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Went to see V for Vendetta last Thursday at a special screening for work--aren't I special? Now, who wouldn't want to spend 2 hours at a movie theater and get paid for it, especially when it's not something that you don't want to get paid for and watch...like Catwoman, maybe. Well, the movie was good, not the best comic book movie ever, but good. Granted, they left a lot out of the movie which was in the original graphic novel, like all the subplots with the minor characters, and changed things here and there, but still pretty true to the original story. Natalie Portman was very good, although her English accent sounded a bit Australian every now and then, and Hugo Weaving was great. Considering he had a mask on through the whole movie, his acting was incredible. So all and all, I'd give it 4 bananas out of 5, although there were no monkeys in the film--so I fling my poo at whoever's idea that was! Check out the official website for the incredible poster designs...
I just re-read Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange for probably the 5th time. Okay, I know that's pretty pathetic, but everyone has a book that they've probably read more than once in their life. Or at least I hope they do. The thing about this version of the book is that it has the original ending in it, which wasn't in the movie. I guess Kubrick used the American version of the book for the film and the last chapter had been cut by the original American editor. The first time I read this "new" version, I didn't think it added much to the original story --Alex goes back to his life of ultraviolence, but as he grows older, he becomes bored with it and sees himself as more mature than his new droogs and wants something different. He wants a girlfriend, a family and what he sees as a normal life, so he quits his nasty ways. The movie and original book ends with him in his hospital bed, cured and dreaming of a new life of ultraviolence. Now, I think is the better ending--Alex will learn in time that what he does is wrong but he'll have his brand of fun in the meantime. The audience really doesn't need to be shown that he'll quit his evil ways. Check out this Malcolm McDowell webpage which is predominantly A Clockwork Orange related. In addition to a description how to make an Alex costume, and a Nadsat dictionary, the site offers numerous other navigation items relating to the film, such as "Articles", "Book History", "Media Mentions", "Pop Culture", "Props", deleted scenes and "X- versus R-rated Versions".
