The next person who tries to use a Rotten Tomatoes rating to tell me that a movie sucks is going to be backhanded.  Why do people put so much stock into what this website says?

Of course, anyone who says "Rotten Tomatoes just likes hating everything" can automatically be pointed toward the fact that they fall all over any movie that "everybody" is going to love or see as genius.  Dark Knight.  Well, they can't rip on Dark Knight...people might stop putting credence into  their meaningless ratings!

This is a site that gives Hostel a 59%.  Hostel.  The movie that is pretty much a softcore snuff film.  In fact, they give a pass to plenty of movies because "they're exactly what they're supposed to be."  Some films are apparently allowed to be full of explosions and boobs as long as that's what they're "supposed to be"....but the "supposed to be" is a completely arbitrary designation.  Vampires Suck is pretty obviously supposed to be a silly mocking of Twilight, among other things, but that gets a 6% rating.   The Nightmare on Elm Street remake?  13%.  Someone explain to me how that movie was not what it was "supposed to be."  Please. 

Meanwhile, Piranha 3D enjoys a whopping 75% positive rating.

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You may have seen the trailers, touting it as the "manliest movie ever made".  That's right, Sylvester Stallone has taken his years of experience making manly movies and applied it to make what is supposed to be the Manliest Movie of All.  I'm speaking, of course, of The Expendables. 

Yes, I went to see it.  I was one of 6 other women in the theatre.  I know this because my man-whore friend who was with me wanted to date every girl he saw walk in, and was therefore keeping track of how many there were.   Aside from him, I was with my brother and my little Japanese dancing buddy.  I think it was a healthy spectrum of male personages.

What was the consensus as we all walked out of the theatre?  That yes, Sylvester Stallone had, in fact, fulfilled on his promise and created one of the greatest actions films of all time.  

Don't get me wrong, the thing was utterly ridiculous.  I mean...completely.  From the opening

 scene when a bad guy is shot with a gun so powerful that his torso explodes, right through Ol' Sylvester sprinting down the dock and leaping into a taxiing airplane, till the grand finale of all fighting, all fire, explosive mayhem and destruction.   I would worry about giving you spoilers, but honestly, you know what this movie is from the moment it begins.  Pure, unadulterated, action.  Plot incidental.  

There is a sort of half-hearted effort at a story, and even character development.  I think there is something about a beautiful woman and a ruthless dictator?  But really, all that only exists to open up to us doors to further action.  Take, for instance, Jason Statham's character.  As one of the younger men in the cast he was the only one allowed to have even a hint of a relationship (albeit, a faltering one).  What is this? Am I sensing some Drama?  Of course not!  We just needed an excuse to set ol' Handsome Rob loose on a basketball court full of punks who thought they were bad-ass until they met a REAL man.  And an excuse for the fantastically corny line "Now you know what I do for a living." And the unstated, yet still perfectly clear "Now get on my bike wench, and try not to faint from my overwhelming manliness."

But who are we kidding?  You don't go to a movie touting a cast that includes Rambo, the Terminator, John McClain, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jet Li (pick any of his characters), The Transporter, Alex Grady, and Ivan Vanko and expect it to be anything but guns and knives and lots and lots of death.  And to be frank, I'm glad Stalone didn't try to make it anything more.  It would have ruined it.  In the words of my brother "It was simply a vehicle to get you from one fight scene to the next, with nothing to distract you in between.  Perfect!"

I hesitated to bring it up there with the guys, but I did have one complaint.  In a movie this big and this ridiculous, I admit, I rather expected the special effects to be a tad better.  On the other hand, their vague ridiculousness simply added to the overall tone of the film.  And where, had they been more realistic, I might have had to to cringe away from some of the more...violent...fights, as it was I instead was laughing my head off.  

