What movie did YOU just FINISH watching?
Apr 1, 2018 8:50:19 GMT
spiderwort, teleadm, and 2 more like this
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 1, 2018 8:50:19 GMT
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) was on TV yesterday, which is a movie I quite enjoy, and so I recorded it to watch.
I've watched this movie a few times on TV (though never saw it at the theatre) and because I never read the book series it was adapted from, I think that helped contribute to my enjoyment of the film - as I had nothing to compare it to and therefore nothing to complain about being changed/left out. While I think it was an understandable contrast to go from the annoyingly happy elf opening to Jude Law's Lemony Snicket interrupting and the bright sunshiny atmosphere suddenly turning dark with the record scratch - it's good that it happened when it did, as I don't think I could've taken any more of that irritating elf singing. The opening narration did a good job of establishing Jude Law's dry delivery of Lemony Snicket's lines (I especially liked the "if you like stories about clever and reasonably attractive orphans" bit - I thought that was amusing). I liked that they kept him mostly in shadow, but allowed for just a hint of what he looked like (for any young enough not to be familiar with Jude Law, I think it would've added mystery - which, if I recall correctly, I liked as a kid. The mere hint of something can be far more intriguing than something that's shown clearly/on full display - which is how this movie manages to navigate the more 'dark'/'gruesome' aspects).
Closing thoughts: I really liked this movie a lot. It's probably one of the best 'kids films' I can recall that's not from the 80's or 90's. It's really the sort of film that kids *need* to see to learn that things aren't all nice and sunshiny...but at the same time it wasn't all grim/dark, there were some lighter moments too. It had good humour (albeit morbid - though I liked that about it), fun/wonderful performances, it looked great and the music was suited the atmosphere perfectly - none moreso than the excellent end sequence that surely would've made people sit through the credits - they're just so delightful to look at (and the music is odd/different, yet so perfect).
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I do wish more 'kids films' were made like this^ one these days. There needs to be some 'dark stuff' in them, I think, to keep them from being predictable/boring. I can only guess the reason it didn't do so well was because it didn't fit into the 'typical' mould of what most think a kids film 'should be'. It's a shame it wasn't more well-received, as I think it's a delight and quite underrated (which probably explains why I record and watch it almost any time it's repeated on TV here). 8/10
I've watched this movie a few times on TV (though never saw it at the theatre) and because I never read the book series it was adapted from, I think that helped contribute to my enjoyment of the film - as I had nothing to compare it to and therefore nothing to complain about being changed/left out. While I think it was an understandable contrast to go from the annoyingly happy elf opening to Jude Law's Lemony Snicket interrupting and the bright sunshiny atmosphere suddenly turning dark with the record scratch - it's good that it happened when it did, as I don't think I could've taken any more of that irritating elf singing. The opening narration did a good job of establishing Jude Law's dry delivery of Lemony Snicket's lines (I especially liked the "if you like stories about clever and reasonably attractive orphans" bit - I thought that was amusing). I liked that they kept him mostly in shadow, but allowed for just a hint of what he looked like (for any young enough not to be familiar with Jude Law, I think it would've added mystery - which, if I recall correctly, I liked as a kid. The mere hint of something can be far more intriguing than something that's shown clearly/on full display - which is how this movie manages to navigate the more 'dark'/'gruesome' aspects).
I liked the way the introduction of the three kids was handled.
It explained who they were, what they could do and their quirks in a succinct way for those of us unfamiliar with the story. Of course, I was most familiar with Emily Browning who played Violet Baudelaire - since she was an Aussie (who I think I first saw in the horror movie Ghost Ship). I liked the quirk of Violet tying her hair up being an indicator that she was preparing to invent something.
Not being a fan of young children/infant types in movies, the character of Sunny was a bit of 'downside' of the movie for me. However, most of the time she was relatively tolerable (maybe one or two of her subtitled lines were mildly amusing to me). I liked the dynamic between the three kids, and thought both Emily and the actor playing Klaus worked well together (I did feel sorry for Emily having to carrying the kid playing Sunny for a good percentage of the movie. Her arms must've gotten tired).
