News: The release date for Lemony Snicket Book Number
Twelve is set: October 18, 2005.
| Lemony
Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events Movie Review Lemony
Snicket narrates this tale of three orphaned children, and
reminds viewers that if they are looking for a pleasant
movie with a happy ending, they might want to leave the
living room, theater, or airplane where they may be viewing the
movie.
This tongue-in-cheek story that chronicles "a series of
unfortunate events" is based on the first three books
in the series of the same name, a wildly popular series
aimed at tweeners. The
eldest of the three children is Violet, a 14-year-old girl
who possesses an exceptionally inventive mind. The middle child is
a boy named Klaus, a 12 year old who loves to read. Even
better, he retains what he reads. The tiniest member of the family is
very young: Sunny, a baby, loves to bite, and is quite
intelligent in her own right, even if what she has to say
seems unintelligible to people other than her brother and
sister. (Viewers get to know what her babbling means by way
of subtitles!)
The children's individual strengths combine in such a
way as to get them out of many a jam, albeit only to find
themselves smack-dab in the middle of another
"unfortunate" situation. |
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (International Version)
Buy this Double-sided poster at AllPosters.com
|
The
Baudelaire children's parents have perished in a fire that also
destroyed their home, and their lives would never be the same. The
children need to be placed, and their first stop, chaperoned by Mr.
Poe, the banker, is at Count Olaf's unusual mansion. Olaf (Jim
Carrey), is a sinister actor after the Baudelaire fortune, refers to
the children directly as "orphans", giving them long lists
of demanding chores in his rat-infested home.
After
a botched attempt to have the children killed, the kids are carted
off to another guardian, the eccentric but loving herpetologist, Dr.
Montgomery Montgomery (aka Uncle Monty). Olaf returns in disguise to
continue his plot to get his hands on their fortune. Although they
immediately see through his disguise, the children are never
believed. Their next stop, Aunt Josephine's, is another
misadventure. Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep) was once an intrepid
adventurer and explorer, but is now plagued by irrational fears, one
of which is a fear of realtors! She never cooks anything hot because
she is afraid the stove will burst into flames, and she insists
Klaus move away from the fridge, because "if it falls, it will
crush you flat!" Ironically, Josephine lives in a home that is
perilously perched over a stormy lake.
Make
sure you sit through the credits. The paper cut-out artwork is very
creative. In fact, the entire movie is visually stunning. Because
the movie is a black comedy for kids, it's best for children old
enough to understand that kind of humor. Not only do the main
characters' parents die, so do other guardians in the movie. The
kids are in perilous situations at every turn (a collapsing house on
the edge of a stormy sea, in a boat on the waters of that same sea
with hungry leeches heading their way, and so forth). There is very
little focus on the grief, as is to be expected from a black comedy.
The basic idea is that, although life isn't perfect, and even when
faced with a seemingly relentless "series of unfortunate
events", there is strength to gain, and "sanctuaries"
to be found.
It
really depends on the audience. Kids old enough to enjoy the black
humor will similarly find much to love about the movie. On the plus
side, the Baudelaire children themselves use their wits to get
themselves out of sticky situations—Violet with her inventive
mind and Klaus with his encyclopedic knowledge. However, their lives
are depressing in spite of this. The movie includes some scary
scenes in which the kids are in perilous situations, and although
viewers never see characters die, they know they do. One of our
viewers wanted to take a trip to the bookstore to buy the fourth
book in the series just to see how the story continues.
 
Now Available on DVD and Video:
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Widescreen Edition) Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Full Screen Edition) Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
(VHS)
Lemony Snicket
Books
The
Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events book series is
deliciously anti-"happily ever after", and will appeal to
children who don't have the patience for fairy tale endings...or,
for that matter, fairy tales, period.
  News:
Book #12 is set for release on October
18, 2005. Lemony Snicket's "last book before the last book" is available for pre-order here: Series of Unfortunate Events #12 (A Series of Unfortunate Events).
We
have a review of a hilarious companion volume to the serial, Lemony
Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, here.
Lemony Snicket
Software &
Games
 Games
based on Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events are
available in
computer and video game format
for CD-ROM, GameCube, GameBoy Advance, XBox, and Playstation 2.
The games are based on
the plot, situations, and settings of the movie, and capture the
characters and themes well. The PlayStation2 version, for example,
opens with the tempting phrase, "The video game you are about to play
is extremely unpleasant..." Players are told right from the
start that they won't find the game has a happy  ending,
happy beginning, nor a happy in-between for that matter.
Gameplay begins after
Count Olaf has placed the three children in their sleeping quarters
and demanded that they take care of the rats that infest his creepy
mansion. Kids initially play as either Klaus or Violet (later, they
get to play as the baby, Sunny, as well), and  explore
such areas as the Lovely Library and Uncle Monty's garden.
Players collect items
that help them create inventions that will get them out of jams,
help solve puzzles, and defeat the villains, including Count Olaf
himself. See our
review of Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events for PS2
here.
For more information,
user reviews, or to buy: Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events
(CD-ROM), Lemony Snicket
(GameCube), Lemony Snicket
(XBox), Lemony Snicket
(PS2).
|
|
