In theaters
The best thing in theaters this week is almost certainly The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which starts Friday at the Fine Arts, followed by North Face, which opens Friday at the Carolina. The big news on the mainstream front, however, is the return of Freddy Kruger to the screen with the remake—excuse me, reboot—of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Both The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and North Face are reviewed in this week’s Xpress, so I won’t go into detail about them here. I will say, however, that both are good and Dragon Tattoo may in fact be great. It’s certainly in that ballpark.
It’s difficult to say whether or not Samuel Bayer’s redo of Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street is worth getting excited about. Almost no one seems to have seen it. The one person I know who has used the words “unnecessary, unscary and miscast” to describe it. So far, reviews have not cropped up. The fact that all of Michael Bay’s horror film rehashes have been pretty awful doesn’t bode well, since he’s once again the producer. The director comes from music videos (that could go either way). The cast, apart from Jackie Earle Haley, all have that peculiarly vapid twentysomethings-from-TV look.
And then there’s the trailer … . Is there anything in it that isn’t just a tarted-up copy of something from the original film? Does no one get it that the original was scary and that it was scary because it took you places other horror movies hadn’t? And do they similarly not get that just duplicating scenes with a bigger budget and “better” special effects isn’t going to make it scary? If the trailer is any indication, the answer is no. (I don’t even want to guess what’s become of Craven’s anti-vigilantism subtext here.) Yes, I’ll go see it. I’d even go if I weren’t reviewing it, but I’m not getting my hopes up.
I doubt you could raise the hopes of even the most uncritical person on the face of the earth for Furry Vengeance—the latest Brendan Fraser debacle on the block. Everything about the trailer looks bad. The premise of animals rebelling against a real-estate developer feels stale, and you just know that you’re in for tons of lame CGI and endless shots of Fraser mugging for dear life. Oh, for the days of Gods and Monsters. I’d even settle for Inkheart by the looks of this.
There’s also something called City Island (I only got word of it this morning), which will be opening at the Biltmore Grande (exclusively, I think). It stars Andy Garcia (not known for being a box-office draw) and comes from Anchor Bay Films (not known for distributing movies in theaters that people go to see). And it’s apparently a dysfunctional family comedy/drama. Right now, there’s some back-and-forth between Mr. Souther and I as to who gets this vs. who gets Furry Vengeance.
And since there’s almost certainly someone out there who will find the information useful, the Carolina has the concert film Phish 3-D—in 3-D, no less—booked for one week and one show a day (9:30 p.m.). Go phor it iph it’s your thing.
Still playing and still worth a look are Mother (Carolina), Greenberg (Fine Arts), The Ghost Writer (Carolina) and The Runaways (Carolina). Since The Runaways has dropped to two shows a day, this is likely your last week to catch it. And Alice in Wonderland (3-D) is still hanging on at the Beaucatcher.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t plug the fact Justin Souther and I will be running Alan Parker’s Angel Heart with Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro at the Carolina for this week’s “Thursday Horror Picture Show” at 8 p.m.—and it’s free.
On DVD
There are two major releases on DVD this week—one of them worth celebrating. That one is Terry Gilliam’s marvelous The Imaginarium of Dr. Paranassus, a film I cannot wait to reacquaint myself with. If you missed it in the theater, see it now. If you saw it in the theater, see it again. The non-celebratory one is Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated. I confess I haven’t seen this. But having seen Meyers’ other movies, I have no desire to change that status.
Notable TV screenings
Things are a little brighter on the TV front this week—mostly due to Turner Classic Movies offering a one-night tribute to filmmaker Mitchell Leisen.
Mitchell Leisen Tribute Wednesday, April 28, starting at 8 p.m., TCM
Director Mitchell Leisen is probably the most underappreciated filmmaker from the Hollywood-studio era—and TCM seems to want to rectify this. I can’t say they’ve necessarily chosen the titles I would have (where are Death Takes a Holiday (1934), Murder at the Vanities (1934), Four Hours to Kill! (1935),Easy Living (1937)?), but three of their choices are certainly good ones and should explain why I call him underrated. Why is he underrated? My best guess is that while seemingly effortless sophistication and wit are admirable qualities, they don’t necessarily translate into an easily definable style, and there’s no way of really describing his style. It doesn’t help that both Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder tended to downgrade his films of their screenplays—not always fairly. Yes, Sturges could have done better with the slapstick portions of Easy Living, but it’s doubtful he could have done as well with the dramatic portions of Remember the Night (1940). And if Leisen’s direction did indeed drive Sturges and Wilder to direct their own movies, so much the better for film.
