Topic: Is there something wrong with me?

I've just tried to watch Bram Stoker's Dracula and couldn't force myself to sit through it. It's directed by Coppola, stars Oldman, Waits, Bellucci, and Hopkins; I *should* enjoy it. This was not destined to be the case.

From the outset I had issues with the early 90's music video sensibility, then the faux English and Transylvanian accents began and things became distinctly uncomfortable. When it became apparent that the entire first act was redundant we acrimoniously parted ways.

Is there something wrong with me, and has anyone else failed to connect with a film that by all rights they should have liked?

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

It's well-regarded, but I find it kind of dull. It's beautifully shot, crazy as a shithouse rat, and the chicks are hot, but that's about it. I'd say you're normal—with the exception of having a tall, narrow, skinless skull.

It's funny how it's called Bram Stoker's Dracula when it's really a combination of every Dracula movie: lines from Browning, lighting from Murnau, visuals from Herzog, science from early Hammer, tits from late Hammer... I'm not familiar with the Frank Langela one, but there's probably some of that in there too.

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: Is there something wrong with me?

You know how when you're driving to and from work on a regular commute, you'll get there and not remember any of the trip, because your brain didn't bother to form any memories since nothing of significance happened? You know you made the drive, because here you are at the end of it, but damned if you can recall a single detail.

Yeah, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is like that for me. I know that I've seen it, I'm pretty sure I've seen it twice, but damned if I can remember a single thing about it.

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

I think I remember Winona Ryder running in the rain making her top see-through......

Though, that was probably just in my dreams. I used to love Winona Ryder so much back in the day. Anyway, point is- I don't acually remember much in the film, apart from Keanu's bad accent. And Winona. Ah, Winona.....

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

As to your second question, Scott Pilgrim.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

Teague wrote:

As to your second question, Scott Pilgrim.

This.

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

Dorkman wrote:

I'm pretty sure I've seen it twice, but damned if I can remember a single thing about it.

Same here.  Saw it in the theater when it came out, at least several times on video... I remember Oldman's weird old-lady beehive hairdo, and the shadow-puppet stuff, and... uhh... okay.

Zarban wrote:

I'm not familiar with the Frank Langela one

Haven't seen that one in a very long time either, but I remember Langela being really good.  He'd been doing the play on Broadway and the movie turned him from a stage star to a movie star... or seemed like it would, except he never really did anything as high-profile as that again.

The other things I remember most are John Williams' crazy romantic score, and one particular scene that scared the f*ck outa me.  Just thinking about it gives me the creeps, though I wonder if it would have the same effect on me if I saw it now.

Re: Is there something wrong with me?

I watch that movie once in a while just to take in the visuals, but yeah, I can't honestly remember very much of it aside from some really impressive shots, like the train shot and all the various shadow stuff going on. I think the Lugosi version is the high bar for doing any Dracula film, and there's not a hell of a lot of versions that have even come close to that. The Hammer films did some neat stuff, but there are some weird 'rules' to vampires in that series that I never understood, and they seem to just make up new ones for every movie.

The in-camera effects in that flick really blow me away, tho.

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

Trey wrote:

He'd been doing the play on Broadway and the movie turned him from a stage star to a movie star... or seemed like it would, except he never really did anything as high-profile as that again.

Superman Returns?

Frost/Nixon?

Posted from my iPad
http://trek.fm

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

And Cutthroat Island, let's not forget.

Of course he's done other movies since Dracula, but for whatever reason he didn't become a movie star like it seemed he was gonna.  Instead he became a That Guy.

Re: Is there something wrong with me?

One of my favorite Langella roles is in Dave.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

What I really like in Bram's Dracula is something they drop after the first act.  The story is told through found materials.  Journals, diaries, etc.  That was a great framing device that was wasted, and I think one of the reasons the movie is so easily forgettable.  Because the film forgot how to tell itself.

And I should love Watchmen.  But I hate that movie.

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

iJim wrote:

What I really like in Bram's Dracula is something they drop after the first act.  The story is told through found materials.  Journals, diaries, etc.  That was a great framing device that was wasted, and I think one of the reasons the movie is so easily forgettable.  Because the film forgot how to tell itself.

Using the "found story" format, the literary version of "found footage", in a movie would seem to me rather tricky. All you get out of it is excuses to do lots of narration, and you're probably cutting back to people reading the diaries to get in and out of scenes. It may be after the first act they figured out it wasn't going to keep working so sort of eased out of it.

I don't think I've read the book since the 80's. Is anyone actually reading the letters and such we're presented with in it, or in the world of the book are they just sort of scattered all over the place and nobody there has all the dots connected (unlike the reader)?

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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Re: Is there something wrong with me?

My biggest problem with the movie is that it portrays Dracula as this tragic, brooding eurotrash crybaby. In the novel, there is nothing sexy about Dracula. He's a stalker, a rapist, and a predator. Mina isn't seduced by him, she's assaulted and in the end, uses the mental bond he forms with her to lead her husband and Van Hesling to his lair so that they can kill him. I wonder what the odds of Hollywood ever making a movie about a woman who is victimized by a vampire and works to destroy for revenge him instead of cuddling his head and wanting to bone him...

Coppola's Dracula is a good looking, but disorganised, movie. The acting is peculiar... especially the British surfer dude, oh god...

Trey wrote:

and one particular scene that scared the f*ck outa me.  Just thinking about it gives me the creeps, though I wonder if it would have the same effect on me if I saw it now.

This?

iJim wrote:

And I should love Watchmen.  But I hate that movie.

I love Alan Moore's book. Snyder's adaptation was appalling.