fic, movies, opera (??), meme

[rusty_halo]

If you haven't seen it yet, check out chase820's latest: Night Fever (part 1 of 2). It's Queer as Folk fic, Brian/Michael, dark and angsty and delicious. It ties in with her wonderful QaF/AtS crossover The Man Who Wasn't There, but you don't need to read that to get this. I highly recommend it; no one writes Brian/Michael like Chase.

I saw "Kingdom of Heaven" last week with jaydk. I actually kind of liked it. Orlando was better than I expected, perfectly adequate, if not quite as charismatic as he could have been. Still, it was a quiet role and an introspective character, and he pulled that off.

The film itself wasn't great, too predictable and not very subtle, but I really enjoyed the fact that Ridley Scott somehow found a way to make a movie about the Crusades that ultimately endorsed pacifism and atheism. Modern sensibilities, sure, but every film is a product of its own cultural age. I thought it was nicely subversive for a mainstream film in this cultural era.

And I liked that it at least tried to grapple with big moral questions, and wasn't just about romance and action--that the romance and action actually were there to serve the plot, and not the other way around. jaydk really seriously needs to post, though, because she actually managed to attend the premiere--she walked down the red carpet and stood near Orlando and Liam Neeson and everything. (Pssst! jaydk! Post!)

I'm still dying with anticipation for the new Star Wars movie. (This is so sad, after I swore I wouldn't look forward to it. ) I was the 10-year-old girl who once actually managed to work herself into sobs over Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi, so I know this movie is going to affect me. It has to at least get to whatever bit of that 10-year-old is still left, right? And The Empire Strikes Back is, to this day, my all time favorite movie. And this new one is supposed to be just as dark! (!!!) I know the dialogue and digital effects will suck, but still, maybe the other aspects will redeem it.

Anyway, a couple of good articles I stumbled across while reading everything I could find on the topic:

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Jedi sex symbol
Darth Vader lives!

(I just liked these, and thought they were worth sharing.)

Yesterday I went to an opera, Alessandro Leardini's 1649 Psiche (Psyche), in Brooklyn. (Yes, I know there are three things in that sentence that don't go together very well, namely me, opera, and Brooklyn, but it happened.) It was pretty, though I know nothing about opera; I went because my coworker was singing in it. It was kind of fun to compare the English and Italian translations; I was surprised how much Italian I could figure out based on the bit of Spanish that I know.

I dragged jaydk with me, and we decided to surprise queenofthorns, since we were in her neighborhood, so we ended up sneaking up behind her and scaring the hell out of her as she was walking her dog. She forgave us, though, and it was cool to have a sort of impromptu meetup like that. :)

Musically, I'm listening to a lot of early Pig, and loving it. Note to self: another long post analyzing Raymond Watts' early work. And maybe another on his recurring lyrical themes. And maybe a third on the various stages of his work, their connections, differences, and changes over time. Must find time for this.

Claim Your Old British Man by jgurlpunkrck
Your Name
Your Age
Your Old British Man
You met...	on a set for a movie you were both working on
The relationship ended...	because it's not technically legal
Quiz created with MemeGen!

Comments

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

(Pssst! jaydk! Post!)

Hee! I've been bugging her too - although I'm fairly certain if she doesn't post in the next two weeks, it's going to be about two more months...

Hey, are you free on the 22nd? I figure it's jaydk's last Friday of Freedom (and there's no BSG to distract the two of us) so ... Final Sharpe?

Oh, and another thing - a friend of mine who's in the publishing world and is definitely in the know says we are definitely getting the next Martin book in 2005. Not necessarily August, but DEFINITELY this year. WHEEEEE!

And lastly, re: the dog - we're picking him tomorrow evening to take him to "foster" care, so I'll e-mail you all the details tomorrow and hopefully with a picture to follow, so if we can either get him into a long-term no-kill shelter, or much better, adopted, that'd be MARVELLOUS!

It was so, so fun to run into you guys - I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone at 10 - I was actually ON the phone with the woman who's going to take in the dog for a few days.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

22nd works for me. Yay! Let me know details.

OMG SQUEEE!!!! on the Martin news. Please, please, please let it be true.

Any idea what he's doing at Book Expo America? My office has a booth there, and his website says he's attending, so I was thinking about volunteering to work at the booth in exchange for the chance to go see him do... whatever. (I guess he's signing, not sure if he's talking or anything though... any clue?)

Let me know about the dog--I'll forward the info to my coworkers... someone's got to have some kind of lead.

It was great to see you! And very amusingly random. :)

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Any idea what he's doing at Book Expo America? My office has a booth there, and his website says he's attending, so I was thinking about volunteering to work at the booth in exchange for the chance to go see him do... whatever. (I guess he's signing, not sure if he's talking or anything though... any clue?)


Hee! I dunno - I could pass along that question and see what the answer is ... Actually, it's possible my friend will be going there too, so I'll just ask her. I desperately want book 4.

So y'all are most welcome here tomorrow night - but I need to warn you that things are ueber chaotic and you'll have to get through a barricade of chairs to go in and use the bathroom and stuff (due to the two dogs being here.) I hope that's OK ;)

[chase820.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks.

I highly recommend it; no one writes Brian/Michael like Chase.

For which the poor characters are probably grateful, given all the terrible things I do to them. ;)

Yours is the first positive review of KoH I've seen. I wanted to see it, than I saw it's Tomato Meter score and was scared away. Perhaps it's worth a matinee?

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I'd say KoH is worth a matinee. It's thought-provoking, at least for all that it tries to do, even if it doesn't actually achieve everything it's going for. (And maybe that's even more interesting, to examine why it fails at some of what it tries.)

At least this movie tries to grapple with ethical issues in thoughtful ways, which is more than most Hollywood films. It's not mindless; it gives you plenty to think about, even if it's frustrating sometimes.

I think "how good is it as a film?" is a different question from "how well does it deal with the issues it examines?" I'd rate it higher at dealing with issues, and lower in cinematic quality, actually. (Which is weird, because I love Ridley Scott.) But it had pacing issues, casting issues, some very one-dimensional characters, and some silly situations. But the way it tried to deal with political/social/ethical issues was way better than I expected from a Hollywood epic.

And, also, half the reviews over at rottentomatoes are too busy complaining that it's not "Gladiator 2" to give it any kind of fair chance on its own. Don't go in expecting "Gladiator" and you'll probably enjoy it a lot more. It's a very different movie, with very different goals, despite the whole "historical epic" thing they have in common.

[chase820.livejournal.com]

I really disliked Gladiator, so that's a plus in my book.

You're comments on it are really intriguing. Perhaps I'll give it a go, if my schedule permits in the next week or so. If not, the good thing is movies these days are out on DVD almost faster than I can watch 'em.

Thanks for the thoughtful review. :)