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Betrayal
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Play It As It Lays
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Alex in Wonderland
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In The Cool of the Day
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That Cold Day in the Park
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Thumb Trippin'
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Run of the Arrow
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House of Secrets
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I Never Sang for My Father
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God's Angry Man
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Twice Upon a Time
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Trouble in Mind
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When the Wind Blows
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Housekeeping
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The Glass Menagerie
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Patty Hearst
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Running on Empty
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Drowning by Numbers
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Haunted Summer
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The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
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Old Times
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Prospero's Books
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City of Hope
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The Baby of Macon
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King of the Hill
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Dadetown
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SubUrbia
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Upcoming

July 30

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Charlie St. Cloud

The Concert

Dinner for Shmucks

The Dry Land

The Extra Man

Get Low

Helen

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

Smash His Camera

What's the Matter with Kansas?

Who Killed Nancy

Gilliam Hovering

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There were two screenings yesterday of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones (Paramount, 12.11 limited) -- an exhibitor screening on the Paramount lot and (according to a friend) a SAG screening at the Landmark Westside Pavillion. I heard some stuff from one guy, and of course (a) it's just one guy and (b) one always needs to take any earlybird opinion with a grain, etc.

Saoirse Ronan in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones.

But as I considered this guy's views I was reminded of something I read in a Terrence Rafferty piece on the film that ran in the N.Y. Times on 11.1, to wit: After being shown "a few minutes of footage" plus "an exceptionally handsome trailer," Rafferty said that Jackson "appears to have made the attempt to be faithful to the wistful, lyrical tone of Alice Sebold's book, but there are indications, too, that he hasn't entirely abandoned his hyperbolic horror style: the looming close-ups, the ominous shadows, the fast, vertiginous tracking shots

In response to which I reiterated my opinion that Jackson "has gotten to a point in his career in which subject matter or theme or tone, even, matters less than it used to. There is really only one law, one rule -- he must be 'Peter Jackson.' He must underline, be frenzied, be show-offy, whip up the lather, goad his actors into emphatic modes, etc."

The guy I heard from (i.e., someone I know well who passed along impressions from another guy) said several things that I'm not going to share. Okay, I'll pass along one thing. The guy who saw The Lovely Bones is "not a Peter Jackson hater...he liked the Rings trilogy, and is a fan of Heavenly Creatures. But if Terry Gilliam ever decided to make a serial killer movie, this would be it."

I'm going to stop there. There's time enough to sift things through and let the viewing process find its natural mojo, so no more. Okay, one last observation: "What Dreams May Come, Part II."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 19, 2009 at 6:20 AM

comment #1

Josh Massey says ...

"But if Terry Gilliam ever decided to make a serial killer movie, this would be it."

Well, for the first time, I actually want to see it.

Posted by Josh Massey at November 19, 2009 7:06 AM

comment #2

Phreaker says ...

Yeah exactly. Why would Terry Gilliam be a bad thing exactly?

Posted by Phreaker at November 19, 2009 7:32 AM

comment #3

Jeffrey Wells says ...

I'm not saying it is a bad thing. I'm not saying I heard anything bad, am I? If a Gilliamesque serial killer movie sounds cool to you, great. But tell me, how down were you with What Dreams May Come?

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at November 19, 2009 7:36 AM

comment #4

Bilge says ...

And yet, amazingly, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME was in no way Gilliamesque, nor was it about a serial killer.

Posted by Bilge at November 19, 2009 7:45 AM

comment #5

Chase Kahn says ...

But, it's not really a "serial-killer" book. Everything I read seems to emphasize that the film is all about chasing the baddie (Stanley Tucci) and making him squeal, when that's not really what it's "about".

I've been skeptical ever since Ryan Gosling dropped out.

Posted by Chase Kahn at November 19, 2009 7:45 AM

comment #6

Tristan Eldritch2 says ...

I can't forgive Jackson the garish, overlong travesty he made of King Kong.

Posted by Tristan Eldritch2 at November 19, 2009 7:46 AM

comment #7

Eloi Manning says ...

King Kong was dogshit.

I was fairly sure that at least one of Nine, Invictus and Lovely Bones would be gash and wouldn't end up being nominated. I think Invictus is the safest bet to be included.

Posted by Eloi Manning at November 19, 2009 7:48 AM

comment #8

Scott Mendelson says ...

Say what you want about the water color art direction in the heaven scenes, but What Dreams May Come was and is a very dark, sad, emotionally painful film that inexplicably gets put in the same category as Patch Adams and the like. I've never understood its reputation as some kind of feel-good heartwarmer. But then, I don't get how a lot of movies (Precious, Spider-Man, Slumdog Millionaire) get their reputations as feel-good fun.

Posted by Scott Mendelson at November 19, 2009 8:24 AM

comment #9

Eloi Manning says ...

