Adam (Alec Baldwin): How is it that you can see us but nobody else can?
Lydia (Winona Ryder): Well, I read in that "Handbook For The Recently Deceased". It says, "Live people ignore the strange and unusual." I, myself, am strange and unusual.
Showing posts with label Winona Ryder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winona Ryder. Show all posts
Thursday, October 18, 2018
favorite movie #78 - halloween edition: beetlejuice
Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #78 - Beetlejuice (1988) - Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! This film is darkly funny, quirky as hell — it's just a hoot. From the great Harry Belafonte songs and Danny Elfman's score to the almost animated quality of the film — what we now know to be Tim Burton's circus meets horror sensibility — and capped off by an amazing comedian performance from Michael Keaton, ably abetted by Sylvia Sidney, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, etc.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
the march sisters redux
Over Thanksgiving the Lifetime network premiered an update of Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women
, a new holiday film, The March Sisters at Christmas
. I generally avoid the chick-flicks that are the network's specialty, but I have always been a huge fan of Alcott's novel and was intrigued to see where they would take the story in modern times. Lifetime wasn't kidding when they called it an update, as the film tried hard to milk trends like Twitter while basically following Alcott's well-known narrative.
In The March Sisters at Christmas Jo and her sisters are desperate to save Orchard House, their childhood home (where all the twenty-something March sisters still reside), that their mother is intending to sell. She needs to downsize the family digs as her husband, who has been serving in Afghanistan, has been wounded and may not be able to bring in an income when he returns from the front. Mom steps off-stage to retrieve the girls' father, leaving her daughters to pursue their fairly confused love lives. Sometimes the film tries too hard to be contemporary or relate to the Gossip Girl generation, as it has the sisters fighting constantly with each other and calling each other names like "slut-sicles." Really? But it does try hard in other ways, with filming locations near Worcester, Massachusetts keeping the story close to its New England roots.
Jo (Julie Marie Berman, General Hospital) is a celebrity tweeter and aspiring novelist who may be getting closer to her editor, Marcus Bhaer. Boy next door Teddy (Justin Bruening, All My Children) loves Jo, but she just thinks of him as a friend, maybe even a brother. Not to worry, as theater stage manager, Amy (Molly Kunz), the baby of the family, is waiting in the wings. We know that lawyer and older sister Meg (Kaitlin Doubleday) will get back together with her intended. The only character who is not very clearly drawn is Beth (Melissa Farman). She still plays piano, as in the novel, but she has no career, no ambitions. She doesn't even perish at the end of the movie. Did the writers wimp out, or are they hoping to parlay the television movie into a series?
The March Sisters at Christmas was O.K., but all of the updating just really underlined for me how much the story doesn't lend itself to cinema. The strength of the story is in the characters, their life together, and their ambitions. Jo is a feminist icon, and for good reason. She didn't want to take the traditional path her sister Meg aspired to, of a husband and babies. Not at least until she had adventures and her own, and a career as a writer. She helped support her family. And she wanted to be in charge of her love life. She couldn't or wouldn't settle for the handsome Laurie/Teddy choosing her as his soul mate. She wanted to to go out in the world and choose for herself.
The March Sisters in the movies
Jo's turning down of Laurie was a huge disappointment to me as I read Little Women at the tender age of 10 or 11, as I had fallen for him and couldn't quite understand why Jo hadn't too. As much as I wasn't completely on board with Professor Bhaer, I read a lot of Alcott over one long ago summer, devouring the next two sequels, Little Men and Jo's Boys. I don't think either of them hold a candle to the first book, although I remember liking the character of Nat. I also read Eight Cousins, centering on a young orphan girl named Rose, which I liked more than the other two books, but can't recall if I read its sequel, Rose in Bloom.
There have been numerous attempts to turn Little Women and its timeless tale of family and survival during tough times into a film.
The March Sisters at Christmas is just the latest attempt to retell Alcott's story. It reminds me that I have to pick up Geraldine Brooks’s novel March
. I suspect that a literary adaptation is still bound to be the most successful format for a new way to look at the March sisters.