The first up is Midnight (8 p.m.). This is Leisen’s 1939 film from a Billy Wilder-Charles Brackett screenplay starring Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore and Mary Astor. Though very highly regarded, it’s not a film I’ve ever warmed to as much as I feel I should. It’s a basic sophisticated romantic comedy of its era that finds Colbert penniless in Paris, but with dashing taxi driver Don Ameche in pursuit, and hired by John Barrymore to break up his wife’s (Mary Astor) romance with a younger man (Francis Lederer). It’s good. It’s bright. It’s funny. It’s got John Barrymore speaking baby talk. What more can you ask for? I don’t know, but it never seems to be quite as good as it should to me.
I’m really happier with the less highly regarded Arise, My Love (10 p.m.), which Leisen made the following year, also starring Colbert (this time with Ray Milland) and from a Wilder-Brackett script. The film is rather an odd mix of comedy and pretty strong drama. The mix sometimes throws viewers. Even though the movie opens with news reporter Colbert posing as Milland’s wife in order to get a story and get him out of a Spanish prison (for being on the anti-Franco side of the civil war), the film quickly turns into a romantic comedy before becoming serious again, with Hitler and the specter of the oncoming war. This tone is held for the last part of the movie. One doesn’t really expect one of the comedic characters in a film like this from this era to get killed, but that happens. Leisen is perhaps the only filmmaker I can think of who could have navigated the screenplay’s tonal shifts—and I include Wilder himself in that assessment.
Leisen’s own personal favorite, To Each His Own (1:30 a.m.), shows up late night. This 1946 opus—perhaps the last really good movie Leisen made—is pretty much a soap, but it’s very high-quality soap. It’s a mother-love drama with Olivia De Havilland as the mother in question in her best screen performance. Story-wise, it’s one of those things where an unwed mother (her fiancé dies in WWI) gives up her baby and then tries to stay in the child’s life. The surprising thing about the film is that it isn’t soft-edged or gooey. Leisen even got permission from the Breen Office to use the word “bastard” in the film, but it so freaked out his star that he had to cut it himself. More remarkable is the fact that De Havilland’s character isn’t especially likable a good deal of the time—though, of course, she ultimately is. Soapy? Well, yes, but sit through the final scene unmoved—I dare you to try it.
The Great Lie 6 p.m. Mon. May 3, TCM
Now, Edmund Goulding’s The Great Lie (1941) is 100 percent soap, but of that glossy kind that only a Warner Bros. Bette Davis picture can be. For a change, Bette gets to be the non-neurotic character—the simple (conspicuously wealthy) Maryland farm girl whose boyfriend (George Brent) marries the very neurotic and temperamental concert pianist Mary Astor one drunken night. Of course, the marriage is a mistake—and turns out has been illegally performed anyway. So when Astor can’t fit the make-up marriage into his schedule, he flies back to Maryland and marries Davis. Then he disappears on a flight over some South American jungle or other. But wait! It turns out that Astor is pregnant, so Davis sends her off to the desert to have the baby in secrecy, whereupon she’ll claim it as her own. Fair enough. But what’s this? Ages later who should turn up but George Brent. Problems of the glossiest and most entertaining kind ensue. One word of warning—afterwards, you won’t want to hear Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto for some considerable time.
I can’t wait to see “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Loved the book, and I’ve heard good stuff about the film.
But I think I’ll take a pass on revisiting Freddy.
I can’t wait to see “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Loved the book, and I’ve heard good stuff about the film
You’ll hear — or read — even more good stuff tomorrow.
The director comes from music videos (that could go either way).
Besides Bryan Barber and Michel Gondry, can it really go either way?
Besides Bryan Barber and Michel Gondry, can it really go either way?
Well, there’s Julien Temple and some would say Russell Mulcahy.
