Eschewed Obfuscation

Firefly: Serenity
Directed by Joss Whedon
1 hr 59 min
PG-13

[oblique spoilers]

I saw about the first half of this at Alpha, but went to bed that night before the film ended. So I finally got around to reserving it at the library and watched the entire thing. And it was amazing. (Hmm, am I the only person who hasn't seen this and is/was going to?)

So, I'll work backwards. The ending was superb, hitting just the right emotional note for me. I confess, at the climax with the Reavers, I got up and walked to the kitchen for a little while. They are scary. Simon surviving is something of a deus ex machina, which annoyed me enough that it doesn't count as a real spoiler. I am mightily annoyed when emotional lows turn out to be unwarranted. I loved River throughout the entire movie, except for her clothes--why did she always wear flimsy/skimpy dresses when everyone else was sensible? Especially on the ice planet--I mean, ice=cold! Some other issues: how exactly did the crew lure the Reavers to fight the battle for them; and if the Reavers are beyond madness, how can they coordinate raids and not kill each other?

Still, the directing and acting were equally beautiful. My first impression of Joss Whedon is certainly favorable--enough that I might reserve the 4 season discs at the library, too. Oh--and Mr. Universe looks really familiar. Is he played by the same guy who plays Charlie in Numb3rs?

(For ease of typing, and because the captions didn't use them either, I'm omitting accent marks.)

The Count of Monte Cristo
Starring Jim Caviezel & Guy Pearce
131 minutes (2 hrs. 11 min.)
Genre: Film/Adventure/Romance

After reading the novel and seeing the French mini-series, I have to declare this adaptation a complete failure. The plot is revised into a stereotypical swashbuckling adventure and the characters are flat (most of the interesting side characters are gone anyway). The movie is basically a cross between trashy action flick and trashy chick flick. Frankly, I'm disgusted.

Just from the DVD cover and blurb, I could tell that things were unpromising. Let me refer to the changelog: Dantes takes Napoleon's letter because he's a foolish, naïve idiot. Mercedes marries Mondego for an oh-so-convenient reason that keeps her from being a realistic woman who might seek comfort in whoever is available--no, she's a noble saint pretending not to be a foolish, naïve idiot (she also has no will of her own and is played by a terrible actress). Fernand and Mercedes do not have a meaningful relationship; he's unfaithful from the start and doesn't keep it a secret. Fernand Mondego is now Dantes's best friend, yet he thinks nothing of betrayal. Caderousse, Ali, Haydee, Valentine, and Maximilian are all cut. Dantes isn't arrested at his wedding but at a simple celebratory dinner, and instead of engaging in respectable duels, he has long, drawn-out swordfights with Mondego (having found out his friend before entering the Chateau d'If). Let's not forget Luigi Vampa acting double duty as the smuggler camptain, and Jacopo being indistinguishable from Vampa in personality. And the sadistic prison warden who likes whipping prisoners on the anniversary of their imprisonment.

WTF?

All complexity is painted over with broad strokes of black and white, replaced by cliché character roles and trite dialogue. I'm not even going to go into character motivations, magically dis/reappearing foreign accents, and the usual reunion happy ending. Though it played to the popular crowd, the Bravo mini-series had its merits in faithfulness and memorable characters, with an earned ending. This movie, on the other hand, does not deserve to call itself The Count of Monte Cristo.

A list of related links is on the novel review.

Tristan and Isolde
Starring James Franco and Sophia Myles
Rated PG-13 (2 hrs 5 min)

I've been wanting to see this movie since it came out in theaters a wile back, but somehow I never got around to it. So I ended up watching with a beloved but commentary-prone friend and we giggled a lot at random things rather than luxuriating in romance (though I did tear up at a few parts). My notes are rather sparse and random too. Apologies in advance if you don't like randomness. (The horror!) Without further ado:

There's a character named Mello! Unfortunately, he showed no signs of eating chocolate. Did they even have chocolate in England at the time? I hope so.

My favorite character was Isolde's maid, who's everywhere saving Isolde from certain ruin. Except she's not in the ending scene, which made me sad. You think they could have at least stuck her on the side or something, for consistency. I guess in a way she's the character foil for Isolde because she's sensible and cautious. Hrm.


This film definitely deserves its rating, by the way (implied sex, suggestive nudity, explicit violence). I made the mistake of letting my three-year-old sister watch it with us. Oops.

Thanks to this post, I now have a sudden overwhelming urge to watch Tristan and Isolde, if only so I can cry my eyes out. Because that's fun.

I have a bit of an addiction to that painful-heartbreaking-tingly feeling from tragic romances (or even happy romances at tragic moments), like other people have a thing for horror movies.