Archive for Movies
Imagination: Better than a Movie
Posted by: | CommentsIf my Amazon Widget thing were working off the right of my page, you would be able to see that I am currently reading The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. They are, quite simply, great books. Or I suppose I should say it is one great story, because it really is all one, divided as it may be. It has taken me a while to move through the work, and I still have a little less than a third to go, but I have enjoyed it thoroughly.
I have, however, run into one problem: I watched the movies first.
What a mistake this was. In hindsight, I think I would have been better off locking myself in a room for a few days and completing the entire book before headed out to see the films. The reason? Well, because I realize that my imagination has been hampered by watching the films. Rather than allowing the book to stimulate images within, I keep thinking about Elijah Wood and the guy from Rudy.
This isn’t to say that the movies were bad. No way. After finishing my reading, I am going to watch them again. It’s just to say that they can’t be as good as reading the book and using your imagination. At least first. Not to mention, the movie can’t tell the entire story, even when it runs three hours, as the films do. A good rule of thumb for any classic book made into a movie seems to be: Make sure you read the book first!
It’s a good rule, one that leads me to a greater appreciation for a good story and the importance of reading good stories. Even more, it helps me understand why the Bible is such a powerful book, for it is the work of the greatest Storyteller and indeed, when rightly understood and embraced, contains the greatest story every told. No film can capture that entire work, only bits and pieces, so we better make sure to read that one first.
Land of the Lost- Not Funny
Posted by: | CommentsIn my last post, I talked about what we laugh at and how our laughter exposes what we truly value.
Well, this movie review of the new Land of the Lost movie serves to highlight my point.
And I suppose Will Ferrell himself highlights my point. For although I think some of what he says and does is very funny, the majority of what I hear and see from him probably should not be considered funny. The fact that people (myself included at times) laugh at most of what he does reveals more about the people than the material itself.
Sure, many people think he is hilarious, but I can’t help but be sure that most of what he says and does will never make for good comedy on the New Earth. In the end, I feel more comfortable being offended by much comedic material than I do laughing at it.
So the Movie…
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Yes, as I mentioned at the end of my post yesterday, I watched The Man in the Iron Mask (movie version) last night. Here are a few things I uttered while watching it:
“For real?” ”O come on…” ”Now that’s just plain ridiculous.” “No, just no.” “Seriously…that didn’t just happen.” “What were they thinking?” “Athos is actually the exact opposite of the guy Malkovich is playing.”
Or in responding to Erin’s question: “Did this happen in the book?” I had to simply reply: “This isn’t based upon the book. It’s just an entirely new story with new characters that just happen to share the same names as Dumas’.”
Or when I paused the movie and said to Erin, “I’ll tell you what, after this buster movie ends, I will tell you what happens in the book and then we can decide what the movie-makers could have done to actually make this good.”
That being said, you can imagine how I feel about the movie. Although it did have a happy ending…sort of. Actually, they threw something in there at the end that was just so ridiculous and not smart that the ending wasn’t so happy at all. At least to me.
So again I was left longing for the true and final happy ending. And again, it’s not a bad place to be. But still, with the amount of money and energy that was poured into the film I saw last night, they could have done so much better. In my opinion, the best movie based upon one of Dumas’ books is The Count of Monte Cristo. I loved the book, though I desired a little different ending, which the movie thankfully gave me (more or less). Seriously, that one is money.
And so was the one we viewed with the kids tonight, The Tale of Despereaux. (Yea, we are on a rare movie roll around here.) It was great, and it certainly served its purpose of making up for the poor showing of the Iron Mask. That’s one of my movie habits, I confess. When I see a bad one (at least to me), I often am compelled to follow it up quickly when one I know is legit.
But enough of all this nonsense. Maybe I will post something highly significant tomorrow, like how the plug for my Macbook went out. No. I’ll spare you that…at least for now.
One quick lesson from all this rambling: Whether you like the ending or not, be sure to let it lead you to a greater longing for the true and final ending that is soon to come. That way, both the good and bad movies (or books) serve you well.