They at least cast Kruger right with Jackie Earle Haley, but how much screen time will he get? I’m avoiding.
Just got in the store copies of THE LANDLORD and VALENTINO. Can’t wait to dig into those. Also got some Universal Vault movies like KITTEN WITH A WHIP and RESURRECTION.
Russell Mulcahy made one film I saw that was far more than I ever expected from him. “Swimming Upstream” with Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis had a lot more emotional impact than I’d have ever guessed possible from the man who brought us “Hungry Like The Wolf.” (great table upending shot nonwithstanding) After seeing that gem I checked IMDB to see if there were any other buried treasures that he’d let slip out, but alas, the majority of his CV were flicks on the level of “Razorback” or that thing with the immortals trying to bash one another’s heads in.
Well, there’s Julien Temple and some would say Russell Mulcahy.
And Lasse Halstrom and Spike Jonze (depending on who you ask), too.
But then on the other side you have the McGs, Michael Bays, David Finchers, Marcus Nispels and Hitcher remakes of the world that leave me wary of music video directors.
Remakes Remakes. I’m done with remakes, reboots or whatever else they want to call them. Most of the movies being remade weren’t very good in the first place thought there are some notable exceptions. None of my cinema dollars are going on remakes unless I hear from a reliable source that they are actually good. I still shudder at the thought that I blew $8 on “Gone in 60 Seconds” when there was grass I could have watch growing. The thought of walking into a Michael Bay remake, or a Michael Bay anything, is too much to take.
Looks like my DVD recorder is going to be busy tonight. Oh, and “Incubus” is on TCM Friday night. I don’t think it’s as good as a lot of people do but how can you not appreciate a filmmaker with the gumption to film a movie entirely in Esperanto starring William Shatner?
They at least cast Kruger right with Jackie Earle Haley, but how much screen time will he get?
Part of the problem with this is that everybody tends to think of Kruger in terms of what he became and not what he was in the first film. Now if they stay true to the original in that regard (and the trailer suggests otherwise) then Haley won’t get all that much screen time and he won’t chatter on like he was vaccinated with a phonograph needle.
Just got in the store copies of THE LANDLORD and VALENTINO. Can’t wait to dig into those
The latter certainly looks good. Don’t know about the former. I did see that on TCM not that long ago and it looked fine there, so source material oughtn’t be a problem.
I’m warming to the archives/vault collections, though the Universal Vault stuff that I’ve gotten — that horror movie set — did not appear to be DVD-R. The biggest problem I’m having currently is the lack of information when things are released and what has been released in the Warner Archive stuff. It’s not sold through Amazon and only seems readily available through the TCM store where (unless I’m missing something) the only way to go through the titles is a page at a time. Until someone told me, I’d no idea that this release of Al Jolson in Mammy was upgraded from the laser to include discovered Technicolor footage. And it was only by accident that I discovered that Sidney Lumet’s Bye Bye Braverman was available.
After seeing that gem I checked IMDB to see if there were any other buried treasures that he’d let slip out, but alas, the majority of his CV were flicks on the level of “Razorback” or that thing with the immortals trying to bash one another’s heads in
Well, I did say that some would include him. I will say that after seeing that thing about Australian exploitation movies, I’m curious to see Razorback.
Remakes Remakes. I’m done with remakes, reboots or whatever else they want to call them. Most of the movies being remade weren’t very good in the first place thought there are some notable exceptions. None of my cinema dollars are going on remakes unless I hear from a reliable source that they are actually good. I still shudder at the thought that I blew $8 on “Gone in 60 Seconds” when there was grass I could have watch growing. The thought of walking into a Michael Bay remake, or a Michael Bay anything, is too much to take.
Looks like my DVD recorder is going to be busy tonight. Oh, and “Incubus” is on TCM Friday night. I don’t think it’s as good as a lot of people do but how can you not appreciate a filmmaker with the gumption to film a movie entirely in Esperanto starring William Shatner?
