is it just me?

[acroyear]

Or was A Christmas Carol never meant to be a "thrill ride"?

I'm all for playing with themes and updating the concept (An American Christmas Carol with Henry Winkler is my fav christmas movie of all), but the commercials are making it out to be a CGI action-comedy a-la Ice Age, and are leaving me totally unimpressed and uninterested.

p.s., get off my lawn.

Comments

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

You are not the intended audience. They are however, catching the kidlet's attention, who at 10 1/2 is exactly who they want to entice.

The hubby and kidlet may go to see it without me, because I'm not a Jim Carey fan.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

Disney used to be good at (hell, they were the inventors of) movies "good for all ages". They still manage them (especially Pixar).

Why stop now, especially for a seasonal work that's meant to have an aire of timelessness to it (if it didn't, it wouldn't still be the most popular Christmas work outside of the Gospel of Luke).

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

I'll wait to see if it is as "bad" as the ads. I've found in the past that trailers often don't tell the whole story of a movie, either hiding bad parts, or hiding stuff the marketing people don't really want to show off. Most of the ads seem to be selling to a certain crowd that isn't you or me.

Harry Knowles loved it, but then again, that isn't a barometer for how good a movie is, since he likes a lot of crap.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/42953

[dawntreader]

i'm not particularly a Jim Carey fan either. he's not ALL THAT funny. amusing at times, yes. but i've found his better acting are in movies where it wasn't OMG IT'S JIM CAREY to the point you don't even know what his character was supposed to be.

and, futhermore, speaking of commercials for this movie, i guess i don't see the point of 'oh ha ha, now Ebenezer Scrooge gets racked in the balls by icicles' in the middle of A Christmas Carol. call me a curmudgeon on that point, but Bah Humbug!!

bring me the Muppet version if you must update the story. ;)

[sequentialscott.livejournal.com]

Robert Zemeckis did a decent job with Beowulf (w/ Neil Gaiman's help) - it was silly fun and I don't expect anything different here. I'm mainly interested for the visuals.

[jocelyncs.livejournal.com]

I'll join you chasing 'em offa my lawn (because they're scaring my cats! I am crazy cat lady! Hear me meow!)

I was raised on the 1970s "Scrooge: The Musical" with Albert Finney, and consider George C. Scott's "A Christmas Carol" to be the greatest version ever made. Our family tradition includes watching those two as well as the 1950s Alastair Sim version every year on different weekends leading up to Christmas Eve.

Jim Carrey playing Scrooge is the greatest travesty since...well, since he played the Grinch. There goes my childhood! *weeps*

[ren-tigger.livejournal.com]

Actually I found this movie to be rather good. I was lucky enough to see the pre-release on monday on Imax 3D.

I have have to agree with you when it comes to the commercials, they look to be aimed at young kids, and they should not be. There is a reason this movie is rated PG-13.

The movie stays very true to the actual story, and the CGI Carey does an excellent job as Scrooge and all 3 ghosts. As said, it stays very close to the actual tale, which means spooky ghosts, starving children, bad attitude (And not like the Scrooges who you can see they are smiling on the inside) and deep concepts. I posted about this on Tuesday after seeing the movie.

Now I understand the need, but I do feel there were a few events that were not required, but were tossed in to take advantage of the Uumph of the CGI and 3D. But most all movies are like that these days. Let's do somethin big and loud when we do not have to.

Now the use of Carey was not just his name, but also his ability to tie his body into pretzel like shapes. This form of animation called motion capture benefited from Carey's ability, saving them trying to 'dub' some of the ghosts movements.

In the end, if you are a fan of Dickens "A Christmas Carol" I recommend seeing it. Forget Carey, forget it is a Disney prodution. I think Dickens would probably give at least a thumb and a half up, if not two thumbs up for this version.

Also, Scrooge is not getting racked by the icicles in that scene, but he is defintely taking a pounding. That was part of his experience with the ghost of Xmas's to come, and I feel that was one of the most over played parts of the movie. Maybe because that ghost has no lines, so they filled in with action and un needed flair.

[ren-tigger.livejournal.com]

Oh yah, I meant to also mention, the organizers of the event are also in agreement with you in regards to the commericals. A Disney Movie, with Jim Carrey, it MUST be kid friendly. They feel that it should be advertised as a retelling of a classic in all it's spooky form.

They were the ones who emphasized to me that it was PG-13 for a reason.

[tchwrtr.livejournal.com]

I still think Patrick Stewart's reading of the tale is one of the best renditions. Even if I giggle at his ga-DONG for the clock tolling the time.

Gotta find that in CD format...

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the George C. Scott version, and Alastair Sim is, of course, "the classic", but there was an earlier version from 1938 with Reginald Owen as Scrooge that is well worth seeking out. IMHO, he nailed the role.

As a side note, in that version, Bob Cratchit is played by Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart (his wife) plays Mrs. Cratchit), and in an uncredited role, June Lockhart (their daughter) makes her screen debut, playing Belinda Cratchit. (And yes, Anne Lockhart is Gene and Kathleen's granddaughter.) (Yay for IMDB.)