Things that are currently making me smile

[bedlamsbard]

Bloopers from LWW! Considering how much of this movie was CGI, it's incredibly impressive that it, you know, doesn't look like CGI.

Speaking of LWW, did you know that there's an extended edition of the battle? I DID NOT KNOW THIS AND I HAVE BEEN IN THE FANDOM FOR THREE YEARS THIS MONTH. The ways in which this makes me happy cannot actually be expressed. GUYS. EXTENDED EDITION OF MY FAVORITE FANTASY BATTLE EVER, NOW WITH BONUS AWESOME. *wild flail* (Here is a link to some of the clips; I shall endeavour to find a better video later. Ignore the fact that the poster cannot actually spell.)

Meanwhile, more bloopers! ...which I was going to embed, but embedding's disabled on the one I was looking at. As with the battle. Um. Meanwhile, here is a link! This one always makes me want to write people falling down all over the place in my fic. I think my favorite part is how William Moseley will, like, fall down a flight of stairs but do it in character even while everyone else is all, "Oh, the scene has cut!" SWORD IN THE FACE.

Right now I am in a NARNIA NARNIA NARNIA mood right now. My favorite kind of mood! If only it was transferring into writing.

Comments

[bedlamsbard]

I guess the important question is whether or not the goddamn coronation dance party scene is there. (This is really bothering me! Because I have nothing better to do with my time, apparently.) Although I guess someone would have mentioned it when I was freaking out about it last week.

The funny thing is that I was just thinking about the aerial combat scene yesterday! And then YouTube gave me MORE! Like it reads my mind! I am apparently very excessive with the exclamation points today!

[snacky]

I am sad to say, no coronation dance party scene. :( And it would have fit in seamlessly too - just another extended scene! Why leave that one out? *shakes fist*

YouTube always gives us what we want. :D

[bedlamsbard]

Except for the coronation dance party, apparently. *shakes fist* If anyone ever runs into Andrew Adamson, they're going to have to demand this footage with him, because I WANT IT OH MY GOD.

[snacky]

I could totally be making this up, but I think I heard/read somewhere that the footage was never finished, which is why the scene wasn't included. Like a lot of guys in green pants for fauns, and the dryad concept changed, and it just would have been a lot of money for CGI for a scene not in the finished film.

I could totally have dreamed that, I wouldn't be surprised.

[bedlamsbard]

But I swear to god I have seen +CGI footage of it, which is what is so bizarre for me. Like this screencap! Actually I will also just settle for finding a copy of the clip that screencap came from, but those are fauns with legs in the background! Also clearly that is the lady that Peter lost his virginity to. (I'm sort of hyper right now, sorry.)

I swear I've seen actualfax footage of the dance party on some official Disney montage within the last year. This may end in me trying to figure out every Disney movie I've seen in the past year that came out after 2005. (I mean, fortunately there aren't many, but still. Maybe it was Ratatouille? Why am I so obsessed with this?)

[snacky]

Well, it was used in the trailer to LWW, which is where (I think) that screencap's from. Maybe they just finished part of it, enough to use in the trailer? Just like in VDT, with the Pevensies striding purposefully towards the camera. :D They're often still making the final cuts while the trailer is released.

Hyper is fine! :D And you know Peter snuck off from the coronation, late at night, after lots of wine, with her. And totally couldn't find his way to his bedroom in Cair Paravel.

[bedlamsbard]

You know, I...don't think I've actually ever seen a trailer for LWW. (For the special editions, yes. For the actual movie, no.)

...that trailer totally makes no sense if you haven't read the books, does it?

I'm still bitter about the Pevensies in VotDT. (Let's be honest, I'm still bitter about VotDT -- not only have I not bought the DVD, I haven't actually seen the movie since I saw it in theatres. Eventually I shall crack and buy it, I'm sure.)

