Yes, I saw the film yesterday too. Ian looked as if he was really
enjoying himself in the part.

I thought the film was an excellent adaptation of the book. I felt
that any faults were those also present in the book. If you liked
the book you will like the film.

I agree with you that it was not slow - which film were those
critics watching?

My only complaint was that Silas was not creepy enough.

Can't wait till Thursday and X3 now.

Linda

-- In ianmckellenclub@yahoogroups.com, "S. M. Wand" <smkwandr@...>
wrote:
>
> Greetings! I saw "The DaVinci Code" last night (5/19) with my
> husband (and got a salmon dinner out of the deal). I thought Ian's
> performance was prefect--shamelessly flirting with Sophie when
> introduced to her! The look of pre-jealousy on Hanks's/Langdon's
face
> was precious! Ian carried off the 'zealous researcher'
handsomely,
> but I don't want to give the details away until everyone has seen
the
> movie.
>
> I have the feeling that Ian's career will be compared to Peter
> Cushing's and Christopher Lee's--sweet, gentlemanly men who
gleefully
> loved playing villians, monsters, and other assorted ne'er-do-
wells.
> Ian's advantage is that he chose Shakespearean ne'er-do-wells
(they
> last longer); it makes his role as Gandalf and recording of
Prospero
> (Tempest, Naxos) the exception, not the norm. (Okay, calling
> Christopher Lee 'sweet' might be pushing it, considering how well-
> known his background is.)
>
> I was *so* hoping the Ron & Brian & Akiva would change Sir Leigh
to
> reflect better on Ian (I'm trying to be vague, not spoil it for
those
> who haven't seen it yet!); but in retrospect, Ian played Teabing
> brilliantly and beautifully, and he took a stage 'beating' if he
did
> his own stunts, even if they were on a soundstage floor (I know,
more
> vagueness!). He played barking mad exceedingly well, also.
>
> As much as I *loove* Gandalf the Grey, I like Ian as Ian,
preferably
> not as scruffy as Sir Leigh or Mel; we Americans do get Coro
Street
> on BBC/Am, but it's not running right now, and Ian has a big
section
> of photos and blog on his site, which shows him quite seedy indeed.
>
> Sir Leigh could be quite lovable if he weren't quite so bonkers
about
> the Grail; I can imagine a grad student or post-doc coming to work
> with him and being quite charmed by the cantankerous old codger
(or
> is that Ian?)--actually, I smell Langdon/Teabing slashfic,
although
> Sir Leigh strikes me as foxily het (maybe bi?). Ian assimilated
and
> played his character convincingly, learned and spoke his lines
> sincerely and realisticly and zealously until he--well, go see the
> movie for Teabing's exit (no, he doesn't die, thankfully).
Actually,
> Teabing does seem fond of Langdon, and it reminds me of the
> Gandalf/Aragorn relationship you can interpret any way you want.
>
> For those of you who have read the book, there are a number of
minor
> details omitted (probably for time) from the movie; unfortunately,
it
> makes some things harder to understand for the people who
*haven't*
> read it. Some reviewers criticized the movie and gave it poor
marks
> for being 'slow'--which version were *they* watching?! This
reminded
> me of 'heist' movies, the original "Ocean's Eleven" and Pierce
> Brosnan's "The Thomas Crown Affair" (oh, no, that was the fine art
> connection!), where a lot of the action was intellectual, not
> physical.
>
> Ian has finally updated the E-Post section of his website; but I
> haven't found any 'Magneto's Lair' entries, unless I'm trying to
get
> in by the wrong means (Nef?).
>
> Merchandisers are having a field day (in the U.S., at least),
> slapping 'DaVinci' on everything under the sun. One thing that I
> bought recently was something called "DaVinci's Mancala." Mancala
is
> an ancient game, orginating in Africa or North Africa, with 24
light
> pebbles, 24 dark pebbles, and a wooden board with 12 small bowls
> carved out and 4 larger one, 2 at each end. It reminds me of a 3-
way
> cross between backgammon, cribbage, and that ancient Egyptian
board
> game I can never remember the name to (but I bet Nef knows!).
It's a
> strategy game, capture your opponent's pieces, get yours into the
2
> holding bowls at the end of your row of playing bowls, highest
score
> wins.
>
> Unlike ordinary Mancala with pebbles, "DaVinci's Mancala" is on a
> flat, folding cardboard playing board, and instead of pebbles, one
> uses light and dark shaped pieces--ovals and triangles--which
kinda
> remind me of stained glass 'rose' windows (not the roses again!).
> The board is decorated with two sketches by Leonardo, the alleged
> self-portrait of him as a very old man, and the Vitruvian Man--but
> the game manufacturers airbrushed out certain parts of VM! Well,
the
> game is geared for 8+, but they didn't airbrush the image on the
> bottom of the box (and who looks at the bottom of the game box
> anyway?). There are also a few nice puzzle-game-thingies (one
that
> uses UV light--CSI and Fine Art Appreciation together!).
>
> Okay, that's my review of Ian's performance; he had the most
> difficult and important part because he was playing a 'Doctor
> Science' type of character, doing the info-dump for the benefit of
> the unenlightened character/s (Sophie) and the audience (d'uh--
us),
> did it well and watchably--I'm planning to see it again with
friends.
>
> All best,
> Miranduviel
> (pervy wizard fancier)
>