AND THE REST.......SEE END OF ARTICLE
I looked up entries for Dracula in a movie book and stopped counting when I reached triple figures. Why is the ever thirsty Count so popular? Stakes through the heart, a mirror with no reflection, garlic, a deadly overbite, we all know the tale, originally told by Irish writer, Bram Stoker at the end of the 19th Century.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN.....
He, in turn, based his story on some strangely alluring Eastern European folklore. The film has, indeed, also been filmed in Europe, under the name Nosferatu; the first being F.W.Murnau’s silent version made in 1922, the first lethal blending of blood lust and sex.
BELA LUGOSI GAVE DRACULA A 'LOOK' THAT LASTED
I think I've just answered my own question: blood lust mixed with sex! If you are interested in the genre, Shadow of a Vampire, is a movie to seek out. I think it is available on DVD.
COPPOLA BROUGHT THINGS UP TO DATE
When Ford Coppola decided to give the old cloak a whirl in 1992, he went back to basics, hence the title Bram Stoker’s Dracula [e.tv.Sunday.22.35] Coppola is a superb director with a fine eye for detail and casting. Remember, he was the one who reinvented Brando when he signed the podgy ‘has been’ to play a Mafia Don.
A COUNT FOR A NEW GENERATION
Gary Oldman who plays Dracula, has had an eventful career, he has played punk rocker Sid Vicious, gay playwright Joe Orton, Beethoven,purported President killer, Lee Harvey Oswald and lately, the villainous Sirius Black in Harry Potter - a fascinating a track record.
Oldman casts off the shadowless cloak of Bela Lugosi, giving the count both a dignity and an edgy extra dimension. Also, there's Anthony Hopkins, on the cusp of his American career and Wynona Ryder (sadly) at the peak of hers (she plays Mina Harker).
INSPIRED CASTING
Just for an extra kick, cult musician Tom Waits hams it up as Renfield. Coppola’s film ends up sure-footed and turns arterial bleeding into art form quite easily. And, lets face it, since Twilight, vampires aren’t going out of fashion anytime soon.
Some writers film better than others, Stephen King doesn’t always translate well into celluloid, too much internal dialogue, I think. Directors, however, keep trying - there is certainly enough material to choose from.
THE EVER RELIABLE ANTHONY HOPKINS
Hearts in Atlantis [SABC3.Friday.19.30] with Anthony Hopkins as the mysterious lodger is a little top heavy, but I’m sure King fans will enjoy. For those who keep track, the movie is sort of based on
Low Men In Yellow Coats, with some of the characters from
Hearts of Atlantis overlapping.
Science Fiction, or Fantasy as it now called, has been all the rage for a while now. What was Fantasy yesterday, is all too real today. Unexplained natural disasters, totalitarian states, space travel, the inexplicable…... Probably the best of the early writers is Ray Bradbury, he wrote, among others, Fahrenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man.
RAY BRADBURY-FANTASY PIONEER
A Sound of Thunder [e.tv.Tuesday.22.30], first written in 1952, and now filmed with Ben Kingsley, is a story of time travel, quite passe say these days, but the possibility of that dimension remains intriguing and so is the film in an understated way.
K-Pax [SABC3.Saturday.19.30] is a compelling notion, similar in intent to a lot of Philip K. Dick’s work; the protagonist isn’t crazy, he’s from another planet. Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges costar, both do a good job and give the idea a lot of credence.
LLOYD BRIDGES AS A YOUNG MAN
Bridges also stars with Tommy Lee Jones in Blown Away [e.tv.Friday.20.00], with both actors better than the material. Catch Lloyd Bridges, Jeff’s dad, who was still firing on all cylinders near the end of his career. In 1994, he was 81.
W. Somerset Maugham was very influential and was widely filmed, especially in the 30s and 40s. He was a Hollywood scriptwriter’s dream - lots of angst and melodrama. The Painted Veil was first filmed in 1934, when Garbo was at her filmmaking height and that film vibrates with her sexuality.
GARBO IN 1934
The remake, [M-Net. Monday. 21.30] is better than anything Maugham ever conceived, the characters are fleshed out and are much are more like real people.
NAOMI WATTS IS WONDERFUL
Actually, it is a terrific movie, with both Edward Norton and Naomi Watts giving their roles a great deal more than one dimension. The title comes from a sonnet by Shelley; one thing about Maugham, his titles were as camp as anything, remember Of Human Bondage and The Razor’s Edge?
