3 posts tagged “prince caspian”
I went to see Prince Caspian tonight and I don't know where to start. I guess I'll begin with the story. It was so badly adapted and the story was so horribly chopped up and regurgitated that it came across to me like bad fanfic. I didn't love the book by any means but it at least was cohesive. Watching the movie you didn't know why anything was happening and they removed all of the background story for the characters out so you didn't understand anyone's motivation beyond the bare knuckles. And then, beyond the sad script, was the rather unenthused acting. Ben-I-am-hott-Barnes couldn't manage to keep his accent and that made me want to cry. The Pevensie's are just an ugly bunch of kids and they introduce a romance between Susan and Prince Caspian. Please. Please, take that part back. I am rather ambivalent about the whole experience but that love story makes me really mad. I don't care about my $12.50, I don't care that it was 2.5 hours. I think in no time it will wash from my memory completely, like the first movie. But I implore you to read the book rather than wasting the time on the film. The effects aren't that mind blowing.
I am about 250 pages from the end of A Sweet Far Thing and I really hate Libba Bray. There is just no way that good things can really come from the mess she has unveiled. I had hopes for this book, that it would have a great deal more of Kartik in it, but I think it's even less than Rebel Angels. I love some of the scenes she has with Gemma and Kartik, but she marks them all with an awful exclamation point. Since I spoiled myself concerning the end with Kartik I can't say that she is particularly good to him in this book and that makes me really sad. I wish Ann and Felicity were left behind in the realms. They are really annoying. I actually am annoyed with 90% of what Gemma does and I don't know how it is that I claim this trilogy as something I like. But I would read it again. I would love to get it on audiobook so D can listen to it.
Nothing has been going on in the Twilight fandom since Wednesday. It makes me antsy when nothing is happening. I need the constant influx of information or I feel like it's being forgotten. But it is the weekend now and Tuesday will be Twilight Tuesday. Then after that will be the book signing on Thursday. Although I know that will be more Host related, but somebody, maybe me, will ask a Twilight question. I have to think hard and come up with something never asked before. I think I'm formulating one right now.
I bought two new books today. I will have to read The Host before Thursday, so it will be a few days until I get around to reading them. One is The Blue Girl by Charles De Lint and the other is Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. Both are YA books but I don't think that means anything at all. I hope it doesn't anyway. I also have plans of reading a book D has been wanting me to read forever called Sword Dancer by Jennifer Roberson. That is a pretty good reading pile.
I am about 250 pages from the end of A Sweet Far Thing and I really hate Libba Bray. There is just no way that good things can really come from the mess she has unveiled. I had hopes for this book, that it would have a great deal more of Kartik in it, but I think it's even less than Rebel Angels. I love some of the scenes she has with Gemma and Kartik, but she marks them all with an awful exclamation point. Since I spoiled myself concerning the end with Kartik I can't say that she is particularly good to him in this book and that makes me really sad. I wish Ann and Felicity were left behind in the realms. They are really annoying. I actually am annoyed with 90% of what Gemma does and I don't know how it is that I claim this trilogy as something I like. But I would read it again. I would love to get it on audiobook so D can listen to it.
I bought two new books today. I will have to read The Host before Thursday, so it will be a few days until I get around to reading them. One is The Blue Girl by Charles De Lint and the other is Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. Both are YA books but I don't think that means anything at all. I hope it doesn't anyway. I also have plans of reading a book D has been wanting me to read forever called Sword Dancer by Jennifer Roberson. That is a pretty good reading pile.
Yesterday afternoon I finally finished Stardust the book. I loved the ending. I got over my annoyance with Yvaine and I loved the subtle way things played out. I thought the book was really good. Then last night I watched the movie, which is a lovely thing unto itself... maybe brilliant if you hadn't read the book. I didn't like the adaptation of the end of the book. I could have done without the big showdown that is in the movie. Give me the book's bittersweet ending over the movie's rather diabetically induced sugarfest. But I did like the movie, so long as I thought of it as something entirely separate from the book. I only pray, I won't be saying that same line when Twilight comes out.
I did like Ben Barnes as the hapless young Dunstan Thorn. I think the boy is very pretty and I am just a sucker for the pretty. I also liked Claire Danes as Yvaine. I loved Charlie Cox in Casanova and I thought he was perfect for Tristran/Tristan. I did not like Kate Magowan as the Slave Girl/Una. I thought she was a bit odd for the part. I pictured someone tinier, more agile and pixie-like. I also imagined the fair Victoria as a lot better looking than Sienna Miller. I did love Mark Strong as Septimus. He's still my second favorite character of the book. And De Niro as Captain Shakespeare was entertaining, even if they built that character entirely for the movie and he is not the man he was in the book. Oh and I didn't like Michelle Pfieffer at all. I thought she was just cheap compared to the rest.
Back to Ben Barnes, I also finished Prince Caspian. It was a quick and sometimes pedantic read. The voice that the entire book is written in is so obviously masculine that sometimes it feels rather cardboard. I don't know how to actually describe it. It's just a shallowness. Like if a male is telling a story where you aren't really described the situation, but you are getting a summation. I am looking forward to the movie at the end of the week. I am hoping that I find this more memorable than The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe movie. I just can't say that I recall a whole lot of what actually happens in the first. This is the bane of being un-fan-like about something.