Emily really sold the emotion in the scene where they learned of their parents' death.
Apparently Jim Carrey's portrayal of Count Olaf was very divisive (from what I read). Some people seemed to hate it, others didn't. I myself was okay with it. Yes, there were times where it felt like he was just doing his Jim Carrey thing and ad-libbing or whatever, but there were quite a few instances where I found him genuinely amusing. There'd be too many amusing lines/moments to list here (and I'd no doubt forget some), but on the whole I liked his portrayal of the character. I even thought he gave off a nicely 'creepy' vibe a few times - with the added ickiness of him marrying's a 14-ear-old near the end. I'm glad they kept the slapping of Klaus - as horrible as that may sound. Obviously, I'm not glad about the slap itself, but the fact that they didn't shy away from Olaf being abusive - that could've easily been cut by over-cautious/overly sensitive ratings people, but it would've somewhat lessened the impact of what a horrible character he was. Him not being nice at all was really effective, I thought, and at least when the kids called him a monster, it was justified/we'd seen evidence that backed it up. He didn't go easy on them, he was pretty ruthless - which felt 'right' with the film's overall mood.
As odd as it might sound, I really liked the sequence with the kids creating a meal for Olaf and his acting troupe. I enjoyed seeing what things they used (and as gross as the objects they used were - Olaf and his gang deserved to be eating food made with them...so it was too bad they didn't actually eat any of it. I was as disappointed as the kids were, after all the effort they'd put in).
I also really enjoyed a lot of Carrey's line deliveries. He just made jokes 'work' because of how he delivered them - though, admittedly, some more than others. I thought the couple of 'different' characters he played were amusing too. Obviously Olaf was meant to be a bad actor - which was what made his playing other characters amusing.
The sequence with Olaf leaving the kids trapped in the car on the train tracks to be smushed by an oncoming train was really well done, I thought. I liked the build-up, Violet's inventiveness, everyone contributing and just the overall 'look' of everything - I just loved the lighting/atmosphere of the whole movie.
It was also a nice way of working in that annoying elf from the opening - by having its head (deservedly) bitten off.
Timothy Spall was good as Mr. Poe, I thought. Yes, he was a very frustrating character, as he missed the obvious and wouldn't listen to the kids about Count Olaf - but still, I couldn't hate him. Somehow, I still found him okay.
It was quite upsetting when Uncle Monty died. Billy Connolly was so 'warm'/likeable playing thing character, I thought, and it was nice to see the kids somewhat 'happy' with him (he was also, by far, the best of the adult characters, as he actually got a clue about Count Olaf once the kids drew his attention to the dodginess of 'Stefano' and he listened to them/believed them).
Which made it all the more awful when he was murdered. This is an example of where merely hinting at what had happened was enough, I think. We only see his hand and blue lighting, but you get the gist of what's happened to him. Yes, they could've shown more, but it wasn't really necessary. I definitely felt sorry for them (as well as poor Monty) and could totally understand their frustration/anger with all the adult characters.
I will admit that the shot of Sunny playing with the 'Incredibly Deadly Viper' was kinda 'aww'-worthy - mostly because of the hugging. I'm not a snake fan, but that snake looked like it'd be the best snake it the world to have as a pet.
Meryl Streep was pretty fun as Aunt Josephine and her fear/paranoia about everything being potentially deadly. After Monty, she felt a bit less 'warm', but I'm glad they gave her a moment here and there to seem a little less 'quirky' and the kids appeared to be somewhat warming up to her just as, yet again, things went sideways. Her reaction to realtors, with Jane Lynch in the cameo of a realtor, was rather amusing...
I liked that the kids figured out she wasn't dead via her 'suicide note' she was forced to make spelling errors in when writing it. Them reading the note and then stopping multiple times to note the mistakes amused me. Of course, her need to correct any spelling/grammatical errors was what led to her being left behind as leech food in the end. I really liked the sequence with the house coming apart. Seeing all the things Josephine said were deadly actually prove to indeed be true was also fun - especially Violet's "No way!" reaction to the door knob heating up and exploding everywhere. Though, for someone so concerned with safety, it really was quite odd that she had such a deathtrap of a house built in a very questionable/precarious place.
