Stardust

Yes, this is a post about something that is NOT law school. During break I actually have a little time to do something fun, if you can believe that. This is a post about a little movie, based on a little book, written by one of my favorite little authors.

Stardust is a little book by Neil Gaiman which was either a novel first and then a graphic novel, or the other way around (I have no idea). Either way, it is one of the few of his works that I have not read, so I was not overly tainted when I saw the movie yesterday.

A little bit first about Mr. Gaiman, for those who are not familiar. He is probably most well known for his graphic novel series The Sandman, which I believe is now up to volume 10 or so with a few spinoffs as well. However, those of you who are not graphic novel fans have nothing to fear, he has written a couple fantastic books of late - most notably American Gods, which received several awards and is quite possibly one of the better fantasy tales told in the last several years.

Anyway, back to Stardust, I am not interested in spoiling the movie, only in giving a few thoughts. If you want to find out what actually happens, go watch it. Don't worry, you won't be mad that you paid for it.

It's a little fantasy story told in that similar British style as The Princess Bride, (but of course, I'm not trying to compare this movie to the materpiece that is the Princess Bride, just trying to give some context). It's a happy-ending kind of story with that little quirkiness that keeps the audience entertained without feeding them an overdose of soft cheese. Probably the most important thing to know is that the trailers and previews do NOT do this film any justice at all. The bad witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) is, actually, a pretty bad lady (and very well played by Ms. Pfeiffer). The fallen star (Claire Danes) isn't just a pretty face, and the pirate (Robert DeNiro) is . . . well you'll have to go see the movie. DeNiro alone is worth the price of admission, and I'll just say that he is not what he seems. . .

It has magic, good guys, bad guys, vaguely good/bad guys, a fair dose of quirky humor, and of course a happy ending. I give this movie $7.50 out of my $8.50 admission price, which means that it's definitely worth the price of admission, and a bargain at a matinee.

And, of course, check out the works of the author. I just finished Good Omens, a quite funny tale about the end of the world co-written by Terry Pratchett.

Enjoy!