End of the week report
My birthday on Thursday was perfectly lovely. Work was relatively low stress. Lunch with the_monkey_king was delightful, as always. Had dinner that evening with The Usual Suspects at Luigi's Grotto where, upon seeing we were a small group, they asked us for a per-person budget and then made us a fabulous, family-style meal. JH and I went for ice cream (small, small servings) afterward. I was asleep by midnight and could not have been happier at the end of it all. A really perfect day.
Yesterday, the team took me out for my farewell lunch. I still have about a week left on this job, but one of our team members is going on vacation before then and didn't want to miss the event. We went to Canyon's, where the food's perfectly adequate; mostly I was there for the company, and I had to tell the team the truth: this year has been the best year I've ever spent on a team at the Large Software Company in Redmond. I genuinely enjoyed working with the group. I felt like I made a contribution to the team that mattered. I felt like I was taken seriously. If you have to work somewhere (and most of us do), that's not a bad way to spend your time. I made the right choice a year ago. I hope I can be that smart about employment again.
After work I met BC and FM to go see HellBoy II: The Golden Army. I give the movie a B+ (okay, okay, A-) for stunning visuals and costumes, likable characters, a story steeped in myth, and a vision of a sort of alternate New York that's wildly imaginative. And the good news is that if you didn't see the first film, it's really not a problem. You're provided with all the information you need right at the front of the movie.
The plot, in a nutshell: Thousands of years ago, human and fairy folk fought each other. A truce was achieved and the king of the fairy folk broke apart his golden crown -- the source of his power over a mechanical army made of gold -- as a safeguard against breaking the truce. He gave one piece to Humanity and kept the other two. Now, offended by the damage done to the earth, the king's son, Prince Nuada, hears that Humanity's piece of the crown has been found. He decides that it's time to take back the power and raise the golden army to fight Humanity for dominion over the Earth. Our Heroes -- Hellboy, Liz and Abe, joined by a new character, Dr. Krauss -- must defend Humanity against the threat. There are a couple of relationship subplots to move forward Our Heroes' personal stories as well.
The star of this show isn't Ron Perlman, really. He's certainly good as Hellboy, no question. But Guillermo Del Toro has brought the same bizarre, fantastic vision to The Golden Army that he did to Pan's Labyrinth, and it elevates the film beyond merely a superhero adventure. Del Toro creates a sort of alternate New York City, where a troll market hides beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and nature gods rage against steel, brick and macadam. The characters he's conceived are a feast for the eyes, from the fairy king (Roy Dotrice!!) and his albino children to Prince Nuada's bodyguard Wink to the four-winged, multi-eyed Angel of Death. The troll market and the cavern where the Golden Army sleeps are wonderful inventions, full of vast and intricate detail. You will never get tired of looking at this film.
Hellboy is, as usual, an appealing character, a smart-aleck, soft-hearted teenager in the body of a muscle-bound, horned demon. Abe Sapien, in many ways far more interesting to me than the star himself, shows more character nuance this time out. Liz, on whom more in a moment, irritated me. The new character, Dr. Krauss, is a vaporous being encased in a sort of old-skool deep sea diving suit, a little uncomfortably reminiscent of one of the first film's antagonists. Prince Nuada is a formidable villain, the kind who doesn't see himself that way; his cause is just, his legitimacy unquestionable, his warrior ability awesome to behold. His sister, Princess Nuala, is placed in the most difficult of situations as a result: loving--and defying--her fierce and intimidating twin.
The fight scenes, particularly those between Hellboy and Nuada, are almost ballet. Sure, there's plenty of smackdown and crunch-a-palooza. But Nuada makes Hellboy rethink his usual strategies, so when they finally face each other down (not once but twice) there's no question someone's in danger here and he's pushed to invent new ways of dealing with conflict.
My biggest challenge with the movie was its pacing. Del Toro's ambition for the film is huge and there's a lot of story to tell. But there were moments when the movie lingered a little too long over the Wonder Of It All and instead should have been moving plot forward. For a 110-minute film, there were moments it felt longer than it should have. On the one hand, its economy is astonishing given how much Del Toro packs in; on the other, I should never have been conscious of the passage of time the way I was toward the second half of the film.
I also found myself not particularly caring much about Hellboy and Liz's relationship; Liz comes across as self-involved and petulant, making Hellboy's slavish devotion to her a little baffling and making this big, scary demon a little nebbishy. Or maybe it's just that Selma Blair never convinced me that Liz's heart was really in the relationship. One way or another, I feel like Liz is the weak link here. I was far more interested in the budding romance between Abe and Nuala, so the Developments between Hellboy and Liz made me a little impatient. (Although all the relationship stuff results in what is by far the funniest scene in both Hellboy movies--and I won't spoil that for anyone.) I wasn't quite as invested in Hellboy's personal conflict--and with The Wonder of It All all around him, I get the sense that Del Toro's attention was elsewhere in this regard. Oh, he built in all the necessary elements to support Hellboy's motivation and conflict, but nested inside The Wonder, they got a little lost.
I also find the Golden Army itself an odd concoction (though awesome to behold). It is a clanking, mechanical horde -- clearly a product of Industry -- built to defend Nature. I don't think Del Toro intended to make a statement about industry versus the natural world per se, though the vehicle he's chosen for his storytelling -- a battle between Fairy and Humans -- makes such a conclusion a natural one (pardon the pun). It's a confusing message he's sending in that quarter -- or maybe I'm just thinking too much about it. At any rate, it doesn't quite hold together for me there. I need to think about it a little more.
