Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
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In many ways the new movie "A Series of Unfortunate Events" might be the most successful screen adaptation of a children's book that I've ever seen. However, I know that many of you who are familiar with the books that this movie is based on will quibble with me about the details -- this movie doesn't follow the books line by line -- but the details are what makes this work so well. The Harry Potter movies, in my mind, failed because of their over-reliance on the books. Even the Lord of the Rings trilogy fell into that problem, to a certain extent. When you have a good thing -- and the Lemony Snicket books are a good thing -- change for change's sake is a bad thing, but I think the movie had a more cohesive feel because of some of the changes incorporated into this script.
Backing up the excellent story was the remarkable work by the set designers and costume stylists. The whole production was really amazing. The director, Brad Silberling, should get a lot of credit for channeling just the right amount of Tim Burton. Trust me, too much Tim Burton channeling is a bad thing.
A point of concern being made on the Internet with regard to this movie centers around the casting of Jim Carrey as Count Olaf. Now, I am just about the furthest you can get from being a fan of Jim Carrey the comedian. "Dumb and Dumber," hated it. "Ace Ventura," not my thing. "The Mask," no thank you. And I don't want to mislead you, he does ham it up in "A Series of Unfortunate Events." But the truth is, you won't care. He's over-the-top, but so is Count Olaf. Maybe he could have taken it down a notch, maybe not, but the kids are the stars of this movie, not Jim Carrey.
Speaking of the kids, they did a wonderful job. They hit their marks with just the right amount of frustration and gumption. And the supporting cast -- from Jude Law to Billy Connolly to Cedric the Entertainer -- were spot-on perfect.
You will not be disappointed with this film.
(Also, when you go see the movie, make sure you stay for the credits.)
Sunday, 19 December 2004 -- 11:12 AM Comments (0)
Born Rich
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This past weekend I had the chance to watch Born Rich, a documentary about rich kids. The documentary was directed by Jamie Johnson, the twenty-something heir to a Johnson & Johnson fortune. In it he interviewed eleven other twenty-something, super-wealthy kids and provided his own narration (the latter choice was possibly a mistake; his voice lacked the pitch resonance necessary to seem compelling).
With few exceptions, the overall impression of these kids who will "never need to work a day in their lives" is not positive. A good job interview question is "what would you do if you were given ten million dollars?" The interviewer is looking for some sign of creativity or drive by asking this question. Sadly, these kids live that question but have no idea how to answer it. Most of them seem to have at least superficially latched on to a life of fencing, horses, or shopping. (The idle rich personified.) Poor family relations also seems to be a common theme.
If you decide to watch Born Rich, and I highly recommend that you do, you really should turn on the director's commentary. Jamie Johnson's commentary is much more compelling than his narration of the documentary and he touches on more interesting subjects than he does in the main body of the film.
Monday, 15 November 2004 -- 11:32 AM Comments (0)
Curb Your Enthusiasm
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Curb Your Enthusiasm is an HBO comedy by and starring Larry David, one of the creators of the eponymous Seinfeld show of the early 90s. I recently had a chance to watch the first season of the show on DVD (three seasons are currently available) and I found it a bit of a mixed bag.
The premise of Curb Your Enthusiasm fairly simple. We follow David through his everyday life and laugh at his bungled interactions with his (much too hot for this guy) wife, his agent, his neighbors, various minor celebrities, and people he meets in his doctor's office or at dinner parties. So, yes, this is Seinfeld. That is, it's Seinfeld if you subtract out all the main characters from Seinfeld except George, move the show to LA, and focus less on the single-ness of the characters (they aren't single in Curb Your Enthusiasm-land) and more on how truly annoying everyone on the show is.
Don't get me wrong about this. I loved Seinfeld, and while Curb Your Enthusiasm might be the the best of work of any Seinfeld alum, it isn't great. And that's where this DVD truly fails. While one or two episodes can elicit a great deal of laughs, when you string the episodes back-to-back, things go downhill fairly quickly. So, in moderation Curb Your Enthusiasm gets my recommendation, but don't plan on spending an evening spinning through all the episodes; you'll grow tired of David fairly quickly.
Tuesday, 9 November 2004 -- 2:44 PM Comments (0)
The Crime of Padre Amaro
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Rachel mentioned this week that Gael Garcia Bernal is in "pretty much everything these days." A bit of an overstatement perhaps -- especially since Spanish-language films don't generally get a wide release in the US -- but he does seem to make it into every Latin film that makes its way to the States. The Crime of Padre Amaro is no exception.
The film is based -- to what extent I'm not sure -- on the 1875 Portuguese novel of the same name by Jose Maria Eca De Queiros. In brief and without giving anything away, "a young, ambitious priest gives in to temptation" would serve as an adequate summary. However, the story has been updated to better match modern times in Mexico. The story also touches on topics that I suspect are important to modern Mexicans: the general lack of safety in the country, drugs and drug lords, guerrillas, and the Catholic church.
As an American, the most interesting part of the story for me was the glimpse it gives us into life in Mexico. If we were to compare this film with Y Tu Mama Tambien, another Spanish-language film that got a wide release in the US, this is where Y Tu Mama Tambien would come up short. While it is quite easy to see how Tambien could be remade here in American, The Crime of Padre Amaro relies on Latin culture to such an extent that it would fail to connect with American audiences if it were portraying Americans.
Another thing that I enjoyed in this film was how everything had a very different look to it than the films I'm used to seeing. From the way the sets look to the color of the light, everything in this film feels quite different from an American-made movie.
For those worried about watching a film with sub-titles, there is an English dub available, but I didn't much like it. The cadence of the language seems important to me, and the voice actors on the dub weren't very compelling.
[Diacritical marks are omitted because I don't know Spanish.]
Tuesday, 9 November 2004 -- 11:20 AM Comments (0)
Donnie Darko
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I'm not the most subtle of guys. I'm the guy who can memorize songs without ever really understanding what the song is about. So imagine my surprise when I came across a set of articles -- one on RogerEbert.com and one on Salon.com -- that decode the 2001 cult favorite; I had only somewhat vaguely been aware of the rather elaborate back story surrounding this movie.
Both articles are worth a read, but I prefer the Salon article. The article on RogerEbert.com -- written not by Roger Ebert but by Jim Emerson, Editor of RogerEbert.com -- focuses perhaps too much on the sexual tension between Donnie and his older sister. It's an interesting and probably somewhat accurate theory, but examining the story on this level didn't greatly enhance my enjoyment of the film. The Salon article, on the other hand, use the director's cut of the film, the director's commentary, and the amazingly full-featured but cryptic donniedarko.com website to unravel the sci-fi time travel elements of the story. There's a rather involved back story there that I enjoyed reading about. However, if you've seen the movie, skip to page four of the Salon article. The first few pages are just a plot synopsis. Also bear in mind that Salon non-subscribers will need to watch an ad before reading the article.
[Both links found via metafilter.]
Thursday, 28 October 2004 -- 11:45 AM Comments (0)
Movies, DVDs, TVs, and More
Whether we're watching a movie with friends, renting a DVD and snuggling, or just vegging on the couch in front of the TV, none of is able to escape the made-up world of movies and television shows. This blog embraces that idea and pushes the envelope further. We'll be discussing the latest movies and TV shows as well as classics that come our way right here, every day. If you'd like to contribute, leave a comment.