I am hemming and hawing now, whether to read The Host or A Sweet Far Thing. I have missed Kartik this last week without him. I even found Gemma Doyle fanfic and I couldn't read it without spoiling myself. Of course, because it is my way, I did manage to spoil myself some anyway. It's not as bad as last time where my nosiness spoiled me for the end of Rebel Angel's. This is more of a 'and after everything that happens, this happens' thing. I will stop talking about before I write it out and spoil Belle. So I guess I just made my decision. I will be reading, A Sweet Far Thing next. I wouldn't be sad if that got made into a movie. I don't have a clue as to who would play Gemma or Kartik. I would love for Kate Winslet to play Miss Moore. I don't know who I would have play Gemma's mother or father. Could I pick Charlie Cox to play Thomas though? And Pippa, Felicity and Ann... *sigh*. Too hard. I have one person cast in my version of A Great and Terrible Beauty. I will have to keep it a work in progress.
Tonight, Belle is coming over for us to watch the Ring of the Nibelung
or otherwise known as... Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King. It has Benno
Furmann and Robert Pattinson in it. Benno Furmann played Inspector
Detector in Speed Racer. We rented it to see Rob. We aren't hoping for a lot from it. It is a made for TV movie. But hey, it could happen, it could be the best made for TV movie ever.
Back to Ben Barnes, I also finished Prince Caspian. It was a quick and sometimes pedantic read. The voice that the entire book is written in is so obviously masculine that sometimes it feels rather cardboard. I don't know how to actually describe it. It's just a shallowness. Like if a male is telling a story where you aren't really described the situation, but you are getting a summation. I am looking forward to the movie at the end of the week. I am hoping that I find this more memorable than The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe movie. I just can't say that I recall a whole lot of what actually happens in the first. This is the bane of being un-fan-like about something.
I am hemming and hawing now, whether to read The Host or A Sweet Far Thing. I have missed Kartik this last week without him. I even found Gemma Doyle fanfic and I couldn't read it without spoiling myself. Of course, because it is my way, I did manage to spoil myself some anyway. It's not as bad as last time where my nosiness spoiled me for the end of Rebel Angel's. This is more of a 'and after everything that happens, this happens' thing. I will stop talking about before I write it out and spoil Belle. So I guess I just made my decision. I will be reading, A Sweet Far Thing next. I wouldn't be sad if that got made into a movie. I don't have a clue as to who would play Gemma or Kartik. I would love for Kate Winslet to play Miss Moore. I don't know who I would have play Gemma's mother or father. Could I pick Charlie Cox to play Thomas though? And Pippa, Felicity and Ann... *sigh*. Too hard. I have one person cast in my version of A Great and Terrible Beauty. I will have to keep it a work in progress.
Today it is only 18 days until the 31st. I am hoping to be awake and coherent at 10AM that day to go to the bookstore and read the Special Edition Version of Eclipse for the Breaking Dawn chapter 1. I have tried to talk D into buying me the new version but as I want the paperback versions too, he's not as convinced to buy every version that comes out. So I might be living at the bookstore reading and rereading the chapter until 2 August. How pathetic. But it can't be helped. I feel like I've been waiting for this forever and it hasn't been a month. I can't imagine how those who read Eclipse when it came out feel. They are probably heavily medicated.
In the LA Times for tomorrow is an article with pictures about Twilight. I scanned them because they were pretty and should be shared. The first one shows Catherine Hardwicke and the production team getting a shot. The second one shows the Nomads and the third is a gorgeous picture of Bella and Edward.
Also I went to get my tickets today for the Stephenie Meyer book signing in two weeks. And low and behold I find out the signing is at Torrance High School, aka Buffy's High School. We drove by it today while we were down there. It was all closed up but I still have all my photos from when I went there and re-enacted scenes from Graduation. I haven't watched Buffy in months. I miss it. But I have my tickets and I know where I'm going and I have three copies of The Host now too. We have to go and return them. I think more than having my copy of The Host personalized, I want my Twilight copy signed. Although that means I will have to buy another copy of that so I will have a reading copy and a special copy.
While at the book store I got a copy of C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian. I
can't see the movie until I've read the book and I kind of want to see
the movie. It was a cheap book. It will be painless to read. I hope. Of
course I still have to finish Stardust. And to complicate things further I need to read chapter 7: Nightmare, from Twilight, in my reading circle with Jason. I have to do my thought summary sometime tonight. And in the car, David and I are on chapter 11: Cult, in New Moon. I am a little torn in too many directions with books. But it's okay, I will deal with it. Soon I'll be like new again and I'll be back to reading a book a day.
Going back to my Stephenie Meyer obsession, there is an excellent NPR story on her here. I love how much attention she is getting. I really do hope that this gets the fires burning so that when the movie comes out there is a real buzz going and it succeeds. I worried when I read the production budget went from 35 million to 60 million. That made it all that many more seats that have to be filled. And I don't want the movie to just break even, I want the franchise. I worry for it. I need to up my Geodon.
Going back to my Stephenie Meyer obsession, there is an excellent NPR story on her here. I love how much attention she is getting. I really do hope that this gets the fires burning so that when the movie comes out there is a real buzz going and it succeeds. I worried when I read the production budget went from 35 million to 60 million. That made it all that many more seats that have to be filled. And I don't want the movie to just break even, I want the franchise. I worry for it. I need to up my Geodon.
