fjp451 wrote

quote:

One that, maybe, few still remember - and so few will even understand in the very near future.

I hope your wrong about TKAM, but it may be a struggle. I tried to get one of my nieces (12 years old) to watch it this past summer. She stuck with about 20 minutes. Maybe when she matures some. I do remember seeing it first with my dad and one of my fondest memories of him was his complement that I reminded him of Atticus.

About Dandelion Wine: agreed. And a wonderful gift to the world.

One of my favorite magic movie moments is from THE DARK CRYSTAL: The Skeksis and Mystics have become one, Kira comes back to life, and the re-joined beings tell Jen and Kira to make the world in the light of Truth. A lovely film, never tire of watching it.

For some reason, I had gone through most of my life without seeing TKAM, until last year when I saw it on a plane. It is is really beautifully done, but I CAN understand it not working for a 12-year-old of today: it's just a little bit slow-paced in the first act. (It's also the ONLY film in which I find Gregory Peck totally convincing as an actor!)

Little known fact: Bradbury wanted to work with the makers of TKAM on adaptations of his work. If I recall correctly, he wanted them to do SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and he wrote one of his MARTIAN CHRONICLES screenplays for them.

DANDELION WINE would be awkward to adapt to film, because it is episodic. I think Bradbury must be aware of this difficulty himself, because when he adapted DW for the stage, he introduced a whole new over-arching plotline (which, incidentally, works rather well). The Colonial Radio Theatre audio adaptation worked from Ray's play script, and I think a good film could be made from the play rather than the book.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
DANDELION WINE would be awkward to adapt to film, because it is episodic.

True, which is why is would make a wonderful mini-series shown over five fifty-minute episodes during one magical summer. I proposed this very idea to Ray about three years ago, taking with me one chapter which I had written as a screenplay to show him. He told me, "wonderful, but the Russians just bought it!"

Speaking of awkward to adapt, the episodic volume In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, by Jean Shepherd was done beautifully as A Christmas Story - the filmmakers picked the chapters which they could tie in properly and it worked amazingly.

Speaking of awkward to adapt, the episodic volume In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, by Jean Shepherd was done beautifully as A Christmas Story - the filmmakers picked the chapters which they could tie in properly and it worked amazingly.[/QUOTE]

This film is on my list of great moments: The old man, sneakily pointing out the hidden gun after all the other presents have been opened.
Darren McGavin was perfect. A great character actor. I wonder how many people on this forum used to stay up late when they were kids--as I did--to watch their favourite show,The Night Stalker?

quote:

Originally posted by skmckee:
This film is on my list of great moments: The old man, sneakily pointing out the hidden gun after all the other presents have been opened.
Darren McGavin was perfect. A great character actor. I wonder how many people on this forum used to stay up late when they were kids--as I did--to watch their favourite show,The Night Stalker?

I'm with you - on both counts. I snuck out to the TV room as a kid to watch Kolchak, and was properly frightened to the point of leaving a night light on when I finally went back to bed.

Every moment in A Christmas Story is magic! It's one of those perfect films from beginning to end. The great McGavin was a perfect choice, and I'm glad Bob Clark didn't get his first choice, Jack Nicholson! It was with sadness that I attended McGavin's funeral. After, I chatted with Flick and Ralphie, and even Jack Grinnage.

A great movie moment,(and a great ending),and an actor with a Ray Bradbury connection: Charles Laughton, as Quasimodo, in 1939's The Hunchback of Notre Dame "Why was I not made of stone like thee..." Brilliant. I was surprised, upon reading Victor Hugo's novel, that this line does not occur in the book. Another example of this:A Christmas Carol: "Can you forgive a pig-headed old fool for having no eyes to see with, no ears to hear with, all these years?" (This is the moment where I lose it....) A beautiful line that is not in the book. I love the way Barbara Allen comes in softly as Sim speaks this line....
Two examples of how a screenplay improved--at least in some respects--upon the source material.

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:
Every moment in A Christmas Story is magic! It's one of those perfect films from beginning to end. The great McGavin was a perfect choice, and I'm glad Bob Clark didn't get his first choice, Jack Nicholson! It was with sadness that I attended McGavin's funeral. After, I chatted with Flick and Ralphie, and even Jack Grinnage.

Must have been fascinating to talk with those guys.
Jack Nicholson? Wow. Good, but there can only be one Old Man.... (That's almost a topic in itself: miscast roles or roles that might have been.)
I was pleased (if that is the right word) when, wandering through Hollywood Forever without a map and with very little time, I somehow came across Mr. McGavin's grave. I didn't even know he was buried there. Wish I could have thanked him when he was alive.

quote:

Originally posted by skmckee:
Darren McGavin was perfect. A great character actor. I wonder how many people on this forum used to stay up late when they were kids--as I did--to watch their favourite show,The Night Stalker?

Me. They don't come much better than Mr. McGavin. Such a pity he did not appear in the sequel.

quote:

Originally posted by skmckee:
Jack Nicholson? Wow.

Sorry, but "Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie" takes on a whole different meaning when he's chasing him through the snow with an ax.

Water for elephants. If you love circuses, the scene when the big top is raised is wonderous. Good movie. Pattison looks like he was made for these period pieces. Reese is splendid as always. Christoph Waltz steals the show as the charming and brutal owner/ringmaster of the circus.

The circus atmosphere is populated by sideshow freaks, girls on horseback, roustabouts, steam trains, and ... one polish-speaking elephant. No clowns. Those with a clown phobia need close there eyes once for about 3 seconds.

I wonder what Ray Bradbury would think of this movie?

The whole film. 24/3. Pomona.