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ourdramaqueenRight, below is my report as I typed it up on my laptop late Saturday night, 3 May 2008. I had wanted to post but couldn't get online for some weird reason.
******
Sat 2008-05-03 - Milton Keynes, Jurys Inn Hotel, room 1029
Typing this up in Word since I can't seem to get onto the portal page that would allow me to choose the connection type and pay for it...
Before I tell you about my trip so far - ahaha Brian Blessed is on some show on BBC2 right now - ah, Have I Got a Bit More News For You! I really can't wait for my DVDs of The Return to Treasure Island... :D
Anyway. Had a good trip yesterday though it was going towards midnight by the time I got to the Jurys Inn Hotel in Milton Keynes. I did remember to let them know, thank goodness. Had a pretty good night and got up at 7am. Thanks to a post on the Collectormania forum I knew about the work on the Northampton-London train line at which Milton Keynes is, so I went to the station a bit earlier than I usually would have. Thank goodness Midland trains were still running, so while it was pretty full I was able to get to Leicester Square by 11am.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lips_and_rouge had to deal with train delays, on the other hand, but she made it in time for lunch.
AHAHAHA - A Blessed in Disguise! Black squirrels now pushing back the grey ones which had pushed back the brown ones? Where do those come from?!
lips_and_rouge and I intended to go for Mexican at Leicester Square but the only waitress there seemed too busy, so we ended up with fish&chips around the (Square) corner, which was delicious. Then we hurried over to the Odeon for The Oxford Murders, which I actually enjoyed a lot more than I had expected. The parts I enjoyed least were what they changed from the book (as far as I remember - it's been a while since I read it).
omg Brian is now telling a rather disgusting story from his trek up Mt. Everest... *snigger*
For those who don't mind (some major) spoilers for film and book, you can find more detailed remarks under the cut.
First of all - and that's the one part that really had me go WTF, just asklips_and_rouge - WTF with them not using the bit from the book about Beth (possibly) being Seldom's daughter?! THAT's the ultimate reason why he helped her - not that weak one they presented about Seldom feeling guilty for her father having died in a car accident he'd caused. Seriously - WTF?!
Burn Gorman - Podorov or whatever he was called again... oh dear. He better not put any of this on his reel. Totally overdone, and omg what a horrible and inconsistent "Russian accent". Yes I actually happen to have an idea what an English-speaking Russian might sound like because we had a Russian guest scientist for a year at SLF.
The love scenes frankly felt gratuitous, except for the makeup sex scene after Martin got off the bus to Cambridge, maybe. Much as might like seeing Elijah 'naked', with that one exception these scenes didn't do anything to further the plot or to develop the characters - and they could have. Not the fault of the actors but of the writing and direction.
lips_and_rouge felt that if Elijah had acted up the being obsessed with Seldom part a bit, it might have helped. Well, my guess is that he didn't because it wasn't in the script. More importantly, it wasn't in the book, and I suspect that this aspect was only brought up in the script whenever it was convenient to sow conflict between Martin and Seldom, or Martin and Leonor's character (sorry, got a blackout regarding her name...) but they neglected to work it into Martin's character in the script. So Elijah's portrayal of him couldn't be anything but inconsistent, in this regard. He did a very good job with what they gave him, IMHO.
I didn't notice the stilted language so much like others have, but then I'm not a native speaker.
It was fun to play "spot my friends" in the lecture scenes - definitely something I'll have to do while freeze-framing once I got the film on DVD! :D
I do need to re-read the book to refresh my memory, but from all I remember and all I recognised in the film from the book, I have to summarise that the changes they made to the story were mostly a disservice to the film, IMHO.
But like I said, despite my quibbles I did enjoy The Oxford Murders surprisingly much after hearing others' comments. The performances were all good, particularly John Hurt, and of course this is finally a film again that provides us with a lot of Elijah - yes, physically as well as in terms of screen time. ;)
We only had time for a coffee after the movie before we had to say goodbye and make our separate ways "home", but it was lovely to have seen the film with a fellow Elijahphile - and of course, just to meet up and catch up a bit. Hopefully until another time! *waves tolips_and_rouge* :D
The trip back to Milton Keynes took a bit longer since there were some delays but I seem to have been lucky since later trains were listed as cancelled due to a power failure at Bletchley. Which I already knew was the terminal station on the way back, and there we had to change into a coach which stopped outside Milton Keynes main station. This enabled me to check which airlink bus I need to take tomorrow to Luton airport - it's the 15.20 one so to make it on foot, I'll need to leave from The Centre about half an hour before. I also checked where the queues for John Barrowman and James Marsters are tomorrow - they have them on opposite sides of the building to distribute the crowds more evenly. Since I already have John's autograph I'll join the Captain John queue. ;) Depending on how many people queue up really early, I may still not be able to get his autograph - and I won't be devastated if I don't, but if I do, hey cool. I will also get another ticket for John, and probably one for Eve Myles (Gwen, Torchwood) and Kai Owens (Rhys, Torchwood). But as long as I get Mark Ryan I'll be happy. :)
Right, off to bed now... early start tomorrow!
