a tale of two movies

[sadcypress]

Today, I watched two movies.

The first was Follow That Bird, the movie that TRAUMATIZED A GENERATION OF CHILDREN. Watching it through the lens of adulthood, it's startling how deeply unsettling the movie still is, but also how incredible a community Sesame Street showcased for children. For those who've never seen the film, a group of concerned

Comments

[embossedsilver]

I irrationally loved Dead Again as an undergrad. It was so romantic!

Must watch it again :D

[sadcypress]

I was WILD about the movie in high school- I made all of my friends watch it, poor souls. :)

[angevin2]

I feel like watching the ending of Dead Again on the release date of Anonymous must be incredibly cathartic. ;)

[darthfox]

+1 FOREVERRR. :-)

[sadcypress]

I didn't QUITE make that connection, but I did sigh when Jacobi came onscreen and thought sad thoughts about his wrongness.

[lareinenoire]

I now feel irrationally angry with my younger self for never having exposed me to Dead Again. I was aware of it but for some idiotic reason never actually watched it.

However, for further Branagh & Jacobi cathartic moments, I can only refer you to the end of Hamlet. Because. Really.

[sadcypress]

You know, I haven't watched the Branagh Hamlet since high school, probably. I think I tried to watch it again in undergrad, but never finished it...

[lareinenoire]

Kate Winslet's Ophelia is awesome, and Derek Jacobi is a fantastic Claudius (aside from the final scene which is EPIC FAIL on all counts). I like some of Branagh's readings but not others--the entire "To be or not to be"-Hamlet/Ophelia sequence is wonderful; the gratuitous sex scenes, not so much.

But there are also a lot of bits that you can just fast-forward. ;) Poor Brian Blessed is upstaged by the special effects in the ghost scene and I don't even know what Ken was smoking at the end.

[tempestsarekind]

Oh goodness, Follow That Bird. My cousin was OBSESSED with this movie for some reason, and basically watched it every day for (what felt like) months until his mother "accidentally" taped over it. I remember it being really sad, and haven't watched it since that period of my life.

I did just read a book about Sesame Street over the summer, though (it was called Street Gang), and it brought back all of those sorts of memories: I didn't realize when I was watching it just how great it was, how zany and inclusive and original, but reading about it reminded me quite powerfully.

As for Dead Again...oh, Kenneth. That movie. I will always think fondly of the entertainment it provided to me and my college roommates.

[sadcypress]

I didn't realize when I was watching it just how great it was, how zany and inclusive and original, but reading about it reminded me quite powerfully.
Exactly! You just don't see it when you're a kid, but then it turns out Sesame Street was just quietly being kickass for all those years. I should really read that book. :)

I keep launching into impressions of Flying Derek Jacobi for the delight and amusement of my roommate, and will probably KEEP doing so until she forcibly stops me, because I find it HILARIOUS.

[tempestsarekind]

Hee! I would like to see that.