(no subject)
Oh, and speaking of movies... the historical figure about whom I know the most and with whom I have been most fascinated is Alexander the Great.
I never saw the Oliver Stone film, at first because I was alarmed by the terrible casting, and then later because I was dismayed by the terrible reviews. I went into mourning over the loss of what should have been a spectactular epic film -- if someone else had written, directed, and starred in it -- and I thought I'd never watch the Oliver Stone version.
Well, having recently re-read The Persian Boy by Mary Renault, and with enough distance from my disappointment of the time, I gave in and got the movie from Netflix. I'll probably watch it tomorrow. I suspect it will suck, but I guess I want to finally see how badly.
Really, the story is so complex that it needs a mini-series treatment. I'd cast Jude Law, who would make an excellent Alexander; I thought so when I first saw him, in Gattaca, before anyone knew who he was. He has the right look for Alexander, slender and remote and sort of fiercely beautiful. And he gets angry rather well, with large gray eyes that look like they could kill you if he turned them on you and merely thought about it hard enough. Which is what you want in your Alexander.
I never saw the Oliver Stone film, at first because I was alarmed by the terrible casting, and then later because I was dismayed by the terrible reviews. I went into mourning over the loss of what should have been a spectactular epic film -- if someone else had written, directed, and starred in it -- and I thought I'd never watch the Oliver Stone version.
Well, having recently re-read The Persian Boy by Mary Renault, and with enough distance from my disappointment of the time, I gave in and got the movie from Netflix. I'll probably watch it tomorrow. I suspect it will suck, but I guess I want to finally see how badly.
Really, the story is so complex that it needs a mini-series treatment. I'd cast Jude Law, who would make an excellent Alexander; I thought so when I first saw him, in Gattaca, before anyone knew who he was. He has the right look for Alexander, slender and remote and sort of fiercely beautiful. And he gets angry rather well, with large gray eyes that look like they could kill you if he turned them on you and merely thought about it hard enough. Which is what you want in your Alexander.