Thursday Movie Picks: Legends/Mythology
Not really, but this week at Wandering Through the Shelves we're talking about legends/mythology. There's plenty of legends in film, but this topic stumped me a bit. I wanted to be creative but I couldn't stick it. I'm sure I'm going to be kicking myself over and over as I read everyone else's posts.
1) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
"Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth." I loved how Rey and Finn talked about our original heroes like the legends they are.
2) Troy
I love this movie, I know it's shit on all the time but Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom are so hot in it. All those oily bodies.... Oh that's right, we're talking legends. Achilles is a legendary fighter that can't help being so damn gorgeous.
3) The Sword in the Stone
The legend of King Arthur starts here. I feel like this is a Disney film that's forgotten but I always liked it.
Star Wars fits! I never thought of these films. I like Troy and find it quite good but I have to admit Orlando Bloom was not strong in this film. I haven’t seen the last film but I always wanted to.
ReplyDeleteHe isn't, but he's hot so I forgive him.
DeleteI didn't think of the Star Wars films but that quote makes it fit right in. I'm not the biggest fan of them and have only seen the original trio (fine but that was plenty for me)
ReplyDeleteI'm going against my usual I hate animation stance to say I'm very fond of The Sword in the Stone. It's nothing compared to John Boorman's Excalibur but a sweet and endearing version of the myth.
We match!!! I also massively enjoyed Troy (though I do wish they had found more use for Julie Christie as Achilles mother) but while he was certainly eye candy I'm with Birgit that Bloom was a weak spot in the movie. But the rest was so entertaining and strong he wasn't a fatal flaw.
This week's theme actually got me to hunker down and watch my first pick which I had been meaning to for years and I'm so glad. It was intense but rewarding. My last well...look at that cast list!
Iphigenia (1977)-Michael Cacoyannis’s (Zorba the Greek) intense rendering of the Greek tale of child sacrifice. King Agamemnon kills a deer in the sacred grove of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt which keeps the Greek fleet from sailing off to Troy. Turning to the oracle for a solution the message is handed down that the only way Agamemnon can restore the wind is to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to the goddess of the hunt. Summoning her under the guise of a betrothal and marriage contract to Achilles he is then faced with the bitter pleas and recriminations of his queen Clytemnestra (Irene Papas) and the defiance of Achilles, who discovers the plot and tries to intervene. Potent film with Papas a FORCE as the embattled queen.
Troy (2004)-While on an official visit Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) falls for Sparta’s King Menelaus's (Brendan Gleeson) wife, Helen (Diane Kruger) and she flees with him to Troy. Menelaus’s brother King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) sees his opportunity to declare war in his attempt to extend his control over the Aegean Sea. While stopgaps lead by Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Paris’s brother Hector (Eric Bana) are attempted at the behest of Trojan King Priam (Peter O’Toole) it all escalates into epic tragedy. Monumentally BIG production with an extremely starry cast is involving and compelling if overlong with good performances across the board save Bloom but Eric Bana stand out as Hector.
The Trojan Women (1971)-After the sacking of Troy Queen Hecuba (Katharine Hepburn) reflects on her ruined kingdom. Her son’s widow, Andromache (Vanessa Redgrave) is raising their son, Astyanax (Alberto Sanz) alone and Hecuba's daughter, Cassandra (Geneviève Bujold) dreads enslavement by their Greek masters. Meanwhile Helen of Troy (Irene Papas) risks being executed. All the women fear for Astyanax as he is now the focus of the Greeks' attention as the last male heir of the Trojan royal family. With that powerhouse cast and a dramatic story this should have been a riveting watch but its muddy photography, inert staging and despairing tone make it a slog.
I love that we match! Doesn't happen too often.
DeleteThe Force Awakens is such a genius pick!
ReplyDeleteThank you! 😊
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ReplyDeleteLOVE that you went for Force Awakens, which did just the right amount of mythologizing of the original trilogy's events and characters, I thought.
ReplyDeleteAnd we match with Sword in the Stone! I love that movie so much and I feel like no one else does. It's just so cute and Archimedes the owl is my spirit animal.
It's very underrated. I love Archimedes.
DeleteThe Force Awakens is awesome. I love that film. I also enjoyed The Sword in the Stone as I feel it's one of those films that got the story of King Arthur right. Troy I'm not really fond of as Orlando Bloom was the weak link in that film though I did enjoy that fight between Brad Pitt and Eric Bana. Plus, seeing a half-naked Rose Byrne and a nude Diane Kruger was a joy to watch. At least that film wasn't Alexander... ugh...
ReplyDeleteOmg Alexander. That movie was tragic.
DeleteI think you get most creative pick of the week with The Force Awakens. Great job. I like Troy, but haven't seen your other pick.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteEric Bana was my Troy crush :)
ReplyDeleteBana has grown on me now but back then it was all about Orlando and Pitt.
DeleteThe Sword in the Stone is such a classic. For some reason, I thought it came out around my era...not realizing it was from the '70s.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, this one was wayyyy before our time. Probably why everyone forgets about it.
DeleteI love your heartfelt justification of Troy.
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
DeleteHahaha...I'm totally with you regarding TFA, but I recall thinking Troy was more or less terrible. Apparently, my love of oily men simply wasn't enough to carry the film.
ReplyDeleteSWORD IN THE STONE??? I think I saw that for the first time last year...and it was....no. Just no.
I liked it as a kid, damn it!
DeleteStar Wars - In the Phantom Menace, I think they talk about the Sith like myth too.
ReplyDeleteTroy - Haha...watch any Greek mythology movie/tv series and you get that oily bronzed bodies too.
Praise be. Lol
DeleteNice picks! I like how Rey/Finn talking about Luke as a myth fits in with the kids in the Last Jedi.
ReplyDeleteYes! I love that.
DeleteReally dig the inclusion of Troy. Always been a fan of that one, so it's always nice to see someone else who appreciates it. :)
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! Lol
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