It was nice to see Catherine O'Hara again as Justice Strauss, as I mainly remember her from the Home Alone movies. Though, like the rest of the adult characters, her obliviousness to all the bad stuff going on was very frustrating to witness. If I had one complaint, it'd be that Violet didn't really get to play a large part in beating Olaf at the end - it seemed to be mostly Klaus. Yes, he used the 'What Would Violet Do' thinking process, and Violet herself tried to stall for as long as possible in signing the document, but she didn't really get to 'defeat' Olaf as such - which was disappointing. She could've at least kicked him in the goolies.
Anyway, on top of the acting, the humour, the 'dark' aspects, and the atmosphere, something else I liked about the movie was the costumes. Violet's especially stood out. The black one gave a very 'gothic' feel.
And the blue one reminds me of what Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Ivy Walker, wore in the movie The Village.
I liked how the sets, the props, the costumes, etc all felt like they were from another time period. The only minuses were the few instances where there was something that felt a bit too 'modern' for whatever time period this was meant to be set in.
It explained who they were, what they could do and their quirks in a succinct way for those of us unfamiliar with the story. Of course, I was most familiar with Emily Browning who played Violet Baudelaire - since she was an Aussie (who I think I first saw in the horror movie Ghost Ship). I liked the quirk of Violet tying her hair up being an indicator that she was preparing to invent something.
Not being a fan of young children/infant types in movies, the character of Sunny was a bit of 'downside' of the movie for me. However, most of the time she was relatively tolerable (maybe one or two of her subtitled lines were mildly amusing to me). I liked the dynamic between the three kids, and thought both Emily and the actor playing Klaus worked well together (I did feel sorry for Emily having to carrying the kid playing Sunny for a good percentage of the movie. Her arms must've gotten tired).
Emily really sold the emotion in the scene where they learned of their parents' death.
Apparently Jim Carrey's portrayal of Count Olaf was very divisive (from what I read). Some people seemed to hate it, others didn't. I myself was okay with it. Yes, there were times where it felt like he was just doing his Jim Carrey thing and ad-libbing or whatever, but there were quite a few instances where I found him genuinely amusing. There'd be too many amusing lines/moments to list here (and I'd no doubt forget some), but on the whole I liked his portrayal of the character. I even thought he gave off a nicely 'creepy' vibe a few times - with the added ickiness of him marrying's a 14-ear-old near the end. I'm glad they kept the slapping of Klaus - as horrible as that may sound. Obviously, I'm not glad about the slap itself, but the fact that they didn't shy away from Olaf being abusive - that could've easily been cut by over-cautious/overly sensitive ratings people, but it would've somewhat lessened the impact of what a horrible character he was. Him not being nice at all was really effective, I thought, and at least when the kids called him a monster, it was justified/we'd seen evidence that backed it up. He didn't go easy on them, he was pretty ruthless - which felt 'right' with the film's overall mood.
As odd as it might sound, I really liked the sequence with the kids creating a meal for Olaf and his acting troupe. I enjoyed seeing what things they used (and as gross as the objects they used were - Olaf and his gang deserved to be eating food made with them...so it was too bad they didn't actually eat any of it. I was as disappointed as the kids were, after all the effort they'd put in).
I also really enjoyed a lot of Carrey's line deliveries. He just made jokes 'work' because of how he delivered them - though, admittedly, some more than others. I thought the couple of 'different' characters he played were amusing too. Obviously Olaf was meant to be a bad actor - which was what made his playing other characters amusing.
The sequence with Olaf leaving the kids trapped in the car on the train tracks to be smushed by an oncoming train was really well done, I thought. I liked the build-up, Violet's inventiveness, everyone contributing and just the overall 'look' of everything - I just loved the lighting/atmosphere of the whole movie.
It was also a nice way of working in that annoying elf from the opening - by having its head (deservedly) bitten off.
