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ellyssianThis could really be a beautiful film except for three minor things. Unfortunately, those minor things are like splinters in my paw. If some mouse would come along and remove them from the film, I'm sure it would be a favorite.
I suppose I should mention that it is actually a very beautiful film as far as the cinematography goes. The movie is filled with an atmosphere that is entirely sympathetic to that of the books. There's a quality of it being a story of both the past and the present, so that the actual time frame is everything and nothing. Retro-modern, as it were. I liked the happy little elf bits - as a very fitting visual example of this.
Thing #1 that I didn't like was the secret society aspect. Although it makes sense as something untold in the books, it seemed too simple. Too Hollywood. Too the audience-is-dumb-as-posts-and-they-need-a-Reason-and-can't-cope-with-ambiguity. It distracted from what I know of the books - a knowledge which does cover the three works mined for this movie. In fact, I'm part way through the fourth, which isn't bad considering I only read them before Poetry Circle on the second Friday of each month, provided no one else gets there early to chat with.
Thing #2 that I didn't like was the confusion in Lemony Snicket's character. I don't mind him stepping into the story, playing with that wall, but please do it consistently. Don't pretend one moment we're reading a book, and you're just speaking aloud, and at another you acknowledge we're watching a movie. I suppose that dumb-as-posts audience can't tell what they're doing, but I can.
Thing #3 that I didn't like was that sometimes it was painfully obvious that it wasn't Count Olaf playing a bunch of different roles, but some guy Jim Carrey, and I really don't recall him being in the book. Maybe in the final book it's revealled that Olaf is really Jim in disguise, but somehow I doubt it. Some critics have hailed Olaf as the role Carrey was born to play, and he does hit that at times. But then, at other times, despite all the makeup and disguises, it's obvious that the Riddler, the Mask, and all his other roles are showing through. That destroys the overall effect. Funny, though, it really seems to happen most with Olaf, not with Olaf as this or Olaf as that.
I suppose I should mention that it is actually a very beautiful film as far as the cinematography goes. The movie is filled with an atmosphere that is entirely sympathetic to that of the books. There's a quality of it being a story of both the past and the present, so that the actual time frame is everything and nothing. Retro-modern, as it were. I liked the happy little elf bits - as a very fitting visual example of this.
Thing #1 that I didn't like was the secret society aspect. Although it makes sense as something untold in the books, it seemed too simple. Too Hollywood. Too the audience-is-dumb-as-posts-and-they-need-a-Reason-and-can't-cope-with-ambiguity. It distracted from what I know of the books - a knowledge which does cover the three works mined for this movie. In fact, I'm part way through the fourth, which isn't bad considering I only read them before Poetry Circle on the second Friday of each month, provided no one else gets there early to chat with.
Thing #2 that I didn't like was the confusion in Lemony Snicket's character. I don't mind him stepping into the story, playing with that wall, but please do it consistently. Don't pretend one moment we're reading a book, and you're just speaking aloud, and at another you acknowledge we're watching a movie. I suppose that dumb-as-posts audience can't tell what they're doing, but I can.
Thing #3 that I didn't like was that sometimes it was painfully obvious that it wasn't Count Olaf playing a bunch of different roles, but some guy Jim Carrey, and I really don't recall him being in the book. Maybe in the final book it's revealled that Olaf is really Jim in disguise, but somehow I doubt it. Some critics have hailed Olaf as the role Carrey was born to play, and he does hit that at times. But then, at other times, despite all the makeup and disguises, it's obvious that the Riddler, the Mask, and all his other roles are showing through. That destroys the overall effect. Funny, though, it really seems to happen most with Olaf, not with Olaf as this or Olaf as that.
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Date: 2006-07-17 03:23 pm (UTC)