Even when I saw the SW Holiday Special on TV at age 10, even being a HUGE Star Wars fan, I was confused and disappointed and unhappy. But I still remember a lot of it, and I agree with Matt that it's more watchable than the prequels.

Lucas is a loon, however - wanting it banned. He really doesn't get that he can't take it back, does he?

The Incredibles is opening soon here...in Greek, the name is closer to "The Implausibles" or even "The Fantastics" so the homage is clearer I guess. But what's the bad guy's name in the States? Here it's "Syndrome."

And (from way back) Troy was pretty popular here, but really for the same reasons it did well in the States - the pretty. Alexander might do as well, even with the bisexuality, as the bad hair won't bother people as much here, and the Greeks kind of dig on Oliver Stone.

The thing is, the current Greeks are Slavs, not Hellenes. They aren't actually descended from the Classical Greeks. So they shouldn't relate personally to the classics' sexual practices.

But what's the bad guy's name in the States? Here it's "Syndrome."

It's "Syndrome" here as well.

Huh. That's a Greek word. Isn't that nice?

(Haven't seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding but my Greek teacher does this ALL THE TIME)

I just found out that A Series of Unfortunate Events has a funny cameo: the Aflack duck!

I can't get past the anachronism, frankly. Sure, love songs are eternal, blah blah schmoop-cakes, but it took me out of the movie every single time.

I don't know if this will make sense, but I think I didn't think of it as an anachronism because I wasn't watching it as a movie realistically set in 1899. I was watching it as a costume musical made in 2001, that happened to use 1899 as a setting. The story could have ben set in 32 B.C. or 2015 and that wouldn't have changed the things I enjoy about it much, except the costumes wouldn't have been as pretty.

But I can see why that wouldn't work if you like historical movies to be fairly realistic.

it is quite precisely what the movie was about, the dance scene was great, and I didn't for a second see it coming.

ita, "Roxanne" is the part of the movie I find myself rewatching the most. It is stunning.

But I do agree with Jilli:

I understand why people dislike Moulin Rouge. That doesn't stop me from adoring the movie, singing along with it, and tearing up at the end every. damn. time.

Kevin Spacey's talking about leaving movies for music:

Hollywood star Kevin Spacey is considering quitting movie acting, to concentrate on his musical career. The Oscar winner, who plays fifties crooner Bobby Darin in the Beyond The Sea, is keen to return to his roots and concentrate on living the life of a singer-songwriter. The actor has already planned to tour with Beyond The Sea co-stars, The John Wilson Orchestra, in America. Spacey explains, "My background was on stage and in musicals so it's a case of going back to my roots. If this all goes well - the tour and the movie - I have a good mind to jack in all the acting things and just live the life of a singer-songwriter. Sounds good, right? Well, you'll just have to wait and see."

I was watching it as a costume musical made in 2001, that happened to use 1899 as a setting.

That's how I wanked the songs. MR wasn't supposed to be a slice of life. (My big problem with the movie was Nicole Kidman -- she never made the character convincing.)

As to the Spacey news, I'll wait and see how he does in the movie. There are things the world has less use for than the next Bobby Darin.

The thing is, the current Greeks are Slavs, not Hellenes. They aren't actually descended from the Classical Greeks.

Hey, cool, I didn't know that.

I do love the "Roxanne" scene in MR.

Did we all know that Bad Education got slapped with an NC-17 rating for graphic gay sex scenes?

Did we all know that Bad Education got slapped with an NC-17 rating for graphic gay sex scenes?

Huh. I just read a review of BE in the New Yorker. Is graphic gay sex more worthy of an NC-17 than graphic straight sex? (Not asking if it should be, I'm just wondering if it is rated that way.)

Yeah, I'm not sure. The article I linked to seemed to say that the official reason was "explicit sexual content," and I don't know if the fact that it's between two men had anything to do with it. I mentioned the gay part because I figured there might--possibly--be a few people around these parts who would find that exciting...