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azuriteOkay, I'm pissed that Dima ditched me yesterday, and she didn't call me today. I planned to call HER today, but by now she's involved with that sorority shindig or whatever, plus Scott's going to be here at 8pm. If Scott's busy tomorrow too (I figure he's spending TOMORROW night over too, since hey, school on Monday) then I can call her and we can at least have some sort of phone conversation.
I'm ecstatic that:
a) I finally beat Seymour Flux and Mortiorchis (easily, too!)
b) I captured a bucket load of monsters in Macalania, the Thunder Plains, and throughout Gagazet (and part of Zanarkand, so far)
c) I beat the Sanctuary Keeper without too much trouble
d) I got through the Cloister of Trials in Zanarkand without much trouble, except now I have the joy of facing the Spectral Keeper, and eventually, Yunalesca (BITCH!!!!!)
I'm also pleased that I found a recipe that seems fairly healthy, low-fat, and so forth. There's no oil involved, very little butter (considering it's a cake recipe, 1/2 cup isn't much, right?), and it's made with applesauce! Num! It's supposed to be Mer's Pithy Attempt at Making Food Scott Can Eat. 'Cause he's got such a funky stomach (and he wrote me 2 pages of foods he can't eat), I tried my hardest... I hope he likes it. ^_^ (It's staying warm in the oven right now. Who wants a cold Applesauce Cake? Blech.)
I've also gotten several pages (considering it's double spaced, it's not much) of my Speech Outline done-- and thanks to everyone I interviewed (I didn't interview Mom, Dad, Baba, or Grandpa yet, but my Works Cited is already one and a half pages long? Should I really get that much more testimony?), I have lots to work with. Now the hard part-- actually writing the speech. -_-
There's that and my media notebook-- I have yet to revise 2-1, and finish writing 2-2. ;_; This is why I hope there's no way Scott can distract me ALL DAY tomorrow, because it seems like we both have bunches to do.
o_O This is REAL?
Oh yeah, and I saw Alexander the other night, as some of you know. The Matador Bookstore sponsored some thing at the PacTheaters Fashion Center, so Scott and I got in free. The lines weren't too bad; Scott was paranoid about getting there early enough, so we grabbed a Manicotti at Olive Garden and then went inside (my treat. Aren't I such a nice girlfriend?). Anyway, onwards and upwards with the spoiler-iffic review. (A real treat, considering the movie doesn't come out for another week!)
One of the most important things you can do when going to see a historical movie is to keep an open mind. Even if you're a history buff, a Greek expert, an archaeologist with three doctorates, or just a Colin Farrel fangirl... you've GOT TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND.
For the record, I tried.
I can't really use "I'm from San Francisco" as an excuse for Alexander, though. To put it frankly, on-screen guys going at it (or hinting at going at it) really squicks me. I have gay friends, sure, but they're my FRIENDS, and I know them, hence the lack of real "O_O!" going on. This is why yaoi in Yu-Gi-Oh (or any fandom where it's non-canon) really pisses me off. Now, I don't claim to be a Greek historian, knowing apples or oranges about men back in 300 B.C., but there seemed to be an excessive amount of male/male (aka SLASH) in the movie. So![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mklutz, eat your heart out.
This isn't like some movies or TV shows with hints, or even subtext. It's FULL ON THERE. Maybe Oliver Stone will be criticized for this by the more "conservative" critics, while others (like me) will be "Er, okay, but what does that have to do with the guy being Alexander the Great?"
That said, absolutely stunning sets. And really beautiful costumes and makeup, too. I didn't even recognize Val Kilmer (Philip, Alexander's father) when I first saw him. And I'm also willing to cut VK a little slack, given that I have a predisposition to HATE him based on what he (and the director) did to the Batman franchise. He was pretty damn good in this movie. He was a drunken asswipe most of the time, but as a king who was bosom buddies with Dionysus, that's to be expected.
