Who Am I This Time?

"Phil P." <phil DeleteThis @nospam.com> wrote in message
news:5bmin39j2kik9996lbvrhvifucd86j0j1s@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:57:34 -0500, "Somebody" <N/A> wrote:
>
>>Just watched it. What a sweet movie/play. Why isn't it out on DVD? I
>>accidentally found it on a bit torrent.
>>
>>The Importance of Being Ernest
>>http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/context.html
>
> It is on DVD - look at Amazon. My local library also has a vhs copy which
> I'll
> borrow when it's available.


I coulda swore I looked for it last month and didn't find it on DVD. But
it's there
http://amazon.imdb.com/title/tt0083325/

It's a great little movie. With great performances by Sarandon and Walken.
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:10:39 -0800, Phil P. <phil RemoveThis @nospam.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:57:34 -0500, "Somebody" <N/A> wrote:
>
>>Just watched it. What a sweet movie/play. Why isn't it out on DVD? I
>>accidentally found it on a bit torrent.
>>
>>The Importance of Being Ernest
>>http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/context.html
>
>It is on DVD - look at Amazon. My local library also has a vhs copy which I'll
>borrow when it's available.
>
>It's interesting, I've seen a few films made from KV books lately that I'd not
>seen before:
>Breakfast of Champions - pretty good. KV plays a film director in Dwayne
>Hoovers parking lot, making a commercial. Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte are good,
>if over the top. Too bad they didn't do the real ending of the book, where KV
>himself talks to Trout.
>
>Mother Night - very good. Nolte again as Campbell. KV show up in a street
>scene near the end.
>
>Harrison Bergeron - Haven't watched it yet. Sean Astin in the title role.
I didn't like Champions, as did few others. It was almost universally
panned by critics and viewers alike.
But Mother Night is one of my all time favorite movies, all the better
because it's based on the novel by my favorite author.
Nolte is great in it, and Sheryl Lee is both awesome as an actress and
sexy as hell in it.
The dvd has a so-so interview with The Author and Nolte.
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

<A.Nonimus.DeleteThis@nospam.tv> wrote in message
news:b07kn3ln9ahv970v497b3o1sipc9onq6je@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:10:39 -0800, Phil P. <phil.DeleteThis@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:57:34 -0500, "Somebody" <N/A> wrote:
>>
>>>Just watched it. What a sweet movie/play. Why isn't it out on DVD? I
>>>accidentally found it on a bit torrent.
>>>
>>>The Importance of Being Ernest
>>>http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/context.html
>>
>>It is on DVD - look at Amazon. My local library also has a vhs copy which
>>I'll
>>borrow when it's available.
>>
>>It's interesting, I've seen a few films made from KV books lately that I'd
>>not
>>seen before:
>>Breakfast of Champions - pretty good. KV plays a film director in Dwayne
>>Hoovers parking lot, making a commercial. Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte are
>>good,
>>if over the top. Too bad they didn't do the real ending of the book,
>>where KV
>>himself talks to Trout.
>>
>>Mother Night - very good. Nolte again as Campbell. KV show up in a
>>street
>>scene near the end.
>>
>>Harrison Bergeron - Haven't watched it yet. Sean Astin in the title role.
> I didn't like Champions, as did few others. It was almost universally
> panned by critics and viewers alike.
> But Mother Night is one of my all time favorite movies, all the better
> because it's based on the novel by my favorite author.
> Nolte is great in it, and Sheryl Lee is both awesome as an actress and
> sexy as hell in it.
> The dvd has a so-so interview with The Author and Nolte.

Yeah, Breakfast was weird--as a movie. Love the book. Can't believe they
actually tried to make that into a movie!

Mother Night is beautiful. Nolte and Lee are great.

