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Showing posts with label Johnny Depp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny Depp. Show all posts

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Tim Burton's Dark Shadows ... in 3D



Don't look at me like that. No, the Collinsport Historical Society has not been a cheerleader for Tim Burton's 2012 riff on DARK SHADOWS. It's kind of been an office punching bag for the last few years, an attitude encouraged in no small part by the automatic boost in traffic we get whenever the film is mentioned. But as every vampire knows, there's a difference between good attention and bad attention, and the level of hostility this movie provokes in fans of the original series is usually pretty icky. Mention Johnny Depp around "real fans" and things will quickly take a turn for the gross. (Historical curioisty: Many of these "real fans" turned out in droves for Jonathan Frid's spoken word tours during the 1980s. Some of them didn't pay to see his show, though, opting instead to wait until after to ambush him outside and ask him to sign their Dark Shadows items. Make of that what you will.) I've taken avoiding any mentions of the film because it brings out the worst in some people.

So no, I didn't like Burton's film in 2012 and I don't like it today. But gosh, it sure is pretty. It's a glorified Monster High doll, an empty plastic shell tarted up in goth drag. After converting a batch of images into 3D for a series of "Lost Viewmaster Reels" for the original television show, HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS and NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS, it felt important to close the cinematic circle with Burton's movie. It has it's fans, after all.

Below are links to five faux Viewmaster "reels" representing about 45 3D images from the film. You'll need a pair of red/blue anaglyph 3D glasses to view them.

REEL 1         REEL 2         REEL 3
REEL 4          REEL 5

Monday, September 18, 2017

Tim Burton's DARK SHADOWS returns to 13 Nights of Halloween


Once upon a time, 13 Nights of Halloween was once called 13 Days of Halloween. The television movie festival began life on The Family Channel, which became Fox Family, ABC Family and is now called Freeform. If you were trying to duck creditors, it would look a lot like this.

I mention the convoluted history because it's a lot more interesting than the point of this post: 13 Nights of Halloween is bringing 2012's DARK SHADOWS movie back to the schedule this year. Because I'm a masochist, I was vaguely hopeful that The Family Channel Fox Family ABC Family Freeform would be airing DARK SHADOWS on Oct. 28, which is the same day that TCM is airing HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS and NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS back to back. It would have been nice to see the Collins family stake a claim to the airwaves for a day, even if that day would represent a gradual decline in movie quality.  The stars failed to align, though, with Tim Burton's 2012 feature showing up at 4:10 p.m. EST Oct. 23 as part of a Burton marathon, and again 8:20 p.m. Oct. 26, 7 a.m. Oct. 27, and 11:30 a.m. Oct. 30. You can read the full event schedule HERE.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp to party responsibly in September


I love DARK SHADOWS.

I love Alice Cooper.

And I kinda like Johnny Depp.

Curiously, though, I'm driven to fits of rage whenever those three things occupy the same space. Which is unfortunately going to happen again soon, thanks to a project called the Hollywood Vampires.

The Hollywood Vampires used to be a kind of supergroup composed of guys like Alice Cooper, Keith Moon and Mickey Dolenz. And I say "kind of" because the "band" never sobered up long enough to record any actual music. The entire raison d'être for the Vampires was to destroy their livers, which is why the individual members went on to become one of two things: reformed alcoholics or corpses.


Since the production of the DARK SHADOWS feature film back in 2011, Cooper and Depp have been threatening to revive the Hollywood Vampires concept, this time with actual music. Because nothing screams "rock and roll" like a bunch of aging, sober rock stars teaming up with a bored actor. Remember, kids: party responsibly!

"We decided to put the band together and kind of celebrate all of our dead, drunk friends," the Coop told NME. "You know, all of our big brothers died at 27 years old. Jim Morrison, we toured with The Doors, and Jimi Hendrix was one of our best friends, and we drank with these guys, and Johnny Depp and I were doing that movie DARK SHADOWS, and we decided that one night we were gonna go to the 100 Club and just be a bar band."

It's weird how every rock star wants to go back to being a "bar band" once they've got a few million dollars in the bank.