But then on the other side you have the McGs, Michael Bays, David Finchers, Marcus Nispels and Hitcher remakes of the world that leave me wary of music video directors
Not disputing that, merely noting that it almost leaves them at the almost unknown quantity level when they first make a feature — with a possibility that they might have a little style. I haven’t seen a new music video in longer than I can remember, but in their heyday, they often had some style. Of course, three to five minutes is a different animal altogether. While I liked Julien Temple’s feature Absolute Beginners, I didn’t like it nearly as much as his video for the Kinks’ “Come Dancing.”
But all that to one side, I’m more apt to groan if I see a thing has been directed by, say, Shawn Levy than I am if I see it’s been directed by a guy who’s made some David Bowie videos.
Remakes Remakes. I’m done with remakes, reboots or whatever else they want to call them.
Understandable enough, though I don’t object to remakes on general principles, since they sometimes draw attention to the original and even are the reason they get brought out on DVD. I do find the current trend interesting on a kind of sociology of film level. Remakes aren’t new, but they didn’t use to tell you that they were remakes. (Same thing with re-issues, which in fact is why copyright information was given in Roman numerals.) Now, these things are actually promoted as remakes. The only exception I can think of in recent times is Jonathan Demme’s The Truth About Charlie, which truly does qualify for that overused term “reimagining.” It definitely does reimagine Stanley Donen’s Charade, but it wasn’t promoted as a remake. (And it amused me to see the number of supposed critics who didn’t realize it.)
The thought of walking into a Michael Bay remake, or a Michael Bay anything, is too much to take
That is a little like deliberately walking into the business end of a bombing range.
Looks like my DVD recorder is going to be busy tonight.
Yes, and as usual I need to transfer things off my recorder’s hard-drive to make room to do so. But I don’t have Arise, My Love or To Each His Own.
Oh, and “Incubus” is on TCM Friday night. I don’t think it’s as good as a lot of people do but how can you not appreciate a filmmaker with the gumption to film a movie entirely in Esperanto starring William Shatner?
Thanks for pointing that out. I never can remember what the Esperanto movie is and I’ve never seen it.
I’m a huge Nightmare fan, and I’d certainly like to see a new (good) film in the series come out, but I have little faith that this is going to be what I want. I’d feel more optimistic if certain names were attached to this (a Jonny Depp comeback would be reassuring), but if Robert Englund doesn’t even want anything to do with it (and he’s still making movies), then that’s a bad sign. I will say, though, that what I saw of Haley in the trailer was more reasuring then what I had expected. Who knows, maybe my low expectations will help. Still, I think that this is definitely a good time to wait and see what Ken has to say, before I jump on board.
On a side note: Has Hollywood run out of original ideas? Haven’t they heard the phrase “don’t fix it if it ain’t broken?” Sequels are one thing, but this ‘reboot’ crap is just getting annoying. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to be becoming more and more prevailent than it was in the past – even if it’s nothing new. Have you noticed all of the mind-baffling 80’s remakes coming out? Holy crap! The only reason I can think of is to cash in on us 80’s kids childhood nostalgia (timing would seem about right for that). I’m sure that there’s also a bit of thought process that thinks they can reach out to a new audience, but isn’t there better stuff out there for something like that?
Oh yeah, I just happened to notice on RT this morning that the upcoming SNL comedy MacGruber has a score of 100%. . .that’s, um, interesting? I don’t think it will stay that way, but it still caught my attention enough to share.
I’m a huge Nightmare fan, and I’d certainly like to see a new (good) film in the series come out, but I have little faith that this is going to be what I want.
My faith was never there, but my hopes were — only much more so before I talked to the person who’d seen it. It’s someone whose opinion I respect, especially in the realm of horror.
Still, I think that this is definitely a good time to wait and see what Ken has to say, before I jump on board
Well, you could come to the screening of Angel Heart tomorrow night and if you’re one of the first 20 folks to get there, you’d get a pass to see Nightmare. Even if you don’t get the pass, you still could come. (And where have you been anyway?)
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to be becoming more and more prevailent than it was in the past – even if it’s nothing new.
I think it’s more prevalent, but it’s definitely more in-your-face, too. I noted with some amusement that some entertainment show was trumpeting Iron Man 2 as “the first big sequel of the summer.” Are we actually at a point where a sequel is more desirable than something fresh? Can “the first big remake of the summer” be far behind? Have we (broadly speaking) become this addicted to brand names?
