Weekend miscellanea...

[fajrdrako]

Friday I had dinner with Sheila at DuBarry's Chinese Buffet, then back at my place we watched Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Chistopher. Now, I adore Christopher Walken in just about everything I've seen him in. I've gone out of my way to avoid Leonardo DiCaprio ever since Titanic, and I generally avoid Tom Hanks, in a casual sort of way, because I seldom like his movies much.

But this one wasn't half bad. DiCaprio was actually acting - and acting well - something he doesn't always do. Hanks was... well, unobjectionable, for the most part - I didn't like the character as much as I might have with another actor. Christopher Walken was wonderful, as always.

I thought two things were particularly good about the movie: one was the opening credits, with a quirky silhouetted animation that recapitulated the whole story in advance. The other thing was the ending, unexpectedly satisfying.

Saturday, with maaseru and maaboroshi, I watched the second episode of the second season of Battlestar Galactica and I don't know how it does it but that show just gets better and better. It's brilliant. (I'm actually losing track of the many exciting cliffhangers that are going on....) Then we watched the second episode of the ninth season of Stargate SG-1. Now, I'm not a fan, but I liked the previous episode - loved the banter between Jackson and Mitchell, loved the character of Vala, and all three actors - so I gave it a try. I was horribly bored. Never again. I was somewhat shocked that maaboroshi seemed to see in it some sort of depiction or reflection of the real historical middle ages. Huh. When my intelligent, literate friends believe the Hollywood myths, how can I expect anyone else to have a clue?

Today I watched King Arthur with a pile of friends and another potluck dinner. I enjoyed it much less than I did when I saw it in the theatre; what passed for history seemed even more absurd than before, and the battle scenes went on far too long, and the character development was more in potential than in practice. However: I liked Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, and for some reason (as before) I particularly loved Mads Mikkelsen, who played Tristan - not only sexy and intriguing, he had a bird.