(no subject)

[la_belle_laide]

So I just watched Titus. You can guess why. Oh? No? Why would an english lit major go and rent such a thing? Surely because she's a huge fan of Elizabethan tragedy, and of course Shakespeare--you can't go wrong. Yeah, go on and tell yourself that. And then look at the cast listing. ;D

Anyway, most of the acting was good, and Anthony Hopkins was, of course, incredible. Jessica Lange, also awesome in this. The movie was long, but it mostly went quickly. Some of the scenes were filmed beautifully.

Other scenes, though, like the end shot, for instance, dragged on mercilessly, and the other huge problem I had was with the cars and microphones and the all around 20's ish feel to it. No, I know it wasn't an accident and that it's an adaptation of Titus Andronicus and all, but I was like, come on. It's Shakespeare. Do we really need all this nonsense? It didn't come across as artsy or ingenious or strikingly different and it didn't add anything to the movie. Instead it was pretentious and full on gimicky. I hate that. Plays like this don't need gimicks.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Hmm, you know? In Bend It Like Beckham, he was sincere and sweet and understated and lovely. In Velvet Goldmine, perfect. In I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, so painfully believable that I didn't like to watch. Oh my god was he believable in that. Ouch. In Gormenghast, over the top but good when he wasn't being, well, over the top. In this one? Way over the top, to the point of distraction. It seems that when he plays a villain, he's got to overdo it for whatever reason. Again, he does the "MWAAHAHAAAAA!" laugh, and honestly, I can overlook a villainous MWAHAHAHAHA a lot of the time, and some of the time I am gleefully into the MWAUAUAUAUA along with the villain, but in this case it just didn't work for me. He also seems to have rushed his lines. I know he's got this specific delivery, like a few moments of silence and then all these many lines tumbling from his tongue, very glib and all, but this time it seemed forced.

But he's so goddamnedpretty. Part of me wanted to laugh in the moment where he actually did a cage dance, but another part of me was like, "Oooooh, pretty." Also his hair was long. And he rolls around in bed with his brother and Anthony Hopkins humps him and they both seem to enjoy it. (Didn't Anthony Hopkins hump someone's leg in another movie? I think it might have been that godawful Dracula movie with that godawful Winona Ryder, and if it was, I blocked that movie right the hell out of my mind.) I am a ridiculous creature.

Tonight, I read the last book in the Petshop Of Horrors series. I'm sort of in mourning for it being over, but the book itself was beautiful. I could have done without the silly part with the ship, but overall it was satisfying. I adore the living breathing crap out of that series. It's the only manga series I've read so far that has made me cry. I've said it before and it's true: if I were to ever be a MarySue, it would be in PsOH. ;)

Ah well. Kung Fu tomorrow night. I'm about to sign away money that I don't have and then fling myself around until it feels like my limbs are going to fall off. Wish me luck! ^_^

Comments

[derumi.livejournal.com]

How different is the play from the movie? I thought the movie was interesting, and extremely violent (the addition of cars and guns was weird, but I just pretended I was drunk).

[shonagonchan.livejournal.com]

Aside from the guns and things like that, it was word for word, action for action.