When he stops on the sidewalk and just stands there. And Kurt passes,
beauty.
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

Phil P. wrote:

> On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:57:34 -0500, "Somebody" <N/A> wrote:
>
>
>>Just watched it. What a sweet movie/play. Why isn't it out on DVD? I
>>accidentally found it on a bit torrent.
>>
>>The Importance of Being Ernest
>>http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/context.html
>
>
> It is on DVD - look at Amazon. My local library also has a vhs copy which I'll
> borrow when it's available.
>
> It's interesting, I've seen a few films made from KV books lately that I'd not
> seen before:
> Breakfast of Champions - pretty good. KV plays a film director in Dwayne
> Hoovers parking lot, making a commercial. Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte are good,
> if over the top. Too bad they didn't do the real ending of the book, where KV
> himself talks to Trout.
>
> Mother Night - very good. Nolte again as Campbell. KV show up in a street
> scene near the end.
>
> Harrison Bergeron - Haven't watched it yet. Sean Astin in the title role.

I've seen three adaptations of Vonnegut's novels, and none of them
really worked. Vonnegut's success is in his ironic VOICE, and you
really can't capture that on film. BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS came closest
to capturing mechanical aspects of the plot, but the voice was gone,
leaving you with this kind of madcap thing, not particularly noteworthy.

As for MOTHER NIGHT, it didn't really work either. Only a Vonnegut fan
would like it, but I really can't figure out why they'd believe they
need it. There are a couple of scenes in the novel that are hilarious
in the reading but fall flat as film. For instance, when the spy is
reading reports over the radio, and is giving out his code in hacks and
coughs, Vennegut describes this unworkable and absurd code with
glibness, expecting us to take him at his word, laugh, then move on to
his next line. I can't remember the exact quote, but he said that
coming up to D-Day, he was coughing constantly. It was funny in the
book, but on film, the darkness of Nazism eclipsed the irony, and it
just didn't work. Instead, the film caused us to look closer at a code
made of coughs, demanded we SEE it, and the absurdity of it made it
difficult to establish the clear tone for the film.

Another part that worked in the book BECAUSE it was ridiculous but
failed in the film was Goodman's "Fairy Godmother." Again the dialogue
was incongruent with the visual tone of the film, and the whole thing
became absurd.

A final example was when the chauffeur carries the bags from the street,
and when he reached the top of the stairs, he collapses and dies. In
the book, it was slapstick, and the absurd quality fit into the rest of
the absurd circumstances of the book. But, again in the film, it looked
ridiculous. It was never clear what you were supposed to feel.

All of this is a result of not understanding what the real appeal of the
book is. It's the ironic tone, the offhanded phrase.

I saw SLAUTHERHOUSE-5 years ago, but I remember being bored to death by
the end of it. I saw it only once, and never desired to see it again.
It didn't work either. Vonnegut's appeal is his voice, which he uses to
tell absurd stories. The same stories won't work as pure film.

Unless someone attempts SIRENS OF TITAN. This novel doesn't have the
distinct Vonnegut voice. This one would work best as an adaptation.
For a while Robert Weide, the man who wrote the script for MOTHER NIGHT,
was working on one for SIRENS, but the last I heard, he had abandoned
that project.


--
_________________
Alric Knebel

http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
http://www.ironeyefortress.com
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

