I don’t recall the last time I watched a movie, and thought that I want to watch it again in a few days. That might be Begonia, with Emma Stone.
Even more rare is pausing a movie to think about the situation before seeing what happens. The Martian comes to mind.
For light entertainment, I often watch movie reviewers like Critical Drinker or Disparu on Youtube. Everybody talked about The Odyssey for a month, now they all switched to Spiderman: Brand New Day. It’s getting old.
Since my brother and I have been working out, when we talk about movies, he strongly recommends The Greatest Showman. I never saw it, Hugh Jackman is always good, and I am not opposed to show tunes. It’s got nothing in common with The Odyssey or Spiderman, so that’s what I watched. I’m worried that I may have a problem.
Is it just me?
This is a little complaint, but The Odyssey is creaking under the weight of so many little complaints, it’s hard to identify what Christopher Nolan was trying to get right.
I’ve hunted wild boar. I took it with a Mossberg 500 shooting a sabot slug at 120 yards. One shot, one kill.
After hearing about it for weeks, I finally saw Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. A couple of weeks ago, I listened to the audiobook of Robert Fagles’ translation of Homer’s The Odyssey. It was narrated by Ian McKellen, and was an engaging 13 hours.
Emily Wilson, the classicist whose 2017 translation of Homer’s Odyssey was cited by Christopher Nolan in early publicity for his hugely successful adaptation of the poem, has roundly criticised the film, saying “it has nothing convincing to say” and that it “lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth”.
As an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s movie is a disaster. As a movie, it doesn’t seem to be very good. As a money maker, it’s on track to break-even by the end of this week.
The Nolan fan club rave about all of his movies, hoping it makes them look smart.
The controversial movie, The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan opens in a little over a week. He made some casting decisions that are provocative, along with his choice to use the Emily Wilson translation.
It’s not obvious why the translation makes a difference.
This Reddit post provides an explanation for why the translation matters. A sample passage of The Odyssey is provided from several different translations.
Superheroes used to stand for something admirable, like truth, justice and the American way. In Finland, they still do. Sisu roughly means stoic determination, grit, resilience, and hardiness in the face of adversity.
The character has a name, but nobody uses it. There is very little dialogue. He’s just a guy that wants to be left alone, so don’t call him a hero. I’ll just call him the guy.
For the first time, two movies made by young, Youtube creators brought in more money than a Hollywood blockbuster from a major franchise.
Star Wars: Mandalorian and Grogu had a production budget of $160 million, and is floundering in theaters. Backrooms brought in 6 times more money, but cost less than 10% to produce. Obsession brought in 30% more money on 1% of the budget.
Excalibur: The Movie The West Needs Now
Boorman picked the main plot points of the Arthur myth perfectly. As a result, the film knows exactly what it is: a legend soaked in Christianity, fog, blood, magic, virtue, redemption, and destiny.
I just read a blog post about the Excalibur (1981) movie, and now I want to watch it. Unfortunately, it’s 9:30 am, and I have to go the gym in an hour, so I won’t. That happens pretty often when somebody brings up a great movie from back in the day. There aren’t as many great movies coming out now, and although the guy who wrote about Excalibur doesn’t mention it, The Odyssey could have been that kind of movie. It won’t be.
Helen Mirren was a hottie back then. That was 45 years ago, but she’s still working, so good for her.
Christopher Nolan’s new movie, The Odyssey, could have been a billion dollar summer blockbuster, but Nolan decided to go in a different direction.
Every guy of my generation remembers the 1963 movie, Jason and the Argonauts, and the moment that Talos moved. Sixty years ago, Ray Harryhausen used stop-motion special effects to bring Greek mythology to life. Special effects are vastly improved, but Nolan is blowing it with cast and source material.
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