Stardust - the New Neil Gaiman/Paramount Movie

What a magical time I had at Comic-con.  You can read the full adventures over at www.onlinesuccessinstitute.com

I LOVE Neil Gaiman - huge fan of his books mostly. When I realized that I would be attending Comic-Con at the last minute, I bounced over to his journal to see where I could see him during the show.  He had just posted a charity event for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund that included a ticket to the premiere of his new movie, Stardust!  I quickly donated the requested amount and cleared my schedule for that night.  I couldn't believe I was going to see the very first showing of Stardust with THE Neil Gaiman.

I had the honor of seeing him on Paramount Picture's Movie Panel during the show.  He was up first for Stardust with writer Jane Goldman, then quickly returned again to the stage for his next blockbuster movie, Beowulf.  We got to see a clip from the upcoming movie - the one featuring Michelle Pheiffer as the witch, where we also get to meet our 'star' Yvaine and 'prince charming' Tristan.  We also get a sneak at one of the princes who is, at the moment, alive and hasn't joined the 'dead princes' yet.  oops - spoiler - lol.  He did answer questions from the audience including the proverbial, 'How close is it to the book' question.  He explained that the movie is about 80% of the book, but they did have to change a few things.  If they followed the book it would take a half an hour to get Tristan born.

That night I was bouncing off the walls at the thought of getting to see the real movie - complete - and with Neil Gaiman.  I left Comic-con early to get ready and left over an hour early to when we were to arrive at the theatre.  However, due to some poorly planned train schedule (whoever designed the waterfront area of San Diego should be made daily to endure waiting in traffic for 30 minutes while a train literally stops on the tracks and blocks the 6 entrances to the downtown area for no apparent reason), a San Diego cop who has a thing against the pedicabs there, and the wrong name of the theatre on my ticket I arrived with but 2 minutes to spare and no breath left.  However, I quickly made friends with the two handsome young guys standing in line who were also HUGE Neil Gaiman fans and I soon forgot my stress level and my delight at the opportunity I had to see the premier returned.

Neil and Jane introduced the movie and said they would be back at the end to answer our questions.  They were both nervous, as this was the first showing of the movie and they were anxious to see and hear our reactions.  The lights went down and the rest was pure magic.

It's easy to find reviews of the movie from various source, but what always bugs me is why can't I find a reviewer who likes movies like me?  Then I'll know who to listen to and who to ignore. So instead of telling you all about the movie, I'll tell you. . . What?  You want to hear about the movie?  Ok, ok, here is the short version:

It's fabulous - you must go see it and take everyone with you.

This love-sick puppy dog of a boy, Tristan (Charlie Cox), falls for the girl who is SO not right for him.  But not seeing past various stimuli, he pledges his undying love and offers her the world - which she selfishly takes.  Her demand is but a simple trip to retrieve a star that has just fallen from the sky.  Return it by her birthday and she will be his instead of the current boyfriend du jour. 

Upon stumbling upon (literally) said 'fallen star', silly boy doesn't even realize that she is right in front of him (interesting how this part isn't too far-fetched with our real dating world - missing the most fabulous person because she is right under his nose. Ok, I digress).  Tristan then drags the star, Yvaine(Claire Danes) back to unworthy girlfriend for her birthday.  (I think Yvaine is a pretty good sport about this).  Along the way encountering dead princes, alive princes, pirates, pirates who look pretty good in a dress, ugly witches, pretty witches, hot witches, goats, goats who are innkeepers, boys, boys who are girls who are boys, scheming royals, long-lost mothers, gypsies, unicorns (who are minus lions), kings who are alive, kings who are dead, shady deal makers, wall guarders, and many more fabulous characters.

Tristan does make it back to the girl on the day of her birthday, with Yvaine in tow, but has he learned anything during his adventures?  Does he win the girl to only lose the girl or visa versa.  Well, you have to go see the movie to find out!

After the movie finished, I realized I had stopped breathing.  Not only was this filmed beautifully, but the story was amazing.  Although depicted by some as a 'chick flick' I would disagree only to the degree that I don't think 'The Princess Bride' is a 'chick flick'.  I mean how can you not love Robert De Niro as the Captain of the lightening stealing, black market selling, pirate ship?  Also, the movie was over 2 hours long when I saw it - and it felt like it had just started.

A philospher once asked, 'are we human because we gaze at the stars?  Or do we gaze at them because we are human?

Pointless really. 'Do the stars gaze back?'  Now that's the question.