mostly Bourne Ultimatum(another omnibus-ish post)

[meganbmoore]

1. Bourne Ultimatum

That, my friends, was one truly awesome movie.  As mentioned before, I loved Bourne Identity but missed out on Bourne Supremacy(I'm banking on a pretty DVD set when Ultimatum hits DVD.)  One of my chief thoughts after first seeing Identity is that Bourne is what Bond should be(which they finally figured out with Casino Royale.) Actually, I spent a fair chunk of Ultimatum imagining what a fight between Bourne and any Bond would be like.  Really, the only one that'd last long is Craig, maybe Connery.  They'd both lose, though.  Bond has all his gadgets and connections...Bourne has a brain, stubbornness and a killing machine bnody...he doesn't need anything else.

Also, when they refer to "nonstop and intense" they're referring to this movie...I swear, it never slowed down, just  eased up a bit on the gas pedals once or twice.  It also does a very good job on filling you in on what you need to know from Supremacy, so you didn't get lost.  There was one small bit that confused me, though.

When Nikki said she was helping Bourne, she said it was because of the past and then was confused when he didn't know what she was talking about.  I guess it could be referring to his not killing her in the first movie, but she seemed to be referring to something before that and it didn't come up again.  kingcrankycat  tells me, though, that it's not referred to in the second movie either and that's the only time it's ever come up.  Besides, it's a moot point, even if they were in love at some point in the past, it's obvious he'll spend the rest of his life brooding over Marie.

I have to wonder, though...did they kill puppies in front of Matt Damon and Julia Stiles before every scene?  We aren't just talking "serious faced and no smiles" here...he looked rather pissed off(perfectly understandably, all things considered) and she almost looked depressed.  Of course, she did get that little grin at the end...Bourne has so much angst that if he ever grins again, his entire face will shatter.  

think a reviewer suggested that Matt Damon should do a romantic comedy next just to prove he can still smile.  I concur and believe he should take Julia Stiles with him.

2.  As far as previews go, Beowulf looked pretty good, despite some rather obvious plot changes.  I give it points, though, for casting Ray Winstone(Robin of Sherwood's Will Scarlett) as Beowulf.  National Treasure 2 looks fun...not sure about the plot, but I liked the first a lot.  Other than that, they largely looked worthwhile mostly for the cast, though the Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe gangster movie looked interesting.  As Dad put it, the previews were basically a mass of death and violence.  Which means he'll likely see every single one.

3.  There was a relatively massive influx of DVDs today.  Mostly doramas(12 series have arrived this week, and 1 isn't here yet...) but also the new Dresden Files set and the William Powell & Myrna Loy Collection.

4.  I've noticed that anytime my manga backlog shrinks down to something...well...managable, I slow down and almost stop reading until I have a huge backlog again.  Very strange.

5.  Speaking of Dresden Files, the set comes in a regular DVD case with an extra DVD flap.  While not exactly shoddy or unsafe packaging, it's not what I expect of DVD releases of new series(but then, neither are flippers, and that's what Bones DVDs are...the first season, at least...Amazon list 6 discs for season 2.)  Don't know yet if the 2 hour pilot is hidden on there as an easter egg, though...I'll likely watch the first disc tonight after I finish this disc of Yoshitsune.

6. Speaking of Yoshitsune, every once in a while, there's something almost slashy about Shun and Takki's scenes.  Of course, they aren't remotely supposed to come across that way(just as friends/comrades-in-arms) but pervy modern minds tend to read things differently from how they would have been at the time, and likely how they're actually interpretted in Japan.  I've actually always thought that that attributed to some of the yaoi fandom...

ETA: I defy anyone to watch the scene where Teeny Princess asks Yoritomo why Widdle Guy 2 is crying and then it cuts to him hiding and crying under a floor(he just learned his father died) and not want to run and hug him.  And her too, because she's so cute and is worried about him.

Comments

[foenix.livejournal.com]

All in all, I wasn't a huge fan of the first Bourne flick, and haven't seen the others. I do think I deserve to give it a second chance, since I didn't find it *bad*, I just wasn't drawn into it. I think I was having a bad week at the time, and little sleep.

Gods above and below, do I hate flipper discs. For small seasons that fit on one or two discs, the disc tray insert has been increasingly common. It saves them the trouble of doing lots of package design and sifting through art for something that folds out with the discs, or multiple packages in a sleeve, and saves space.

The thing I hate just as much, if not more, are those newer disc trays that they can put one disc slightly over another. Risk of scratching, and to get to disc two, you have to remove disc one, then put one back, and pull it out when you're done with the lower disc... @.@ I've been calling these stackers.

For the set that most maximizes space and discs, look no further than the Sabrina season sets. A standard sized case, maybe a little thicker, with a disc on the inside cover, and on the back like a normal single disc, and a tray inserted in the middle with a disc on each side. Four discs in the space of a standard single. Nice design. =)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I hate stacked discs even more than I hate flippers. I especially hate sets that have both.

And Sabrina..pft...the Beauty and the Beast DVDs have SIX DVDs crammed into a regular zized DVDs case with inster trays.

[madame-manga.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Yoshitsune, every once in a while, there's something almost slashy about Shun and Takki's scenes.

Sounds like a good show. :D

Actually, you don't need a feelthy mind to see slashy aspects in that sort of thing. Comradely-mentoring homosexual feelings/affairs were taken for granted among samurai for centuries. And also in Buddhist monasteries -- where the practice had a more pedophiliac aspect -- and among townsmen who aped samurai customs. Brothels were well stocked with boys as a routine matter. Funny how they do not tell you this in all those books on the martial arts and the history of bushido written by American men. ;) But think ancient Greece, its cultural misogyny and its worship of the youthful male as the godlike ideal, and you'll hit pretty close to the mark...

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

yup yup yup...but the very vast majority of the time, in things written now, it's not meant to portray any sort of sexual relationship, but most things we get out of Japan still portray the closeness without the sexual aspect, but because friends in the US would NEVER act like that if they were both straight, it's taken a different way. In this case, Yoshitsune and Karusue may have had sex at one point, but in the series, it's very much NOT meant to come across that way...the look was "OMG YAY! WE FINALLY GET TO GO TO BATTLE!" In an american production, they would have cheered or something and run off, not look at each other and exchange excited grins.

[kitkat-cat.livejournal.com]

Argh, the Bourne film still isnt't out in old blighty yet! maybe it's out this weekend...hmm...

I remember when it was announced that Matt Damon would be Robert Bourne and I was a little upset. Matt Damon just did not look like the Robert Bourne from the novels...but phwoar, I fell hook, line and sinker for his interpretation! Can't wait for the thred film...hmm, I'm not too sure about Bond vd Bourne. Any of the other Bonds, I agree would lose, but the Daniel Craig Bond...a close one i say!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

You can't see Matt Damon as an action hero until you see Bourne, and then that's ALL you can see.

Craig-Bond vs Bourne would be a good fight, but I go with Bourne winning...if you think about it, all Bourne is is angst, stubbornness, and pure fighting instinct, while Bond still has the ideals and goals, and that tends to hold you back at times.

[boundaid.livejournal.com]

I have been lurking on your friends list. So, I thought I'd come out and just tell you I'm here! ;)