Movie Reviews: Blind Dating and Reclaiming the Blade

[pslasher]

Blind Dating

Here’s the exchange that went down when we got the movie in the mail yesterday:

Husband: “What‘s the movie this time?”
Me: “Blind Dating“
Hubby: “What’s it about?”
Me (paraphrased): “Well, Chris Pine is in it. It’s a rom-com, he’s blind, it’s supposed to be funny.”
Hubby (when the menu screen came up with Chris’ picture on it): “Oh, it’s got the Captain in it.”
Me: “Who, Shatner?”
Hubby: “No, the new one!”
Me: “I just told you that Chris Pine is in it!”
Hubby: “What, like I remember the guy’s name?”

Lol, apparently I’m failing in my fannish duty of properly educating my SO in all things Trek. Despite my valiant efforts, he just doesn’t remember the guy’s name. I shall have to try harder! :D

Anyway, I enjoyed this one a lot. It did have a lot going on, and it seemed to run a bit long towards the end, but it was an enjoyable movie. Yes, it’s loaded with guy humor like poop jokes and big boobs, but at it’s heart it was very sweet. For the most part the humor was funny. Well, not so much for the poop, but Chris did an excellent job portraying Danny and it was cute watching him deal with all the women. He did a great job acting blind. Not just the parts where he’s interacting with other people, but also the small glimpses of him on his own. Like when he’s reading the book with braille, or walking along by himself.

I really liked the romance too. I liked Leeza’s character, and Anjali played her well. I thought she was cute, and a good match for Danny. Of course, with the other women he had to choose from, she was the only option, but whatever. It was still sweet. I adored the way he talked about her, when he said he loved her. The look on his face when he talked about her smile was so very sweet, and him trying to describe how he knew what it looked like was interesting. I wonder if that’s in any way true to how blind people actually perceive the world around them.

Chris’ expressions were the best part of the movie to me. When he smiled or laughed, the way he looked when he was snarking at his brother. He’s got a brilliant smile, doesn’t he? Oooh, that and the parts where he was playing the guitar and humming were pretty fantastic too, huh?

　

　

Reclaiming the Blade

This one actually is a documentary on the history of the sword in the West, and how interest is growing in researching it’s history and use. I rented it for three reasons:

1. Karl Urban, and he speaks in his natural accent \0/
2. Viggo Mortensen, who talks a lot about Aragorn
3. Many of the LotR designers and swordsmiths are featured in it. There is a strong LotR flavor in the beginning.

Karl’s part in the documentary is fairly small compared to Viggo’s, but I did really enjoy watching him and hearing about his experiences on the set of LotR learning to sword fight. And the part where he gets all awestruck about learning from Bob Anderson (who played Darth Vader during the fight scenes of Star Wars!) was absolutely priceless. He just seems like a really cool guy.

I very much enjoyed Reclaiming the Blade. I enjoyed hearing from Viggo and the others about swords in LotR. I enjoyed hearing about the actual history of the sword through the centuries, and the history of the sword in the movies and on stage. There are big differences between the practical and showmanship use of the sword, and that is discussed. The last part of the film focuses on the revival of the ‘martial arts’ of the West, and bringing the practical and historic Western uses of the sword back to life through research and training. They even cover historical reenactment, and discuss the SCA and the sport of fencing.

It was an entertaining and enjoyable film, with enough information to be interesting and worthwhile without becoming dry or boring.