I was blown away by the style of Blade, directed by Stephen Norrington. I was also blown away by League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but for the completely opposite reason. Something happened to the director between these two movies, as Blade had an incredible sense of style, and LXG was a complete mess of a movie. In between these two movies, Stephen Norrington wrote and directed "The Last Minute."
The less you know, the better, but the basics are:
** Start Minor Spoilers **
Billy Byrne is the next big thing. What he does (writer, artist, pop singer) doesn't matter. We join up with him as he's about to break into the big time. When that doesn't happen, we see him completely fall apart, but it takes time. He doesn't become a drug addicted homeless thief over night, and Mr. Norrington properly plays up the romanticism of that lifestyle. When he first wakes up in the catacombs, the room is bathed in a warm light, it's clean and Hawaiian style music is playing. We only see what we want to see.
The movie skips ahead a year, and we see the reality of the situation. He's a drug addict living in filth. Begging and stealing to live. The lighting is dark, and cold. The people look sick and depressed. Billy realizes he's wasting his life and tries to get out. Will he?
** End Minor Spoilers **
This movie moves slowly sometimes, and I wish there were sub titles, since I had some trouble with the accents in some scenes, but it's also got scenes that look like poetry. Mr. Norrington has quite an eye. I highly recommend seeing this IF you can pay attention. I also recommend seeing it a second time. You'll be AMAZED at the things you missed the first time.
The less you know, the better, but the basics are:
** Start Minor Spoilers **
Billy Byrne is the next big thing. What he does (writer, artist, pop singer) doesn't matter. We join up with him as he's about to break into the big time. When that doesn't happen, we see him completely fall apart, but it takes time. He doesn't become a drug addicted homeless thief over night, and Mr. Norrington properly plays up the romanticism of that lifestyle. When he first wakes up in the catacombs, the room is bathed in a warm light, it's clean and Hawaiian style music is playing. We only see what we want to see.
The movie skips ahead a year, and we see the reality of the situation. He's a drug addict living in filth. Begging and stealing to live. The lighting is dark, and cold. The people look sick and depressed. Billy realizes he's wasting his life and tries to get out. Will he?
** End Minor Spoilers **
This movie moves slowly sometimes, and I wish there were sub titles, since I had some trouble with the accents in some scenes, but it's also got scenes that look like poetry. Mr. Norrington has quite an eye. I highly recommend seeing this IF you can pay attention. I also recommend seeing it a second time. You'll be AMAZED at the things you missed the first time.