******
That's it. Would gladly discuss OM with others who've seen it - therefore a warning for possible spoilers in the comments, for those who haven't.
Sat 2008-05-03 - Milton Keynes, Jurys Inn Hotel, room 1029
Typing this up in Word since I can't seem to get onto the portal page that would allow me to choose the connection type and pay for it...
Before I tell you about my trip so far - ahaha Brian Blessed is on some show on BBC2 right now - ah, Have I Got a Bit More News For You! I really can't wait for my DVDs of The Return to Treasure Island... :D
Anyway. Had a good trip yesterday though it was going towards midnight by the time I got to the Jurys Inn Hotel in Milton Keynes. I did remember to let them know, thank goodness. Had a pretty good night and got up at 7am. Thanks to a post on the Collectormania forum I knew about the work on the Northampton-London train line at which Milton Keynes is, so I went to the station a bit earlier than I usually would have. Thank goodness Midland trains were still running, so while it was pretty full I was able to get to Leicester Square by 11am.
lips_and_rouge had to deal with train delays, on the other hand, but she made it in time for lunch.AHAHAHA - A Blessed in Disguise! Black squirrels now pushing back the grey ones which had pushed back the brown ones? Where do those come from?!
lips_and_rouge and I intended to go for Mexican at Leicester Square but the only waitress there seemed too busy, so we ended up with fish&chips around the (Square) corner, which was delicious. Then we hurried over to the Odeon for The Oxford Murders, which I actually enjoyed a lot more than I had expected. The parts I enjoyed least were what they changed from the book (as far as I remember - it's been a while since I read it).omg Brian is now telling a rather disgusting story from his trek up Mt. Everest... *snigger*
For those who don't mind (some major) spoilers for film and book, you can find more detailed remarks under the cut.
First of all - and that's the one part that really had me go WTF, just ask
lips_and_rouge - WTF with them not using the bit from the book about Beth (possibly) being Seldom's daughter?! THAT's the ultimate reason why he helped her - not that weak one they presented about Seldom feeling guilty for her father having died in a car accident he'd caused. Seriously - WTF?!Burn Gorman - Podorov or whatever he was called again... oh dear. He better not put any of this on his reel. Totally overdone, and omg what a horrible and inconsistent "Russian accent". Yes I actually happen to have an idea what an English-speaking Russian might sound like because we had a Russian guest scientist for a year at SLF.
The love scenes frankly felt gratuitous, except for the makeup sex scene after Martin got off the bus to Cambridge, maybe. Much as might like seeing Elijah 'naked', with that one exception these scenes didn't do anything to further the plot or to develop the characters - and they could have. Not the fault of the actors but of the writing and direction.
lips_and_rouge felt that if Elijah had acted up the being obsessed with Seldom part a bit, it might have helped. Well, my guess is that he didn't because it wasn't in the script. More importantly, it wasn't in the book, and I suspect that this aspect was only brought up in the script whenever it was convenient to sow conflict between Martin and Seldom, or Martin and Leonor's character (sorry, got a blackout regarding her name...) but they neglected to work it into Martin's character in the script. So Elijah's portrayal of him couldn't be anything but inconsistent, in this regard. He did a very good job with what they gave him, IMHO.I didn't notice the stilted language so much like others have, but then I'm not a native speaker.
It was fun to play "spot my friends" in the lecture scenes - definitely something I'll have to do while freeze-framing once I got the film on DVD! :D
I do need to re-read the book to refresh my memory, but from all I remember and all I recognised in the film from the book, I have to summarise that the changes they made to the story were mostly a disservice to the film, IMHO.
But like I said, despite my quibbles I did enjoy The Oxford Murders surprisingly much after hearing others' comments. The performances were all good, particularly John Hurt, and of course this is finally a film again that provides us with a lot of Elijah - yes, physically as well as in terms of screen time. ;)
We only had time for a coffee after the movie before we had to say goodbye and make our separate ways "home", but it was lovely to have seen the film with a fellow Elijahphile - and of course, just to meet up and catch up a bit. Hopefully until another time! *waves to
lips_and_rouge* :D The trip back to Milton Keynes took a bit longer since there were some delays but I seem to have been lucky since later trains were listed as cancelled due to a power failure at Bletchley. Which I already knew was the terminal station on the way back, and there we had to change into a coach which stopped outside Milton Keynes main station. This enabled me to check which airlink bus I need to take tomorrow to Luton airport - it's the 15.20 one so to make it on foot, I'll need to leave from The Centre about half an hour before. I also checked where the queues for John Barrowman and James Marsters are tomorrow - they have them on opposite sides of the building to distribute the crowds more evenly. Since I already have John's autograph I'll join the Captain John queue. ;) Depending on how many people queue up really early, I may still not be able to get his autograph - and I won't be devastated if I don't, but if I do, hey cool. I will also get another ticket for John, and probably one for Eve Myles (Gwen, Torchwood) and Kai Owens (Rhys, Torchwood). But as long as I get Mark Ryan I'll be happy. :)
Right, off to bed now... early start tomorrow!
That's it. Would gladly discuss OM with others who've seen it - therefore a warning for possible spoilers in the comments, for those who haven't.
