matrixrefugee (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
matrixrefugee) wrote2005-07-30 11:32 pm
matrixrefugee) wrote2005-07-30 11:32 pm
Entry tags:
Unexpected Day Off and "Changing of the Guard"
Deja-vu for last year... I'm pretty sure it was the last Saturday in July when out of the blue, I got a call from work that I didn't have to come in since they'd overscheduled or something. Well, it happened again today.
I used my time wisely: did a little housework. Watched "All Creatures Great and Small" on one of the local PBS stations (one of the stars of that series, Peter Davison, was the first actor I ever fangurled, this when I was the tender age of twelve). Started typing the next (very short) chapter of "The Smoke of Satan..." which I hope to finish typing/post tomorrow. And I drafted the whole first chapter of "The Changing of the Guard". Not to let out very many spoilers, but you'll see more of Chas in this fic, plus Mefistofel makes a brief appearance, as do Constantine's older sister Sharon and her daughter Helena, known as "Lenni". I'm riffing like -- heh! -- hell from the canon background details Jamie Delano created for "Hellblazer", but there's marked differences: Movie-verse!Constantine's family is a little better off and rather less dysfunctional (hey, the poor kid could see demons from the time he was really young: I didn't want to be *that* mean to him), but I kept most of the structural parameters. This should make it funny if I ever write the fic I've been threatening to, where the two versions of John Constantine collide...
Which brings me to a minor rant: I was prowling "Hellblazer" fan LJ-communities last night, looking for some LJ icons of the comic-book version of John Constantine. ::Smirks up at the icon on this entry:: I found exactly the one I was looking for, of my favorite portrait of the titular Hellblazer...
But along the way, I had to put up with nine bzillion sneering entries about "Constantine", which were posted before the felching movie came out! Pre-judging much? I'd expect those to have been posted after the movie came out. There was even two whole communities devoted to bashing the movie when it was still in production! Okay, fine, so the purists didn't like the idea of Keanu Reeves playing the part of John Constantine, just because he wasn't blond or British (he's half-English, actually...). I didn't like the idea of Nicholas Cage playing the part either, since I can't *stand* him (One of the more coherent objectors suggested Jude Law, but I think he's a little too young for the part, and not quite rugged-looking enough, but let's remember how well he scruffed up for "Road to Perdition".) Keanu still nailed down the part very well: he certainly got the attitude down pat... ;8^D According to Francis Lawrence's comments, they thought of having Keanu bleach his hair, but they decided that wouldn't work. And he didn't look good in the drab trenchcoat, either, since the color clashed with his looks. I kinda like the black jacket he ended up with, it gives him an oddly priest-like look.
Purists of any variety give me the fits. Nobody forced the purists to watch the movie, and in fact, they should be glad to know that there are some people -- yours truly included -- who got curious about the comic book after they saw the movie, and became avid readers of it. Hey, Karen Berger, the editor of Vertigo, and Jamie Delano both seemed fine with the movie, even if Alan Moore had to go and get all pissy about it. Does he have any idea how immature that reaction makes him look?! I'm half of a mind to boycott "V for Vendetta" because of his attitude problem, if his name is listed in the credits, but I'm not going to be as immature as he is...
I used my time wisely: did a little housework. Watched "All Creatures Great and Small" on one of the local PBS stations (one of the stars of that series, Peter Davison, was the first actor I ever fangurled, this when I was the tender age of twelve). Started typing the next (very short) chapter of "The Smoke of Satan..." which I hope to finish typing/post tomorrow. And I drafted the whole first chapter of "The Changing of the Guard". Not to let out very many spoilers, but you'll see more of Chas in this fic, plus Mefistofel makes a brief appearance, as do Constantine's older sister Sharon and her daughter Helena, known as "Lenni". I'm riffing like -- heh! -- hell from the canon background details Jamie Delano created for "Hellblazer", but there's marked differences: Movie-verse!Constantine's family is a little better off and rather less dysfunctional (hey, the poor kid could see demons from the time he was really young: I didn't want to be *that* mean to him), but I kept most of the structural parameters. This should make it funny if I ever write the fic I've been threatening to, where the two versions of John Constantine collide...
Which brings me to a minor rant: I was prowling "Hellblazer" fan LJ-communities last night, looking for some LJ icons of the comic-book version of John Constantine. ::Smirks up at the icon on this entry:: I found exactly the one I was looking for, of my favorite portrait of the titular Hellblazer...
But along the way, I had to put up with nine bzillion sneering entries about "Constantine", which were posted before the felching movie came out! Pre-judging much? I'd expect those to have been posted after the movie came out. There was even two whole communities devoted to bashing the movie when it was still in production! Okay, fine, so the purists didn't like the idea of Keanu Reeves playing the part of John Constantine, just because he wasn't blond or British (he's half-English, actually...). I didn't like the idea of Nicholas Cage playing the part either, since I can't *stand* him (One of the more coherent objectors suggested Jude Law, but I think he's a little too young for the part, and not quite rugged-looking enough, but let's remember how well he scruffed up for "Road to Perdition".) Keanu still nailed down the part very well: he certainly got the attitude down pat... ;8^D According to Francis Lawrence's comments, they thought of having Keanu bleach his hair, but they decided that wouldn't work. And he didn't look good in the drab trenchcoat, either, since the color clashed with his looks. I kinda like the black jacket he ended up with, it gives him an oddly priest-like look.
Purists of any variety give me the fits. Nobody forced the purists to watch the movie, and in fact, they should be glad to know that there are some people -- yours truly included -- who got curious about the comic book after they saw the movie, and became avid readers of it. Hey, Karen Berger, the editor of Vertigo, and Jamie Delano both seemed fine with the movie, even if Alan Moore had to go and get all pissy about it. Does he have any idea how immature that reaction makes him look?! I'm half of a mind to boycott "V for Vendetta" because of his attitude problem, if his name is listed in the credits, but I'm not going to be as immature as he is...