My, erm, "unique" personal take on "One Night with the King"
...Okay, I should probably preface this by telling you the following story regarding the movie trailer for One Night with the King:
Over winter break, I went to see The Illusionist with my mom and dad at the dollar show (I had already seen it, they hadn't). And one of the previews that played before it was for One Night with the King.
Now up until this point, I had vaguely heard of the movie in passing, but all I really knew about it was that it 1) was apparantly based on the biblical story of Esther, and 2) looked really really pretty.
In other words, it was on my mental "I'll see it if it comes to that but otherwise, meh" list of movies.
Well, at a very early point in the movie preview, we got about, oh, a five second shot of James Callis. Suddenly, I was significantly more alert.
Hilariously, after about fifteen seconds of blinking, Mom finally turns to me and goes "Was that...?" And I'm all "I think it was!"
And we proceeded to watch the rest of the trailer with our eyes practically glued open. And thus, when they finally showed another shot of him again, at almost the end of the damn thing, the two of us simultaneously pointed at the screen and cried out "THERE!"
I'm sure the rest of movie audience thought we were on drugs. And that Dad was probably wishing there was some way he could pretend he was there alone.
(By the way, this story became even more entertaining to me when I talked to my pal machi_neko on the phone later and discovered that she had, in fact, gone to see The Illusionist at the same theater earlier that day with another friend, and that when viewing the trailer in question she had done the same exact damn thing.)
But, yeah. For some reason, after this incident, One Night with the King got mentally elevated from "might see if circumstances allow" to "will probably see eventually".
You know, for...reasons. Asthetic ones. And, um, stuff.
*shifty eyes*
In any case, I finally got my chance earlier this week when two of my suite mates decided they were going to watch it on DVD.
Now, I was doing other stuff at the time, plus I wasn't really in the mood to sit down and watch a movie, so I was wandering in and out. But I still caught a significant enough portion to get the gist.
Of course, I decided to get the worst over from the bat by telling them that there was an actor I liked that "I heard" was in the movie. Of course, I think I still managed to weird them out a little.
See, I wasn't watching at the very beginning, so I missed James'...sorry, Haman's...first appearance.
I wound up wandering in at about the part where the first queen gets kicked out, and just hung around watching silently, until finally we get to the part where the two princes are talking and his character is eavesdropping in the shadows.
At which point I loudly went "WAIT WAIT...I think that's..." and waited with bated breath until we finally got another shot of him, and then continued with "Yes, that's him! Hiii, James...siiiigh".
If Katie and Tricia haven't figured out that I'm batshit insane by this time already this year, rest assured they definitely know now.
(Of course, Katie later remarked she was more bemused by the running commentary I tend to make while watching movies than anything. Like "Wow, nice floor map, where'd you guys get that?" and: *deadpan* "The committee of men in funny hats looks on in concern.")
But, yes. I probably watched a good 1/3 to 1/2 of the movie with them this way, and then yesterday I finally gave in to temptation (psshaw, like I ever try to resist for very long) and borrowed the DVD from Tricia last night to watch all the way through.
So that was me, from about two to four in the AM, alone in the darkened common room, draped in a blanket and lying sideways across the couch propped up on a big cushy pillow, feeling not unlike an ancient Roman noblewoman watching oiled-up slaves dance provactively for her amusement.
Did I mention the two to four AM part?
But...yeah. I was talking to machi_neko the other day about this, and she told me that someone on IMDb had commented that they thought James Callis' performance was "over-the-top", and we spent about five minutes giggling on that because, villain in a bible story, you guys. THERE IS VIRTUALLY NO SUCH THING.
(Took me a little while to get used to that raspy non-accent he was using, though. Like, "What the heck is that?" But I can see why having a strong british accent in the middle of ancient Persia might be a bit of a problem, so, yeah.)
In my opinion, if you were ever wondering what Baltar's character would be like if he were actively trying to be evil and screw everyone over, instead of blithely stumbling into it at every turn, you'd have Haman. Scheming, power-hungry, egomanical, crafty, manipulative, and more than a little bit crazy.
Also, James is ridiculously good looking in black arabian-style wear. I mean, of course Haman is wearing dark colors in every single scene, just in case the audience is too slow to realize that's the bad guy without a helpful hint every now and again, but HOMIGOD.
If, for some horriffic unforseen reason (knockity knock knock on wood), Battlestar falls through and he wants to play bad guys in costume dramas again, he definitely should stick to this time period. Dear god, he should stick to this time period (because, the ancient Greek stuff? Oh, honey. I'm sorry, but you just don't look right in a Greek breastplate and helmet. I will never ever be able to think about Troy or Meneleaus without giggling inappropriately again. Just, no).
Oh yeees. I could watch him wander around in turbans with a curved sword allll day.
Of course, some of you at this point might be frustratedly wondering what I thought of the movie in general.
I liked it. It was enjoyable and pretty, and I loved the costumes, and I thought the actors all did a nice job.
I'm not saying it's a movie you must all rush out and see (unless you might want to see James Callis lurk in the shadows sexily for two hours, because then by all means RUSH), but if you were already thinking about seeing it for reasons that had nothing to do with James Callis? Go right on ahead. I'm sure you'll probably enjoy it.
I mean, clearly, my opinion of this movie is hardly in the area of what the makers had intended. I am not exactly their targeted audience.
Unless, say, the purpose of the "Please...please...you are a lady of mercy" scene towards the end was, in fact, for me to swoon and gasp and beg the TV to take me now while fanning myself dramatically.
