Weekend movies

This last weekend was relatively relaxed for me, and characterized by long stretches of sitting and watching stuff. We watched (as a family) 2005's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on Friday night and then went and saw Prince Caspian early Saturday afternoon. I think I liked the newer movie slightly better. Not only was it darker in tone, it also had more swashbuckling action and more intrigue. My younger son Alex agreed with me; the increased fighting and sense of danger (relative to the first movie in the series) made it an obvious improvement. My oldest son Spencer thought—if you'll forgive me for trotting out an ENWorld in-joke—that it lost its sense of wonder. He prefers the first movie, particularly when they first arrive in Narnia and explore around without understanding what's going on.

If you've read much of my blog, you could probably guess that I was fascinated by the Telmarines. The movie's producers decided to make them very Mediterranean in look and dress, as well as casting almost all Spanish and Italian actors (with accents) to play them. Prince Caspian himself, although played by a British actor, had a relatively thick accent which was specifically modelled on Mandy Patinkin's Inigo Montoya—according to the actor. Near the end when the Telmarine army is on the march, they appear to be equal parts samurai, conquistadores, and Roman legionnaires.

To anyone who likes fantasy, I recommend the flim as a great adaptation of a great chapter of a classic series. Supposedly, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is already underway. That book in particular was always a favorite of mine.

Speaking of movies—I don't know how this snuck up on me, but apparently in July there is a big budget new adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Brendan Frasier. We saw the trailer for that and it looks good. Of course—it's got dinosarus. Knowing me, they'd have had to really screw things up for me not to like it.