bullfrogger Reviews

A Wrinkle in Time (2003 TV Movie)

Hey! It worked!

[21 May 2004]

After enjoying the book much during my childhood life, I was very excited to see this, a Disney TV adaptation of L'Engle's classic work (despite the nausea that the words "Disney TV adaptation" provoke)

I am pleased to say they've done a good job. As an adaptation goes it was OK, and that's saying a lot. Although what the book was trying to say may have been muddled in the transition from book to screen, I feel that they actually got it to work. Sure, many scenes are a bit cheesy and over-simplified, but the great acting made up for it. Each character played their part flawlessly, _especially_ the young actress who played Meg. The moments between Meg and Calvin work brilliantly, Charles Wallace is convincingly weird, and the Mrs. W's more or less understand their parts. Keep in mind the screenplay, not the actors, dictate the interpretation.

Sure, Aunt Beast looks like a Wookie (*hurl*), and Mrs. Whatsit's CGI form needs work, but Disney, you've done a good job. The fact that they managed to not screw up the ending almost made me want to get up and applaud.

Yes, it could have been better, but it's a TV movie. I think it deserves a lot of credit. :D

Alice in Wonderland (1999 TV Movie)

A decent adaptation, wonderful film.

[13 March 2004]

Being a big fan of the books and the author's work, I have seen most of the film adaptations made of the Alice books (and yes, there were two), and this is one of the better adaptations, and certainly a wonderful film.

Filled with famous faces and some wonderful sets, it may not be 100% like the book, but I won't have a word against this film anyway. The writers make the same mistake of mixing the two books together (understandable), and throw in a few new morals and themes (stage fright, mostly), but it's still great. Folks like Gene Wilder, Pete Postlethwaite, Christopher Lloyd, Robbie Coltrane, Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Kingsley, Martin Short and others make their own contribution to this magical TV production.

The whole thing was an honest live action work that made a decent effort to correct what Disney messed up. Now, be fair, the animation was wonderful (very), but a terrible adaptation. So applaud yourselves, Halmi & Halmi (and everyone else, esp. Richard Hartley for music). You did a great job. And readers pick up a copy of the DVD, it's a great movie.