Timothy Spall was good as Mr. Poe, I thought. Yes, he was a very frustrating character, as he missed the obvious and wouldn't listen to the kids about Count Olaf - but still, I couldn't hate him. Somehow, I still found him okay.
It was quite upsetting when Uncle Monty died. Billy Connolly was so 'warm'/likeable playing thing character, I thought, and it was nice to see the kids somewhat 'happy' with him (he was also, by far, the best of the adult characters, as he actually got a clue about Count Olaf once the kids drew his attention to the dodginess of 'Stefano' and he listened to them/believed them).
Which made it all the more awful when he was murdered. This is an example of where merely hinting at what had happened was enough, I think. We only see his hand and blue lighting, but you get the gist of what's happened to him. Yes, they could've shown more, but it wasn't really necessary. I definitely felt sorry for them (as well as poor Monty) and could totally understand their frustration/anger with all the adult characters.
I will admit that the shot of Sunny playing with the 'Incredibly Deadly Viper' was kinda 'aww'-worthy - mostly because of the hugging. I'm not a snake fan, but that snake looked like it'd be the best snake it the world to have as a pet.
Meryl Streep was pretty fun as Aunt Josephine and her fear/paranoia about everything being potentially deadly. After Monty, she felt a bit less 'warm', but I'm glad they gave her a moment here and there to seem a little less 'quirky' and the kids appeared to be somewhat warming up to her just as, yet again, things went sideways. Her reaction to realtors, with Jane Lynch in the cameo of a realtor, was rather amusing...
I liked that the kids figured out she wasn't dead via her 'suicide note' she was forced to make spelling errors in when writing it. Them reading the note and then stopping multiple times to note the mistakes amused me. Of course, her need to correct any spelling/grammatical errors was what led to her being left behind as leech food in the end. I really liked the sequence with the house coming apart. Seeing all the things Josephine said were deadly actually prove to indeed be true was also fun - especially Violet's "No way!" reaction to the door knob heating up and exploding everywhere. Though, for someone so concerned with safety, it really was quite odd that she had such a deathtrap of a house built in a very questionable/precarious place.
It was nice to see Catherine O'Hara again as Justice Strauss, as I mainly remember her from the Home Alone movies. Though, like the rest of the adult characters, her obliviousness to all the bad stuff going on was very frustrating to witness. If I had one complaint, it'd be that Violet didn't really get to play a large part in beating Olaf at the end - it seemed to be mostly Klaus. Yes, he used the 'What Would Violet Do' thinking process, and Violet herself tried to stall for as long as possible in signing the document, but she didn't really get to 'defeat' Olaf as such - which was disappointing. She could've at least kicked him in the goolies.
Anyway, on top of the acting, the humour, the 'dark' aspects, and the atmosphere, something else I liked about the movie was the costumes. Violet's especially stood out. The black one gave a very 'gothic' feel.
And the blue one reminds me of what Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Ivy Walker, wore in the movie The Village.
I liked how the sets, the props, the costumes, etc all felt like they were from another time period. The only minuses were the few instances where there was something that felt a bit too 'modern' for whatever time period this was meant to be set in.
Closing thoughts: I really liked this movie a lot. It's probably one of the best 'kids films' I can recall that's not from the 80's or 90's. It's really the sort of film that kids *need* to see to learn that things aren't all nice and sunshiny...but at the same time it wasn't all grim/dark, there were some lighter moments too. It had good humour (albeit morbid - though I liked that about it), fun/wonderful performances, it looked great and the music was suited the atmosphere perfectly - none moreso than the excellent end sequence that surely would've made people sit through the credits - they're just so delightful to look at (and the music is odd/different, yet so perfect).
I do wish more 'kids films' were made like this^ one these days. There needs to be some 'dark stuff' in them, I think, to keep them from being predictable/boring. I can only guess the reason it didn't do so well was because it didn't fit into the 'typical' mould of what most think a kids film 'should be'. It's a shame it wasn't more well-received, as I think it's a delight and quite underrated (which probably explains why I record and watch it almost any time it's repeated on TV here). 8/10