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vanitashazeAfter being thoroughly impressed by Jude Law's work in Sherlock Holmes - and damn, I cannot WAIT until that comes out on DVD - I decided to check out the rest of his ouvre. For such a well-known star, he has a surprisingly short resume, and really only a handful of his parts have been leads. As soon as I can find a copy, Wilde is next on the list... For now, I've contented myself with The Talented Mr. Ripley (his breakout role) and Cold Mountain. I like the former, but surprisingly, it's the latter that's my favorite of the two, and this is something I did not expect.
For one, it's a romance epic - two and a half hours! - set in antebellum South. For another, it has Nicole Kidman starring opposite Law, and Renee Zellweger starring opposite her. To my shock, I LOVED THEM ALL. This is a rare occurrence, ya'll. Usually I'll hate at least one of the leads, but they were all fantastic, interesting characters with distinct personalities, and the relationships between them were intriguing, even complex. Law's Inman was especially heartbreaking - god, you fucking broke for him - but the ladies were wonderful as well. And Ruby. OH RUBY. YOU ARE AMAZING AND STRONG AS STONE AND KICKASS AND EVEN A LITTLE TRAGIC. NEVER EVER CHANGE. I wasn't too thrilled about Kidman's character Ada at first, but with the addition of Ruby, and she became deeply fantastic. More than anything else I think it was the relationships that made this movie: Ada and Inman's (the cabin scene, oh my GOD, and the bits before and after it), but Ada and Ruby's was also very well done, and we even got some hints of Ruby-Inman interaction. I loved how he asked her permission to live on her farm, and the single tear as she gave Inman and Ada the cabin. And the trousers. Let us not forget the trousers. (For some reason, though I don't particularly care one way or another in the present, I have a deep love for women in historical drag.) I would totally ship Ruby/Ada, if Ada weren't so obviously obsessively in love with Inman*. As it stands, I fully maintain that Ruby is in love, grudgingly, with Ada (maybe sexually, maybe platonically). It's clear she feels threatened by Inman, and one of the wonderful surprises of the movie was that he totally let her take top dog on that one. The movie had to end the way it did, with Inman's death - he was a tragic character, and there was never any hope for him of a happy ending - but I'm sad that I'll never get to see more of their interactions, new relationships and negotiating and learning to fit themselves around each other, like we saw with Ruby and Ada.
I'm not saying it didn't have some problems (hello, Ruby's abusive father, and the mysterious absence of race/class issues!) or that it wasn't unconvincing at some moments (the beginning twenty minutes, erk, or the happy-family ending, though that last line was haunting). But overall, it was very very good, an excellent example of an Odysseus epic, and Law was fantastic. The little cameo tragedies - all the people he came across in his journey - were also very cool. With the exception of the creepy minister, I loved all of them. Really, I was worried that this would turn into Yet Another Antebellum Movie Glorifying the South With Bonus Sex, but with Inman's heroes journey, Minghella (the director) took a story very rooted in time and place, and made it timeless. The people Inman comes across are strange, often bizarre, but archetypes in their own right. Like the Odyssey on film.
*Though not nearly as much as he's in love with her, or the idea of her. That's the other thing I really liked: in many ways Ada and Inman were in love with the idea of each other, people they constructed from a handful of moments, and by the time they meet up again, they're so completely different people, and then they acknowledge that, and it's better this way. What's real is different than what they've been toting around in their hearts, but it's not lesser.
In other news, I got my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
deancastiel Secret Angels Three assignment back, to which I have two words: What the...? I am not well-suited for these prompts at all.
For one, it's a romance epic - two and a half hours! - set in antebellum South. For another, it has Nicole Kidman starring opposite Law, and Renee Zellweger starring opposite her. To my shock, I LOVED THEM ALL. This is a rare occurrence, ya'll. Usually I'll hate at least one of the leads, but they were all fantastic, interesting characters with distinct personalities, and the relationships between them were intriguing, even complex. Law's Inman was especially heartbreaking - god, you fucking broke for him - but the ladies were wonderful as well. And Ruby. OH RUBY. YOU ARE AMAZING AND STRONG AS STONE AND KICKASS AND EVEN A LITTLE TRAGIC. NEVER EVER CHANGE. I wasn't too thrilled about Kidman's character Ada at first, but with the addition of Ruby, and she became deeply fantastic. More than anything else I think it was the relationships that made this movie: Ada and Inman's (the cabin scene, oh my GOD, and the bits before and after it), but Ada and Ruby's was also very well done, and we even got some hints of Ruby-Inman interaction. I loved how he asked her permission to live on her farm, and the single tear as she gave Inman and Ada the cabin. And the trousers. Let us not forget the trousers. (For some reason, though I don't particularly care one way or another in the present, I have a deep love for women in historical drag.) I would totally ship Ruby/Ada, if Ada weren't so obviously obsessively in love with Inman*. As it stands, I fully maintain that Ruby is in love, grudgingly, with Ada (maybe sexually, maybe platonically). It's clear she feels threatened by Inman, and one of the wonderful surprises of the movie was that he totally let her take top dog on that one. The movie had to end the way it did, with Inman's death - he was a tragic character, and there was never any hope for him of a happy ending - but I'm sad that I'll never get to see more of their interactions, new relationships and negotiating and learning to fit themselves around each other, like we saw with Ruby and Ada.