Fic may have to result from my sheer frustration about this, because sadly even I shall admit it is probably not politic to have a dance party after conquering a nation. (...current WIP. Two action sequences, check. Peter spending the first 1K throwing up, check. (Let it never be said that I romanticize my actio heroes.) Dance party, no check.)

[snacky]

I remember seeing the trailer for LWW before it came out, and going, OH MY GOD I AM THERE ON OPENING NIGHT.

But yeah, I think they were counting on people unfamiliar with the books to be sucked in by the fantasy.

I forget how bitter I am about VDT until I rewatch it (I did buy the DVD). And like, the beginning is great! And I'm okay with the scenes on the Dawn Treader (I've even got a fanwank for Caspian introducing Edmund and Lucy as "High King and Queen of Narnia"). But the minute they get to the Lone Islands and the Green Mist of Stupidity starts rolling in, I feel the bitterness boiling up in me.

And I spend the rest of the movie stewing bitterly at all the missed opportunities and shitty plot, and then the end rolls around and somehow everyone pulls out a great performance on the beach (and the Reep/Eustace relationship alone is worth the price of admission), and then the transition back to England is also great. And then I think, "Oh my god, this movie could have been fantastic! Why did they have to FUCK IT UP SO BADLY?!"

I honestly do not think I can forgive Andrew Adamson for not directing it - I realize that Disney dropping it was a big factor in losing WETA and the amazing detail they put in, but Adamson had such a clear, consistent vision of Narnia in the last two films, and that was really lost in VDT. Not to mention the fact that Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley gave much better performances under his direction.

And all the bleating Walden Media does about "staying true to the books" - the only thing they cared about was "THE LION IS JESUS! LOOK WE JUST TOLD YOU THE LION IS JESUS! DID YOU GET IT, THE LION IS JESUS!!!" which was the most explicitly Christian message they could get across. And in hammering that literal nail in, they left out the more quietly spiritual stuff about the albatross and the Dark Island, and the buildup to the end of the world, in which the characters are literally transformed the closer they get to Aslan's Country. And also, the fact that the whole journey is just one big leap of faith. But no, that's TOO SUBTLE for people, as evidently Christians are as a dumb as a box of rocks and need things spelled out for them.

(God, I have so many issues with Walden Media and their whole, "LION IS JESUS AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS" message - I recently read something where the president of Walden Media was like, "You know, we remember all these books as wholesome Christian stories, and then when you read Prince Caspian you realize it's really dark, and there's a Bacchanal! And... no wonder the movie didn't do as well as the first." And I mean, didn't you read these books at all? They're NOT "Bible Stories for Kids" and Lewis didn't intend them to be and omg I AM GOING INTO THE CAPSLOCK OF RAGE!)

Okay, sorry. Deep breaths. Obviously, I have so many feelings about VDT, mainly of regret.

Well, of course Peter spends the first part throwing up. He's on a boat! :D

[bedlamsbard]

The first notice I ever had that they were making movie was a poster in a newspaper we didn't actually have a subscription to and that was really randomnly picked up. And then I freaked the fuck out in joy. (I was...thirteen, I think? It was in middle school.) I still have the poster! It is not one I have been able to find anywhere else, which annoys me, as I would like one that is on actual poster paper instead of newsprint. I think it's probably the first teaser poster -- the one with sunrise and Rhindon and the tagline that has since directed everything I have ever done with Narnia, the one that goes "There are a thousand stories in the land of Narnia...The first is about to be told."

Yes. Word. I actually cannot even watch a two-second clip of VotDT without suddenly hating everything in the entire world, which is a pretty impressive achievement, but sadly not the one I bet Apted was hoping to get across.

Wait, seriously, they lost Weta? For some reason I didn't know that. Well, that explains a lot. I know they changed writers, directors, composers, studios, and actors (at least for Reep, gah), but I didn't know that they dropped Weta! Gods, I wish Adamson had stayed on; his rationale for not doing so was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

Man, when it comes to the next movie, whether it's going to be MN or SC, I have no idea whether I should be excited or depressed or what. I want Adamson back. *sulks*

Later, Peter becomes entranced with a woman who tried to burn the Narnian fleet. Everyone else despairs of his taste.

