Lemony

Got around to watching Lemony Snicket’s long title. Did someone post about that previously?

Well…. I am not going to hash around much with the film overall; it sort of works, sort of doesn’t. I think at age 12 I’d have been in love, but I’m not sure at 37 I could get past the crude stitching of slapstick to dry bitter irony.

But my god it looked good. Without aping Gorey, the film’s production (and the animation on the dvd, and in the film’s credits) was equally baroque, brutal, wondrous. I think it’s worth seeing if just to revel in that look ….

13 thoughts on “Lemony”

  1. I’ve wanted to see this film almost solely because the art direction looks so good.

    I’ve avoided seeing this so as not to be subjected to the prancing Jim Carrey.

    I imagine an alternate universe where Jm J Bullock got all of the breaks that Mr. Carrey got in our own. In this alternate universe Ted Knight bellowing “MONROE!” would be as archaic as bringing up Fireman Bill from Living Colour.

    The similarities between the two men are tremendous. They were both involved with unattractive squinty eyed women (Renee Zellweger and Tammy Faye Baker), both are rightful heirs to the coke-fueled physical comedy of Robin Williams, and so on.

    One can only imagine that if Jm J Bullock had become an A-list actor, he’d have done more for social causes than Carrey has done. His one degree of seperation from the Mary Tyler Moore show (and thus two degrees of seperation from the Dick Van Dyke show) give him a superior psychic level of talent from which to draw. Had he been given the chance I could see him single-handedly acting out entire scenes in a way no other could between Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, and Richard “Mel” Deacon.

  2. That is the best post anyone’s made here yet.

    Did you know that Bullock has sometimes been credited as “Sandi Ego”?

    And since when is Ted Knight yelling “Monroe!” not iconic?

    Ted Knight reminds me of Jim Kincaid, if Knight had smoked more pot, or if Kincaid had conversely snorted more crank.

    Go ahead and see Lemony. Carrey’s somewhat restrained. It’s also interesting to see great character actors in tiny, tiny roles: Jane Addams, Jennifer Coolidge, Luis Guzman, Timothy Spall. But the look of the film is killer.

  3. Before he made it big, Jim Carrey used to carry around a check for $20 million dollars, made out to himself (“for acting services rendered”). This is a well-known Hollywood tale. A lesser-known tale: I read somewhere (I can’t remember now!) that while he was on “Too Close for Comfort,” Bullock used to carry around (in his belt buckle or some weird place) a note that read: “I am the muffin man. I am not the muffin man.”

  6. don’t make fun of the foreigner.

    so, as per imdb, some sort of failed tv actor? the jonathan silverman of the early 80s?

    and yes, mike this really does sound so very interesting:

    It’s also interesting to see great character actors in tiny, tiny roles: Jane Addams, Jennifer Coolidge, Luis Guzman, Timothy Spall.

  7. Under the “trivia” heading IMDB describes Jim J. Bullock as an “avant-garde” actor.

    does anyone know of any other TV “avant-garde” actors? conrad bain? alex karras? David Leisure? Vic Tayback?

    Conversely, TV actors often visit the avant-garde with interesting results: Bea Arthur in Martha Graham’s Medea, Norman Fell in Endgame, Don Knotts in No Exit and Fran Drescher in Antigone, performed entirely on a stage full of broken glass and peanut butter.

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