FILMED THEATRE
A real oddity, made in the late 70s, is a stark, stripped to the bone version of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town [SABC3.Saturday.02.15] Starring Ned Beatty, it is a fine slice of Americana, but I ask this question again; where the hell do they find these movies?
I WONDER WHAT JANE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?
There is also a musical version of Sense and Sensibility, Kandukondain Kandukondain [SABC3.Saturday.15.30] made in Bollywood, with music by A.R. Rahman, the man who wrote the score for Slumdog Millionaire. It is quite sweet, but the cast, look like refugees from a production of Mama Mia.
The Way Back Home [SABC3.Saturday.21.50] isn’t based on anything noteworthy,but gives us a rare chance to see Julie Harris, who is a superb actress. She has the distinction of being one of only three women to costar with James Dean; the other two were Elizabeth Taylor and Natalie Wood.
A BRIEF CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD-HERE WITH JIMMY DEAN
After making
Member of the Wedding and
East of Eden, Harris hurried back to Broadway, where she has had a long and illustrious career.
The Way Back Home takes a thoughtful look at the sad reality of aging.
IT'S A DOG'S LIFE
How to do and how not to do comedy. The Right Way: enjoy Chris Guest and co conspirators in Best in Show [SABC2.Saturday.16.00] that I reviewed a wbefore.
This is the mockumentary that sends the dog breeding fraternity sky high; it stars the gang from A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration. They are all there; Eugene Levy, Catherine o’Hara, Parker Posey etc. and are all, as usual, hilarious.
ON TOP FORM-LEVY AND O'HARA
The Wrong Way: Take a well-loved movie phenomena and make corny, lavatorial jokes about it for approximately 83 minutes. This is what Superhero Movie [M-Net.Saturday.20.30 and Wednesday.11.00], does to the Superman/Spiderman
FUNNY-I GUESS!
A sloppy, badly timed satire that misses the mark by a mile. Or maybe it’s just me, I’m the one who thinks that most fall about humour is about as funny as an enema!
HEPBURN WITH O'TOOLE
After the Sunset [e.tv.Thursday.20.00] is another strange attempt at romantic comedy, the plot made me long for Audrey Hepburn and Peter o’Toole in How to Steal a Million. Whoever thought that Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek would make a good romantic teaming? Who knows? Who cares?
HAYEK AND BROSNAN
Julia Roberts and Kirsten Dunst sparkle in Mona Lisa Smile [SABC2.Monday.22.00], a movie that fondly examines feminism in the 50s.
VERY PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE IN THIS STILL
If you like your light stuff with a bit of meat, it’s a good one. That’s Seal on the soundtrack singing Mona Lisa.
WAR GAMES FOR GROWN UPS
Basic [SABC1.Sunday.20.00] is a military movie for grown up boys, with John Travolta and Sam Jackson, more plot twists than a corkscrew.
GRIM REALITY
Innocent Voices [SABC3.Friday.21.30] is a hard, serious assessment of carnage ‘South of the Border’, this time in El Salvador. So sad, boys sent out to kill for the mish mashed ideals of their elders. So like those German teenagers in 1945, dying at the Brandenburg Gate, trying to salvage the ideals of Hitler’s Reich.
GOOD ACTING ALL ROUND
Pride and Glory [M-Net.Sunday.20.05] is a good cop thriller, that didn’t get wide big screen release. There are some durable performances from the likes of Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and John Voight.
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE WAS A LONG TIME AGO
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead [e.tv.Wednesday.22.30] is directed by Mike Hodges, who set new standards of violence in the original of
Get Carter, back in 1971. The plots of the two movies are not dissimilar, here we find Clive Owen in the old Michael Caine role. Malcolm McDowell makes a suitably creepy villain, shades of
A Clockwork Orange.
ANOTHER TROPHY
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius [e.tv.Saturday.13.00 and Sunday.12.00] tells the story of the American amateur golfer who was the Tiger Woods of his day—at least talent wise.
Bobby Jones played a fantastic game of golf but led a fairly conventional private life, which doesn’t really make for scintillating viewing. Jones is played by James Caviezel who played Jesus to Mel Gibson’s God in
The Passion of the Christ. My pick is
The Painted Veil [M-Net.Monday.21.30]
THE MANY FACES OF GARY OLDMAN...............
AS SID........
AS JOE.........
AS LUDWIG.....
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AS LEE HARVEY.......
AS SIRIUS..........