dheidel

I was in a production of Titus....okay, I carried spears in a production of Titus, but the point is, this movie is dead on. I eagerly anticipated the release of this film and saw it twice on the big screen and ordered the DVD, several weeks before it came out on that format, counting down the days before it arrived in the mail. I've noticed that a lot of people have criticized Taymor's direction. I don't think this is deserved. She had a very specific, and I think interesting point, that the violence portrayed in this play is timeless. I think that if someone is willing to become swept up in the pure emotion of this play, it is not one of Shakespeare's worst at all, but an interesting study in violence. I highly recommend this movie and also, if you have a choice, get it on DVD, because the making of video and the interview with Taymore are fascinating. I can't say anything about the director's commentary because my computer is having some difficulty with that, but I'm sure it's interesting too.

I really enjoyed this movie. I've seen it several times and it has held my attention each time. My favorite part of this film, above some excellent acting by the leads, was Randy Edelman's outstanding dramatic score. My question is this, "Why was it overlooked at the Oscars?" It wasn't even nominated. I consider this score and James Horner's score for Glory to be among the best film scores in recent years. Both were not nominated for Academy Awards. I think this is rather sad. While I'm glad that Mr. Horner won for Titanic, I'd rather remember him for Glory as opposed to "My Heart Will Go On." Mr. Edelman's score work has been uneven, but he also wrote the highly memorable music for Last of the Mohicans. Again, he was not nominated. In fact, he has never been nominated for an Academy Award. I suppose that not much can be done about this now, but I thought it would be good to draw attention to these two scores as (well, perhaps slightly) short of masterpieces despite the fact that they were overlooked at Oscar time.

OHHHHH! This movie is outrageously awful. And yet, it is also bound to have you laughing for the whole film. No, film implies that it has merit. This is not a film. This movie has no merit at all.

The plot holes and inconsistencies are hysterical. The New York Times review mentions the line describing either Siegfried's or Roy's childhood in "Pre-post World War II Germany." Sure enough, it's there. Whatever that means, I'd love to know it. My German friends can't figure it out either.

Poor Teenage Siegfried sees a book about magic in the store window but he doesn't have enough money to buy it. Lucky for him, the exact amount of money needed floats by in a puddle. I'm inclined to think that he broke the store window and stole the book, but....

Then, Teenage Roy is caught in quicksand...outside of Bremen in Germany. German quicksand!!! That's right, only in this movie. Fortunately, the big shaggy dog saves his life and solidifies his bond with the animals.

One day, 20-year-old Roy is playing with a Cheetah at the zoo. The next day, he's smuggled the Cheetah aboard an oceanliner where Roy is working as a steward. How did the Cheetah get out of the zoo? The movie doesn't go there, but we know the truth...

It's hilarious to see the look of disgust that Siegfried has for the tigers while Roy is riding on their backs.

Poor Anthony Hopkins. Fortunately, he's made enough good movies (Silence of the Lambs, Titus (A MUST SEE!), etc.) to not be remembered for his role as the narrator in this lame waste of money (both mine and the producers').

There is so much more to say, but I forgot most of the movie because I was laughing too much. I'll close with this, however. The only possible explanation I could think of for the overall awfulness of this movie, is that the Tiger wrote the script.