The album also features Joe Walsh, Robbie Krieger, Paul McCartney and (for some reason) Kip Winger. Look for it to be released on Sept. 11, a date set by marketing people with incredibly short memories.

Source: NMW

Friday, July 31, 2015

DARK SHADOWS 2012: It actually could have been worse


By WALLACE McBRIDE

There's a little more subtlety on display in the shooting script for DARK SHADOWS. Which isn't saying much, considering the blunt-force trauma that was the final cut of Tim Burton's 2012 "adaption" of the ABC daytime drama. It's a film that is constantly at odds with itself, never finding time to settle on a tone, theme or even a central character. Yeah, you could reasonably argue that these problems were present in the original television series, but Burton simply failed to make turn these flaws into strengths.

Since then, the film's principles have dealt with the negative response in some ... interesting ways. Burton has shrugged off its relative failure by blaming its lack of appeal on the original television series. Johnny Depp will happily extend a middle finger to the film's haters, while the movie’s original screenwriter, John August, has politely disowned it. (Trivia: these  guys are also the world's easiest choices for FUCK/MARRY/KILL.)

August has reason to be quiet. The draft dated Nov. 20, 2010, has his name at the top of the script's cover, but it represents a massive overhaul by Seth Grahame-Smith at the request of Warner Bros. It was decided late in development that DARK SHADOWS would need to distinguish itself from the likes of TWILIGHT, TRUE BLOOD and THE VAMPIRES DIARIES by taking a comedic approach. (Note: August confirmed via Twitter last night that this draft of the script does not represent his work.)

August's original draft of DARK SHADOWS continues to elude me, but a copy of Grahame-Smith's "revision" recently landed on my desk. It's a fascinating read and represents a story that goes to some dark places that the movie otherwise avoids. But it also fails to understand its source material, a genetic flaw that continued to bloom as DARK SHADOWS went into production.

Still, this draft gets a few things right. It also gets so, so many things wrong. So let’s take a look at some of the ways this draft differs from the finished product.


"My Name is Victoria Winters"
As in the film, the script begins with a flashback to 1752. The Collins family is leaving Liverpool, fleeing an unidentified "curse." These problems follow them to the New World, taking the shape of ghosts, witches and even a werewolf ... all backed by a voice over from Victoria Winters. This narration was almost entirely re-written for the film and the dialogue given to Johnny Depp. I can only speculate as to the reasons why this change was made, but anyone who’s seen the deleted scenes included on the home video release already knows that Victoria was marginalized during the film’s editing. I don’t know if this was because of concerns over Heathcote’s performance or just an effort to push Depp further toward the front of the story.

There are a few other minor changes, but the most glaring (and interesting!) omission was the absence of Angelique from the prologue. And there's a reason for this:


Angelique has been busy
There’s a little more to the character of Angelique Bouchard in this draft of the script, and all of those differences point to a lack of understanding by Grahame-Smith of the definitions of “story,” “character” and “plot.” Angelique has always been evil, it’s revealed, and her actions have nothing to do with Barnabas Collins, rejection or anything else.

As in the final film (and the original television series), Angelique dooms Barnabas after she’s spurned, cursing him and Josette to their doom. BUT: we learn later in the film's script that Angelique has been plaguing the Collins family for many, many years. She’s even the reason the family fled England.

Why? Who the fuck knows.

Not long before Barnabas decapitates her during the script's climax (more on that later), she confesses to sleeping with Barnabas’s father, breeding the werewolf that bit Carolyn when she was an infant, casting a spell on the weather to guide the Collins family from Liverpool to the land that would become Collinsport, killing Roger's wife, killing Barnabas' parents, etc. It reads like a less-funny version of Nick Cave's "The Curse of Millhaven" and opens up trunk full of plot holes. For an almost-omnipotent being, Angelique is less a pestilence than a nuisance.

Speaking of decapitations…


The movie was intended to be Rated R. Maybe.
You’ve got a better chance of understanding the Kabbalah than you do the methods used by the MPAA to determine film ratings. A powerful enough director can essentially demand any rating they want, while others require a measure of strategy to make sure their work reaches the widest possible audience.