"Alric Knebel" <alric.DeleteThis@cableone.net> wrote in message
news:3bOdnZImg-GwCOfanZ2dnUVZ_tCrnZ2d@giganews.com...
> Phil P. wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:57:34 -0500, "Somebody" <N/A> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Just watched it. What a sweet movie/play. Why isn't it out on DVD? I
>>>accidentally found it on a bit torrent.
>>>
>>>The Importance of Being Ernest
>>>http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/context.html
>>
>>
>> It is on DVD - look at Amazon. My local library also has a vhs copy which
>> I'll
>> borrow when it's available.
>>
>> It's interesting, I've seen a few films made from KV books lately that
>> I'd not
>> seen before:
>> Breakfast of Champions - pretty good. KV plays a film director in Dwayne
>> Hoovers parking lot, making a commercial. Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte
>> are good,
>> if over the top. Too bad they didn't do the real ending of the book,
>> where KV
>> himself talks to Trout.
>>
>> Mother Night - very good. Nolte again as Campbell. KV show up in a
>> street
>> scene near the end.
>>
>> Harrison Bergeron - Haven't watched it yet. Sean Astin in the title
>> role.
>
> I've seen three adaptations of Vonnegut's novels, and none of them really
> worked. Vonnegut's success is in his ironic VOICE, and you really can't
> capture that on film. BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS came closest to capturing
> mechanical aspects of the plot, but the voice was gone, leaving you with
> this kind of madcap thing, not particularly noteworthy.
>
> As for MOTHER NIGHT, it didn't really work either. Only a Vonnegut fan
> would like it, but I really can't figure out why they'd believe they need
> it. There are a couple of scenes in the novel that are hilarious in the
> reading but fall flat as film. For instance, when the spy is reading
> reports over the radio, and is giving out his code in hacks and coughs,
> Vennegut describes this unworkable and absurd code with glibness,
> expecting us to take him at his word, laugh, then move on to his next
> line. I can't remember the exact quote, but he said that coming up to
> D-Day, he was coughing constantly. It was funny in the book, but on film,
> the darkness of Nazism eclipsed the irony, and it just didn't work.
> Instead, the film caused us to look closer at a code made of coughs,
> demanded we SEE it, and the absurdity of it made it difficult to establish
> the clear tone for the film.
>
> Another part that worked in the book BECAUSE it was ridiculous but failed
> in the film was Goodman's "Fairy Godmother." Again the dialogue was
> incongruent with the visual tone of the film, and the whole thing became
> absurd.
>
> A final example was when the chauffeur carries the bags from the street,
> and when he reached the top of the stairs, he collapses and dies. In the
> book, it was slapstick, and the absurd quality fit into the rest of the
> absurd circumstances of the book. But, again in the film, it looked
> ridiculous. It was never clear what you were supposed to feel.
>
> All of this is a result of not understanding what the real appeal of the
> book is. It's the ironic tone, the offhanded phrase.
>
> I saw SLAUTHERHOUSE-5 years ago, but I remember being bored to death by
> the end of it. I saw it only once, and never desired to see it again. It
> didn't work either. Vonnegut's appeal is his voice, which he uses to tell
> absurd stories. The same stories won't work as pure film.
>
> Unless someone attempts SIRENS OF TITAN. This novel doesn't have the
> distinct Vonnegut voice. This one would work best as an adaptation. For a
> while Robert Weide, the man who wrote the script for MOTHER NIGHT, was
> working on one for SIRENS, but the last I heard, he had abandoned that
> project.

I think Mother Night worked. The commentary helped.... I like
SlaughterHouse5. It wasn't the book, but it captured moments...
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

Somebody wrote:

