Field Trip City

I watched Sleepy Hollow today. That film is probably in the top five of films I've built up a hype around seeing for myself, preceded as it was by its amazing teaser trailer. It opens with the impression that a couple and their son are being brutally murdered by a man brandishing an axe before the screen goes black; then, "A Tim Burton Film" lurks forward in smoky text out of the darkness, and Johnny Depp enters the frame, being warned by the people of a town about the legend of the Headless Horseman. If that isn't enough, Christina Ricci makes more than one appearance, and the rest is a montage of Burton-esque goodness before the title burns its way onto the screen: Sleepy Hollow. I LOST it when I first saw the trailer in theatres, as I loved the story of the headless horseman when I was a kid. I was dating Jen at the time, who was a huge Tim Burton fan, and got to see the trailer again with her when she was out visiting. She lost it, too. Here's a random fact: I saw the movie for the first time on November 19, 1999. I remember this, because I'd read in the paper that the numeric abbreviation of the date - 11/19/1999 - would be the last entirely odd-numbered date abbreviation that we'll have until 1/1/3111.

Anyway, the movie is never as good as I remember it. It's GOOD, but it has its flaws. The sets, costumes and art design are all fantastic, and Depp is great, but despite its intended jocular treatment of the situations the screenplay feels too contrived when it isn't trying to be and a lot of the roles feel miscast including Ricci's.

I also watched the commentary for The Wizard of Oz, which was a neat assemblage of old and new interview material and historical factoids. I read some material today including one film article that felt like a complete chore. I've never been interested in semiotics and I'd almost rather hurl myself out of a tree than have another theorist who can't write worth a damn tell me about signifiers while indulging in his own particular neologisms.

Speaking of neologisms and the opaque writings of semioticians, I ran across a nifty word the other day courtesy of J. A. Cuddon, compiler of the Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory:

Verbocrap - "A type of jargon language commonly used by verbocrats, and thus dear to bureaucrats and semi-literate officials of all kinds. It is marked by polysyllabic circumlocutions, crude syntax, faulty grammar and a self-important, orotund tone."

Basically, words written by people who think dizzying readers is the same as impressing them with an argument.

Back to school tomorrow.