From Small Screen to Big...
There has been a shift in the way TV is viewed now; we keep hearing from TV and
movie pundits that television has become more like film, and then film more
like television… Meaning that the bar has been raised with TV; movie script
writers, directors and actors have moved into creating “quality” television
that engages more akin to film, while films have dumbed down, becoming more
empty and numbing in effect. Usual such adjectives are reserved for TV, by
those who think it is the lesser art form/entertainment of the two... Suffice
to say it’s an interesting time for both mediums...
It’s also no secret that television has fed the movies over the years –
countless films have now been adapted from some of our favourite TV shows. Some
are unmitigated crap, others plain weird, and some brilliant. But for as many
“bombs” there are as many box office blitzes. And wonderfully, a fair share of
compelling anomalies just to keep us interested.
One of the most resoundingly chastised TV-film adaptations has to be
The Avengers (1998). The long running English spy series (1961 – 1969)
all but defined contemporary 60s TV: it was slick, cool and progressive with
very sexy stars in its cast including
Diana Rigg,
Honor Blackman and the esteemed, wry
Patrick MacNee. Not only that, it had longevity, with fans still
burning a torch for it when it made its move to the big screen in 1998.
Unfortunately it was nowhere near as well received (understatement). With
Ralph Fiennes,
Sean Connery,
Uma Thurman and Brit comedian Eddie Izzard on the marquis, you might
have thought it had a chance... Not so. God-awful direction and an even worse
script (and bad, bad comic and action timing from the actors) made it eligible
for the annual Golden Turkey Awards and one of the worst movies ever made...
Ouch.
Twin Peaks ended its magic, surreal, trippy run as one of the most successful
cult TV series of all time, after only a couple of years on the (1990-1991)… In
his infinite wisdom, director/co-creator David Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet),
decided to make and release a “prequel” to the series, Fire Walk With Me
(1992), which at the time was fairly unique to the motion picture. Fire Walk
With Me defied expectations and really, only served to baffle audiences
further. In characteristic style Lynch refused to solve the many riddles and
mysteries that gratified audiences each week, which kicked off with the
discovery of a dead girl “wrapped in plastic”. But our favourite characters
were there; the “Log Lady”, the evil Bob, Leland, Laura Palmer, the backwards
talking midget, and of course Special Agent Dale Cooper… The beautiful Special
Agent Cooper (Kyle McLachlan), continued to remain the Zen calm in the eye of
the freakish storm… and loving his apple pie.
The Addams Family 1991) has to be one of the most satisfying TV shows adapted
to the big screen (1964 – 1969). Not only that, its sequel (Addams Family
Values, 1993) also proved to lots of fun; both were whip-smart, contemporary
films with a great sense of the old series – the irony, family (dys)function
and cultural subversion that made this 60s kids comedy show such gleeful wicked
and macabre fun. Canny casting (including Anjelica Huston, the late Raul Julia
and Christina Ricci), excellent screenwriting and inventive direction –
courtesy of Coen Brothers’ cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld (RV, Get Shorty) –
made these two movies classics for the 90s. They even overshadowed the two
Brady Bunch films – the first of which deserves its place as one of the
underrated comedies in this category...
- Megan
Megan Spencer has spent way too much of her life in the dark, all for a good
cause though - watching movies as a professional film critic. For the last six
and a half years she has been serving the ever-increasing hunger for film and
DVD reviews as radio triple j's resident film critic, and a year ago joined the
new line up of long-running SBS-TV film review program, The Movie Show.
Every now and then she pops up into the light to make her own films,
documentaries (her latest is 'Fantastic Brutality', a documentary about an
obsessed wrestling fan, to be released next year). She has also written about
film for many publications including J-Mag, Limelight, Inside Film Magazine and
the Age Green Guide.
And the impossible question to ask a film critic: what's her favourite film?
"Blue Velvet would be at the top of the list, so would Fight Club... But then
again American In Paris makes me cry every time."
Megan has also been part of the Foxtel's Project Greenlight Australia as an
on-air panelist and judge.
