Film Of The Summer

[Nicky]

Harry Potter and Troy were both OK movies, but nothing amasing, but shrek 2 does look gd, and somthing that might be interesting is Alexander, but i don't know if that come out this year in the uk, because its comming out in america in november or somthing, also there seem to be about a million sequels coming out this year (seems that script writers are running out of ideas), but none of them will probably be that good

[Nailest]

Mark, it's not lack of authenticity per se that annoys me, it's lack of correlation with the pictures in my head. I've only ever read Homer in translation, so Odysseus speaks in English to me. He just doesn't speak it in a Yorkshire accent.

[Mrs H.]

i would recommend Van Helsing to horror fans, quite obvious but entertaining

AND it's got Hugh Jackman in

[rob f]

not that that means much - kate bekinsale looks more convincing
i'd have a look at around the world in 80 days, it could b good

[gg]

shame she cant act and around the world looks amazing

[rob f]

yes but if being good at acting was part of becoming a successful actor then keanu reeves wouldn't be a millionaire

[distracted]

Mark, it's not lack of authenticity per se that annoys me, it's lack of correlation with the pictures in my head. I've only ever read Homer in translation, so Odysseus speaks in English to me. He just doesn't speak it in a Yorkshire accent.

word of warning - don't speak to a classicist about Troy, they can get quite pissed off about how historically inaccurate the whole thing is. and it's not just a slight inaccuracy, like most other historical films...

[harry]

i'm going to have to see that eternal sunshine of the spotless mind again when it's out on video. i thought i would think it would be great but it actually really annoyed me and for one of the very first times i had to leave two thirds through.

Troy etc are just out in Sweden now. I saw a secret window with jonny depp, only an ickl film and all a bit done before and predictable but quite good.

I want to see the day after tommorrow, don't think it's out here yet. Isn't jake gyllenhaal in that? mmmm

[Guest]

Helen, when you say you saw A secret window with Jonny Depp, do you mean you went to the film with jonny Depp or was he in it?

[ic]

word of warning - don't speak to a classicist about Troy, they can get quite pissed off about how historically inaccurate the whole thing is. and it's not just a slight inaccuracy, like most other historical films...

is there a classicist about? i am prepared to risk incurring his/her wrath by asking about troy from a safe distance. what is it that is historically inaccurate in this story? it all happened just like that, didn't it? troy did exist, right?

[chrisecurtis]

"historically accurate" is a matter of hot debate about the whole "Troy" thing - there is no record of the Trojan war that we would accept as "historically accurate".
The main source is "The Iliad" by Homer, written around 850BC - one of the great works of world literature. (There is loads on the internet - just google "Iliad")
In the last century it was assumed that it was a legend, without much root in reality, but consensus now is that there is a historical centre to the epic by Homer.
I have not yet seen the film but I understand that the biggest departure from Homer is that the greek gods play no part - from Homer's perspective, the war on earth is a direct result of the intrigues and battles among the gods and the heroes are the humans who are willing to stand up to them.

[harry]

yep, that's right. me and jonny. I was with him last night as well.

[Braddie]

Also, As I understand it, they are not even sure if Homer was one person - or many ( where the story has evolved over the years)

[chrisecurtis]

Homer probably was one person, the writing does not look as if it has been "patched together", but he was active over 350 years after "Troy" probably happened, so he was picking up and using lots of stories that had been passed on by word of mouth for a very long time (e.g. like our "Robin Hood" legends) and are bound to have been mixed up and confused in the process.

[Guest]

Helen, when you say you were "with him" last night - what exactly do you mean?