I think it was the sly humor that really made this movie.  Never once did it take itself too seriously.  And there were some hysterical winks to the audience that really just topped it off.  Like the show down between the UFC fighter and the WWE wrestler.  And the parting shot at Schwarzenegger.  And the constant harping on Jet Li's height ("When I get hit, the hole is bigger!  Cause I'm littler! ")  

So...final verdict is that if you want explosions and really big guns, you need to see this movie.  It delivers exactly what it promises, and it is a lot of fun.  Don't be expecting anything great, or deep, or thought-provoking.  But do expect to see some serious ass-kicking.  Yes, I'd definitely recommend it.

 Oh, and one last thing.   To my six fellow females in the audience...you rock ladies.  I was proud to be in your company.  

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I took my nephew to see the film.  Nevermind that parents have apparently created such a stir that twenty-five-year-old aunts can no longer take their fourteeen-year-old nephews to see R-rated movies.  That's another rant for another piece.  But oh, what a piece I want it to be.

I saw the original Predator.  I heard the sequels weren't worth the air I'd expend to watch them, so I have not seen those.  And I will say this......WTF, VENOM-WANNABE-DUDE.  You sucked before.

Prize line:  Wannabe-Venom:  "Yeah.......five o'clock....bitch....raping time."

 You'll know it if you see it. 

 THAR BE SPOILERS!

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It has leaked at last!

 Spinoff has a great post with screen caps taken from the trailer here.

And it's being taken down from websites almost as fast as it goes up, but this link might work (New still working link New New Still Working Link Portuguese website with working video!) to watch the trailer itself. Watch it while you can!

  Fellow Thor Lovers, I have to admit that I am floored. I did not expect this movie to look as good as it does right now.  This trailer is long (five minutes), but it is full of goodness-- Go watch it, and then come back and let us hear your thoughts! Love it or Hate it? Why or why not?

 My thoughts are below the cut, as always.

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Science fiction to me (and to the immeasurable Orson Scott Card) isn’t just about space ships, aliens, and freakishly tall, forest-dwelling blue people who are [insert soft whimsical voice here] connected to all nature and animals and it to them in peace, harmony, and fluffy glitter bunnies.

Science fiction is about the concept of the seemingly impossible to us in this world and how, as human beings, we would discover and learn of ourselves through the seemingly impossible.

Nothing captures this true concept of science fiction better than Inception, written and directed by the very refreshing Christopher Nolan.

Nolan attacks the very immeasurable idea of dreams in this movie.

In the movie, Leonardo DeCaprio plays Cobb, a man who knows how to place himself into dreams he makes for a particular person in order to steal their secrets.

Cobb has baggage of his own that we as the audience gradually learns about, and that continues to crop up in the dreams he possesses. His deceased wife (Marion Cotillard) remains a powerful presence in his subconscious because of the guilt he feels over her mysterious death.

The plot itself is a caper involving Cobb, and a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Whom I absolutely adored in this movie!), Ellen Page, and Tom Hardy (better known as Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis) among others.

The purpose of the caper is to implant an idea into a man’s head, yet have him believe that it is his own idea so that it will mature and develop as such, and change the course of his life, and the lives of others.

I won’t explain the entire concept, because that was part of the fun of the movie, figuring everything out and keeping track of where the characters were throughout.

But to sum it up, this plot that brought amazing visuals along with it blew out my brain pan. There isn’t really any other way I can describe it.

Nolan takes the knowledge we already have from dreaming – falling makes you wake up, influences from the outside effect how and what you dream; your subconscious populates the dream with projections of people – and solidifies it so that it comes much closer to a reality.

The cast is amazing. It also includes a few Nolan favorites, Cillian Murphy ,(Pretty!)  Michael Caine, and Ken Watanabe. In fact, I found myself incredibly envious of Ellen page, because of the fantastic cast of dudes she was surrounded by. All of them have their backgrounds and characters believably established in such a short time, which not only makes the plot in this movie amazing, but the layout and execution fantastic.

Everything was believable – the concept of the controlling of a dream, and the idea that a person could come into your dream and find out your secrets. There was never a question raised regarding any part of the original idea for the story. That fact in itself is what helps to make a good movie brilliant.

