Stardust vs. Flash

After catching Stardust this weekend at The Grove, I understand why Joe was so upset at not meeting Neil Gaiman at this year's Comic Con. The movie is a wonderful, joyful fantasy romp, and certainly the best movie I've seen this summer. Please go see it, you'll thank me!

Having seen the trailer earlier this year, I went in knowing nothing more about the story except that Claire Danes plays a fallen star sought by a wicked witch played by Michelle Pfeiffer. With the likes of the LOTR trilogy, Legend and The Neverending Story being some of my all-time favourite flicks, Stardust seemed right up my alley (and hey, with Catwoman as a witch, surely you can't go wrong)! It seems however that I was one of the few who responded positively to the marketing, as with The Princess Bride 20 years ago, the studio just didn't know how to sell the movie (hence it sadly only pulled in just over $9 million this weekend).

Danes, with her spot on English accent, truly glows in her role. De Niro's effete, cross dressing Captain Shakespeare is a stud. Relative newcomers Kate Magowan radiates as the tethered princess while Charlie Cox' hero Tristan warms the cockles of your heart. There's even Harry Potter's Mr. Weasley who shows up as a human goat. Oh, and of course the wondrously vile nad deliriously decadent Ms. Pfeiffer, who, at almost 50 still has that twinkle in her eye under, or out of, all those prosthetics. The movies crackles to ever more exuberant life whenever she is on screen.

Still not convinced, read these reviews for yourself:

LA Times

IGN.com

Premiere

Ain't It Cool News

Hollywood.com

From the Balcony

The Sc-Fi Channel's reimagining of Flash Gordon on the other hand was a much a huge disappointment as Stardust was a joy to behold.

Let's face it, we all knew it was going to be bad when Sci-Fi announced that Queen's classic theme created for the camp yet cult 1980 Sam Jones movie would not be used in the show, but rather only for promotional purposes. Because of BSG I still held out some hope however, but just a few minutes into the show today, having discovered that Flash is now a runner (not a football star) and still lives with his mum, well I sadly tuned out.

For a round up of the critics rumblings check them out here on Ain't It Cool News.

It seems like we all want our Flash fun, fast and camp-filled... Max Von Sydow, Brian Blessed et al. you spoiled us!