There, you are not what you were born, but what you have it in yourself to be...
Godfrey of Ibelin

Sorry about the trite title. The quote above was supposed to make it into the layout, maybe even as the title, but I forgot, amazingly enough. Well, it's immortalized here, now. Beware, spoilers ahead! Quick review: Go see it. Orlando-ness **** movie ***

Alrighty then. Just saw Kingdom of Heaven a little while ago. Unfortunately though the sound was good the theater I went to was pretty small (and had the flimsiest tickets I've ever seen) so I didn't get quite as much Orli as I wanted

I thought it was a good movie overall. Much better as a whole than, say, Troy. I guess I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending, not sure why exactly. I guess I'm not one for surrender, though Balian did the best he could and saved the people by his 'right actions.'

Balian really did look tired at the beginning. You could see the shadows under his eyes, the ache in his heart even when he wasn't saying anything.

Sometimes it was hard to understand the dialogue, esp. with either Baldwin (because of the mask) or the muslims, because of the accent. I'm looking forward to the dvd when I can have captions on. Some of this could have been avoided, but that's a little nitpicky.

Poor Liam Neeson wasn't in it very long, was he? Alas. And David Thewlis...I like him, and the way he went off to fight, knowing it could be his death...

I was pleasantly surprised by Edward Norton's performance. Normally I don't like him, and I was worried after hearing him speak in the trailers that he wouldn't be convincing as a king. But he handled it well. And the image of him revealed...powerful.

I was sad that there wasn't more of a love scene, not so much because I wanted to see more of Orli...don't get me wrong, I *did* want to see more but that it just seemed so abrupt. There wasn't any flow. Also, did I blink-and-miss Sibylla's son? And what about the orchestra-conducting bit Orli did in the 'modern' trailer?

what was *with* Brendan Gleeson's dye job?

I'll agree that the editing at the beginning did seem a little choppy. I guess they figured backstory isn't as interesting as gore and the endgame. Everyone says there will be an extended edition or at least a directors cut so hopefully some of this will be addressed there.

I don't know if it will win any awards. The music is superb, though in some parts overly loud and bombastic. Then again, war is loud and bombastic, so I guess that's ok. *I* think Orli did well with his part, acting with sufficient gravitas to inhabit the role, but there were definitely parts of dialogue to which he didn't do justice, and a few anachronistic replies that really didn't belong. The other actors played their parts with aplomb. Eva Green is sometimes a little too wide-eyed for my taste. But I can see why guys love her.

I was really hoping for some sort of ceremony when Balian gets his Knight of Jerusalem kit (you know, the blue tunic of the King vs the burgundy/gold of Ibelin) before the seige. But it's just one day he's in the Ibelin colors and the next in the blue. Perhaps that will show up in the dvd.

Random thought: he certainly learned to fight like a knight rather quickly, eh? With one lesson he goes from peasant to 'high guard'...

I want to see it again, absorb the things I missed the first time, see it on a bigger screen...maybe that's what I'll do after o rgo is over. Of course by then it will probably fall to a smaller screen anyway, but whatever. Definitely a movie I want to see multiple times on a big screen.

There's probably things I forgot, but it is after 2 am, and I should get to bed so I can get up and study like a madman tomorrow. Er. later today. And Sunday. And monday, tuesday, and wednesday, when I will finally be taking a day off, though it won't be much of one, since I will undoubtedly need to it study. Wish me luck. Just make it to Weds, I think...then I can see KoH again