procrastination blues

I keep taking study breaks to listen to the Spamalot cast recording. Why am I doing this? I didn't even think it was that good of a show. It was so inferior to the film. The songs weren't as good as I'd hoped, and yet.......

...Once in every show there's a song that goes like this,
It starts off soft and low, and ends up with a kiss
Oh where is the song that goes like this?
A sentimental song that casts a magic spell
They all will hum along, we'll overact like hell
Sing me the song that goes like this.
Now we can go straight into the middle eight
A bridge that is too far for me
I'll sing it in your face while we both embrace
And then we change the key!..

I don't get it, but it's like a guilty pleasure thing. Oh, and before I forget, I present to you the official mascot of Arts Deux:


It is Virginia Woolf, and she is beyond tipsy.

She will also be contributing to this blog on a regular basis, you can e-mail her at virginny.woolf@gmail.com.

I'm gonna have a talk with her about all these terrible biographies that I'm being forced to read. Good grief, it's tough. The good thing is that, after tomorrow, I can never open this stupid packet again.

Oh! And my download of The Golden Compass will be complete!

I know that I've written a lot about how much I was looking forward to the film, and now that I've seen it, I should post a general review.

First and foremost, the film had a flawless production quality; the cast, the CGI, the sets, the costumes, the atmosphere, all were created so perfectly and flawlessly that I have no qualms about it. When you're going to see a movie based on a book that you're in love with, it doesn't really matter if they get the story completely right, just that the look of the film and the faces of the characters matches what's in your mind. And everything was perfect, especially Dakota Blue Richards, the girl who "beat out" thousands of other girls to get the coveted part of Lyra. She was perfect-her voice, her movements, her reactions, every bit of her the perfect embodiment of her character. This was a big deal because she's completely unknown; we could at least have faith in the other cast members, who all have a considerable amount of well-documented acting chops (Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliot, Ian McKellan, and a blink-and-you-miss-him Christopher Lee). With them, of course, I have no comments. Kidman was particularly spot-on as the metallically sweet Mrs. Coulter, and since this is Kidman's first villainous role, it was especially juicy, and she stole every scene that she was in. Elliot, too, commanded the camera, proving that he is the only person in the world who could pull off a stereotypical Texan and make it seem heartwarming and genuine. Everyone else? Perfect perfect perfect. The Aletheiometer was done well, though the "going inside the machine" sequences dried out after the second time, seeming much too formulaic. But the script, as far as dialogue goes, was well written enough to get the story across, to explain the importance of dust, et. al.

The only real problem I had with the film was that obvious involvement done on the part of the New Line producers. Where they were more than happy to give Phil Jackson a three hour minimum film, The Golden Compass clocks in at barely two hours. The film, which begins at a perfect pace with Lyra's life in Oxford (the best part of the film, for anyone who's read and loved the books), picks up a faster and faster pace, using more transitional shots than conversational ones, shifting the plot without leaving time to think. His Dark Materials is a coming of age story, and what gives those strength is the in-between bits, showing the characters slowly fitting into whatever new pair of shoes or boots they have. I understand taking those parts out for the sake of time in a film, but when it's such a short time...well, it doesn't make much sense. Equally unsettling is the pointless decision to cut the last part of the film, which encompassed three chapters of the book, one of the best climaxes I've ever read and what I was really hoping for. The even put parts of the scenes in the trailers, but removed them from the film in order to save them for the beginning of The Subtle Knife, which is again a bad choice. Much of the film, especially the exposition and the stressing of Dust and a multiverse, seemed to be for setting up the second film so that they can jump right into the action, which is good; those who have read the entire trilogy will recognize the opening "portal" as the one that Will travels through from our world into Citágazze. There's rumor of a possible Director's Cut of the movie to be released to DVD, which would be a longer version and include some of the in-between scenes. Even though Philip Pullman says that saving the last part of The Golden Compass for the beginning of The Subtle Knife was a good idea, a good portion of the trilogy's fans are up in arms about the choice, so maybe that'll rub off on the studio.

So yeah, the pacing could have been better. There's a debate going on with those who have reviewed the film on BridgeToTheStars.net about whether or not the Magesterium was portrayed correctly. My thoughts? Yes and no. The depiction of London as one giant St. Peter's Cathedral and the long robes of the Magesterium's officials, as well as Fra Pavel's (Simon McBurney, as if he wasn't British enough) rosary beads constantly in his palm and his denouncement of Asriel's decision to find other words where there is no God as "Heresy". But the Magesterium is also depicted as a "big bad wolf" sort of organization, like the shadowy figures behind a terrorist cartel or the Emperor in Star Wars. This, I think, is done to prove how wrong it is, but it also takes away from its strength by pigeon-holing them as such. Some criticize that the role of the Magesterium as the Church has been downplayed; despite the fact that it is never really explained in depth as being a completely religious organization until the second book. I personally think that it was done well, though I have a few qualms about them constantly referring to the importance of "the last Aletheiometer...also known as The Golden Compass", which they probably say about seven times in the film. No one ever calls it "The Golden Compass", and the Aletheiometer is not as important as Lyra is. Her fate, of course, is not to be the person who can read the Aletheiometer, but the person who ends the Authority and stops death. Hopefully that will be more important in the next film, which I hope doesn't take three years to make.

