Narnia; Sharpe Revisited

The day before yesterday, while I was still on base after seeing my lab results, my parents and I made a leisurely perusal of the PX, the Commissary, and the Package Store. While at the PX, I made a detour from the clothes section where my mom had set up shop and headed over to the entertainment section - CD's, DVD's, and books. And what was the first thing that should catch my eye but The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: Widescreen Edition. Widescreen! If you read my much earlier post, you would have heard (or just read) me decry Walmart for it's very poor planning in the DVD section, as everything was fullscreen. I wanted so very badly to buy Narnia, but I refused to by it in fullscreen. But that didn't matter anymore because now I had found the widescreen edition, and buy it I did. We finally made time to watch it last night, and so over our fajitas and tacos, we watched the previews (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - divine coincidence). My parents had never seen the movie, and I had seen it twice, so it worked perfectly because they seldom watch any movie twice and I will watch any good movie a million times before I tire of it.

After watching it, I have come to the conclusion that I am a huge softie. I couldn't help tearing up at every leave taking, at every near-death experience, and at every sentimental moment. But what really got me was how well this film was animated. I mean - the animation in this film is superb, right down to the mane on Aslan's neck. Superb. I may know nothing about animation, but comparing it to the Lord of the Rings or King Kong, I'd say the animation in this film outstrips them by miles. Dead Man's Chest also had excellent animation - but then again both films are Disney. The score of Narnia is also very good - inspirational and more. I think I could watch this movie over and over again without growing bored. That may have a teensy bit to do with the fact that I think the oldest kid - Peter - is very cute. And every time I find myself thinking how good-looking he is, I feel like a cradle-robber, or worse. But I really can't help myself! Everyone should go and see this movie, even if it's for no other reason than to say you've seen it.

On a different note, I was able to watch one of Sharpe's movies last night - Sharpe's Regiment. The Sharpe movies are a collection of made-for-TV movies starring Sean Bean as Sharpe, a rough-and-ready Major in the British Army about two centuries ago. I must say that watching Sean Bean as not only a good guy, but also as the central character and the love interest in a film has made very happy indeed. So, last night, I caught the last fifteen minutes of Sharpe's Regiment, and then we watched Narnia. After that, my parent's went to bed and I stayed up (as usual) and then decided to clean the kitchen (unusual). When I was finished, it was 1 AM and I knew that Sharpe's Regiment would be airing again at that time, so I sat myself down right next to the TV and watched.

Each film lasts about two hours (with commercials, during which I watched Die Hard with a Vengeance), so that totaled two hours of complete entertainment. I love listening to everyone's accent - they are so varied and so different from my flat speech. Their words are also amusing - the expressions and terms they use, not to mention the insults, are enough to keep me entertained, even if Sean Bean wasn't the star in the film (the driving reason behind me liking the Full Monty so much - they speak such broad yorkshire that it's hard to understand at first, but after a few minutes I can get the hang of it - and it just happens to have been filmed in Sean Bean's hometown of Sheffield). It was a bit disconcerting to hear him called "Dick" so many times, until I realized that his character's name is Richard Sharpe, hence the "Dick" part. And I got to see him have a little romance with several women in this one, and then he finally ended up engaged to one, who I was actually starting to like until I saw her real name and learned that Sean Bean had actually married her a year later, although they divorced a mere three years after that. Cheeky little blighter. Oh well, I hope he was happy with her and their time together, as I hope he is happy now with his current girlfriend and probable fiance. If worst comes to worst, I can always wait for that kid in Narnia to grow up and then it won't be cradle-robbing, for we'll both be adults. Until then, I shall enjoy fully appreciating Sean Bean and any others who stir my fancy.