How long is too long?

Family Movie Night

 

by Karyn Bowman

 

Have you ever had that feeling of knowing something was good but the downside was that it took too long to do?

 

This past week I brought home The Adventures of Tin-Tin. This is a great movie that was directed by Steven Spielberg and was nominated for an Oscar in 2012.

 

I love the way the animation folds out as if you are reading right along in the graphic novel that is the source material for the movie. In some ways it reminded me of Inception starring Leonardo Di Caprio. The books, by the way, have been popular in Europe for years, and Spielberg seemed to be the perfect director to bring Tin-Tin and his dog, Snowy, to life

 

The problem started as every single kid who walked into our house had the same comment when they saw the dvd box on the table.

 

“That movie is too long.”

 

Some tried to justify it by saying they fell asleep and when the woke up (a couple of times) the movie was still playing. Or they said it was good but they couldn’t keep up with it. This seems strange to me since the movie has plenty of action and adventure with blinding rain storms and a chase along the narrow streets of an old city.

 

Many times the Oscar movies are longer. They want to tell all aspects of a story and sometimes you need more than the usual 90 minutes of the average feature film. And that can be fine, especially in a movie such as any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy which flew by very quickly for me.

 

Then again, I have been to some movies that were only 70 minutes long – the bare minimum for a full length feature film – and felt as if they would never end. There was a Dana Carvey movie like that which should have been better but never seemed to get done. I could say the same about Son of the Mask starring Jamie Kennedy as well as the Scooby Doo live action movies.

 

With all that in mind, I looked up the length of the movie for Tin-Tin. It was 107 minutes which translates into 1 hour, 47 minutes. Most movies are 1 hour, 30 minutes long.

 

I am not sure what this all means because these are the same kids who play video games for hours on end until we turn off the TV and kick them out of the house to get some fresh air. An extra 17 minutes drives them to distraction? Really?

 

Well, I will remember that the next time I am watching all glorious 129 minutes of Pride and Prejudice starring Kierra Knightly and Matthew Macfayden. The time seems to fly when I am watching this movie – all 2 hours and 9 minutes.

 

Until next week, see you in the Rental Aisle.

 

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Wishing the Happiest of Birthdays

Family Movie Night

Dear Jane,

I wanted to drop a quick note to wish you a happy birthday. We won’t mention the year (235) or the fact you have been gone for nearly 200 years. If you are free, you are more than welcomed to stop by for some tea and cake. Just let me know what time you can make it. You need to have a discussion with the person who operates your Facebook page because your birth date is not listed.

Picture from Barnes and Noble.com

 I would love to discuss with you the current “Austenmania.” There are writers who are adding sequels to your novels, turning Darcy and Elizabeth or yourself into detectives and mashing your novels with horror genre monsters. My favorite makes you into a vampire. Plus, you get to have an affair with the most dashing man in English literature.

 Then there are the movies. So many handsome and wonderful men have been used to depict your romantic heroes. Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility (1995) may be the most romantic version of this character. There is a scene in which he reads poetry to Marianne (not a scene from the book) that makes many of us modern women swoon.

 The BBC has put out new movie renditions of your books a few years ago and really outdid themselves. David Morrissey stars as Colonel Brandon, making me swoon in a completely different way. He was given the opportunity to duel a young man on-screen and it was wonderful.

 Colin Firth has been called the definitive Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries. He is quite delicious, especially the scene in which he swims in the lake right before meeting Elizabeth again at Pemberly (another scene not in the book). But there is a part of me that really loves Matthew MacFadyen’s version of Darcy from the 2005 movie starring Kiera Knightly as Lizzie.

Picture by Karyn Bowman

When you come for tea, I will show you the cup I found at a sale this summer that looks similar to one I saw in Persuasion (1995). Ciaràn Hinds is the good captain and I have never forgotten his looks at Anne when he thought she wasn’t looking. He uses a very similar cup during a conversation with Charles Musgrove.

 At this point of the column I usually discuss a Christmas movie to watch for the season. One of my old time favorites is A Christmas Carol (1951) starring Alastair Sims. The Sims version has a non-quantitative something about it that brings joy to the heart and thoughtfulness to the brain.

There are many versions of this story in movie form but the 1951 version is my favorite, completely suitable for all family members with just enough scary moments to remind us of the total joy of Christmas.

 It is based on a short story by Charles Dickens, a Victorian-era writer whose work seemed to constantly explore the theme of not having enough money or charitable spirit.

Picture from IMDb.com

 Another British movie set during the holidays in our modern times is Love, Actually and it stars various actors from the movies based on your books – Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman and Kiera Knightly.  It is a modern tale of several people discovering their way to love or through love. Liam Neeson is also in this movie and I find him quite yummy.

Please let me know if you can make it for tea. After recently re-reading Lady Susan, I suddenly realized that only Kate Winslet could play her at this time in a movie and we must discuss. If not, please let me wish you a happy birthday on the 16th.

Your sincerely devoted reader.

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