Finally Watched GARFIELD: THE MOVIE

I got it from Netflix... like... a month ago.

Actually, it might have been a couple of months ago...

Anyway... Finally saw it. It was cute :) If it looks like something you want to rent, rent it. Go ahead, it won't hurt you.

As a writer and one-time Garfield fan, I was kinda surprised by some of the choices they made. When you adapt an existing property you have to decide what you are gonna stay loyal to and what has to be changed to make it work as a movie. There are some hard-core Garfield cannon (yes, I realize the irnoy of putting those two words together like that) that they didn't just ignore, but actually REVERSED. Nermal isn't Lyman's unbearably adorable kitten and Garfield's arch-nemisis, he's just this goofy cat that lives on the block... and isn't that cute. Liz isn't all jaded and just flat-out indifferent to John, she's Jennifer Love Hewit and she's been crushing on him for as long as he's been crushing on her.

I think they could have made a movie out of the comic strip, but the movie they made was easier for them to write. Whoever wrote this is probably more used to straight-up Family Films, and didn't know how to make all the cynical humor play.

Now, don't get me wrong: (1) not dissing the film; it was cute, harmless fun, and (2) not glorifying the comic strip either; I think I lost interest in the strip when I turned 13 and discovered BLOOM COUNTY (truly cynical -- and whimiscal -- humor... and it actually make you laugh, too!). I'm not EVEN trying to make like Garfield is this sacred literary franchise that "deserves better" than the movie made of it. And I'm SO NOT trying to make like I'm "too sophisticated" to enjoy cute, fun talking-animal flicks.

Plus, the sequel hit theaters earlier this summer, so people obviously enjoyed the first one.

I just find the choices the writers and/or producers made interesting. It seems like either a genuine unfamiliarity with the property they were adaptiing, or a genuine lack of loyaty to/concern about it. I mean, I'm SURE they felt loyaty toward the "brand" they were working with, but they either didn't know that much about what makes the strip what it is or just didn't care. They got all the details about Garfield right. And they got the essence of the Garfield/Odie relationship right. But that seems to be the limit of their research.

Jon is sorta Jon, except for the passive-agressive aspect of his and Garfield's relationship. And he's cooler than he is in the strip. (You know, in that goofy-yet-charming way.)

AND... It's not like the writers were idots, either! They did some interesting things in this movie!!! First off, for the last several decades in comedy movies when a guy likes a girl and something happens that he mistakenly believes might harm his chances of getting the girl, he always lies about it... and wackines ensues. When that opportunity arrises in this flick -- and Garfield even advises him to take the cliche route and hide the truth from her -- he tells her right away. And she responds the way you know she's going to -- because you're the audience and you're a hundred times smarter than the characters in these types of movies -- and she's fine it and helps him out.

Which is cool, because then the story can move on and explore other story possibilities besides rehashing THREE'S COMPANY gags that we all know and loathe.

So these writers weren't dummies... Or even lazy.

Which makes their choices even more intriguing to me, as they probably have a good reason for them. (Like "The execs made us do it"... That would my guess, anyway.)

I'd still like to see a movie made from the comic strip. But I don't have high hopes for that because it probably wouldn't have Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield... The one thing this flick did ABSOLUTELY right.

Hey, does anyone else catch the symetry of Bill Murray voicing Garfield?

Okay, check this out...

Bill Murray played Peter Vinkman in GHOSTBUSTERS.

And then they made a Saturday Morning cartoon called THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS which was actually a spinoff of the movie. It was good, REALLY good writing and often genuinely funny!

And Lorenzo Muzik(sp?) did the voice for Peter Vinkman! And he was THE PERFECT choice! I mean, if you can't afford to hire Bill Murray to play a Bill Murray character, you hire Lorenzo Muzik!

But before THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS came along, Loenzo Muzik did the voice of Garfield for those animated Holiday Specials. And all my friends and I were floored by how PERFECT Muzik was for the character: He had NAILED it!

So he was kind of the animated-TV version of Bill Murray.

So then Garfield finally makes it to the Big Screen... and...

Sort of poetic, I think :)

I'm getting deja vu... Have I written this before?

Huh.

Anyways...

OOH!!! Brian took us to see DEAD MAN'S CHEST again last night!!! (I love my bubba!) Better the second time around, because I feel like I retained more of what's going on. The first time it's just such a ride! It all goes by so fast. It's like, they give you enough so that you can follow the story, but not enough that you can remember the story after you leave the theater (after the first viewing).

In fact, after the first viewing you pretty much can only remember ONE scene.

Two, if you stayed until the credits were over.

DUDE! Davey Jone's crew is just NASTY-LOOKIN'!!!

I haven't had any reason to spend ANY time in-world this weak, and it's been pretty amazing! I find myself with many things I can do, and TONS of time to do them in! (That's a nice feeling! :) )

I was so bored than Brian and I started watching this Asian "horror" flick called A TALE OF TWO SISTERS earlier. It was very slow and nothing was happening, so we popped it out and put on FRAILTY with Bill Paxton, Mathew Machonehy(sp?!!) and Powers Boothe. (THAT'S a great flick!!! Brian's first time to see it, too.)

Then we watched Garfield.

And now I'm looking at the clock, and it's some 6 hours until my bedtime...

AND...

I'M OFF TOMORROW AS WELL!!!

It's like I have suddenly been given a HUGE BOX O' TIME!!! Like "Hey, I had a 36 or 40 hours laying around and I'm not gonna use 'em. You want 'em?"

To which I respond "YESPLEASEANDTHANKYOU!!!" :D

Pretty cool :)

I still haven't seen CLERKS 2 yet :( It kinda almost doesn't matter, though, because Opening Weekend is when I REALLY wanted to see it -- to boost the opening box office for Kevin, even if it was just by one ticket. Since it's a comedy I'm happy seeing it on dvd... The laughs will be as big on any size screen. (Where as explosions and zombies and things do loose a little when they shrink... Just a little.)

Okay, I think I'm gonna take some of my extra time and fill up the bath tub with it, and then just SOAK in it! :D