First day with the new boss
Tuesday, 6 June 2006 00:42![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
earthbelow
So, it wasn't that frustrating. I think my new manager has some stuff to figure out before we get things working smoothly again.
But she was nice.
Nicer than the other woman at my office, who threw a hissy fit when I asked her to move her car because it was parked behind mine.
For those who don't know, my office has less than sufficient parking. So we park behind each other's cars.
Anyway, on to something more interesting:
I'm gonna be honest here. This was not the *best* movie ever. And while it had moments of cool, it also did not rock me like a baby the way, say, Batman Begins or Brokeback Mountain did.
And to answer the obvious question: No, I did not read the book. I can't say whether the book is good or not. But the literary snob in me is suspicious of any novel that becomes that wildly popular.
Of course, my man Paul Bettany was all over Silas. And *god* almighty was he good. There was brutality and love and insanity and devotion and moments of quietness in Silas. And frankly, though Silas was the bad guy and most definitely not the character I was supposed to invest in, I liked his scenes best. The last line, "I am a ghost". *CHILLED* me.
Tom Hanks, as far as I'm concerned, can do no wrong. This wasn't his STRONGEST performance ever, but it was good. I bought it. And even though the little spiel at the end about faith (which was supposed to, I assume, soothe the religious anxieties of the audience about ZOMG, they said Jesus made babies) was *so* preachy, I could groove to it.
Also? Ian McKellan can do even *less* wrong. I loved him when he was good (although I never actually believed he was good, 'cause you can *tell* it's his voice in the first scene on the plane. I don't care how Italian he tries to sound, you can tell it's Ian McKellan trying to speak Italian) and I loved him when he was bad. And he made his reasons for doing what he was doing sound *reasonable* instead of just "bwahahahaha, I will take over the world!" or crazy. I actually felt some sympathy for his cause.
I blew hot and cold about the actress playing Sophie in the movie. She got more Mary Sue as things went on. No, seriously. I've seen this fic before. It starts with a beautiful 15-year-old genius in Stargate Command, and then somehow, Daniel's all "Sha're who?"...and from there things get worse.
Personally, I believe the key to playing a heroine is being able to look like you actually *deserve* to be where you are and get what you're getting.
Hence characters like, say, Sam Carter have every right to show up at Stargate Command, strut their stuff, and leave men tongue tied.
I think this would've been a more interesting movie if it'd been a tragedy about Silas, or a movie about the French cop that was helping the council of Evil Italian Guys Who Play Cardinals on TV. Or even about the Teacher.
All were more interesting characters than the main two.
As far as the plot went, I had no trouble keeping up. Although as someone who's going to be recieving a minor in History in *August* and specializes in the areas of Classical History and Mediaeval History for the most part, I gotta tell you. Some of it really made me go, "Bitch please, like you even *read* anything about ACTUAL Ancient Roman religion."
The thing about all the male gods vs. the goddess and the whole balance and harmony thing? Dude, have you *MET* the Romans? Not really. Also, totally neglects the effects of Mithraism, mystery cults, the cult of Isis, and other various religions that were in Rome at the time.
You want really get the story on how the Christianization of the Roman Empire went down?
Check out "A World Full of Gods: The Strange Triumph of Christianity" by Keith Hopkins.
Especially, since, uh, the movie wanted to pretend like things instantly went from Constantine's conversion to the Knights Templar. Or that the debate over Jesus's divinity died at Nicaea. 'scuse you, Mr. Let's Be Inaccuarate About History Man. *facepalm*.
I'll give the writers credit, they do have Tom Hanks make a few somewhat reasonable arguments. But *still*.
Don't play with history unless you know the rules, junior. I don't mind people being imaginative, but do it *intelligently*. The ACTUAL history really *is* strange and rich enough to inspire a better story.
So, I stand by my original statement. Not the best movie ever, but it was entertaining. I didn't get bored and I didn't feel like it was a waste of time.
But she was nice.
Nicer than the other woman at my office, who threw a hissy fit when I asked her to move her car because it was parked behind mine.
For those who don't know, my office has less than sufficient parking. So we park behind each other's cars.
Anyway, on to something more interesting:
I'm gonna be honest here. This was not the *best* movie ever. And while it had moments of cool, it also did not rock me like a baby the way, say, Batman Begins or Brokeback Mountain did.
And to answer the obvious question: No, I did not read the book. I can't say whether the book is good or not. But the literary snob in me is suspicious of any novel that becomes that wildly popular.
Of course, my man Paul Bettany was all over Silas. And *god* almighty was he good. There was brutality and love and insanity and devotion and moments of quietness in Silas. And frankly, though Silas was the bad guy and most definitely not the character I was supposed to invest in, I liked his scenes best. The last line, "I am a ghost". *CHILLED* me.
Tom Hanks, as far as I'm concerned, can do no wrong. This wasn't his STRONGEST performance ever, but it was good. I bought it. And even though the little spiel at the end about faith (which was supposed to, I assume, soothe the religious anxieties of the audience about ZOMG, they said Jesus made babies) was *so* preachy, I could groove to it.
Also? Ian McKellan can do even *less* wrong. I loved him when he was good (although I never actually believed he was good, 'cause you can *tell* it's his voice in the first scene on the plane. I don't care how Italian he tries to sound, you can tell it's Ian McKellan trying to speak Italian) and I loved him when he was bad. And he made his reasons for doing what he was doing sound *reasonable* instead of just "bwahahahaha, I will take over the world!" or crazy. I actually felt some sympathy for his cause.
I blew hot and cold about the actress playing Sophie in the movie. She got more Mary Sue as things went on. No, seriously. I've seen this fic before. It starts with a beautiful 15-year-old genius in Stargate Command, and then somehow, Daniel's all "Sha're who?"...and from there things get worse.
Personally, I believe the key to playing a heroine is being able to look like you actually *deserve* to be where you are and get what you're getting.
Hence characters like, say, Sam Carter have every right to show up at Stargate Command, strut their stuff, and leave men tongue tied.
I think this would've been a more interesting movie if it'd been a tragedy about Silas, or a movie about the French cop that was helping the council of Evil Italian Guys Who Play Cardinals on TV. Or even about the Teacher.
All were more interesting characters than the main two.
As far as the plot went, I had no trouble keeping up. Although as someone who's going to be recieving a minor in History in *August* and specializes in the areas of Classical History and Mediaeval History for the most part, I gotta tell you. Some of it really made me go, "Bitch please, like you even *read* anything about ACTUAL Ancient Roman religion."
The thing about all the male gods vs. the goddess and the whole balance and harmony thing? Dude, have you *MET* the Romans? Not really. Also, totally neglects the effects of Mithraism, mystery cults, the cult of Isis, and other various religions that were in Rome at the time.
You want really get the story on how the Christianization of the Roman Empire went down?
Check out "A World Full of Gods: The Strange Triumph of Christianity" by Keith Hopkins.
Especially, since, uh, the movie wanted to pretend like things instantly went from Constantine's conversion to the Knights Templar. Or that the debate over Jesus's divinity died at Nicaea. 'scuse you, Mr. Let's Be Inaccuarate About History Man. *facepalm*.
I'll give the writers credit, they do have Tom Hanks make a few somewhat reasonable arguments. But *still*.
Don't play with history unless you know the rules, junior. I don't mind people being imaginative, but do it *intelligently*. The ACTUAL history really *is* strange and rich enough to inspire a better story.
So, I stand by my original statement. Not the best movie ever, but it was entertaining. I didn't get bored and I didn't feel like it was a waste of time.