Charlotte’s Web
June 1st, 2007
Even after more than a decade in the US, strange little pockets of culture shock remain. Americans can’t possibly believe I’ve never seen a single episode of Gilligan’s Island or Three’s Company. (I counter with Augsburger Puppenkiste and Asterix.) Charlotte’s Web, the children’s story by E.B. White, is another blind spot in my education–or it was, until this new film version came along, starring adorable Dakota Fanning, slick CGI, and voices by Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates, Thomas Haden Church, and Robert Redford.
As far as stories about swine go, the barnyard Bildungsroman about Wilbur the spring pig and his unlikely friendship with a spider never reaches the lofty heights of Babe II: Pig in the City. The Danny Elfman score is laid on much too thick, and the ending suffers from a few too many sentimental speeches. But Charlotte’s Web is sweet and fun, and there are some very clever lines. When was the last time you saw a movie that raises the narrative question of whether or not the pig is going to spit out the spider’s egg sack the rat brought over? The moral of the tale: “It’s not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.”
Charlotte’s Web. Gary Winick, 2006. ***
Bonus: Euro Nostalgia
YouTube is dominated by the new CGI Urmel aus dem Eis, so instead, here’s a delightfully trashy techno remix of the Jim Knopf theme, “Eine Insel mit zwei Bergen.” No German my age can resist this stuff. Die Wilde 13 was always my favorite.
June 1st, 2007 at 2:59 pm
[…] of true friends and a good writers: this week marks the release of Next Stop Hollywood: Short Stories Bound for the Screen, an […]
June 4th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I’ve decided to change my moviegoing habits. From now on, Melissa will get to the movie on time and save me a seat. I’ll eat Whoppers in the lobby and go in 15 minutes later so I don’t have to see or hear any previews.
I think she’ll go for it after she had to restrain me from leaping from the balcony five minutes into the preview for Charolette’s Web. We also can’t seem to get rid of movies based on or about an Austen or a Bronte. It’s a neverending cycle.