Today, I mostly spent my time on the Outpost Gallifrey message board. I did things like update my user profile and became a Guardian member of the service by paying a $10 yearly subscription fee. I used to be a paid member before they changed servers some time last Spring.

QUICK REVIEW OF MERLIN: Yesterday, I watched the Special Edition version of the NBC mini series Merlin. If you’ve been reading this blog a while you probably know that I have on my queue at Netflix almost every version of the King Arthur legend that they have available in their library. I have not entirely completed watching the movie. I still have to watch the director’s commentary. I plan on watching that sometime this week.

Overall, it was ok it fleshed out Merlin’s background story. However, I found Miranda Richardson’s voice in the movie to be annoying in it’s raspiness. She’s evil we get it! There was no reason for the voice.

The movie had a lot of big name stars for a network tv movie. It starred Sam Neil, Miranda Richardson (daughter of Vanessa Redgrave who played Guinevere in the film version of Camelot), Helena Bonham Carter (with a lisp), Isabella Rossalini, and Martin Short. What the hell was Martin Short doing in it? As you can probably guess he was the designated funny man. He played a character similar to Steve Martin’s animated genie in Aladdin.

Overall, the movie has better than average for a tv movie. The special effects were outstanding for a tv movie.

Since seeing a long slew of King Arthur movies I can tell that the costume design for Merlin was heavily influenced by Excalibur. He wore a wore a skull cap and a feathered cape.

Also I noticed that the casting of King Arthur and Mordred perhaps influenced the casting choices in Mists of Avalon. The two actors looked similar to the other King Arthur and Mordred in the later, Mists of Avalon, production.

An original take that this movie took was that the marriage ceremony between King Arthur and Guinevere was not depicted as a happy occasion. There was a storm about to brew as the ceremony took place. This I felt was a good example of foretelling.

Overall, the movie was watch able and had great special effects. The only annoying thing about the whole production was the sound of Miranda Richardson’s voice.

The next King Arthur movie I have is Disney’s, The Sword In The Stone.

QUICK REVIEW OF GUINEVERE: Last Thursday I finally watched the wrong version of Guinevere that Netflix sent me.

The movie they sent was about this young 20something and her relationship with a man older than her parents.

The old guy was played by Stephen Rea. I do not understand how his character could get young 20something’s to fall in love with him, tutor them, and then have them pay his way. He looked real creepy. Now if the older man was played by Richard Gere, maybe I’d understand how they could be so seduced.

Sarah Polley who played his “Guinevere” in the movie was gum challenged. I found myself cracking up every time she laughed or smiled. She has horrible dental work. She had a smile that was more all gums than teeth. As I understand it Polley is a Canadian. I thought they had dental care on par with the US. Oh, well....

The absolute best performance in the movie was Designing Woman’s, Jean Smart. Her portrayal of the mother was absolutely chilling. When she finds out about the affair between the wedding photographer(Stephen Rea) and her daughter(Sarah Polley) the speech she gives to the wedding photographer is Academy Award winning material. She really laid him out good for having a thing for young inexperienced girls.

Overall, the movies premise was beyond belief. It was ok but not the greatest. It’s more of a Lifetime cable movie of the week. It’s highly watch able but won’t change your life. Also, I kind of liked the theme music of the film. It was very new agey.

WHAT I’M WEARING: Right now I’m wearing blue plaid pajamas with blue slippers.