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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Jan 6, 2019 1:58:05 GMT -5
Season 3Things I disliked:- Violet's actress (one-note performance, namely whiny during everything) - Alison Williams as Kit (no depth whatsoever--heck, a cardboard cut-out might've done the same job) * - the score (was almost worse than no score; It just trivialized/cheapened much of the show) ** (the musical numbers were good, though!) (- some of the stiff CGI and obvious green-screen, but that's something I'm OK with overlooking) - the exposition-heaviness of many scenes with dense, unrealistic dia-/monologues that leave no room for anything interesting like emotion, but OK that's just a general direction the show took under the wing of Sonnenfeld, I'm guessing. - that they showed the Great Unknown and totally ruined its mystery and metaphoric potential * Her only piece of direction seems to have been "Look noble, deliver as much exposition in a short time as possible, and look completely unfazed by anything that's happening around you." I was especially annoyed how she turned away from the road while driving the taxi over the speed limit just to look wistfully at the Baudelaires in the backseat every two seconds; I was expecting her to crash at any moment. ** The moment the music changed from the annoying plink-plunk of the show's score to the operatic music of Forza del Destino (Ep. 5&6) it changed EVERYTHING for the better... makes me think how much better the show could have been if they had used more classical and operatic music. _________________________________________________ Things I liked:- Carmelita's actress - Sunny's actress - Lucy Punch as Esmé Gigi Genevive Squalor! (She was esp. great in the second TPP episode, like when Olaf breaks up with her) - that the series has remained quite faithful to the books--despite some stiffness of some of the execution (and going a bit over the top withe comedic cookiness, but I'm forgetting this is the list with things I liked, so I'll hush). I think all of the characters are true to how they are in the books. - the changes they did make to the books felt organic and (at least in S3) successful - NPH as Count Olaf turned out well. He kinda reminded me of Wile E. Coyote, in a good and entertaining way. - Pat Warburton as Lemony Snicket was solid EDIT: - Ooh, I forgot I also liked Usman Ally as Fernald in his more prominent role this season (although the writing of the character was perhaps slightly problematic, as gliquey already pointed out)
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Post by Liam R. Findlay on Jan 6, 2019 3:03:59 GMT -5
While I don't feel the same way about most of your criticisms, I too was aware of the selfish recklessness with which Kit was driving. In a world where you're a villain if you turn up late, Kit is most definitely a villain for not valuing the safety of pedestrians and other road users. The likelihood of her needlessly killing innocent people was about as high, if not higher, as people being killed in a house fire started by an arsonist.
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Post by meinhard1 on Jan 6, 2019 13:34:34 GMT -5
Jaqualine:
It’s interesting that back in Season 1 some speculated that she may be Kit Snicket. In Season 3 you can see some of the seams where the character may have been removed, and I think replaced with Kit. I would think that Kits’ scenes where she ineracts with Mr. Poe could have been Jacquelines originally, particularly how she oddly becomes referred to as his new secretary.
Anyways I don’t know if we can extrapolate what her arc may have been. Perhaps runs into her boss on the mountain —> receives and relays volonteer factual dispatches —> encounters the Baudelaires and Mr. Poe on Briny Beach having Kit’s lines (with Kit as an unseen taxi driver ... fits a bit more actually) —> arrives at the Hotel Denoeument with Poe, meets Sunny on her 3pm task, possibly dies or sees Larry for the last time. (One could still suggest that she would have ended up being Kit Snicket, but the show presents us with two characters with distinct personalities and the Kit we get aligns well with ASOUE/ATWQ Kit.)
The Great Unknown:
This show simplifies its presentation of the great unknown, and so there’s a loss of the sense of mystery and some subtleness. It’s said great unknown is is called many different things, with different metaphorical interpretations. It can be like Jonah’s Whale, Melville’s Whale, or Pinocchio’s and it can share in the associated metaphors.
The show simply tells us this, rather than *show* or try to somehow evoke a sense of this great mystery. Which is to say they sort of added the dried/powdered TGU basil to the sauce, rather than a fresh sprig. What we have is complete, but lacking depth.
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Post by Dante on Jan 6, 2019 17:29:42 GMT -5
I would have been much hapiper with their presentation of the Great Unknown if they'd simply gone for a more ambiguous visual effect. Scales resembling metallic plates, a glowing eye which opens and closes like a porthole - something which, like in the books, looks like both or neither a sea monster or a submarine, and which two different people can look at and come away from with completely different interpretations. It would still be a weak performance, but at least they would retain more of the original. If they were just going to make it a token inclusion that didn't mean anything, they should have left it out. Anyway, another Barry Sonnenfeld interview led me to the realisation that I think Presley Smith actually delivered her own lines this series. I haven't done a complete sweep of the credits, but I can't see Tara Strong being credited where she should be if she were still handling Sunny's voice.
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Jan 6, 2019 17:42:59 GMT -5
Anyway, another Barry Sonnenfeld interview led me to the realisation that I think Presley Smith actually delivered her own lines this series. I haven't done a complete sweep of the credits, but I can't see Tara Strong being credited where she should be if she were still handling Sunny's voice. Huh, Tara Strong. Somehow I'd missed that it was her of all people who dubbed Sunny. And yeah, I did think she was! The voice sounded a little different.