Final verdict? 4.5/5

Now I really have to get back to work (dammit) on this Woolf final (dammit dammit) before getting to bed so I can get up for work. Whooee. Can't wait to be getting myself home, nope.

On a cold afternoon you can float room to room like a ghost

I've decided that this bloggidy update needs to be daily, if not bidaily (that is a word now), if not semiweeky, if not weekly. In short, regularly. It will be my place for analysis and insight into the literature that I am both reading and writing (if you can call that literature--har har), as well as notes upon what's going on in the world around me, interesting things on the internet, and parenthetical notes (I doubt that will get annoying whatsoever). So here goes.

I think it would be best to start out with the classes that I'm taking now.

Shakespeare and the Renaisseance: a fun and engaging class. The prof, Patricia Badir, is one of those who constantly talks about how much she loves the readings, and we spend a good amount of time watching film adaptations of plays we are reading. So far we've gone over two gems, Hamlet and Twelfth Night. Of the two, I would much rather discuss Twelfth Night, because it's more fun than Hamlet. The play itself is madcap, and Dr Badir brought up an interesting point about it's conception: that everyone involed plays some sort of language game, with the exception of Malvolio, who is the only person who ends up getting really shafted at the end (if you haven't read the play, I won't go into detail about it, but it's a really horrible thing they do to him). This accounts for all the witty banter that goes on between the most interesting characters: Olivia, Viola, and Feste. The fact that Olivia ends up marrying Sebastian at the end despite that she really fell in love with Viola always made me sad, as well as Viola marrying Orsino, who is an idiot and doesn't deserve her (basically). However, it's one of the best comedies, and one of the most bizzare, so I deeply recommend it to anyone with eyes. Next on the reading list: Henry V. It's a bit silly and hard to believe so far, but Henry's speeches are good, so pfah.

Postmodernism: dear lord. This course is interesting, but frustrating. I love some aspects of Postmodernism, and I think that my own writing style falls somewhere betweem Postmoernism and Modernism, but the prof's (Paul Endo) choice of literature is a bit bothersome. Too much of it seems to focus on the "sensory overload/modernism sucks/no resolution/artistic deconstruction" side of the movement, instead of that which actually changed the way that we look at narrative and expression. Also, I had to read Baudrillard and several other criticisms of Postmodernism. It's an odd movement, really. There was really nothing wrong with Modernism, but Postmodernism seems to be an idea sprung out of irritation instead of revolution; that it didn't really follow Modernism but ran beside it, like a kid who claims to hate his parents and become an anarchist but still relies on them for most of his or her well being. Sad, really. So far, along with the philosophy, we read A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami. I didn't like it that much, the narrator just spent most of his time talking about how bored he was, and when he finally found something transcendant or deep, he would shrug and walk away from it. Next on the reading list: Blade Runner. The movie, not the book. Yeah.

Virginia Woolf: Mixed feelings. I love Woolf in all senses of the word, but the class focuses on war and feminism, paying hardly any attention to other aspects of Woolf's writing. Bummer. I could go on forever about what we've read so far (Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, A Room of One's Own), so I might skip it for now. I'm getting kind of sick of this list, anyway...

Metaphor and Thought: one of the profs talks like a Polish Grover, one is very cute and browsome (adj: a degree of handomeness that extends from one's forehead; having a dramatic brow). The mappings we use are interesting and fun to do sometimes, and the material is interesting, though one of the classrooms we have has poor acoustics and tends to make me sleepy. Still, a good class to take, I'm glad to be in it.

Grammar: So. Much. Fun. We get to figure out clauses and subjects and predicators, and make trees and use formulas and learn about the differences in language between areas of Engish-speaking countries. Also, it is easy to skip and still be caught up; and most of the classes involve "investigating" what words mean. Word detectives!

So there's that. I don't have much else going on now besides school. Well, work. That's not too much to crow about, except that it's divinely easy and I have to wait more than two weeks between paychecks (example: I got paid last Friday, my next check is on the 23rd). It's getting colder fast this year, and September seemed to be more like October, and now October feels like November. I hate not being able to read leisurely at all. I did finish The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Fantastic read. At least I can watch films still; I just got The Iron Giant on DVD and watched Raiders of the Lost Ark as well as some of Aletheia's Avant Garde films recently. All quite wonderful. I'm sure I'll have something truly substantial from them to blog about soon.