Neverwhere squee!

[stoopbeck]

So I finally watched Neverwhere. (Thank you, YouTube!)

And OMG it was so much better than I thought it would be! Of course it helped my expectations were lowered by everyone telling me that it was totally crap and grainy and bad special effects and 90's background music, but wow. SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, in which Carabbas was frankly quite terrifyingly odd and looked like a Dairy Queen commercial, and Door looked like a cheap knockoff of Death of the Endless. And I have a whole new level of respect for Croup and Vandemar, somewhat akin to my whole new level of respect for Arthur Dent after watching the BBC Hitchhiker's Guide.

And two of the Neverwhere cast have played Beatles, which just adds more awesomeness to any scene with Richard and Islington. And I want a Marquis de Carabbas. May I have one, pretty please?

I'm somewhat disturbed to see that there may be a new movie in the makings, though. All I ask is that Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the Marquis, and I'm happy. Oooh, and Gina Torres could play Hunter!

Comments

[featherfish.livejournal.com]

Gina Torres COULD play Hunter! Fabulous notion!

I'm actually excited for a movie, because as grand as the BBC show was, there was a lot not fully realized. Also I could not stand Islington. The most un-androgynous angel ever. Ugh.

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

No arguement there. A whole lot of subtleties were just completely lost, which was sad. And, um, the Beast. Was a cow. WHAT.

And there were so many scenes, like the Ordeal, that just could have been better handled. And would look amazing in a theater.

My movie fears mostly center on the fact that the movie will be like the graphic novel, some other person's vision of Neverwhere and not Neil's. It could be a totally frickin' awesome movie but not, you know, be Neverwhere. Like Stardust, which I rather enjoyed. The movie was great, it just wasn't a whole lot like the book.

ISLINGTON. Yeah. I wasn't happy with a lot of the choices they made, actor-wise. Or maybe it was just the 90's-style acting? There just didn't seem to be any depth to anyone.

Okay, so-- casting game. Any preferences for the characters?

[featherfish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but Neil was totally in on Stardust, and I have the utmost respect for Matthew Vaughan. Stardust as it was in novella form just wasn't very cinematic. Neverwhere is moreso, so hopefully it would translate more directly.

Islington either needs to be an incredibly effeminate man or a woman with a disconcertingly deep voice. Tilda Swinton in Constantine. Not an ugly dude in a dress. That's just embarrassing.

Ordeal EPIC LAME. NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Man, I love casting games... I haven't read it in so long, though. I can't beat Chiwetel Ejiofor and Gina Torres... Timothy Spall seems like such an obvious choice for Croup, but I can't divorce myself from the notion.

Door... Door was the best casting choice in the BBC thing, I think. I could see the lead girl in Mirrormask... or like... Violet Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket. Or either of them as Anaesthesia howEVER you spell it.

I don't know! I can think of actors, but no one who seems to fit perfectly into the character spaces. It is probably fresher in your mind than mine.

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

This is all true.

TIMOTHY SPALL YES. Why hadn't I thought of that before?!

The girl from Mirrormask would be excellent in either role. I just can't think of anyone for Richard. Really, the only characters I've ever been able to visualize were Hunter and the Marquis.

My brother is all for Michael Caine as Croup, but then again my brother is of the opinion that any movie can be improved by the judicious application of Michael Caine.

[featherfish.livejournal.com]

Well that's a tricky one, because I think he may just be right about that. Hmmm.

Then again, that's how I feel about both the guy in my icon above, and the guy in this icon here. Unfortunately neither of them are remotely English.

[thelasttoknow03.livejournal.com]

Since I have no idea what you are talking about, I'm going to be annoying and ask:

"What on earth is a cebu, anyway?"

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

"Well, it's kind of like a water buffalo. See?"

"Ohhhh.

Seriously though, it's a pretty awesome book. Neil Gaiman is very close to being my very favorite author ever.

Synopsis: "Richard Mayhew is a plain man with a good heart-- and an ordinary life that is changed forever on a day he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. From that moment forward he is propelled into a world he never dreamed existed-- a dark subculture flourishing in abandoned subway stations and sewer tunnels below the city-- a world far stranger and more dangerous than the only one he has ever known..."