What was the last movie you've seen?

[Ack]

To be fair, Corman did a lot of crazy shit.

Be sure to catch the X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. It is, IMO, Corman's very best.

Better than A Bucket of Blood?

[prfsnl_gmr]

To be fair, Corman did a lot of crazy shit.

Be sure to catch the X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. It is, IMO, Corman's very best.

Better than A Bucket of Blood?

Good pick! I love A Bucket of Blood, but, IMO, X edges it out.

[Forlorn Drifter]

A Bucket of Blood is my go to example when people ask if I love cats.

I love them just as much as this guy does.

[KalessinDB]

To be fair, Corman did a lot of crazy shit.

Be sure to catch the X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. It is, IMO, Corman's very best.

Just read the synopsis on wikipedia. Sounds awesome. Will be on the lookout.

[REPO Man]

Meh.

[Ack]

Red Dragon

As a fan of the original book, both the book and film The Silence of the Lambs, and the movie Manhunter, I decided to sit down and watch Red Dragon yesterday. What I got was a movie that is extremely well-acted by an excellent cast, excellent cinematography, moments of total brilliance, and yet there is a sameness to it stylistically that just makes me shrug my shoulders and say, "Meh."

Admittedly some of this is my fault. As I said, I've read the book and seen the first film based on it, so the plot holds no surprises. But what gets me is how much this movie feels like The Silence of the Lambs, and I think that's where I take issue. Instead of being its own story, this movie uses many of the same set pieces and style of Silence, making it feel less like its own thing and more like a junior partner. Manhunter was entirely different, not just with the actors but particularly with its use of vivid color to highlight emotion. Also, I have a crisis of faithfulness to the book here; Manhunter ended things very differently but still had FBI agent Will Graham get maimed by a shotgun. In the film Red Dragon, the ending is far more accurate but Graham gets shot several times in the body, thus throwing out a line I have always liked in Silence in reference to him: "He made a Picasso out of him." It's a pet peeve, I know, but as I have always loved that line, I'm sorry to see it not follow through.

But the range of actors is amazing, particularly Ralph Fiennes. He is delightfully creepy and at times so pitiful that you empathize with him. What was done to his character as a child was hideous, and as a result he is marvelous as a tortured monster. There is a scene early on where he remembers his abuse while weightlifting and wears a mask. When he rises, he puts in a pair of dentures and hisses in the mirror. It is grotesque and hideous, yet it contrasts so well with the sympathetic performance he gives later as he struggles to give up the Red Dragon so he can love a woman. I prefer the book Red Dragon to The Silence of the Lambs, and Fiennes nails why I do, because I pity the bad guy and know he cannot ever have the one real thing he wants.

Look, as a fan of this series, I'd say this is worth watching. But keep in mind that it probably won't get under your skin the way Silence does because by this point you've seen what it has to offer. You've seen Hannibal in his cell, you've seen how he banters and bargains and observes, how he maliciously aids the FBI, and how his charges are often secretly broken people in their own right. Don't expect much new. But do come for the performance, because it is worth it to see these people act.

[noiseredux]

Manhunter > Red Dragon.

[noiseredux]

this looks awesome:

[Ack]

this looks awesome:

Hey, cool!

[Luke]

RED DRAGON, the book, was pretty thrilling.

RED DRAGON, the movie, was terrible, painfully silly, and producers saying "Fuck it. If it is Hannibal people will pay to see it".

If you placed a laugh track on the "horror" scenes, you have to admit you'd laugh your ass off.

Not that every movie should follow it's source material, but in the book (if I call correctly) there is an intense police standoff, and in the process Starling tackles a woman who was concealing needles in her hair. Starling is poked by one of the needles and she has a pretty dramatic moment of wondering what could possibly be in that needle. I can't do the moment justice, but it is chilling as the words written are her thought process of "Was that Heroine? Does she have aids? What do I now have in me?".

The book was a page turner that at times left me with goosebumps. The movie is a waste of time.


Speaking of wastes of time!!!!!

TMNT 3. Heard the horror stories, never watched it until yesterday.

It's every bit as bad as you have heard. It shouldn't have been in a theater, it shouldn't have been a straight to video release, there shouldn't even be a shelf for a straight to video release of this move.

I know. The new TMNT movie wasn't everyone's bag of tea, but compared to TMNT 3 it is fantastic.