I'm not saying it didn't have some problems (hello, Ruby's abusive father, and the mysterious absence of race/class issues!) or that it wasn't unconvincing at some moments (the beginning twenty minutes, erk, or the happy-family ending, though that last line was haunting). But overall, it was very very good, an excellent example of an Odysseus epic, and Law was fantastic. The little cameo tragedies - all the people he came across in his journey - were also very cool. With the exception of the creepy minister, I loved all of them. Really, I was worried that this would turn into Yet Another Antebellum Movie Glorifying the South With Bonus Sex, but with Inman's heroes journey, Minghella (the director) took a story very rooted in time and place, and made it timeless. The people Inman comes across are strange, often bizarre, but archetypes in their own right. Like the Odyssey on film.
*Though not nearly as much as he's in love with her, or the idea of her. That's the other thing I really liked: in many ways Ada and Inman were in love with the idea of each other, people they constructed from a handful of moments, and by the time they meet up again, they're so completely different people, and then they acknowledge that, and it's better this way. What's real is different than what they've been toting around in their hearts, but it's not lesser.
In other news, I got my
deancastiel Secret Angels Three assignment back, to which I have two words: What the...? I am not well-suited for these prompts at all.
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Re: Except for the part where I've got to finish it by Thursday & get it Jossed, or work with new ca
Date: 2010-01-30 05:42 am (UTC)"This is how we have to try" (http://aesc.livejournal.com/391075.html?mode=reply) (PG-13), "Staying safe goes both ways."
Yeah, I don't recall either. Hm!
Re: Except for the part where I've got to finish it by Thursday & get it Jossed, or work with new ca
Date: 2010-01-30 05:57 am (UTC)...How does the public even get episode names, anyways?
An
Re: Except for the part where I've got to finish it by Thursday & get it Jossed, or work with new ca
Date: 2010-01-30 06:05 am (UTC)"The Song Remains the Same" is what's listed on the CW's site, so I'd think that'd be it.
I wish the story were longer, too. I'd love to see more of their life together.
I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help.)
Date: 2010-01-31 03:00 am (UTC)It's interesting - I don't really care about the Winchesters' life on the road, but something about Jo on the road, hunting - probably doing the exact same thing the Winchesters do - intrigues me. Maybe it's the company she keeps. (For some reason, the Jo of
Erk. I wish the gods of fanfiction would once again smile upon me. I've been in such a horrific dry spell since "To the Pioneers and Their Covered Wagons". It's like - title? Plot? POV? Characterization? I really want to write these bits, but they are just not coming cleanly. (And I'm not whining, I swear. Well. Maybe a little bit. Ranting, more like.)
Re: I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help
Date: 2010-01-31 03:09 am (UTC)I don't really care about the Winchesters' life on the road, but something about Jo on the road, hunting - probably doing the exact same thing the Winchesters do - intrigues me. Maybe it's the company she keeps.
I feel exactly the same way.
Rant on! :)
Re: I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help
Date: 2010-02-06 10:07 pm (UTC)RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT.
Though actually, I am kind of pissed about the treatment of Anna in the new episode. This shall make the femslash hard. But it will be done, nonetheless!
Probably.Re: I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help
Date: 2010-02-07 04:42 am (UTC)Re: I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help
Date: 2010-02-07 06:37 pm (UTC)...For some reason I really want to work Uriel into it now. I have no idea how I will actually do that, but still.
Re: I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help
Date: 2010-02-24 05:40 am (UTC)I think that could be potentially awesome!
Re: I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help
Date: 2010-02-24 11:58 am (UTC)Re: I wish I could get my SHIFT key to stop sticking. (Bet toting it out in 20 F weather didn't help
Date: 2010-02-24 06:35 pm (UTC)