Lemony Snicket (Books and Movie)

Swooshoman · **Posted:** Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:29 pm

I was wondering if there are any Snicketheads out there in the forum, why they like the books so much, and what they thought of the movie. Or you can just say, if you haven't read the books (in which case you probably went to see the next Carrey movie), what you thought of the movie- gimme some feedback!

If you haven't seen it, see it at least twice. Don't see it 5 times like I have. I'm just weird.

Rob · **Posted:** Mon Jan 03, 2005 1:39 am

DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL THE BOOKS SO FAR!

I like those books and I have seen the movie. I am up to book 7 because I have to go to the library and get the books. Anyway the books are great, and the movie was great. But I think the movie gave away too much of the future books (I hate spoilers!). The movie was funny (especially Sonny). But I thought that Count Olaf was more happy looking then what I thought, and his tattoo was drawn by a 2 year old. Anyway, I better say:

SPOILER WARNING!
OK, now that that has been said, I will talk. I think I now know what V.F.D. actually stands for (remember I have only read 7 books, so I shouldn't know all this), Count Olaf started the fire, their parents were volunteer fire people, most of the kids' guardians are linked and a bit more. And they revealed the spyglasses. Now all this stuff I just said was revealed in the movie. I thought that I could see the movie since I knew that it was about the 1st 2nd and 3rd books. But they moved all this information into the movie! If I didn't see the movie, I would not have known this and the books would be more fun to read! Of course, what I said up there, I don't know if it is true, but I think it probably is. So I will say it again:

DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL THE BOOKS SO FAR!

That is all.

T-Smash · **Posted:** Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:02 am

Rainer wrote:

SPOILER WARNING!
OK, now that that has been said, I will talk. I think I now know what V.F.D. actually stands for (remember I have only read 7 books, so I shouldn't know all this), Count Olaf started the fire, their parents were volunteer fire people, most of the kids' guardians are linked and a bit more.

Correcto. VFD stands for Volunteer Fire Department. But, among the organization, VFD stands for many things. Like, for example, Vertical Fridge Dispatch. (I think that's one of them from book 10) But I'm on book 11, and things are really getting interesting.

EDIT: Oh, no sorry it's Verbal Fridge Dialogue. Not the other thing.

Rob · **Posted:** Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:04 am

T-Smash wrote:

Correcto. VFD stands for Volunteer Fire Department.

Yay! I was right!

ModestlyHotGirl · **Posted:** Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:45 pm

Having read all the books released so far, I'm tempted to say that the real meaning of VFD isn't Volunteer Fire Department. Because we've been given so many options thus far (Village of Fowl Devotees, etc.) I think Book 13 will give us the real meaning.
I don't know if anyone knows that Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) has written adult novels; two that I know of. I've read Watch Your Mouth, which was hilarious, but I must stress the adult quality of it. Definitely not PG-rated. The Basic Eight is his other one, but I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet. Daniel Handler is a wonderfully sick and twisted man, and I can honestly recommend his adult work to anyone who has enjoyed Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Leyner, Christopher Moore, Tom Robbins, etc.

AgentSeethroo · **Posted:** Wed Jan 05, 2005 7:44 pm

I saw the movie, and I'm thinkin' about reading the books.

Good flick, in any event.

Krissy · **Posted:** Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:59 pm

I haven't read the books, although I've heard that they're very good. I have, however, seen the movie, and I did not like it AT ALL. Between Carrey's egotistic performance and the weakness of the emotional impact the filmmakers were going for at the beginning and end of the film, I found myself being turned off to the entire thing.

For anyone who's read them, are the books at all worth checking out? I was thinking about it before the movie came out and it was getting a lot of buzz, but after seeing it for myself, I'm not sure if I should bother.

AgentSeethroo · **Posted:** Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:29 pm

Fhqwhgadshgnsdbkhsdabkfab wrote:

Krissy wrote:

For anyone who's read them, are the books at all worth checking out?

Whatever Fhqwomgwtf said...

GAH!

A simple "Yes" would've sufficed! Try to keep your exclamations down in the future, please!

AgentSeethroo · **Posted:** Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:00 pm

*Insert audible chuckle here*

Thanks.

ModestlyHotGirl · **Posted:** Thu Jan 06, 2005 1:06 pm

Krissy wrote:

Between Carrey's egotistic performance and the weakness of the emotional impact the filmmakers were going for at the beginning and end of the film...

Please don't give up on the books, Krissy. If you'd read them first, you'd know that Jim Carrey was playing Count Olaf exactly as he's written, and that the sort-of-sarcastic sadness at the beginning and end is also written into the books. They are truly worth reading (and quick reads, too), so you should at least give the first book a try.

Swooshoman · **Posted:** Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:25 pm

WHAT!? Krissy, I really have no idea WHAT you're talking about. Jim Carrey's Olaf wasn't EXACTLY the same Olaf in the books, but I think it was actually an improvemement tohe character! This is one of Jim Carrey's best performances as the kooky, wacky Carrey... who he is somewhat neglecting these days.

And, true, the beginning didn't REALLY have that much of an emotional impact- but the end made up for it tenfold! I was driven to tears (literally) the first time I saw this sweet ending. And I think that's what I like best about the movie that's not in the books- the way it handles sentiment. the books seem to mostly shy away from it, but the way they managed to weave it into the story, without changing anything from the story, is great.

