1.
Guillermo Del Torro's Trailer for Frankenstein has finally been released. In watching it - I was reminded of the British National Theater presentation (which was also filmed) of Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch switching back and forth - on who played Frankenstein and who played Victor. One night Miller played Frankenstein, and Cumberbatch played Victor, then the next night the opposite. National Theater filmed both performances and showed them in theaters, and on National Theater website.
I got National Theater so I could watch them.
So, yes, I'm looking forward to seeing Del Torro's Frankenstein - and may make a point of seeing it in theaters. But it looks very similar to the plot of the National Theater presentation - which was excellent.
What the British National Theater presentation got across by having the actors flip roles each night - is that the line between who was the monster and who wasn't - was very thin, and in many ways Victor was far more of a monster than his creation.
2. After listening to a lot of Revamped podcasts, I decided to rent Landau's
A Place Among the Dead - which is an independent film that was written by Landau and her husband, directed by Landau, and starring Landau, along with various people they found to do it with them. Including Anne Rice, Charlain Harris, Lance Henrikson, Joss Whedon (who appears for less than a minute - so if that's a problem for you, I wouldn't worry about it), Ron Perlman, Gary Oldman, and Robert Patrick among others. It's filmed like a documentary, and Landau and her husband more or less play themselves, as do most of the name stars. And they interview most of them about vampires and evil, and what it is and means.
Through the use of the vampire metaphor explores the psychological trauma and consequences of being raised by narcissists, and the on-going psychological abuse. Landau has pictures of her parents, and hires actors to play them, and voice them. Harry Groenig plays Dad, and another woman plays Mom. (Landau is the daughter of Barbara Bain and Martin Landau, who met on Mission Impossible. Barbara Bain was the first female actress to win consecutive emmys for a drama role from the same series. And both starred on Space 1999. Whose theme song inspired Nerf Herder's Buffy theme.)
Basically, Landau made the film with her husband to work through her traumatic upbringing.
It's an interesting film, but flawed and definitely low budget. There's a few creepy shots, but for the most part - it drags, and my attention wandered. As a result, I kind of lost the metaphor here and there. I did like how Landau pokes fun at the somewhat cliche/horror trope advice: "you must stand up to evil, and face it head on, to stop it and you can only stop it with love" - because she basically decides to do that - and ends up opening the door to evil instead. She's too vulnerable, and instead of locking it out, it gets in.
The setup?
( Read more... )3. Finished watching
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret adapted from the novel by Judy Blume, of the same name. The novel was published in 1970. And the film takes place in 1970. I read it around 1976 or 77. I can't remember exactly. I started binge reading Judy Blume somewhere around the third or fourth grade. I've found it interesting that most of my favorite books as a child have been adapted into films, some more than once:
The Hobbit
The Chronicles of Narnia
Escape to Witch Mountain
Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret.
Bridge to Terribetha
A Wrinkle in Time
Dune - I was a bit older - somewhere in high school (it's not a kid's book)
Stuart Little
Charlotte's Web
The Westing Game
The Wizard of Earthsea (and not well)
The Incredible Journey
Watership Down
All Things Great and Small
The Lord of the Rings
There are a quite few that haven't been, and I'm not sure I want them too? The Witches of Worm, Dark is Rising, Perilous Guard, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Lisa Bright and Dark, Where the Red Fern Grows, I Am the Cheese, The Girl Who Owned a City, Misty of Chitanoogue, Dragon Riders of Pern, The Ship Who Sang, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: the Unbeliever by Stephen R Donaldson (I had to look it up because I couldn't remember the name of it.)
Anyhow, back to my review, such as it is. Are You There God? It's Me Margaret to the best of my memory (which is hazy at best - I can't remember when I read it? Just that it was before the fifth grade?) - is a faithful adaptation of the Judy Blume novel. It's about a 12 year old girl who moves from one state to another with her parents, and at the same time has to deal with change in schools, menstruation, new friends, puberty, etc. I did the same thing - but in the fifth grade - which is when I think I read the book, and that was in 1977-78. So about seven years after it was written - it fit my time period better than it may fit folks now? I don't know? I don't think my niece ever read it.
I found the film charming and nostalgic. I also remembered the book better as I watched it. And it moved me.
( vague spoilers )Overall? A good movie. I don't remember the book well enough to take any issues with differences or discrepancies, although I sincerely doubt there are any?
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agonyaunt but I see the post is locked so not linking there. It's I was asked to provide proof that I wasn’t involved with my husband’s death" (second one down here at Ask A Manager):
