I recently finished reading Something Wicked This Way Comes and I thought it was amazing. I love the way the relationship between Will and his father Charles Halloway transformed by the end. I know there is a film version of the book, but I haven't seen it and was wondering if it is any good? Hopefully it does the Mr. Bradbury's work justice.

I loved the book, also. I also loved the relationship between Will and his father. Very cool story.

I personally loved the movie. I watch it a couple times a year. There are others on this site who were disappointed with the film. I thought they did a good job capturing the spirit that Bradbury put into the characters and story.

I thought the F451 film was okay, but I'm not a huge fan of it. I long for a really good remake -- I see it as being in the style of "Minority Report". But it would also need some very quiet scenes: dialogues with Clarisse, the book people, times when he's reflecting on books or relationships, etc.

The movie of SWTWC is quite good, a suspenseful, scary movie without resorting to blood-and-guts special effects. My neighbor caught it on television, completely unaware of its origins or significance, and deemed it "frightening."

Please, seek it out and see if you agree.

The movie was good. Disney films had a knack of getting atmospheres right on. You get a sense of Autumn in almost every frame. The parade through town where they are searching for the kids is terrific. I liked the ending very much. My only problem is with the Dust Witch. She didn't scare me in the least bit. And was the hot air ballon even in this film? I don't remember it. The train scene could have been better. Other than that I liked the movie very much. It was successful with the father/son relationship which was the heart of the story and also the hardest thing to pull off.

I would, of course, like to see this remade. Tim Burton was mentioned but I have my doubts what he would do to the film considering how he butchered The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He turned it into a gruesome type of murder mystery that I have yet to understand. I don't lose sleep over it. He, however, had some splendid visuals as always. What exactly made him portray Ichabod Crane as a tormented, Edgar Allan Poe type is beyond me. Burton is doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory now so I'll wait and see what he does with that. I still need to see Big Fish too.

Tim Burton misses more often than he hits. I haven't enjoyed any of his films in years. BIG FISH was awful. A shame, because it was adapted from a sweet little book.

Funny, but I've thought that Burton would be the perfect adapter of Ray's work. Many of his visuals call to mind Bradbury. I think his would be a pretty good take on SWTWC.

By the way, Ought Not, no, the balloon wasn't in the film.

Interesting point! In the scene where Will and his father throw a paper--perhaps a carnival handbill/flyer/poster--into the fire and it catches in the shape of a balloon, I was SURE the balloon was going to be in, and was surprised and disappointed when it wasn't!

James Robert Smith,

Perhaps you were expecting too much. Everybody should know by now that a movie can NEVER fully do a book justice! Keeping that in mind, what was so terrible about that movie? I thought Big Fish was the most touching, imaginative film I've seen in a long time, and very much how I would picture Bradbury works to be presented on screen. P.S. Don't judge Burton (or anyone else) on their past failures/triumphs. When you bring the baggage of previously disliking Tim Burton movies into a new Tim Burton movie, you're only asking to be disappointed, because you will be looking for every tiny flaw.

Little question to Groon:
how are you then supposed to judge people?
Cheers,
Translator

Well Translator, I imagine that you're not supposed to judge people at all. But if you insist on doing so, open your mind to what is presented to you without the prejudices of expectation.

1) Does one good movie in ten bad movies make one director a good director? I agree with new material overshadowing old material, however, I am very wary of judging people by their most current and immediate behaviour. I'll expand on this if you wish.
2) Everyone judges everyone. You must have preferences with respect to people - you must know people you care more about than others. Why is that, pray tell?
Cheers,
Translator

I hate to agree with Translator on anything but on this issue I do (I think!).

Unfortunately, an artist's current work IS judged in relation to his prior work. If Bradbury had released Let's All Kill Constance under a pseudonym, I doubt the book would have gotten much notice. (As would any great writer's later, lesser work.)

If a writer/director has created less than stellar work in the past, I think it's fair to judge his current work in relation to that work. (Oh, my, here's a refreshing change. This piece is far better than his past work. Or vice versa.) I think that once an artist is established, none of his work stands alone.

(But it's also good to heed the warning that accompanies a mutual fund prospectus: past performance is no guarantee of future returns.)

Pete

[This message has been edited by pterran (edited 03-02-2004).]

SWTWC is my most favorite book of all time, so i have always been wary of seeing the movie and still have not. i fear i can only be disappointed...even if it is reasonably good.

I thought the book was delicious, and the movie wasn't bad. To my mind, however, it fell just short of being brilliant. Goes back to my contention that it is almost impossible to translate Bradbury to film and keep the essence of the RB magic. But, I don't think you'll be disappointed if you see the movie. The casting was excellent.

Yeah, mine was pretty good, too. Needed a little salt though.