Sporadic contributor, The Lord of the Storm, seems hellbent for a return to form, joining forces to thin out the busy crowd of releases.. (can you believe how many movies are now coming out?) Here's one that I've been a bit curious about... Personally I'm a fan of the old black and white version... but hey... I'm probably in the minority there, so let's hear how Tucci and crew did...
Hey Harry, The Lord of The Storm here, reporting live from the City of Lost Angels.
It's been a bit since I've written or even seen any screenings because I took some time off in Isreal, training with the Mossad. The job market in LA for freelance "cleaners" has gotten crowded, so I needed an edge.
I was just about to fax over my resume to Moriarity (yo, hook me up with some work!) when I got a surprise email -- Laemmle's Sunset 5, sneak screening of Midsummer Night's Dream with Stan Tucci, Ally McFlockhart, Rupert Everett, Christian Bale, and some other people. The email suggested I go incognito and had a pre-set identity for me to inhabit.
Several hours later, I sat at the back of theatre #5 in a wheelchair, garbed as an overweight old lady. My girlfriend, a gymnast, had wormed herself into an exoskeleton and looked like a six foot two white guy. Perfect.
The film was very good -- I performed as Puck in a high school production of the play -- and perhaps only two or three lines had been added. The text of the play was (to my ears) faithfully followed.
The acting kicked up in certain points -- when the actress playing Hermia got dumped, she was far better in her performance. Likewise, Michelle Pfeiffer was very dry until she fell in with Kevin Kline's brilliant and surprisingly well drawn out Nick Bottom.
Rupert's normally dry as hell, but he was able to use it to advantage here mostly, a grim and solemn Oberon, looking over his brows at Michelle's Titania. Stanley Tucci was uniformly brilliant, especially on facial expressions, Callista played a medieval Ally in a slightly different way that was very cool. The Demetrius kid was dull, though. Overall, tons of fun, though.
I like the Shakespeare resurgence, since I keep the whole works on my Palm Pilot. Great and enjoyable flick.
Next up I'll hope to see something more contemporary, though, and maybe Moriarity will fax over some assignments ...
Signing off from the City of Lost Angels, this is the Lord of the Storm.
