MCP
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Pennywise: The Losers Club & It Returns:
I've just watched the first half of this and wanted to offer a review of "Pennywise: The Losers Club". I was honestly surprised just how deep the cuts are to the first half. I honestly don't understand why some of these cuts were made at all.
- Opening with Georgie entering the basement for the wax is brilliant. "Derry 1960". Love it.
- Ben's first encounter with IT is cut short. IT never grabs at him, and this his entire experience to that point is a simple hallucination.
- Ben's conversation with Beverly outside the school is cut, but this is where he learns who she is, and establishes lines of communication between them. This cut makes the scene later by her house seem very bold of Ben.
- Ben's repetition of "Beverly Marsh" over and over is removed, but this shows his infatuation with her. It seems childish, but he is only supposed to be 11 or 12.
- Ben writing "January Embers" and his homelife is removed, but this scene establishes why he goes to the Barrens alone, as well as showing that he is the author of the poem he leaves on Beverly's doorstep.
- The building of the dam is gone! This shows the bonding of the group.
- Eddie's hypochondriac mother is not shown at all. This scene helps us to understand why Eddie is the way he is, and without it we don't understand why Eddie doesn't shower with the other boys.
- Cut Bill's "Magic Stones" story from Richie's flashback. This sets up Bill as a writer and shows some insight into the personalities of the other "Losers" via when-I-grow-up aspirations.
- Richie coming back up after the werewolf incident and telling everyone what he saw is important because it establishes that Stan is now the last one who has not yet run into IT. And everyone else begins to recognize that they have all experienced something.
- Inter-cutting Stan's Mummy Encounter totally re-shapes the timeline of events, but it works alright, the transition feels a little weird, though.
- Cutting Bill's "Help Me" monologue is a tragedy. A real American tragedy. It shows him as the rallying point for the group.
- The font for the credits is not what I would have expected. It's not ironically goofy, or modern sans-serif, or old-timey serif.
- The text alignment seems to change at times.
- The handprint balloon and Pennywise seem kind of out of place.
More generically, the pacing seemed a little jumpy, and some cuts struck me as really out of place. Like, Ben in the Barrens with Bill & Eddie, then riding his bike, then back in the Barrens alone. Maybe a crossfade to indicate the passage of time directly to Ben at the Barrens alone? Or better yet, cut something else there in between. In all, I don't think this does anything to particularly improve the original and hurts it with some deep cuts. I will revise my thoughts once I've had a chance to watch the second half, but because this first part presents without any reference to the second part, it really should stand on it's own.
Lastly, it *looks* like a fan edit. If I showed this to someone who had never seen the original, they would be aware they weren't watching a studio release.
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/pennywise-the-losers-club-and-it-returns/discussions/9484/
I've just watched the first half of this and wanted to offer a review of "Pennywise: The Losers Club". I was honestly surprised just how deep the cuts are to the first half. I honestly don't understand why some of these cuts were made at all.
- Opening with Georgie entering the basement for the wax is brilliant. "Derry 1960". Love it.
- Ben's first encounter with IT is cut short. IT never grabs at him, and this his entire experience to that point is a simple hallucination.
- Ben's conversation with Beverly outside the school is cut, but this is where he learns who she is, and establishes lines of communication between them. This cut makes the scene later by her house seem very bold of Ben.
- Ben's repetition of "Beverly Marsh" over and over is removed, but this shows his infatuation with her. It seems childish, but he is only supposed to be 11 or 12.
- Ben writing "January Embers" and his homelife is removed, but this scene establishes why he goes to the Barrens alone, as well as showing that he is the author of the poem he leaves on Beverly's doorstep.
- The building of the dam is gone! This shows the bonding of the group.
- Eddie's hypochondriac mother is not shown at all. This scene helps us to understand why Eddie is the way he is, and without it we don't understand why Eddie doesn't shower with the other boys.
- Cut Bill's "Magic Stones" story from Richie's flashback. This sets up Bill as a writer and shows some insight into the personalities of the other "Losers" via when-I-grow-up aspirations.
- Richie coming back up after the werewolf incident and telling everyone what he saw is important because it establishes that Stan is now the last one who has not yet run into IT. And everyone else begins to recognize that they have all experienced something.
- Inter-cutting Stan's Mummy Encounter totally re-shapes the timeline of events, but it works alright, the transition feels a little weird, though.
- Cutting Bill's "Help Me" monologue is a tragedy. A real American tragedy. It shows him as the rallying point for the group.
- The font for the credits is not what I would have expected. It's not ironically goofy, or modern sans-serif, or old-timey serif.
- The text alignment seems to change at times.
- The handprint balloon and Pennywise seem kind of out of place.
More generically, the pacing seemed a little jumpy, and some cuts struck me as really out of place. Like, Ben in the Barrens with Bill & Eddie, then riding his bike, then back in the Barrens alone. Maybe a crossfade to indicate the passage of time directly to Ben at the Barrens alone? Or better yet, cut something else there in between. In all, I don't think this does anything to particularly improve the original and hurts it with some deep cuts. I will revise my thoughts once I've had a chance to watch the second half, but because this first part presents without any reference to the second part, it really should stand on it's own.
Lastly, it *looks* like a fan edit. If I showed this to someone who had never seen the original, they would be aware they weren't watching a studio release.
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/pennywise-the-losers-club-and-it-returns/discussions/9484/