There’s a comedy group in New York by the name of Improv Everywhere. Apparently, they’ve done all kinds of pranks, staged events, and planned missions over the last several years. The most recent mission was to recreate the first Princess Leia/Darth Vader meeting from Star Wars…on a subway in New York.
It looks to me like the crowd enjoyed it.
Just one thing, though. Why is there a huge spider on the back of Leia’s book? Eep.
If you’ve been popping by this blog for a while, I’m sure that you have heard of AngryAlien.com’s 30 Second Bunny film re-enactments. I’m kind of addicted to them. Too bad she’s not going to be making any more. *sniffle* (Well, she’s taking a break at least.)
Anyway, here is the 30 Second Bunnified version of Star Wars (A New Hope/Episode 4/etc.). Make sure to take note of Princess Leia’s “haredo.”
Sister Mine and Brother Mine have birthdays this weekend. But, as Sister Mine will be out of the country on the birthday in question, I’ve decided to post her video silliness a little bit early.
As I have done for the past couple of years, I am once again posting a blast from the past just for you, Jives. I hope that you like it.
D’accord. Maintenant, je voudrais le voir. (I’m sure that my French has grown terribly rusty…but I still really want to see this film. Is it ever coming to America?)
Firstly, to make sure that we are all on the same page, here is the trailer for the film I’m talking about:
Okay, has everyone watched the trailer? Then I’ll get to the Random Review.
I adored Shorts. I kept finding myself laughing out loud. These days, that is a big thing for me. I’m even declaring this film okay for my Mum to see. That’s right, you heard me. (No, Mum. The baby doesn’t get eaten by a crocodile.) On the whole, the film was sort of structured like Pulp Fiction for kids. Yep. It was not in direct chronological order. But that’s okay. It worked out just fine. The characters were constantly surprising me. Just when I thought that I had someone figured out, they would turn another facet to the light. Mind you, this didn’t stop things from getting terribly silly from time to time. That’s why it’s so fun.
And the music ruled! Why can’t I find a soundtrack, Mr. Rodriguez? Why? The Vig and Deb? Can you keep your eyes peeled for this one?
So, to sum up: It was a tangled, hilarious, mass of silliness and action with really fun music. See it!
1) Been to the cinema and seen Twilight. I quite enjoyed the film. The line? Not so much. It wasn’t a “queue” some much as a crowd contained within ropes. I’m five feet tall, and I am not a fan of crowds. You can imagine how I might have been a bit…uncomfortable. I’d love to see it again when the theater isn’t full of people who scream when people appear on the screen. Makes it a bit difficult to hear, you know? Ah well.
2) Celebrated twenty years of friendship with one of my best friends by…
3) Going to the City Theater production of Snow White done British Panto style. Here is the review that I sent to Seeaplay.com. –
“I love Panto, so imagine my glee to find some locally. The [tag]City Theater[/tag] production of [tag]Snow White[/tag] was full of the requisite bad puns, pop culture references, a Dame, candy, audience participation, and (of course) a pantomime horse. I would like to make particular mention of the pair of dancing Golden Monkeys, and the wonderfully over the top acting of The Dame, The Queen, and Rosemary Thyme a.k.a. Muggly.
As you may imagine, I had a great time.”
Honestly, it was a hoot and a half. I will gladly drive back up to Sacramento to see another such production. If any of you folks leave near enough, and you like this sort of thing, give it a try. Heck, they even used the Doctor Who Theme on piano at one point.
So, that’s what I’ve been up to. What about you lot?
Once upon a time, when I was a youngling, I encountered a writer by the name of Alexander Key. (Not the writer himself, mind you, just his books. Though…come to think of it, I did write him a fan letter once. I imagine that was before he passed on.)
Anyway, I adored his books and I read everything I could get my hands on. The Case of the Vanishing Boy, The Magic Meadow, The Golden Enemy, The Forgotten Door, Escape to Witch Mountain, Return from Witch Mountain, etc. I loved them all. Books were my friends, and really, Mr. Key’s books spoke to me in a way that few others did. Perhaps it was the element of hope and understanding of differences that he deftly wove into his stories. People who didn’t fit in eventually found a place that they belonged and others like themselves. His books seemed to say that there were good people out there that would help you get where you needed to go. All very comforting when you were a strange as I was as a child. My particular favorites were the Witch Mountain books. Just imagine my delight when I discovered that they had been made into films!
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) Opening Segment:
I adored the 1975 version of [tag]Escape to Witch Mountain[/tag] for all that it wasn’t quite the same as the book. In the book, for example, Tia couldn’t talk like everyone else. Only Tony could hear her. Stuff like that. I must have seen that film over a hundred times. (Just ask my sister, she’ll tell you.) I was obsessed.
The film version of its sequel, Return From Witch Mountain, is one of the closest adaptations that I’ve seen. They did an excellent job bringing it to the big screen. It was great to see the events I’d imagined unfolding in front of me. Hmmm…I wonder if this spawned my lifelong interest in Book Adapatations. You can check out the trailer for this film below. (Mind you, the trailer narration is a wee bit on the…hokey side. I warn you now.)
Return From Witch Mountain Trailer:
Beyond Witch Mountain (no YouTube, sorry) was all Disney. It was one of those Wonderful World of Disney TV movies. It wasn’t bad. The person they got to play Deranian (the baddie from book one, and apparently for this tv film as well) looked a lot closer to the description from the first book. They had different actors for Tia and Tony, which surprised me, as I recall. I wish I could find it on DVD. All I have is an old copy on VHS. Anyway, it way okay. It detailed the story of the two kids returning to find another missing member of their people. They enlist the help of their old friend Mr. O’Day and off they go.
And then came the Purple Monstrosity. In 1995, Disney came out with a version of Escape to Witch Mountain that looked like a very loose adaption of the previous film written by people who didn’t even know that a book existed. (You can watch it here if you’re feeling brave.) Suffice to say…I absolutely loathed it. They had taken this book that I loved and made a mockery of it. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. Quite the immediate and visceral reaction, wouldn’t you say?
So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I am very cautious when it comes to Race to Witch Mountain which is due in theaters in March 2009. I’ve been following its process ever since I heard about it. I questioned the casting (The Rock? That kid from The Seeker? He’s already been in one travesty of a book that I loved…) I agonized about the story. And now…the trailer is out. Behold!
I have to say, in all honesty, that if I can just forget about the existence of the original book for the space of the film…well…it looks like fun. I tried to suspend my disbelief for The Seeker, for Christopher Eccleston’s sake if nothing else, but it didn’t work. That film adaptation just wasn’t that good on its own two feet. I have seen how bad adaptions can be, but I have cautious hope about this film. They may have managed to take it far enough away from the source for me to enjoy the film as a separate entity. I don’t know. Rest assured, I’ll let you know what I think of it.
Oh! And just for fun. Have you heard of the Blair Witch Mountain Project? You can see it here. It’s sort of a spoof of Blair Witch and the Witch Mountain movies, featuring the original Tia and Tony.
Escape to Witch Mountain is one of those books that sticks with you. I think that it’s time I read it again.
(Yes, [tag]Alexander Key[/tag] is still my favorite author. I have a quest to collect all of his books. Some day I will manage it.)
