Yeah, the way that little drama queen slumped over in complete devastation just cracked me up.I love the opening sequence. Kids' interreactions are universal.
Other things to watch--
Moderators: thunder, fruitbat, Chari910, Marie, Helen8, Gillian, kjshd05, catloveyes
-
Hilary the Touched
- Site Registrant
- Posts: 7197
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:11 pm
- Location: The Frozen North
- Contact:
Gillian, just 'cause you're an artist, and I thought Sita intriguingly combined hand-drawn and computerized attributes. I just thought you would enjoy it!
-
Hilary the Touched
- Site Registrant
- Posts: 7197
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:11 pm
- Location: The Frozen North
- Contact:
Robin Hood, with spoilers galore
--------------SPOILERS AHOY------------------------
Sprog dragged me off to see Ridley Scott's take on Robin Hood.
I am now convinced that "Ridley" was a childhood nickname derived from "ridiculous." The screenplay was written by the same guy who did Green Zone, which might explain the proclivity for massive explosions.
If I didn't know better, I might think he had quite a thing for Jason Isaacs as well--every other scene of this movie looks like something else, from a beachhead landing straight out of Saving Private Ryan to assaults that looked lifted directly from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They also have Robin and Marion dancing, Last of the Mohicans-esquely, to "Women of Ireland," a song that the Chieftains performed in Barry Lyndon in 1975. At one point Sprog and I leaned toward one another and hissed, "Burn the church!" and there is also a shot of the absurd (but not remotely sinister or amusing) Sheriff of Nottingham, disturbed in his hovel with his peasant trollop, that had me expecting his trousers to drop at any moment. WTF?
I was also scratching my head at the casting. (Mark Strong was fine, of course, though midway through the movie he acquires an arrow wound to the face that results in a long, red, stitched gash to one corner of his mouth, prompting Sprog to intone, "Why so serious?" every time he showed up to intimidate someone new.) I'm down with some cross-cultural work, but for real. Crowe's from New Zealand and Blanchett's an Aussie, but even lots of lesser roles were Brit-free: Will Scarlett was American, and Little John was played by Lost's Martin Keamy.
The iconic William the Marshall? William fucking Hurt.
Richard the Lionheart? Let's see, we need a gorgeous vainglorious king who excels at armed combat, a little past his prime but still vital: oh, I know, let's get Danny Huston* in a really puzzling wig.
What, there weren't any Brits available? All of 'em off pretending to be Yanks on big-budget TV series? Uh, not quite all.
More annoying were the revisionist liberties: there were more mentions of tyranny than in the average Glenn Beck broadcast, and the movie would have us believe that the Magna Carta was written by Robin's dad, a stonemason in Nottingham. We're told that the band of hooligan boys who run wild are a result of excessive taxation, which has led to a lack of "jobs." That was actually the word that was used. Sure, yeah, I guess the local textile mill went bust or something.
The conclusion features Marion (who's apparently sneaked the 200 miles from Nottingham to Dover without being noticed) wading into the climactic fray in armor, waving a broadsword with the best of 'em. Never mind lacking the upper-body strength (which she might've had more of than I'm giving her credit for, given the fact that she has to do all the plowing of her FIVE THOUSAND acres herself, since all the young men are now masked aimless gangstas), when has she ever trained in martial arts??
Oh whatever. Sprog and I had fun making fun (we might have disturbed our seatmates were the movie not so damn loud) and playing "spot the homage." Or rip-off, whichever you prefer.
*sometime Jason Isaacs costar
Sprog dragged me off to see Ridley Scott's take on Robin Hood.
I am now convinced that "Ridley" was a childhood nickname derived from "ridiculous." The screenplay was written by the same guy who did Green Zone, which might explain the proclivity for massive explosions.
If I didn't know better, I might think he had quite a thing for Jason Isaacs as well--every other scene of this movie looks like something else, from a beachhead landing straight out of Saving Private Ryan to assaults that looked lifted directly from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They also have Robin and Marion dancing, Last of the Mohicans-esquely, to "Women of Ireland," a song that the Chieftains performed in Barry Lyndon in 1975. At one point Sprog and I leaned toward one another and hissed, "Burn the church!" and there is also a shot of the absurd (but not remotely sinister or amusing) Sheriff of Nottingham, disturbed in his hovel with his peasant trollop, that had me expecting his trousers to drop at any moment. WTF?
