King Arthur

Low expectations do wonders for a viewing experience.

There are many things that are admittedly awful about it including the bad opening voice-over, the worse closing voice-over, many of the shots/camera angles, complete inconsistancy in the color of the sky from shot to shot within a scene and just also weather logic (hi, sky is blue, no clouds, WHERE IS THE SNOW COMING FROM?) and pretty much anything at all involving the Saxons. This doesn't even address what they've done to the Arthur myth (and I'm not someone who subscribes to one true version of it -- just... what _was_ that?).

All of that said, there was some stuff that was stellar about it. Including most of the casting. All the knights were exceptionally cast. Lancelot was brilliant and I don't tend to have much patience for the character of Lancelot, but for what the script was worth (not much), I liked how he was written and loved how he was played and was also all about the constant little fraction of a shrug in the actor's body language. Arthur was excellent. Hideous dialogue aside, these were human beings and I cared what happened to them.

I will also note that the film got something right that I despair of in the upcoming Alexander film(s) -- which for all of Arthur's nobility and high ideals he is a ruthless, brutal, vengeful killer in the name of those ideals, and while he may torture himself over it, that doesn't change it. This comes across very strongly in one scene in the film, and it's the sort of thing that needs to make it into the Alexander films and I don't know that it will effectively.

Ridiculously bombastic score that ranged from awesome to throw a shoe at the screen bad.

Keira Knightly has nearly nothing to do, but is worth it entirely for the face paint and the "Don't worry I won't let them rape you" line (which you'll note is "don't worry, I won't let them hurt you" in the TV ad). The line is great and the Lancelot does that little shrug and smirk thing in reply and you just heard the whole audience trying to decide if they wanted to get caught laughing at that (I had a audience full of dudes who had dragged their girlfriends to this as a date movie).

Got a Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow preview. I despair of it being good, which is a shame, as it's totally in my stylistic sweet spot (and ooo, the pretty). Also, this ridiculous movie about the map on the back of the Declaration of Independence (National Treasure) -- man, that is going to be the most shameful fun, EVER.

Lately I've been going to films with other people a lot more than I normally do. I'd forgotten how much really valuable thinking I get done on the trips to and from films I see alone, nearly always regardless of the content.

I've been posting a lot lately about feeling not quite right, pretty much in all areas of my life. I've been missing pride and I've been missing power. It's just a small sliver of a thing, but I get so driven, I think only of the ambition, and not what I am, what makes me believe I am worthy of that ambition. As bad as this film was, it's movies like that remind me to get it back, because for all its hideous miscalculations and just plain sloppiness, it worked hard to make you feel the way you want to feel when you see a movie about King Arthur, and in spite of itself, succeeded. I'm a very persnickety person, about _everything_, and it's good for me to remember the beauty of the broad strokes from time to time.

Now to get back to the fun crappy movie -- who has the good fic?

the status of November elections

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/9/184546/3987

The quote is legitimate, and comes about 3/4s of the way down in this press briefing transscript: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/07/20040708-15.html

(no subject)

( ridiculous dream -- crud and symbolism central )

to put this as simply as possible

Because of a variety of things, I use all sorts of calculated rhetorical devices nearly constantly in my communications. As I've pointed out before, it is more effective to say "my mother never loved me" than "sometimes, I thought my mother never loved me." Also, I took Latin from a young age, and it taught similar things, and alliteration besides; it is perhaps the most singularly important thing I learned before the age of twenty.

The lead story on the local news tonight was that the government is trying to find a legal way to postpone the national elections in November. That they were trying to find a way to do this only if necessary, in the event of a terrorist attack, was a garbled footnote to the story, and while you and I can argue whether that's tactical journalism or not (and in most cases, that's something I'm going to be a lot more informed about than you are), this is significant, this is unprecedented, and this is frightening.

I am afraid, and this is not a rhetorical device.


Shortly after 9/11 I wrote a piece about Before, During and After, that was so heavy handed its appalled my artistic sensabilities ever since. But I'll tell you something, whatever happens on election day this year? That's when After begins. These last four insane years have been either a prelude or an intermission. Hopefully, as voters, we'll get to decide which.