But, ah, for some reason, I somehow I doubt it.
Over winter break, I went to see The Illusionist with my mom and dad at the dollar show (I had already seen it, they hadn't). And one of the previews that played before it was for One Night with the King.
Now up until this point, I had vaguely heard of the movie in passing, but all I really knew about it was that it 1) was apparantly based on the biblical story of Esther, and 2) looked really really pretty.
In other words, it was on my mental "I'll see it if it comes to that but otherwise, meh" list of movies.
Well, at a very early point in the movie preview, we got about, oh, a five second shot of James Callis. Suddenly, I was significantly more alert.
Hilariously, after about fifteen seconds of blinking, Mom finally turns to me and goes "Was that...?" And I'm all "I think it was!"
And we proceeded to watch the rest of the trailer with our eyes practically glued open. And thus, when they finally showed another shot of him again, at almost the end of the damn thing, the two of us simultaneously pointed at the screen and cried out "THERE!"
I'm sure the rest of movie audience thought we were on drugs. And that Dad was probably wishing there was some way he could pretend he was there alone.
(By the way, this story became even more entertaining to me when I talked to my pal machi_neko on the phone later and discovered that she had, in fact, gone to see The Illusionist at the same theater earlier that day with another friend, and that when viewing the trailer in question she had done the same exact damn thing.)
But, yeah. For some reason, after this incident, One Night with the King got mentally elevated from "might see if circumstances allow" to "will probably see eventually".
You know, for...reasons. Asthetic ones. And, um, stuff.
*shifty eyes*
In any case, I finally got my chance earlier this week when two of my suite mates decided they were going to watch it on DVD.
Now, I was doing other stuff at the time, plus I wasn't really in the mood to sit down and watch a movie, so I was wandering in and out. But I still caught a significant enough portion to get the gist.
Of course, I decided to get the worst over from the bat by telling them that there was an actor I liked that "I heard" was in the movie. Of course, I think I still managed to weird them out a little.
See, I wasn't watching at the very beginning, so I missed James'...sorry, Haman's...first appearance.
I wound up wandering in at about the part where the first queen gets kicked out, and just hung around watching silently, until finally we get to the part where the two princes are talking and his character is eavesdropping in the shadows.
At which point I loudly went "WAIT WAIT...I think that's..." and waited with bated breath until we finally got another shot of him, and then continued with "Yes, that's him! Hiii, James...siiiigh".
If Katie and Tricia haven't figured out that I'm batshit insane by this time already this year, rest assured they definitely know now.
(Of course, Katie later remarked she was more bemused by the running commentary I tend to make while watching movies than anything. Like "Wow, nice floor map, where'd you guys get that?" and: *deadpan* "The committee of men in funny hats looks on in concern.")
But, yes. I probably watched a good 1/3 to 1/2 of the movie with them this way, and then yesterday I finally gave in to temptation (psshaw, like I ever try to resist for very long) and borrowed the DVD from Tricia last night to watch all the way through.
So that was me, from about two to four in the AM, alone in the darkened common room, draped in a blanket and lying sideways across the couch propped up on a big cushy pillow, feeling not unlike an ancient Roman noblewoman watching oiled-up slaves dance provactively for her amusement.
Did I mention the two to four AM part?
But...yeah. I was talking to machi_neko the other day about this, and she told me that someone on IMDb had commented that they thought James Callis' performance was "over-the-top", and we spent about five minutes giggling on that because, villain in a bible story, you guys. THERE IS VIRTUALLY NO SUCH THING.
(Took me a little while to get used to that raspy non-accent he was using, though. Like, "What the heck is that?" But I can see why having a strong british accent in the middle of ancient Persia might be a bit of a problem, so, yeah.)
In my opinion, if you were ever wondering what Baltar's character would be like if he were actively trying to be evil and screw everyone over, instead of blithely stumbling into it at every turn, you'd have Haman. Scheming, power-hungry, egomanical, crafty, manipulative, and more than a little bit crazy.
Also, James is ridiculously good looking in black arabian-style wear. I mean, of course Haman is wearing dark colors in every single scene, just in case the audience is too slow to realize that's the bad guy without a helpful hint every now and again, but HOMIGOD.
If, for some horriffic unforseen reason (knockity knock knock on wood), Battlestar falls through and he wants to play bad guys in costume dramas again, he definitely should stick to this time period. Dear god, he should stick to this time period (because, the ancient Greek stuff? Oh, honey. I'm sorry, but you just don't look right in a Greek breastplate and helmet. I will never ever be able to think about Troy or Meneleaus without giggling inappropriately again. Just, no).
Oh yeees. I could watch him wander around in turbans with a curved sword allll day.
Of course, some of you at this point might be frustratedly wondering what I thought of the movie in general.
I liked it. It was enjoyable and pretty, and I loved the costumes, and I thought the actors all did a nice job.
I'm not saying it's a movie you must all rush out and see (unless you might want to see James Callis lurk in the shadows sexily for two hours, because then by all means RUSH), but if you were already thinking about seeing it for reasons that had nothing to do with James Callis? Go right on ahead. I'm sure you'll probably enjoy it.
I mean, clearly, my opinion of this movie is hardly in the area of what the makers had intended. I am not exactly their targeted audience.
Unless, say, the purpose of the "Please...please...you are a lady of mercy" scene towards the end was, in fact, for me to swoon and gasp and beg the TV to take me now while fanning myself dramatically.
But, ah, for some reason, I somehow I doubt it.