Weekend reading and watching

[yendi]

Howl's Moving Castle was playing at the Tara (and not the Landmark, surprisingly). We caught it on Saturday, and I liked it quite a bit. I suspect I'll like the subbed version even better. Although it's hard to go too wrong with Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall.

Sunday, we used another freebie coupon to rent the director's cut of Donnie Darko, which, unlike Garden State, did not disappoint. Damned fine (and damned fucked-up) film. That said, looking at the IMDB list of differences between the director's cut and the released cut I can't imagine how anyone who saw the original liked it. The stuff that was cut was, imho, essential to the movie.

We also watched, of course, the latest eps of Teen Titans (fun, but not special, and it breaks into a serious story arc), and JLU (damned fine -- possibly the best animated series on TV at this point).

I also finished Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear. by Jim Steinmeyer, a magician and trick designer who's worked with pretty much all the big names in the industry. This book isn't about today's magicians, though, but about the magicians who led the surge in popularity in Britain and America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It explains a bunch of tricks and standard props, but it's fascinating for the insight into the minds of these men, with their breakthroughs that overlapped "real" science and the jealousy and competitiveness that drove them all. Houdini, Maskelyne, Selbit, and their brethren come across as human, flaws and all, but are still clearly geniuses. It's just a damned fun read. Anyone who enjoyed The Turk will enjoy this one.

Currently between books, but I'll be reading a novella of murnkay's on my busride home tonight.

Comments

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

'That said, looking at the IMDB list of differences between the director's cut and the released cut I can't imagine how anyone who saw the original liked it. The stuff that was cut was, imho, essential to the movie.'

I own both versions on DVD, and I haven't yet been able to bring myself to watch the director's cut. The original cut was the one I fell in love with (and I can't imagine the opening scene with INXS and not Echo and the Bunnymen). Those who saw and loved the original and then saw the director's cut almost unanimously say that it overexplains and kills what was once mysterious. When I eventually see the new cut, I'll consider it a curiosity, an interesting variation, but the original is what moves me.

I suppose the issue is that I never really cared much about or paid much attention to all the time-travel stuff, which I understand is clarified more in the director's cut. For me it works as a John Hughes meets Thomas Pynchon '80s mood piece. So it'd be sort of like Lucas going back yet again and explaining how the lightsabers work in the first Star Wars — you don't really care, and knowing or not knowing how they work isn't why you loved the movie in the first place.

[yendi]

Now I'm intrigued enough to want to see it -- it sounds like the tone of the first movie itself was vastly different (something not well conveyed in the IMDB).

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

There's a good review of it on the movie's IMDB homepage talking about the differences.

For me, to use the Star Wars analogy again, it's as if someone saw the '97 'special edition' and said 'I can't imagine how anyone liked the original cut,' and you're like 'Argh! No! Greedo did not shoot first!!' :)

[yendi]

The first rule of yendi's LJ is that we do not talk about the '97 "Special Edition."

The second rule of yendi's LJ is that we do not talk about the '97 "Special Edition."

Anyway, I see your point. But I'm looking at things that reviewer criticized (like the scene between the parents in the cafe), and it's hard not to see it as extremely nit-picky.

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

*nod* Yeah. I guess it's more like taking an album you love, where you're accustomed to a certain song following a certain other song and so on, and then issuing a 'special edition' with new songs interspersed throughout — 'Hey! That song doesn't belong there!' It could be the awesomest song ever, but it's not the song that's supposed to come next.

Donnie Darko is like a favorite album, so the new songs to me are like, 'That's nice, but I know that's not really supposed to go there.'

On the other hand, the version of Stop Making Sense I fell in love with was the extended videocassette version with three extra songs. So when it came out on DVD, minus the three songs (which were appended as extras elsewhere on the disc), I was like 'Hey! Where's 'Cities'?'

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

This is one of the more pointless deletions:

'In the Director's Cut, the voice saying "Get off the stage, Cherita!" and "You suck!" (presumably said by Ronald Fisher) are no longer heard after Cherita is done with her dance. Also gone is the catcall right before this.'

Why Kelly took that out is beyond me. It takes away from the shot of Karen vehemently applauding Cherita (and then pointedly not applauding the more popular Sparkle Motion).

[yendi]

Not really sure about this one. Karen's reactions are still there, though. Considering that other abuse on Cherita is added in the DC (the "I hope you get molested" line, etc), I'm not totally sure what the deal was.

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

Especially since you apparently still see her crying outside after the show, which now no longer makes much sense.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine how anyone who saw the original liked it.

Adam, I question your commitment to Sparkle Motion.

[yendi]

You wouldn't be the first.

Seriously, as I mentioned in a comment above to robyn_ma, I suspect that the movies were more different than the IMDB implies, with a different tone making up for the plot issues.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

I couldn't begin to respond to that, having only seen the director's cut.

From all I've read, seeing the original release now would just be a waste of my time.

[dicotomygrrl.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to see Howl's Moving Castle! I plan to see both versions.
Donnie Darko actually gets better the more you watch it, oddly enough. It's best of all on the big screen. As luck would have it the Coolidge Corner Theatre (http://www.coolidge.org/) here in Boston plays it as a midnight film on a fairly regular basis.

[yendi]

Yet another thing to look forward to about Boston. :-)

[dicotomygrrl.livejournal.com]

Yup, another of many and given half a chance I will tell you about all of them! ; )

hiding the elephant

[morenasangre.livejournal.com]

Farren and I finished Hiding the Elephant a month or so ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was well-written non-fiction, and I thoroughly appreciated Steinmeyer's respect for the wonder and mystery of the magic profession. I felt that the mysteries of the book were focused as much upon the quirks of the men who created the illusions as upon the illusions themselves. I'm looking forward to buying Steinmeyer's new book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/078671512X/ref=wl_it_dp/104-1027518-4575934?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I1DCFRX02JQ07Y&v=glance&colid=34H10FT24PCHI) as well. I love good non-fiction, and it's frequently difficult to find!!

Re: hiding the elephant

[yendi]

Hee! I just finished adding that new book to the wishlist about ten minutes ago!

Oh, have you read Thomas Standage? You'd like his stuff.

Re: hiding the elephant

[morenasangre.livejournal.com]

Speaking of non-fiction that looks quirky and interesting, have you heard anything about Forgotten Fatherland (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0374157596/qid=1118673676/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-1027518-4575934?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) . One of our faculty recommended it to me, and it piqued my interest.

Re: hiding the elephant

[yendi]

Ooh -- nope, never heard of it, but it sounds fascinating!

[raptorgirl.livejournal.com]

I love the original "Donnie Darko." It does leave some explanation out at the end so you have no idea what just happened after your first time watching the film, but it's otherwise a pretty tight and tense movie. Haven't seen the original yet, although I want to.