Alexander the Great
We invited my parents to the movies to watch Alexander. We waited until it got to the dollar movies because husband read very bad reviews for it. Good call! It would have been a shame to have spent 28 bucks on tickets plus munchies.
The movie spent a lot in scenery. Very nice stuff to watch and places to admire… I am thinking most of it was probably filmed near India, since the country has all sort of climates there from very cold to very hot, to extremely humid, which would make for good sets without that much travel.
Most of what my husband said was criticized (going by what he told me… I didn’t actually read any reviews for it. Didn’t want to get too disappointed before watching the movie) was 1) Kilmer’s acting that portrayed him like a rough one-eyed cowboy, 2) that Jolie was there just to show off how beautiful she was, 3) and that Greeks were appalled by the fact that Alexander was portrayed as gay.
Kilmer’s acting was… okay. I’ve definitely seen better acting from him in other movies (or maybe it was that his spot was secondary to the movie). Jolie was pretty good, I thought. I believed her role; she was a concerned mother and a very smart woman. But Farrel… oh my dear Farrel… The role was much too big for him. Apparently he still hasn’t gotten enough experience to portray a character such as this in a near decent manner. They needed someone with Russell Crowe’s presence but Farrel’s youth (and some may even say his looks… but I don’t find him all that hot).
I did not like the transitions throughout the movie. Yes, they had to cover about 30 years of life in 3 hours but... I don't know. It just felt lacking. As my husband put it, Arthur had a much better transition to cover the same number of years until the ultimate battle. I did not like Arthur either, but it Did have a much better transition and it did not leave me thinking "huh?! How did we go from here to there?" It is a good thing that my dad was with us. He did a pretty good job at explaining the timeline since I haven't really read much of Alexander the Great aside from probably a couple of chapters in grade school (decades ago!).
And get over the whole homosexual thing! I saw Nothing wrong with the portrayal of the friendship between Alexander and Hephaistion. I think our culture simply can’t see deep, male-male friendship that goes to that extent and Not immediately relate it to sex. There was a lot of trust and honor between the two friends, a love yes, but in no way sexual, or at least not carnal. And fine, so there is a scene where Alexander kisses another man… A very beautiful and womanly-looking man, by the way. Me thinks the guy was an eunuch (I am not sure if that’s how it is spelled, I’ve only heard the word spoken) or a castrated man, not at all uncommon for the time. It was often so much simpler to take on castrated beautiful men for servants than women… you know… men that look like women don’t get pregnant so there is no risk of bastard children. That’s what was done at the time (well, so I’ve read) so it was fine and in no way signified that a man was homosexual. And on another note… why were the people from Greece so upset by this personification of the Macedonian leader? Isn’t Greek Mythology one which so boldly depicts homosexual and incestuous relationships (plus cannibalism, bestiality and a bunch of other stuff)?
I better shut up now, though. Don’t want people flaming my inbox… not to mention that I do have a Greek friend. Heh heh
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