Movies

[qos]

Still at home, waiting for my dad to give me a ride to work. . . .

On Saturday I took myself out to dinner alone and then to see Rent (which I probably would not have been interested in at all if not for the introduction by kateri_thinks. It was quite good, but I kept thinking that it would be even better onstage, where it started.

Last night, courtesy of Netflix, I finally watched Kingdom of Heaven. My big question: how does a skinny guy like Orlando Bloom keep getting cast as a blacksmith? I really wanted to like it, especially with Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons in the cast, but I kept smacking up against my inability to suspend disbelief at the prospect of a village blacksmith who turns out to be a prodigy with the sword, the only survivor of a shipwreck (except for the black stallion who somehow also survived), a forward thinking landowner, and genius military strategist. It was just too much to accept. (This, yes, from the woman who just swooned over Muppets in 3-D. I never claimed to be consistent. And I guess the Muppets never claimed to be anything but what they are either.) The movie cried out to be a novel, where there would be time for the lead character to grow and develop instead of leaping straight from peasant to warrior lord. But it was gorgeous to look at.

When I was at "Rent" I saw a preview for "Memoirs of a Geisha." It wasn't something I'd been interested in, but I've decided I can't miss a movie starring Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe. It was fun to see Ziyi and Yeoh together again; they were so good together in "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."

Dad's here. . . Heigh-Ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work I go.

Comments

[toesontheground.livejournal.com]

There were Chinese Geishas? Huh.

[qos.livejournal.com]

The race of the actresses has been the subject of some controversy, as I understand.

It raises interesting questions of how important the specific race of a performer is when portraying certain characters -- not for the first time, of course.

[blessed-harlot.livejournal.com]

I appreciate hearing your response to Kingdom of Heaven. I too rented it, expecting to enjoy it quite a bit. I couldn't quite place my finger on why, but I couldn't even finish watching it. Perhaps the believability factor came into play, though I wasn't aware of it at the time. There was something about the spiritual themes that just didn't ring true for me.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I think they took a fairly simplistic, cynical approach to spirituality in general and Christianity in particular. When all the dust had settled, the most virtuous man was the one who declared himself without faith. The second most virtuous was a Muslim. (Although by all accounts, Saladin was an extrordinary man.) Christians were portrayed as intolerant fanatics or cowards.

Which is too bad.

I also found it interesting that the Templars were made the bad guys of the piece, when much of what I've read strongly suggests that they were persecuted by fellow Christians who believed they had too much apprecation for and had adopted some elements of esoteric Islamic spirituality.

[anglican-druid.livejournal.com]

I also found it interesting that the Templars were made the bad guys of the piece, when much of what I've read strongly suggests that they were persecuted by fellow Christians who believed they had too much apprecation for and had adopted some elements of esoteric Islamic spirituality.

Yes, I thought of that, too. But I still liked the movie. Darn, you guys are spoiling it for me! *g*

[qos.livejournal.com]

I do apologize for that -- despite the *g* you put behind your comment!

There are a lot of movies which I like very much that other people don't think stand up well to critical reflection. Sometimes it's uncomfortable -- although most of the time I just end up shrugging and saying, "I don't claim it's great art -- I just enjoy it."

[bodhibird.livejournal.com]

My big question: how does a skinny guy like Orlando Bloom keep getting cast as a blacksmith?

I think I asked that question aloud in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Mr. Neeson, now *he* would make a good blacksmith. If he were thirty years younger, he could play Herewiss in Diane Duane's Middle Kingdom books. *swoons* But it was still A Big Fun Movie, for me.