pslasher

Unstoppable

So I watched Unstoppable today and it was awesome!  Chris was so good.  My favorite scene was after Will tells Galvin that he's going to "run this bitch down."  Frank says something to him - and for the life of me I can't remember what; I smell a rewatch! - and Will smiles at him, the first real smile of the movie.  Up till then he'd been so serious and upset about his personal life, and the smile was a complete surprise to me.  It was real and bright, and I really liked that.

There was a lot that went into making the movie fantastic, but first and foremost were Chris and Denzel.  They both gave really gripping performances, without which the movie would not have been half as good.  I'm so glad to see Chris doing well out there.  Rosario Dawson was fantastic too.  She had just the right balance of calm and poise and defiance.  And you're right thalialunacy , her normal hair and makeup really added to the realism of the film.  Everything was ordinary: the costumes, the sets, the scenery.  No hollywood polish for the actors here, not even Chris and Denzel, who both clean up exceptionally well.  It all felt very real, and it added to the tension that got built up with the storytelling.

I thought the film was a really good balance between quick editing and slower pacing in the scene progression.  Tony Scott apparently shot with a ton of cameras for each take and whoever edited the movie used all of that footage to excellent effect.  The individual scenes played out at a length and pace that established the scene and characters without rushing them, but the editing constantly cut back and forth between cameras.  It gave a feeling of the story really driving onward constantly without any room to take a break, building tension from the very first scene.  Also, the film was pretty.  Beautiful countryside, pretty little towns.  They even made the trains look more artistic than industrial, and I'm sure that took some doing.  It was all ordinary scenery, but it had a supersaturated sort of artistic flair that I liked.  So I guess you could say the hollywood polish came in the form of exceptionally dynamic editing and gorgeous cinematography, rather than clothes and hair.

mijan  posted a couple of links that I wanted to pass along: The story of Jon Hosfeld - the man that stopped the train IRL - here, and an interview with the cast here.

Oh, also: Crotch shot!  Totally gratuitous, but completely appreciated.  It's only too bad there was no rewind button! :D


Just My Luck and Princess Diaries 2

I also recently watched Chris' remaining two RomComs, and they were both adorable.  Down-on-his-luck Jake was so cute, I just wanted to hug him.  But I have to say that my fave CFine romcom is PD2.  I like him dressed well and snarky, what can I say?  I mean really, he runs around in his nice button up shirts and suits, annoys the hell out of Mia, sneaks several kisses from her, gets jealous and snarky, and looks down-right edible while doing it.  What more can you want?  Plus, it's just a really good movie with a fantastic message: You don't have to be married to be Queen!  Fuck that, right?  You get married because you want to, not because everyone tells you to.  Also, Julie Andrews rocks.  My favorite moment was actually in the deleted scenes reel - they are both in the kitchen cooking and being silly, and he's flirting like crazy with Mia.  Yum!

On a whim I went looking for PD2 fic on the AO3 and I found one!  It's Driven Outside and Driven In by leupagus, screamlet and waldorph.  Mia/Nicholas, NC-17, with D/s themes. 
That's right: D/s themes.  And Mia's not the bottom.  I looooove this fic for how they portray Nicholas.  He goes from being a self assured jealous jerk to compliant and submissive and they make it look so good!  It's a fun and hot read, and it actually manages to take the movie from kids story to mature adult story while still leaving all the good stuff I liked about the kids story .

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.

I've got Netflix, BBs!!  I CAN HAS CHRIS AND KARL MOVIE RECS, NAO?  Lol, I plan to watch them all eventually, but what are the critical, must-watch-now movies, the ones I should start with?  Or is it best to watch them in chronological order?

We ran across Carriers while browsing last night and I added it to the list.  But it's listed as horror, and I don't do so well with horror.  I scare easily.  How scary is it?  Should I worry, or is it properly listed as a horror movie?  I'm thinking that may not be the best Chris movie to start with.