT LEICESTER OR ESSEX?!!? Really, it was like the scriptwriters' had a copy of The Idiot's Guide to English History as their source text, only didn't realize that it was missing several important pages. Nor cared, apparently.
Look, I could rant on for about twelve hours on how bad this film was, really. Even Clive being Clive couldn't save it for me. Not even my unabashed love for Cate Blanchett could save this for me. It didn't come anywhere near being as good as the first movie (whose historical fictions I forgave because it was an engaging movie). Morever, there's a moment where you can almost see Cate Blanchett realizing what a dog of a film this is going to be and almost visibly shutting off in her acting - very sad.
Just two more things, because I have to get them out. They gave Mary of Scots a Scottish accent. AHAHAHAHA!! Really, people, when in all the time of her being raised in France, married in France, and living in France, did she pick up that thick Highland brogue? And, utter travesty, Francis Drake had all of two scenes and three lines of dialogue in the movie. You never would have imagined he was the Vice-Admiral and in charge of the Armada campaign from this movie; in fact, the script goes out of its way to make it seem that Raleigh is almost in charge of it. Ack. Poor Drake, you circumnavigated the world for this?
Gangster No. 1 was a bit of a surprise. Okay, I only rented it because I'm on a combined Thewlis/Oldman kick, but I ended up really enjoying it. The movie is the story of the rise to power of a hoodlum in 1960s London, from two-bit lackey to right-hand man to psychopathic head gangster. There's some very interesting and solid character work from both Bettany and Thewlis, as well as wonderful '60s sets and costumes. The film also has a very engaging voice-over narrative provided by Malcolm McDowell, who plays the eponymous main character in later life. The violence of the film isn't too excessive, although it is still there, but the worst of the stuff is more suggested than shown. As the final added plus, the palpable sexual undercurrent between the characters played by Bettany and Thewlis is simply squee-inducing.
And, not to beat it over the head, but probably one of the best ever Harry Potter AU/Cross-overs was a re-write of this film. Gryffindor No. 1 posits a world in which Remus Lupin is the crime king of Hogwarts, and Sirius Black is the reckless amateur aiming for his spot. The story is so amazingly spot-on in dialogue, characterization and tone (in regards to the original movie), that I simply have to bow to its authors. Crack!fic at its finest.
My Wife is an Actress is probably one of the sweetest, funniest, and best "romantic comedies" I've seen in years. Loosely based on the real-life relationship of Charlotte Gainsbourg and Yvan Attal, the stars of the movie (as well as writer and director, in the case of Yvan), the movie follows the ups and downs in the marriage of Yvan and Charlotte, a sports writer and famous actress. The humour in the movie takes a lot of interesting philosophical turns about living in a celebrity-obsessed culture. I'd never really felt sorry for such people before, but I did once Yvan started being obsessively chatted up by a stranger in a bar about how Yvan's wife gave the guy erections. Really, really good movie, and I'm an absolute sucker for anything shot on location in Paris (although a large part of the film is also set in London and in English). Try finding this one for rent the next time you want a romantic comedy.
Okay, thank you dollar cinema! I was very happy to get to see Stardust. Although it deviated a great deal from Neil Gaiman's original novel, the essence of the story is there, and I really enjoyed it. Charlie Cox was very winning as Tristran Thorn, even if they never did get around to explaining why the character has one misshapen ear. Some of the changes seemed too bizarrely different and unnecessary (De Niro's character), but I suppose were thrown in for some Hollywood logic about selling more tickets. Plus, Septimus is way hotter in the film than he ever is in the book. I was a bit miffed with the overly happy ending, but I guess that's another Hollywood stand-by for you; Gaiman's ability to balance fantasy with pathos is one of my favorite things about his books, and I was sad to see his understanding of the reality of situations jettisoned for formulaic pap. But, oh well, overall it was very good, and highly enjoyable, even if Claire Danes still does annoy the everloving shite out of me.
Okay, and saving the rant for last, on to...
WTF?!?! This really should have been titled Elizabeth: How we're going to rape history to get a few bucks, now with pretty costumes!. I was prepared for a highly shorthanded version of English history, but this film went straight from shorthanded and into fictional. THERE WAS NO LEICESTER OR ESSEX! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU TELL THE STORY OF ELIZABETH IN THE SECOND PART OF HER REIGN WITHOUT LEICESTER OR ESSEX?!!? Really, it was like the scriptwriters' had a copy of The Idiot's Guide to English History as their source text, only didn't realize that it was missing several important pages. Nor cared, apparently.
Look, I could rant on for about twelve hours on how bad this film was, really. Even Clive being Clive couldn't save it for me. Not even my unabashed love for Cate Blanchett could save this for me. It didn't come anywhere near being as good as the first movie (whose historical fictions I forgave because it was an engaging movie). Morever, there's a moment where you can almost see Cate Blanchett realizing what a dog of a film this is going to be and almost visibly shutting off in her acting - very sad.
Just two more things, because I have to get them out. They gave Mary of Scots a Scottish accent. AHAHAHAHA!! Really, people, when in all the time of her being raised in France, married in France, and living in France, did she pick up that thick Highland brogue? And, utter travesty, Francis Drake had all of two scenes and three lines of dialogue in the movie. You never would have imagined he was the Vice-Admiral and in charge of the Armada campaign from this movie; in fact, the script goes out of its way to make it seem that Raleigh is almost in charge of it. Ack. Poor Drake, you circumnavigated the world for this?