Wrinkle in Time

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Wrinkle in Time

    Holy crap. It actually hurt my eyes it's so bad. This is a book I love. One I would have loved to adapted. They took it and killed it.... can something be beyond dead? If what I overheard on the way out is any bell weather, the hate for it was visceral. So sad.

  • #2
    Re: Wrinkle in Time

    Originally posted by EdFury View Post
    Holy crap. It actually hurt my eyes it's so bad. This is a book I love. One I would have loved to adapted. They took it and killed it.... can something be beyond dead? If what I overheard on the way out is any bell weather, the hate for it was visceral. So sad.

    What went wrong? I've heard people say the story is unfilmable but it also sounds like Ava DuVernay made some poor choices.
    "I was dreamin' when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray." - Prince

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Wrinkle in Time

      I remember seeing the trailer for this and writing on some forum that this looked like a disaster. I got so much crap from that post, but you don't need to be an expert to see that the visuals look terrible and the acting is bad.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Wrinkle in Time

        This review says it all:

        http://thefederalist.com/2018/03/07/...-lengles-book/

        It would appear that the filmmakers had multiple agendas. Pity that one of them wasn't either (a) respect for the material, or (b) making a good movie.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Wrinkle in Time

          Originally posted by karsten View Post
          This review says it all:

          http://thefederalist.com/2018/03/07/...-lengles-book/

          It would appear that the filmmakers had multiple agendas. Pity that one of them wasn't either (a) respect for the material, or (b) making a good movie.
          oh noes, The Federalist sees an "agenda" by a black director. shocker

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Wrinkle in Time

            Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
            oh noes, The Federalist sees an "agenda" by a black director. shocker
            A film ruined by preachiness (among other things) is a film ruined by preachiness -- be it Brad Bird's Tomorrowland, or this malformation-passing-itself-off-as-an-adaptation.

            The race of the director doesn't give them a free pass against such criticism. Or shouldn't.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Wrinkle in Time

              Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
              oh noes, The Federalist sees an "agenda" by a black director. shocker
              Considering the reviewer never mentioned the director was black -- it looks like you might be the one with an "agenda".

              Maybe you'd prefer a writer from "VOX"?
              Madeleine L'Engle's Christianity was vital to A Wrinkle in Time

              Or maybe "Variety"?
              Film Review: 'A Wrinkle in Time'

              "Despite such bold choices as casting Oprah Winfrey as an all-wise celestial being and rejecting the antiquated assumption that the lead characters ought to be white, "A Wrinkle in Time- is wildly uneven, weirdly suspenseless and tonally all over the place, relying on wall-to-wall music to supply the missing emotional connection and trowel over huge plot holes."

              6 out of 10 critics didn't like this. Shooting the messenger is rarely a good idea.
              "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Wrinkle in Time

                Originally posted by StoryWriter View Post
                Considering the reviewer never mentioned the director was black -- it looks like you might be the one with an "agenda".

                "Despite such bold choices as casting Oprah Winfrey as an all-wise celestial being and rejecting the antiquated assumption that the lead characters ought to be white, "A Wrinkle in Time- is wildly uneven, weirdly suspenseless and tonally all over the place, relying on wall-to-wall music to supply the missing emotional connection and trowel over huge plot holes."

                6 out of 10 critics didn't like this. Shooting the messenger is rarely a good idea.
                criticizing the storytelling is fine, which is not what the thrust of The Federalist smear piece is doing. Wrinkle in Time has long been considered one of those "unfilmable" books like Catcher in the Rye. Ava making the main character of color has nothing to do with those inherent challenges (except to right-wing snowflakes who see diversity "agendas" behind every corner)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Wrinkle in Time

                  Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
                  criticizing the storytelling is fine, which is not what the thrust of The Federalist smear piece is doing. Wrinkle in Time has long been considered one of those "unfilmable" books like Catcher in the Rye. Ava making the main character of color has nothing to do with those inherent challenges (except to right-wing snowflakes who see diversity "agendas" behind every corner)
                  Absolutely. There's nothing wrong with criticizing the story because of standard elements like character development, plot strength, or dialogue creativity. But The Federalist spends little (if any) time on those topics.

                  90% of The Federalist's review is spent criticizing the movie over changes to characters' ethnicity and gender from the book. Even though those changes have no impact on the quality of the main story. That's not film criticism based on merits. That's an agenda.

                  It's sad that some people continue to feel threatened by those types of changes. Probably the same kind of people who feel threatened by the demographic changes in the world at large (changes which choices like those made in this movie are meant to reflect). Well, bad news for the butthurt snowflakes -- those changes aren't slowing down.
                  "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.-- Peter De Vries

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Wrinkle in Time

                    Maybe if the writer, director, studio or all of the above -- spent more time worrying about the story and less about leading a diversity parade, they might have told a better story.

                    Whatever happened to subtlety? People can "get it" -- you don't have to beat them over the head with a fifty pound sledge hammer.
                    "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Wrinkle in Time

                      Originally posted by StoryWriter View Post
                      Maybe if the writer, director, studio or all of the above -- spent more time worrying about the story and less about leading a diversity parade, they might have told a better story.

                      Whatever happened to subtlety? People can "get it" -- you don't have to beat them over the head with a fifty pound sledge hammer.
                      Riiiiiight. Because changing the ethnicity and gender of a few characters on the page consumed a massive amount of time. Maybe months!

