{"id":5887,"date":"2004-06-17T19:55:00","date_gmt":"2004-06-17T23:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=5887"},"modified":"2022-09-17T20:07:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T00:07:36","slug":"the-house-of-yes-feels-stagebound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-house-of-yes-feels-stagebound\/","title":{"rendered":"The House of Yes feels stagebound"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Theater and film, as media, differ in as many ways as they overlap. Just as with adapting a novel to a movie, there is no simple translation from one media to another — a play takes place from a fixed vantage point, there is no editing, and no digital\/optical photographic effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most extreme example I can think of where a play has been fully reimagined as a movie is Julie Taymor’s Titus<\/em>. On the other end of the spectrum is Glengarry Glen Ross<\/a><\/em>, where the film makes no drastic divergence from the play, and in fact the largest change is just more words. And in still more rare cases, an original movie only feels like it was derived from a play, and is the better for it, like Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to me, Mark Waters’ The House of Yes<\/em> retains so much of its origins as a play that it’s difficult to see the advantage of translation to film. It still feels stagebound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the DVD picture quality was heinous. The bulk of the action takes place by candlelight, and the poorly compressed video cannot cope. You don’t have to be a home theater expert to clearly see the smudgy digital artifacts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theater and film, as media, differ in as many ways as they overlap. Just as with adapting a novel to a movie, there is no simple translation from one media to another — a play takes place from a fixed vantage point, there is no editing, and no digital\/optical photographic effects. Perhaps the most extreme […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1992,2016,2017],"class_list":["post-5887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","tag-1992","tag-mark-waters","tag-parkey-posey"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/house-of-yes.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-1wX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5361,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-lego-movie-2-the-second-part-movie-review-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":5887,"position":0},"title":"Toys buy happiness in the cloying The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Cloying, saccharine, and worst of all, painfully obvious. Mike Mitchell's The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part emblematizes my biggest gripe with most contemporary animated features: that perhaps the purest form of cinema is so often overwritten to the point of death. With animation, everything must be literally created from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Lego Movie Part 2: The Second Part","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/lego-movie-2-second-part-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/lego-movie-2-second-part-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/lego-movie-2-second-part-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/lego-movie-2-second-part-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/lego-movie-2-second-part-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5399,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/martin-scorsese-the-irishman-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5887,"position":1},"title":"De Diro and Pacino dunk their scrapple in Guinness in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Why am I reluctant to publicly pan one of the year's most acclaimed films? What am I afraid of -- being labelled a cinema rat, and getting whacked by a couple of film geeks? It took me years and years of being a film buff, through film school and beyond,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/irishman.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/irishman.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/irishman.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/irishman.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/irishman.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":685,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/king-of-kong\/","url_meta":{"origin":5887,"position":2},"title":"Kill Screen: Seth Gordon’s The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"First, full disclosure: I work for the movie company that distributed The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. My miniscule role in marketing the film was limited to designing the official movie website, and I am under no obligation or prohibition to write this review (which happens to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/king-of-kong-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/king-of-kong-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/king-of-kong-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/king-of-kong-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/king-of-kong-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":627,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-10-most-disappointing-movies-i-saw-in-2007\/","url_meta":{"origin":5887,"position":3},"title":"The 10 Most Disappointing Movies I Saw in 2007","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As I was compiling the best and worst movies I saw in 2007, I found I still had enough for a special category: movies that absolutely don't deserve to be called bad, even when it's just me here talking to myself on my stupid blog. But for one reason or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Movies"","block_context":{"text":"Movies","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/main-menu\/movies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stardust","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/stardust-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/stardust-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/stardust-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/stardust-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/stardust-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":736,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/shakespeare-in-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":5887,"position":4},"title":"Go behind the scenes of “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter” in Shakespeare in Love","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This blogger is not ashamed to admit being in love with Shakespeare in Love, and not just for the generous displays of Gwyneth Paltrow's lovely young bubbies. Full of American actors affecting English accents with varying degrees of outrageousness, it only partly qualifies as Europudding, and is in fact more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/shakespeare-in-love-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/shakespeare-in-love-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/shakespeare-in-love-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/shakespeare-in-love-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/shakespeare-in-love-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5671,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/1917-is-not-the-first-single-take-movie-but-its-one-of-the-best\/","url_meta":{"origin":5887,"position":5},"title":"1917 is not the first single-take movie, but it’s one of the best","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Every review or casual comment about 1917, from pan to praise, will all begin with the same undeniable fact: it's an astounding technical achievement. While far from the first apparent single-take feature-length film, it's certainly one of the most seamless. Better, the feat is partially insulated from charges of gimmickry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"1917","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1917.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1917.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1917.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5889,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5887\/revisions\/5889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}