Have you noticed all of the mind-baffling 80’s remakes coming out? Holy crap! The only reason I can think of is to cash in on us 80’s kids childhood nostalgia (timing would seem about right for that).
Bingo. That seems to be the big idea. Now, just imagine how that feels to those of us who aren’t 80’s kids and see very little about the decade to be nostalgic about.
Well, you could come to the screening of Angel Heart tomorrow night and if you’re one of the first 20 folks to get there, you’d get a pass to see Nightmare. Even if you don’t get the pass, you still could come.
I just found out about this a little while ago, and I’m certainly considering it. A free theatrical screening of Angel Heart sounds very appealing. I’ll just have to find out if the timing will work, or not. It would be cool to finally meet you guys. I know you have no way of knowing exactly how big of a draw this will be – but just as a rough guess-timation – how early would you reccomend I show up, if I want to snag one of those Nightmare tickets?
(And where have you been anyway?)
I’ve just been rather busy with work, that’s all. I haven’t been to a theatre since Ghostwriter came out, so I haven’t had much to really say, whenever I do look over the MntX site.
I know you have no way of knowing exactly how big of a draw this will be – but just as a rough guess-timation – how early would you reccomend I show up, if I want to snag one of those Nightmare tickets?
I really have no idea. But I’d guess that 30 minutes would likely work (there’s a trailer collection I put together that runs from 7:30, so there’s at least something to watch). It would be very nice to meet you.
I haven’t been to a theatre since Ghostwriter came out, so I haven’t had much to really say, whenever I do look over the MntX site
Well, up till Mother and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the selections — though sometimes good — haven’t be all that compelling, I suppose. In any case, your absence has been noted and felt.
Understandable enough, though I don’t object to remakes on general principles, since they sometimes draw attention to the original and even are the reason they get brought out on DVD. I do find the current trend interesting on a kind of sociology of film level. Remakes aren’t new, but they didn’t use to tell you that they were remakes.
Yes. There’s a big difference between a filmmaker who thinks he can make a new creative take on an older movie and someone just churning out remakes because they can’t think of anything else to do. The latter make me think of drive-in movies. Cheap movies cynically cranked out in hopes that enough people will buy tickets before the word of mouth gets out.
Wait, I take that back. Even most drive-in movies weren’t as cynical as the remake machine of the last decade. They didn’t pretend to be more than they were.
When I was in grammar school I had a friend whose parents could afford an 8mm movie camera. We’d make our own 50ft “remakes” of the movies we’d see at the matinee. Like Pal’s “The Time Machine” with a lawn chair for a time machine. Or blowing up a clay mountain with firecrackers for “The Guns of Navarone”. Film scratches for ray guns and football helmets for “The Mysterians”. I swear I would rather watch 90 minutes of such stuff than a lousy remake of a lousy 70s slasher like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”?
Have we (broadly speaking) become this addicted to brand names?
Yes.
Even most drive-in movies weren’t as cynical as the remake machine of the last decade. They didn’t pretend to be more than they were
That pretension thing is, I think, the zither that cooks the goose here. The drive-in filmmakers were probably just as cynical, but they didn’t tart it up and pretend they’d made something significant. I’ve no illusions about the cynicism of Michael Bay, but I do sometimes wonder is someone like Marcus Nispel is sufficiently deluded that he might honestly think his Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake has actual merit. (It did have a terrific trailer with one of the best uses of surround sound I’ve ever encountered, but I doubt he had anything to do with that.)
When I was in grammar school I had a friend whose parents could afford an 8mm movie camera. We’d make our own 50ft “remakes” of the movies we’d see at the matinee
Unfortunately, we were too ambitious for our own good back in those days. We never tried to just remake a thing, we tried to make something “original” that incorporated stuff we stole from what we had seen. As a result, we never finished anything we undertook with my best friend’s mother’s Green Stamp acquired 8mm camera.
I swear I would rather watch 90 minutes of such stuff than a lousy remake of a lousy 70s slasher like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”?
While I would take issue with the idea that the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was lousy, I certainly understand the sentiment as concerns the remake — and others of its ilk.
