This film was released in 1992, and it is one of many, many Dracula films. It was directed by acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola, who also made The Godfather trilogy, and Apocalypse Now. This version of the famous tale has Gary Oldman starring as Dracula. It also has Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Sadie Frost, and even has Tom Waits in a small role. Those actors mixed with Francis Ford Coppola directing, you know it’s going to be good.
This film follows the original story quite closely. Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to sell an estate in London to Count Dracula, a very old, strange, and secretive man. Jonathan has a girlfriend back in London, Mina, who is living with her best friend Lucy. Jonathan soon realizes that he is being held prisoner by Dracula, and three demonic women who suck his blood to keep him week. Dracula leaves Jonathan with the three women as he goes to London and becomes young again on the voyage. He bites Lucy and she becomes sick and slowly becomes a vampire. Eventually Jonathan escapes from the castle and comes back to London. They chase Dracula back to Transylvania and eventually kill him.
I tried to keep that simple, because there is a lot more to it, and I didn`t want to give it away. I absolutely loved this film, and I`m loving it more as time goes on. Gary Oldman plays Dracula so well; he really portrays the romantic, seductive side of the character really well. Coppola did that very well as well, he made the entire film very sexual and seductive again. He got rid of the cheesy Dracula and brought back the seductive, terrifying vampire we used to know. Gary Oldman also made the most amazing evil laugh ever recorded. Seriously, here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCEf5XAgh1M
It`s pretty damn good. This was also the first film I`ve seen with Winona Ryder, at least the first film since I`ve starting taking them seriously. She was really good, she was surprisingly good. She played a modest, young Victorian woman who eventually gives into her lustful desires for Dracula. Keanu Reeves was quite good as well, although I would have liked to have seen more of him, especially when he was held prisoner by the demonic women in the castle. Anthony Hopkins did a great job as Professor Van Helsing, he was eccentric, and at times he was quite funny. The entire cast was excellent. I only had one problem with the cast. The person I was looking forward to the most was Tom Waits, and while he was quite good, his character was pointless. There was no need for his character. He plays the man who went to Dracula before Jonathan and he is now in an Insane Asylum, calling for his master and eventually he is killed by Dracula. Coppola did an excellent job rejuvenating this classic tale.
This film was very sexual, but I think it should be. Vampire`s in nature are very sexual creatures, and this film made you see this side of them. There was quite a lot of nudity, but not to the point that it felt contrived, but because of the nature of the film, it could get away with quite a lot of nudity.
A very good film, while it was a horror film, it wasn`t extremely scary but it gave you some chills, like when you would see Dracula`s shadow do something different than Dracula was doing. Not for everyone, it is a horror and there are a lot of people who don`t like horror. There is nudity, and it is quite long, it’s just over two hours. But if you can sit through it, it is very good. Another thing I really liked was the introduction; it explained what happened to cause Dracula to do the things he does. Very good film, another one under the belt of Francis Ford Coppola.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
To Kill a Mockingbird
As I watched this film, I was full of different emotions. Sometimes, a smile just spread across my face and I couldn`t stop it. Other times, my shoulders slumped with the more depressing notes of the film. To Kill a Mockingbird is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made; it is an adaption of one of the greatest books ever made. Surprisingly, it did not win Best Picture in 1962, it lost out to Lawrence of Arabia. Gregory Peck, who plays lawyer Atticus Finch, won Best Actor for this role. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three. From what I`ve just said, you know this is a great film.
This story starts out with the Finch family. Atticus: the father, Scout: the daughter, and Jem: the son. It is told from Scout`s perspective, she is very young and about to start school for the first time. She is very smart, she has been reading with her father for a long time.