There’s enough violence, profanity and nudity in this draft of DARK SHADOWS to suggest the studio was willing to accept an R rating. But there’s also an ambiguity to the script that makes me think the studio wasn’t fully sold on the idea. As I mentioned before, Angelique is decapitated in the film’s climax when Barnabas rips a silver chain from her neck. ATTACK OF THE CLONES is evidence, though, that you can decapitate half the film’s cast and still skate with a PG rating.

Still, that leaves a nude scene (when Angelique flashes Barnabas in the script, there’s a lot more skin), graphic violence and a special appearance by the word “fuck.”


Politics is the new witchcraft
There’s a not-that-interesting subplot in script involving Collinsport Town Council. Unnamed and undistinguished, these roles have quite a bit of dialogue, though the script never takes the time to describe them.

During one of their many pointless confrontations, Angelique tells Barnabas that witchcraft is less useful than it once was, saying “Politics is the new witchcraft.” She tries to poison the council against the Collins family and their renewed business interests, eventually turning to magic to win their support. These characters make up the “mob” that storms Collinwood in the final act, forcing the family to pull their punches in the struggle.

The faceless nature of the council members makes me think they were meant as conveyance for cameos by cast members from the original television show.


The Cooper Woman
Believe it or not, Alice Cooper was always intended to appear in DARK SHADOWS. The film’s more elaborate set pieces are essentially blank in the script (the bizarro sex scene between Barnabas and Angelique, for example, happens between edits) but Cooper’s presence is actually woven into many of the film’s “jokes.” It’s an odd choice, given that Cooper might not have been available to participate when the film began production the following year. Had he been busy, I have a feeling we’d have had to endure jokes about Iggy Pop’s name, instead.

The script goes so far as picking out a song for the former Vincent Furnier to sing: “Under My Wheels,” from the 1971 album KILLER. Cooper would go on to perform the more appropriate “Ballad of Dwight Frye” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” in the actual movie. Curiously, the latter wouldn’t be released until 1973 … a year after the movie takes place. Shrugs.

Several of Grahame-Smith’s proposed musical cues managed to find their way into the final film, though. It’s worth mentioning that the Moody Blues’ “Knights in White Satin” (which plays over the opening credits) was intended to be “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. This is a kind of Sophie’s Choice of musical cues, in my opinion.

Here’s a list of the songs suggested for use in the screenplay:

You have to have  huge balls to think you can get away with ever using "Blue Velvet" in a movie again. And if you think jokes about "balls" are funny, then you're in luck ...



DARK SHADOWS was supposed to be a comedy
In the months leading up to the release of the film’s first trailer, Tim Burton had pretty much surrendered any pretense that he ever had control of the film. Left with nothing more than a vague (if gorgeously constructed) riff on AUSTIN POWERS, he decided, instead, to promote the movie he wanted to make. He's an example of his one-man marketing campaign:
“It’s a funny film for me, because I never considered it a comedy. I was always trying to capture the weird vibe of ’Dark Shadows,’ which is a weird thing to try to capture. It was a weird daytime soap opera.”
Here’s the thing: Barnabas Collins is pretty much a joke factory in the screenplay. He rarely speaks a word that's not intended to remind the audience that he’s a clueless dimwit confounded by waffles, television, popular music and pretty much everything else he comes into contact with in 1972. It wouldn’t be so excruciating if a.) these jokes didn’t fall flat, and b.) he ever had anything else to say for himself. As a character, his goals are, shall we say, “modest.” The film pays lip service to finding a cure for his murderous disposition, but that idea goes by the wayside almost immediately. He doesn't want anything more in life than to bump uglies with Victoria, which brings me to my next point ...


Barnabas Collins was always an asshole
There’s a telling bit of dialogue during the film’s prologue, one that’s repeated (as with everything else that passes here for “theme”) constantly throughout the script. As Barnabas is giving Angelique the cold shoulder, he tells her that he believes himself to be better than her.

There are a few other glimpses of Barnabas’ bad behavior during the prologue, all of which presents him as lazy and shallow. We get an idea that he’s spent his youth nailing anything in a skirt before deciding to settle down with Josette (a relationship that lasts exactly one script page). The “I’m Better Than You” idea is bandied about quite often, almost always by Angelique, whose entire character is fully defined by the flaws of her love interest.

