Of Swords and Parasols

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.

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.

Sadly, it seems that they decided they had enough blatant fan service in the first handful of episodes and decided to tone it down.  Apparently I have to watch TAIYOU NO KISETSU if I want to mock the excessive fanservice.

Most of these episodes have been about Yoshitsune gathering his chief vassals (aka "The Boys") and fleeing Kyoto and living in Oshu(where he acquired half of The Boys) and then going to Izu to serve under his brother Yoritomo, who was a clever and likable kid and seemed good at first, but yeah, he's pretty much a jerk.  Doesn't deserve his brother OR his wife.  There's also a lot of other political stuff going on, but too much to get into(as a warning, the political narrative often overshadows Yoshitsune's narrative).  Love Kiyomori's wife and, of course, Abe Hiroshi's character.  Thankfully, he was able to grow and become more assertive and commanding quickly, because a meek Abe Hiroshi was very hard for my brain to process. 

( babble here )

Incidentally,

dangermousieposted a bit on the life of Shizuka at her LJ

 

here.  It's basically proof of that it sucked to be a woman of the time period.