> "Alric Knebel" <alric DeleteThis @cableone.net> wrote in message
> news:3bOdnZImg-GwCOfanZ2dnUVZ_tCrnZ2d@giganews.com...
>
>> Phil P. wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:57:34 -0500, "Somebody" <N/A> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Just watched it. What a sweet movie/play. Why isn't it out on
>>>> DVD? I accidentally found it on a bit torrent.
>>>>
>>>> The Importance of Being Ernest
>>>> http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/earnest/context.html
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> It is on DVD - look at Amazon. My local library also has a vhs copy
>>> which I'll
>>> borrow when it's available.
>>>
>>> It's interesting, I've seen a few films made from KV books lately
>>> that I'd not
>>> seen before:
>>> Breakfast of Champions - pretty good. KV plays a film director in
>>> Dwayne
>>> Hoovers parking lot, making a commercial. Bruce Willis and Nick
>>> Nolte are good,
>>> if over the top. Too bad they didn't do the real ending of the book,
>>> where KV
>>> himself talks to Trout.
>>>
>>> Mother Night - very good. Nolte again as Campbell. KV show up in a
>>> street
>>> scene near the end.
>>>
>>> Harrison Bergeron - Haven't watched it yet. Sean Astin in the title
>>> role.
>>
>>
>> I've seen three adaptations of Vonnegut's novels, and none of them
>> really worked. Vonnegut's success is in his ironic VOICE, and you
>> really can't capture that on film. BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS came
>> closest to capturing mechanical aspects of the plot, but the voice was
>> gone, leaving you with this kind of madcap thing, not particularly
>> noteworthy.
>>
>> As for MOTHER NIGHT, it didn't really work either. Only a Vonnegut
>> fan would like it, but I really can't figure out why they'd believe
>> they need it. There are a couple of scenes in the novel that are
>> hilarious in the reading but fall flat as film. For instance, when
>> the spy is reading reports over the radio, and is giving out his code
>> in hacks and coughs, Vennegut describes this unworkable and absurd
>> code with glibness, expecting us to take him at his word, laugh, then
>> move on to his next line. I can't remember the exact quote, but he
>> said that coming up to D-Day, he was coughing constantly. It was
>> funny in the book, but on film, the darkness of Nazism eclipsed the
>> irony, and it just didn't work. Instead, the film caused us to look
>> closer at a code made of coughs, demanded we SEE it, and the absurdity
>> of it made it difficult to establish the clear tone for the film.
>>
>> Another part that worked in the book BECAUSE it was ridiculous but
>> failed in the film was Goodman's "Fairy Godmother." Again the
>> dialogue was incongruent with the visual tone of the film, and the
>> whole thing became absurd.
>>
>> A final example was when the chauffeur carries the bags from the
>> street, and when he reached the top of the stairs, he collapses and
>> dies. In the book, it was slapstick, and the absurd quality fit into
>> the rest of the absurd circumstances of the book. But, again in the
>> film, it looked ridiculous. It was never clear what you were supposed
>> to feel.
>>
>> All of this is a result of not understanding what the real appeal of
>> the book is. It's the ironic tone, the offhanded phrase.
>>
>> I saw SLAUTHERHOUSE-5 years ago, but I remember being bored to death
>> by the end of it. I saw it only once, and never desired to see it
>> again. It didn't work either. Vonnegut's appeal is his voice, which
>> he uses to tell absurd stories. The same stories won't work as pure
>> film.
>>
>> Unless someone attempts SIRENS OF TITAN. This novel doesn't have the
>> distinct Vonnegut voice. This one would work best as an adaptation.
>> For a while Robert Weide, the man who wrote the script for MOTHER
>> NIGHT, was working on one for SIRENS, but the last I heard, he had
>> abandoned that project.
>
>
> I think Mother Night worked. The commentary helped.... I like
> SlaughterHouse5. It wasn't the book, but it captured moments...

Films are supposed to work WITHOUT commentary. Commentary is the
adjunct to the film, thanks to DVD. Those are nice for further
enjoyment and deeper appreciation of a film, but they should never
become essential to comprehending it.

--
_________________
Alric Knebel

http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
http://www.ironeyefortress.com
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:57:30 -0600, Alric Knebel <alric.RemoveThis@cableone.net>
wrote:


>
>Films are supposed to work WITHOUT commentary. Commentary is the
>adjunct to the film, thanks to DVD. Those are nice for further
>enjoyment and deeper appreciation of a film, but they should never
>become essential to comprehending it.
I'll agree with you that Mother Night may not work for people who have
not read the book, or at least, not work as WELL as it does for those
who have read the book.

But I do think the film stands on its own without the commentary.
Vonnegut was intimately involved with the script and making of the
movie and HE thought it worked.

I happen to agree with him.
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

<A.Nonimus.TakeThisOut@nospam.tv> wrote in message
news:hghmn3dq0885kppva58d1n17r7blr6nqud@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:57:30 -0600, Alric Knebel <alric.TakeThisOut@cableone.net>
> wrote:
>
>
>>
>>Films are supposed to work WITHOUT commentary. Commentary is the
>>adjunct to the film, thanks to DVD. Those are nice for further
>>enjoyment and deeper appreciation of a film, but they should never
>>become essential to comprehending it.
> I'll agree with you that Mother Night may not work for people who have
> not read the book, or at least, not work as WELL as it does for those
> who have read the book.
>
> But I do think the film stands on its own without the commentary.
> Vonnegut was intimately involved with the script and making of the
> movie and HE thought it worked.
>
> I happen to agree with him.


I agree too. I didn't mean you need the commentary. Just that it adds and
is interesting.