Nolan has truly outdone himself with Inception – something that I frankly didn’t believe was possible after the jewels that are The Dark Knight and The Prestige.

Inception is a movie that has depth, dimension, wonderful new ideas, stunning visuals, and a mind blowing story. Nolan has definitely set the bar for story-telling higher than we have seen it yet.

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Folks, we have a lot of new images being put out pre-Comic Con, and it is only going to get better on Saturday, from what I can tell. The ramp up for Thor is hard core. We have HIGH RES stills, including our first view of Loki WITH his horned helmet and a very golden throne room in Asgard. We have two of the warriors three. We have Comic-Con movie concept-art posters for Cap AND Thor. AND. AND we have Thor standing in the rain flexing every muscle on his body. Follow the links for the Better quality images at their sources!

Let me begin with the poster art released by Marvel. It'll be available at the Marvel booth at the con!

I dare you to look at that poster and tell me that this movie looks lame.

Higher resolution image of the Hall of Asgard, a la LA Times, which came through for us again. The original release was print only, but they threw up the digital not long after. Incidentally, Russ Fischer at Slashfilm.com did a great job pulling out the details for us on this image for a close up of Loki, Frigga, Hogun and Fandral while Thor kneels before Zod Odin. Slashfilm.com also includes the original bootleg EW image of Thor and Odin in high res in that article, which can also be found on Marvel's site. I'll post a lower res of the Hall of Asgard image here, as a preview but definitely go get the full effect! (EDIT: YES WE HAVE HELMETS THANK YOU COMIC CON!)

 The Money Shot and my thoughts below the cut!

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Everyone not in Los Angeles can skip this.  Sorry.  This is the kind of thing that makes living in LA worthwhile.

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I'm not talking about Nicolas Cage's latest bid for movie immortality as the sorcerer who gets together with a cookie cutter twenty-ish student with the intent to train said cookie as an apprentice.  Trailers and commercials might lead you to believe that the true origins of this tale lie in the 1940 film "Fantasia".  Mickey Mouse dons his sorcerer-master's hat and causes all kinds of mischief involving walking brooms and lots of water to the music of Paul Dukas' symphonic poem.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice as a master-pupil story and as a cautionary tale is a good deal older than either of these film interpretations.  Before Dukas was inspired by the story in 1897, Johann Wolfgang Goethe wrote  Der Zauberlehrling a century earlier, channeling generations of the story as it was told throughout the German-speaking world.

Leaving his apprentice with a list of chores as long as the Rhine River itself, the sorcerer departs his workshop.  One of these chores is to refill the castle's water supply by trudging up and down a set of steep stone steps to the Rhine, carrying river water back in a bucket.  The apprentice is sick to death of carrying water and decides to implement the magic in which he is not yet fully trained.  He animates a broom and after a crash course in the river relay, he sends the broom to do his work.  One thing leads to another, and by the time the apprentice wakes from a nap, the broom is flooding the castle with no sign of stopping.  In a frenzy, the apprentice grabs an ax and smashes the broom to pieces--only each individual piece becomes an enchanted broom and the cycle begins again.  Finally, the sorcerer returns and breaks the spell.  Instead of kicking the apprentice out of the castle, the sorcerer imparts the lesson that this magic should only be worked by a fully trained sorcerer, and the apprentice sees he has much work ahead of him.

This story in a basic form is found throughout European folklore.  The powers that be at Disney (which at that time would have included Walt Disney himself) did not simply pull the tale out of thin air.  Medieval hausfraus and Renaissance child care are responsible for the story enduring through the centuries to the point where we can try and spot the threads of the original tale through the summer blockbuster morass.

Taking folklore and twisting it into a spell of a movie--now that would be real magic! 

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My friends, we have some new imagery from Thor! Brought to us by Marvel and the LA Times (The LA Times article is well worth the read), we have some news too. It has been officially announced that both Thor and Captain America will be finished in 3D.

