10 June 2006

Sibylla Ti Theleis?

Eva Green as Sibylla of Jerusalem     It's early Saturday morning and, strangely, I seem ahead of the game.  This week's NYT Sunday crossword, which arrives in my local daily on Saturday morning, is already done, finished in less than 45 minutes; so too is my correspondence, which seems increasingly a waste of time, as does this blog.  Also watched both Hitchhiker's Guide and Kingdom of Heaven in the wee hours, and was modestly impressed.  The first was about what I expected, but the latter caught me off-guard, as I expected another trite Hollywood history lesson but got something rather more sophisticated.  Sure, it takes the typical liberties-- and of course inserts all the typical freedom-pap-- but at least the writing and the direction weren't as wretched as I had anticipated.  It's certainly an improvement for director Ridley Scott on his abysmal Gladiator.  (I still want that time back, damn it.)  Best part, though: the DVD's excellent-- and quite thorough-- bonus-track of historical information, about half of which I knew and half I didn't, and which lays bare the Hollywood manipulations in a disarmingly candid fashion.  Frankly, my main reason for even renting the thing was that the stunning Eva Green was in it, but whose role as Sibylla of Jerusalem is rather limited and repackaged for the purposes of forcing an unnecessary romance.  For her, however, I'd not only endure a movie with Orlando Bloom in it, I'd gladly take up a career in the Sibyl service.  (QED:  Bertolucci's The Dreamers.)  Hell, I'd even take an internship. 
 
     Oh, what to do today.... Probably finish rereading King John.  *shrug* 
 
     By the way, Ms Green's Sibylla is not only the Queen of Jerusalem, but also of Acre.  (Wait for it....)  Okay, all together now:  Greeeeeeeeen's Acre is the place to be, / Warm livin' is the life for me....
 
     There's nothing quite like damning oneself to hell before noon even hits.

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