[snacky]

Evidently Weta was involved on a much smaller scale - they reused the some of the stuff they'd created for the last movies, and created a "few things" but that was it.

Yeah, I have to say, as much as I wanted to see all seven movies made, if they're going to be like VDT, I could totally take a pass. Unless Adamson comes back.

Oh, Peter. Doesn't everyone ALWAYS despair of his taste in women? Except for Susan, and she was a different cause for despair, heh.

[bedlamsbard]

I am also really bitter about what they did to Eustace -- like, what there was of Eustace was brilliant, but there should have been so much more. And more Caspian! I just. I don't know what they were thinking. At all. About anything. Because they clearly weren't. (The thing that bewilders me is that they clearly read the book! Just...a different one than everyone else, apparently.)

I'll be honest, I trufax never want them to even think about making LB. They can stop before that, thanks.

I am trying to mellow out my Peter. *nods*

[snacky]

I know! Eustace! There was so much to be done there! And Edmund was so badly misused and you know, I don't care that there was another girl in the movie so it could pass the Bechdel test, I'd rather have had Lucy have a better role than just talking to some random little girl twice.

And Caspian - man, watching Ben Barnes made me think he was acting in another, better, movie, where Caspian had a much better storyline.

It was like they picked things out of the book to use, but they totally didn't understand ANY of it.

Oh god, I think even a well-done LB will break my heart, so I can't imagine how bad this would be. I just... I have no desire to see fandom's Susan-bashing times a million on-screen.

Oh, mellow Peter. Is he smoking something? :D

[bedlamsbard]

WORD. I just -- Caspian was -- agh, I just can't. *weeps sadly into keyboard* (I will serously never forgive them for the "wishing you were prettier means you wish you don't exist!" message, either. Never. I still can't believe that's in the fucking movie.)

THEY MISSED THE ENTIRE POINT. THEY MISSED MULTIPLE POINTS.

Nah, I just got really tired of people expecting my Peter to be a crazy sociopath on a hair-trigger who kills people because they look at him funny. (Which I guess my early Peter was, but I am trying to carefully write him back to something resembling a normal human being, with attendant quirks.)

[snacky]

Oh man, I always think of Peter from "In A Dry Month" as your early Peter, and he never strikes me as a sociopath at all. Just a little... focused. :D

[bedlamsbard]

I like that Peter! I think my PC-era Peter was a lot crazier (especially in Constellated, I think) and that's the one that gets remembered. Also my Dust-era Peter? But I think he's less unstable than my PC-era Peter. *handflap* I don't know. Sometimes I can't tell if my characterization's consistent or not.

[snacky]

Hmmm, yeah, your PC-Peter is more extreme than the Golden Age Peter. And I don't think Dust-era Peter comes off that crazy. Again, I tend to think of the word "focused."

But it might be other character's reactions that spark that? I mean, a lot of Peter-through-other-eyes does get a lot of extreme reactions.

[bedlamsbard]

I mean, I can justify my reasoning if need be -- PC-era Peter has had this year where everything he knows, everything he's been living, has been turned upside down, and now he has a chance to make it right again and god help anyone who gets in his way (I think, whether consciously or not, he has a real feeling of a clock ticking down; he has to do what he's doing quickly, because he's racing against something he's not even aware of), while Golden Age Peter is secure in his place and his actions. He's acting, not reacting, the way PC-era Peter is.

...hmm, I probably need to work out why Dust!Peter isn't racing against time the way PC!Peter is. I know he's more settled in his own skin, but there's not that unrelenting pressure that there is in PC, to get the job done nownownow. (I mean, on one level, the political climate is totally unsuited for a fast rebellion, so there's that, and maybe it's just that when he finally showed up five years too late to throw out the Calormenes quickly, he decided, "Hey, let's do this right instead of fast?")

