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Stardust movie review
Stardust is a fantasy movie which remembers that special effects do not tell a story.
Young Trisran Thorne lives in a little English village in the countryside. Bumbling and good natured, Tristran is desperately trying to win the hand of vain local beauty Victoria. When he sees a falling star he vows to retrieve it as an engagement gift.
Unfortunately for Tristran the star has fallen across the wall separating good olde England from a realm of magic and danger called Stormhold. Tritran himself is the product of his fathers visit to Stormhold years before and, thanks to a magical candle which was left in the basket with him, he is able to instantly travel to where the star landed.
Instead of a lump of cosmic metal Tristran finds a young woman at the bottom of the crater. Yvaine is the star and she just wants to get home, not accompany bumbling village boy home but he manages to compel her.
Tristran is not the only one seeking the star. The surviving sons of the King of Stormhold must find the star to claim the throne. An ancient witch also hunts for Yvaine. Lamia needs to carve out the stars heart o she can restore youth and beauty to her and her sisters.
As Yvaine and Tristran navigate these dangers and make their way across the land they find themselves becoming closer. The boy begins to become a man, one who may find his hearts desire is closer then he thinks.
Stardust is based on a novel by Neil Gaiman. Written as a ‘fairy-tale for all ages’, the book had romance, adventure, wry humour and a touch of darkness which gave this potentially trite tale poignancy. Director, and screenwriter, Matthew Vaughn has kept the adventure but lost the darkness and the story suffers as a result.
Danes and Cox are a little bland as the leads. But they do an adequate job of letting the story overtake them. They suffer in comparison to their co-stars who give outstanding character-driven performances. Pfeiffer plays it very straight as the hideous Lamia. She manages to convey the feeling subtle menace required by the character.
Robert De Niro enters the movie in its second half as sky-pirate Captain Shakespeare and almost makes off with the entire show. He camps it up as a swashbuckler-in-petticoats, cruel in front of his men and refined in private.
The deceased sons of the King of Stormhold add a deft touch of humor and the macabre to the film. They are like the chorus from an ancient Greek plays. Unseen by the people around them, they make observations and wry comments on the action.
Stardust could have been done a lot better, but it is not done badly. It manages to capture all the essential charm and beauty of a fairy tale without being juvenile. A skillful plot with great characters supported by an adequate cast makes this movie a must-see.
This column was going to be about student apathy. Unfortunately, with students running through the halls, carrying placards and chanting, that topic just doesn’t seem appropriate.
It is really great to see students taking action about something that concerns them. Voter turnout for the SRC elections this year was practically an all-time low. This might be a comment on how the average student views the SRC, but it is also an indicator that students are unconcerned about the administrative side of varsity life.
However today’s events have shown students, who are not just members of SAUJS or the PSC, are still prepared to stand up for what they believe in. And what they believe is that huge increases in registration, faculty and international student fees and the privatisation of res are unacceptable.
Despite reports by radio 702, the protest was peaceful. As peaceful as hundreds of students marching into lecture halls can be. Nobody has been hurt, nobody has been flogged with a sjambok (a far cry from the riot of two years ago), there has been no property damage. So far it has been a model protest.
At frequent stops during the march, the organisers would explain the reasons for the protest. They asserted again and again that it was a “peaceful, informed and educated” protest. This is to be applauded.
However, these intellectual leaders seem to have had little input into the wording of the poster that advertised the march.
I quote: “Yo registration & fees r increasing…..this tym we r all affected…”
Although I consider myself fairly up to date with popular culture, I have several questions about this sentence. Who is ‘Yo’ and what the hell is a ‘tym’?’
Maybe this poster was written in a colloquial manner to appeal to a broad range of people. But wait a second. Isn’t this protest on a university campus? Aren’t the protestors students?
When you are accepted into university, you join a very small, very lucky percentage that will receive a higher education. Regardless of what you do with this education, you are expected to work to a certain standard. One of the very small, very lucky measures of this standard is spelling and language.
I fail to see how this poster is enhanced by the clipped, unexpressive use of mobile language. When I first saw it, attached to the door of the building I work in, I thought it was a joke, executed by students who have a grudge against the SRC.
It is doubtful that any academic or administrative staff member would be able to read this poster with a straight face. It only detracts from the clear and well thought-out aims the protest organisers are working for.
My heart is with the marchers, but my head is still puzzled by this abuse of written language. For the record, my gut is still heaving with laughter.
“For your rights do something” is another fine example of the poster’s text. Well language also has rights, or rules, and my request to the poster-maker is to respect them.
