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What would Dickens say?
From Carrie Rickey's "Flickgrrl"blogs/flickgrrl
My reaction to Disney's A Christmas Carol, the motion-capture animation released yesterday, was that the Robert Zemeckis version of Charles Dickens' evergreen was "too much Halloween night and not enough Christmas morning." Watching it I scribbled, "What would Dickens think?"
Mr. Dickens is, of course, no longer with us. But his great-great-grandson Gerald Dickens, 46, was happy to speak with Flickgrrl by phone from Oxford, England. (Not coincidentally, the actor will be touring the States with his one-man show of A Christmas Carol next month and will bring it to Byers' Choice in Bucks County on Dec. 11 and 12.) Dickens has yet to see the Zemeckis version, but among the many movie versions of Carol, he's fond of "the classic Alastair Sim version" (1951, by Brian Desmond-Hurst), because "it has the joyousness and captures the point that nasty Scrooge must get terrified and change his ways."
"I also enjoyed the George C. Scott version, with Scrooge as a big brash businessman of the sort you might see on Wall Street rather than the weaselly sort," Dickens reflects. He has no thoughts about the 1988 Bill Murray update, Scrooged.
"But when it comes right down to it, you can't beat The Muppet Christmas Carol," 1992, "can you?", Dickens asks rhetorically. He thinks if his ancestor were alive, it would probably be his favorite, too. "He was fond of color and splash."
While I like the 1951 version and also the 1970 Albert Finney musical Scrooge, I think the most effective cinematic Carol is the free adaptation: It's a Wonderful Life. You?
Board game to big screen
From Carrie Rickey's "Flickgrrl"blogs/flickgrrl
In recent years, moviegoers have seen theme-park rides adapted to screen (Pirates of the Caribbean) and popular toys become the stars of summer blockbusters (Transformers). And even though Clue: The Movie wasn't a hit, it was just a matter of time before Hollywood producers rifled through their toy chests to consider the big-screen potential of other board games.
As was reported by the Los Angeles Times during the summer, Transformers' Michael Bay has been linked to a Ouija movie, Pirates' Gore Verbinski has expressed interest in a Clue re-do and Hancock's Peter Berg wants to board Battleship. One might well joke, what's next - Candy Land? Except that Enchanted's Kevin Lima has dibs on that and Gladiator's Ridley Scott on - this is not a joke - Monopoly. (Expect Baltic Avenue to be as tough a proving ground as the Roman Forum in Gladiator.)
Still, I was surprised at this week's news that Risk has been optioned for a screen adaptation by Sony Pictures. What's left? Scrabble? (I can think of a couple of actors suitable to be cast as the blank.) Is there a game you'd like to see adapted? Should the movie Monopoly chronicle Donald Trump's real estate adventures in Atlantic City?
