Flowers in the Attic

[forever1267]

Agreed. It could have been an hour longer, and they could have gone much further with the insanity. Good approximation, but it could have been so much more... SINFUL!!!

Dylan Bruce was handsome in the role, but I always pictured Tom Selleck as Bart Winslow.

[scarlet]

Just watched! I think they got more right than they got wrong, so well done for the most part. Could've stood to be a bit longer (an extra 30 minutes would've been enough) but the passage of time was believable enough. I think they tweaked the ending a bit from the book (didn't they figure out on their own that their mother was the one who gave them the poison w/o the grandmother telling them? And did she come to the attic for a final confrontation? I can't remember), but it was MILES ahead of the 1987 version, that's for sure.

I'd give it a B+.

[Mierin]

IIRC, the grandmother didn't have a confrontation with the kids as they broke out, but Cathy looked up at the attic as they were leaving and saw the grandmother standing at the window.

The movie was ok overall, but I was a bit underwhelmed by it.

[Queena]

Jan 19, 2014 14:42:59 GMT -4 scarlet said:

Just watched! I think they got more right than they got wrong, so well done for the most part. Could've stood to be a bit longer (an extra 30 minutes would've been enough) but the passage of time was believable enough. I think they tweaked the ending a bit from the book (didn't they figure out on their own that their mother was the one who gave them the poison w/o the grandmother telling them? And did she come to the attic for a final confrontation? I can't remember), but it was MILES ahead of the 1987 version, that's for sure.

I'd give it a B+.

That's the same way I felt, they got more right than wrong. So much right, that I want to read the book.

[SweetOblivion]

Just watched it and I am so, SO glad it did not venture into Mommy Dearest territory. Ellen Burstyn hit all the tones perfectly. Heather Graham was just kind of there. I don't watch Lifetime, but from what little I've seen they usually do not shy away from rape. I guess showing a brother raping his sister was beyond their limit, because that didn't happen.

I also think it should have been a little longer, if only to flesh out the twins a bit more.

[prisma]

Jan 19, 2014 2:28:54 GMT -4 forever1267 said:

Dylan Bruce was handsome in the role, but I always pictured Tom Selleck as Bart Winslow.

I think the book described Bart as having a big ole mustache, so maybe that's where the Tom Selleck imagery came in? Because I have the same impression.

Heather as Corrine made it as Dlisted Hot Slut of the Day.

About 20 minutes into the SAG Awards last night, Meryl Streep should’ve ran up onstage and told everyone that the rest of the show has been canceled and the winners will receive their naked fungus man trophies in the mail, because everyone should switch to Lifetime and witness a real acting master at work. Heather Graham as a perfect suburban Stepford wife turned scheming, gold digging **** succubus of a mother (“That description sounds eerily familiar” – Jon Gosselin) was a revelation and any actors who are hired to play a wooden post in a movie or play will study her performance for inspiration.

I'm watching this tonight--yay!

[chonies]

Fantasy casting: Christoph Waltz, or possibly Danny Trejo as Bart Winslow.

[bluemuna]

I didn't realize that Jeffrey Sebelia from Project Runway was the costume designer.

[celerydunk]

Like most of you, I read the books when I was entirely too young for them to be appropriate.

I enjoyed the movie. I agree that it did seem like they were squeezing too much in - maybe another 1/2 hour to make the story a bit smoother. I also enjoyed Heather Graham, because my memory of Corrine from the book was that she was pretty vacant behind the eyes - and Heather is good at that. I think another actress would have tried to make Corrine struggle with guilt, to make the character "deeper". January Jones would have been ammmmazing though.

Im going to have to reread POTW before the next movie.

[prisma]

Just watched it and I agree with everyone else. It was a B to B+. They did a pretty good Cliff's Notes movie version of the book, but that's usually how movie adaptations are.

I realized another thing that bugged me about Kiernan Shipka in the role is that she has brown eyes. All the kids in the book are super blonde with blue eyes. That fact got mentioned eleventy million times, so I had trouble buying Kiernan as Cathy. The others were okay.

Not sure why they fiddled with the ending since it didn't add much.

Also--party scene: did Corrine kiss her dad on the lips? The friend I was watching it with asked me if Corrine had had a sexual relationship with her dad because of that scene, but I don't remember that from the book. Just that she was a super daddy's girl. Anyone else remember?

Because I grew up in the suburbs I had a hard time picturing an old manor like Foxworth Hall (the kid's room and bathroom, in my mind, kind of looked like a Holiday Inn), so I enjoyed the movie version of it. It fit the book.

I wonder if they'll recast the kids for PITW? I don't think Kiernan Shipka is going to be old enough to do all the racey stuff that happens in that book.