I am terrified. Yaay for movies.

[dragojustine]

So I bought far too much candy (and had only one trick-or-treater. One sad lonely Mutant Ninja Turtle. Feel cheated). And watched the Princess Bride and The Shining. FINALLY.

Oh my god. I am so freaked out. I am a total horror movie wuss. I was terrified. When the mirror shot finally pays off, and we see redrum as "Murder" I did, in fact, scream. Because I am easy.

*sighs* Man, the score on that movie was over-the-top. It's really frustrating to know how blatantly you're being manipulated, and have it work anyway. Grr. And the "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" pages thing FREAKED ME RIGHT THE HELL OUT. And Jack sitting there frozen with that rictus on his face... *freaks* I am a wuss. I have been hunting about online reading every critical essay I can find (because, when disturbed by something, over-intellectualize it! Always works) and yet, even after a good night's sleep, I am still freaked.

In conclusion: Redrum.

The Princess Bride:

Man, I am so happy I finally saw this movie. It's a bit weird, finally watching a movie when you can already quote huge sections of it. It is a sort of fannish cultural osmosis thing, and I think that's a fascinating phenomenon. I mean, how can I quote half this movie? How do I know as much as I do about Buffy, or the X Files, or Smallville, without having seen a single episode of any of those shows? Cultures come with common knowledge, and you don't even notice as it seeps into you, until suddenly you're laughing at all your DnD friends' jokes even though you've never played. It's... odd.

The Dread Pirate Roberts and Inigo Montoya (and their wonderful repartee!) were both exactly as awesome as I expected. The "wine in front of me" was just as funny as it reads. To finally hear "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" was awesome.

Like watching the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time- you can't ever hear "Luke, I am your father" as simply a plot point, a line in a movie. It's a THING, a cultural touchstone that you can finally tick off your list. The thing is, it changes your experience. Is it ever really possible to hear "I'll be back" or "Bond. James Bond" or "Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" or "what we have here is a failure to communicate" or "Go ahead- make my day" for the first time? To hear these things now is a fundamentally different experience than hearing any other line of a movie.

I am reminded of the Slings & Arrows episode, where Jeff asks Jack why he is scared of doing the "To be or not to be" soliloquy: "When I say those lines, they won't be in the play anymore. They'll just be watching some guy acting." When I hear "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" I am not in any way watching a line spoken by a particular character, in a particular movie- I am out of that movie entirely, in every geeky movie quotes conversation I've ever had. I am watching that line, having nothing meaningful to do with its context. Is it even possible for anyone who has not lived in a box their whole lives to hear "No, I am your father" as a contextual line in a movie anymore?

Incidentally, I notice I misquoted it as "Luke, I am your father" above. This is one of those cases where the quote itself has obviously become so much more important than the context it comes from that the REAL quote actually sounds WRONG to our ears. Like if you quote "Play it, Sam" without the "again."

I have no conclusions. I think that wasn't even very coherent.

BUT, right after I finished the Princess Bride, I got a rec for a Princess Bride/PotC Xover fic. The Revenge, PG Sparrow/Montoya. This makes me SCREAM with joy. Pirates, people! Jack Sparrow! And Inigo! And flamboyance and swishiness and swordplay and repartee and rum! Pirates! I want endless sequels of Jack and Inigo sailing about being pirates together! *dies from Pirate love* Has there ever been anything as cool as pirates?

Comments

[miriad.livejournal.com]

Yay! I am so glad you finally saw it! Woo hoo!

What I find with that film is that while the "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya..." line has become a fannish thing, that's joked about a bit, the actual scene in the film where he delivers it to the six-fingered man just works for me. I find it more powerful the more times I've watched the film. The culmination of years of waiting and preparing and to finally kill the man who killed your father... there's just strength in that scene that gets me every time. And I think that that's why the line is one that sticks with people. Beyond the repetition. :)

I love Westley. Love him. Fezzig, the same. Buttercup, I don't know. Buttercup and Westley together, though, I adore. His love for her- wow- and her love right back? Yeah.

Supernatural tonight? Let me know so I can hook you with directions.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

It does totally work as a scene, it's just that it's impossible to watch it JUST as a scene. But I am totally and utterly in fannish love with Inigo. *grins*

I would ADORE SPN tonight. Do let me know.

[miriad.livejournal.com]

We're going to a friends house in Sherman Oaks. Would you like the address and directions or would you like to meet me somewhere and drive together? I am willing to do either, as I have the day off. The plan was to get over there about 8:30 or so, maybe get ice cream or a late dinner, depending on everyone's moods.

Thoughts?

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Um, I think I should probably get directions. Go ahead and email, if you don't feel comfy putting them on lj... do they know I'm coming along? I don't want to show up and freak anybody out.

[miriad.livejournal.com]

Done and done. See you tonight!

[desertport]

I saw The Shining for the first time a few months ago--alone, in the dark. And I actually had to stop the movie and finish it in the morning, with daylight. Freakiest movie ever. The music made it, but I think what also got me was the way the camera would stay absolutely still as it focused on something over a long time (like when the hotel manager is explaining the job to Jack), which gave me this uneasy feeling, like being stared at by someone who won't even blink. Also, the use of the color red, even just in the background, was startling and so effective. And the fact it's months later and I'm still affected.... Yeah, just a great movie.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

At least it's not just me. Man. Yeah, the camera work was creepy. I think what really got me were all the inconsistencies- the little things that would change in the hotel, or between takes. There were more of them than I think I've seen in any other movie, but on the first watch-through they sort of stay below the level of consciousness- you're not actually thinking "wasn't his typewriter a different color before?" instead it just gives this overwhelming feeling of OFF and WRONG.

[ryuutchi.livejournal.com]

Play it Sam! You played it for her, you can play it for me.

I mean, uhm.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Yaay for resisting the inaccurate quotations!

[ryuutchi.livejournal.com]

The inaccurate quote comes from a Marx Brothers movie, I think.

[buaidhnobas.livejournal.com]

"Has there ever been anything as cool as pirates?"

Yes. Ninjas. However, to explain more would be to betray ninja-kind. I simply present you with this empirical evidence...

http://www.drmcninja.com/

That is all.

Pirates of the Cliffs of Insanity

[bdblack.livejournal.com]

I've got it: Inigo, Jack Sparrow, and Fezzik (we're going to need a new giant, I'm afraid) fight off an invasion of space ninjas? I'm projecting a $150M opening weekend on the premise alone.

-C

Re: Pirates of the Cliffs of Insanity

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Man, we'd be rich.

Except can the space ninjas be led by Jackie Chan? I've just always wanted to see Johnny Depp and Jackie Chan in a movie together. C'mon, just take a few minutes to picture that wacky, wacky duel...