Flyawaylittlemonkey

Flyawaylittlemonkey t1_j1m8a3b wrote

I really enjoyed it as someone who has seen the stage musical many times.

The only downside for me was I did feel (as I felt in the stage play) that having the kind librarian figure detracts from Matilda's relationship with Miss Honey. There's only a limited amount of screen time, and I would have preferred it that Miss Honey got to shine a little more. Lashana Lynch is an amazing actress and she did a wonderful job.

Likewise, the role of the parents was very abbreviated to make room for more of the escapology story. I know that the angle of this version is "the power of stories" but every time we went to the flashback, the overall movie lost momentum. Onstage the parents have some more to do, which I really enjoyed, because it was very funny and added nuance.

I also really loved how they handled "When I Grow Up". As one of my favourite songs from the musical, I was worried about the staging (since it's a very physical song on stage!) but they did a wonderful job with it.

72

Flyawaylittlemonkey t1_j1m7v6g wrote

If you mean the Mara Wilson version, it's not "the original".

This is a completely different movie based on a wildly successful musical theatre adaptation of the book with music by Tim Minchin.

It's not a remake of the first movie. It's completely a different thing. And it's very good!

36

Flyawaylittlemonkey t1_j1m5xjo wrote

I was doing the 100 greatest movies list as a lockdown activity. Schindler's List was on it.

I figured a lot of the movies would be cheaper on DVD or just not around on streaming so I hit up eBay and scored the two disc special edition for 99p. Brilliant.

Had a free afternoon, so put the disc in, played the movie, and was super confused. The plot seemed to make no sense, there was no scene setting and suddenly we're in a factory. I had no idea what was going on, but I told myself - stick with it. Maybe this is flashback or a non linear narrative like Memento.

It was only when the credits rolled that I realised I'd played the second fucking disc first by mistake.

I am an absolute idiot.

10