The thing with Alexander is that (even based off the trailer), it has the potential to be a good movie, but somewhere, it just goes astray. Maybe that 'somewhere' was in the beginning, shortly after the spectacular water-themed opening sequence in 5 languages (Egyptian hieroglyphs, Coptic, Hieratic, Greek, English). See, they started with (what the audience pretty much figured was) Alexander's death, and we worked our way in circles from there.
We met Old Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins), who was telling the story of Alexander to a scribe. Having this kind of circular storytelling is very strange for a movie, because there's a mix of narration from Ptolemy and then the visuals from the "flashbacks," where we're actually seeing Alexander's childhood and onward.
I must say though, the kid who played young Alexander was quite cute. The blonde hair was vaguely convincing, too (despite Val Kilmer being a brunette and Angelina Jolie --Alexander's mother!-- being ebony-haired), but only when he was a child. We immediately skip from that age to Colin Farrell. Now understand-- even a clean-shaven Colin Farrell with baby locks and shining cheeks DOES NOT LOOK SIXTEEN. -_- They really should have used someone else.
And then we skip around some more, glossing over Philip's murder to when Alexander suddenly became this guy with the insane need to explore the world and conquer foreign tribes and lands. We finally find out the truth later on, through a series of flashbacks-within-flashbacks. Those FWFs continue even to the very end of the movie-- which had a very Gladiator-esque feel to it, so some might see it as a rip-off, while others might call it an homage.
The cinematography, IMHO, was not that great. There was nothing stunning or catching, and the very end scene, when almost everything was tinted pink was the definition of an eyesore. The sound, too, was a bit cheesy at times-- with obviously super-imposed tracks of lions roaring over people shouting at one another. This was done on purpose, but it could have been toned down or mixed JUST A BIT MORE so it wouldn't sound so... dumb.
I will give Colin Farrell props for those NICE legs of his. He has a great number of horse-riding scenes in this (and yes, there is a butt scene, too.), and he makes good use of them. He looks well-built and sexy. But then, there are fanboys falling at his feet (literally) in the movie, so it's no use for me to say he's hot. His co-stars are given the roles to make that glaringly obvious! There's even this narrow-eyed guy who almost looks like a hermaphrodite-- he's so... pretty. And flexible. Like, double-jointed contortionist flexible. It's scary.
The problem with the movie was that it did NOTHING to grab me. In the same way speeches are meant to target an audience's emotions, reason, or moral character, Alexander does none of the above. I don't feel Alexander's frustration when he finally takes a wife (the well-endowed and hilariously vicious Rosario Dawson) but she can't have children, nor do I feel his pain when his lover (Hephaistion) dies... and so on. It's not like those movies where you're literally sitting on the edge of your seat, grinning when something triumphant or funny happens, crying when something sad occurs, or going "boo yah!" when the good guy triumphs over the bad guy, or his destiny, or whatnot.
THERE WAS NONE OF THAT.
All of the action and the things that made Alexander (the historical figure) truly great were glossed over by his many lovers, strange decisions, and bad impulses. This movie was more of a romance than an action, with ONE single scene (the battle to take Persia) acting as the most climactic moment.
If I had to rate it, it'd probably be a 2/5. I say fangirls of any sort (slash or Colin) should check it out, but if you like decent stories with actual plot to them, then don't bother wasting your $10 (or however much it is where you are). If Alexander were a fanfic, it'd be a PWP (Plot? What Plot?).
Oh, and I noticed some weird things about my FFX game. Maybe it's just my guide (Brady Games, which is always better than Prima), but there was a place in the underwater upper caverns of Gagazet that had treasure-- namely, what SHOULD have been a Star Armguard, but ended up as a Pep Talk for Rikku. o_O? EH!? This happened twice, I think, where a Sphere was different from what the guide told me it'd be. Is this because the guide's wrong, or because the treasure alternates based on particular details?
