Television

[Kathy Li]

"just a comic book..." (sigh). The film directly credits the FROM HELL graphic novel as it sole source.

It's a 600-page graphic novel, meticulously researched, with a section of footnotes about 100 pages long. Its scripts have been published separately. The Hughes Brothers are big Alan Moore fans, but did not have nearly the knowledge or sensitivy required to successfully translate the work to the screen. (I think that of all modern film-makers, only Peter Greenaway would be capable of the task.)

The graphic novel is a serious piece of literature, with far-reaching repercussions about the state of the modern mind and the state of the serial killer and the echoes of history. It's got grand themes and far-ranging ideas and thought-provoking, horrifying, beautiful things to say. The movie is cheap thrills in comparison.

Just because something's in the comic form doesn't make it less significant, more simplistic, or less than a film. In this particular case, my opinion which will probably never be swayed, is that the film is a bastardization of the original work, that never got near the spirit of the original.

The Dead Zone, otoh (to bring us back on subject) is a great example of taking a work, and spinning it out to create a different variant of it. One of my favorite touches on the series is that they try as often as they can to incorporate direct quotes from the King novel as dialogue.

[crookedfrog21]

I didn't mean it as, Oh, it is just a comic book. I didn't realize that the adaptation from From Hell was from a comic book. No, I respect comic book readers and writers very much, I have nothing against them I didn't mean it in an offensive way, I was only trying to argue my point. Thank you from haveing clarified the origin of the movie for me.

Now, do you honestly think that they could cram 600 pages of writeing and pictures and 100 pages of subscribt into a movie and still get the essence of the original peice into the story? It would, in my opinion, be a bastardization of the original work if they tried. Things would be fast, muddled, and definatly hard to comprehend.

[Kathy Li]

...if the movie was roughly the length of Berlin Alexanderplatz (what is it? 15 hrs?), no problem. All kidding aside, as I said, I think the only filmmaker who could've boiled it down to its essence and managed to give us the heart of From Hell would've been Peter Greenaway. But I also don't think that ANY film version by dint of being shorter is necessarily going to bastardize its source material. Take the David Lean versions of Great Expectations or, even more radically, Lawrence of Arabia (if you consider that it's source material is Lawrence's The Seven Pillars of Wisdom).

Good adaptation is an art until itself.

Sorry about jumping down your throat and making wrong assumptions. It's just that I've run into the comic books are stupid thing so often I sort of go into autorant at the least hint of it appearing in front of me.

I still think the best television adapter I've ever watched is Alexander Baron. He's the only adapter I know who ever got that Jane Eyre is funny as well as melodramatic and romantic (he did the Timothy Dalton/Zelah Clarke version). He also got brought in as a ringer on the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series to do their pilot: "A Scandal in Bohemia", and perfectly and lovingly chose the very first words out of Watson's mouth to Holmes to be, "What is it tonight, Holmes? Morphine? Or cocaine?" so that you knew you were getting the detective off Conan Doyle's page, and not another Rathbone rehash. They don't write 'em like that any more.
[edited for typos only]

[crookedfrog21]

Hey, No harm, no foul. i just want to make sure you understand I didn't mean it in a mean way. I am not a big comic book person, (Calvin and Hobbs is as far as I have got, so I was under-educated. Thanks for clearing that up.

*sigh* Things just aren't as good as they used to be, eh?

[Kathy Li]

Oh, they're probably as good as they've always been, it's just that what's good hops around.

I'm still waiting for the reality wave to die down a little, but given that even PBS documentaries are going the reality route, it's hard to pinpoint what's gonna happy.

[crookedfrog21]

Was that supposed to be "Whats going to happen becasue it was really funny as "Happy". It made me laugh.

It's hard to pinpoint what's going to happy.

[Kathy Li]

This is what happens when you forget to eat lunch until 4pm . Those Snickers commercials aren't kidding.

[crookedfrog21]

To true, to true. Just be careful so that you don't as a old lady (or man) out. *shiver*

You know what we need? A smiley that is getting sick...'cause that is the only one I can really use to describe a moment like this.

[crookedfrog21]

Does anybody else agree? About the getting sick smiley? Because I am really tired of talking to myself.

[Chani]

Ummm.....well, I don't know. Kinda gross... gaving a sick smiley. Maybe just a sad one that is green.

[Kathy Li]

So, still having fun with Dead Zone, had oodles of fun with A&E's Pride which was, of all things, like a live-action version of The Lion King and about as wackoid in terms of what lions really do.

But the piece de resistance of my backlog pile of stuff I've taped to watch later, has to be the Hallmark Channel's La Femme Musketeer. Obviously written by folks who didn't know the book had sequels... Still, it's goofy fun and I love the whole insouciant let's-just-forget-all-about-sexism, and have our heroine go be a musketeer.

Anybody catch the TNT remake of Salem's Lot? That's on my pile, too.

[Quill]

Attention CSI fans:

CBS has apparently fired Jorja Fox and George Eads for asking for more money. If this upsets you, let the network know. If you think Season 5 will be more interesting without them, feel free to snicker.

Use the feedback option on cbs.com
send in handwritten letters:

CBS Television Network
Attn: CSI
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019

[crookedfrog21]

WHAT!!!!!!! GAH!!!!!

[Kathy Li]

I think the only actors leaving that show that could cripple it for me would be Petersen or Helgenberger.

Fox and Eads are probably right to wanna leave--they're still in the tail end of their engenue years, and CSI can easily chug on for another decade until they can't get romantic leading roles (leading to bigger stardom) any more.

[Quill]

You could be right, kli6, but as far as I know there's been no hint that the two of them wanted to leave. It appears that they were fired as an example, because some actors in another show succeeded in getting more money last year. Seems an overreaction to me.

Personally, I can't see the show being half as good with two of the main characters knocked out like that, esp. with the Season 4 hints about Grissom & Sara. The chemistry among the five main CSIs is just too good. But IDIC!