More Films

So my week has again revolved around films. Lynne and I went to see 'Atonement' on Wednesday evening and I can honestly say I was disappointed. I found it a very tedious and worthy film, with very little plot and what there was of it was pretty confusing. Gratuitous WW2 scenes really didn't help and I found myself sighing several times throughout the evening, which did seem to go very slowly. The last time I saw a film this bad was 'Meet Joe Black' - I am pretty sure that Lynne would agree and knows where I'm coming from on that. Sorry I definitely wouldn't recommend this one.

Also VERY disappointing to me was seeing the trailer for the Dark is Rising film. I previously mentioned how I loved the Dark is Rising sequence books - in fact I think I would have to admit to loving them MORE than Harry Potter and have been a devoted follower for the last 30 odd years. Like HP, the books are quintessentially British stories, made up by wonderful mixture of modern storytelling interwoven with Arthurian, Merlin, Lost Land and other legends - a true battle of the dark and light. I and I am sure many thousands of other readers have always thought that they would make for a fantastic series of films on a par with HP or LOTR. Unfortunately, the film soon to be released is not it. Having completely ignored the first book in the series 'Under Sea and Over Stone' they have moved onto the second story 'The Dark Is Rising'. Of course in true Hollywood style they have renamed it 'The Seeker: Dark is Rising' and changed the setting from Britain to the US. They have completely changed the alliances of the characters, have completely changed the plot, and for some strange reason have (completely mis)cast Ian McShane as Merriman. From what I can see from the trailer very little of the original story appears to be intact. Obviously I should boycott the film as it is so different from the books I know and love. Of course in reality I am sure I will end up seeing it at some point, and will just have to try and forget that it is associated with some of the best children's fiction ever written and take it on face value as just a film.

On a better note I also saw two new (for me) Alan Rickman films - 'Mesmer' which was a pretty good biography on Franz Anton Mesmer (just imagine how mesmerising Alan can be) and a fantastic film called 'Something the Lord Made' which was about the work of Dr Alfred Blalock and Dr Vivien Thomas on blue babies. This was a real tearjerker and so well acted, not just by Alan but also by Mos Def, the other main protagonist. I am now looking forward to getting 'The Search for John Gissing' which has finally made it onto international video release.