Frodo is looking distinctly older here than in Lord of the Rings. How long time passed between the two trilogies, anyway?
Slightly confusing start, even if I knew that that that’s that (is that enough?) what’s happening.
This is most amusing.
But I’m bewildered by some of Jackson’s choices when it comes to cinematography and make-up. Not only does he cake the actors so heavily in powder that you can’t see the skin at all (well, on the bits that aren’t covered by rubber), but he also blows the lighting out, so everybody looks like they’ve been lit by… the 70s? It’s got that 70s TV look?
Does that have something to do with filming in 50Hz? It needs more light?
Man, those are big feet!
Imagine the hydropower they could have built!
The Gollum animation is pretty awesome.
Some people on the interwebs are way too enthusiastic about this movie… but I think it’s pretty spiffy? Not quite that spiffy, but it’s really entertaining, and the three hours whizz past.
This is still on a fantasy scale:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Peter Jackson. 2012. ⚄
Ooohs! There’s a logo I haven’t seen in a few decades…
I’ve seen this before, of course, but not since … oh! 1990? I thought this happened in the 80s…
I love that decor!
I remember nothing of the plot, but watching this, I’m automatically assuming that everything that’s happening is part of the Rekall trip, and I’m guessing I’m not supposed to assume that? I watched eXistenZ (again) a couple years back, and that was really subtle about what’s part of the game and what’s not… it’s like… a refinement of what’s happening here? Was this the first of these movies where we’re not supposed to know what’s … the trip inside the film?
Of course, I could be wrong, and this is all real!
If this is all in his head, I think they’re kinda cheating by showing us scenes that he couldn’t possibly be seeing? With people he’s not supposed to know anything about?
Stereo vision!
Sorry! Sorry! This isn’t that kind of movie. This is super fun — it’s a total Verhoeven gauche, silly lark. Every scene is weird and awkward and flabbergastingly entertaining.
Oh! I remember this scene!
It’s still teh awesum
Oh! I thought the red pill to return to reality was a Matrix thing — but here it is in Total Recall.
Err… is that noted Shakespearean actor Jack Lemmon?
It is!
Uh-oh.
Is that… snow?
This is not an auspicious start. Everything looks fake in a “bad movie” way, not in a theatre way.
Heh. I, Claudius is playing Claudius?
These scenes look so weird — they never move the camera when filming from this side, so I’m assuming it’s a composite shot of some kind? Looks really fake. But then they show the hall from another angle, and it’s indeed pretty big…
Mais oui.
It’s… it’s whatsisface!
er… Charlton Heston!
Perchance to rub.
I watched the Olivier Hamlet the other year, and he totally played Hamlet as if he really might be insane… which makes the plot make a whole lot more sense. Branagh never leaves us in doubt that he’s playing mad…
Which leaves the viewer (i.e., me) open to go “but… why… why doesn’t he…” etc etc, because surely his plan for revenge isn’t the optimal one, now is it?
But this version’s got one thing going for it: It’s got all the witty repartee (and Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern) that Olivier cut out of his version to get it down to two and a half hours.
Some of the scenes look so cheap! That’s the worst greenscreen ever!
And it’s got a substantial budget and all… and it totally bombed?
OK, it’s a bit wobbly, but there’s an impressive amount of dolly shots here — in a huge room with mirrors all over the place. It’s like they wanted to maximise the difficulty settings on the cinematography.
The performances are so … uneven. Jacobi and Christie give measured, subtle performances, while several of the others (including Branagh himself) are shouting out every line to the rafters.
Billy Crystal?
I guess.
Mork! Where’s Mindy!
Anyway, this Hamlet has stuff I can’t recall having seen before — I guess all the versions I’ve seen (and read) have been abridged? But these bits I can’t remember are fun! I mean, that shouldn’t come as a surprise, and I understand why they’re normally cut, but … that makes me enjoy this even more.
Because it is really enjoyable. Branagh makes a whole bunch of… odd choices… and the stunt casting of famous American actors is pretty distracting… but… Shakespeare shines through. That’s enough.
