Show/Movie

[urban-letter-opener]

Just had a really great conversation in the Google Meet about the TV show and the movie and I thought we could continue the conversation here


Something that I think the show does much, much better than the film is giving the Baudelaires more distinct characterizations — in the movie, Violet and Klaus are written quite differently but they had to cut so much that I think a lot of the nuance is lost, and Sunny gets diddly squat except for subtitles. I think it was a Joe Tracz interview where he spoke about writing each of the kids with unique personalities and how the show's writing staff used the talents of each kid to determine how to write them in different situations (Violet invents — a problem-solver — so she's more cautious than Klaus, who actively seeks out new information on the regular). It just felt much more natural than the "Violet puts up with it all/Klaus is angsty" dynamic in the film.

[gothicarchiesfan]

Yes, I think both the movie and the show have different strengths and weaknesses, most of them related to the inherent nature of making movies and television shows. Albeit big budget ones.

[Mr. Sharpe]

The film certainly captures the feeling I felt while reading the books, whereas the show doesn't at all (though that isn't really a fire judgment). Still, I prefer the show for all of the other things it does right: its adaptation choices, the characterizations and casting, and the musical numbers.

[Tiran O'Saurus]

The show has the problem of coming after the film. Because the film made people have ideas for characters, the show tried to go in its own direction. This leads to things like Josephine being more crazy than fearful.

[Mr. Sharpe]

Jun 26, 2022 19:19:32 GMT -5 Tiran O'Saurus said:

The show has the problem of coming after the film. Because the film made people have ideas for characters, the show tried to go in its own direction. This leads to things like Josephine being more crazy than fearful.

This is true. Hers was one of the few characterizations I thought the show got wrong.

[熊]

I think the Baudelaires have very little personality in the books. other than their individual skills, they’re just three twerps united in righteous frustration. It’s a lot easier to ignore this in book form, especially when the personality of lemony the narrator is so present throughout. but in the movie and book, they had to put actual human children (🤢) in front of a camera, and have them carry the story to some degree. This, I feel, is what makes both adaptations fail.

[gothicarchiesfan]

Jun 26, 2022 21:11:03 GMT -5 熊 said:

I think the Baudelaires have very little personality in the books. other than their individual skills, they’re just three twerps united in righteous frustration. It’s a lot easier to ignore this in book form, especially when the personality of lemony the narrator is so present throughout. but in the movie and book, they had to put actual human children (🤢) in front of a camera, and have them carry the story to some degree. This, I feel, is what makes both adaptations fail.

Yes. That's why I've always felt that the only real way to adapt this into a movie or tv show would be to have it animated. That way you could get older and more epxerienced actors to voice the kids and have the buffer of their physical acting all being drawn or rendered. 

And it might also mean that they hire a fun character actor to play Count Olaf instead of getting an A-list leading man (movie and tv respectively) and then slathering him in tons of makeup* to make him look like Willem Dafoe/Richard E. Grant.-type. 

Plus, it might also mean the the three children could actually interact on screen instead of Violet and Klaus having to place Sunny somewhere off camera until she has a line. 

* Not that it's bad makeup for either one, but covering a star in tons of plastic every day instead of just hiring an interesting looking character actor, is a little silly. 

[Violent BUN Fortuna]

I disagree about the Baudelaires having very little personality; I always thought we learned quite a lot about their individuality from the memories that come back to them throughout the series, and just the way they approach things. But I think being placed in the sorts of horrifically dangerous situations they go through in the series kind of drains you of some of who you are — something which they do discuss in the books. You have to focus on survival, so you don’t have leisure time to cultivate your interests in the same way as you normally would.

But back to the subject of film vs series — they both have their strengths and weaknesses, and I’m glad we have both versions tbh because they’re such different interpretations. I love how they did Lemony Snicket in both. Patrick Warburton was my favourite, definitely, but I did love the way they had Jude Law in silhouette, it was quite haunting.

I totally agree about having it animated. I think it matches the books stylistically, and you could film so many things from the books which are impossible if you’re using live-action.

[Emma "Emmz" Squalor]

I think the movie and show each had their pros and cons. There's some things I prefer in the latter, and some that I prefer in the former. Also I agree that the books would probably be better animated.

[MARLOWE !!!!!]

I think the visual tone is so crucial and one of the few ways the show was worse. Having everything be so bright and colourful is exactly what the “babbling adults” in asoue would want. The nuance of the gravity of the situation is lost, where the doom and gloom of the film captured it perfectly.

Having it be darker would make the funny bits funnier, and the bleak moments bleaker, which would definitely work to their advantage. I've definitely mentioned this before, but Netflix changing their colour grading after the first season screwed the pooch. Real life adults and fictional ones coming together for one big smooth brain moment

I wouldn't be opposed to a Coraline-style animation, perhaps for ATWQ or PFB because I doubt anyone would dispense any additional $ on a remake at this point in time.

[Tiran O'Saurus]

An ATWQ animation in Seth's art style would be great.

[R.]

I’m afraid Seth’s art style didn’t do Ellington justice.

[熊]

Jun 29, 2022 11:49:47 GMT -5 MARLOWE !!!!! said:

I think the visual tone is so crucial and one of the few ways the show was worse. Having everything be so bright and colourful is exactly what the “babbling adults” in asoue would want. The nuance of the gravity of the situation is lost, where the doom and gloom of the film captured it perfectly.

Having it be darker would make the funny bits funnier, and the bleak moments bleaker, which would definitely work to their advantage. I've definitely mentioned this before, but Netflix changing their colour grading after the first season screwed the pooch. Real life adults and fictional ones coming together for one big smooth brain moment

I wouldn't be opposed to a Coraline-style animation, perhaps for ATWQ or PFB because I doubt anyone would dispense any additional $ on a remake at this point in time.

poison for breakfast hollywood adaptation NOW!


also i find it funny how many people have just one (1) major criticism of the show, but everybody has something different. meanwhile i think everybody's criticisms add up to a very bad show.

[Terryo Spice Boi]

yeah PFB would not work as a movie AT ALL

I could imagine an ASoUE adaptation where the Baudelaires would be played in an expressionless way á la Bresson/Lanthimos/Wes Anderson to reflect their lack of much character in the books... Would also make it much more funny, if they just moped around in a totally dry manner in response to all the misfortune that befalls them.

I already expressed my criticisms of the show elsewhere, can't be bothered to look it up

[Tiran O'Saurus]

Jun 30, 2022 12:24:37 GMT -5 Terryo Spice Boi said:

I could imagine an ASoUE adaptation where the Baudelaires would be played in an expressionless way á la Bresson/Lanthimos/Wes Anderson to reflect their lack of much character in the books... Would also make it much more funny, if they just moped around in a totally dry manner in response to all the misfortune that befalls them.

I felt like the Netflix show already did that to an extent, and I didn't like it. The Baudelaires are the audience surrogates, who are meant to react to the ridiculousness of the world around them. Making a joke on how oddly they are acting ruins any vague basing in reality.