Fright Month: Nosferatu (1922)

This was kind of a misfire as far as fright is concerned. I think the main problem was the music. Sometimes the soaring orchestral score added to the atmosphere; more frequently it lent an almost unacceptably comedic air to the movie. Some of the music was really beautiful, but most of the time it didn't do a thing towards upping the creepiness factor.

There were at least three songs I totally recognized, and it's driving me crazy because I can't figure out what they were. I tried looking online for information regarding the score, but all I could find is that this movie has had a variety of scores, and the one I heard is most likely not the original.

A far cry from Edward Cullen, eh?

Maybe I'm uncultured, but I think this is the first silent film I've ever watched. It's got some serious over-actors (I was wishing that something would wipe that beatific smile off Jonathon Harker's face, and was quite pleased when the phantom stagecoach driver did the trick), though I suppose that, without the benefit of speech, some overly-dramatic body language was of necessity. As were, it seems, crazy eyebrows (see Renfield).

Citizens of 1922 must have been some seriously slow readers. Those title cards were onscreen for far longer than necessary.

I wonder why they changed Mina's name to Nina?

Easy Virtue

How not to get my husband to watch a movie: when he asks what it's about, tell him, "I think it's about an American girl in the 1800s who marries an Englishman and they have problems and smoke a lot." Of course, as it turns out, it's actually set in the 20th century (maybe the 1920s or 30s?), but I don't think that would have made a difference to Hud.

At least it was far more light-hearted than I expected. I thought this movie was going to be all serious and dramatic and angst-ridden. I figured it was much in the same vein as last night's The Age of Innocence, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The couples switcheroo at the end was entirely predictable, but that is acceptable in a movie that Mandy warned I should go into with very, very low expectations.

By the way, I'm not doing so well in carrying out Fright Month, am I. In case you were especially worried about that, let me reassure you that I plan to get on with the scary stuff next week.

The Age of Innocence

At wine book club tonight, our meeting was a multimedia extravaganza. After finishing our bottle of wine discussion on the book, we watched the movie adaptation. It's pretty rare that I get to watch a movie when the book is so fresh on my mind.

Well, of course I mentally catalogued all of the differences between the book and the movie. They left out a few minor characters (most notably Medora Manson and Mr. Welland) and changed a few names (Dallas became Theodore in one instance and Townsend in another, and two different Fannys became Annies), but there were only two major ideas that were left out. I mention both in my review of the book--the first was May Archer's unspoken monologue, the second was Dallas Archer's observation about the nature of communication in his parents' generation. But overall, the movie was very faithful to the book and was an excellent adaptation.

One thing that bothered me a little bit about the movie was the narrator. First of all, that there was one. It was a little awkward. However, the movie would have had to leave out so much without that device. Second of all, the narrator was an older-sounding woman who was never introduced. Who the heck was she, and how did she know all this stuff she was telling us? This was especially odd since the entire book was written from Newland Archer's point of view. It would have made much more sense to me if he had been the narrator.

Not surprisingly, I found the book better than the movie, although the movie was also quite good. If you have to choose between the two, I say read the book. If you can only spare two hours and nineteen minutes, the movie will do.

Fright Month: The Amityville Horror (2005)

In honor of Halloween, I have lined up a few scary movies for this month. We're off to a chilling start with the newest version of The Amityville Horror.

I read the book by Jay Anson probably fifteen years ago. Of course, it's been so long that I barely remember it, but I do have a vague memory of feeling fairly doubtful that it was actually a true story. Although the original DeFeo murders undisputedly happened, this movie did nothing to dispel the idea that the paranormal activity that the Lutz family were supposed to have experienced might have been drug-induced, or a ploy to make a buck, or a combination of the two. But I have to admit that is one creepy-looking house! It's as if it has evil eyes.

I think the movie changed quite a few things as compared to the story told in the book. The father of the family took much more of a Jack Torrance turn in the film, and I don't remember all of the business about torturing Native Americans hundreds of years ago.

At least the movie was pretty creepy, unlike Paranormal Activity. I mean, I'm not expecting to see dead people reflected in my bathroom mirror, and I never did spill my wine, but the movie carried quite a bit of tension.

I'm not sure why I was thinking this would be the original version--maybe because I don't remember ever hearing that there was a remake--but I was kind of disappointed when I opened the netflix envelope and found that this movie was released in 2005. At first I was thinking I might want to watch the original too, but now that I've watched the 2005 version I'm thinking I probably won't bother. Unless you tell me it's necessary.

Best parts: the scenes of Ryan Reynolds without a shirt. MMmmmmm.

Hit Girl is in this one too!

Labyrinth

I don't have much to say about this movie, except that it is firmly rooted in the 80s. If the totally last-century soundtrack hadn't clued me in, I would have known merely because of David Bowie's utter fabulosity.

I'm sure if I'd seen this movie in 1986 I would have loved it. I don't know if I'm too old for it now, or if I'm just spoiled by today's movies, but I wasn't especially impressed. Even Hud's memory of the movie was much better than the actual experience of watching it.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

I can't believe I stayed up late to watch this movie. In fact, I can't believe I watched this movie at all. I don't know, maybe Bill Bryson was right and I don't have a sense of humor, but I probably only laughed four times during this movie. One of those times was when the Phantom cracked eggs into a glass and fuzzy chicks came out.

If you're smart, you don't mess with watching the Zohan.

Letters to Juliet

This movie was just gag-me sappy. And yet, against my will, I loved it right from the very first song (Colbie Caillat singing "You Got Me," one which I hadn't heard previously, but I was so proud that I recognized Caillat's voice. I had to download it because it's just impossibly happy.) Too bad that was the only good song. Most of the rest of the soundtrack consisted of pop Italian love songs and Disney-fied orchestral pieces, though I think I recognized Caillat in another song or two.

I'm sure my approval of this movie was largely due to its setting in Italy, which is just too perfect, but even for a predictable chick flick I really enjoyed it. The presence of handsome Christopher Egan didn't hurt either.