I went to see Master and Commander today. Shawn wasn't interested, since although he likes pirate movies, the whole "floating prison unless you're an officer" life aboard a Ship of the Line sets his teeth on edge.

I'd only read one of the series, and I was also watching some of the A&E Horatio Hornblower series about the same time, so I can't remember many of the original plot points. However, since I've only seen Crowe in LA Confidential and Gladiator (oh, wait; I saw a really edited version of The Quick and the Dead on TNT one night), my impression of him is "dark and intense," and I wasn't sure how he'd portray Aubrey's good natured bluster, devil-may-care attitude and -- forgive me -- occasional oafishness. He did a very good job. I really liked the way Aubrey and Maturin's relationship was delineated; they managed to capture the essence of its complexity with some expertly chosen/played scenes.

Since sailing is a dream of mine, I'd been interested in the O'Brian books for years, but it was only in the past year that I managed to borrow one from a friend to actually read. I found the writing style terribly formal and wordy, and, much as I loved the subject, it was very difficult for me to stay involved. I remembered another book of the same era I'd read in high school -- "The Launching of Roger Brook," by Dennie Wheatley -- as being much more enjoyable.

So I was inspired to climb into my parents' attic and track down good old Roger, only to find as I started to redelve into it that it was just as formal and wordy as the O'Brian book had been.

???

I seem to recall someone saying something similar about picking up Tolkien again after seeing Fellowship. Maybe I just don't read as much as I used to, so I'm out of practice. I don't know. It does seem odd, though.


Going back to movies, Shawn and I saw Looney Toons: Back In Action over the weekend. As expected, it was very silly. However, like the classics it aspired to, it was a lot more intelligent and funny than I'd expected. And, of course, it had Brandon Fraser in a tank top. I like someone who doesn't take himself too seriously. Because it was very, very silly. But fun.

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QotD

Am I going to need to get high just to understand this interview?
-- Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, utterly thrown for a loop by Brendan Fraser's attempt to explain the plot of the movie