ebonlock | Man-flesh

First and foremost, of course, the Goblet of Fire site is up with the trailer, which made me all shivery as it's far and away the grimmest looking in the series. Given how dark the book is, it's perfect. I even quite like the poster with Harry in Quidditch gear. Nice.

Second, if you don't know her work already, you should take a look at

grrliz_icons, many of the icons I'll be using over the next few days are hers, as well as my new default. Her Pop Art series kicks ass and she's got some fun Kingdom of Heaven ones that I highly recommend.

I decided after about the first fight scene about 10 minutes into the film that I would need to own this movie, the remainder of the film merely confirmed this point of view. Way better than "Gladiator", and surprisingly historically accurate, KoH has a lot going for it. Although, I must admit that having all my favorite actors in prominent roles didn't hurt one little bit.

David Thewlis stole the movie right out from under Orlando in every single scene they shared, hell he pretty much stole it from Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons as well. His character, the Hospitaler, was just superb, a man of true spirituality and faith (reminded me a bit of Cadfael actually) who could kick some serious ass when he needed to. I continue to be astonished by how much the man can convey with nothing more than a slight upturning of his lips.

Irons was wonderful, and oh that voice!

tersa,

aelfsciene and I had to go watch "The Man in the Iron Mask" afterwards just to get a little more Jeremy in our day. :) Ed Norton was all but wasted as the good, but leperous King of Jersusalem. He wasn't quite sure how to convey his character through a mask for the first half of the film, then realized he didn't need to bob his head constantly, and just acted for the second half. Still, they might've been better off with a more experienced character actor in the role.

At any rate, Marton Csokas was almost unrecognizable as the baddie Guy, I kept squinting at him and trying to see him in the blonde Celeborn wig, but to no avail. The guy who played Saladin was just incredible, and so utterly believable as a great king and deeply honorable and just man. Don't think I've ever heard of him before, though.

But the runaway surprise of the film was definitely Alexander Siddig as Nasir, his first major role since playing Dr. Bashir on DS9...and being in that awful dragon movie, but the less said about that the better. He had the second best character in the film, as loyal lieutenant to Saladin, he got to be a bit of a smartass while wearing what is arguably the most gorgeous armor in the film. When they did the first pan up of him in full armor the three of us gasped simultaneously, he was just stunning. The man's always been gorgeous, but in this film...wow.

The armor was pretty damn good and if they run this one in IMAX theaters I need to see it there to study the details more closely. I hope to hell they put a special feature on the DVD just on the costumes because oh my lord would I love to see it. The historical accuracy was good (any time I can glance at the costumes and know, ah there's a Templer, there's a Hospitaler, etc., I think they've done a reasonable job), and knowing the events that were going on at the time I knew where the plot should go, and it did, so I was happy.

It was also exceedingly nice to see a fair and honest representation of what was going on at the time and all the players involved. And doubly so to see a message about religious tolerance and rationality triumphing over zealotry (even if we know that ultimately it hasn't).

I saw "Hitchhiker's Guide" on Sunday with

cyranocyrano, and enjoyed it, though I was left at the end wondering, "Wait, did I read this book?" Hey, if LOTR can take liberties, so can this one, and I did enjoy the acting, the overall tone, the effects, the writing, and damn did they have a kickass theme. I'm going to be singing "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish" for days. :)

Got in some serious exercise time afterwards, walking a couple of miles between rain storms, doing an abs set and then a lower body routine, so I'm feeling slightly less sluggish today. Went to the World Market and they had no more Chummus (sad) but they did have Tofutti Cream Cheese (no dairy products, just soy), which I had to try. Also got two loads of laundry done, packed away all my winter stuff and pulled out all my summer clothes. Finally finished the mixes I needed to and am sending one out tomorrow, so that's done. Oh and I finished two books. The last DS9 one about the Dominion left me puzzled and uncertain I like the direction they're taking the Founders in, but sadly nobody else seems to have gotten that far in the books so I can't bounce ideas off anyone. :(