Marvellous ? Hmm. I've been wondering if anyone else had seen it, and whether I could compare notes.
I thought it was nearly very good. Very pretty, very atmospheric in a Time-Burton-ish way. Some really nice bits. But I came out feeling an overall sense of disappointment, and that it wasn't as good as it could have been.
Nah, Time Burton. It's something to do with the last pint of beer before (possibly after!) you get thrown out of the pub.
Partly, it was so very episodic, and felt more like 4 short films (intro & Olaf; Uncle Monty; Lachrymose Lake; and the marriage)strung together, with rather visible seams. Of course, that's because that was the underlying structure. Maybe it will work better on DVD, where you can watch it in episodes, and stop every 25 minutes to let is soak in :)
Maybe it will work better on DVD, where you can watch it in episodes, and stop every 25 minutes to let it soak in
Uh-huh, which of course then prompts the thought that perhaps a lavishly-done TV series of all the books would actually have worked better. I even believe that 13 books are eventually planned, which is precisely the number of episodes in most US TV series.
Maybe, though, a TV series of the kind necessary to really pull this off just wouldn't be possible in the US, and an institution like the BBC is required to take on the task: I'm thinking of e.g. their adaptations of some of the Narnia Chronicles, or The Box of Delights.
Yes, I don't mean 'marvellous' as in 'fantastically profound, artistically unparalled and the best thing I've seen all year (oh, hang on a minute...)'. More 'marvellously fun and entertaining'.
One problem may be that because it covers three books all with essentially the same plot, aspects of it were becoming repetitive by the third. I felt they handled this well by giving us the thread of the spy-glasses and eye-windows as an unresolved mystery to pull us onwards, but even so that could only take us so far.
I rather hope they don't try to make a sequel covering further books in the series, as, although I haven't read them, it looks like they must pretty much continue as before, and I think that really would be over-egging the pudding in the form of another film. As it is, it was neat, cute and rather delightful.
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strange_complex) wrote2005-01-05 03:59 pm
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damien_mocata
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I thought it was nearly very good. Very pretty, very atmospheric in a Time-Burton-ish way. Some really nice bits. But I came out feeling an overall sense of disappointment, and that it wasn't as good as it could have been.
I can't work out why though, and it's bugging me.
no subject
no subject
Partly, it was so very episodic, and felt more like 4 short films (intro & Olaf; Uncle Monty; Lachrymose Lake; and the marriage)strung together, with rather visible seams. Of course, that's because that was the underlying structure. Maybe it will work better on DVD, where you can watch it in episodes, and stop every 25 minutes to let is soak in :)
no subject
Uh-huh, which of course then prompts the thought that perhaps a lavishly-done TV series of all the books would actually have worked better. I even believe that 13 books are eventually planned, which is precisely the number of episodes in most US TV series.
Maybe, though, a TV series of the kind necessary to really pull this off just wouldn't be possible in the US, and an institution like the BBC is required to take on the task: I'm thinking of e.g. their adaptations of some of the Narnia Chronicles, or The Box of Delights.
no subject
One problem may be that because it covers three books all with essentially the same plot, aspects of it were becoming repetitive by the third. I felt they handled this well by giving us the thread of the spy-glasses and eye-windows as an unresolved mystery to pull us onwards, but even so that could only take us so far.
I rather hope they don't try to make a sequel covering further books in the series, as, although I haven't read them, it looks like they must pretty much continue as before, and I think that really would be over-egging the pudding in the form of another film. As it is, it was neat, cute and rather delightful.
no subject