Perhaps in an attempt to stop us from wondering if this is a good thing or a bad thing, they've also released a shot of Odin, Thor, and Loki!

 My thoughts below the cut, as usual!

 edit: There's another image from this week's EW article here!

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 ......and I even tried to resist the urge to make comments about angry trees or "Vhat a tveest!"

That's what an awesome date I am. 

 No, really!  I'll prove it!

[Seven hours later, after tossing the glasses in the "KEEP 3D GREEN" bin]

 Huh.  That was pretty cool.  I wonder if they assigned someone to just stand next to M. Night Shyamalan to yell "NO!" every time he said, "Well, it might be totally unexpected if-"

I am not familiar with the series itself.  As previously stated, I don't like to see the original or read the book prior to seeing the movie if possible because I'll probably end up indignant on principle.  So this perspective isn't comparing anything to the animated series.

It was a cool movie.  I will say that.  It was very entertaining, and it managed to intertwine a whole bunch of different plots without making me forget who was doing what and where.  However, part of the way it accomplished such a feat was by kinda making each of the elements controlled by different races.  So I did feel a little Captain Planet channeling in there.  'cause that Avatar, he's gonna help to put asunder bad guys who like to loot'n'plunder!

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From time to time I lose my sense of humor.  (Or, so claims my husband.) 

I have to admit, during these times, I roll my eyes at even the most immature attempts of comedy. 

In retaliation to my request for another "meaningful chick flick" he pulled The Gamers: Dorkness Rising into our Netflix queue.  

Yeah.  Um... yeah.  I laughed my ass off.

Here's what they say about it:

DeadGentlemen — July 03, 2007 — "The Gamers: Dorkness Rising" is the feature-length follow-up to Dead Gentlemen Production's award-winning short film "The Gamers." Buy the DVD here and support more DG projects: http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/d/de...

All Lodge wants is for his gaming group to finish their adventure. Unfortunately, they're more interested in seducing barmaids, mooning their enemies, and setting random villagers on fire. Desperate to rein in his players, Lodge injects two newbies into the distrust: a non-player character controlled by Lodge, who the power gamers immediately distrust, and the rarest gamer of all — a girl. Can the group overcome their bickering to save the kingdom, or will the evil necromancer Mort Kemnon triumph unopposed? A parody of fantasy films and the adventure gaming community, "The Gamers: Dorkness Rising" is a hilarious romp through the world of sword and sorcery — in this case, a world of exploding peasants, giant house cats, and undead roast turkeys. Game on!

I have to admit, initially I didn't think I'd like the movie.  It looks as if a bunch of college students got together and filmed it with their Dad's camcorder and then edited it on a Mac.  (There- I said it.  And I feel so ashamed.)

However, aside from the lack of high-end production quality, this film is HILARIOUS.  

The film follows a writer/DM (hey. I'm a writer and a DM!) named Lodge who has unsuccessfully run his group through the same module twice.  Out of sheer stubbornness, the group decides to run the game one more time- this time with a few new players added in.  However, the group has a bit of a reputation for being hard-core gamers and are only able to find one more player- a female who has never played D&D before.

The entire movie is a wonderful farce on the multiple levels of stereotyping that are common in the RPG world:

1) Gamers are awkward males

2) Female gamers don't know what they're doing

3) GMs have control issues and no first names

4) Everyone drinks Mountain Doom or Dr. Leper (which, looking at the table from last night's game just might be accurate...)

5)  Late night games are always followed by a trip to Waffle House

and finally

6) That Bards really suck.

Overall- be certain this is one movie you put in your Netflix queue.  I've seen it twenty times now and can quote it, but it makes me laugh every time.

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Oh man, my friends! The dam has burst, and Thor media is flooding the internet! At the risk of this being the only thing I ever write about on GeekaChicas, I can't imagine letting anyone else get the jump on sharing the latest with you loyal fans! (At least, it is my greatest hope that you will all come to love Thor as much as I do!) Just days after getting the nod about the Captain America and Thor movie logos, there's more!

