Sunday Roundup – 11/21/10
You may have noticed I didn’t post anything for Thursday, for which I have a rather simple explanation:
I was worn out and didn’t want to write a mediocre blog again.
So I took the weekend to refresh and recover from a minor cold, as well as to watch Synecdoche, New York (2008); The Losers (2010); and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – in IMAX!
A few blurbs on HP7:
• Director David Yates is still at full throttle and makes generous cuts to details of the book, which is fine for book veterans and perplexing to non-book movie viewers.
• Seems like they’re really pushing for more adult themes, especially in violence and hinted sexuality.
• Composer Alexandre Desplat does wonders, and is arguably the only composer to set himself apart from and pay homage to John Williams’ original musical motif. This score marks him as a new favorite composer – period.
• Hand-cam is not a particularly good idea in an action sequence if there’s no establishing shot to put the characters in perspective and relationship to one another.
• Rupert Grint may very well find a nice career for himself in humor. Unfortunately this does not make up for the fact that on camera, he and Emma Watson have a romantic chemistry close to nil.
• This film is not recommended for people trying to get over ophidiophobia.
• I’m glad they got rid of the sperm-inspired graphics of Harry’s and Voldemort’s wands clashing. nvm
• Why are ‘villains’ always the more interesting characters?
• Harry is kind of a boring guy. Thank goodness evil stuff keeps trying to get to him or his life could possibly be absolute gray – like British food.
• It’s been over three years since the last book was released? Am I getting that old?
• Does Voldemort endorse necrophilia?
No Q&A this week, but here are some good reads and videos this week!
The Losers was a really fun movie. And funny too.
• Sins of the Grandfathers – how early life experiences can cause permanent changes in eggs and sperm
• When a Cartoon aimed to be Art – film critic Matt Zoller Seitz watches Disney’s Fantasia with his 13-year-old daughter Hannah. This is a transcript of their conversation, and a incredibly insightful one too.
• The Chuck Klosterman Interview Part 2: 30 Rock, Mad Men, The Office, Arrested Development, and why movies and TV have made us less human – courtesy of /Film.
• The World in a Frame (or a Disc) – Jim Emerson
• Longleat baby otters go quackers for a swim – This video makes me want to ditch everything in my life to go play with otters. And cheetahs. And perhaps all mammalian species that have rather fluffy offspring.
