Dickensblog

Hulu's 'Great Expectations': Reviews and articles

The first episode of the new BBC/FX Great Expectations is now available on Hulu. The Independent opines that, paradoxically, "the desire to sex up Victoriana" is "all very predictable." The Hollywood Reporter states, "What could have been a daring spin on a classic is transformed instead into a dreary slog," and CNN says, "The story ... grinds along sluggishly." According to The Evening Standard, "It’s not so much a dramatisation of Great Expectation[s], as a hollowing out of it in order to accommodate a very different story and almost unrecognisable characters." (Relatedly, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst has an interesting piece at LitHub, with the marvelous title "The Wizardry of Boz," taking a look at how the various adaptations of Dickens have shaped our view of his work.)

But the piece that most got my attention was writer/producer Steven Knight's interview with TV Insider, in which Knight said, "[Dickens] can never go all the way into those dark places. So that’s what I tried to do." You can read my Twitter rant on that quote here. The gist of it is that I'm sick and tired of people claiming to have added qualities to Dickens that are already there, and that Dickens could out-dark Knight with one hand tied behind his back. Just because he wasn't explicit or gruesome doesn't mean he was too timid to explore or create haunting pictures of the grim side of life.

Anyway, I'll probably be watching Episode 1 (there will be six total) tonight or tomorrow, and will share my thoughts here. I have to admit, after some of what I've been reading (and after the same team's Christmas Carol adaptation), my expectations are not great.

Dickens documentary premieres in Utica

If you're in Utica, New York, you'll have a chance to attend the world premiere of Dennis Dewey's new documentary, Mr. Dickens Comes to Uttica. The film tells the story of Dickens's unscheduled layover in Utica during his American tour in 1868 and its effects on the local population. The film premieres at the Oneida County History Center on March 18, and will include an exhibition of artifacts related to Dickens's hotel stay. Go here and here for details! 

TCM alert

The channel is airing David Copperfield (1935) at 9:45 this morning as part of the 31 Days of Oscar celebration.

Thoughts on 'Spirited'

Is the end of February too late to share thoughts on Spirited? :-) I actually started writing this review in December. But what with one thing and another, I got way, way behind. I guess I could always wait till next December, but I'd really like to just get this done and off my plate, so with your kind indulgence, let's have a little Christmas in February!

I've seen Spirited called A Christmas Carol from the ghosts' perspective. That's only partially true. It's not actually an adaptation or a remake of A Christmas Carol; rather, it's a peek into a world where A Christmas Carol has played out over and over again through the years, every year targeting a new Scrooge. But yes, it does give us the ghosts' point of view on the process -- one ghost's in particular. 

Will Ferrell stars as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who's eager to reel in a really big fish this year. He advocates for Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), a social media consultant who has no qualms about using every dirty trick he can come up with on his clients' behalf. Though Clint is considered "unredeemable," Present prevails, and Clint becomes this year's Scrooge. But things go awry when Clint seduces the Ghost of Christmas Past (Sunita Mani); Present falls for Clint's assistant, Kimberly (Octavia Spencer); and Clint starts deducing Present's weaknesses and pushing back. 

Full-length 'Great Expectations' trailer debuts

Thanks to Cody Quanbeck in the Dickensblog Facebook group for giving me the tip! The series looks grim and rather violent -- not entirely unexpected from the team that gave us that very dour A Christmas Carol a few years back. But we'll have to wait until we see the whole thing to know for sure ...

Release date and poster for BBC/FX 'Great Expectations'

I can't help but be reminded of the line "That's why her hair is so big. It's full of secrets."

The six-part series premieres on Hulu on Sunday, March 26.

(Image copyright BBC Studios/FX Productions)

'Shadow Chasers' to feature Dickens and his characters

In the adventure film Shadow Chasers, to be shot in Australia this fall, a young Charles Dickens will join forces with Oliver Twist, Scrooge, and Marley "to save Old London from imminent destruction." George Mahaffey (Chief of Station) wrote the script, and Luke Sparke (Occupation) will direct. Deadline Hollywood has the details!

Olivia Colman in new 'Great Expectations' teaser trailer

"Teaser" is the right word -- it's only 20 seconds long! But it does give us our first glimpse of Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham, along with Tom Sweet as young Pip. (H/T RadioTimes, brought to my attention by Lee Jackson on Twitter)

TCM alerts

David Copperfield (1935) airs at noon Eastern today, and A Tale of Two Cities (1935) airs at 6 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday.

Thoughts on 'Scrooge: A Christmas Carol' (2022)

I hate to go all bah humbug about any version of A Christmas Carol, but I'm afraid I didn't find much to enjoy about the new animated film on Netflix. It gave me the impression that someone had forced several cases of Red Bull down the throats of a bunch of animators, locked them in a room, and told them to go to town. The film is frenetic in the extreme. Fireballs streak through the air, surfaces ice over and play videos like a Christmasy Victorian MTV, people and objects float through the air, and honestly, the whole thing is exhausting.

Also, Scrooge has a dog. No, I don't get it either. She's a sweet dog, and a good foil for him, but why Scrooge would have a dog -- or why Marley, from whom he inherited her, would have had a dog -- is a question that's never addressed adequately, and so it just ends up adding to the general air of "What the heck?"

Award-winning composer Leslie Bricusse made significant contributions to the film before he passed away in October of last year. In addition to repurposing songs from his own earlier version, Scrooge (1970), he wrote new songs, in addition to writing the screenplay. His involvement makes me even sadder about my lack of enthusiasm. But most of the re-arranged songs, in this hectic atmosphere, fail to bring with them their old charm, and the new ones don't stand out at all. And there's nothing in the script -- no especially interesting new twists or backstory or flourishes -- to justify this adaptation. As far as the basic story goes, it doesn't really stray all that far from the original (aside from a few inexplicable departures, like the dog), but the sheer busyness of the film makes it look as if it didn't trust its own source material and was relying on distractions.

If there's a plus to this film at all, it's the fine vocal work of the cast, particularly Luke Evans, Olivia Colman, and the other leads. But they're so overly talkative, especially Colman as the Ghost of Christmas Past, that even that gets wearying. This was one version of the Carol that I probably won't be watching again.