You can all imagine my excitement to hear that ET went on the set of Thor. And we have video!

My thoughts beneath the cut, as usual!

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My friend Tony is a professional film geek: he runs film festivals. The big one is the Bradford International Film Festival. It's the UK's equivalent of Cannes, and it's amazingly successful. Because he runs the BIFF, though, he also gets to be involved with the other film festivals run in Bradford: BAF, Bite the Mango, and the Fantastic Films Weekend. The #ffw (pron. fuffwoo) is a joint venture between Tony and Sarah Crowther, and is a glorious celebration of a very British geekdom. If you're British, and of a certain age, you will remember late night horror movies on the BBC.

My own initiation into horror came with Taste the Blood of Dracula at the tender age of six, and was swiftly followed by such classics as The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, Vault of Horror, and many, many other wonderful films. The FFW gives me the chance to see these as they were meant to be seen: in a darkened cinema, sitting with my mates, clutching a paper cup (although, given the civilised nature of the National Media Museum, the paper cup generally contains Proper Beer rather than fizzy pop).

Classic films shown this year included Psycho, Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General, and The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue. But the FFW is not just about classic films, it's a total experience. There are new films too, and the museum's TV Heaven facility shows selections of sci-fi and horror TV shows, and directors and actors come to talk about genre film-making and to introduce their films (I loved Jenny Agutter talking about American Werewolf in London a couple of years ago) and the film make-up ladies from the local film school come and do wound make-up on people (I got my wrist slashed) and teach you how to do it yourself if you want to learn.

Sometimes they show silent movies with live accompaniment. Sometimes they dig out 70mm prints of films (Aliens in seventy mill was amazing). Sometimes films break, or there are typos on the tickets, but that doesn't matter, it's all part of the charm (as is the annual dusting off of the ropey old print of Horror Express, IMHO the best film ever made, to be shown to a whooping, cheering, utterly appreciative audience - Monster? But we're BRITISH!)... It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. It's also unique in the UK. They do a similar thing in Manchester, but it's nowhere near as good, and the facilities at the National Media Museum are unique in Europe in the range of types of film they can show.

The nicest thing for me, though, is the atmosphere. I get to run into old friends and make new ones. Because I have been going to it for years, I have got to know some of the museum staff (shout out going to Jeni and Tristan). Everybody is happy and enthusiastic about the films and the geekery, and you don't get looked down on by people like Mark Lawson, who think that horror and sci-fi can only ever be trash. I know that most of the audience for this blog is USian, but if you have an opportunity to get to Bradford in June of any given year, and you have any fondness for horror or sci-fi or fantasy movies, you should totally support the FFW.

Because it's unique, it's also precarious. Every year the museum gets a lot of event pitches, and it's always wanting to do new stuff, so it needs to be reminded that there is a public demand for the FFW to continue. Tony is already soliciting suggestions for stuff to show next year (I have asked for Dark City and Ginger Snaps) and if you have a suggestion, you can send it to tony DOT earnshaw AT nationalmediamuseum DOT org DOT uk. The more emails he gets saying "I loved the FFW this year, please do it again next year, I'd love to see *insert name of genre film here*", the more likely it is that the museum won't drop it in favour of something else.

 I hope to see some of you girls there next year :D

Further reading: reviews are up at the blogs of several geek-girl attendees: my own, innerbrat, and Purple Pen. You can follow Sarah Crowther on Twitter, and the National Media Museum has an official tweet stream. And you van check out the views of the (mostly) boys on the British Horror Forum here (although you WILL need a free account for that one - shout out to Daz and Sladds and Moo and Nadia and James).

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It's a shame that Splice is being marketed the way it's been.  Based on the trailers I've seen, it looks like a horror movie.  It's not.  It's actually fairly thought-provoking.  I enjoyed it, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was more than some freaky thing escaping from a lab and running around eating people.