Anywho, Scott just got here, and I'm eating dinner. So... mata. ^_^ (I hope)
I'm ecstatic that:
a) I finally beat Seymour Flux and Mortiorchis (easily, too!)
b) I captured a bucket load of monsters in Macalania, the Thunder Plains, and throughout Gagazet (and part of Zanarkand, so far)
c) I beat the Sanctuary Keeper without too much trouble
d) I got through the Cloister of Trials in Zanarkand without much trouble, except now I have the joy of facing the Spectral Keeper, and eventually, Yunalesca (BITCH!!!!!)
I'm also pleased that I found a recipe that seems fairly healthy, low-fat, and so forth. There's no oil involved, very little butter (considering it's a cake recipe, 1/2 cup isn't much, right?), and it's made with applesauce! Num! It's supposed to be Mer's Pithy Attempt at Making Food Scott Can Eat. 'Cause he's got such a funky stomach (and he wrote me 2 pages of foods he can't eat), I tried my hardest... I hope he likes it. ^_^ (It's staying warm in the oven right now. Who wants a cold Applesauce Cake? Blech.)
I've also gotten several pages (considering it's double spaced, it's not much) of my Speech Outline done-- and thanks to everyone I interviewed (I didn't interview Mom, Dad, Baba, or Grandpa yet, but my Works Cited is already one and a half pages long? Should I really get that much more testimony?), I have lots to work with. Now the hard part-- actually writing the speech. -_-
There's that and my media notebook-- I have yet to revise 2-1, and finish writing 2-2. ;_; This is why I hope there's no way Scott can distract me ALL DAY tomorrow, because it seems like we both have bunches to do.
You Are Turkey and Gravy Soda |
 Gobble. Gobble. |
o_O This is REAL?
Oh yeah, and I saw Alexander the other night, as some of you know. The Matador Bookstore sponsored some thing at the PacTheaters Fashion Center, so Scott and I got in free. The lines weren't too bad; Scott was paranoid about getting there early enough, so we grabbed a Manicotti at Olive Garden and then went inside (my treat. Aren't I such a nice girlfriend?). Anyway, onwards and upwards with the spoiler-iffic review. (A real treat, considering the movie doesn't come out for another week!)
One of the most important things you can do when going to see a historical movie is to keep an open mind. Even if you're a history buff, a Greek expert, an archaeologist with three doctorates, or just a Colin Farrel fangirl... you've GOT TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND.
For the record, I tried.
I can't really use "I'm from San Francisco" as an excuse for Alexander, though. To put it frankly, on-screen guys going at it (or hinting at going at it) really squicks me. I have gay friends, sure, but they're my FRIENDS, and I know them, hence the lack of real "O_O!" going on. This is why yaoi in Yu-Gi-Oh (or any fandom where it's non-canon) really pisses me off. Now, I don't claim to be a Greek historian, knowing apples or oranges about men back in 300 B.C., but there seemed to be an excessive amount of male/male (aka SLASH) in the movie. So
mklutz, eat your heart out. This isn't like some movies or TV shows with hints, or even subtext. It's FULL ON THERE. Maybe Oliver Stone will be criticized for this by the more "conservative" critics, while others (like me) will be "Er, okay, but what does that have to do with the guy being Alexander the Great?"
That said, absolutely stunning sets. And really beautiful costumes and makeup, too. I didn't even recognize Val Kilmer (Philip, Alexander's father) when I first saw him. And I'm also willing to cut VK a little slack, given that I have a predisposition to HATE him based on what he (and the director) did to the Batman franchise. He was pretty damn good in this movie. He was a drunken asswipe most of the time, but as a king who was bosom buddies with Dionysus, that's to be expected.
The thing with Alexander is that (even based off the trailer), it has the potential to be a good movie, but somewhere, it just goes astray. Maybe that 'somewhere' was in the beginning, shortly after the spectacular water-themed opening sequence in 5 languages (Egyptian hieroglyphs, Coptic, Hieratic, Greek, English). See, they started with (what the audience pretty much figured was) Alexander's death, and we worked our way in circles from there.
We met Old Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins), who was telling the story of Alexander to a scribe. Having this kind of circular storytelling is very strange for a movie, because there's a mix of narration from Ptolemy and then the visuals from the "flashbacks," where we're actually seeing Alexander's childhood and onward.
