Updatery

[handful_ofdust]

Hey, so...I'm proud to say that after having it out for over an entire week, I finally watched The Matador. And ya know? It really rocks. Pierce Brosnan taking the mickey out of himself doesn't get any better, unless paired (as it is here) with Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis as the sweetest yet least stupid couple in the world, former high school lovers who've been married fourteen years and survived the death of their only child, yet still like to fuck on top of the washing machine with unapologetic enthusiasm. Weinstein Group, for the win! (Except in terms of money, I guess...oh well.)

In other news, I also rented 30 Days of Night, which is exactly as good as I remember it being--and man, my Ben Foster obsession is getting pretty funny, because this time I found myself staring at the bad hair, bad teeth, bad self-upkeep of all possible types Renfield he plays in it and thinking: Wow, that's the ruin of a really attractive guy, there. I mean, he could just take a bath and swish with Scope, and I might even hit that. (Granted, probably not right after he'd had his usual dinner of whiskey and/or rum plus a big bowl of raw hamburger--or, as I like to call it, "Mad Cow sashimi".) Also amusing: Realizing that Foster is only slightly taller than Melissa George, while Josh Hartnett looms over both of them like a fucking parka-clad tree.

I still like the Eben/Stella dynamics better than in the graphic novel, mainly because difficult on both sides is always a bit more interesting to me than oh-I-love-you-so-much, never-leave-me (SHIT!) will ever be. And I like the little subtextual things I keep thinking I see George herself slip in, here and there--the way that Stella obviously really personally digs on being able to carry a gun and threaten people with it, for example, vs. the way she talks Eben down from almost giving Foster what he wants in the "They didn't take me."/"Who did they take?"/"They didn't take me." scene. Like what she's saying is: No, you're better than that...better than ME. Don't do it just because I would. By the time we get where we're going, that last look on her face utterly convinces me that there could indeed be Dark Days ahead, if Dark Horse and Ghost House decide to shell out for them.

At any rate: I've already sketched out a short story with a main character who's like my own exploration of the Stranger, indulging once more in my many Renfield issues, so that's a partial weekend well-spent. But my head's been low-grade hurting all day, so it's just been a grind of chores otherwise. Really hope Steve's up for something when you comes back, aside from falling over.

Comments

[sovay]

I finally watched The Matador. And ya know? It really rocks.

It does. It's like a three-character play, except if it had been a play with Pierce Brosnan I would never have been able to afford tickets, so let's hear it for film.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Good point! Me either, and I also probably wouldn't've been able to reach wherever it was playing in time to get seats before it closed, anyhow. So there ya go.;)

[harriet-spy.livejournal.com]

By the way, have you seen In Bruges? It was a little Matador-feeling to me.

[baggyeyes]

See In Bruges! Great movie. If you can find it.

[baggyeyes]

Sorry about that - I should have said, yes, Gemma - see In Bruges. In a different reply all together.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

I have not, and sadly--given my usual patterns--it seems unlikely I'll see it until it comes out on DVD. But at least I won't have to deal with the yobs who make every theatre-going experience I have these days nigh-unbearable; that's a plus.

[baggyeyes]

In other news, I also rented 30 Days of Night, which is exactly as good as I remember it being--and man, my Ben Foster obsession is getting pretty funny, because this time I found myself staring at the bad hair, bad teeth, bad self-upkeep of all possible types Renfield he plays in it and thinking: Wow, that's the ruin of a really attractive guy, there. I mean, he could just take a bath and swish with Scope, and I might even hit that.

You know, I saw Foster recently on a program, talking about 30 Days of Night, and had a real shock. The man was bald! Not merely fuzzy, but cue-ball bald. I think it was for a Comic's-fest. Anyway, I am really interested in checking this one out. I've been interested in the Vampire genre for a long time now. Ever since I was a kidlet, actually.

Do you recommend watching it during the day for people with anxiety issues?

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Well...maybe during the day. It's pretty hard-core, full-on horror, with a big tone of doom and gloom right from the get-go. I personally found it enthralling and gorgeous in a way that I know 99.9% of the rest of humanity doesn't seem to share, but then, I yam what I yam, y'know? So YMMV.

As for Bald Ben, meanwhile--I think that was probably for the role he had immediately after that, the one he'd just wrapped when he did the Out magazine shoot. A drug-dealer on the New York club circuit? Something like that. Man's got a pretty nice skull, though, you have to admit.;)

[baggyeyes]

Why, yes he does.

[theengineer.livejournal.com]

The Matador features excellant performances all around, really an overlooked film. I had just previously seen Hope Davis in American Splendor (another great movie) and her completely different yet still completely belivable character just underlines what a good actress she is.