Stardust

I know what you're thinking. Isn't this the one with all those famous people, and that looks like a cross between Steven Spielberg's Hook, the cult-favorite The Princess Bride (can you believe it's been twenty years since that one came out?) and a little bit of every other terrible fantasy movie ever made? I must admit, I was reluctant to see this film until it had been out for a few weeks and the only reviews I had heard about it were positive. I'm going to side with the majority here and say that Stardust provided me with the most fun I've had at the movies in a long, long time.

Although the plot is not hard to follow, there are several intersecting threads that make it virtually impossible for me to provide any sort of summary in the time I am willing to commit to this review. Allow me to simply say that this film had more swashbuckling adventure than any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and better characters and plot-lines than any of the Spider-Man films, all of which did undeservedly better at the box office. One scene in particular featured one of the best duels I've ever seen (a living human fighting a corpse...need I say more?) Robert De Niro was delightful, Claire Danes succeeded in her "look beautiful" assignment, Michelle Pfeiffer proved a believable villain and Ricky Gervais' role was small but quirkily funny, as usual. Minus points only for some laughable dialogue ("Be the man I know you are!") and a few continuity issues (the filmmakers seemed to take it for granted that we are supposed to believe Tristan became a sword-wielding fighting machine in less than a week). Nonetheless, this adventuresome fantasy earns a well-deserved A-.

The Fountain

Most of my blog posts will probably be movie reviews. I like to watch movies and it makes sense that I should write about them. My first will be about The Fountain. If you missed this 2006 film, I wouldn't be surprised; if you saw it and didn't like it, that wouldn't surprise me, either. I rather enjoyed it. It was slow-paced but I couldn't help but be intrigued by the juxtaposing storylines and gorgeous cinematography. The only two pertinent characters in the story were played by actors Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, both talented and easy to watch (except for Weisz' eyebrows...something really needs to be done about those). What most impressed me about the movie was its ability to embody so many different "genres" and still manage to make it all work. It was a science fiction, romantic love story, tragedy, period adventure, and Buddhist meditation piece all in one. If nothing else, the film was unique in its presentation of the universal themes of love and death, spirituality and faith. Understandably enough, some might find this film frustrating for its refusal to really spell anything out; a lot of the symbology is left for guesswork and imagination, and the Tommy and Izzy storyline seemed to decide to switch directions at the end. Never sappy but definitely sincere, The Fountain is not life-changing but it sure is a pretty, original, tender work of art. I give it a solid B.

here comes the blog

There now. That wasn't so bad. I just set up my very own blog, and while it took an inexcusable amount of time for me to think of really minimal details (domain name, page name, etc.) I've finally done it. Don't expect anything great. I've done this more out of an obligation to a friend than of any desire I have to bear my soul to the unsuspecting public, or because I have anything really profound to say. Nevertheless...here I am.