The Lovely Bones
Candy, Kendra and I went to see this movie on Friday night. Candy and I had both read the book years ago and were looking forward to seeing the movie, especially (for me anyway) since it was directed by Peter Jackson (love that guy!).
As I have mentioned numerous times before, the book is always better than the movie and this was no exception to that rule. In the book when Susie was in the “in-between” I pictured it as nothingness, or at the most a lot of clouds as she was waiting to go to heaven. But, in Peter Jackson’s world, the “in-between” was much different. It was very fantastical and way over-the-top in my opinion. In fact, these particular parts of the film didn’t even hold my attention and I found myself thinking about other things and wondering how much longer this film was going to be.
The “real-world” parts of the film were well done. Mark Wahlberg did an excellent job as the distraught father of a murdered daughter. I think his pain really resonated on the screen. Stanley Tucci was absolutely horrifying as Mr. Harvey. I actually ran up to my house to unlock the door when I got home and had bad dreams Friday night and I’m sure Mr. Tucci played some part in that. Susan Sarandon was hilarious as the grandmother. I actually don’t remember a grandmother in the book –was there one? Anyone?
There were some differences in the film that weren’t in the book, as always; but in this case it didn’t take away from the film. As a whole I didn’t think the film captured the essence of the book. The film seemed really empty to me. If I had it to do over, I certainly wouldn’t have paid $9 to see this movie; nor would I even rent it on DVD. The book is one of the many books that I loved when I read it and this film does not do it justice.
P.S. One of the things I loved most about the film was that while Susie was at a bookstore in the mall with her grandma, there was a large sign advertising “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkein – Peter Jackson you are so clever!
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
“The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” is the movie Heath Ledger was filming when he died on January 22, 2008. Upon his death, actors, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrell stepped in to finish up the role of Tony, which was played by Heath… and it worked!
“The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” was written by Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown and tells the story of the immortal Dr. Parnassus (played by Christopher Plummer) and his traveling theater group. Going into this movie, I expected not to understand anything that was going on but the story was quite easy to follow and actually quite good. Dr. Parnassus’ is able to guide the imaginations of people when they step through the magical mirror on stage. Once inside, people have a choice if they chose wrong, then the devil gets their soul. The three actors that stepped in for Mr. Ledger each played Tony after he stepped through the mirror and so when Tony was inside his imagination, his face looked different. Each time he stepped through, he was wearing a mask and until those gentlemen took off their masks, you couldn’t tell if it was Mr. Ledger or someone else. It was a remarkable transformation and didn’t take away from the film at all.
I must admit, the main reason I wanted to see this movie was because it is Heath Ledger’s last work. He was an amazing actor and his life was cut too short. However, despite my reasoning for going to see the film, I actually liked it quite a lot and wouldn’t mind seeing it again. I thought it was quite wonderful and the ending was rather nice as well.
If you want to read more about either of these films, click the link in the titles above.
2 comments:
Definitely worth watching again.
RE: The Lovely Bones.... Thanks for the review. I, too, read and enjoyed the book and wondered if the movie would be as good. I will probably go see it in the theater just because I never buy movies. And, there was a grandmother. She came after the mom left to "help"! She was quite a character.
Thanks!
Mary
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