But none of this amounts to anything beyond the trading of a few verbal barbs. In fact, nothing happens in the script to humble Barnabas Collins, which is probably why it was so easy to "search" and "delete" these sections from the screenplay.

Speaking of getting deleted ...


RIP Victoria Winters
During the script’s climax, Barnabas races to Widows Hill in hopes of stopping Victoria (still under Angelique’s spell) from leaping to her death. Just as he arrives, she leaps … and dies.

THE END.

Thinking I’d overlooked something, I read this section of the script several times before realizing that Victoria Winters does indeed die in this draft. Barnabas’ vampire curse was lifted with Angelique’s demise, leaving him human ... and powerless to change the course of events. Smash cut to the corpse of Julia Hoffman at the bottom of the ocean, her eyes opening with the promise that a sequel is in the works.

It’s a bold choice to kill off Victoria, but also an empty one. I admire the script’s willingness to juggle jokes about SCOOBY DOO with a nihilistic ’70s-style ending, but none of it adds up to anything. Grahame-Smith doesn’t know the difference between plot, character and theme, which is why these concepts are used interchangeably throughout. Having characters constantly talk about a theme is not a proper substitute for either “character” or “theme.” The same can be said for the story’s misuse of “plot” and “story,” which Grahame-Smith seems to think mean the same thing. The characters in the script just wander from scene to scene, waiting for the next set piece to happen.

While there are a few neat things about this draft of the script, I’d say that Burton’s dedication to style over substance was actually the movie’s only source of charm. Like Grahame-Smith, Burton is not much of a storyteller, but he has a keen eye for production design. The screenplay was DOA, but Burton still managed to produce some tasty eye candy from the project.

Which, ultimately, means that DARK SHADOWS is the same kind of plastic “Me Generation” experience that its supposed to be lampooning.

Wallace McBride is the editor of THE COLLINSPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Fangoria has some laughs at Johnny Depp's expense


Last night, Fangoria used an image from 2012's DARK SHADOWS for it's nightly caption contest on Twitter. The idea is easy: Write a funny caption for whatever image they share and tweet it with #Fangoria. Last night, they shared the image you see above. I was too busy to participate, but still felt obliged to re-tweet the original announcement. Here are some of my favorite responses:






Monday, November 3, 2014

It's a DARK SHADOWS Halloween!

 
When compared to any other day of the week, my Halloween was pretty good. When stacked against prior Halloweens, though, this year's holiday pretty much sucked. And the bar had been set pretty low, too. Sara and I had intended to dress like zoo keepers (to match our baby's money costume, which you can see if you follow me on Instagram) and attend the Riverbanks Zoo's annual "Boo at the Zoo" event. The joke was on us, though: Thanks to a lack of attention on our part, we failed to notice the Halloween event ended on Oct. 30. Boo.

Our revised plan involved turning out the lights, hiding in the nursery to avoid trick-or-treaters (we hadn't bought candy, thinking we'd be out of the house) and watching DRACULA'S DAUGHTER. As it turns out, my DVD has developed a flaw that prevented it from playing. Plan C was a success, though: Put the baby to bed at his regular time, drink beer and catch up on THE DAILY SHOW.

Luckily, other people's Halloween was considerably spookier. Above, you can see some of the DARK SHADOWS-themed costumes from this year's holiday. While the Johnny Depp interpretation appears to have dominated, there were some terrific nods to the original Jonathan Frid incarnation.

You can see a few more Barnabas Collins costumes HERE.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Cakenweenie does DARK SHADOWS


CAKENWEENIE asked 100 artists to create cakes in honor of TIM BURTON's 55th birthday. Not sure what "100" has to do with "55," but whatever ... good work is good work.

The entries included Batman, Beetlejuice and, of course, characters from last year's DARK SHADOWS feature. SHAWNA McGREEVY of McGreevy Cakes opted for JULIA HOFFMAN, pictured right. "I cut Julia’s head, hair and torso from fondant and laid those pieces on top of an airbrushed background of fondant," she says. "I then used food gel pens, airbrush food coloring liquid, and petal dusts to ‘paint’ the fondant pieces and bring Julia to life. I’ve captured the process on video as a tutorial for how to create a fondant painting."

