Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Bewitched (2005)

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 06-25-2005, 07:19 PM:

CINEMA: RL Fridley Theatres' Springwood 9, Ankeny, IA
AUDITORIUM: 5
PRESENTATION: Mystery Meat Digital
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Is that the climate control...or is a B-3 bomber flying by?
RATING: Two stars (out of four)

WARNING: Some information may be considered spoilers

I'll say this for Fridley's video pre-show...Somebody's done an outstanding job of selling local advertisers.

The premise: A romantic comedy built around the Bewitched franchise. That just sounds like trouble on paper. But if you go into this movie knowing that, you just might enjoy part of it.

Maybe.

As a romantic comedy, there are some genuinely funny moments. But does that make this worthy of being sold on an unsuspecting public as "Bewitched"? Big Bewitched fans will be angry at this movie.

Nicole Kidman isn't doing Samantha here. She's channeling Renee Zellwiger's character from "Down with Love" early in the movie, and Meg Ryan later. Will Farrell is...well...Will Farrell. There's an Endora...sorry...there's an actress named Iris playing the part of Endora...and there's an Uncle Arthur (a Saturday Night Live-bad attempt at impersonating Paul Lynde). Actually, there's sort of a Samantha too, and a couple "are they or aren't they" things left to the imagination. Michael Caine's role as Isabel's (Kidman) father is the best part in the movie, and his and Endora's part is left completely unresolved in the end. The movie ends flat, as if they ran out of ideas and just called it a day.

I may or may not have spied our very own Andrew Diercks in the building...there's two guys there who look like his picture...but his staff delivered as good a presentation as the equipment there can.

I snagged his business card from the ticket booth, though. It's SNAZZY [Cool]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-26-2005, 12:13 AM:

I know they were making a movie about remaking the TV show, but they got so many of the small details wrong. To wit:

- Isabel ("Samantha") is shown riding a broom. In the TV show, Samanthat hated the "popular" conception of witches as broom-riding ugly old women, thus she would never be caught dead riding a broom.

- In the original TV show, Elizabeth Montgomery's lip twitch (it's not a "nose twitch" no matter what anyone says) is perfectly synchronized with the little xylophone riff that accompanies it. In the movie, Nicole Kidman's twitch is way too exaggerated and too slow, not synchronized in the least. Couldn't they have digitally sped it up to at least match the music? (I know, she was only supposed to be an actor PLAYING Elizabeth Montgomery, but ....I am getting a headache.)

- In the movie, Isabel uses magic to transform some kind of card to a credit card in order to charge some stuff in a store. That's theft -- Samantha would never do such a thing.

There are probably a lot more examples but all I've seen so far is the trailer, which is more than enough, I fear.

This kind of crap reminds me of why "The Beverly Hillbillies" movie was so stupid -- they had Jim Varney exclaiming "Weee doggies!" over and over, while the original Jed Clampett clearly said "Well, doggies." Then at the ending, a bunch of puppies are born, and he says "Wee doggies!" Wow, what a perfect punchline!!! [Roll Eyes]

There should be a federal law against any more TV remakes. (Except Starsky & Hutch. That was funny.)

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 06-26-2005, 02:07 AM:

And the Dukes of Hazzard looks promising. Directed by Jay Chakasandrashamashabandadakarafarkaphasakar or something like that. He gave us the classic Super Trooopers, the less then stellar but still memorable Clubb Dread, and several episodes of televisions sleeper show that unfortunately is not a hit but should be.. arrested development.

As long as they just stick with the formula of great and creative car chases, breaking the law for no reason, and daisy duke...um... just daisy duke... should be fun.

Agreed, Bewitched was a joke. Humorous sort of, but misfired on all counts.

Ciao

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 06-26-2005, 06:09 PM:

This was BAD. Not even the neighbors big jugs could help this one.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-26-2005, 06:31 PM:

Thankfully I called "not it" for the screening as soon as we played our first trailer a few months ago!

Will Ferrell = stupid unfunny crap

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 06-26-2005, 10:36 PM:

I saw this Saturday night for reasons that will soon become clear.

I found that I have a deep aversion to Will Ferrell during the Elf screening at Show East a few years ago. At the party afterwards it was all I could do to keep myself from throwing the fruit plate at him. After two years, I'm still not sure I made the correct decision. I think a lifetime ban from Show East and ShoWest might have been a fair trade for throwing the fruit plate a Will Ferrel. Nothing I have seen of his has changed my opinion. I simply loathe the man.

That said, I am drawn to Nichole Kidman. Have been since she starred in the Nascar film with Tom Cruise. And that was before she found what color makeup works with her skin and she had that awful perm. Every time I see her, my pulse quickens and I remember that I'm not dead yet. My last film was Batman and seeing Bewitched I thought why is Tom dating that child? This film just took the cake. I even found all that Ann Taylor fashion unbearably cute. Who new that I was drawn to flowery skirts and twin sets.

Again I am reminded that I think most Hollywood films over-play their hand. It would have been fun (even though we all know she is a witch) if they had been more subtle. Perhaps have her not do any thing remotely magic for the first hour or so.

I think the message should be not to go and see those old TV remakes. So could someone just post the 12-minutes of Jessica Simpson strutting about in the Dukes of Hazard, with the sound turned down and then I won't need to see the film. Who knew that modern actors could make Tom Wolpat see intelligent and interesting? [Roll Eyes]