tardis_stowaway: TARDIS under a starry sky and dark tree (top hat eccleston)
Rather than venturing out into the rain for a movie in the theater on this final day of my three day weekend*, I finally got around to watching my netflix dvd of The Invisible Circus.  I admit to having rented this movie pretty much exclusively because it had Christopher Eccleston in it with no other expectations, but I ended up enjoying it a fair amount.  At its best moments it managed a lovely dreamlike air, like a flashback near the beginning when the protagonist, Phoebe, aged 12 at that point, comes downstairs at night to find her house full of circus performers invited in by her older sister.   I was not a fan of the movie's use of the stupid trope where it's depicted as okay for a character to cheat on a girlfriend/boyfriend whose only fault is that they are not a main character.  However, I generally liked the characters despite that, and there were some fun period clothes.  The plot is occasionally a bit contrived, but not too badly, and some fine performances help sell it.  Plus, pretty travel shots of Europe make me happy.

Most of all, though, it delivered lots of Christopher Eccleston.  Mmmmm.  Talent and hotness were both in fine form here.  He rocks the long hair, and at one point sports a leather jacket that looks vaguely like a poorly fitting version of his Doctor jacket.  There were one or two shots that I recognized from Doctor/Rose manips that pop up around the internet, which was kind of distracting.  Amusingly, his character is named Wolf.  At one point, when Phoebe was looking through his stuff illicitly, a box from the bottom of his drawer contained not just old photos and such but a fobwatch.  It was a meaningless bit of set dressing, but it caused considerable flailing from me.  I would be utterly unsurprised if there's a crossover fic out there where Wolf turns out to be fobwatched Nine.

*of all the reasons to be grateful for Martin Luther King Jr., the federal holiday is one of the shallowest, but I feel it strongly every year.  Also, thanks for the strides towards a just and equal world, MLK! 

Amelia

Nov. 12th, 2009 12:17 am
tardis_stowaway: TARDIS under a starry sky and dark tree (big ears)
I went to see Amelia despite some mediocre reviews.  After all, it features:  (1) Amelia Earhart, a fascinating and courageous woman who I admire; (2) the seriously attractive Ewan McGregor; and (3) Christopher Eccleston. You all know how I feel about him.  ;)  It was an enjoyable enough way to spend some time in a movie theater, and it did deliver the three things I went to see.  Still, I wish it had been a little better.  The review that follows isn't especially spoilery (it's a history; we know how it ends), but the extremely spoiler-phobic might want to turn away now.

The film put a lot of emphasis on the relationship between Earhart and her husband/publicist, played by Richard Gere, but it never really convinced me to root for their relationship.  Part of it was that I'm not a huge fan of Richard Gere (nothing against him, I just don't find him at all attractive and his acting isn't extraordinary enough to make me care about him anyway).  Part of it was that his character was occasionally a bit sleazy.  I'd have preferred to see less of that relationship, with more focus on Amelia's early life, her relationship with Ewan McGregor's character, and a bit of background for Christopher Eccleston's character that would let us know why he decided to go along on the extremely dangerous round the world flying attempt.  More Eccleston is always good, despite the fact that he was freaking me out by doing an American accent.  (Also, the film totally wasted an opportunity to have Eccleston make out with Hillary Swank, which would have been hot.  Hell, if I'd been writing it I'd have found some excuse to get Chris and Ewan kissing.  I blame the internet for the corruption of my brain.)   Also, I just wish the film had been a little braver, speculating  a little more, especially in giving us some additional window into what Earhart and Eccleston were feeling in the final moments. 

After that complaining, here's some additional things I liked about it:  lots of lovely shots of vintage planes over beautiful landscapes.  Ewan MacGregor looking very debonair.  Hillary Swank's performance.  The young son of Ewan McGregor's character telling Amelia that he wished she could be married to [Richard Gere's character] and his dad.  Aww, the poor kid would fit right in on the internet.  Learning a little bit more about Amelia Earhart, a woman ahead of her time in more than just her daring flights.  I would recommend that others see this movie, but wait for when when it's released on DVD rather than spending money for the theater.

Meanwhile, I was amused by this Onion article about an alternate universe's Sci-Fi channel show asking what would have happened if Germany lost WWII

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