What movie did YOU just FINISH watching?

A Biblical story, more character driven than a spectacle though there are spectacular scenes. Susan Hayward and Gregory Peck played the leads, Susan I somehow can accept, but Gregory feels wrong in a Biblical movie, though he is not bad.

Versions of The Ark of the Covenant and Goliath was in the movie.

You should not have told us your name, Pike.

AMADEUS 1984 - Director Cut - because it has snow in it. I don't think the casting of Elizabeth Berridge was bad--some have said that--she sticks out like a sore thumb but that's the whole point of it from what I see. The idea is that she loves Mozart but has no ear for his music--that comes through in her voice. It's nails on a chalkboard. There's no connection between her and his musical ability. That is what Salieri has with Mozart--a connection--and thus the scene where she returns home and is arguing about him being there and the music composition she locks away. She's the killjoy to their relationship. The only thing she gets is their need for money.
And the scene where she goes back to Salieri and takes her clothes off--I think he became disgusted not that she would prostitute herself so willingly, but that she cast aside the music papers---which was an insult to Salieri and also revealed to him that she had no appreciation of her husband's music and that offended him the most. She can definitely act--her reaction when he comes home to find her crying--it's a touching moment because she is a simple person without any guile or pretensions--but like Kenneth McMillan--very out of place in a story about 18th Europe. Their voices are so extremely American. Same with Jeffrey Jones but it is the same idea--his voice reveals his lack of musical taste. I suspect that was a motivation for their casting, not just that they sounded American--their voices are so non-musical.

Since I am my own Kris Kringle nowdays I can grant my own wishes, so I dusted off my old DVD and watched this old favorite, without being a saint or a mason.
A sort of "best of" of what this director had done in the past, mixing it all together, and out came one of this directors best movies that is both thrilling and entertaining, with many memorable scenes.

DRACULA 1992 - I hadn't planned to rewatch this but then decided what the heck. It is an exercise in over-indulgence. Coppola just wanted to play around with techniques. It is a terrible version of Dracula--often times unintentionally funny. Oldman is a great actor and amusing to watch but he is a terrible Dracula. The moment all is lost is when he asks "do you believe in Destiny?" That line kills any actor.


His scenes with Winona Ryder are often just painfully excessive. And Anthony Hopkins is not a good Van Helsing in this. He has a cavalier who cares attitude. Some people like Richard E Grant try--and Sadie Frost is amusing in a goofy mad way, but it just does not work as a horror film. It is a weird drug-fueled romantic dream mess.

There's only two scenes that work as horror--that's when Dracula appears in bat mode to Van Helsing and friends and he turns into rats. And when Van Helsing is confronted by the brides and they attack the horse. 

 The only actor who seems to be locked into a traditional horror film performance is Tom Waits who is great as Renfield. I think he is the best I have ever seen doing the character. 


Oh, did I forget someone?

I think I did.

Keanu Reeves! Yes his accent is terrible. And I feel sorry for the TWO dialect coaches on this film--they must have felt defeated utterly when he opens his mouth. On the other hand--let's be fair. Jonathan Harker is a very boring character. Even if he speaking with a recognizable accent that did not waver, he would still be disadvantaged. The greying hair at least gave him some dramatic eccentricity? Alas, it was a just a bit of hair coloring but it helped.

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010).

DRUM 1976 --A sequel to a film (Mandingo) I have not seen. It's basically exploitation masquerading as a historical drama but it is far too uninhibited and broad in tone to work as a sincere social commentary. It goes from comedy (some of the dialogue is laugh out loud hilarious) to extreme violence. Warren Oates is a fun-lovin', plain-speakin' slave breeder who asks a brothel madam to recruit him a whore to become mistress of his house. He doesn't want a wife because they won't understand his wenching ways with the slave women. He wants a white woman only to be a housekeeper. He gets a candidate for the job ( Fiona Lewis ) but she isn't pleased that he has Pam Grier for his personal use or that Oates' daughter is constantly trying to remove the pants of all the black male slaves in the plantation. The title character (Ken Norton) is pretty dull compared to the rest of the cast, which includes Yaphet Kotto as the leader of a slave revolt. But the real surprising stand out is John Colicos in a role that would probably cause a riot these days.
He is a French slave trader who likes to stage fighting matches between male slaves. Drum beats his slave champion (Kotto) and as reward, he gets him a woman (from a slave auction). Colicos goes about feeling up the women to pick one for Drum and says of the chosen one in a French accent: "She will make a fine sheath for your rapier." After she is selected and they go to a room, Colicos comes in and starts removing his clothes, saying that he wants to join them in the bed. When Drum protests sharing the woman, Colicos assures him that he is not sexually interested in her, only him!

If there was a Politically Incorrect Film Awards--I think Colicos earns a nomination for this one.