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Better Late than Never on the Underrated Movie "Stardust"

After my rant yesterday, back to the good news, and reviews, the stuff I normally write about.

Today I want to talk about the movie my wife showed me on our quarantine date night. She showed me the movie "Stardust". I vaguely remembered this movie. It kind of came and went in the theaters, got okay reviews and the fans, they are fans for life. That includes my wife. She truly loves this movie. This is a movie that, if it is on, she will watch it. I don't know why it has taken me so long to sit and watch the whole thing because of her love of it, but it just has. I guess when she would watch it I would be out doing whatever I do. But, it was her turn for the movie pick, and she has wanted me to see it for sometime now.

Well I am here to say that she was right. This movie was so much fun, it was whimsical, it was funny, it had action, big stars and has come closest to reminding me of the wonderful "Princess Bride". Now, it isn't as good as "Princess Bride", but it has its own charm that is akin to that movie. It is a fairy tale. It has a princess and a guy that fights for her. It has laugh out loud moments. And the performances were really top notch. Robert De Niro was an absolute delight as an air pirate. He and his crew capture lightening to sell, and he has a secret he has to keep from them all. The secret is that he is a gay man. He thinks he has to hide this from them all to keep his reputation, but it is revealed that they all know, and it was a great scene of acceptance and still let De Niro come off as a tough guy. Claire Danes was solid as the star that the main guy needs to capture. She was sweet, I bought her love interest for the main guy and she did a very good job. She has become an actor that is very reliable. The main guy, Charlie Cox, was a fool, a boob, a buffoon, but it was all played very fun and funny. Even when he becomes the hero, he was still goofy, and I enjoyed that. There is a whole other subplot involving Peter O'Toole and his sons that was great. O'Toole is the king of the magical land in the movie, and he is waiting to crown his heir. But, the sons all kill one another trying to get the crown. This may sound brutal, but it is played for tons of laughs. When they die, they all come back as ghosts, and kind of narrate what they see. They watch each other brother take out the next one, and then commiserate together as ghosts. It was my favorite side story of the movie. Even famous people like Henry Cavill and Sienna Miller are good in their very small roles.

What I enjoyed most about this movie was how whimsical and fairy tale esque it was. It was a good time. It was a sweet story. It was told, acted and directed very well. I went to check the director, and it was Matthew Vaughan. He has since become a big time director. He, since "Stardust", has done both "Kingsmen" movies, both "Kick Ass" movie, "X-Men: First Class", and he did "Layer Cake" before this one. The dude is a legit director, and it shows. What I enjoyed about his direction was how funny he made stuff that could've ended up too grim and gruesome. In "Stardust" he showed that he could make light of dark situations that is so prevalent in his movies now. This was where he really showcased that. There is a teeny bit of it in "Layer Cake", but not like what he did in "Stardust", and what he has done since.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. I wished I had seen it sooner, but hey, I haven't seen it now, and I really, truly enjoyed it. This was a movie I avoided for so many dumb reasons, and it may have taken a quarantine date night for me to watch it all, but hey, better late than never. "Stardust" is a wonderful movie. Check it out. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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