A Christmas Carol

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 8:58pm

Saw it in IMAX 3 D today & it was great. Well done & the 3 D effects were excellent.

Some 3D trailers looked good especially Avatar & Tim Burtons Alice In Wonderland. I never knew there was an IMAX next to the garden .

3 D is here to stay & IMAX is a great medium for it. It has come a long way since those cardboard glasses of the 50's

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 9:18pm

This has two things I cannot stand, motion-capture and Jim Carrey. Pass.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 9:25pm

It has two things I can't stand either.... Jim Carrey.... and did I say Jim Carrey?

[scott68]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 9:27pm

I haven't seen the movie, but my boyfriend dragged me to the train tour they did to see the eight-minute 3D preview. The visuals are very striking, but I'll never warm up to the motion-capture CGI technology. I just don't understand why you would spend millions of dollars to take actors acting and turn them into animated characters... imitating real life. If you're going to make an animated movie, why try to make it super-realistic?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 9:29pm

"If you're going to make an animated movie, why try to make it super-realistic?"

Thank you, scott! *nostalgic for traditional animation of yesteryear*

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 9:46pm

Roxy, I have a few questions about this film and perhaps you can answer them.

First, I'd like to take my four year old granddaughter to see it but have heard that some of the chase scenes are too intense for youngsters. Do you agree?

Secondly, I am vision impaired and have never been able to see the special effects in 3-D movies that you have to wear those glasses for. Do you have to wear those green and red glasses or have they made significant improvements in 3-D filmmaking?

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 9:54pm

Dolly, the 3-D glasses they have now aren't the red/green ones anymore, they're more or less transparent plastic. They're also pretty huge, and I've worn them over my normal glasses once or twice with no problem. I've gotten headaches in the past from 3-D films, but I can't tell you if that's those glasses specifically or 3-D films it general that do that.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/7/09 at 9:55pm

I'm monocular--I only have sight in one eye.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 12:14am

Sorry but you won't see the 3D effect.

Some scenes may indeed be too intense for a 4 year old.

By the way, ran into a woman in line who was a real jerk. First she let her daughter cough up a storm & said nothing re her not covering her mouth. She than recounted the entire plot of The Box including the ending. Oh if only I had a polo mallet right about than.

Updated On: 11/8/09 at 12:14 AM

[BroadwayBenny]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 12:19am

I would say leave the four year old at home. There were small children getting either bored or scared throughout. This is a very dark and appropriately disturbing film for young adults... not for the veggie tales crowd.

Also, most theatres I believe are showing it in regular screens in addition to the 3D showings. It's worth checking out. I was not a fan of Polar Express or Beowulf but was very impressed with this film, aside from a few scenes, the facial expressions were less zombie like than the previous two films and took on a more animated feel (go figure)

and I would like to add that Jim Carrey does not pull his usual comedic stops out here, but rather plays all of these characters appropriately low key and in tact with the rest of the film. You forget it's even him voicing for the most part.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 12:22am

One of my best friends is in this and I'm so excited to see it tomorrow. They've altered his appearance in the scenes he's in so he has me guessing who he is. Should be fun! :)

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 12:24am

I have a similar predicament, Dolly. I have little, or possibly no, depth perception. I can't detect 3D effects either.

Not that I'm interested in this movie anyway. For one thing, I can't stand motion capture. Like others have said, why bother making it animated if you're going to make it realistic? And also, I kind of consider it cheating. Happy feet was motion-capture, while over at Pixar at the same time, people were working their butts off painstakingly animating characters in Ratatouille by hand (via computer). Motion capture is comparable to tracing.

And for two other things, A Christmas Carol has been done to death (nothing can beat the Muppets version for me anyway), and the graphics/animation in this version look like they're cutscenes from a video game.

However, oddly enough, I do like Jim Carrey.


Updated On: 11/8/09 at 12:24 AM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 4:15am

This film looked wonderful, the depth of some of the scenes was breathtaking. But in saying that the movie lacked heart, wit and well was not really worth the time spent.

Alice in Wonderland on the other hand looks brillant

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 9:51am

Disagree on statement # 1 but agree re Alice

Avatar looked amazing. We will see it after we return.

Updated On: 11/8/09 at 09:51 AM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 10:41am

I hate Jim Carrey and don't get the point of motion capture, either, but I've seen every single version of A Christmas Carol, that is available to be seen, and this one will be no exception.

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 6:23pm

I can't stand Carrey but some of the lines in the trailer suggest that he is in fact toning his usual mannerisms down a little for this movie. But there is no better Christmas Carol than the Muppet version, with the George C. Scott version in second place and the Alistair Sim version in third. IMO, of course.

[Basely Tearful]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 6:50pm

Dolly, I took my daughter to see Toy Story and saw a preview for Christmas Carol. I too only have significant vision out of one eye and I saw the 3D effects line and I never am able to see what everyone else see.

I, however, would only go to this movie if I could close my eyes and wear earplugs during. Jim Carrey, let alone Jim Carrey in 3D, is not my cup of tea.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 8:05pm

I think the George C. Scott version is THE definitive version of the story. I also really like A Christmas Carol: The Musical, with Kelsey Grammer, mostly because of the score.

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 8:16pm

I can't see this topping the Muppets in any way, which is my default "Christmas Carol" movie. It manages to be charming and goofy without gradually becoming grating, which is a difficult thing to really pull off.

I think the Alastair Sim version is really the only other film version I've liked, though as a short, "Mickey's Christmas Carol" is nice enough.

Oh, and of course, the timeless comedy classic "An American Carol" perhaps best represents Dickens' holiday message.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 8:24pm

The musical version with Albert Finney is very good.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 8:46pm

I'm not a fan of Finney's Scrooge. Although, I do like some of the music, particularly the song, A Christmas Carol, which I love.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 9:35pm

I understand that Loretta Swit is in talks to play a female version of this. She will be Ebonica Scrooge and it's set to tour the dinner theatre circuit next season. Must see, if you ask me.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 9:50pm

Loretta Swit's shining moment is in the film S.O.B.. She's hysterically funny, imo.

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 11/8/09 at 9:51pm

Nothing could ever hold a candle to Vanessa Williams as Ebony Scrooge in "A Diva's Christmas Carol".

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/9/09 at 11:39am

I think this motion capture stuff can work really well, as it did for Gollum in LORD OF THE RINGS or for Kong in Peter Jackson's remake. Amazing detailed lifelike creations.

Alas, some vital piece of the technology is missing from the stuff that Zemeckis uses. The characters in BEOWULF are hideous stiff creatures with no humanity whatever, dead-eyed automatons out of Disney's pre-Jack Sparrow PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN ride. Apparently there have been improvements from POLAR EXPRESS to BEOWULF to CHRISTMAS CAROL, but I'm not going to pay my good money to watch Zemeckis defile another great work of literature while he irons out the kinks in his software.

Life's too short to waste on crap like this. I'll just watch the definitive CHRISTMAS CAROL starring Alistair Sim.