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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on May 2, 2020 13:23:47 GMT -5
For me, Jim Carrey is the third best thing in the ASOUE film, second only to Meryl Streep and the scene of the destruction of Aunt Josephine's house. Between NPH and Jim I will always vote for Jim. And it's not because I think Jim played Olaf more like the Olaf's book. It is because I think Jim made his own character based on Olaf, and that character matched the film a lot. Without Jim, the film would be bland. And without Meryl Streep the film would have been forgettable. But with them both, the film was impressive, even without Esmé.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on May 6, 2020 3:44:32 GMT -5
For me, Jim Carrey is the third best thing in the ASOUE film, second only to Meryl Streep and the scene of the destruction of Aunt Josephine's house. Between NPH and Jim I will always vote for Jim. And it's not because I think Jim played Olaf more like the Olaf's book. It is because I think Jim made his own character based on Olaf, and that character matched the film a lot. Without Jim, the film would be bland. And without Meryl Streep the film would have been forgettable. But with them both, the film was impressive, even without Esmé. While I certainly am not a huge fan of Carrey's performance, I agree with you that it fits the movie quite well in parts. (And also that Streep's performance is fantastic, but of course it is.) I do like the movie and I think a lot of it holds up quite well, but as the years have gone by, the production troubles do become more apparent. It has an almost schizophrenic vibe, bouncing between Silberling's desire to make a moving non-comedic human drama, Carrey's desire to make it an improv showcase, and the executives' desire to make a big budget family comedy a la The Grinch. And yet I still like it despite all that. It's not a perfect movie by any means, but it is a fascinating one. A bizarre, incredibly well made, and lavishly expensive half-hearted compromise of the kind that we'll likely never see again in Hollywood.
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Post by Mr. Dent on May 6, 2020 9:13:28 GMT -5
Yes, this- I want to reiterate that while I feel Carrey’s performance would be the definitive Olaf if only the film had gone in a different direction, that doesn’t mean I dislike it or Carrey.
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Post by worldonfire on May 10, 2020 7:13:01 GMT -5
When Carrey stays on script he has a couple of really great moments. Like with every movie he plays in, the scenes where he goes off-script are very easy to identify. Overall I think his performance is very much a part of the mindset and the time in which the movie was made. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on one's personal preferences.
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Post by Mr. Dent on May 10, 2020 11:46:24 GMT -5
I would say that’s a part, for sure, but I also think the movie’s intense tone policing plays a part as well. Yes, sometimes even Carrey’s improvisation comes across as menacing, like in the cut version of the dinner scene, which has Olaf stomping about on the table and drunkenly ranting about roast beef. (https://youtu.be/yp17K9V0ufM)
I think Carrey had a good grasp on Olaf, personally, but the studio had a very uncompromising idea of what the film’s tone should be, and most particularly, how marketable Carrey’s Olaf should be. (Which is funny, in retrospect, as I know the leeches terrified many a child.)
As a result of this tone policing, a lot of Carrey’s crueler bits (https://youtu.be/sD6hF8tkbY4) have been removed from the film, which instead deems dinosaur impressions and other oddities to be very important to keep Olaf fun and entertaining to watch.
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Post by Reba on May 10, 2020 12:29:42 GMT -5
lol i never saw any deleted scenes before. those are hilarious.
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Post by Mr. Dent on May 10, 2020 17:02:39 GMT -5
The film’s deleted scenes are fantastic. The White Faced Women in particular have some really amazing bits that were cut from the movie, definitely recommend checking them out.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on May 10, 2020 19:54:31 GMT -5
Of course, the ultimate deleted scene for me is still the one we don't have a full copy of. While we do have some of the footage from Olaf's escape, a large portion of it hasn't surfaced anywhere. Mainly the part where Lemony Snicket stops the film to talk about Olaf's punishments (although some of this did wind up in the finished movie) before reealing the truth and a scene near the very end where Olaf is seen stalking the Baudelaires in the background. :Edit: Then again, I also wouldn't mind seeing the footage they shot for the original Stefano design before Carrey decided to change it and made them reshoot.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on May 11, 2020 8:10:13 GMT -5
Wow ,I've never seen these photos. Also, I'd be amiss not to mention a sweet half hour of Carrey hilariously improvising as Count Olaf in costume, that was put on film (it was meant as a screen test): www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsD5uoRqvSQ "Backting!"
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on May 11, 2020 8:53:37 GMT -5
Wow ,I've never seen these photos. Also, I'd be amiss not to mention a sweet half hour of Carrey hilariously improvising as Count Olaf in costume, that was put on film (it was meant as a screen test): www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsD5uoRqvSQ "Backting!" It comes from a documentary on the DVD called "Building a Bad Actor". However that's all they show since the DVD goes out of its way to not recognize any of the movie's production troubles. That extends to leaving out most of the extensive deleted scenes, which is a pity. Oddly enough the "Backting" improv does make an appearance in one of the few deleted scenes from the Marvelous Marriage sequence that makes it onto the DVD. Olaf says it to the Hook Handed Man while they're both doing a sword fight on stage. :Edit: Based on everything I've found out about the movie, there were at least two hours worth of deleted/alternate scenes if not more. Because of Carrey's antics and the executives' constant interference, the production dragged out for months while ideas were chosen, written, re-written, filmed, and then ultimately dropped.
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