Not to forget, the amount of animal brutality in this film is staggering.
I've seen the whole damn thing and thought it was fairly remarkable at the time, but all I'm left with now, years later, is that poor cat.
Donald Sutherland really carved out a niche career playing absolute nutjobs, between this and Homer Simpson.
I know right, the scene with the cat sent shivers down my spine, terrible.
As for Sutherland, yes, but like I said I thought his character in Novecento was over the top gruesome and vile. I mean he and Betti are even lit in such a sinister way lol
Bram Stoker's Dracula: This still is the definitive adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's such a beautiful film, from both a technical point of view as on a narrative point of view. There's not a single moment where the story drags, the opening prologue is a fantastic introduction and Coppola is in full control. The costumes are incredible, the sets haunting and the cinematography is stunning. I love that they used many miniatures and projections to tie travel scenes together. I also really love that they speak Romanian too and Oldman just aces the accent. Oldman's performance belongs to his finest work and the make-up is still incredibly convincing.
This film is so many things, it's haunting as it is sensual, erotic, romantic, adventurous, funny and touching. It's such a stunning achievement, one of my favourite films of all time.
I remember feeling very much like that after my first viewings, now, some issues kind of pushed it away of my all time favourites list (Reeves, Ewles and Grant's characters are not very interesting, which makes some elements of the climax fall flat). But the prologue is still amazing. And of course the scenes between Oldman and Ryder are all iconic and filled with incredible dialogues ("I've crossed oceans of time to find you." "The princess, she's a river" "I want to be what you are, see what you see, love what you love".). For me, it's at its best when it deals with Sexuality, Love and Religion all together. The sacred and the material.
Kilar's score is gorgeous, it's also Ballhaus at his best, which is saying quite a lot.
Book of Life (2014)
This was a quite enjoyable and fun animated feature, with some good songs and some excellent voice acting. I heard that Coco is kinda taking lots of story elements from this film and now I cannot wait to watch Coco to be able to compare them. I'll just say this: from what I've seen, I prefer the more unique animation style of the Book of Life.
Bram Stoker's Dracula: This still is the definitive adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's such a beautiful film, from both a technical point of view as on a narrative point of view. There's not a single moment where the story drags, the opening prologue is a fantastic introduction and Coppola is in full control. The costumes are incredible, the sets haunting and the cinematography is stunning. I love that they used many miniatures and projections to tie travel scenes together. I also really love that they speak Romanian too and Oldman just aces the accent. Oldman's performance belongs to his finest work and the make-up is still incredibly convincing.
This film is so many things, it's haunting as it is sensual, erotic, romantic, adventurous, funny and touching. It's such a stunning achievement, one of my favourite films of all time.
I remember feeling very much like that after my first viewings, now, some issues kind of pushed it away of my all time favourites list (Reeves, Ewles and Grant's characters are not very interesting, which makes some elements of the climax fall flat). But the prologue is still amazing. And of course the scenes between Oldman and Ryder are all iconic and filled with incredible dialogues ("I've crossed oceans of time to find you." "The princess, she's a river" "I want to be what you are, see what you see, love what you love".). For me, it's at its best when it deals with Sexuality, Love and Religion all together. The sacred and the material.
Kilar's score is gorgeous, it's also Ballhaus at his best, which is saying quite a lot.
I thought those characters fitted the overall story well enough for them to be useful to the plot. Which they are.
I agree on all the other points, it's just so top notch and great thematic stuff.
Bram Stoker's Dracula: This still is the definitive adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's such a beautiful film, from both a technical point of view as on a narrative point of view. There's not a single moment where the story drags, the opening prologue is a fantastic introduction and Coppola is in full control. The costumes are incredible, the sets haunting and the cinematography is stunning. I love that they used many miniatures and projections to tie travel scenes together. I also really love that they speak Romanian too and Oldman just aces the accent. Oldman's performance belongs to his finest work and the make-up is still incredibly convincing.
This film is so many things, it's haunting as it is sensual, erotic, romantic, adventurous, funny and touching. It's such a stunning achievement, one of my favourite films of all time.
I remember feeling very much like that after my first viewings, now, some issues kind of pushed it away of my all time favourites list (Reeves, Ewles and Grant's characters are not very interesting, which makes some elements of the climax fall flat). But the prologue is still amazing. And of course the scenes between Oldman and Ryder are all iconic and filled with incredible dialogues ("I've crossed oceans of time to find you." "The princess, she's a river" "I want to be what you are, see what you see, love what you love".). For me, it's at its best when it deals with Sexuality, Love and Religion all together. The sacred and the material.
Kilar's score is gorgeous, it's also Ballhaus at his best, which is saying quite a lot.
I thought those characters fitted the overall story well enough for them to be useful to the plot. Which they are.
I agree on all the other points, it's just so top notch and great thematic stuff.
Oldman gives Dracula an often missing vulnerability that grows into vicious violence at various points and occasionally he even behaves like an animal in the movie. That these things can coexist within the same character is one of the great strengths of the film that makes it stand out for me. The cinematography and costumes are exquisite as well and help create a believable setting and moody atmosphere throughout. While I am not usually fond of narration, it works here because of how the book was originally just a number of journal entries by the various characters. Reeves is definitely the weak link, though I have found that I do not mind him that much because ultimately he is not the main character of this adaptation: Mina and Dracula are at the centre of the story. Another standout character in this adaptation is Lucy imo and I kind of like how Tom Waits is just, like, there in the background playing a madman. I like how alien, strange and distant all the vampires are portrayed, closer to actual revenants than simply sexy people in dark cloaks. When I look back on other vampire films of that decade like Interview with the Vampire (which is another good film, don't get me wrong) I find that they still treat vampires as individuals that act and talk like regular people except now they have superpowers. This film actually manages to portray an ethereal otherworldly dread whenever one of the undead announces themselves in the narrative. In that respect, the film has a lot of fun with visual symbolism and incorporating vampire myths into the story and the violence actually feels brutal and bloody. The score is absolutely amazing and unique. So ultimately, the dialogue, mood and visuals are undeniable strengths of the film while performances and characterisations vary depending on the focus of the adaptation, which in this case is centered very much around a love story that was not in the original novel. I think it's one of the best adaptations of the source material while doing its own thing enough to have its own identity, which is why it's also one of my favourite films of all time.
I've been showing this to all of my friends over the past year lol. Especially people interested in Uncut Gems or people who have already seen it.
Today I realized Benny Safdie co-directed, acted, edited, and did sound design for this thing. Hot damn.
Watched this for the first time in almost a year on Amazon a few days ago and it holds up very well on repeat viewings. Ray is my favorite character and for some reason this is one of those movies where I wanted about 10-15 more minutes of this movie.
Is there a particular website that indicates the aspect ratio that films were shot in? Curious about Little Women and Knives Out, two of the most recent I watched.
