Last night was a night of multitasking. I was running simulations for my thesis, which required no brainpower, so I also worked on my ROM archive while watching King Arthur. The movie suffers from a serious case of Bruckheimer, but I really liked seeing a popular piece of mythology placed in the confines of reality. Merlin is just the head of some band of rebels fighting the Roman empire in Britain, and Arthur and his knights are just Roman conscripts. Anyway the fact that it was all plausible while paying homage to the myth by providing events that could, over time, come to be retold as the story we're all familiar with... well I liked that.

Someone should do the same thing to the Bible. Like Life of Brian, only with less aliens.

Anyway, I think my favorite part of the movie was Mads Mikkelsen. Apparently he was a professional dancer for a long time before becoming an actor - and his command of movement shows in his fight scenes. He comes off as a swordmaster for whom aesthetics are an important part of fighting, as someone who pursues perfection in everything. Reminds me, in this way, of samurai. And, well... I like that too.