Thoughts of the day, week, month, or whatnot, until the next erratic post, on movies in particular.
1. Why is it that one can never have the time to see all the movies, classics, current and future, that one wishes to see?
2. Dan in Real Life. Go see it. I don't usually go for the type of movies Steve Carell is in, but this isn't what he usually does. The movie paints an authentic portrait of life, love and family; it plays very simply and sweetly and never once feels contrived. Check out the music as well.
3. P.S. I Love You. This is now officially on my "to-see" list (which stretches on and on and makes the likelihood of seeing any movie from 2007 this year quite slim). Yes, the plot isn't brand-spanking original, and yes, I expect the usual tugging-at-the-heartstrings tactics, but it still looks like I could enjoy it. And Scotsman Gerard Butler doing an Irish accent intrigues me. I loved him in Dear Frankie and tolerated him in Phantom of the Opera (as a die-hard phan I have high standards for my Phantoms), and haven't been interested in seeing Dracula or 300, some of his other well-known movies. So from what I've seen, Butler doesn't ever completely mask his brogue. Why did the director or producer decide to go with Irish? Is it because he couldn't manage the others? Because an Irish dialect is closer to Scottish and therefore something he was familiar with? The matter bears further thinking and research.
4. Movies I definitely must see this holiday season:
a. The Golden Compass - Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy ranks up there with fantasy writers like C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, with those multiple layers of complexity and symbolism hiding just beneath the superb storytelling. I first read these books beginning in seventh grade and have enjoyed them up to the present day as a grad student. I have faith in the director, but they'd better not mess this one up.
And those allegations about the anti-Church stance of the books and film? Cool it, folks. Those who are condemning this movie without even seeing it are acting just like the institutions that Pullman really is against: those who stifle free thought and the desire to learn new things even if it means challenging the status quo.
b. Sweeney Todd - I love this musical. I don't have as much invested emotionally in this musical-to-movie adaptation as I did Phantom, so I am remaining open-minded and am keeping my expectations low as regards the singing and the cuts to the libretto. The look of the whole thing (black, white and red) is very fitting; no complaints on the sets or costumes at all. And Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, as actors, also fit well with the dark/surreal mood of the show as well. I agree with the casting choices for the other characters, except Sascha Baron Cohen as Pirelli (who knows, though, he might surprise me).It's the singing, however, where I'm certain I'll be underwhelmed. As a work of musical theatre, ST often verges in complexity on operetta, and has been performed by opera companies. I've seen clips from the movie and the main characters are all quite light-voiced, so despite the visuals, the voices aren't adding the menace, edge or depth that makes the difference between a good Sweeney and a great one.
Doubtless with the advent of this film will come a rift in the fan community between the ones who love the film and the purists who hate it, and between the fans who were loyal to the stage version and the ones (often young and afflicted with an unfortunate grasp of orthography) who became enamored of the movie because of the stars more than the show. It's happened before, it'll happen again.
Oh well.