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Just the other day I was shaking my fists to the sky wondering why we were getting Concept Art for Captain America and not for Thor, when obviously Thor was coming out first! (Don't get me started on the fact that the time for concept art was BEFORE the first image of Chris Hemsworth as Thor was released...) But thankfully, Marvel, or whoever is leaking something that looks like it could be the real deal, didn't let me down!

Yesterday these renders were released, in the exact same style as the Captain America art, and we got our first unofficial, and possibly (but probably not) false, images of Thor's full costume and Mjolnir! 

The photoshopping leaves something to be desired (I think this is like the uncanny valley phenomenon), but the overall look is great!  I'm really pleased with the way Chris Hemsworth looks as Thor so far and the only question I have left is this: Where the heck is his iconic and awesome helmet?! You know-- the one that inspired this fabulous and incredible winter hat on etsy?  (Which, by the way, I'm dying to get for myself even though I no longer live in a place with real knit-hat-wearing winter weather.)

I can't wait to see more real images, and if Marvel doesn't give us a teaser trailer at Comic-con I might cry.  My thoughts on Captain America's concept art beneath the cut!

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On the off chance that you all haven't heard about this already, an all-star panel of geeks (including Joss Whedon and Stan Lee) are making a documentary about the weirdos people who go to Comic-Con San Diego--and they could use some fodder, in the form of YOUR geeky life.  Regular readers of this space may recall that I am a habituée of Comic-Con, so I urge you all to get your geek on!

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 ( BATMAN NEWS!!!!)

The next batman film has an official release date, it is set for July 20, 2012 so REJOICE BAT FANATICS!!! Mr.Nolan did talk about how this part will be end of the chapter to the film series " Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story . . . I’m very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters. My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these things don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we’re telling. And it hearkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That’s what we do.” Nolan has also confirmed that Jonathan Nolan is writing the script and that the villain of the film “won't be Mr. Freeze.”

There is some huge buzz going around that this year Comic-Con will hold more details to the film, which includes a title and some casting information. Comic-Con takes place this July 22-25,  You can bet I'll be all over any Batman news coming out of the Con.

( THE HUMANS ARE DEAD !)

It also seems our favorite New Zelander Jemaine Clement, who started in the HBO comedy show Flight Of The Conchords will be playing the villain Yaz in the next M.I.B film. A role that Mr. Sacha Baron Cohen was rumored to be in talks for. I wasn't sold on the movie, but when you add Jemaine, I'm all in!

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I saw Iron Man 2 in IMAX.  Because it would be cruel to deny me that complete awesomeness.  Because it was an Iron Man movie, I also took advantage of the movie theater's frozen Jack and Coke machine..

But with Iron Man 2 being released and with trailers including clips from Tony's little "meeting" with the government becoming more frequent, I found myself focusing more on the "successfully privatized world peace" part than the explosions and mancandy.

Being a business geek kind of sucks, since most people in business aren't quite rabid enough about it to geek out with me about things like market research statistics, and most other geeks just think I'm insane when I start ranting about things like numbers related to consumer behavior.

Trust me...the geekiness level can be a little scary.  Especially when the overt Stark sex appeal is considered.

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...you too can smell like Iron Man! 

 That's right, my friends.  You (or your boytoy) can now purchase the ever-coveted scent of Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit.

The product description reads:

Top notes of modern leather contrast with the fresh aroma of sparkling lemon and the warmth of amber and cedar in Only The Brave, a masculine fragrance that epitomizes determination and bravery. 

Since this is Iron Man cologne, I'm guessing that's marketing speak for "motor oil and vodka."  Perhaps with added pheromones that cause women to fling their undergarments at the scent combination of motor oil and vodka.

 This marketing enthusiast thanks you, Diesel, for enriching our planet with your product.

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I guess you might think that all I talk about is stuff that has to do with David Tennant. I promise that this is not the case. Mostly. He just happens to be closely connected with things I dearly love. Like the U.K. Science Fiction. Shakespeare. Hotness. I have the same problem with Patrick Stewart for all the same reasons. I'm sure you all know where this is going.