Oh, also, I loved the way it weaved books 9-11 (the "VFD" section) into the first 3. What always bugged me about the books is you get the feeling Handler made them up as he went- that when he made the first 3 books, he had no concept of VFD. However, this movie ties all the books together beautifully- and make the sequel probabilty much higher. Some may call it spoiling. I call it amazing.

Overall, Lemony Snicket (the movie) will be on my "favorites" shelf when it comes to DVD- just like Pirates of the Carribbean and Lord of the Rings.

Waffle_on_One · **Posted:** Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:48 pm

Wait, Lemony Snicket and Daniel Handler are the same person?? I never really thought of it that way, now I feel kinda dumb, lol. I really like the mystery surrounding each book, and they really are quick, light reads. I loved all the Jude Law/LS narratives in the movie, i.e. "...quickly walk out of the theatre, living room, or airplane..."

Clever Danielle · **Posted:** Sat Jan 08, 2005 8:57 am

I got halfway through the first book and decided that they weren't for me. I really feel no want to see the movie. Sorry to be a killjoy, but people who read the books are probably used to killjoys anyway.

Señor · **Posted:** Sun Jan 09, 2005 2:58 am

I've read all the books plus the Unauthorized Autobiography. And I've seen the movie. They're all really good.

Waffle_on_One · **Posted:** Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:19 am

Does anyone here have a favorite Count Olaf character? I had alot of fun reading Detective Dupin, from the Vile Village. I could picture him snapping his fingers...."it isn't cool.....lol"

ModestlyHotGirl · **Posted:** Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:41 pm

I liked Count Olaf as the receptionist - was her name Shirley? Forgive me for forgetting; I don't own any of the books as yet, because I just borrowed them from the bookstore where I work. I also thought the anagrammatical (is that even a word?) character Flacutono. Very clever on Handler's part.

Swooshoman · **Posted:** Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:48 pm

Clever Danielle wrote:

I got halfway through the first book and decided that they weren't for me. I really feel no want to see the movie. Sorry to be a killjoy, but people who read the books are probably used to killjoys anyway.

Do what I did- start with Book 2 and read Book 1 sometime after Book 7- or even last, if you want. This worked with me and others I know... Trust me, the first book (especially the beginning chapters) will not hook you in. I remember sitting there, thinking (this is after reading Books 2-11, mind) htat that book just didn't live up to the Snicket standards I'd imprinted in my head!

Pleas, Danielle, give these books a second chance! And do see the movie, too- even without reading the book,s the movie will be an amzing (and hilarious) experience!

InvaderTK · **Posted:** Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:21 am

I love Lemony Snicket. He makes a good Limeade. The movie was...so so. All of the books were, however, fabulous. Captured a very gothic victorian tone. I'm awaiting the 13th, which comes out...next? Right? Whatever the case, it'll be the last.

Swooshoman · **Posted:** Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:21 am

Ahhh- no. The 12th one comes out next...

[WARNING! SPOILERS FEATURED! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK- HIGHLIGHT TO READ!]

My hunch is that Book 12 is will be about Kit backtracking thru all the Baudelaires' misadventures, showing how VFD was there the whole time- they just didn't know it. It'll probably tie up all the loose plotlines.

Book 13 will be about them getting to Hotel Denoument, reuniting with the Quagmires, submarine crew, and all the others, and stopping Olaf's plot against VFD. But they will not catch Olaf- he and the remaining of his accomplices will escape to start more fires, which will definitely add some unfortunate factor to the otherwise happy ending (y'know, the 3 finally becoming Firefighters and all!)

But that's my prediction? Any other ideas?

Waffle_on_One · **Posted:** Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:13 am

^That's a clever way of hiding spoilers! Though I won't read it yet, I'm only on book 9, lol.

porplemontage · **Posted:** Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:06 am

Waffle_on_One wrote:

^That's a clever way of hiding spoilers! Though I won't read it yet, I'm only on book 9, lol.

If you really want to keep something secret,

Quote:

quote the white text.

Ricksea · **Posted:** Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:25 pm

I love the series but I despised the movies. Despite the fact that Snicket's books are short and slow, combining three made the movie go too fast. The movie didn't use about 3/4 of material from the book (like Snicket's long narrations of the children solving problems). The acting wasn't particularly amazing, especially for such an all-star cast. Anyone who's read the book and seen the movie knows that in combining three books they took the ending of the first book (the marraige scene), used it as the end of the movie, and wrote a filler scene (the train scene) to connect the first two books. My reaction to the train scene was: "Why didn't the children just jump out of the window to avoid death? Was the gear-shifting contraption really necessary?" Mr. Poe taking the children away just because he found Sunny in the front seat didn't make sense either. I agree that it was a good idea to add material from books 9-11 was a good idea.

InvaderTK · **Posted:** Mon Jan 10, 2005 5:16 pm

Ricksea wrote:

I love the series but I despised the movies. Despite the fact that Snicket's books are short and slow, combining three made the movie go too fast. The movie didn't use about 3/4 of material from the book (like Snicket's long narrations of the children solving problems). The acting wasn't particularly amazing, especially for such an all-star cast. Anyone who's read the book and seen the movie knows that in combining three books they took the ending of the first book (the marraige scene), used it as the end of the movie, and wrote a filler scene (the train scene) to connect the first two books. My reaction to the train scene was: "Why didn't the children just jump out of the window to avoid death? Was the gear-shifting contraption really necessary?" Mr. Poe taking the children away just because he found Sunny in the front seat didn't make sense either. I agree that it was a good idea to add material from books 9-11 was a good idea.

Amen, bro. Amen.

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