Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Talked with one of my most trusted field agents today, and he saw A KNIGHT'S TALE over the weekend. I asked him what he thought. "I thought it was really good, but I saw it with my girlfriend, and she thought it was GREAT." That's been a common refrain in the people I've spoken with, and I'm taking a lovely lady to see it on Saturday night to see if that holds true. In the meantime, here's Bjorkman with his thoughts on it...
Hey Harry,
I've only written to you once before and it was to bitch at you. You responded very gentlemanly, effectively leaving me feeling like an asshole. But...
The reason I'm writing this time is for two reasons. One to tell you that your site does still rock and two-to talk about A Knight's Tale.
I just caught an advance screening at Sony in Culver City in LA.
Now, I have to say that RARELY, if ever does a film win me over like this one did. WOW. I hated this shit at first. I was thinking the movie was the worse shot, worse directed piece of celluloid that I had seen since Drop Dead Fred...ok, not that bad, but close. But the film slipped into my head. It weaved a nice storyline with the tongue in cheek over the top sequences and coaxed a bemused permanent grin onto my face.
The thing that makes and/or breaks this film is the tone. The filmmakers are dangerously close to having mass walkouts with this one. I, myself, felt my hands grasping the armrests about to hoist myself out of the subzero degree theater. But I hadn't done such a gross misjustice to a film such as a walkout since, well...Drop Dead Fred. It all seems so ridiculous in the beginning until Paul Bettany comes on as Chaucer and steals the show. He is extremely watchable and before I knew it I had settled in with the film. Even though, I still couldn't help but laugh and shake my head at the David Bowie soundtracked dance sequence, but I was with the film by then-no matter how ridiculous.
The reason that I am so hyped about this film is that it is so exciting to be WRONG about a film for once. I was sure that this film was a piece of shit at first. You know that age old saying that you can tell if you are going to like a film in the first 10 min...But I went with the film and let it take me on the journey it wanted to and what a wonderful experience it turned out to be. The film simply worked. The beauty of it working is that it tests you. It says "Can you relax and let your mind float upstream". It says we are going to tell you a story, but we are going to play with it/you.
The film has many flaws, though. Many scenes are photographed horribly. Helgeland does NOT know how to capture cool shots(God, how many opportunities did he have with the cool Rock music? He missed them ALL)The lead actress wont be getting anymore work based on her acting ability. But none of this takes away from the fact that this movie kicks.
Just my two cents, dude. Enjoy Cannes.
Bjorkboy