, a new holiday film, The March Sisters at Christmas. I generally avoid the chick-flicks that are the network's specialty, but I have always been a huge fan of Alcott's novel and was intrigued to see where they would take the story in modern times. Lifetime wasn't kidding when they called it an update, as the film tried hard to milk trends like Twitter while basically following Alcott's well-known narrative.In The March Sisters at Christmas Jo and her sisters are desperate to save Orchard House, their childhood home (where all the twenty-something March sisters still reside), that their mother is intending to sell. She needs to downsize the family digs as her husband, who has been serving in Afghanistan, has been wounded and may not be able to bring in an income when he returns from the front. Mom steps off-stage to retrieve the girls' father, leaving her daughters to pursue their fairly confused love lives. Sometimes the film tries too hard to be contemporary or relate to the Gossip Girl generation, as it has the sisters fighting constantly with each other and calling each other names like "slut-sicles." Really? But it does try hard in other ways, with filming locations near Worcester, Massachusetts keeping the story close to its New England roots.
Jo (Julie Marie Berman, General Hospital) is a celebrity tweeter and aspiring novelist who may be getting closer to her editor, Marcus Bhaer. Boy next door Teddy (Justin Bruening, All My Children) loves Jo, but she just thinks of him as a friend, maybe even a brother. Not to worry, as theater stage manager, Amy (Molly Kunz), the baby of the family, is waiting in the wings. We know that lawyer and older sister Meg (Kaitlin Doubleday) will get back together with her intended. The only character who is not very clearly drawn is Beth (Melissa Farman). She still plays piano, as in the novel, but she has no career, no ambitions. She doesn't even perish at the end of the movie. Did the writers wimp out, or are they hoping to parlay the television movie into a series?
The March Sisters at Christmas was O.K., but all of the updating just really underlined for me how much the story doesn't lend itself to cinema. The strength of the story is in the characters, their life together, and their ambitions. Jo is a feminist icon, and for good reason. She didn't want to take the traditional path her sister Meg aspired to, of a husband and babies. Not at least until she had adventures and her own, and a career as a writer. She helped support her family. And she wanted to be in charge of her love life. She couldn't or wouldn't settle for the handsome Laurie/Teddy choosing her as his soul mate. She wanted to to go out in the world and choose for herself.
 |
| Amy (Joan Bennett), Marmee (Spring Byington), Beth (Jean Parker), Meg (Frances Dee), and Jo (Katherine Hepburn) |
 |
| Amy (Elizabeth Taylor), Meg (Janet Leigh), Jo (June Allyson, and Beth (Margaret O'Brien) |
 |
| Meredith Baxter (Meg), Ann Dusenberry (Amy), Dorothy McGuire (Marmee), Eve Plumb (Beth), and Susan Dey (Jo) |
 |
| Jo (Winona Ryder), Meg (Trini Alvarado), Amy (Kirsten Dunst), Marmee (Susan Sarandon), and Beth (Claire Danes) |
 |
| Beth (Melissa Farman), Jo (Julie Marie Berman), Amy (Molly Kunz), and Meg (Kaitlin Doubleday) |
Jo's turning down of Laurie was a huge disappointment to me as I read Little Women at the tender age of 10 or 11, as I had fallen for him and couldn't quite understand why Jo hadn't too. As much as I wasn't completely on board with Professor Bhaer, I read a lot of Alcott over one long ago summer, devouring the next two sequels, Little Men and Jo's Boys. I don't think either of them hold a candle to the first book, although I remember liking the character of Nat. I also read Eight Cousins, centering on a young orphan girl named Rose, which I liked more than the other two books, but can't recall if I read its sequel, Rose in Bloom.
There have been numerous attempts to turn Little Women and its timeless tale of family and survival during tough times into a film.
1933 filmwith Katherine Hepburn as Jo. it's a nice film, but Hepburn is so Hepburn that she never really became Jo for me.
1949 filmwith June Allyson as Jo, a blonde Elizabeth Taylor as Amy, and a woefuly miscast Peter Lawford as Laurie. A real Hollywod Techicolor version, but the costumes are great and Allyson does capture Jo's spunky side.
