Catpaw – diary of an angry cat

Is it too much to ask for a modicum of literacy in a bookstore?

The sign has been in place for months now and no one has corrected the sign yet. Sigh…. and the store sells books on American history for pete’s sake!

I have to say outright, I really enjoyed Mongol – an epic set in, of course Mongolia, in the 13th century. It chronicles the rise of Temudjin from boyhood, slavery and eventually Khan of khans – or Genghis Khan as he is more familiarly know in the west. Genghis means King of Kings.

I said, in an earlier post, to throw out the wretched epics produced in the past 5 years. I was referring to the pathetic entries churned out by Hollywood such as:

Troy – whoever scripted and directed this travesty should be sent on a 10 year Odyssey to discover real movie making.
Note to director – READ THE F*#@ING BOOK!

Alexander – god save me from the California bleached blond look. I kept expecting him to come out with “DUDE” whenever he opened his mouth. An angst ridden and indecisive Alexander of this ilk could never have commanded the loyalty of troops. What were they thinking? While watching this, I kept thinking “Oh Angelina Jolie (Alexander’s sexed up mom) please just drop kick his whiny ass into oblivion.”

300 – what a travesty to foist off this on the unsuspecting public! This was nothing more than the comic book version of a young man’s fantasy world. History was irrelevant to the tale.

Now that being said – I understand that any depiction of an historical event or retelling of a legend will always be subject to modern tastes and interpretations. Also, we are left with tremendous gaps in our knowledge of what really happened – there were no tape recorders to immortalize speeches and conversations. Again, interpretation and imagination are needed. Time has a habit of muddying the waters of history. In any film depiction I want a sense of realism on the screen. I also want the writers and directors to make an attempt at sticking to history. If you are selling me history, then do so. If you are selling me a fantasy, then warn me.

Mongol has that sense of realism that is missing in the above monuments to director’s egos. It was done without the $60 million dollar + budgets. Of course this is a movie about mythologizing. Temudjin, the hero, struggles to overcome losses, slavery and adversity with a stoic outlook. He is true and honest etc etc. What separates this movie out is the scripting and feel. Director, Sergei Bodrov, never becomes bogged down with pretty computer graphics or cgi cast of thousands. He lets the bleak, harsh landscape of Mongolia speak for him. He lets the small cast of central characters speak for him. No need for modern trickery to set the mood.

Bodrov’s tale is a familiar one to any history lover. And, yes, it is open to interpretation concerning the events. But Bodrov doesn’t play fast and loose with the basic history. Nor does he loose the plot of the film through overindulgence with special effects. Its a basic story told in a very straight forward fashion.

Temudjin is played by Tadanobu Asano – a very busy Japanese actor. He handles the role capably and is believable as the hero. Genghis Khan, as he later becomes known, is a hero to many, monster to others. This film, he is the hero.

Khulan Chuluun plays his wife, Borte. Can’t find much info on her, but her presence on screen is wonderful. Here is what can only be described as an understated performance. Borte is a very strong, resilient woman and Khulan is effective in showing this.

The real scene stealer is mainland China’s Honglei Sun who portrays Temudjin’s blood brother Jamukha. Given the right role, I think Honglei could chew up the scenery, spit it out and come back for more. Each frame he was in, I couldn’t help but watch him. His portrayal of Jamukha was quirky, strong and energetic. I saw him in a movie a few years back, in a vastly different role. He played a veterinarian in the Chinese film Zhou Yu’s Train (2002). I loved that film – well, I’m a fan of the star Gong Li so go figure. Now I’m a fan of Honglei Sun. I’m going to watch for future entries of his. Watch for him in this film.

Film Festival gossip has it the film is to be released on the 21st of Sept. The official site still has no info. But it is going to be released world wide. The film is worth the price of a ticket. I’m going to wait and get this one on DVD – its a keeper

I’m having a bit of fun with my blog. I’m trying to see how many little widgets I can pile on before the entire page implodes or explodes. The site is looking quite cluttered but I’ve been enjoying playing around with the bits and bobs that make up the blog. I’ll have to surrender some of the side clutter sooner or later. In the meantime, I’m testing to see which little addon takes the longest to load.

Found a really cool widget tonight. I know, I know, I should be fixing the existing errors. That can wait until morning coffee. I found a way of displaying my bookshelf! Its called Shelfari. A very efficient way of wasting time.

Oh, by the way, I have my Film Festival catalogue and will see on Wed morning which films I get.

A Modicum of Decorum: Heroin For My LipsFound this hilarious post over at E-babe’s site. I’m thinking of taking a collection up for her so she can get her stuff out of hock… maybe some $ for a first class lip intervention.

Oh dear, oh my … it’s time to hide your kiddies from the big bad evils of literature and imagination.

Yes folks, the last Harry Potter book is out, hot on the heels of a successful movie release.

Can’t you just feel the ire of the anti-Potter factions? I hesitate to call them Christian, because this group won’t know a Christian thought if it reared up and bit them in the ass.

They seem to be obsessed with the thought children who read the Potter books will become sucked into the world of witchcraft and magic. Hee, hee…. I wish. Do you think I would work if I could wave my wand and zap into a different world? Not on your Nellie. I’d be off to to Diagon Alley to find nice digs and whip up a whole bunch of great food, have my laundry and house cleaning done via magic and zap in anything I wanted. Who needs work when you have a wand.

I like to scour the internet and papers for conspiracy theories. I have a collection of these tracks. They fascinate me. The anti-Potter crowd now has an entire section all their own. I found a website called Christian Answers awhile back and found this ripe little claim for their book:

Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged studies elements of Rowlings’s imagery and writings, including the use of the “Potter” name in Pagan religion …, shapechanging …, meditation …, human sacrifice…, feminine power, Wicca (the religion of witchcraft) …, the tools, spells and curses used in witchcraft … , Christian youth and their involvement …, communicating with the spirit world, reincarnation, situational ethics in witchcraft, the lightning bolt as a power symbol, broomsticks and witches’ hats as phallic symbols, dabbling in divination and sorcery, recruitment, teaching children dark arts, … and more.

Oh.. I am impressed – human sacrifice and feminine power all in one book! How the hell did we get back to the “woman as bogeyman”? Personally, I think an old fashioned human sacrifice is a whole lot scarier than women seeking equal rights. But then Feminism always has scared the proverbial pants off this group.

I’m still pondering their “situational ethics in witchcraft”. What does that mean? The characters in the novels aren’t allowed to distinguish between right and wrong? They can’t have morality?

The “lightening bolt as a symbol of power” is another interesting aspect of their worries. This is an ancient symbol of power. Guess that means no more tales about Zeus eh? Pity, I’ve always enjoyed the Greek myths.

But my favourite is this one, “broomsticks and witches’ hats as phallic symbols”. I have to be brutally honest here. Until I read that, I was naively and blissfully ignorant of the sexual dangers of Harry Potter. Now I want to go through all the novels and see what else I’ve missed. I’ll have to really read between the lines and get as much smut as I can. Can’t wait!

I would like to know if these people have actually read the novels? Maybe they did and the real problem is they think their narrow version of Christianity is the only one that can have such values as friendship, loyalty, honour, do the right thing in spite of overwhelming odds, family values … should I go on? Or perhaps they don’t like the way the characters (especially the strong women) ask questions. Don’t ask questions, just do as we say – even if we are a group blind jackass’ lost in the forest.

Guess I’m just a pagan at heart. I’m happy that way.