*** Offical A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2009) Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Abby_B]

Surprised there isn't a thread on this yet, considering the poster is the first thing I see whenever I come here!

Starts the holiday movie season on November 6th. It's one of my all-time favorite Christmas stories, and I think this will be an interesting version, particularly with the time-travel angle and 3D/mo-cap aspect to it. I'm also looking forward to seeing Jim Carrey as Scrooge and Gary Oldman as Tiny Tim (only with that technology can you pull that off!)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/achristmascarol/trailer_large.html

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Time-travel aspect? Beyond the normal "A Christmas Carol" time-travel of Scrooge seeing his past and possible future?

I'm leaning away from this one. My favorite version is "The Muppets Christmas Carol", I like the songs and Michael Caine's Scrooge. But we will see.

 

[Abby_B]

The Muppets Christmas Carol was pretty awesome, I won't deny that. What I meant by the time travel was that Zemeckis really focuses on that aspect when's using the CG....I think this interview with him explains it better: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41765

There was (well, it is still going around but it's in its last few weeks) a train tour promoting the movie and it had a lot of the artwork, costumes and footage from the film....and if you look at some of the illustrations and some of the shots from the film, you can see how much Zemeckis kept it so close to, well, the mood of the novel. He called the movie a "Graphic Novel" version, so at the very least, the visuals will be amazing.

 

[Todd H]

Am I the only one that wishes Zemeckis would go back to doing live action movies?

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I'd probably have more interest in this if it were a live action movie, even if some scenes were enhanced by adding some CG.

 

[UniqueAlias]

This movie looks really cool. I'm for sure going to check it out when it's released, hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

 

[Malcolm R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd H

Am I the only one that wishes Zemeckis would go back to doing live action movies?

No, I'm there too. I wish he'd get over this motion-capture animation fetish of his.

Originally Posted by Qui-Gon John

I'd probably have more interest in this if it were a live action movie, even if some scenes were enhanced by adding some CG.

Ditto.

 

[Greg.K]

Am I the only one who thinks this looks lame? "A Christmas Carol" with a whole bunch of slapstick added & 3D effects? Yawn.

 

[Tyler Gagnon]

I with you guys, This just looks to childish for me. The scene were scrooge is sliding down this icy roof hitting all the ice and the squeaky voice when he hits the basket???? If it's anything like Jim carrey's grinch.............I'm not wasting my time.

 

[Abby_B]

Well, here is a different version of the trailer: http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/a-christmas-carol/japanese-trailer

It's the Japanese one. I know that 3D is a pretty big sell here nowadays, and since it's Disney, the movie's got to appeal to kiddies and have their parents feel comfortable taking them to it, but I think that this one appeals a little bit more to the older crowd because it focuses more on the story and Scrooge's redemption. Visuals still look pretty amazing!

 

[TravisR]

Eh, I think it looks OK. There's been plenty of straight period piece adaptations of A Christmas Carol before so I'm interested in seeing a somewhat different take on it. Robert Zemeckis has a very solid track record and while I'm not really a fan of Jim Carrey, this seems like something that could suit his talents.

 

[Abby_B]

Agreed re: Zemeckis - I've enjoyed most of his movies, both live-action AND mo-cap. Regardless of whether he uses the technology or not in his films, ultimately it's about how he tells the story and I think he does a pretty good job of doing that. Roger Rabbit (animation + live-action), Forrest Gump (live-action + well-placed sfx), Beowulf (mo-cap), I enjoyed the movies because I liked the stories. Yes, I think the motion-capture and the 3D will add something new to this, but the main reason I want to see the movie is because I think the story of a miserly old man who finds redemption is one of my favorite Christmas tales ever.

 

[42nd Street Freak]

The movie was very serious but tried to be funny in a few parts.

But that's like all versions. It sums up the Sim version perfectly.
It's Dickens not Disney.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Agreed Adam. The big step up here was the dead eyes syndrome from previous films like The Polar Express are pretty well eliminated in this one. Quite impressive.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "A Christmas Carol (2009)". Please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

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