In Italy, KARLA CHUMPITAZ of Sweet K crafted a 10-inch tall BARNABAS COLLINS (top) made from modelling sugarpaste and handpainted with color dust.

Visit CAKENWEENIE to see the full gallery.




Thursday, April 4, 2013

Johnny Depp's DARK SHADOWS bloopers





"Aren't all gingers soulless creatures of the night?" 

The video above is a pleasant way to spend 60 seconds, especially if you're goofing off on the Internet at work. It doesn't have anything especially insightful to say, but the actor does a pretty good Johnny Depp impersonation. I think it's also evidence that audiences are getting tired of the shtick generated by the pairing of Depp and Burton, so it's not surprising that the director's next film is going to be Depp-free.


Now, posting anything even remotely related to last year's DARK SHADOWS movie opens up a can of worms that makes me try and avoid the subject whenever possible. That practice isn't entirely fair to the movie's fans, though, many of whom also like the original television series.

Regardless, whenever the film gets mentioned, the wild Internet Asshole sometimes makes an appearance. While population numbers of the Internet Asshole aren't what they used to be (George Lucas cut off their food supply when he stopped making Star Wars prequels a few years back) they can still cause the occasional problem when they wander into civilized areas. Just speaking Tim Burton's name around some DARK SHADOWS fans can incite a virtual flash mob of haters who can't wait to tell spout off about how Johnny Depp is a False Prophet.

I didn't like the movie. If you did, that's that's perfectly alright. Either way, just try to be nice to each other. We're all guests at Collinwood.

(Edited to include commentary.)

Monday, March 25, 2013

JOHNNY DEPP wins Kid's Choice Award for DARK SHADOWS


Say what you will about Tim Burton's DARK SHADOWS (and we've said a hell of a lot) but Johnny Depp's performance was among the film's high points. Given a better script and the dialogue surrounding the film would a lot more positive, but we're left with a handful of fun performances, some terrific production design and enough missed opportunities to fill a baseball season for the Chicago Cubs.

So, it's kind of bittersweet to see Depp named "Favorite Movie Actor" for DARK SHADOWS, even one as vapid as the Nickleodeon Kids' Choice Awards. You can see video highlights of the awards "ceremony" below. Hopefully, this news won't open too many wounds for those of you still recovering from last year's Burton/Depp debacle.


(Special thanks to David-Elijah Nahmod for the heads up about this award.)

Friday, November 23, 2012

Japanese Dark Shadows video ad

FushigiFox sent me a DVD circular from Japan, which features DARK SHADOWS on the cover. Inside was a two-page spread dedicated to the film, which plays up the more successful collaborations between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. (Click the image for a closer look.)


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Barnabas Collins by Lyddie Violet


Lyddie Violet has created some amazing dolls, which you can see over at her Flickr stream. There are a lot of Tim Burton-inspired dolls featured there, including an interpretation of vampire Barnabas Collins. I'd love to see a stop-motion animated DARK SHADOWS series done in this style.

"I picked a Taeyang (a kind of Asian fashion doll) doll Nosferatu to re-style him as Barnabas," Violet said. "First I had to change his eye chips and wig. I bought a new wig and then set it for him. After, a necklace and a walking stick were needed. Finally, it was time to make some outfits for Barnabas! I chose two outfits that appeared in the movie, one was a set of ancient costume and another was a set of indigo suit. I kept Taeyang Noferatu’s shirt, scarfs and shoes so I didn’t have to worry about making too many stuffs. That’s all!"

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Barnabas Collins by Jodi Cain


Artist JODI CAIN recently completed this doll inspired by Johnny Depp as BARNABAS COLLINS. The doll is 22 inches tall and completely hand stitched. You can see more of Cain's work at Jodi's Creepy Dolls, which includes interpretations of Lily and Herman Munster, a zombie Alice in Wonderland and lots of dolls with knives. (You can also find Cain's work for sale at Etsy.)

