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Yesterday had to go into an agency to try and help me find work. Just a preliminary thing, they had a look at my resume and nothing else happens now unless I am still looking in twelve weeks. Anyways, I had a voucher on hand that would get me in to see a movie free so I hung around for a few hours after. Some people were giving out white ribbons and bookmarky things proclaiming the wrongness of violence against women. Of course I don't like violence against anyone, but that day they were only seling opposition to male-against-female violence so I took one of those and wore it all day.
There were a few new interesting books for sale I had not known about before like The Art of Discworld and The Word and the Void Omnibus (I am a sucker for an omnibus). Also far too many games to play in any reasonable lifetime (just this past week I have been playing Forsaken 64 again - from 1998! Love the lighting in that game)
Where was I? Ah yes, I went to see The Prestige on account of Casino Royale not being released yet. Though I did get to see a trailer for it. Some parts looked pretty interesting, others less so, but it was clear as soon as I saw from the poster that it is rated M that it was not going to be an especially faithful adaptation. There was a trailer for Eragon too (which reminds me, I have a novel to work on) and though I laughed at it and its posters I suppose if I suddenly find myself with an excess of money when it comes out I will go see that too. At the least I will have something to help keep my blood pressure up and I may even be pleasantly surprised.
The Prestige itself I want to say was magnificent. A story well told is a thing of beauty. This one, of course, is structured like a magic trick. Or at least, how a magic trick works in the terminology of the film. I was caught off-guard several times, mostly because I underestimated how far the characters were willing to go for their obsessions. The rivalry between Angiers and Borden develops to great (if leisurely in execution) intensity and it was interesting watching everything else falling away from them. It was somewhat confusing in the beginning before getting a feel for the different frames it is told in but in the end the shape of it is truly, beautifully elegant. My only disappointments with it are not being able to watch it again and not having anyone else handy to argue with.
Actually, for a while after seeing it I was bugged by a nagging feeling that it reminded me of something else. Took me hours to realise I was thinking of Diamond Dogs by Alastair Reynolds, another story about feeding oneself to obsession. Now I just have to get hold of a copy of the novel The Prestige was based on and see how that compares...
There were a few new interesting books for sale I had not known about before like The Art of Discworld and The Word and the Void Omnibus (I am a sucker for an omnibus). Also far too many games to play in any reasonable lifetime (just this past week I have been playing Forsaken 64 again - from 1998! Love the lighting in that game)
Where was I? Ah yes, I went to see The Prestige on account of Casino Royale not being released yet. Though I did get to see a trailer for it. Some parts looked pretty interesting, others less so, but it was clear as soon as I saw from the poster that it is rated M that it was not going to be an especially faithful adaptation. There was a trailer for Eragon too (which reminds me, I have a novel to work on) and though I laughed at it and its posters I suppose if I suddenly find myself with an excess of money when it comes out I will go see that too. At the least I will have something to help keep my blood pressure up and I may even be pleasantly surprised.
The Prestige itself I want to say was magnificent. A story well told is a thing of beauty. This one, of course, is structured like a magic trick. Or at least, how a magic trick works in the terminology of the film. I was caught off-guard several times, mostly because I underestimated how far the characters were willing to go for their obsessions. The rivalry between Angiers and Borden develops to great (if leisurely in execution) intensity and it was interesting watching everything else falling away from them. It was somewhat confusing in the beginning before getting a feel for the different frames it is told in but in the end the shape of it is truly, beautifully elegant. My only disappointments with it are not being able to watch it again and not having anyone else handy to argue with.
Actually, for a while after seeing it I was bugged by a nagging feeling that it reminded me of something else. Took me hours to realise I was thinking of Diamond Dogs by Alastair Reynolds, another story about feeding oneself to obsession. Now I just have to get hold of a copy of the novel The Prestige was based on and see how that compares...