*eyes current WIP* Yeah, I do have a habit of doing outside POVs, so there's that.

*cough* ALL MY THOUGHTS, let me babble them to you. Um, sorry?

[snacky]

Well, I think maybe people's readings of PC-era Peter depends on which characterization of Peter, book vs. movie, you prefer. I know there are a lot of people in fandom who hate the movie characterization, and prefer book-Peter.

Whereas I thought the movie characterization made a lot of sense, since this is a character who was a grown man, who ruled a country, and suddenly was a young boy again. But I know my mileage varies with a lot of fans who find movie-Peter totally out character at best. But in any case, your PC-era Peter fits with my own interpretation of the character.

And you know, I just reread Dust, so I think that sense of "this is a BIG problem with have to fix, and it's going to be done right" comes through clearly, especially in how a lot of the Narnians seem to expect the Pevensies to fix everything, right now. And also you've established the lack of Aslan, which is a big difference from PC.

I think part of the issue with Peter's characterization is the way other characters react to him, and not just outsider POV, but even the other Pevensies - there often seems to be an attitude of "handling" Peter, which might be where "Peter is crazy" idea comes from.

Oh, I'll babble right back, do not worry. :D

[bedlamsbard]

Yeah, there's movie versus book characterization, but...eh, I feel like I have been whining enough about my feedback lately, I should probably stop.

I only doubt my characterization about 20% of the time. (And let's be honest, I doubt my Peter characterization much less than I do my Lucy or Susan characterization, because I've thought through my Peter characterization more.)

Let us speak of more cheerful things! Like Peter's dryad girlfriend, who I think might be the same dryad who lovingly caressed his cheek with a flutter of her petals before giving him and Edmund Susan's message in LWW. Also, I think Edmund is allergic to her. There is a very awkward portion of the year where Edmund has to stay away from certain dryads or he starts sneezing and turning red and so on and so forth. Lucy thinks it's funny.

[snacky]

Since my feedback tends to run, oh, very low, I have given up worrying about it. :D

Peter's dryad girlfriend! She is probably some kind of fruitwood, like a cherry tree or an apple.

Edmund is dismayed at first, about his dryad allergy, because he'd like a dryad girlfriend too. But then he starts visiting the naiads. Susan keeps worrying that he'll drown.

[bedlamsbard]

Maybe an apple tree? Although cherries bloom earlier (or at least our cherry trees did), so maybe not. Also I am not so good at horticulture that I can recognize what kind of tree she is from the movie. (Also now I cannot even go out and look at my own fruit trees, since they're not blooming anymore.)

The morning after the ball, Peter wakes up on a couch in a side room. She's gone, but she's left a vase of blossoms on the table beside him.

He's much relieved when he finds out that he's not allergic to all dryads all the time.

[snacky]

I am not that good at it either, but for some reason, the movie left me with the impression that she's some kind of fruit tree. Cherry, most likely.

Or else dogwood. I don't even know.

Peter then spends every bit of free time he has over the next few weeks thoroughly exploring the woods around Cair Paravel.

Edmund is especially pleased to find out he's not allergic to willows. Willows are very ... flexible.

[bedlamsbard]

Pink flowers does seem to say fruit tree of some type. *muses*

Dryads tend to be very...grateful. Winter: not so much fun when you're a tree.

Susan despairs. Or starts to, before she finds out that dryads, er...sway both ways.

[snacky]

Dryads are also not much for talking and more for... well, action.

Susan is particularly fond of Holly dryads. So handy to have about during the winter holidays.

[bedlamsbard]

There is an unfortunate incident where Peter's dryad girlfriend once has to leave early because her tree is fruiting. For days he's terrified that this is some kind of euphemism, until she returns with a basket of apples. Or cherries. Or something, anyway.