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Dark Shadows DVD/Blu-ray specs


DARK SHADOWS is coming to DVD and Blu-ray Oct. 2, the first of three DARK SHADOWS films to hit home video in October (HOUSE/NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS will be released Oct. 30.) The U.S. edition of DARK SHADOWS looks to be less extravagant than the Japanese edition, but will feature a handful of deleted scenes and featurettes.

Special features include:
  • Maximum Movie Mode, viewable during the feature or in nine individual Focus Points:
    • Becoming Barnabas
    • Welcome To Collinsport!
    • The Collinses: Every Family Has Its Demons
    • Reliving a Decade
    • Angelique: A Witch Scorned
    • Alice Cooper Rocks Collinsport!
    • Dark Shadowy Secrets
    • A Melee of Monstrous Proportions
    • Dark Shadows: The Legend Bites Back
  • Deleted scenes:
    • “Dr Hoffman and Elizabeth Discuss Barnabas”
    • “David and Barnabas Discuss Dinosaurs”
    • “Carolyn and Victoria”
    • “Girl Talk”
    • “Police Warn Willie and Barnabas”
    • “Dr Hoffman Offers Victoria Help”

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Drawception: Barnabas Collins




Drawception is a mobile game that asks players to guess a word or subject using nothing more than a picture drawn on their smartphone screen. Dona drew this image of Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins (as well as Jacksparrow, Pimp Shakespeare and Pop Bob Marley.)

Friday, March 16, 2012

A few thoughts on the Dark Shadows trailer





I don't know if there's ever been a disconnect as great as what I expected from a Dark Shadows movie and what was promised to me in the trailer that debuted last night on iTunes. We've been hearing for months that it was a comedy, warnings often laced with assurances -- from the writer, director, cast, etc. -- that this was not the case.

If you've watched the trailer you already know that somebody's been lying. And it wasn't a small lie, either. The new Dark Shadows movie might be a great many things but it looks to be a comedy above all else. This isn't a concept that particularly offends me. If Dark Shadows is a comedy and it's actually funny, then it's done its job.

What I find repellant is the lack of understanding of the subject matter, and the utter disregard for the television show's former fanbase. The story looks to deviate so far from the original storyline that I don't know if there's a reason to even call it Dark Shadows. Had I watched the trailer cold -- without titles or character references -- I'd never have guessed it had anything to do with the original Dan Curtis television show. It actually made me a little queasy to watch. It's not enough that Tim Burton doesn't want us at the cool kids' party, but he's got to ridicule us, as well.

What makes the many, many changes to the television show's characters and situations even more baffling is Johnny Depp's dedication to looking and sounding like Jonathan Frid. Depp obviously spent a lot of time working on a playful homage to the Frid, and I have trouble believing he'd ask members members of the original cast to make cameos in the film if his goal was to embarrass them. But that trailer has an unmistakable Brady Bunch Movie cynicism that makes me uncomfortable. If it's not laughing at Dark Shadows it's at least laughing in its general direction.

And I wasn't alone in these sentiments. Facebook and Twitter almost caught fire as fan outrage reached toxic, Jar Jar Binks levels last night. I was trying not to contribute to another angry, negative Internet flame war, but I didn't feel compelled to try especially hard.

Those of us who love the original television show have no real reason to watch this movie, outside of morbid curiosity or a misguided sense of masochism. We might be a minority among ticket buyers, but I don't see what the upside is to alienating us, either. I'm sure the Warner Bros. marketing department isn't doing cartwheels over the prospect of trying to sell an unfamiliar concept to whoever else might want to see this movie.

But I'm willing to give Burton the benefit of the doubt. I was one of his defenders when he cast Michael Keaton as Batman, and that controversy died a quick death once audiences saw the final product. The trailer might even be the terrified, desperate work of a marketing department that ran some Dark Shadows footage through the Austin Powers Trailer Generator. Anything's possible at this point.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

When it rains, it pours ... MORE Dark Shadows movie pictures



















I think the novelty of "New Dark Shadows Movie Photos" is going to come to an end in a few short hours (with the release of the trailer) so enjoy it while it lasts. Via.
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