How is Spider-Man not feel-good fun? Sure, his Uncle dies, but there's always some tragedy in superhero films. Spider-Man is fairly obviously a crowd-pleasing feel-good blockbuster. It makes The Dark Knight look like Requiem for a Dream in comparison.

Posted by Eloi Manning at November 19, 2009 8:31 AM

comment #10

Jonathan Spuij says ...

Critics will hate it for being too smart and Oscar will ignore it aside from some tech-nods.
That seems to be the vibe to me. Which all means it is probably another brilliant film from PJ.

Posted by Jonathan Spuij at November 19, 2009 8:32 AM

comment #11

bents75 says ...

Nothing belongs in the same category as Patch Adams. It's easily one of the worst films ever made. And how Tom Shadyac wasn't run out of town after that one is beyond me... instead he was invited back to direct Dragonfly, which is arguably even worse. That's gotta be one of the most offensively bad one-two punches anyone has ever delivered out of Hollywood.

If there's a place called hell, I can only assume it's those two movies running on loop for eternity.

Posted by bents75 at November 19, 2009 8:37 AM

comment #12

Josh Massey says ...

Dragonfly was bad, but nowhere close to Patch Adams - which is the worst movie I've ever seen.

Posted by Josh Massey at November 19, 2009 8:47 AM

comment #13

George Prager says ...

If you read the book, you'd want to see the movie, but you will probably enjoy the movie less, having read the book. Therein lies the paradox.

Posted by George Prager at November 19, 2009 9:28 AM

comment #14

Lost_Contacts says ...

Hmmm... I think I'd take "Patch Adams" (which I hated) over "What Dreams May Come." Art direction aside, the latter was one really awful. mushy piece of crap. Those two movies ruined Robin Williams for me.

As for "The Lovely Bones"...I'll wait to see some more reviews. It might not be my cup of tea. I prefer Jackson in "Dead Alive" splatter mode. He's too sentimental when he's trying hard to be Serious.

Posted by Lost_Contacts at November 19, 2009 9:29 AM

comment #15

lazarus says ...

I hope by "fast, vertiginous tracking shots" that Jeff isn't referring to Jackson's overused Zombie-Cam style that was prevalent in Lord of the Rings. It ALWAYS looks awful, and he needs to drop that shit if I'm ever going to really take him seriously as an artist,

Posted by lazarus at November 19, 2009 10:04 AM

comment #16

Floyd Thursby says ...

I like King Kong but wish Jackson had waited to do it in 3D.

Posted by Floyd Thursby at November 19, 2009 10:16 AM

comment #17

arturobandini2 says ...

Compare Lovely Bones' histrionic trailer with this short scene from Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher and tell me it was a wise decision to kick Ramsay off the project and turn it over to Mr. Hamfist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG5amE6TRwc

Posted by arturobandini2 at November 19, 2009 10:24 AM

comment #18

le corbeau says ...

The parts of What Dreams May Come that are Caifornia-new-agey are crap. The parts that are like a German film of the 20s are really cool. I'd sit through it in a minute over not only Patch Adams but Being Human or Bicentennial Man, though. Sometimes Hollywood really turns on a movie that tries something different and fails, out of proportion to the actual level of failure.

Posted by le corbeau at November 19, 2009 11:07 AM

comment #19

JustThisGuy says ...

At the least, What Dreams May Come is a visually beautiful piece of film. The story really isn't half-bad either. Never really understood the reaction it's seemed to have with some people.

Posted by JustThisGuy at November 19, 2009 12:13 PM

comment #20

Hallick says ...

"At the least, What Dreams May Come is a visually beautiful piece of film. The story really isn't half-bad either. Never really understood the reaction it's seemed to have with some people."

It's due to the fact that the people who would've liked the movie are biased against it because Williams was doing things like Patch Adams at the same time; and the people who liked Patch Adams weren't the audience for WDMC. It was a film guaranteed to gain distain from those two corners right there.

And Tom Shadyac wasn't run out of town after Patch Adams because, no matter how much it sucked and still sucks and from this day forth WILL SUCK, Patch Adams was a hit movie. $135 million theatrical domestic with a $50 mil budget. The math's a no-brainer.

Posted by Hallick at November 19, 2009 1:20 PM

comment #21

The Playlist says ...

People talk about Gilliam like they do Neil Young in the '60s-'70s pretending as if those decades aren't over. His golden years are -- for at least the last three pictures -- gone.

Posted by The Playlist at November 19, 2009 2:03 PM

comment #22

Gordon27 says ...

'Tideland' is a masterpiece, and 'Brothers Grimm' was a lot better before the Weinsteins re-cut it. And the third from last is 'Fear and Loathing', which was hated when it came out and now has the strong following it deserves (much as 'TIdeland' will in a decade or so).

Posted by Gordon27 at November 19, 2009 2:31 PM

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Lovely bones was a great movie. I hate mark walburg though but Stanly tuchie was fantastic in this!

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