Have we (broadly speaking) become this addicted to brand names?
Yes.
Ah, but don’t you subscribe to it at least in part? You do like the idea of more Batman and James Bond movies.
And in other depressing news, it appears that Bill Condon — the same Bill Condon who made Gods and Monsters and Kinsey — has signed to direct the final Twilight installment. And that is far more distressing than the prospect of any remake.
Well, at this point both Nightmare and Furry Vengeance have 0% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Okay, so that isn’t all that surprising, but what is surprising is that none of the Nightmare reviews are from horror websites, which suggests strongly that they didn’t think they could impress the horror specialty folks with this one. That’s pretty scary.
Ah, but don’t you subscribe to it at least in part? You do like the idea of more Batman and James Bond movies.
Yes, I do. I have a certain degree of interest invested in both those brands and want to see them continue. However, I do think it’s been taken too far these days.
Not every film that gets made should have to be based upon, remade from, reimagined from or a sequel to an existing work.
Yes, I do. I have a certain degree of interest invested in both those brands and want to see them continue. However, I do think it’s been taken too far these days.
Not every film that gets made should have to be based upon, remade from, reimagined from or a sequel to an existing work
I agree with that last, but that’s also how I feel about Batman and, even more, James Bond. And Tolkien adaptations.
I agree with that last, but that’s also how I feel about Batman and, even more, James Bond. And Tolkien adaptations.
And I get that. Although with Tolkein, is five films over 12 years really oversaturation? And that’s with a 8 year gap in the middle.
And Tolkien adaptations.
I’m certainly in agreement with the majority of the points being made, but I’m afraid that I don’t really see how ‘Tolkien adaptations’ fit into this category, yet. Sure, the Hobbit is being made into a movie (that, apparently, takes a hell of a long time), but does that really qualify?
I’m afraid that I don’t really see how ‘Tolkien adaptations’ fit into this category, yet. Sure, the Hobbit is being made into a movie (that, apparently, takes a hell of a long time), but does that really qualify?
Call it a pre-emptive strike — combined with the irritation I feel over losing Del Toro to The Hobbit for 15 years or whatever it is. It doesn’t really fit, but I’m kinda over Hobbits and all that.
And unless you kept it to yourself, you didn’t appear to make it to the Thursday Horror Picture Show last night, Mr. Roberts.
Call it a pre-emptive strike—combined with the irritation I feel over losing Del Toro to The Hobbit for 15 years or whatever it is.
Hahaha…I suspected that this was an issue of spite, over a talented director being consumed in a project that keeps him from fully untilizing his own creative ideas. The truth is, I kind of just wanted to hear you fess up.
And unless you kept it to yourself, you didn’t appear to make it to the Thursday Horror Picture Show last night, Mr. Roberts
Yes sir, I didn’t make it last night. I really wanted to go, but I wasn’t able to get babysitting arrangements worked out in time for my little’ns. I’m still bummed out about it. Please keep me posted on any future events like this. You are always welcome to email me (I believe I have my personal email listed under my information). I would LOVE to attend something like this in the future.
Please keep me posted on any future events like this. You are always welcome to email me (I believe I have my personal email listed under my information). I would LOVE to attend something like this in the future.
Well, I can certainly do that, but this is every Thursday night at 8 — until they stop us. Next Thursday it’s a double feature of Karloff and Lugosi (“Universal’s Twin Titans of Terror”) in The Black Cat and The Raven. (Taken together that’s still only slightly over two hours. They made ’em short back then.) We could certainly use the support on those, since I fear classic horror is going to be a harder sell.
Well, I can certainly do that, but this is every Thursday night at 8—until they stop us.
Free good, older movies on the silver screen every week? This is great! It’s stuff like this that makes me really want to support a local theatre like the Carolina, over a big-name franchise chain, like the Regal theatres.
Next Thursday it’s a double feature of Karloff and Lugosi (“Universal’s Twin Titans of Terror”) in The Black Cat and The Raven. (Taken together that’s still only slightly over two hours. They made ‘em short back then.)
I just watched The Raven about 2-3 weeks ago – great movie (and so is The Black Cat). I can’t make any promises, but I will try to make it. Now that I know about this wonderful Thursday night thing, I will most certainly be coming sometime soon – hopefully next week.