                      Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?

                      The actual storyline of the movie did not change much from the book, so your argument makes no sense whatsoever.

                      Originally posted by StoryWriter View Post
                      Whatever happened to subtlety? People can "get it" -- you don't have to beat them over the head with a fifty pound sledge hammer.
                      Here are some stats for you:

                      *White guys make up 31% of the U.S. population.

                      *White guys account for 71.7% of all speaking roles in movies.

                      The only thing that's beating people over the head with a sledgehammer is the vastly disproportionate representation of white guys in movies. In the big scheme of things, a few movies where ethnicity/gender is changed is not a big frickin' deal.
                      "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.-- Peter De Vries

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Wrinkle in Time

                        Originally posted by UpandComing View Post
                        Riiiiiight. Because changing the ethnicity and gender of a few characters on the page consumed a massive amount of time. Maybe months!

                        Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?

                        The actual storyline of the movie did not change much from the book, so your argument makes no sense whatoever.
                        [/I]

                        Wroooooong. Because you completely missed the point.

                        What you said DOES sound ridiculous. You're right.

                        The actual storyline changed massively. Why do you think so many people, who loved the book, think the movie sucks?
                        "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Wrinkle in Time

                          Originally posted by StoryWriter View Post
                          Wroooooong. Because you completely missed the point.

                          What you said DOES sound ridiculous. You're right.

                          The actual storyline changed massively. Why do you think so many people, who loved the book, think the movie sucks?
                          From everything I've heard/read, the biggest changes to the story involved the removal and addition of certain characters, but those haven't been the main sources of criticism (among professional critics, at least). The biggest actual criticisms I've seen have been of pacing (too slow in first hour), of tone (too sappy/melodramatic/touchy feely), and visuals (too bright/colorful).

                          Of course, if you can identify what the "massive" changes to the storyline were (and evidence that many fans are unhappy with them), I'm happy to hear them now.
                          "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.-- Peter De Vries

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Wrinkle in Time

                            Originally posted by UpandComing View Post

                            Here are some stats for you:

                            *White guys make up 31% of the U.S. population.

                            *White guys account for 71.7% of all speaking roles in movies.

                            The only thing that's beating people over the head with a sledgehammer is the vastly disproportionate representation of white guys in movies. In the big scheme of things, a few movies where ethnicity/gender is changed is not a big frickin' deal.
                            Once again, you miss the point. If the whole family was black, it's still a family, few people would have cared. But when you take a story of a family and make the mother black, the father white, the daughter black, and the son is Filipino-American, that changes the story. It distracts from the original story. It directs the focus to where the focus wasn't directed in the book.

                            You could write a good story with a black mom, a white father, a black daughter and a Filipino-American son, but that's not the story the book told. People are naturally curious about how this family got together. If you can't see that, I guess I need to get that fifty pound sledge hammer, after all.

                            And your harping on race IS pounding people with a sledge hammer. Do you want to entertain or do you want to promote your agenda? (Or do both -- but it has to be subtle.) I can go to church free, why should I pay $10 at a theater to get a sermon?

                            It reminds of the white, privileged CEO of the second largest telephone company when I worked there. At every meeting, he'd harp on about how the company needed more diversity, more women and minorities in control.

                            I kept wanting to ask him, when he intended to resign and make way for a black women, as CEO.

                            Another one that always gets me is these people who natter on and on about how Hollywood is run by the Jews. Did any of these people ever read the history of Hollywood? It was started by Jews. Go figure.

                            So if you don't like the percentages -- change them. Start your own company. Cast who you want to cast. Is any law stopping you? None that I know of. Money a problem? It always has been in Hollywood, from the beginning. How bad do you want to make it happen? Then do it.
                            "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Wrinkle in Time

                              Originally posted by UpandComing View Post
                              It's sad that some people continue to feel threatened by those types of changes. Probably the same kind of people who feel threatened by the demographic changes in the world at large (changes which choices like those made in this movie are meant to reflect). Well, bad news for the butthurt snowflakes -- those changes aren't slowing down.
                              These types of comments are uncivil and do more to hurt progress than anything else.

                              I think the idea that anyone is 'threatened' by the incremental changes taking place in Hollywood is largely an invention of the news media, as it tries to stave off bankruptcy for another year by ramping up the outrage for ad clicks.

                              The truth is that there is a lot of unarticulated frustration over the fact that the volume of the outrage is wildly out of proportion to the actual problem, but even more so over the blatant hypocrisy of the people who work in Hollywood (eg. someone like Judd Apatow speaking out about the lack of diversity among film directors, when he himself has never hired anyone but white males).

                              And no one wants to be lectured about equality and inclusion by people who send their kids to private school.

                              On the topic of this thread, it seems like there's a fairly common scenario where someone will try an adapt a beloved childhood book (Wrinkle In Time, BFG, John Carter, Where The Wild Things Are) despite the fact that the source material is not easily adaptable or filmic. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the director is frequently a first timer (or at least the first time with a $100M+ budget - Spike Jonze, Andrew Stanton, Ava).

                              Then again, sometimes a first-timer has great success (like Andrew Adamson did with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe) so I guess the idea is that you hope the few winners pay for all the losers.

                              But I wouldn't be surprised if Disney was a little gun shy with adaptations from here on out.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X