Saturday Report

Once again, cashew has done a much better (and faster) job than me on the recap of our Saturday together.

I actually had a pretty late breakfast that morning, so I decided to skip lunch and just get a boba drink. I tried the Chrysanthemum Pearl Tea at the Sweetheart Cafe. Mmmmm... it was good. Sweet with the faint taste of flowers. I'm going to have to look for Chrysanthemum tea in the stores now. ^_^

"Starsky and Hutch"? Slashy, verily. Goodness, they had more mushy scenes together than a lot of hetero couples in a non-romance movie. About the only thing they didn't have is a kiss scene and a nudity sce--oh wait, I suppose the dinky towels scene sorta counts... make that "and a sex scene".

Troy looks very nice. I'm really curious about how they're going to end it though. The Iliad ended *before* the Trojan Horse and the fall of Troy. But ending the movie somewhere after Achilles dies doesn't make for a very coherent storyline. Cinematically, I just don't think they can get away with showing a resolution to the war, which would have to involve the Trojan Horse 'cause *everyone* already knows that story. Which begs the question, how are they gonna film the end of the movie when two of their main leads (Hektor and Achilles) are already dead.

Likewise, it's going to be interesting to see if they mention Paris & the Golden Apples story in relation to the kidnapping of Helen. As well, the involvement of Thetis in Achilles' story, such as bringing him his new armor from Hephaestos. Since we haven't seen anyone being cast as a Greek God/dess, it's fair to guess that they're not going to be included in the film, which makes the above two parts interesting to rewrite.

Comic Relief... Read the manga "Dahlia", which cashew recommended. It was kinda freaky and somewhat confusing. The Salome story reminded me of another fanfic which was also based off the "Salome" play. "Hellsing" looked interesting. "Shadow Lady" is obviously mainly fan service. Also read the latest issue of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; the art was very nice as always, and I notice that the plot line is starting to move toward the direction of the CTHD movie, as opposed to the TV series. Also read the latest issues of some westernized Chinese comics. Not much to write about but the obvious - they had much fun slaughtering Chinese mythology.

Comics-wise, I got my hands on "Lucifer: Inferno". The Morningstar rules, as usual. Stomping demon lords and angelic champions and whatnot all without any of his powers. What's ironic is that while I was reading it, some girl came up to me and started trying to get me to join some Christian organization/charity or whatever. Gee... maybe the fact that I'm currently reading a graphic novel labeled "LUCIFER" is kinda a hint that maybe I'm not a good Christian girl? *snerk*

Also flipped through the latest issue of "Meridian" and "Negation" and the last issue of "Scion". The "Negation War" is looking to be interesting, as long as Crossgen doesn't cut and run halfway through. Didn't see "Mystic" though, darnit.

Dinner was nice, though I think I might have stuffed myself. Also noticed that the BBQ place seems to have more fat in their meats than before. Huh. Maybe the meat prices are going up again.

"Troy" Test Screening Review

The Review

A couple of things:

1. The reviewer obviously does not know his classical literature from a banana slug, so I think many of his comments, which might seem offensive to the more erudite, should be taken with a large grain of salt... like a whole bucketful.

2. Agamemmnon seems to be barbarian-ized. Though the motive "has always wanted Troy to fall under his power" is a possible hypothesis for the historical fall of Troy, I don't think it works in the context of a mythical/Homeric epic, which is what everyone else is going to be thinking of. That is, unless this movie is a documentary, they should probably stick to fiction.

3. "Don't let the advertising fool you, this is his [Eric Bana's] movie." Well, if they're going to positively portray the Trojan side through Hector instead of Paris, I suppose they might be able to make it work. Unfortunately, I've heard mixed reviews of The Hulk, Bana's last major movie.

4. It seems that Achilles isn't going to be developed as much as the Iliad did... which might account for the even lesser development of Patroclus. His part in the movie is mostly the fighting parts, and probably something with Briseis (who's also on the cast list).

5. Something cashew might be happy about: "Ignore the third billing. Aside from setting the story in motion in the beginning, Bloom is hardly in the movie." Paris, it seems, doesn't get a lot of important scenes to play. I guess his name is high up there only because of the actor's fame. It makes sense, I suppose. In the Iliad, Paris didn't play a big part either except as the instigator of the war and the shooter of Achilles.

6. Patroclus: "...the whiny little brat who plays Achilles' cousin..." Guh? I'm really hoping the guy didn't pay too much attention to Patroclus and therefore got his information wrong. Cousin? Dude.

7. Helen: The guy was too busy admiring her assets to notice anything else. Le sigh. I guess there goes another (possibly) epic movie without any strong feminine roles. But I guess taking the Gods, especially Aphrodite, out of the scenario makes Helen a much less sympathetic character.