Fun and comprehensive entertainment blog feat. movies, TV series, actors, movie-makers, music & books: 1980 - Present
About the Author:
“You can’t afford the house of your dreams. That’s why it is the house of your dreams. You
either find a way of getting it (you’ll find the means) or be satisfied with dissatisfaction.”
Paul Arden, from Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite
Want to find more about the author and the book? You might want to check out the review on my writer’s blog, where this post moved to.
1184. Blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom) is not a happy man. He has recently lost his kid, and his wife has committed suicide, not being able to bear the death of their child. Moreover he has to listen to the town’s priest (Michael Sheen), who goes on and on about how his wife is in hell. But his life completely changes when he meets his father for the first time. The absent father is Lord of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), and he is there to take Balian with him. At first Balian is unwilling but circumstances force him to go. From then on, he learns a lot from his father. He will also need to prepare himself to take his father’s place. He now doesn’t even have the time to grieve- he has to be a knight, a worthy lord, deal with Prince Guy (Marton Csokas) who absolutely despises him, travel to Jerusalem…
Balian’s journey is exciting and never dull for a second. In Jerusalem, he easily makes friends with the Marshall Tiberias (Jeremy Irons) and earns the trust of King Baldwin (Edward Norton). He also intrigues and attracts, Sibylla (Eva Green)- The King’s sister- who also happens to be Guy’s wife. Not to mention, Guy is thirsty for blood and is dying to fight the Muslims- much against the will of the King.
This movie is a really good example on how an epic should be. It has all the complications and the amazing battle scenes. It has the peace-loving villager-turned lord-who doesn’t let go of his virtues, even though it might cost him dearly. Orlando Bloom fits Balian perfectly and the rest of the cast is simply brilliant.
Fun Stuff:
Liam Neeson only appears in the first 25 minutes or so.
King Baldwin has leprosy. So you never see Edward Norton’s face. But it is fun to have him nevertheless.
The (only) leading female is Sibylla, played by the gorgeous Eva Green.
There is also Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) from Grey’s Anatomy, plays one of Liam Neeson’s soldiers.
Brendan Gleeson plays exactly looks like his character in Braveheart– where he played Hamish, Wallace’s best mate. Although here, he is pretty much the bad guy.
Reasons to see Kingdom of Heaven:
– You mean apart from Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Orlando Bloom and Eva Green?
– Director is Ridley Scott- who also directed Gladiator, Body of Lies, American Gangster, White Squall and Thelma and Luis.
– Good script, good acting, wonderful direction and pretty cool battle scenes.
– If you are not convinced yet, I am giving up.
Cons:
– I didn’t see any, but you might be bothered by the stuff that is not historically accurate.
– Why have Edward Norton play a character with leprosy in the first place? But being the cool and interesting guy that he is, it was Edward who specifically requested that role. Let’s keep fingers crossed that he does star in an epic one day, with his face showing…
– If you do hate Orlando Bloom and think he can’t act, obviously you will get annoyed watching him for 144 minutes. Or for 190 minutes in Director’s Cut.
My biases: Love the whole cast and I am a big fan of Ridley Scott. White Squall (starring Jeff Bridges) is one of my favorite movies ever and I am yet to dislike anything Ridley worked on.
IMDB verdict: 7.1
My verdict: 7.8- 8.0
It feels weird to have so many resources on anyone, especially when it comes to our favorite actors and musicians. Did I sound ancient? Well I did grow up in the 90s where we had to hunt down magazines for posters and collect every bit of info we could collect on people through whose work we expressed ourselves. Now it is easy and fun to find everything on the web.
But the web still can’t beat the feel of a color magazine with quality paper. And a book is even better, because you can squeeze so much more info into it. One such vast information source on one of my favorite actors, Johnny Depp, is the book written by Denis Meikle. The book is called: Johnny Depp, A Kind of Illusion. I couldn’t have thought of a better title…
Now, this book is a tremendous source for any Depp fan. It has detailed info on Johnny’s background, how he got to be in all his projects, his relationships, photos both from his films and real life. It has excerpts from some of his characters’ or other characters’ lines from movies, appropriately chosen. There are some excerpts from scripts and lots and lots of quotes from Johnny himself.
It is also a priceless information haven for any movie nut, with backstage notes and more.
I can’t say I read all of the pages- the edition I have has 374 pages, excluding the appendixes. But I find myself lost in the interesting world of Depp whenever I pick it up and learn something new. Wanna know everything about Johnny, without getting the feel of a tabloid?
Then this is the book. You can check it out on Amazon.
Also on Johnny:
Benny and Joon starring Johnny Depp, Aidan Quinn, Mary Stuart Masterson and Julianne Moore
Fun, fun, fun. I had a lot of fun watching this movie. It is an old-fashioned, realistic spy-thriller. It is from 1987 so it is perfect if you like getting nostalgic at least once in a while. It is also fun to find a younger Caine and a much younger Brosnan.
Michael Caine plays John Preston. Preston is from British Intelligence, a smart guy who pisses the hell out if his superior and finds himself reassigned to a boring department: Ports. But he soon realizes that this assignment won’t be tedious at all- someone is smuggling various bomb parts into the country and it is not just any bomb…
Pierce Brosnan plays Valerie Petrofsky, a valuable KGB asset assigned to a very dangerous mission.
As the movie progresses, we realize that Valerie is not shy when it comes to following orders, even when it means killing people – Russian or not.
Preston will have to contact with his superior’s superiors and try to solve the catch Petrofsky as fast as he can. After all, the bomb being assembled is an atomic bomb…
Good political thriller. The only thing that bugged me about the movie is that sometimes the exaggerated music gets in the way. The music is loud and what is presumably supposed to be ominous ends up being irritated. Maybe it is an 80s thing – where everything was big and exaggerated. But it kind of kills the buzz when every possible twist and turn is announced so loudly. Still, it is a good time, watching Caine and Brosnan. It was even more entertaining to see the previous James Bond play a bad guy. His character is cool, cold-blooded and mysterious. He is more into action than talking and this sets the mood just right.
Strongly recommend for:
– Pierce and Caine fans (I am fans of both)
– Fans of political/spy thrillers
– Ones who do like to get retro when it comes to movies
Favorite Scene:
– Love how Michael Caine catches up with the train.
Photo: http://img.movieberry.com/static/photos/20419/poster.jpg