I think Mother Night is the best film made from his work. I kinda like
slaughter house 5 too. But the book is so much more than the movie.
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

Somebody wrote:

> <A.Nonimus DeleteThis @nospam.tv> wrote in message
> news:hghmn3dq0885kppva58d1n17r7blr6nqud@4ax.com...
>
>> On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:57:30 -0600, Alric Knebel <alric DeleteThis @cableone.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Films are supposed to work WITHOUT commentary. Commentary is the
>>> adjunct to the film, thanks to DVD. Those are nice for further
>>> enjoyment and deeper appreciation of a film, but they should never
>>> become essential to comprehending it.
>>
>> I'll agree with you that Mother Night may not work for people who have
>> not read the book, or at least, not work as WELL as it does for those
>> who have read the book.
>>
>> But I do think the film stands on its own without the commentary.
>> Vonnegut was intimately involved with the script and making of the
>> movie and HE thought it worked.
>>
>> I happen to agree with him.
>
>
>
> I agree too. I didn't mean you need the commentary. Just that it adds
> and is interesting.
>
> I think Mother Night is the best film made from his work. I kinda like
> slaughter house 5 too. But the book is so much more than the movie.

Well . . . to each his own, as they say. Myself, I couldn't care less
if another film is ever attempted from his work.

Except for SIRENS OF TITAN. That book is filmable, as it's based on
ACTION, and not so much his famous ironic voice.

--
_________________
Alric Knebel

http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
http://www.ironeyefortress.com
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

On Wed, 2 Jan 2008 17:28:00 -0500, "Somebody" <N/A> wrote:

><A.Nonimus.DeleteThis@nospam.tv> wrote in message
>news:hghmn3dq0885kppva58d1n17r7blr6nqud@4ax.com...
>> On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:57:30 -0600, Alric Knebel <alric.DeleteThis@cableone.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>>Films are supposed to work WITHOUT commentary. Commentary is the
>>>adjunct to the film, thanks to DVD. Those are nice for further
>>>enjoyment and deeper appreciation of a film, but they should never
>>>become essential to comprehending it.
>> I'll agree with you that Mother Night may not work for people who have
>> not read the book, or at least, not work as WELL as it does for those
>> who have read the book.
>>
>> But I do think the film stands on its own without the commentary.
>> Vonnegut was intimately involved with the script and making of the
>> movie and HE thought it worked.
>>
>> I happen to agree with him.
>
>
>I agree too. I didn't mean you need the commentary. Just that it adds and
>is interesting.
>
>I think Mother Night is the best film made from his work. I kinda like
>slaughter house 5 too. But the book is so much more than the movie.
We're in agreement on both points.
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

On Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:29:30 -0600, Alric Knebel <alric DeleteThis @cableone.net>
wrote:


>
>Well . . . to each his own, as they say. Myself, I couldn't care less
>if another film is ever attempted from his work.
>
>Except for SIRENS OF TITAN. That book is filmable, as it's based on
>ACTION, and not so much his famous ironic voice.

****I bet some day Weide will do Sirens of Titan... As I recall he
already has the rights to it and was planning to do it.
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

A.Nonimus RemoveThis @nospam.tv wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:29:30 -0600, Alric Knebel <alric RemoveThis @cableone.net>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Well . . . to each his own, as they say. Myself, I couldn't care less
>>if another film is ever attempted from his work.
>>
>>Except for SIRENS OF TITAN. That book is filmable, as it's based on
>>ACTION, and not so much his famous ironic voice.
>
>
> ****I bet some day Weide will do Sirens of Titan... As I recall he
> already has the rights to it and was planning to do it.

I asked him about that a year or so ago. He's not doing it at this
point. I think he's moved on all together.

--
_________________
Alric Knebel

http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
http://www.ironeyefortress.com
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time? 

In article <5bmin39j2kik9996lbvrhvifucd86j0j1s DeleteThis @4ax.com>, Phil P. <phil DeleteThis @nospam.com> wrote:

: Harrison Bergeron - Haven't watched it yet. Sean Astin in the title role.

It's not too bad (mainly because I think that Miranda de Pencier is quite
attractive), but it doesn't have very much to do with the story.

-----
Richard Schultz schultr DeleteThis @mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
"an optimist is a guy/ that has never had/ much experience"
 >> Stay informed about: Who Am I This Time?