"And to this purpose"

"If people like to read their books, it is all very well, but to be at so much trouble in filling great volumes, which, as I used to think, nobody would willingly ever look into, to be labouring only for the torment of little boys and girls, always struck me as a hard fate; and though I know it is all very right and necessary, I have often wondered at the person's courage that could sit down on purpose to do it." (In other words: rambling analyses, opinions, ideas, views, and comments from an English major, Essay/paper-writing enthusiastic, Austen-loving Master Librarian on, well, Jane Austen...and a whole lot of other things, too.)

"Celebrated Passages are Quoted"

Heidi's favorite quotes


"What is it really like to be engaged?" asked Anne curiously. "Well, that all depends on who you're engaged to," answered Diana, with that maddening air of superior wisdom always assumed by those who are engaged over those who are not."— L.M. Montgomery

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sick = Holiday Skipping

I'm here! I've had a birthday and a cold, but I'm still around. Trying to get a new poll up and I want to make sure it's a good one. Thought I would write so you knew I was hanging in there.

To liven things up, I'd like to hear some opinions. And as birthday is over and I'm currently on an ignore Halloween kick (sorry CK and Meredith!) because I've had it up to here listening to talk of Twilight and New Moon (sorry again, Meredith! And to the other lovers of it). I can handle some talk here and there. But really...I shouldn't have had to listen to all of that on my birthday. 'Cause it was my birthday!!! And with being sick on that day and enduring things I didn't want to endure, it didn't feel as much like my birthday as I'd hoped. Anywho. Now with birthday over, I'm skipping over to Christmas for a couple of days. Just because.

There is a new Christmas Carol film version coming out (and I'm aware of it more than typical because of a library program I'm hoping will get the go ahead). It has animation similar to Polar Express (which I wasn't the biggest fan of, even if I found it interesting) and uses the main voice talent of Jim Carrey. If he could keep the film in a serious vein (Like Majestic and Truman Show) instead of his usual off-the-wall craziness, then I might be OK with it. But I'm still highly skeptical of this coming version. So here is the question:

If you could have any current actor/actress in your version, who would your ideal cast be?
Other questions for discussion:
What are some of your favorite parts of the book that you want in your film version?
What are parts from the book if you are required to cut for time that you would be willing to part with?
What would your soundtrack be like? Would you make it a fun musical like the Muppets and Albert Finney versions?
Animated or live-action?
If you considered a more modern adaptation--like An American Christmas Carol or Scrooged--what would it be like and how would you adapt it?

3 comments:

Sara Lyn said...

I feel silly because I've never actually read the book, but still, here's my part of the discussion. :) First of all, I would cast Michael Caine as Scrooge. Oh, wait. That's already been done. Hmm... There goes all my ideas.

ldsjaneite said...

Yes. So far out of all the movie versions I've seen, he has been the best Scrooge. More along what I read from the book in that you can see more of his changing throughout the story. I think what I currently like the most from the story is his changing, so I'm a stickler on how well that is portrayed.

Well, if my program is approved, perhaps I can practice at Thanksgiving. It's reading the book aloud--in a British accent of course. I figured I wanted to read it to more than just Bob this year.

ldsjaneite said...

I have yet to see any film version do the end part of Christmas present justice. It's a really important part. But so far I've only seen it done in a scary fashion. It's not supposed to scary. It's supposed to be poignant and powerful. Of course, i'm not sure how I'd execute that....

The Read-Aloud version actually cuts that part out. And while I'm shocked it would be gone, it's also Dickens who chose to cut that out for the read-aloud. So.....