My fears have been Stardustbusted

Loved it.

Nearly everything I could ask for in an adaptation– omitting in all the right places, adding stuff appropriately. It just worked. It was sheer brilliance. And unlike Potter, I didn’t mind the changes they made whatsoever. It stands alone, as its own piece of work, in the true spirit of its source material. Yes, they gave it a happier ending (the book’s ending wasn’t necessarily sad, but bittersweet), but an ending that worked. The big stars didn’t call in performances, but knocked them out of the park, and the lead actors did fantastically as well. I loved this movie. Go see it.

I’m talking about Stardust, by the way. In case you didn’t read the last post.

Let’s start with De Niro. Invoking his Brazil character, Archibald “Harry” Tuttle, De Niro shows not only that he can be a hardass, but that he can be a softie at literally the same time. His character twist was so beautifully executed, and he carried his way through the flick with finesse and comfort and elegance.

Speaking of elegance, Michelle Pfeiffer lacked it perfectly. Cold and cunning, with a desperate wish and a sad motivation, she was an understandable villainess, relishing every moment on screen.

The princes worked well, being much more comedic than their novelized counterparts, which was a change I found very appropriate. I mean, you can’t do a movie like this without the humorous elements, and I’m glad that they weren’t as dark an aspect of they flick as they very easily could have been.

And I praise the performance of relative newcomer Charlie Cox as the lead. He captured Tristan Thorn perfectly. I was glad they went with an unknown. He was perfectly bright-eyed, and full of dreams, and optimistic. Being young and in love, and ensuingly stupid. He was just dopey, with bravado. He was just a young man, no more or less enlightened, but living in an interesting place at an interesting time.

And I even liked Claire Danes as Yvaine. I definitely think it helped that it was a fantasy/period piece and that she was far enough removed from Angela Chase that I wasn’t looking for that. She was doing something different, not playing a young quirky woman in love, but a crabby star who wishes she was in the sky, who learns to be human. She performed beautifully, learning how to hurt and how to love.

Plus, Ricky Gervais did a great turn as a period-appropriate Ricky Gervais.

Go see it. Please.

The problem with the Danes.

I netflixed (Can I say “rented”? Because it feels like renting, only by mail-order. No, internet-order-mail-delivered. But I feel like I’m renting a movie. I dunno.) Shopgirl because I thought it would be funny. You see, when you take two comedic actors (Steve Martin and Jason Schwartzman) and put them in a movie with a pretty girl (Claire Danes), it’s usually a comedy. Like Chuck and Larry (Sandler, James, Biel) or Wedding Crashers (Vaughn, Wilson, McAdams, with Isla Fischer thrown in there, but she’s one of those pretty actresses that just likes doing comedy), but it wasn’t funny. I mean, I liked it. There was a lot of quarter-life-crisis/why-doesn’t-anybody-love-me stuff that I totally dig, plus the character interaction was beautiful, the acting spectacular. The appearance of the thing was spotty. There were some shots that didn’t work. Like, they were trying to be pretty, but there was some obvious effects work. It pulled me out of the movie. Then during some of the more gorgeous parts of the movie, they throw Steve Martin narration over, saying some of the most contrived things I’ve ever heard, which was extremely jarring, especially considering that he’s in the movie. When you hear someone’s voice explaining what his character is thinking in the third person, it’s weird. I mean, it’s based on a novella written by Martin, so it makes sense for him to do the narration, but then don’t make him a character. At least he didn’t direct it, too, or it would have been masturbation.

But the main reason I bring Shopgirl up is because of Claire Danes. Claire Danes is an actress that I regard highly, and every time I hear about something she’s in, I think “Oh. I should see that.” And I think it goes back to My So-Called Life. Angela Chase. (sidenote: One of my favorite things about that show was the character “Tino” who is always mentioned, but never seen. I’ve had a few instances in my life where I hear about someone without actually meeting them, and I consider them my “Tinos”. I invariably end up meeting them, despite my sometime efforts to the contrary, and they’re always cool (as evidenced by the fact that they’re constantly brought up), but there’s always some pang of disappointment that they’re no longer my “Tino”.) But I’m always somewhat let down when I see her in things. Actually, I liked her in the Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet, but I haven’t seen that since I was 14. But it’s like she’s too…something. Like she tries too hard. And it’s distracting.

And today Stardust comes out. And I’ve been looking forward to this since I heard it was announced, because I’m a big fan of the original illustrated novel, by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. (It’s not a graphic novel, as it’s prose, but it’s illustrated, and it’s by a comic book/fantasy writer who I love. At some point, they took out all of the drawings and released it as a novel, seemingly to give it cred.). Claire Danes has a starring role, as a star. And I’m concerned. I want to like this movie. I want everyone to like this movie. And I’ve heard ridiculously good things about it. But I’m worried. I’ll find out this weekend, I suppose.