Just saw Narnia trailer. Blown away. They seem to have it right; they didn't modernise it, set it in America, they have the accents right, they have the kids right, it all looks absolutely perfect. December?
I'm not sure if you're asking for clarification here or taking issue with my point of view. I'll assume both :-)
schlockn. US colloq. inferior goods; trash. [Yiddish shlak a blow] (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
By "schlockification" I mean what I described above as this slow-mo unveiling, choirs-of-angels, what-light-through-yonder-wardrobe-breaks shite.
For me, part of the wonder of finding Narnia at the back of the wardrobe is how easily and accidentally it happens. As I remember the book (and we've established that my memory isn't necessarily reliable!), Lucy goes into the spare room and jumps into the wardrobe at the very last minute. Burrowing through the coats to hide herself better, she stumbles into Narnia. Wow. Total change of context - utterly thrilling.
In the trailer, by contrast, Lucy seems to approach a looming, dust-sheeted wardrobe in an (almost?) empty room with a reverent air, as if she knows she's going to find something special, when the whole point is that she doesn't. Argh. Not content with this, they then proceed to do a big slow-motion, billowy removal of the dustsheet (she's supposed to be hurrying to hide, for jayzuzsake), shafts of heavenly light beaming through the crack in the door when she opens it, and so on. This is an appalling schlockification of the scene, IM(not very)HO. It's like a parody of all I find tacky about film-making for children.
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schlock n. US colloq. inferior goods; trash. [Yiddish shlak a blow] (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
By "schlockification" I mean what I described above as this slow-mo unveiling, choirs-of-angels, what-light-through-yonder-wardrobe-breaks shite.
For me, part of the wonder of finding Narnia at the back of the wardrobe is how easily and accidentally it happens. As I remember the book (and we've established that my memory isn't necessarily reliable!), Lucy goes into the spare room and jumps into the wardrobe at the very last minute. Burrowing through the coats to hide herself better, she stumbles into Narnia. Wow. Total change of context - utterly thrilling.
In the trailer, by contrast, Lucy seems to approach a looming, dust-sheeted wardrobe in an (almost?) empty room with a reverent air, as if she knows she's going to find something special, when the whole point is that she doesn't. Argh. Not content with this, they then proceed to do a big slow-motion, billowy removal of the dustsheet (she's supposed to be hurrying to hide, for jayzuzsake), shafts of heavenly light beaming through the crack in the door when she opens it, and so on. This is an appalling schlockification of the scene, IM(not very)HO. It's like a parody of all I find tacky about film-making for children.
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I totally agree with you about the finding-the-wardrobe scene. It *was* supposed to be accidental, not phenomenal.
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Oh, well ... thanks for allowing me to rant, in any case!