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[cleolinda]

Awww, Stardust ! It was really sweet and fun and funny, and although the climactic battle/struggle/whatever could have been tightened up some, and I wasn't terribly fond of the score (there's a lot of THUNDERING SUSPENSE! USUALLY ON HORSEBACK! music, some of which sounded ripped straight out of Bram Stoker's Dracula), it was a solid three stars, two thumbs up, would pay to see again, will buy the DVD, etc. It's got pretty much everything important from the book (except what I always think of as The Best and Tiniest Part, but it was PG-13), but several things are changed to make it a bit more action-oriented towards the end, and the Captain Alberic character who gets all of four pages is now Captain Shakespeare, Robert De Niro, and hilarious. Yes, I'm easy like that. (Okay, some of it went on a little too long. Again: easy like that.) Also, it's got metric shitloads of "HEY WAIT WAS THAT--?" faces (and voices. "Awww, Uncle Gandalf's gonna tell us a story!"), including but not limited to Peter O'Toole, Rupert Everett, Ricky Gervais, Henry Cavill, Nathaniel Parker (who looks so incredibly much like Gregory Peck in this movie that it's not even funny), Jason Flemyng, Charlie Bucket's Grandpa Joe, Prince Caspian (fwoarrrr, he fine) and Mr. Weasley, who gets to play a goat. Hand to God, y'all. Also, it's got a really great, creative swordfight near the end, and y'all know how I feel about swordfights. In conclusion: if you remember loving the book but haven't read it in a while--and don't have the particulars fresh and sacred in your head--you'll probably really enjoy the movie.