FRANKENSTEIN
Star Fitzgerald
a great movie. I think it will get nominated for best costumes and
makeup.(ick)
Previously, someone said that they interpreted the movie to mean that people
should not pursue their dreams. Um, no. This movie like Jurassic Park, is
asking people to consider the affects of their dreams. People need to consider
not just can we do something, but SHOULD we do something? Should Frankenstein
created a superbeing and then not consider what happens to it after that? Not
even give it a name. Should the men go in search of the North Pole if it's
going to kill all of them? Fame? In Jurassic Park, okay we can create a
whole bunch of cool dinosaurs, but should we? These movies say no, but
Ken does take time to point out the good effects of medical research, ie,
replacing a heart, etc. He had noble motives, but he did not stop to really
consider the effects of his work. That was his downfall. And all the
sorrier for the monster. I really liked DeNiro as the Monster, too.
Something I liked and didn't like was the Elizabeth transformation. It was
neat that he still loved when she looked like that, but was it really neccessary
for her to look like that? It seemed like it wasn't it. Oh, well.
And best of all, Ken runs around without a shirt on!!!
It was nice and gothic, believe I spent most of the gruesome parts with my
face buried in my friend's arm.(NO MORE AXES!)
All in all, it was neat. Not my fav of his, which will always be Much Ado,
but still great.
Nuff said,
STar
Elizabeth A Esser
: I think most people dug it's grave within the first 30 minutes, and spent the
: rest of the movie filling that cavity with earth: Anyone else?
Well, not having seen frankie yet (and I call myself a fan! :) I couldn't
really comment directly, but that tends to be the problem the critics
have with ALL Branagh's films-- it's like the critics are just DYING to
see him fail. Ithink it's mostly due to the fact that he came out with
such a GREAT movie his first shot out (Henry V),and that kind of annoyed
the critics-- they like to be able to say in their reviews that "yeah,I
knew Branagh had talent back when he made _DInky Ass Movie That Nobody
Saw_-- I knew then that someday he'd be a star and BOY WAS I RIGHT!"
But instead, he made this huge crash on the movie scene,redoing a movie
that Olivier had done, for goddess sakes, and lots of people saw it and
*gasp* liked it. So nobody can take credit for "discovering" him.
Pisses people off. *shrug* Anyway, I'll be seeing Frankie on Saturday,
so maybe I will hate it as much as the critics... somehow, I'm doubting
it though. :)
Stepping off her soapbox,
Liza
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Liza Esser es...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
Yale School of Forestry "We dream on. Thus, we invent
and Environmental Studies our lives." --John Irving, HNH
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Deborah Marie Butler
: > So what did everyone think of Frankenstein? Most of the people/critics I
: > know loathed it... yet I thought it was FANTASTIC! It's got definite flaws
: > and pacing problems during the 1st Act, but I think it picks up wonderfully
: > from there, and by the end... some of the most grisly scenes I've seen
: > all year.
: >
: > rest of the movie filling that cavity with earth: Anyone else?
: > Ibsen, NYU
: I'm soooo glad to hear people liking it. In rec.arts.movies, everyone
: seems to be ripping it apart without cause. I think that it was
: beautiful in it's art direction, costuming, acting, the story and more.
: I did see at times that the acting was a bit over the edge, but that
: was a very small percentage of the time. And besides, I think that
: a 'realism' acting style wouldn't fit with the story simply because
: it's not very realistic in plot (yet the ideas and philosophy is more
: that extremely real, which is the important part.). Yeah! I loved
: it and the music too! :)
: -john
I also felt the critics were a little goofy for expecting this not to be a
melodrama. It's a horrifying story about a "mad" scientist (Mad about life
and determined to beat death) who stitches together a creature from various
parts of dead bodies--this is not your everyday event easily depicted as a
little slice of life. (Absolutely no pun intended.) I thought it was a very
well done, played, staged effort that gave me good cause to shudder and
think. --Debbie, Corpus Christi, TX
Tracy Wolf
: I also felt the critics were a little goofy for expecting this not to be a
: melodrama. It's a horrifying story about a "mad" scientist (Mad about life
: and determined to beat death) who stitches together a creature from various
: parts of dead bodies--this is not your everyday event easily depicted as a
: little slice of life. (Absolutely no pun intended.) I thought it was a very
: well done, played, staged effort that gave me good cause to shudder and
: think. --Debbie, Corpus Christi, TX
Slice of life! Thats great! Anyway I also loved it and left shuddering.
I can't really remember any overacting, but everything was great! I
would definately see that again!
Tracy, Flagstaff, AZ soon to be from Phoenix, Az
--
=========================================================================
| "The problem with scientists is they are so | Tracy L. Wolf |
| concerned with if they CAN, they forget to | t...@pine.cse.nau.edu |
| stop and ask themselves if they SHOULD." | |
Ooyen
most other people should and I, for one, think Ken's version was pretty
good. I saw it for the 2nd time with about 9 other friends and only one
other person liked it but I won over a naysayer on our ride back home as I
lectured about the sexual imagery of the movie. I have to agree with a
number of points already noted here.
1) The critics who seem to be comparing it to the Whale versions and not
the novel. -- This seems to be quite the trend. People magazine
practically sneered at the idea of the Creature speaking in an articulate
voice. Geez, what a concept!
2) Melodrama -- this also goes for Interview with a Vampire, which I
refuse to see for a number of obsessed-fan reasons but the reviews for
Interview indicate that the critics want vampires to act normal when
that's all beside the point. Anyway, Mary Shelley's diction in the novel
makes it perfectly clear to me that she's on speed or something. This is
not a novel about quiet desperation. We're talking grand statements and
epic events.
In a couple of ways, I also think he improved on parts of the novel, such
as cutting out the Safie plotline with the DeLaceys and toning down the
Creature's vocabulary. While I loved it in the novel, I don't think it
would've translated on to the big screen without having the Creature sound
rather unbelievable and stilted.
It wasn't perfect but it sure beats Bram Stoker's Dracula and Ken didn't
cast Keanu or Winona, which also limits the appeal. Coppola only had to
deal with the subtext of female sexuality in Dracula but Shelley's novel
is so much wider in scope and IMO, a much better piece of literature,
period. Just to name a few, you have themes of scientific responsibility,
parent-child ties, incest, nature vs. nurture, revenge, and a bunch of
other Romantic obsessions mixed in there. I think it's this huge palette
that makes the novel so difficult to fully realize. At the least, I hope
the moviegoers will remember that the Creature was never given a name by
Victor. And if they bother to pay attention, they'll come away with a lot
more.
Uyen
Mark Phillip Reams
So I guess I'm not the only one out there who loved Frankenstein.
Personally, I think the critics were just waiting to tear apart one
of Ken's films, seeing how most so far have been hailed as brilliant.
I mean, we can't have someone so young do TOO much. Kudos to Ken's
favorite score composer, Patrick Doyle, for another beautiful
soundtrack.
PS. I've already seen the movie twice, and liked it even better
the second time. I recommend for all here to do that; the first time
I saw it I found some definite pacing problems, but they were mostly
nonexistent the second go-round.
--
Mark
"What for you bury me in the cold, cold ground?"
-Tasmanian Devil
--
Mark
"What for you bury me in the cold, cold ground?"
-Tasmanian Devil