By the Sword update!
(For those who have just joined us, By the Sword is the movie with Eric Roberts and F. Murray Abraham where they are fencers.)
I have watched this movie now. It's.
I just.
I can't deal.
It's not a bad movie, but I don't think they knew what they were doing with it? The dialogue is very awkward/stilted and full of blank space. (Very difficult to sit through after spending all day editing my awkward/stilted dialogue, haha.) The plot is a bit confusing! And the last 20 minutes are one long WTF, WTF, WTF. I mean, I literally sat there, shouting THE FUCK at the television screen, in the hopes that this would help. Then the credits rolled, and I curled into a ball and screamed.
But the fencing is pretty good! Unsurprisingly, the fencing master was Bob Anderson, who died recently and was kind of amazing. (He was an Olympian and professional fencer, and played Darth Vader for the lightsaber duels, among other movie credits.) Other impressive people involved: Aladar Kogler (ex-Columbia coach), Carl Borack, Andy Shaw (the guy who runs the Museum of American Fencing), and Mark Ivie (fencing assistant for the Parent Trap, that movie with the worst foil fencing).
Also there is a dance sequence. With epees. And Eric Roberts (not in the dance sequence, alas).
And I worked out while I was watching it, so at least it was productive. About thirty minutes of core and weights, and twenty minutes of footwork. But there wasn't enough sabre for me to follow along to the bouts! Why would they make a movie about epee fencers? (I.e., the boringest and slowest of fencers, I'm sorry guys, it's true.)
I need to shaaaare my confusion/misery/glee. Luckily I am in the last stages of working out why the DVD hates my computer, so hopefully something will happen soon.
This entry was originally posted at http://neveralarch.dreamwidth.org/33869.html. Comment wherever you want.
I have watched this movie now. It's.
I just.
I can't deal.
It's not a bad movie, but I don't think they knew what they were doing with it? The dialogue is very awkward/stilted and full of blank space. (Very difficult to sit through after spending all day editing my awkward/stilted dialogue, haha.) The plot is a bit confusing! And the last 20 minutes are one long WTF, WTF, WTF. I mean, I literally sat there, shouting THE FUCK at the television screen, in the hopes that this would help. Then the credits rolled, and I curled into a ball and screamed.
But the fencing is pretty good! Unsurprisingly, the fencing master was Bob Anderson, who died recently and was kind of amazing. (He was an Olympian and professional fencer, and played Darth Vader for the lightsaber duels, among other movie credits.) Other impressive people involved: Aladar Kogler (ex-Columbia coach), Carl Borack, Andy Shaw (the guy who runs the Museum of American Fencing), and Mark Ivie (fencing assistant for the Parent Trap, that movie with the worst foil fencing).
Also there is a dance sequence. With epees. And Eric Roberts (not in the dance sequence, alas).
And I worked out while I was watching it, so at least it was productive. About thirty minutes of core and weights, and twenty minutes of footwork. But there wasn't enough sabre for me to follow along to the bouts! Why would they make a movie about epee fencers? (I.e., the boringest and slowest of fencers, I'm sorry guys, it's true.)
I need to shaaaare my confusion/misery/glee. Luckily I am in the last stages of working out why the DVD hates my computer, so hopefully something will happen soon.
This entry was originally posted at http://neveralarch.dreamwidth.org/33869.html. Comment wherever you want.