More about The Dark Is Rising (now with added WTF!)
Hi! How is everyone? :D I'm reading the flist but not posting to this account lately.
Hiatus on this LJ temporarily suspended due to additional crack about the planned Dark Is Rising movie.
Got the head's up from darkling1 on this link to some official verification of the alterations being made to Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising for the movie.
A lot of it is just confirmation of the bits of info that I ranted about back in January, plus some new levels of wtf.
I have a few additional thoughts I'd like to share at this time. And I'd like to say, if the movie turns out to be a breathtaking work of staggering cinematic beauty of great epic and emotional scope, I will admit I'm wrong!
For now, it's my right to mock. Mockety mock mock.
The character of the Walker (Jonathan Jackson) has been made younger-appearing and given a new story arc involving the loss of his soul.
That's not so bad. The poor Walker suffers enough in the book, though, without losing his soul into the bargain. Perhaps Will should spend the movie looking for an Orb of Thessela?
The movie also beefs up the action by adding new special-effects-enhanced sequences to Cooper's narrative, Hodge said.
The fact that they're planning big FX sequences? Cool! No, seriously. The part that makes me want to chew rocks is the implication that said sequences aren't present in the text to be adapted to the screen using CGI.
OH MY GOD DID THEY EVEN READ THE BOOK?
Beyond that, the spine and spirit of the story remain
You folks at Walden media just keeping telling yourselves that and you may believe it someday. Keep the faith!
Then they do explain exactly why they decided to change Will Stanton from being British to being American:
Why make Stanton American? Because it's fitting that he is more of an outsider than in the book, Hodge said. Stanton should be culturally alien to the story's setting, which compels him to question why he is there and doing what he must do, he added.
Oh, that's brilliant! Because y'know, Will Stanton's cultural identity as the descendent of generations of Buckinghamshire farmers isn't AT ALL important to the character. And Susan Cooper didn't at all make any sort of connection between character and SETTING on purpose, did she?
Whew, is it me or did it just get very sarcastic in here?
Wait, there's more! It gets better!
The film also adds several action sequences, including a chase in a modern mall and a fight among snakes in a medieval church, leading to the discovery of a secret crypt.
Yes, that's right, a chase through a MALL. And snakes!
Peter Jackson might as well have decided Frodo was a midget from Des Moines who falls through a magical portal and ends up in middle earth because GOSH, that would make his journey SO MUCH EASIER to relate to!
Snakes! And a MALL! Actually, it's kind of funny. Kind of.
Thus endeth the rant.
Hiatus on this LJ temporarily suspended due to additional crack about the planned Dark Is Rising movie.
Got the head's up from darkling1 on this link to some official verification of the alterations being made to Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising for the movie.
A lot of it is just confirmation of the bits of info that I ranted about back in January, plus some new levels of wtf.
I have a few additional thoughts I'd like to share at this time. And I'd like to say, if the movie turns out to be a breathtaking work of staggering cinematic beauty of great epic and emotional scope, I will admit I'm wrong!
For now, it's my right to mock. Mockety mock mock.
The character of the Walker (Jonathan Jackson) has been made younger-appearing and given a new story arc involving the loss of his soul.
That's not so bad. The poor Walker suffers enough in the book, though, without losing his soul into the bargain. Perhaps Will should spend the movie looking for an Orb of Thessela?
The movie also beefs up the action by adding new special-effects-enhanced sequences to Cooper's narrative, Hodge said.
The fact that they're planning big FX sequences? Cool! No, seriously. The part that makes me want to chew rocks is the implication that said sequences aren't present in the text to be adapted to the screen using CGI.
OH MY GOD DID THEY EVEN READ THE BOOK?
Beyond that, the spine and spirit of the story remain
You folks at Walden media just keeping telling yourselves that and you may believe it someday. Keep the faith!
Then they do explain exactly why they decided to change Will Stanton from being British to being American:
Why make Stanton American? Because it's fitting that he is more of an outsider than in the book, Hodge said. Stanton should be culturally alien to the story's setting, which compels him to question why he is there and doing what he must do, he added.
Oh, that's brilliant! Because y'know, Will Stanton's cultural identity as the descendent of generations of Buckinghamshire farmers isn't AT ALL important to the character. And Susan Cooper didn't at all make any sort of connection between character and SETTING on purpose, did she?
Whew, is it me or did it just get very sarcastic in here?
Wait, there's more! It gets better!
The film also adds several action sequences, including a chase in a modern mall and a fight among snakes in a medieval church, leading to the discovery of a secret crypt.
Yes, that's right, a chase through a MALL. And snakes!
Peter Jackson might as well have decided Frodo was a midget from Des Moines who falls through a magical portal and ends up in middle earth because GOSH, that would make his journey SO MUCH EASIER to relate to!
Snakes! And a MALL! Actually, it's kind of funny. Kind of.
Thus endeth the rant.