Oh, look at the pretties!

Kaylee ,'Shindig'


Buffista Movies 6: lies and videotape  

A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.


-t - Aug 16, 2007 4:28:27 pm PDT #911 of 10000
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

I went into the movie expecting it to be more conventional so as to have that mass market appeal, and I found it delightful.

I don't love the book, though. I like it quite a lot, but I re-read it shortly before seeing the movie precisely because I couldn't remember much of it.

I do wish that the movie had kept the bit where Tristan unleashes Yvanne while he goes to find food, instead of tying her to a tree. It's such a lovely little character moment.


sj - Aug 16, 2007 5:29:32 pm PDT #912 of 10000
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

-t, I think that is the pivitol moment for Tristan in the book. I'm not sure he can really be a hero without it. Didn't someone say they wouldn't have helped him if he hadn't untied her? I can't remember who. Tristan is so trusting in the book; he would never be suspicious enough to tie her to the tree.


Atropa - Aug 16, 2007 7:22:44 pm PDT #913 of 10000
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.

sj, the person who wouldn't have trusted Tristan was the tree spirit. (Tori the Tree, as I think of her, because Neil has admitted that he based that character off of Tori.)

I expected the movie to be Not The book. I just didn't expect it to be so ... mainstream Hollywood fantasy, or that so much of the charm and character development would be sacrificed on the altar of action sequences.

I don't think the ending of the book is unhappy. Wistful, yes. But unhappy, no. Remember, I'm a huge sap for happy endings. But I found the ending of the movie to be kind of trite.

Oh, and because I'm still in rantycakes mode about this, "Babylon candle" wtf? The fact that the movie didn't have the odd little peddler character who helps Tristan when he first goes beyond the Wall was a huge disappointment for me.

And I was extremely disappointed with how they dealt with the Market. I love the way the Market was presented in the book; the Charles Vess original painting for that scene is something I've coveted for years. In the movie, you barely got to see anything, and it felt like it was one of the sections the screenplay writers just didn't understand.


sj - Aug 16, 2007 7:35:06 pm PDT #914 of 10000
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

Jilli, thanks for the reminder about the tree spirit. I didn't mean to say earlier that the book ending was unhappy, although I may have made it sound that way. I thought the book ending was happy but not perfectly all wrapped up in a bow happy, which is how the movie ended. It was very trite, as you said.

I also really missed the pedlar. He was my favorite character of the whole book.

I think my favorite part of the movie was Peter O'Toole as the dying king. Love him, and I didn't know he was in the film ahead of time. The rest of it just didn't live up to the magic of the book.


§ ita § - Aug 16, 2007 8:08:09 pm PDT #915 of 10000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Leaked Dark Knight pictures.

Hot.


Anne W. - Aug 17, 2007 1:54:32 am PDT #916 of 10000
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.

Oh, my. I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie. The Joker looks as if he'll be very interesting indeed.


Sparky1 - Aug 17, 2007 3:44:04 am PDT #917 of 10000
Librarian Warlord

Hot.

Yes. Very.


Volans - Aug 17, 2007 2:21:01 pm PDT #918 of 10000
move out and draw fire

Interesting different take on The Joker, and on the Batmobile.

Alan Tudyk's getting good reviews for his work in Death at a Funeral.


sumi - Aug 17, 2007 2:23:43 pm PDT #919 of 10000
Art Crawl!!!

Death at a Funeral looks like alot of fun.


Frankenbuddha - Aug 17, 2007 6:00:25 pm PDT #920 of 10000
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

Alan Tudyk's getting good reviews for his work in Death at a Funeral.

Yes, and for those who might be interested he apparently gets naked too.