Nov. 20
12:28 PM
Trailer For New Vonnegut Adaptation
Adaptations of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s work has been spotty at best. From the atrocious Slapstick of Another Kind (starring Jerry Lewis!) to the earnest misfire Breakfast of Champions it seems that his style is really not suited for film, although I do have a nostalgic fondness for Slaughterhouse Five and remember the Mother Night movie being pretty decent. I believe they adapted some of the stories from Welcome to the Monkey House into a miniseries but never caught that, so I can't really weigh in there. And then there's "Harrison Bergeron", first adapted into a film starring Sean "Please, Mr. Frodo" Astin and now adapted again as 2081. The trailer:
A Kronos Quartet soundtrack is always a good thing, and the cast seems good, but still--even as a short film they don't have a lot of material to work with, especially since the 2 1/2 minute trailer tells almost the entire short story. Of course, a lack of material has never stopped people from adapting short stories before, and it looks pretty, but still--a decent short story, sure, but hardly a great one, in my opinion, and one with a rather problematic message beneath the archetypal individual-makes-a-stand-against-oppressive-society plot. But still--it looks pretty, and it sounds pretty, so I'll probably give it a watch.
Seen anything good recently? Other than a zombie fighting a shark?
[Cross-posted to my website]