I was also scratching my head at the casting. (Mark Strong was fine, of course, though midway through the movie he acquires an arrow wound to the face that results in a long, red, stitched gash to one corner of his mouth, prompting Sprog to intone, "Why so serious?" every time he showed up to intimidate someone new.) I'm down with some cross-cultural work, but for real. Crowe's from New Zealand and Blanchett's an Aussie, but even lots of lesser roles were Brit-free: Will Scarlett was American, and Little John was played by Lost's Martin Keamy.
The iconic William the Marshall? William fucking Hurt.
Richard the Lionheart? Let's see, we need a gorgeous vainglorious king who excels at armed combat, a little past his prime but still vital: oh, I know, let's get Danny Huston* in a really puzzling wig.
What, there weren't any Brits available? All of 'em off pretending to be Yanks on big-budget TV series? Uh, not quite all.
More annoying were the revisionist liberties: there were more mentions of tyranny than in the average Glenn Beck broadcast, and the movie would have us believe that the Magna Carta was written by Robin's dad, a stonemason in Nottingham. We're told that the band of hooligan boys who run wild are a result of excessive taxation, which has led to a lack of "jobs." That was actually the word that was used. Sure, yeah, I guess the local textile mill went bust or something.
The conclusion features Marion (who's apparently sneaked the 200 miles from Nottingham to Dover without being noticed) wading into the climactic fray in armor, waving a broadsword with the best of 'em. Never mind lacking the upper-body strength (which she might've had more of than I'm giving her credit for, given the fact that she has to do all the plowing of her FIVE THOUSAND acres herself, since all the young men are now masked aimless gangstas), when has she ever trained in martial arts??
Oh whatever. Sprog and I had fun making fun (we might have disturbed our seatmates were the movie not so damn loud) and playing "spot the homage." Or rip-off, whichever you prefer.
*sometime Jason Isaacs costar
Last edited by Hilary the Touched on Sun May 23, 2010 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
grannybear
- Posts: 2582
- Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:36 pm
- Location: Florida
-
Angel Tavington
- Posts: 4968
- Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:01 pm
- Location: Col. Tavington's tent
- Contact:
-
catloveyes
- Posts: 2418
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:38 pm
- Location: Chicago
s-
Hilary the Touched
- Site Registrant
- Posts: 7197
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:11 pm
- Location: The Frozen North
- Contact:
Well see, that's one of my complaints about the movie--I was happy to see a new angle on the legend, but this one didn't make much sense on its own, and it seemed almost perversely to ignore most of the traditions. There's this weird, tacked-on final scene in which Robin and Marion are hanging out in the woods with all the Lost Boys--er, jobless hooligans--and Robin finally brings out his bow again, but the Sheriff is a decidedly secondary character, Robin seems like a complete outsider (again, we're told that his dad was a stonemason, but nobody in the area seems to have known Robin), and Richard I, who in the stories was always going to turn up and Save the Day, is dead at the start of this movie!
It's obvious that this one is structured as a Prequel (Robin Hood: the Early Years, although Crowe is a tubby middle-aged dude in this one), but it's hard to see how it can segue into the story we expect, and I wasn't much impressed with this one.
It's obvious that this one is structured as a Prequel (Robin Hood: the Early Years, although Crowe is a tubby middle-aged dude in this one), but it's hard to see how it can segue into the story we expect, and I wasn't much impressed with this one.
-
Angel Tavington
- Posts: 4968
- Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:01 pm
- Location: Col. Tavington's tent
- Contact:
-
grannybear
- Posts: 2582
- Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:36 pm
- Location: Florida
-
Hilary the Touched
- Site Registrant
- Posts: 7197
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:11 pm
- Location: The Frozen North
- Contact:
Sprog dragged her dad and I to go see Inception last night. Visually stunning (same director as The Dark Knight) with some great actors, but I'm afraid it left me cold. DH enthusiastic about seeing it a second time, and Sprog--being young--can't wait to see it a third.
Any of you guys considering it? I'm interested in other opinions.
Any of you guys considering it? I'm interested in other opinions.
Last edited by Hilary the Touched on Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
grannybear
- Posts: 2582
- Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:36 pm
- Location: Florida
-
Hilary the Touched
- Site Registrant
- Posts: 7197
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:11 pm
- Location: The Frozen North
- Contact:
