Thursday, October 25, 2007

stardust

i've finally seen it.

the senior actors take this one. robert de niro as the sky captain and michelle pfeiffer as lamia were perfect! i'm glad they had a lot of air time. the sky captain only had a short appearance in the book but his extra time on screen was quite welcome. peter o' toole's cameo was short but striking. and the seven brothers were hilarious. ditchwater sal, the goat, the boy... they were quite fun! sienna miller IS victoria forrester. she was able to portray that manipulative but irresistable "true love" well.

taking away the R from tristran to tristan was forgivable. it isn't really an easy word to say... tristran... it's a bit of a tongue twister. yet it also took away a bit of his magic, that bit of him from the other side of the wall. charlie cox does a charming portrayal, however. makes tristan quite pinch-the-cheeks adorable but turns dashing with the "make-over."

as most of you know... i didn't like claire daines as yvaine. and it was more painful for me to watch her play one of my favorite gaiman characters. there weren't enough tantrums... and she was... too in-love with tristan. i imagined her to be feisty to the end... resistant of her feelings for the boy until the witch lamia reveals to her. and she's just too old to be the star. twice the age i imagined yvaine to be. that kinda diminished the level of wow i felt for the movie.

the scoring didn't help either. there was just too much music. it kept distracting me from the dialogue. jan was disappointed with the script and the direction. i won't say i was. i guess i just didn't feel as much magic as i did in the book. though the special effects were spectacular, i love how she glows. i just wished she did it with her back to me. haha!

and they changed my favorite part of the book... maybe that's why i didn't like it as much. for those who read it... it was when lamia discovers there wasn't a heart to take anymore. i guess it got "too adult" when they turned it into a grand fight scene kinda made me feel... "aw mehn..." but i was laughing like a loon with septimus and tristan's fight scene though. ayos yun, mehn. haha!

i want to see it again though. maybe it was because i didn't get to see the movie properly, having started in the middle. but all in all, it was fun and enjoyable and fantastic and a movie i'd tell everyone to see (well, i've been telling everyone to see it and they ended up seeing it before i did. hahaha!).

now that stardust is out of the way... on to beowulf! (but i have to re-read this one... i barely remember what happened in this epic poem)

10 comments:

Lightheaded said...

I really liked the movie. I laughed a lot and enjoyed the scenes and as much as possible tried not to think of the book from the very start.

Yeah, my favorite part in the book was when Lamia discovered that Yvaine's heart is not hers anymore but that scene would fall apart in terms of all the action that has transpired if translated to the big screen.

I can't say that I like the change more than the book, it's different but it didn't change the essence of the tale. To me, the movie retained the charm and magic of the book.

And now everytime I hear the cancan I'd probably picture Robert De Niro dancing to it with purple/red feathers. Which is oh so funny and so not right a thought.

Anonymous said...

I just watched it last night, and I loved it too. But you're right... Claire Danes isn't quite the right Yvaine. Who would you have rathered play the part? I haven't been able to come up with the perfect answer.

cross eyed bear said...

i feel terrible that i didn't love it as much as people wanted me to. haha! i think kasalanan ni jan to because he kept mentioning na pangit ang scoring, the script wasn't too gaiman... yada-yada. naimpluwensiyahan yata ako.

as for casting of yvaine...
emma watson at 18.
ali larter at 18.
hayden of heroes right now. (jan's pick)
julia stiles! (my pick) mej old na rin siya though. hehe!

basta di si claire daines! haha.

Lightheaded said...

Isang hirit pa. Medyo scientific.

The star's not supposed to be young.

I never pictured someone young even in the book. Even when I see the Charles Vess drawings. Yvaine wasn't young to me. Mwahaha! Maybe that's why I never had a problem with Claire Danes. Mwahaha!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the movie and read the book afterwards...I think that was a good thing since I used images from the movie during my reading and nothing really was "messed up" since I didn't expect the book to follow along the same route as the movie. I felt the book was much better in terms of depth and the movie much more exciting...

Anonymous said...

I think Hayden is a good pick, come to think of it. Or Alicia Silverstone in her Clueless hey-day para talagang brat. :) Hehehe...

BabyPink said...

i've neither read the book nor watched the movie yet, but i plan to read the book first. 'yung beowulf, 'yan 'yung anjan daw si miss jolie?:)

Anonymous said...

hey anj!

watched the movie finally (remember when I said i'll watch it?)! hehe.

haven't read the book so i was a "newbie" and took the movie as it is and probably lost the nuances and back stories. i would probably start complaining-- in-hindsight-- after i read the book. hehe.

thanks for the advance hype. that--more than anything else-- made me watch the movie. :-)

cross eyed bear said...

jason: i'm glad you liked it too. i liked it but not as much as i wanted to, and not as much as others wanted me to. which was a little sad.

bunny: i've always felt she was young because tristran was coming of age age. haha! but well... i wanted yvaine to be feistier and more resistant of her feelings.

babypink: that's it, diane!

ang peregrino: it's a good movie. just one that is overscored. there were a lot of great moments there... but i guess it missed some of the things i was hoping for. do enjoy the book. its wunnerful!

cross eyed bear said...

tin: di ba? she has that kind of personality for yvaine. hehe!