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The One Ring Forums:
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The Impossible - Oz The Great and Powerful - Woman in White:
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Magpie
Elvenhome
May 20 2013, 3:22pm
Views: 1371
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The Impossible - Oz The Great and Powerful - Woman in White
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Both The Impossible and Oz were at the theater (second run).
I guess I wanted to see The Impossible mostly because of the accolades it had received. My interest in disaster films also stems, in part, from my fascination with weather and natural occurrences . But I don't think that played heavily into wanting to see this.
It was a moving film. There were a few moments when I didn't feel it rang quite true - when it seemed more movie world than real world.
At one point, I asked myself... as I often do.. what does this movie want me to take away? Sometimes a movie is pure entertainment but, although The Impossible exists in the genre of entertainment media, I didn't think the goal was to 'entertain' us.
In the end, I decided that it was a very gentle message that, even in the worst of times, we can reach out and help others... and it can matter. I liked that message and I liked the quiet way it was delivered. It wasn't didactic - a word I loved learning because it described something I heartily hated.
Oz was entertaining. :-) Maybe more so because I didn't have to justify spending $10 to see it (between my ticket and the Mister's... who now gets senior pricing, we spent $2.50 each). I know I've read at least the Wizard of Oz if not more books from the series than that. But I remember almost nothing from the books. Of course, I know the Garland movie like the back of my hand since it was played yearly when I was growing up and was destination tv.
I enjoyed parts very much. I liked the monkey, Finley and the China Girl. I liked the repeated spiral motif used in overall design. I liked the nods to the Garland movie - although it's hard to discern which were straight from the book and which were sly nods to the movie. I liked the twist on the motivations of Oz becoming the Wizard we 'come to know' in the story of Dorothy.
I wasn't completely on board with the cast. Mila was okay. Franco and Williams I was less enamored with. I couldn't help but think... what is that strand of hair hanging on Glinda's face that keeps appearing and disappearing? It's stupid when it's there and distracting for continuity when it's not. And her crown evoked something from the old Flash Gorden movies for me. Billie Burke as Glinda was perfection in my eyes. So beautiful and delicate. Williams is neither beautiful or delicate and her portrayal couldn't transcend her lack of superficial satisfaction for me. And her costume also just seemed drab and pedestrian.
Overall, we enjoyed it as an evening out. It just didn't rise to any superlative heights.
The Woman in White was the Tara Fitzgerald, Andrew Lincoln version that was recommended (or mentioned) here by someone... perhaps Patty. I often get a good vibe off a movie from conversation here and stick it in my Netflix queue. Rating? - okay. Didn't mind the time I spent watching it but didn't get overly excited about it. It was fun to see Andrew Lincoln after watching him in Walking Dead. I had totally not connected him with Love Actually until I read his imdb page. He doesn't do too shabby with an American accent.
A final note. After finishing up a number of TV series dvds that came out in the fall and winter... and while waiting for the new batch releasing next month (Fairly Legal, Burn Notice, Falling Skies), I've been watching those movies and shows lingering in my queue I might want to watch 'someday'.
I got two last week,
PSI Factor - a Dan Ackroyd paranormal series
The Librarian - not a weekly series - more like the 'Sharpe' version of a series - kind of schlocky, Indiana Jones/Warehouse 13 mashup (although I think it came before W13)
Both were dismal enough that I got up after going to bed to take them out of my Netflix queue so they wouldn't come first thing this morning when a disc got returned.
I think PSI Factor suffered from the fact that only season 3 is available so we encountered a 'previously on...' message first thing. It was one of those shows that, at least by season 3, is full of conspiracy and long arc story lines. I just wasn't invested enough to care. I was actually looking for a show I remembered the premise of but not the name and after spending 30-45 minutes doing various google searches, I tracked it down: Unexplained Mysteries. I had remembered an episode on Marfa Lights and wondered what it would be like to revisit the series. It's in my queue now, instead of PSI Factor.
And The Librarian is good, family-friendly fun. It would appeal to kids of many ages and hopefully not bore adults too much. But there just wasn't any polish to it. When a Netflix user rated the second one as worse than the first, I didn't think I could do it. That got replaced by The Warrior which I think was a recommendation from SirDennisC.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
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(This post was edited by Magpie on May 20 2013, 3:26pm)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by Magpie
(Elvenhome) on May 20 2013, 3:25pm
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Post edited by Magpie
(Elvenhome) on May 20 2013, 3:25pm
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Post edited by Magpie
(Elvenhome) on May 20 2013, 3:26pm
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