It’s stuff like this that makes me really want to support a local theatre like the Carolina, over a big-name franchise chain, like the Regal theatres
This is what I wish people would understand. The corporate theaters aren’t doing anything like this, nor are they bringing in movies like Mother. Folks should bear that in mind when deciding where to go see Ironman 2, etc.
I just watched The Raven about 2-3 weeks ago – great movie (and so is The Black Cat). I can’t make any promises, but I will try to make it.
For me, The Black Cat is truly a great movie. The Raven is incredibly enjoyable nonsense, but sometimes that’s more than enough. (Having just seen the new Nightmare, I appreciate just how much more than enough is with a picture like The Raven.) Hope you make it, but there’s more to come. There’s a schedule on the Thursday Horror Picture Show Facebook page.
This is what I wish people would understand. The corporate theaters aren’t doing anything like this, nor are they bringing in movies like Mother.
To be Frank (who I’m not) – Thursday Horror Picture Show aside – I’ve been rather surprised by the shear excess of special showings and things, that the Carolina seems to do on a fairly regular basis. It’s good stuff to be sure.
For me, The Black Cat is truly a great movie. The Raven is incredibly enjoyable nonsense, but sometimes that’s more than enough.
Aside from some truly great moments (“did you hear that? The phone’s dead. Even the phone is dead.”) I tend to put them on almost equal footing – at least in terms of enjoyment. But I admit to being a little bias, having a weak spot for secret passageways and the like.
Having just seen the new Nightmare, I appreciate just how much more than enough is with a picture like The Raven.
I’m not quite sure if you’re saying that you had fun with Nightmare for what it is, or if you thought it was just utter, pointless garbage. Have you read Ebert’s review by any chance? I just read it a little bit ago, and I found it rather amusing:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100428/REVIEWS/100429976/-1/RSS
There’s a schedule on the Thursday Horror Picture Show Facebook page.
I’ll be sure to check that out. This just keeps getting better and better.
To be Frank (who I’m not) – Thursday Horror Picture Show aside – I’ve been rather surprised by the shear excess of special showings and things, that the Carolina seems to do on a fairly regular basis. It’s good stuff to be sure
Well, of course, they’re trying to brand themselves — and to rebrand the theater from when it was the Hollywood — as a local venue that’s different in approach and look from the corporate theater chains.
Aside from some truly great moments (“did you hear that? The phone’s dead. Even the phone is dead.”) I tend to put them on almost equal footing – at least in terms of enjoyment. But I admit to being a little bias, having a weak spot for secret passageways and the like
It depends on how you look at them, I think. As pure fun The Raven might have the edge. But if you compare the way the two films are made — not to mention the emotional complexity — it’s The Black Cat hands down. Don’t misunderstand, I love both these films, but only one of them would be on my list of essential movies. (Both would be on my list of essential horror movies, though.)
I’m not quite sure if you’re saying that you had fun with Nightmare for what it is, or if you thought it was just utter, pointless garbage
I was afraid that might be ambiguous after I posted it. Well, let me just say that I might like this better after I’ve sat through (oh my God) Furry Vengeance. Maybe.
It depends on how you look at them, I think. As pure fun The Raven might have the edge. But if you compare the way the two films are made—not to mention the emotional complexity—it’s The Black Cat hands down.
I definitely can agree with that.
Well, let me just say that I might like this better after I’ve sat through (oh my God) Furry Vengeance.
I’m completely in the dark on City Island, but I can’t imagine that it would be more god-awful, then what Furry Vengeance looks to be. I think Souther might have won on this one.
I’m completely in the dark on City Island, but I can’t imagine that it would be more god-awful, then what Furry Vengeance looks to be. I think Souther might have won on this one
I’d agree except for two things — it’s easier to write about a bad movie than about a so-so one (and I suspect that’s the case here), and it means I don’t have to go out to the Grande.
I have now seen Furry Vengeance. I’m sure I will recover…in time.
Furry Vengeance would be a wonderful title for another movie. If there was a movie called Furry Vengeance about furry fans taking their vengeance on the world while wearing fur-suits, I would go see it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom