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revdorothyl at 06:11pm on 30/11/2006 under favorite sf reading, movie reviews, sf and religion
revdorothyl at 06:11pm on 30/11/2006 under favorite sf reading, movie reviews, sf and religionBefore I forget, yes, I did see "Casino Royale" last Sunday night, and was very positively impressed with Daniel Craig as the early James Bond.
( no real spoilers, but some mild 'Casino Royale' squeeage )
However, that's not what I meant to write about today.
No, right now I wanted to get a few thoughts off my chest -- thoughts that have been piling up there ever since I went to a matinee of "The Fountain" on Tuesday.
Admittedly, I might not have gone to see "The Fountain" if I wasn't such a big fan of Hugh Jackman, but I'll also admit that I found the film more watchable than I'd been expecting, as well as surprising in its willingness to let the viewer deal with ambiguities and uncertainties. And yes, I'd recommend it -- particularly if you like puzzles and lots of Hugh Jackman showing that he's got real acting chops.
By the way, I noticed that the reviewer of this film at the website Sci-Fi Weekly made several comparisons to the Kubrick film "2001: A Space Odyssey" (a film that never flipped any of my switches, I'll confess, but makes several of my male film buff friends drool in admiration, just thinking about it). Apparently, the comparison focuses on that tolerance of ambiguity, that willingness to leave one wondering just EXACTLY what was going on at various points. And though my chief enjoyment in puzzles is solving them, I did find it refreshing and even fun to watch a film ("The Fountain", I mean -- NOT so much "2001" because I never did care about any of the characters in that Kubrick film to the slightest degree) that was willing to make me work so hard to come up with a 'solution', and still leave open the possibility that my solution might be quite other than what the film-maker had intended.
( some spoilerish comments about 'The Fountain' )
( relating 'The Fountain' to Orson Scott Card's story 'Mortal Gods' )
Over all, I'd have to say that I'd still prefer that Orson Scott Card story to "The Fountain" -- except that the story didn't have Hugh Jackman in it! ( spoilerish summation of 'The Fountain' )
Finally, Izzy's favorite phrase from her Mayan tour guide, that "death is the road to awe", actually seems to be MORE meaningful in light of Card's short story, than it was in the context of the film itself. But, either way, the point is a good one to make, and the film was quite watchable (not to mention that Jackman was in top form in all his incarnations during the movie).
( no real spoilers, but some mild 'Casino Royale' squeeage )
However, that's not what I meant to write about today.
No, right now I wanted to get a few thoughts off my chest -- thoughts that have been piling up there ever since I went to a matinee of "The Fountain" on Tuesday.
Admittedly, I might not have gone to see "The Fountain" if I wasn't such a big fan of Hugh Jackman, but I'll also admit that I found the film more watchable than I'd been expecting, as well as surprising in its willingness to let the viewer deal with ambiguities and uncertainties. And yes, I'd recommend it -- particularly if you like puzzles and lots of Hugh Jackman showing that he's got real acting chops.
By the way, I noticed that the reviewer of this film at the website Sci-Fi Weekly made several comparisons to the Kubrick film "2001: A Space Odyssey" (a film that never flipped any of my switches, I'll confess, but makes several of my male film buff friends drool in admiration, just thinking about it). Apparently, the comparison focuses on that tolerance of ambiguity, that willingness to leave one wondering just EXACTLY what was going on at various points. And though my chief enjoyment in puzzles is solving them, I did find it refreshing and even fun to watch a film ("The Fountain", I mean -- NOT so much "2001" because I never did care about any of the characters in that Kubrick film to the slightest degree) that was willing to make me work so hard to come up with a 'solution', and still leave open the possibility that my solution might be quite other than what the film-maker had intended.
( some spoilerish comments about 'The Fountain' )
( relating 'The Fountain' to Orson Scott Card's story 'Mortal Gods' )
Over all, I'd have to say that I'd still prefer that Orson Scott Card story to "The Fountain" -- except that the story didn't have Hugh Jackman in it! ( spoilerish summation of 'The Fountain' )
Finally, Izzy's favorite phrase from her Mayan tour guide, that "death is the road to awe", actually seems to be MORE meaningful in light of Card's short story, than it was in the context of the film itself. But, either way, the point is a good one to make, and the film was quite watchable (not to mention that Jackman was in top form in all his incarnations during the movie).