What a great looking movie… amazing production design, Tim Burton-esque without the curlicues… characters designed and shots framed as though they were fine illustrations. The universe of the film has a strange, surreal quality that feels as though you’re inside an illustration, as though the universe ends at the horizon. In other films that’s a quality that takes me out… particularly films that are working hard to create an alternate reality, like sci-fi. In my sci-fi I want to have a sense that the universe extends well beyond the frame (Blade Runner, Alien) and doesn’t just exist where the camera is pointing (Total Recall [which I understand is being remade]). Here, though, that’s a quality that makes perfect sense. Some of the backgrounds put me in a mind of The Wizard Of Oz (the original, not that unwatchable sci-fi channel remake with Zooey Deschanel). Continue reading Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events