300
We just came back from seeing "300." I would go with "wow," too. Other observations:
1. Hey I'm a straight shooter, but nearly two hours of nearly-naked, hunky, sweaty guys with the occasional feminine and very shapely breast (with nipple!) is okay by me. Overall, the movie lacked testosterone, though, don't you think?
2. Again, I contend that Karen is the best movie date ever. The obvious take is that the Spartans represent us, and we should oppose the evil Persians (okay, Iraqis, but close enough, and it looks like we're getting around to the Persians anyway) without surrender, without withdrawal, and to the death no matter what those softy Senators say. But Karen says the Spartans with their willingness to die for their beliefs, their asceticism, and their cultural ethic of militarism, are a better match for the jihadists, whereas the Persians, decadent, led by a monomaniacal egomaniac, fronted by a cadre of elite specialists rather than citizen soldiers, represent "the West" more closely. I think I even noticed on one of the tents in the background the word "Halliburton" spelled out in arabic. That Karen, she's somethin else!
3. Faramir strikes again. I'm thinking he's probably a pretty good catch now, even if he has only one eye. He's probably even a millionaire by now.
4. Really, truly, I didn't think it was all that bloody ... well pretty bloody, but certainly not compared to "Kill Bill," or many others I can think of. The violence was definitely cartoonish compared to, say, the scene in "Catch 22" where the waist gunner opened his jacket and his guts spilled out. That seemed real, and brutal.
5. We saw this in digital. Not the first I've seen, but the best theater and screen. I'm a fan. No scratchies or blips ... pretty perfect.
6. Overheard a couple of guys walking out, one of them saying "Well, I don't know that I'd say it was a work of art." Hah! It was certainly a work of art; one can dispute whether it was good art, I guess, but it was definitely art. Beautiful, very beautiful. Fantastic graphics ... and I agree with you, you could visualize the frames from the comic book right there (I imagine - I haven't seen the comic book, but it really looked like ones I've seen.) One of my favorites was the spear's shadow working it's way up the stairs of Xerxes sedan.
7. What do the Greeks think of this?
8. Ever since Peckinpah slowed down the machine-gunning scene at the end of "Bonny and Clyde," we've been hung up on lovingly-portrayed gore in slow motion. Ditto for slo-mo meaning speed, since "Elvirah Madigan" and "Chariots of Fire." It's like we're stuck with this stale idea, and I'm starting to get irritated by it. It reminds me of what Stephen Spielberg said about special effects: "Just because you spent a lot of money on it doesn't mean it deserves a lot of screen time." (Too bad his pal Lucas doesn't get that one.)
9. Xerxes started the piercing craze? Who knew? I found it hard to take him seriously ... he looked like Pinhead from "Hellraiser." Nice ride though.
10. Next year: "301."
M.
posted by Mique @ 1:33 AM
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