I must say though, the kid who played young Alexander was quite cute. The blonde hair was vaguely convincing, too (despite Val Kilmer being a brunette and Angelina Jolie --Alexander's mother!-- being ebony-haired), but only when he was a child. We immediately skip from that age to Colin Farrell. Now understand-- even a clean-shaven Colin Farrell with baby locks and shining cheeks DOES NOT LOOK SIXTEEN. -_- They really should have used someone else.
And then we skip around some more, glossing over Philip's murder to when Alexander suddenly became this guy with the insane need to explore the world and conquer foreign tribes and lands. We finally find out the truth later on, through a series of flashbacks-within-flashbacks. Those FWFs continue even to the very end of the movie-- which had a very Gladiator-esque feel to it, so some might see it as a rip-off, while others might call it an homage.
The cinematography, IMHO, was not that great. There was nothing stunning or catching, and the very end scene, when almost everything was tinted pink was the definition of an eyesore. The sound, too, was a bit cheesy at times-- with obviously super-imposed tracks of lions roaring over people shouting at one another. This was done on purpose, but it could have been toned down or mixed JUST A BIT MORE so it wouldn't sound so... dumb.
I will give Colin Farrell props for those NICE legs of his. He has a great number of horse-riding scenes in this (and yes, there is a butt scene, too.), and he makes good use of them. He looks well-built and sexy. But then, there are fanboys falling at his feet (literally) in the movie, so it's no use for me to say he's hot. His co-stars are given the roles to make that glaringly obvious! There's even this narrow-eyed guy who almost looks like a hermaphrodite-- he's so... pretty. And flexible. Like, double-jointed contortionist flexible. It's scary.
The problem with the movie was that it did NOTHING to grab me. In the same way speeches are meant to target an audience's emotions, reason, or moral character, Alexander does none of the above. I don't feel Alexander's frustration when he finally takes a wife (the well-endowed and hilariously vicious Rosario Dawson) but she can't have children, nor do I feel his pain when his lover (Hephaistion) dies... and so on. It's not like those movies where you're literally sitting on the edge of your seat, grinning when something triumphant or funny happens, crying when something sad occurs, or going "boo yah!" when the good guy triumphs over the bad guy, or his destiny, or whatnot.
THERE WAS NONE OF THAT.
All of the action and the things that made Alexander (the historical figure) truly great were glossed over by his many lovers, strange decisions, and bad impulses. This movie was more of a romance than an action, with ONE single scene (the battle to take Persia) acting as the most climactic moment.
If I had to rate it, it'd probably be a 2/5. I say fangirls of any sort (slash or Colin) should check it out, but if you like decent stories with actual plot to them, then don't bother wasting your $10 (or however much it is where you are). If Alexander were a fanfic, it'd be a PWP (Plot? What Plot?).
You Are the Stuffing |
 You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why. |
Oh, and I noticed some weird things about my FFX game. Maybe it's just my guide (Brady Games, which is always better than Prima), but there was a place in the underwater upper caverns of Gagazet that had treasure-- namely, what SHOULD have been a Star Armguard, but ended up as a Pep Talk for Rikku. o_O? EH!? This happened twice, I think, where a Sphere was different from what the guide told me it'd be. Is this because the guide's wrong, or because the treasure alternates based on particular details?
Anywho, Scott just got here, and I'm eating dinner. So... mata. ^_^ (I hope)
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-21 05:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-21 06:53 am (UTC)LIIIIIVE i say LIIIIIIIIIIVE! *falls over*
UHm - im guessing its your birthday...uh today? so! Happy birthday!!! (if its not, then - uh, yeh. Keep it, rap it up, and open it again when it *is* your birthday...eh heh... ^_^;;)
no subject
Date: 2004-11-21 10:53 pm (UTC)(XD; I got the book AFTER I beat the game so I had to stick with faqs at neoseeker to help me...)
no subject
Date: 2004-11-23 02:56 am (UTC)