So, Sallie and I went to see '300' the other night...
And oddly enough, I really liked it.
This is out of character for me, when you consider what a stickler for historical accuracy I am. I know, I know, it was based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, but I've never even read that. Had you said this to me, I would have pointed out (about the graphic novel) that hisorically inaccurate accounts tend to piss me off, even in the name of entertainment.
Before 300 came along, there was one cinematic exception to this peeve of mine, and that was quite simply the best propaganda movie ever made- Alexander Nevsky, 1938. it was so amazing as propaganda movies go that it made me proud to be a Soviet... and I ain't one.
It was grossly historically inaccurate on many many counts, but it was so sweeping and emotional in its application to my sympathy centers that I did not care. I already knew the story of Alexander Nevsky and the Teutonic Knights at Lake Pepius in 1242 and I figured if people were stupid enough to believe what Sergei Eisenstein concocted then they just needed to be thinned out of the herd.
I suppose the same thing applies here to 300... it had a certain amount of historical accuracy concerning the events which led up to Thermopylae. I'm not sure why all of Xerxes' emmissaries seemed to be black (except the final guy, who was Semitic), but there ya go.
The battles were fun, although I normally hate jerky 'Gladiator'-style camera work; this time they fused it with Matrix-style 'Bullet Time' and the result was enjoyable.
Not sure where Xerxes got a rhino from, but I want one for our little Amtgard group now.
I enjoyed Gerard Butler's Leonidas, although I'm sure his voice was killing him at the end of that filming.
A great deal of the movie was shot in monochrome, with an occasional accent on a certain colour, usually red.
I also was surprised by the presence of boobies, even if most of them happened to be found in Xerxes' little den of mutuant iniquity.
So, I have indeed found an exception to my usual rule about inaccurate movies pissing me off. I will never forgive Peter Jackson for anally raping Tolkien, but that's in the past. I'm trying to forget it and move on.
I am not saying that 300 should win any Oscars next year. The acting was not phenonenal, but it was strong enough to make the movie enjoyable. It may very well take an award for best special effects or something, seeing as how the entire background was apparently CG. Also the soundtrack was quite pleasing, so I'll have to remember to pick it up.
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In other news, our little Amtgard group is conducting a raid on a neighbouring group in Appleton on the 1st of April. We're going show up with our foam weapons and shields and beat the living snot out of the Frostlands. Our little group is called the Crimson Circle. Whee.
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I finally gave in my two weeks and quit the Bird. Exciting a prospect as this is, the complication is that I am not employed at the moment. So off I go to hunt one down, see what I can find out there in the wide wide world of... Green Bay... yeah...
This is out of character for me, when you consider what a stickler for historical accuracy I am. I know, I know, it was based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, but I've never even read that. Had you said this to me, I would have pointed out (about the graphic novel) that hisorically inaccurate accounts tend to piss me off, even in the name of entertainment.
Before 300 came along, there was one cinematic exception to this peeve of mine, and that was quite simply the best propaganda movie ever made- Alexander Nevsky, 1938. it was so amazing as propaganda movies go that it made me proud to be a Soviet... and I ain't one.
It was grossly historically inaccurate on many many counts, but it was so sweeping and emotional in its application to my sympathy centers that I did not care. I already knew the story of Alexander Nevsky and the Teutonic Knights at Lake Pepius in 1242 and I figured if people were stupid enough to believe what Sergei Eisenstein concocted then they just needed to be thinned out of the herd.
I suppose the same thing applies here to 300... it had a certain amount of historical accuracy concerning the events which led up to Thermopylae. I'm not sure why all of Xerxes' emmissaries seemed to be black (except the final guy, who was Semitic), but there ya go.
The battles were fun, although I normally hate jerky 'Gladiator'-style camera work; this time they fused it with Matrix-style 'Bullet Time' and the result was enjoyable.
Not sure where Xerxes got a rhino from, but I want one for our little Amtgard group now.
I enjoyed Gerard Butler's Leonidas, although I'm sure his voice was killing him at the end of that filming.
A great deal of the movie was shot in monochrome, with an occasional accent on a certain colour, usually red.
I also was surprised by the presence of boobies, even if most of them happened to be found in Xerxes' little den of mutuant iniquity.
So, I have indeed found an exception to my usual rule about inaccurate movies pissing me off. I will never forgive Peter Jackson for anally raping Tolkien, but that's in the past. I'm trying to forget it and move on.
I am not saying that 300 should win any Oscars next year. The acting was not phenonenal, but it was strong enough to make the movie enjoyable. It may very well take an award for best special effects or something, seeing as how the entire background was apparently CG. Also the soundtrack was quite pleasing, so I'll have to remember to pick it up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news, our little Amtgard group is conducting a raid on a neighbouring group in Appleton on the 1st of April. We're going show up with our foam weapons and shields and beat the living snot out of the Frostlands. Our little group is called the Crimson Circle. Whee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finally gave in my two weeks and quit the Bird. Exciting a prospect as this is, the complication is that I am not employed at the moment. So off I go to hunt one down, see what I can find out there in the wide wide world of... Green Bay... yeah...