V FOR VENDETTA
RYAN: So we’ve just seen, albeit separately, “V for Vendetta.” And all I can say is – Wow. Jessica Alba looks great without hair!
CAROLINE: (chuckles) I always laugh at that joke. I really do. I saw this movie several days ago with my friend Sean, who took me to an advanced screening, very kindly.
RYAN: I saw it with my pals Irina, Susan and Cosmo.
CAROLINE: My first thought was, “Oh good holy Lord. Another mediocre actress attempting a British accent.”
RYAN: I totally agree! I thought, for the first half of the movie, her accent was abysmal. And then once things turned dramatic and she started to cry I thought, “OMG. She’s such a good actress.”
CAROLINE: I’ve never been a huge Natalie Portman fan, in terms of her abilities. I mean, I wasn’t appalled by her accent… I’m just so tired of mediocre British accents in movies, you know? And I also think she looked like ET with her shaved head, I’m just sayin.
RYAN: (laughs) I thought she looked great. I think she’s such a beautiful woman, she looks good no matter what.
CAROLINE: She does look good and she can totally pull it off, and I love the short hair that she’s rockin’ now. But there’s a scene at the end of the movie where she looks positively ETish.
RYAN: Alright. If you say so.
CAROLINE: Just one woman’s opinion.
RYAN: I thought the cast was great; WHO-ever, I feel like I want my money back for not getting to see the man behind the mask.
CAROLINE: Right.
RYAN: I wanted that “Phantom of the Opera” moment. But Susan made the point that it was good we didn’t get the reveal – like it would have broken the mystique. And as a mature person, I can appreciate that. But part of me still wants to see!
CAROLINE: I hear you.
RYAN: Now I’d like a prequel to see what he looks like before the mask.
CAROLINE: I gotta say, I enjoyed the movie. I found it a touch too long, as usual, but some fun action. But if you’re going and thinking you’re gonna see “The Matrix” again, you are sorely mistaken. It had none of those action scenes.
RYAN: There were a couple of degorgeous shots, like the rain falling – Matrixesque, but no real Matrix sequences. But I really enjoyed it too. And the minute it ended, I was like, “Fairy tale.” Beginning, middle and end with a moral.
CAROLINE: I just kept thinking, the Brits are gonna be outraged by this movie!
RYAN: Yes!
CAROLINE: Damn!
RYAN: Irina described it brilliantly. She called it “A political film disguised as a blockbuster.”
CAROLINE: Right.
RYAN: She’s right. It’s the first big movie of ’06 and it’s uber political. It’s political in the obvious ways – like what you said would outrage the Brits. But there was the one scene that implied because things went so awry in America, it’s what screwed up the Brits. But it’s also political by illustrating the power motivation of terrorism to try to change government.
C: Whoa. This is getting heavy.
RYAN: (snorkels) But then, even more political, which was touching… was the homosexual storyline, which was very beautiful.
CAROLINE: Yes, yes, yes.
RYAN: And, as we know, one of the movie’s cowriters, Larry Wachowski, is a transsexual who’s dating a dominatrix, or something.
CAROLINE: Right.
RYAN: Ok. Off the soapbox.
CAROLINE: Yeah. But I gotta level with you. I’m not one for politics, Ry. The stuff Sean and I talked about when we left the theater was like, “Is this glorifying terrorism?” But it’s just so boring. I can’t even get into it.
RYAN: I know. But those convos were goin’ on in my mind as well.
CAROLINE: I mean, it was a little odd how it was like, “Ok. We’re blowing up buildings! Alriiight!!”
RYAN: Yes. And government buildings, to boot.
CAROLINE: Exactly. And this was originally supposed to be released last year: and then pulled because of the London bombings.
******SPOILER ALERT******
RYAN: And seeing Big Ben fall was unsettling.
CAROLINE: Like when you’re watching “Independence Day” and you’re like, “No! Don’t be doin’ that to the White House!”
RYAN: Right. Oh. I loved Nat in that little, pink, pigtails outfit.
CAROLINE: Yeah. Her “Charlie’s Angels” nod.
RYAN: Totally. That was great.
CAROLINE: That was cute.
RYAN: And that masked man. Even at the end of the film when you see the flashbacks of him coming out of the burning building, I was thinking, “He’s got a hot body.”
CAROLINE: Now someone told me there was another actor playing the masked man and then halfway through filming, they replaced him. Can you confirm or deny?
RYAN: I cannot.
CAROLINE: Apparently they did, like, half the filming with another dude. And they decided they hated him and replaced him. So some of the scenes are him. And Hugo Weaving redubbed all the voice.
RYAN: Oh My… It just goes to show you, in the future, if all films were made with people wearing masks, directors could continue casting during filming.
CAROLINE: (laughs) Final thought?
RYAN: It opened number one at the box office this weekend with $26.1 million. We’re getting huge blockbusters this year: X Men 3, Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, etc… and this kicks off the season well. I might not have appreciated how smart this film was when I was a teen; but as an adult, loved it. It’s a cautionary tale to government.
CAROLINE: I didn’t think too deep into the politics of it, but I enjoyed it. Natalie, not my favorite actress, did okay in this one. And I enjoyed V’s apartment.
RYAN: Oh yes! Totally!
CAROLINE: Stay tuned for our posting about another guy behind a mask, my boyfriend, Clive Owen, in “Inside Man.”
RYAN: Can’t wait!