They live in small, simple town in the south. Atticus is a very smart, well spoken lawyer. He is approached by the town judge and is asked to defend a black man Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman. Atticus takes the case but is criticized by the town people. During this entire time, we are told about “Boo” Radley. A man who none of the children have seen, because he is in his house all day, held there by his father. But apparently at night he walks the streets, watching people in their beds. The trial comes up and after Atticus not only proves Tom innocent, but also gives sufficient proof that she was beaten by her father, a very racist alcoholic. Atticus and Tom lose the case, and I will talk about this later. Tom tries to escape from jail, but is shot down. Near the end, Jem and Scout are walking home at night and are attacked by a man later identified as Bob Ewell, the father of the woman Tom was accused of raping. “Boo” shows up and saves them and kills Bob.
This film obviously deals with racism. Racism is a topic I feel very strongly about. I`ve looked at racism and I have found no reason for it. This film was excellent, but at times very tragic. One of the most tragic scenes in when Tom is found guilty after being proven innocent by Atticus. It just shows the idiocy and arrogant thinking of the town’s people. At other times it was very touching. One scene shows the town`s people storming the jail to try to kill Tom, but Atticus is guarding him. Scout shows up and says “Hello” one man. She has no clue what is going on, her childishness and naivety is what saves Tom and possibly Atticus.
If you haven`t seen this film, you need to. This is a film everyone needs to see at least once in their life. Gregory Peck was absolutely brilliant, he played a father figure perfectly, and he captured the image of a well spoken lawyer perfectly. Another performance that was very well done was the character of “Boo” Radley, who`s actual name is Arthur Radley. He was played by Robert Duvall. This was near the start of his career and he soon became one of the greatest actors living. His character has no lines whatsoever but he leaves such a huge impact, that it sends shivers down your spine. There were some scene`s that were terrifyingly suspenseful.
An amazing film, please, watch this film. Amazing.
This story starts out with the Finch family. Atticus: the father, Scout: the daughter, and Jem: the son. It is told from Scout`s perspective, she is very young and about to start school for the first time. She is very smart, she has been reading with her father for a long time.
They live in small, simple town in the south. Atticus is a very smart, well spoken lawyer. He is approached by the town judge and is asked to defend a black man Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman. Atticus takes the case but is criticized by the town people. During this entire time, we are told about “Boo” Radley. A man who none of the children have seen, because he is in his house all day, held there by his father. But apparently at night he walks the streets, watching people in their beds. The trial comes up and after Atticus not only proves Tom innocent, but also gives sufficient proof that she was beaten by her father, a very racist alcoholic. Atticus and Tom lose the case, and I will talk about this later. Tom tries to escape from jail, but is shot down. Near the end, Jem and Scout are walking home at night and are attacked by a man later identified as Bob Ewell, the father of the woman Tom was accused of raping. “Boo” shows up and saves them and kills Bob.
This film obviously deals with racism. Racism is a topic I feel very strongly about. I`ve looked at racism and I have found no reason for it. This film was excellent, but at times very tragic. One of the most tragic scenes in when Tom is found guilty after being proven innocent by Atticus. It just shows the idiocy and arrogant thinking of the town’s people. At other times it was very touching. One scene shows the town`s people storming the jail to try to kill Tom, but Atticus is guarding him. Scout shows up and says “Hello” one man. She has no clue what is going on, her childishness and naivety is what saves Tom and possibly Atticus.
If you haven`t seen this film, you need to. This is a film everyone needs to see at least once in their life. Gregory Peck was absolutely brilliant, he played a father figure perfectly, and he captured the image of a well spoken lawyer perfectly. Another performance that was very well done was the character of “Boo” Radley, who`s actual name is Arthur Radley. He was played by Robert Duvall. This was near the start of his career and he soon became one of the greatest actors living. His character has no lines whatsoever but he leaves such a huge impact, that it sends shivers down your spine. There were some scene`s that were terrifyingly suspenseful.
An amazing film, please, watch this film. Amazing.
Straw Dogs
Straw Dogs is a film I`ve been looking for, for a very long time. After a few months of looking I finally found it, and watched it right away. I was really excited about this film, and it stood up to me.
This film was released in 1971, and it was directed by Sam Peckinpah. It stars Dustin Hoffman in one of his earlier role`s. It also stars Susan George, playing Dustin Hoffman`s wife.
