Yeah, the subtitles weren't just yellow text, but actually were worked into the film. They'd change color, or turn into mist and float away, or the actor would move in front of them. Very cool, but didn't help a whole lot with the sense-making.

You got subtitles? I got dubbed. Which was interesting, because the English was Russo-fied: "What building you in?" I always prefer sub-titles though, so I can hear the actual actor saying the line.

I got Raq's version--which may very well have caused some of the understanding problems. I might have understood a little more if I could have understood a little more.

Ah, Nochnoi Dozor. I think I was able to follow the main plot, but there was a lot of nonsensical stuff along the way. And I never understood how the Virgin of Byzantium could have been cursed in the first place if it was the vortex developing around her that spawned all the sorcerers and vampires and other supernatural creatures. Also, didn't get how those vampires Anton hunted down could safely elude him in The Gloom considering how dangerous it was when he and Olga traversed it for just a few seconds.

Oh well, can't wait until Дневной Дозор is released in the US.

We watched The Devil and Daniel Johnston last night. I'm not a Daniel Johnston fan (though Speeding Motorcycle as done by Yo La Tengo was pretty sweet), but the movie was good. His poor parents.

I never understood how the Virgin of Byzantium could have been cursed in the first place

OK, this I got: They said that she was cursed by a normal person. "A mortal cursed another mortal, and from that the Dark was created." I thought the second go-round was kind of stupid, though - huge build-up and OMGWTFWe'reAllGonnaDie (and I kind of thought the armies would welcome the Final Battle but whatever) and then, "Oh! I did it, and I take it back and it's all okay now."

didn't get how those vampires Anton hunted down could safely elude him in The Gloom considering how dangerous it was when he and Olga traversed it for just a few seconds.

Exactly. And why didn't Vampire Girl traverse it herself then? Maybe it's only dangerous to the NightWatch? And Undeclared Others?

And why was it such a big deal that Anton killed Andre? I mean, Andre was totally attacking him, with apparent intent to kill.

And WTF Olga? Again, a lot of build-up about what a silent and deadly killer the owl is, and Big Light Guy gives the owl to Anton to defend him, be his partner, and Owlga does jack-all. Aside from molt and sew. And count down the time in The Gloom.

And why didn't Anton have any clothes? Just plastic. Weird and clearly a thing, but huh?

Of course, leave it to the Russians to cast the Dark as mafia and the Light as bureaucrats. The two sides were pretty much Dark and Dark Grey. And of course it was paperwork that sealed the deal in the end.

Hey, Juliet Landau is in an adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper.

Clearly, they wanted the kid gloves to come off for that portrayal of the Crazy.

Wow.

That should be...crazy.

Imagine being one of the other actresses that's competing against Juliet for a Victorian lunatic role. Her demo reel is the Buffy Season 2 DVD set.

Finally saw Inside Man (which I really liked) and went back to see what everyone thought and found this:

My relatives, however, have no blinking clue who he is. We were all baffled by his use of a popular Bollywood song at the beginning and end (I still don't understand why the hell he used it).

If you're still interested P-C, on the commentary, Spike Lee said that, while teaching a section on musicals in a film class, one of his Indian students recommended Dil Se to him. He so loved the song that he decided to include it in one of his next movies. It has no specific relevance to the plot.

Also, I agree with whoever said that the big reveal could have been handled better, but Lee said that he considered the whole thing a McGuffin anyway.