“Well, eventually, if we don’t blow ourselves up, and the ice-capes crashing into us, or the ozone layer leaving…” good times.
Anyway, just wanted to remind y’all to add the leap second (here’s why) to your clocks/watches tomorrow morning. That is, if you hate America.
One more before I hit the hay here in Alabama; gettin’ up early tomorrow to get some things done around the house before we head out to my grandparents’ place for a family gathering.
Apparently, there’s a strange New Year’s Eve tradition that occurs on TV channels across northern Europe.
You can check it out for yourself, and see if “Dinner for One” is your cup of tea, so to speak. It was definitely my kind of fare: old-school slapstick always works for me.
Apparently, there are some awesome drinking games to be played while viewing; trying to keep up with our man James, who takes at least 16 drinks in the space of 10 minutes could put you well on your way to a good time. Looks like participants would need one glass each of sherry, white wine, champagne, and port.
“The same procedure as every year, James.” 
Skål!
So, now that this thing is in the midst of the Hektor/Achilles duel, I’m reminded how well-executed and compelling these over-wrought big-screen epics can be at certain points. Allow me, if’n y’all would, to put my “classics geek” hat on for a few paragraphs.
“Troy” is a particularly strong example of how recent big-budget epics (I’d include “Gladiator” and the horrible “Alexander” in this same criticism) can get it all wrong. I mean, some of the most wooden performances in the whole film are those of Brad Pitt as Achilles, Orlando Bloom as Paris, and Diane Kruger as Helen, three of the major characters in Homer’s Illiad. I find it somewhat amusing that two of these poorly-delivered lead roles belong to the major box-office eye-candy draws of the whole film.
Then there are the hams, like Brian Cox as Agamemnon; he’s like William Shatner or David Caruso: love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re just gonna do their thing, man. The best performances are by the relative unknowns: Eric Bana’s Hektor truly deserves the epithet “Tamer of Horses” by really emphasizing the role of reluctant champion, yet dutiful prince and brother. Also, Rose Byrne gives us a wonderfully emotive Briseis, and you gotta love Sean Bean as Odysseus. Finally, with cinematic legends like Peter O’Toole as King Priam and Julie Christie as Thetis, even those characters who are almost like “guest stars” in the ancient epic outshine the major players when it’s translated to the screen.
You could make the argument (and, if I were discussing the epic and not the quality of the actors performances, I would) that it is these supporting characters that really tell the story of the Illiad. I distinctly recall appreciating the story Homer was telling in a much more vivid fashion by trying to see things through the eyes of Hektor and, even better, through the eyes of his wife, Andromache. I would not, however, grant you the argument that a film directed by Wolfgang Peterson was made to work on such a subtle level.
