Lanning : ) (binky013)

I am not a Trekkie, although I do have friends who are. These friends are always amazed and, I think, a little embarrassed for me when I tell them that I've never been able to watch a complete TV episode or any of the movies without falling asleep.

Interestingly, I did not fall asleep during this movie. I take that as a sign. Either this is the best incarnation of Star Trek ever, or this has little to do with either the TV show or the previous movies. I very much enjoyed the humor in this movie -- something that is sorely lacking in everything Star Trek that I've managed to see before dozing off. The actors are quite good all the way around, and the story is very interesting. I still think it would have been very cool to see John Cho smoke a joint on the bridge, or perhaps after he kills the two gentlemen on the drill. Even better would be to have Kal Penn do a walk-through, perhaps inhaling either some White Castle burgers or a little weed.

I will definitely see the sequel; I have a feeling I'll be able to stay awake.

Sadly, I found myself watching this, and I was too tired to turn the channel. As I've said before, I find Anthony Hopkins to be one of the most overrated actors of his generation, and it's very interesting that he was discovered and encouraged by Olivier, the most overrated actor of his own previous generation.

Like Olivier, Hopkins is very good at playing characters, but he can never completely disappear in a character, so you're always stuck with thinking, "Okay, I'm watching Anthony Hopkins do an Anthony Hopkins' idea of a character." Olivier, same problem. You're always watching Olivier acting, not able to fully believe that you're watching someone else. That ability to become absolutely the character you're playing, to lose yourself in that character, is a rare talent. Folks like Newman and Nicholson, for instance, are supremely gifted in their ability to do this.

Just as in Silence of the Lambs, the Lektor/Lecter character is actually a Hopkins caricature, and the result is fairly ridiculous. In just a very brief appearance in the 1986 William Petersen Manhunter movie, Brian Cox is able to do a much more chillingly natural Lektor/Lecter than Hopkins could ever hope to pull off. Cox's Lecktor/Lecter doesn't have to kill anyone, or skin anyone, or cook anyone. He accomplishes a fully realized character just through his words and actions when he's already behind bars. No leering facial expressions, no lip licking, no almost comical character traits of any kind.

Hopkins was pretty ludicrous in Lambs, but at least he had Foster to save the movie. No such luck here. Even more poorly equipped an actor than Hopkins, Julianne Moore couldn't hold up a helium balloon, let alone a movie opposite a talent as tenuous as Hopkins.

Oh good. For a moment there I thought we were in trouble.

Famous last words from Robert LeRoy Parker (aka Butch Cassidy) right before that amazing run out the door. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are one of the unbeatable male pairs in movies. If you've not seen this one, but saw The Sting and liked their work together, you must see this movie. A good job done by Katherine Ross as well.

Man, do I hope they do a few more together before they call it quits.

11/14/06 update: Just watched this again. One of the aspects that really grabbed me this time, even though I've seen this so many times, is the way you believe, right up to the end, that Newman and Redford might actually get out of this . . . and go to Australia. Beautifully done. I'll say it again: Hope they do one or two more together . . . for the ages.

If I loved you
Time and again I would try to say
All I'd want you to know.
If I loved you
Words wouldn't come in an easy way
Round in circles I'd go.
Longin' to tell you, but afraid and shy
I'd let my golden chances pass me by.
Soon you'd leave me
Off you would go in the mist of day
Never, never to know
How I loved you . . .
If I loved you.

One of the greatest love songs to come out of musical theater. Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones: A Hollywood musical match made in heaven. I wonder if Jones might have broken a few hearts in high school . . .

Carousel's story is different from most Hollywood musicals in several ways, the most significant of which is that true love is won right at the beginning, then is tragically squandered by Billy Bigelow, although not ultimately lost. Besides such memorable numbers as the "Carousel Waltz" theme itself and "You'll Never Walk Alone"--the ultiimate graduation song--, one of my all-time favorites is "When (the) Children Are Asleep," the beautiful duet, shared by Carrie and Mr. Snow on the way to the clambake, in which they dream of their married future together:

When the children are asleep we'll sit and dream
The things that every other dad and mother dream.
When the children are asleep and lights are low
If I still love you the way I love you today
You'll pardon my sayin' I told you so.
When the children are asleep, I'll dream with you.
We'll think what fun we have had and be glad that it all came true.