A sorta fairytale

This is just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed...nay, LOVED...Stardust on Saturday night. Even though M and I were only among a handful of people in the theater (it was the last show of the night, though), the movie is currently number 4 at the box office, according to IMDB, and has garnered a 73% rating from reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. So, it doesn't seem to be doing too badly for a late summer adventure fairy tale love story with sky pirates. As far as the reviews I'd read panning the film for just rehashing tired elements from other films (Pirates of the Carribean, specifically, which I think in retrospect was a pretty poor comparison), I didn't see that at all. Everything was familiar, and the story was fairly simple and straightforward, yes. But archetypes are what they are. To me the humor was fresh, not the same over-done cliched jokes (maybe some American critics have lost their appreciation for a certain type of British wit?), and every single actor cast in their roles was more than capable. Of course, I knew I would enjoy Michelle Pfeiffer, and Robert De Niro's depiction of the Captain Shakespeare character was effectively over the top in a way that made it surprisingly endearing (if a little cheesy - but I think "campy" was what he was aiming for, anyway...). Even Claire Danes managed to not annoy me. I think her affected accent was a big steaming pile of fail, but she tried, so I give her credit - plus, she gave the character of Yvaine a nice edge. Extra points for a fallen star with attitude. Supposedly Sarah Michelle Gellar turned down the role to spend more time with husband Freddie Prinze, Jr. Seriously? I think her manager should smack her in the face, but her loss is our gain. If she wants to be remembered as Buffy for the rest of her life and just fade into the Tinseltown equivalent of irrelevance and obscurity, I hope it truly makes her happy. The big "Ahhh, I love this movie" moment for M and I came with Tristan's transformation from smitten shop-boy to the dashing (if slightly reluctant) hero. Whoever Charlie Cox is, THAT was brilliant casting - he made Tristan seem so ordinary and believable, and the character arc was a subtle enough shift to seem like natural character progression. What did it for M was the duster (she does so love a man in period dress). The ending is a foregone conclusion - and well it should be, since it wouldn't be a "fairy tale" otherwise - but it didn't feel forced or contrived. In fact, the whole "romantic" aspect to the storyline seemed to take a backseat to the characters for almost the entire film. I know that this movie is different from the book in a lot of ways (and that it's not considered Gaiman's "strongest work" by some fans [I'd recommend Good Omens, personally]), but I'd like to think that the writer's involvement made for a slightly more faithful adaptation than we might have gotten otherwise. Because I think this movie needs as much good word of mouth as possible, please visit the movie's official website. And the imdb page. And read some reviews - here's a decent one from Badmouth (although whoever wrote this infuriating review - replete with mis-spellings and some pretty glaring errors about the basic plot - is an ass, and obviously either wasn't paying attention or didn't bother to go see the movie at all), and here's a write-up with some quotes from some of the stars. Please visit Neil's website, too (plus, this is the Time magazine article I was talking about before - but I won't link to their review of the movie because it was not very positive...and I agree with M that Beowulf looks terrrrible...what a shame)

Scary Trousers!!


Also, since I'm here, I'm posting pictures. It's what's expected. Just try to imagine yourself in Sienna Miller's place...


Oh, and - I found a fansite for Charlie Cox. You're welcome...