Word: screens
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...deeper meanings of these ashes and what they signify would be pointless in this weak cinematic adaptation of the book. What works for the book--different incidents from McCourt's childhood that connect to create a rich, moving mosaic of his life growing up in Ireland--fails miserably on-screen. Episodic and unsatisfyingly static, the film is bound to disappoint fans of McCourt's memoir...
...many voiceovers quoting directly from the book simply aren't sufficient to transfer the spirit, humor and pathos from the page to the screen. While multiple themes may have worked in the book, they take away from any strong focus the film might have had. Parker should have chosen from a few of the many themes that run wild through the movie: the father/son relationship, religion, storytelling, education, poverty and class struggles are all jumbled together in a coming-of-age format. Instead of being rabidly faithful to the book and trying to include four out of every five anecdotes...
...While Woodrell wishes to "get through the humanity of all involved" in his novel, Lee's Ride With the Devil is merely a mockery of human relationships. Maguire's Jimmy Stewart-like treatment of his character, the unexplored dramatic richness of Holt's story and Jewel's shaky on-screen image detract from Lee's normally rich character development. Lee fails in Ride With the Devil. The film is not poorly conceived, but his past films and demonstrated talent grant occasion to expect more from him. This time, Lee tries too hard bridge the gap between the subtlety and serious...
...varnished-over chocolate and cake gel on canvas was the most difficult to keep my hands off; the surface seems to be encrusted with half-molten gemstones. Similarly, Jessica Golbus '99 also starts with a canvas but then adds texture instead of paint, covering the surface with strips of screen, splintering boards and an old shirt...
...Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin writes that the body of the filmed subject "loses its corporeality, it evaporates, it is deprived of reality, life, voice and the noises caused by his moving about, in order to be changed into a mute image, flickering an instant on the screen, then vanishing into silence. The projector will play with his shadow before the public." Shimon Attie's work, currently on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, is premised on such shadowplay, but with profoundly moving results...