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shyweltman99
Reviews
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Did this need to be remade again?
Is Hollywood so intellectually bankrupt that they cannot come up with an original story? How many times has A Christmas Carol been made? How many times can you return to the same well and expect to find different water? The temptation of CGI graphics was obviously too much to resist. I can just imagine the producers meeting in which they played with the idea of turning this classic story into an action flick. That way they could play up the parts that had been hitherto ignored in previous movies, play and teleplays. All of the aspects that had been minimized, or completed with less than stellar special effects could now be given the treatment they deserved. Or perhaps that was not Dickens' idea in the first place? Perhaps he concentrated on the dialogue? Perhaps he was more interested in the human condition than the visual imagery of ghostly effects? What you end up with in this latest approach is an emphasis on all of the least important aspects of the story to the detriment of all of the important aspects of the story. You end up with a visual feast that is empty of humanity, feeling, or emotion. The director and producers, in their drive to create mindblowing CGI, has forgotten what the story was all about. They have created a skeleton frame of the original story made up of all of the inconsequential parts and not one bit of the meat that is the heart and should of this timeless classic.
Ghost Town: The Movie (2007)
Dean Teaster's Lack of Talent: The movie
One would hope that after reading all the comments here that it would sink in to the producer, story creator, director, and actor known as Dean Teaster, that he has a lot to learn. His name is plastered all over this movie, so hit is a safe assumption that he is one to take ultimate responsibility. There is another director mentioned, but having worked on enough sets I can spot a first time director's safety net when I see one. (i.e. he is only mentioned once, is not part of the title on the box, and has directed before) The numerous comments and reviews about Ghost Town all seem to take on a common theme, that all boil down to a fundamental lack of understanding about how a story goes together. Many comment on the incredibly poor job of editing, which is so blatant I am surprised the other editor or producers let it go out in its present form. They are either blind or lack any quality control over the final product. Many comment on the confusing storyline, which can be glimpsed at times but gets lost in the muddied organization of scenes. What I have to add to all of these comments is this: Do not dismiss them. Read them. Absorb what they have to say. Admit that you need a lot of help. Ghost Town shows us a dangerous combination. A fundamental lack of talent coupled with an overly ambitious ego.