Oh yes, it's Hamlet! As most of you know, the Royal Shakespeare Company sent SciFi/Shakespeare/U.K./Hotness fans into a tizzy a few years ago when they announced that their 2008 production of Hamlet would star David and Patrick in leading roles (Hamlet and Claudius, respectively).  The thought was stunning: The Doctor and Jean Luc Picard together on stage in Shakespeare's home town!  I vividly remember the day I decided that I would see that show and I remember the day that tickets went on sale.  I bought a few of them and 1o months later I took the trip across the pond just so I could witness what promised to be a momentous event in pop culture and live theater history.  I was delighted by the fact that so many folks took the very same trip from all over the world.

Nightsky wrote a great review of the stage production a little while back, so I won't talk much about that.  But I will say that the live performance was astonishing.  I've seen this play performed many times and this particular production was so fresh and lively. The choices made by the director, the actors, and even the set designers were all pivotal and so effective. The whole company worked together so seamlessly under Gregory Doran's brilliant direction that it was easy to forget about the two world-famous actors and just watch as the story unfolded. (However, when David uttered the immortal line, "The time is out of joint: O cursed spite / That ever I was born to set it right!" I had to hold in my gleeful laughter. But I did let out an audible snort when Patrick waved his hand and said imperially, "See that it is so." I couldn't help it!)

You can imagine my joy when the RSC announced that they would film this production for DVD release. Same cast. Same set. Same mood and feel and atmosphere. But this time, everyone would be able to see it. You'd think that I would be most excited about having a copy to watch over and over again (which I will). Actually, much to my surprise, I'm MOST excited that everyone else can finally see the amazing production that I saw. Starting May 4th (that's today!) when the Region 1 DVD is released here in the U.S., I can finally show everyone what I've been talking about for almost two years.

Actually, I can show you now! PBS put the entire production up on their website after they broadcast it in its entirety last Wednesday night as part of the Great Performances series. I stayed up and watched the whole thing, riveted. It was so much fun to see the way they chose to adapt it to film.  Film is so much more intimate than live theater. You can see the actors' faces, when they clench their jaws or make a slight shift of the eyes. I found myself even more engrossed this time through than when I was when seeing it live.

Some things about the film version were jarring at first such as the instances during the soliloquies when the actors clobber the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera. I actually jumped the first time it happened, but I soon got used to it. It's easy to see the attraction of this type of acting on film. Watch David perform the 'To be, or not to be' soliloquy here.  You can see how effective eye contact is in the moments he chooses to use it.

 

There were moments throughout the play when it seemed as if the characters gazed into the camera, through my TV, and right into my soul. I ended up really loving this new facet of the production. I felt included in the story, as if the characters purposefully wanted me to be privy to all of their secretive plans and thoughts -- as if they wanted me to understand (or even condone) their actions.  I for one was delighted to be involved!

Another great choice made in the film production was the use of second-hand visuals like mirrors, security cameras and Hamlet's little hand-held camera. Our point of view shifts often from 'live' to the view through one of the cameras and back again. There were moments that actually made the audience feel like we were spying on the unfolding drama. It was really effective and created a more sinister feeling overall that pervaded the whole production, which I loved. (I also love how we get a snippet of the famous 'Hamlet Video Diaries' a la the Doctor Who DVDs as Tennant performs a soliloquy into his hand-held camera. My fangirl self giggled with glee at the visual parallel.)

However, with these differences taken into account, the filmed production is still almost identical to what I saw on the live stage. The sets are on location, but they look the same. The furniture, the costumes, the blocking...it's all the same. If you didn't get to see the live performance, rest assured that this film version is closer to it than I ever thought possible. 

Along with all of these thoughts about the technical aspects of this version of Hamlet, I can't resist putting down some of my thoughts about the actual performances you'll see in this wonderful production.  They were quite inspiring. 

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