- Stardust:
- Day Watch:
- The Brave One
- Butterfly on a Wheel:
It’s a fairy tale. Based on Neil Gaiman’s novel, Stardust tells the story of a man who crossed over to a forbidden forest to retrieve a star that fell in order to win the heart of an ego-centric young woman. The star takes the shape of a beautiful woman sought after by princes fighting over the throne and witches who need to reverse their aging.
The actors who played the lead characters, Charlie Cox (Tristan) and Claire Danes (the star, Yvaine), deliver so-so performances but the film is saved by the supporting cast, specifically Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro and Peter O’Toole. They were just magnificent.
The story itself is nothing extraordinary save for its dark humor. I suppose that’s what makes it appealing to adults rather than the costumes and the set (Narnia‘s was more awesome) or the visual effects (duh, after The Matrix, nothing seems surprising anymore). I especially like the characterization of the King’s sons, the princes who had to compete with each other in finding a gem to prove his worth to succeed his father. That man will kill even his own brother in order to gain vast power is a reality we don’t like to admit but our refusal to admit doesn’t make it less true.
Stardust is worth seeing for its entertainment value. Gosh, seeing Robert De Niro dance the cancan in petticoats should be enough reason to see it.
Oh, gosh. We had to buy a DVD copy of the film after seeing it on the wide screen because we couldn’t make out half of what was happening. It is a vampire film with some added twists and depth but since Day Watch is a sequel to Night Watch, it might have been better if we had seen the first film beforehand. Too bad. Perhaps, when I have seen Night Watch and re-watched Day Watch, I will be able write something about them.
Jodie Foster must be the female counterpart of Kevin Costner when it comes to an insistence to play only roles that make her look larger than life and more heroic than cartoon book superheroes. I mean, since The Accused, Jodie Foster just couldn’t stop stereotyping herself. Sure, she appears strong. But, more than that, she often seems overly intense in a Tom Cruise kind of way which makes her look overacting all the time.
The Brave One is a story about an engaged couple, Erica Bain and David Kirmani, who took a stroll in the park where they encountered punks who beat them up just for fun. Kirmani dies; Bain barely survives. Overcoming her trauma, she becomes a vigilante. If you’re a moralist, you won’t like the way the story ends.
Neil Randall (Gerard Butler) is a successful executive. His wife Abby (Maria Bello) gave up her career to raise their daughter Sophie. They were wealthy beautiful people living the American Dream until the day when they found Tom Ryan (Pierce Brosnan) at the back of their Range Rover and the 24-hour nightmare began. Ryan says that the babysitter watching over Sophie would kill the child if they didn’t do as Ryan says. He makes them clean out their savings account, sets the money on fire and throws it into the river. Clearly, money is not what Ryan wanted. A total control freak, he manipulates the Randalls, pulling strings that makes them go on a terrifying emotional and mental roller coaster until, in the end, he hands Neil a gun ordering him to kill the lone occupant of a house which Abby understands to belong to her husband’s boss.
If you’ve seen The Wild Things and liked the twists, turns and surprising ending, you will like Butterfly on a Wheel. What is apparent is not always real. Don’t expect sex though as it has none. Pierce Brosnan is wickedly convincing. Even Gerard Butler managed to appear pitifully helpless despite his size and macho image especially after 300.
On my “to watch” list:
- The Golden Compass
- Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets
- Beowulf
- Martian Child
Now, I gotta get back to my reading. Neil Gaiman’s American Gods is waiting.
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I got the DVDs priced at 100 each. I got Princess Bride, Gulliver’s Travels, Jason and the Argonauts, Chocolat, etc.
Wow, you got them cheaper. Next time, will look for Chocolat. Love that one. Princess Bride too.
Got them at Astrovision ShangriLa. They have Life is Beutiful, The Monkey King, Alice in Wonderland, The Cider House Rules, She’s All that too.
Wow, all the things they rarely show on cable. Cable TV sucks big time these days.
mr. brooks and fracture are really good movies.
Princess Bride’s always on my list of best films of all time. Mandy Patinkin, and Andre the Giant are wonderful in it, not to mention the short (pardon the pun) bit of Wallace Shawn. Biggest crush on Cary Elwes when he was young and cute.
I have two DVD copies, including the special edition 20th anniversary with more interviews of the cast and crew.
Connie, I also saw Mr. Brooks on DVD this weekend. Good movie. It’s a scary thought, though, that there maybe a Mr. Brooks in our midst. Chocolat is one of my favorites, and so is The Notebook. One classic movie I really like is An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Never fails to make me cry everytime I watch it.
Tip: DVDs priced at 100 each available at National Bookstore ShangriLa. There’s Dirty Dancing, King Kong, Deer Hunter, the Rambo series, etc.
Blue pala ang eyes ni ET. :p
The Stardust novel was so much better than the film. Of course, the film’s script was very Hollywood. :/
Mila, I saw The Princess Bride long ago. Big screen. With Beowulf coming up, it would be interesting to see how much Robin Wright has evolved as an actress.
Josie, someone told me once that all kinds of psychopaths live among us. We just don’t notice. Or, if they’re someone we know, we’re too quick to dismiss their behavior as “quirks.”
Em, kakaladkarin ko na talaga si Speedy sa Shangri-La soon. hehehehe
Mitch, actually, ewan kung blue. But what a great excuse to watch the movie again to find out if MY E.T.’s eyes are right. hahahahaha
Toni, isn’t that the way with most adaptations. Even the Harry Potter movies are lame compared to the books. Even Class A movies like The Shawshank Redemption would be “great” if one hasn’t read the story on print.
wow im a sucker for romantic movies also. love princess bride, the notebook, shining through, chocolat and stardust. had a crush also kay cary elwes
maybelle, romance never goes out of style ba?
If you like Denzel Washington like I do (I maybe old but I’m not dead yet . . lol), watch “American Gangster”. The guy is gorgeous aside from being a very good actor. Mel Gibson was my favourite, too, until his crazy drunken outburst. Oh, well, I still like him as an actor. For other movies, I saw both “The Illusionist” and “Prestige” and they’re both good, except I like the latter better. I like romantic, thriller (no horror please) and good action movies. I haven’t seen “Fracture” yet, but your review makes me want to borrow the movie this weekend. Thanks, Connie.
Hi Josie. I never miss a Denzel Washington movie hehehehe My favorite is Man on Fire. Mel Gibson was a favorite too but I got weirded out with his projects during the past few years — the Jesus movie and Apocalypto especially. Don’t know what kind of artistic phase he’s going through.
Saw both The Prestige and Illusionist too. The Prestige I had heard about before watching (had to watch in DVD because they wouldn’t let my younger daughter inside the movie house because of the R rating) and it surpassed my expectations. The Illusionist, I didn’t know about, so when it turned out great, we were so thrilled. Edward Norton is one fine actor.
Hi Connie,
I love your blog…always a good read. I found it through Geri (http://geri.tabulas.com).
All the movies you have listed here are in my faves list. Just watched Mr. Brooks this morning. Love the plot too.
You might also want to check “The Lives of Others”… very nice movie about writers before the fall of Berlin Wall. It is subtitled though as the entirety of the movie is in German.
Keep writing
Hi Little Sky, you know that I crave for European and Asian movies? I do. Sometimes, I just get so sick of Hollywoodish films. But movies with subtitles aren’t always easy to find here, sadly. Have to double efforts to find them.