The short version here is that this is a beautiful movie to watch, a fun adventure with huge ambition and a cool story to see unfold. The pacing is a little off and some of the character stuff rubbed me in the wrong way--though your mileage may certainly vary. But it's well worth seeing, a visual banquet and a lot of fun.
Yesterday, the team took me out for my farewell lunch. I still have about a week left on this job, but one of our team members is going on vacation before then and didn't want to miss the event. We went to Canyon's, where the food's perfectly adequate; mostly I was there for the company, and I had to tell the team the truth: this year has been the best year I've ever spent on a team at the Large Software Company in Redmond. I genuinely enjoyed working with the group. I felt like I made a contribution to the team that mattered. I felt like I was taken seriously. If you have to work somewhere (and most of us do), that's not a bad way to spend your time. I made the right choice a year ago. I hope I can be that smart about employment again.
After work I met BC and FM to go see HellBoy II: The Golden Army. I give the movie a B+ (okay, okay, A-) for stunning visuals and costumes, likable characters, a story steeped in myth, and a vision of a sort of alternate New York that's wildly imaginative. And the good news is that if you didn't see the first film, it's really not a problem. You're provided with all the information you need right at the front of the movie.
The plot, in a nutshell: Thousands of years ago, human and fairy folk fought each other. A truce was achieved and the king of the fairy folk broke apart his golden crown -- the source of his power over a mechanical army made of gold -- as a safeguard against breaking the truce. He gave one piece to Humanity and kept the other two. Now, offended by the damage done to the earth, the king's son, Prince Nuada, hears that Humanity's piece of the crown has been found. He decides that it's time to take back the power and raise the golden army to fight Humanity for dominion over the Earth. Our Heroes -- Hellboy, Liz and Abe, joined by a new character, Dr. Krauss -- must defend Humanity against the threat. There are a couple of relationship subplots to move forward Our Heroes' personal stories as well.
The star of this show isn't Ron Perlman, really. He's certainly good as Hellboy, no question. But Guillermo Del Toro has brought the same bizarre, fantastic vision to The Golden Army that he did to Pan's Labyrinth, and it elevates the film beyond merely a superhero adventure. Del Toro creates a sort of alternate New York City, where a troll market hides beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and nature gods rage against steel, brick and macadam. The characters he's conceived are a feast for the eyes, from the fairy king (Roy Dotrice!!) and his albino children to Prince Nuada's bodyguard Wink to the four-winged, multi-eyed Angel of Death. The troll market and the cavern where the Golden Army sleeps are wonderful inventions, full of vast and intricate detail. You will never get tired of looking at this film.
Hellboy is, as usual, an appealing character, a smart-aleck, soft-hearted teenager in the body of a muscle-bound, horned demon. Abe Sapien, in many ways far more interesting to me than the star himself, shows more character nuance this time out. Liz, on whom more in a moment, irritated me. The new character, Dr. Krauss, is a vaporous being encased in a sort of old-skool deep sea diving suit, a little uncomfortably reminiscent of one of the first film's antagonists. Prince Nuada is a formidable villain, the kind who doesn't see himself that way; his cause is just, his legitimacy unquestionable, his warrior ability awesome to behold. His sister, Princess Nuala, is placed in the most difficult of situations as a result: loving--and defying--her fierce and intimidating twin.
The fight scenes, particularly those between Hellboy and Nuada, are almost ballet. Sure, there's plenty of smackdown and crunch-a-palooza. But Nuada makes Hellboy rethink his usual strategies, so when they finally face each other down (not once but twice) there's no question someone's in danger here and he's pushed to invent new ways of dealing with conflict.
My biggest challenge with the movie was its pacing. Del Toro's ambition for the film is huge and there's a lot of story to tell. But there were moments when the movie lingered a little too long over the Wonder Of It All and instead should have been moving plot forward. For a 110-minute film, there were moments it felt longer than it should have. On the one hand, its economy is astonishing given how much Del Toro packs in; on the other, I should never have been conscious of the passage of time the way I was toward the second half of the film.
I also found myself not particularly caring much about Hellboy and Liz's relationship; Liz comes across as self-involved and petulant, making Hellboy's slavish devotion to her a little baffling and making this big, scary demon a little nebbishy. Or maybe it's just that Selma Blair never convinced me that Liz's heart was really in the relationship. One way or another, I feel like Liz is the weak link here. I was far more interested in the budding romance between Abe and Nuala, so the Developments between Hellboy and Liz made me a little impatient. (Although all the relationship stuff results in what is by far the funniest scene in both Hellboy movies--and I won't spoil that for anyone.) I wasn't quite as invested in Hellboy's personal conflict--and with The Wonder of It All all around him, I get the sense that Del Toro's attention was elsewhere in this regard. Oh, he built in all the necessary elements to support Hellboy's motivation and conflict, but nested inside The Wonder, they got a little lost.
I also find the Golden Army itself an odd concoction (though awesome to behold). It is a clanking, mechanical horde -- clearly a product of Industry -- built to defend Nature. I don't think Del Toro intended to make a statement about industry versus the natural world per se, though the vehicle he's chosen for his storytelling -- a battle between Fairy and Humans -- makes such a conclusion a natural one (pardon the pun). It's a confusing message he's sending in that quarter -- or maybe I'm just thinking too much about it. At any rate, it doesn't quite hold together for me there. I need to think about it a little more.
The short version here is that this is a beautiful movie to watch, a fun adventure with huge ambition and a cool story to see unfold. The pacing is a little off and some of the character stuff rubbed me in the wrong way--though your mileage may certainly vary. But it's well worth seeing, a visual banquet and a lot of fun.