1994 filmwith Winona Ryder as Jo, Cristian Bale as Laurie, and Gabriel Byrne as Professor Bhaer. This version may come the closest to the original novel of the adaptations, especially in its depiction of the Jo/Bhaer romance, which was more than a little inscrutable in the book. And Bale shows his sweet side as a perfectly cast Laurie.
There was also apparently a 1978 television filmstarring Susan Dey as Jo and William Shatner (!) as Professor Bhaer — I haven't seen it, but am curious to check it out.
The March Sisters at Christmas is just the latest attempt to retell Alcott's story. It reminds me that I have to pick up Geraldine Brooks’s novel March
. I suspect that a literary adaptation is still bound to be the most successful format for a new way to look at the March sisters.Monday, October 08, 2012
tim burton is back with frankenweenie
Frankenweenie is simply the best movie Tim Burton has done since Ed Wood. To paraphrase the old Addams Family theme song, it's creepy, spooky, and mysteriously ooky. It's also funny and visually amazing. Maybe Burton should limit himself to black and white films and his love of films past, because both these things seem to bring out the best in him. And just in time for Halloween, too, it's a real treat.
I saw it in 3D, and it looked great, but the scenes are framed and lit so beautifully that it would look just as great in 2D. The stop-motion animated film is a longer re-imagining of Burton's original 1984 version. That film got Burton fired from Disney (Buena Vista), as it was considered too scary for kiddies. Burton must be feeling pretty vindicated to have Disney big-budgeting his reboot.
Burton's love of the classic black and white Universal monster movies is on display. Adults may get more from the film than their child chaperones, as they spot homages to Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Werewolf and many more. Classic horror film actors like Vincent Price and Boris Karloff are also paid tribute via the voicework. There's also a nod to Rankin Bass in the character of Mr. Bergermeister. The voicework is excellent, with such actors as Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short, who voice multiple characters, and Winona Ryder, Conchata Ferrell, and Martin Landau, among others.
Young Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) loves his dog Sparky. They do everything together. Victor is essentially a loner, and doesn't interact much with the other kids in his class. But that all changes after Sparky dies after being hit by a car. A heartbroken Victor is unconsolable ntil the new science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau, channeling Vincent Price) gives Victor the idea of how science and electricity might help bring Sparky back to life. His experiment is a success, but once people start to find out about Sparky life and science become more complicated — and dangerous.
The essential story of a boy and his dog remains touching, but what puts the movie over the top are the incredible puppets and visuals. Period cars and sets with amazing details will make for repeated viewings. Much of the movie is told from Sparky's eye-view. The look of the characters are similar in style to much of Burton's other work, like The Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and even Edward Scissorhands. In Frankenweenie that signature style has been tweaked a bit, exaggerated almost to the point of the grotesque. But somehow it all works. I can't remember enjoying a Tim Burton movie as much in a really long time. And if you're lucky enough to go to a theater that is giving away an exclusive IMAX print with Burton's original sketch of Sparky, be sure to grab one. I sure did.
 |
| Victor Frankenstein loves his dog Sparky |
Burton's love of the classic black and white Universal monster movies is on display. Adults may get more from the film than their child chaperones, as they spot homages to Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Werewolf and many more. Classic horror film actors like Vincent Price and Boris Karloff are also paid tribute via the voicework. There's also a nod to Rankin Bass in the character of Mr. Bergermeister. The voicework is excellent, with such actors as Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short, who voice multiple characters, and Winona Ryder, Conchata Ferrell, and Martin Landau, among others.
 |
| Victor's classmate Weird Girl has a psychic cat, Mr. Whiskers |
The essential story of a boy and his dog remains touching, but what puts the movie over the top are the incredible puppets and visuals. Period cars and sets with amazing details will make for repeated viewings. Much of the movie is told from Sparky's eye-view. The look of the characters are similar in style to much of Burton's other work, like The Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and even Edward Scissorhands. In Frankenweenie that signature style has been tweaked a bit, exaggerated almost to the point of the grotesque. But somehow it all works. I can't remember enjoying a Tim Burton movie as much in a really long time. And if you're lucky enough to go to a theater that is giving away an exclusive IMAX print with Burton's original sketch of Sparky, be sure to grab one. I sure did.
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