The film is about David and Amy Summer. They move into a nice house in England in a small village, far into the country side. We notice right away that David is slightly shy and almost cowardly, whereas Amy is wild and provocative. Their new house is not quite ready in parts, so there are villagers helping to build the roof on part of the house. The people building the house keep looking at Amy very sexually. It is also brought up that she never wears a bra, and that might be a reason they keep staring at her, according to David. Eventually, David finds their cat hanging in the closet, dead. He then goes hunting with the builders, but they trick him into staying there, while two of them sneak back to the house and rape Amy. David never finds out about the rape. On the way back from a church social, David and Amy hit Niles with their car. Niles has a reputation with the village as someone who keeps getting in trouble with girls, and he is clearly not mentally well. David takes him into the house, despite Amy`s pleads not to. The rest of the men come to their house with guns, demanding to have Niles. David refuses and the villagers start breaking the windows. The whole climax is David keeping them out, while leaving his cowardice behind and becoming brave and strong.
This film was released in 1971, along with A Clockwork Orange, Dirty Harry, and The French Connection. These films caused a huge controversy in 1971, because of their increasingly violent content. Yes, this was a violent film, and I have no problem with violence in films, and if you do, I think you should relax and not take things so seriously. This film was also very controversial because of a rape scene that is considered very brutal. I did not get why this was such a big deal, because it is not brutal. It is rape, so it is very bad, but thinking of what it was hyped up to be, it was nothing. In a way, this entire film is sexual by nature, or at least sex plays a huge part in how people behave in this film. I guess I didn`t find it all that shocking because of the generation difference, again, it was released 1971.
All in all, a very good film. Definitely not for everyone, but if you can sit through the violence, it’s very good. Dustin Hoffman`s performance is excellent. This film was remade in 2011, but it did not get very good reviews, except from Roger Ebert who said that it was better than the original, but I don`t agree.
This film was released in 1971, and it was directed by Sam Peckinpah. It stars Dustin Hoffman in one of his earlier role`s. It also stars Susan George, playing Dustin Hoffman`s wife.
The film is about David and Amy Summer. They move into a nice house in England in a small village, far into the country side. We notice right away that David is slightly shy and almost cowardly, whereas Amy is wild and provocative. Their new house is not quite ready in parts, so there are villagers helping to build the roof on part of the house. The people building the house keep looking at Amy very sexually. It is also brought up that she never wears a bra, and that might be a reason they keep staring at her, according to David. Eventually, David finds their cat hanging in the closet, dead. He then goes hunting with the builders, but they trick him into staying there, while two of them sneak back to the house and rape Amy. David never finds out about the rape. On the way back from a church social, David and Amy hit Niles with their car. Niles has a reputation with the village as someone who keeps getting in trouble with girls, and he is clearly not mentally well. David takes him into the house, despite Amy`s pleads not to. The rest of the men come to their house with guns, demanding to have Niles. David refuses and the villagers start breaking the windows. The whole climax is David keeping them out, while leaving his cowardice behind and becoming brave and strong.
This film was released in 1971, along with A Clockwork Orange, Dirty Harry, and The French Connection. These films caused a huge controversy in 1971, because of their increasingly violent content. Yes, this was a violent film, and I have no problem with violence in films, and if you do, I think you should relax and not take things so seriously. This film was also very controversial because of a rape scene that is considered very brutal. I did not get why this was such a big deal, because it is not brutal. It is rape, so it is very bad, but thinking of what it was hyped up to be, it was nothing. In a way, this entire film is sexual by nature, or at least sex plays a huge part in how people behave in this film. I guess I didn`t find it all that shocking because of the generation difference, again, it was released 1971.
All in all, a very good film. Definitely not for everyone, but if you can sit through the violence, it’s very good. Dustin Hoffman`s performance is excellent. This film was remade in 2011, but it did not get very good reviews, except from Roger Ebert who said that it was better than the original, but I don`t agree.
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