I suspect this ended up on our Netflix list at one point because of Liam Neeson and Orlando Bloom. At a later point we watched a trailer and were not impressed. I’m surprised we didn’t yank it. So, the recent batch of Netflix came without careful selection and this movie arrived. We sat down to watch last night with the lowest of expectations, and we were delightedly surprised. An entertaining and engaging story, which had me immediately turn to reading up on the time depicted.

The character played by Orlando Bloom is highly fictionalized compared to the historic person of Balian of Ibelin but provides a nice canvas on which to paint an ideal of a war leader, one who cares about the less powerful, one who makes intelligent use of his forces in defensive contexts. I regret to read the actual Balian did not quite win free passage for all the citizens of the surrendered city, but it was close enough.

I am struck by the speech given by Liam Neeson in the early part of the film, of the East being a new world where one could find opportunity. Apparently, the Ibelin family had achieved nobility rather quickly in the East. I contrast this with the social effects of the Conquistadors leaving Spain, ponder the origins of the United States, “The American Dream”....

What’s struck me so far is the work of Ishu Patel. “Paradise” and “Bead Game” are included.
http://www.nfb.ca/animation/objanim/en/filmmakers/filmmaker/overview.php?id=12772

This legacy must be part of why Christine and I are delighted whenever we see “Vancouver Film School” on a Channel Frederator short.

We’ve watched this slowly and found it absolutely wonderful. I find Bill Murray’s Polonious captures the pendantic pomposity and political posturing i associated with the character more powerfully than i’ve seen.

The movement of the setting and characters into year 2000 while keeping the language of Shakespeare provide wonderful ways to invite more commentary on the well known text. When Hamlet delivers the soliloquy in Block Buster, the repetition of the signs saying “ACTION” “ACTION” “ACTION” “ACTION” give a wonderful urgency to the familiar words.

When the library DVD started failing, we were completely unmotivated to try to fix it or get the movie running again. I didn’t care about any of the characters, and could not be compelled down the path of watching them transform. I preferred reading the community college catalog of courses; an ironic preference, i suppose. Why did Christine’s sister recommend this?

There are many reasons to find this book delightful, but i particularly found the evocation of place wonderful. San Francisco, Berkeley, Mill Valley, and - i was surprised to find - Rocky Mount. I know the landscapes myself, and i delighted in visiting them in the ebullient descriptions.

I’ve Turtle Island by Gary Snyder to read soon—that answers some of the question about where Japhy Ryder ended up.

Stories from 1920 through (and mainly from) the late 1950’s, a main character in the stories is often the planet itself, often in the role of antagonist. There are a few stories on the line of “clever space patrol officer saves the day,” but often the planetary conditions are the focus—not tech, not politics, not social conflict. Nothing screams that its out of date except for the role of women; yet there’s a respect for women as intelligent and competent agents that comes through clearly and rather obscures the dated roles.

I particularly liked the series about the “Colonial Survey Officer” and the thread of his struggle with ego and confidence as well as the puzzles of how certain problems would be solved.

“Worth consuming” may not be quite the right descriptor—utterly surreal? The juxtaposition of the 1960’s film style (including the musical numbers), the clothing and colors, the polished French country home against the banal and horrible is unforgettable.

IMDB notes

I enjoyed this, having recently readThe Wizard of Oz so i knew a great deal more of the backstory on the Tin Man. His story is a bit of the tragic romance, briefly told, and then apparently elaborated upon in a later Oz novel. Wikipedia has a nice overview of Baum’s story.

This retelling has some great contemporary twists, and is quite well told and acted. It’s distilled movie making and story telling, and in just a short time packs more emotional and thoughtful content than evenings of some full length movies.

Simple yet powerful and raw. “The IMDB notes”: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0933745/ have a good review.

Definitely a challenging film, constructed with documentary realism at the beginning, progressing to be more layered and collaged towards the end. This effect parallels, to some extent, the progression of Munch’s challenging content. Very powerful and as a work itself it can stand in context with Munch’s art.

The film is also useful in illuminating European fin de siècle attitudes around politics, sexuality, the role of women.

I do wish i had known “it was originally created as a three-part miniseries” as it is a bit long for one sitting.