6/28/14 Bram Stoker's Dracula, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Makeup, 1992
I'm randomly going through The List, at the whim of the library and Netflix and my own peculiar moods. I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I added Dracula to my list, but I am very happy that I didn't watch it with my friends last week. Friends don't make friends watch crappy movies. That's pretty much my review right there, but that's kind of lazy, and I feel like I should at least put forth some effort at snarkiness because I would hate to disappoint. In my younger days, I would watch 'horror' movies like the Friday the 13th series, The Exorcist, Carrie, The Silence of the Lambs, I saw Poltergeist five times in the theater, but something happened between then and now, and I really don't like movies like that, and I have no interest in adding them back to my movie palette unless they are on the damned list. Damn, damn, damn. Okay, fine, put on your big girl pants and watch the damn movie, I mean, the Alien series wasn't horrible, right? I think my luck ran out here. Bram Stoker's Dracula stars Gary Oldman as Dracula, Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing, Winona Ryder as Mina Harker/Elisabeta, and Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker. I like Gary Oldman, he does quality work; and Anthony Hopkins, delightful, even when he's in crap movies, he's wonderful. I'm not as sure of Winona Ryder or Keanu Reeves (I love The Replacements, but it's more because of Gene Hackman and the football action that Keanu's mopey quarterback). To state the obvious, Bram Stoker's Dracula is a telling of the Count Dracula story, beginning in the 15th century and Vlad Dracula and his fight against the Turks to defend the Church, and the suicide of his wife (Elisabeta). Flash forward to the mid 19th century, and Jonathan Harker, a clerk in a law firm, is sent to Transylvania to carry out some legal work. He meets Count Dracula (Gary Oldman in some very incredible makeup) and then things get a little creepy, okay, a lot creepy. I don't there are any big surprises to the Dracula story. There is something mildly pornographic about this movie, which from what I read, was intentional, because it's important to cover up a crappy movie with sex and pretty costumes and makeup and then nobody will ever notice. The acting was awful, and I actually feel badly for Reeves because he seems to get the brunt of the bad acting comments, but really, those remarks should be shared among the cast. Overacting, hammy acting, inept acting. I'm just glad James Cameron didn't direct (Francis Ford Coppola gets all the credit here) because it would have been three hours of torture. I was pretty close to tears a few times. I am seriously thinking about writing some kind of escape clause so I can skip some of these movies, but then, you never know what gem I might miss. If you like the Van Helsing stories, I might have been one of the few people who liked Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman, or perhaps try The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (neither is great, but I didn't think they were tasteless and they didn't make me cry because they were so horrible).
6/28/2014 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Best Music, scoring of a musical picture, 1954
As much as I curse the list for Dracula, I am so happy about this next movie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, one the many great musicals from MGM. Directed by Stanley Donen (who also directed or worked on the choreography for movies like Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, Funny Face, Damn Yankees! Anchors Aweigh), the movie stars Howard Keel (Showboat) and Jane Powell, and a cast of professional dancers (as opposed to actors teaching them to dance); three other names that may be familiar are Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff in West Side Story, Jacques d'Amboise (who was on loan from the New York City Ballet), and Julie Newmar (later better known as Catwoman from TV's "Batman"). I feel like I grew up with American musicals on the brain, not all of them, and I'm not an expert, but they are very much a part of my DNA; my first theatrical production was "The Sound of Music" at the Cleveland Playhouse in the 1970s, and my parents had all kinds of musical soundtracks at home and The Sound of Music and West Side Story were mandatory watching when they were on (this is in the decades before everyone had their own television and families watched TV together). Anyway, I have never seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers before, and I thought, uh-oh, cornfest, but it can't be too bad. Ha, it was great. I have figured out I like musicals when there is also dancing, and I don't mean prancing around, I mean dancing like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire, with a little muscle, athletic, almost gymnastic, and you get that by the yard here. The premise of the story is that the seven Pontipee brothers live in the backwoods in Oregon in 1850 and they are all of marrying age, but they're not very sophisticated and men outnumber women by more than 2:1. The oldest brother Adam (Howard Keel) (the brothers have biblical names, all in alphabetical order) goes into town to find supplies, and maybe a wife. He finds Milly (Jane Powell) and they get married after the world's shortest courtship; there's a lot Milly doesn't know about Adam or his six brothers, but she's no shrinking violet, so don't worry about her. Milly meets the other six brothers, and realizes that Adam didn't need a wife so much as a housekeeper, cook and den mother; Milly uses her opportunities with the 'boys' to try and teach them a few manners and a little culture, which they'll need if they want to marry a girl from town. The music is pleasant enough, Keel has a powerful voice and I didn't know Powell could sing so well, but it's really the dancing that I loved. And you get a fabulous look at the choreography of Michael Kidd (Guys and Dolls, Hello, Dolly!) about 30 minutes into the movie at the barn raising. I watched this scene a couple times because it was so fun. It's got tumbling, ballet-type moves, country dancing, everything but the kitchen sink. At the barn raising the Pontipee brothers find six young ladies that they are immediately smitten by and want to court. Since they have alienated the townspeople by their behavior at the barn raising, it won't be easy to court the girls, but Adam (who sometimes seems like a big lunkhead) decides the brothers should go into town and take the women (he relays the story of The Rape of the Sabine Women or "The Sobbin' Women" and thinks if it's good enough for the Romans, it's good enough for them). The rest of the movie is about the taking of the girls (which appalls Milly, who also becomes a big sister to them), the girls finally settling in to life in the woods, Adam's decision to take the girls back to town, and then ultimately a happy ending (ok, look the move is sixty years old, this cannot be a surprise to you). As much as I vehemently recommend that you never watch Dracula, I recommend that you watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (it's not very long at all, so you could double it with Anchors Aweigh). They don't really make musicals quite like this anymore, I'm not sure that American tastes would really support it, there's no CGI, no blood, no nudity, no guns; but when you're looking for a family movie, you can usually turn to a musical (my only hesitation is how do you explain "the rape of the Sabine women" to a kid? perhaps they wouldn't ask about it and just enjoy the dancing).
Kickstarter updates: I have been supporting different Kickstarter projects for over a year now, and I love it. Most of the projects have been documentary or photography projects, an occasional food or music project. I love it when a project gets funded and even more so when a project is successful. One of the earliest projects that I funded just completed and that was with Peter Lord of Aardman Studios (The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Wallace and Grommit, Chicken Run) and his desire to create 15 one and a half minute shorts for his characters Morph and Chas. Just this past week, I finally received my reward for supporting the project and that was the link to download and watch the short films. They will be available shortly on Youtube on Morph's own channel. I watched the shorts last night. They are hilarious. Ideas for story lines were solicited from supporters (I honestly could not think of a single original idea). The brief stories use items from everyday life, a smartphone, a video camera, a desk fan, and then it's up to Morph and Chas to play with them or try to figure out what they do. Their voices are mainly squeaks, with occasional words being said; but that's okay, you can figure out what's happening.
Another Kickstarter project that is trying for funding is a documentary on the creators of Superman, Siegel and Shuster: Legend & Legacy. Siegel and Shuster were from the Glenville neighborhood in Cleveland and many feel they have not really gotten their due. If you're ever in Cleveland, you can stop by the houses and see Shuster, Siegel and Lois Lane Lanes. I really hope this gets funded. There's lots of great stuff out there, and you never know, one of these films or animated shorts could be nominated for an Oscar.