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Post by Strangely on Jan 6, 2019 17:49:26 GMT -5
Jaqualine: It’s interesting that back in Season 1 some speculated that she may be Kit Snicket. In Season 3 you can see some of the seams where the character may have been removed, and I think replaced with Kit. I would think that Kits’ scenes where she ineracts with Mr. Poe could have been Jacquelines originally, particularly how she oddly becomes referred to as his new secretary. I was a big supporter of this theory in season 1 and I tend to think this was likely the case. It would definitely make sense given that Sara Canning was trying to get a raise for season 3. Given the back to back filming of the seasons I would tend to guess that negotiations for season 3 probably fell through during the early part of season 2 (I wouldn't be surprised if it happened before the season even began filming), hence why we see Jacqualine suddenly gaining a last name she didn't have in the previous season and her role suddenly being of equal, if not less, importance as Larry.
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Jan 6, 2019 18:05:50 GMT -5
hence why we see Jacqualine suddenly gaining a last name she didn't have in the previous season Wrong, as the Denouement Clock would say. Or ring, as it were. I'm pretty sure Jacqueline's last name appeared in promotional material alongside Season 1, and in the on-screen credits of Zombies in the Snow in TRR. Mind you, there's definitely something fishy going on with Jacqueline/Kit, especially considering that Season-1 Jacqueline seems to have taken over a role that was Kit's in the original draft of the 2004 movie's script. But I find it unlikely that they ever planned to reveal that Jacqueline was Kit — compared to Jenney's Kit, she doesn't seem to have been cast with resemblance to Jacques and Lemony in mind, for one thing. More probably, there were delays in casting Kit for Season 1, so Handler wheeled out the Duchess of Winnipeg, Jr to fill the gap.
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Post by Strangely on Jan 6, 2019 18:18:44 GMT -5
hence why we see Jacqualine suddenly gaining a last name she didn't have in the previous season Wrong, as the Denouement Clock would say. Or ring, as it were. I'm pretty sure Jacqueline's last name appeared in promotional material alongside Season 1, and in the on-screen credits of Zombies in the Snow in TRR. Mind you, there's definitely something fishy going on with Jacqueline/Kit, especially considering that Season-1 Jacqueline seems to have taken over a role that was Kit's in the original draft of the 2004 movie's script. But I find it unlikely that they ever planned to reveal that Jacqueline was Kit — compared to Jenney's Kit, she doesn't seem to have been cast with resemblance to Jacques and Lemony in mind, for one thing. More probably, there were delays in casting Kit for Season 1, so Handler wheeled out the Duchess of Winnipeg, Jr to fill the gap. I forgot about Zombies in the Snow. Oh well, I'm still sticking to that theory. It's true that there's not much of a resemblance to Lemony, but I will say that her Blonde hair is probably more in keeping with Kit's appearances in ASOUE and ATWQ. Too, siblings don't always strongly resemble each other. Side note: Dear Netflix, please make a feature length version of Zombies in the Snow as a Netflix Original Movie. Sincerely, Strangely
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Post by veryfakedonkey on Jan 6, 2019 22:20:02 GMT -5
Did anyone catch the article in the LA Times?
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Post by ryantrimble457 on Jan 7, 2019 0:14:24 GMT -5
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Post by imlarryyourwaiter on Jan 7, 2019 1:10:06 GMT -5
I saw that creepy reddit post. Glad it was taken down by a mod.
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Post by Wasabi on Jan 7, 2019 1:16:41 GMT -5
Absolutely loved Esmé (and her costumes!) and Count Olaf as well as Carmelita. Such an emotional finale! Binge watching it for the second time! My name got mentioned! A lovely tribute to Linda Rhaldeen too. 👁
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Post by Mr. Dent on Jan 7, 2019 1:46:34 GMT -5
Kit first appears in Season Two, wherein Jacquelyn also appears? If they were ever to be the same character, they were clearly not planning on going down that route by the time S2 was written.
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Post by meinhard1 on Jan 7, 2019 2:41:10 GMT -5
What was the creepy reddit theory...? Now I’m intrigued but I have a feeling I don’t want to know That he was going to say “I’m in love with Sunny.” I can’t see how it would be a valid fan theory but I’m sure it was upsetting for him to read. He made a series of twitter posts along with the one here, explains the character a bit more. It’s clear he really liked the role
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Post by meinhard1 on Jan 7, 2019 2:55:56 GMT -5
I would have been much hapiper with their presentation of the Great Unknown if they'd simply gone for a more ambiguous visual effect. Scales resembling metallic plates, a glowing eye which opens and closes like a porthole - something which, like in the books, looks like both or neither a sea monster or a submarine, and which two different people can look at and come away from with completely different interpretations. It would still be a weak performance, but at least they would retain more of the original. If they were just going to make it a token inclusion that didn't mean anything, they should have left it out. As a fan I was charmed by some of the examples of continuity with ATWQ, but agreed keeping the visual effects more ambiguous or keeping it off screen would have been more true to its portrayal in ASOUE. We’re supposed to wonder what it is, so showing us part of sea monster does detract from that even if the show does try to explain it as a mystery
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