Tonight I went to a press screening for the first time in a while. I saw Stardust, and here's my review: It's ok. Like an original musical many of us saw at OAM, it is based on the work of Neil Gaiman; however, unlike said musical, this movie did not make me want to tear my hair out. It's not a masterpiece of cinema, but it's mostly fun and the scenery is pretty. The love story is handled way too seriously. There's this group of snarky dead princes, who hang around and snark at things, but when things gets schlocky and you really need them, they're never there. I'm subtracting points for an extended lame gay joke (men in dresses are funny!) and Michelle Pfeiffer in horrific old-lady makeup, adding a point for Ricky Gervais, and ending up with about a 6 out of 10.
I went to press screenings fairly often when I'd just started my old job, but eventually it was too much trouble - nobody's reviewed them, obviously, so it's hard to judge which movies are going to be lousy. Thus did I see the suckfest that was Raising Helen. On the plus side, I saw The Constant Gardener (Ralph Fiennes, let me heal your wounds) and Princess Diaries 2 (a "plus" because J.Chu won a prize in the trivia quiz).
But now we're starting up blogs at work, and if you've got a blog, hey - why not review movies? My current employer is not generally thought of as an outlet for movie reviews. The lady who runs the screenings is making us justify every movie we request - apparently she hasn't noticed that [my former employer] hasn't run a movie review in years - so we're hoping to wear her down by finding some tenuous link between our areas of interest and every movie that comes out for the next several months.
To see the fruits of my labors and the tenuousness of the link to Stardust, check the blog later this week. If you go to the website of my employer and start poking around, you'll get lost, so here are your instructions: Google the two-word name of my employer followed by the medium I write for. (Hint: it's not radio.) Ignore the first result and click on the one that actually matches what you googled. Click on "Blogs." Click on the blog with the best name.
Pretty great name, huh? Bookmark it and visit often.
8 comments:
Don't forget the fabulousness that was Code 56, or Code 42, or whatever the hell it was. I've blocked it from my memory but if I could remember the name of it, it would definitely be in my worst movies ever list. You know what movie I'm talking about.
Oh yes I do! I want to say Code 46, was that it? It was truly dreadful.
Ooh, it's like a treasure hunt! Yay, I found the one with the coolest name! Now to await your professional opinion on Stardust...
I think I found it! With a blog of that name, you should get to go to all the movies you want.
I looked it up, it's Code 46. And the rating on IMDB isn't nearly as awful as it should be. Evidently there were people who actually liked the movie.
I've bookmarked your other blog. Do you owe me a makeup movie for taking me to code 46?
Um. If you're thinking of the original musical at OAM that I'm thinking of, I played cello in the pit orchestra. Though I give props to someone writing their own full-length musical, it was difficult watching it over and over at rehearsals and performances. Really difficult. So difficult, I've blocked the name of the show from memory.
Oh, wow, Po. I only saw it once. I remember searching for something nice to say about it and coming up with: Great costumes, eh?
I couldn't even come up with that. Except the tree costumes were all right.
That may have been the worst piece of theater I have seen in my entire life. And only partially tainted by my overall loathing of musicals...
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