The Wicked Witch of the West – a Tragic Figure??
I took my son to see Oz the Great and Powerful this weekend. When asked if I liked the movie, I just shrugged. It was a mediocre effort that was just about what is to be expected from most big budget special effects films. It felt flat and heartless. It was sort of like a Transformers film in Oz.
Story continuity is something that seems an afterthought in most movies. The main plot may be fine but when you start really exploring the ramifications of a particular character’s story arc, often you discover the filmmakers didn’t really think things through.
Such is the case in Oz the Great and Powerful as it takes a character we think we know and it turns her fate into one of the most tragic stories imaginable. Then they assume we won’t notice.
Since I’m going into spoiler territory, I’m politely providing a cut tag. Feel free to move along if you don’t want to know what happens in the film.
Alphabetical Movie – License to Kill
I liked Timothy Dalton as Bond.
There. I said it. I realize that I’m going to catch hell for it but a guy has to be honest. I think that Dalton got a bad rap as Bond.
I’m not talking about the movies he was in, by the way. While I like both of them and I think they are certainly better than the worst Bond films (almost all of which starred an aging Roger Moore), they are both mediocre at best.
Nor would I say Dalton is the best Bond. I’d give that distinction to either Connery or (depending on how the next movie turns out) Daniel Craig.
Right now, though, I ‘m just talking about how Timothy Dalton played Bond . I loved what he brought to the role.
Alphabetical Movie – Lethal Weapon I, II & III
Some sequels are merely terrible. Other sequels are so awful, their name should not be spoken because their mere existence makes the rest of the franchise look bad.
When is the last time, for instance, that you had a meaningful conversation about Beverly Hills Cop III? What’s that? You didn’t even know there was a Beverly Hills Cop III? That’s because nobody ever talks about it.
It is easy to note that I watched three Lethal Weapon films when there are, in fact, four. The first three films are an exercise in increasing laziness that manages to be entertaining anway. Every one of them involves Murtaugh and Riggs stumbling across a major drug ring and bringing it down while Murtaugh continues to insist he is too old for this shit.
They add a new character in each film and if the character is successful, they add more in the next one. Joe Pesci is around just enough to be interesting in Lethal Weapon II, they give him a bigger role in Lethal Weapon III. Then they mix Renee Russo into the story in Lethal Weapon III.
And then comes the moment when they make the fatal decision to make Lethal Weapon IV and the whole thing goes to hell.
Geeks Without God Explores Another Movie
So this week, we decided to watch “Religulous;” Bill Maher’s film about religion, and record a podcast about it. Molly took copious notes on the movie and, I have to say, made me look like a complete douche because I didn’t actually take any notes at all. I just watched the movie like a freaking amateur. I think that for all of us, the movie represented something of a turning point in our rejection of the god hypothesis.
For me, the movie represented the first time I really understood the stakes of failing to say that I was an atheist. Every time I chose not to simply be up front about who I was and what I believed, I was making it that much harder for the next person who felt the same way. Maher wasn’t afraid to say that he rejected religion and it made it easier for me to say the same thing.
So this week’s podcast is about our thoughts about the film. Enjoy!
Les Miserables – One Fan’s View of Why the Movie Didn’t work
I’ve seen “Les Miserables” on stage at least a dozen times. I have, I think, four different versions of the show on CD, including the original French cast recording.
I think it is important to understand that up front because I’m intimately familiar with the show. That kind of deep knowledge of the source material can be a detriment when approaching a new adaptation.
I’ve seen the film Les Miserables twice now. Once I saw it in a friend’s living room and now I’ve seen it on the big screen. The big screen improved the film quite a bit but I still came away frustrated. I badly want to love the movie but I don’t. I love some moments from the movie. I love some performances from the movie. Too much of the movie, however, held me at arm’s length.
Rather than picking at each issue like a scab (yes- Russell Crowe completely failed to give Javert any kind of edge), I’ll focus on one part of the film, it’s difference with the play, and why that change was senseless and foolish.
Of course, the part I’m going to focus on is the very end of the film so it is only fair for me to say there will be spoilers about both the film and the play. You have been warned.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 3/1
North Carolina Student Could be Expelled for “Intimidating” her Rapist
What is happening here is a young woman was sexually abused by her ex-boyfriend. She has been speaking out about it and calling on UNC to improve how they deal with students who have been sexually assaulted. The University has responded by telling her that her speech is “intimidating” her rapist.
Well first off, who gives a fuck if a rapist is being intimidated? Fuck him. If he didn’t want the negative publicity that comes from raping someone, he shouldn’t have done it.
I’m so afraid that I’d get caught again!
I can understand that there would be some concern for this young rapist if she was calling him out by name everywhere but she isn’t. She isn’t naming him at all. She’s just pointed out that some guy was sexually abusive and the University has done dick about it. If he’s being intimidated, it is because she’s trying to make it harder for him to rape again.
Well, I can see why that would scare him. It makes perfect sense that the University would need to protect him.
Alphabetical Movie – Leon: The Professional
It’s interesting how badly we want our hit men to be heroes.
Leon is a genuinely good guy, right? Sure. He’s a good guy who kills people. For a living.
What we love him for is the fact he’s so bloody good at it. He can even teach a twelve-year-old girl how to be good at it.
But he’s still a guy who gets paid to kill people.
Alphabetical Movie – Legally Blonde
Some movies are so surprisingly good, you believe that the sequel simply can’t help but be good as well. In spite of all evidence that most sequels are not as good as the original movie, you simply feel that the charm of the original film will rub off on what is, at heart, an attempt to squeeze more cash out of a popular film.
One has to understand that nobody makes Friday the 13th, Part 34 thinking that they are about to add some heretofore missing depth to the franchise. They do it because they believe they will make more money off a stuntman in a hockey mask and a couple of oil barrels full of fake blood.
So when Legally Blonde II turned out to be a nearly unwatchable piece of trash, nobody should be surprised. As much as we might have thought that the artistic integrity of the original film would not be compromised, we all should have known that in all likelihood, Elle was going to have to screw shit up again before we were once again shown that she wasn’t just a pretty face. She was a bright young lady and a gifted legal mind.
I mean, we thought that at the end of the last movie but hey, that was law school. Being a real lawyer is totally different so it makes perfect sense the same thing would happen to the same girl. Two steps forward, one step back. Right?
Alphabetical Movie – Left Behind
Left Behind requires no suspension of disbelief because it expects that you already believe. There can be no other explanation for the film. If you haven’t already been brainwashed into accepting the kooky concept of rapture, this movie is not going to convince you that it is anything but kooky.
The god of the rapture is a dick. I would enjoy having a debate with anyone who thinks otherwise and I would use this movie as an example.
Let’s look at a few examples taken right out of Left Behind, shall we?
Alphabetical Movie – Lawrence of Arabia
Some movies just need to be seen in a movie theatre.
As home video becomes more and more prevalent, it is hard to understand that movies are movies for a reason. Yes, I love watching films on my video screen at home.
But that experience is an entirely different one from watching a film projected on the big screen.
If you haven’t seen Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm, for instance, you haven’t really seen it at all.
In one remarkable shot, the camera simply focuses on the desert. The shot is held for a long time and nothing changes. Slowly, a figure becomes apparent in the distance and the shot is held as that figure grows.
Grail Diary 