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Messages - Gerard

1
I'm finding it rather curious as to why articles have been focusing on the recasting of Claudia, originally played by Bailey Bass in the first season, and now by Delainey Hayles, as if it's somewhat controversial.  Articles originally published during the first season had already mentioned, in passing, that the role would have to be recast because, while Claudia cannot age, the actress playing her does.  It was no big deal back then.  Now the discussion of replacing Claudia seems to be almost national-enquirerish, as if it's been discovered that whoever plays her has been dating Bigfoot and the batboy. 

Gerard

2
Well, I found it a powerful entry into the second season.  I especially found fascinating how the plot was woven into the history of war-ravaged Romania towards the end of WWII and its subjugation by the Soviet forces that arrived as liberators and remained as conquerers.

Gerard

3
I also watch the "monster channels," as I call them on Pluto, Bob!  It really does have tons of stuff unavailable on many other streaming services that are beginning to charge the equivilent of a downpayment for an oceanview house in Santa Monica. 

Gerard

4
Last night, here in my assisted living community, after one of the sessions where we're forced to make ashtrays and candy dishes out of popsicle sticks, as I rested in my apartment watching TV, the cable (Comcast - horrible stuff) went down all throughout this region.  Most residents here have to use Comcast for their viewing pleasure, unless they're streaming (something technologically over most of their heads) because there is no other cable alternative.

So while there were some anxious moments amongst my neighbors, I just plugged my computer into the TV and called up Pluto, on which I once again enjoy watching Dark Shadows.  I noticed something in the results for DS that I had either missed or was new - either way, I never saw it before.  It's an MPI documentary made, I believe, in 2019 about Dan Curtis and his life and times from the moment he entered the world all the way until his passing.  Of course, most of it was focused on DS and had scores of our favorite DS alumni offering commentary on what it was like working for him (which, all stated, could be very difficult - Barbara Steele even quit and walked off the set of DS-'91, but returned the following day).  It was a thoroughly enjoyable documentary to watch and I learned quite a few things I didn't know before.  It was long, but that's partially because Pluto has commercials which is what makes it a free streaming service (but the ads, other than during the first break, were rather few and would consist of only one).  The cable service was rather quickly restored (two hours ahead of the predicted repair time - that's shocking, considering it's Comcast) but I continued to watch the presentation until the end (and then, since I had it all plugged in and turned on, I grabbed some of my usual DS reruns). 

So, if you haven't seen this enjoyable and informative documentary, now you can, totally free, on Pluto.  You don't have to register unless you want to in order to have your own favorites library.  Just type "Dark Shadows" into the search and voila

Gerard

5
Testing. 1, 2, 3... / Re: New Easter Smileys
« on: May 06, 2024, 01:19:36 AM »
As they say in Greek:  Christos Anesti!  Alithos anesti!

Gerard

6
It was enjoyable to watch.  One had to pay somewhat close attention to the finale to find out what it was all about.  Were there better seasons of AHS?  Of course; they're all going to be ranked, just like every plot of DS.  Delicate is not classic TV, but that doesn't mean watching it was time not well spent.  It was fun; that's all it was intended to be.

Gerard

7
The BBC Jordan version is the closest to the novel, but note that I said closest.  I don't think there has every been a cinematic version that has been 100% adapted from Stoker's novel.  For example, Dracula's appearance.  When Harker meets him, he has long, grey hair and a huge grey moustache.  Coppola's version did show him as an old man, but not soup-strainer (he did have one when he appeared younger, according to Stoker's description).  It's like how in the three version's of Stephen King's Carrie, none of the actresses (Spacek/Bettis/Moretz) looked like King's description.  She was overweight (bully nicknamed in the novel "puddin") and unattractive.  And there has yet to be a cinematic version of Dracula to show how he was dispatched in the novel.

Gerard

8
From the latest trailer, there were clips of reviews that were positive, so I'm curious to see the film.  But then, the studio is not going to have clips of negative reviews.

Gerard

9
I just finished reading the novel (got it through interlibrary loan), and the AHS version of it does have major differences.  Like the article states, in the novel things don't go so bad for Anna at the climax, so I'm curious to see how the final episode goes. 

Gerard

10
Bob, I'm thinking if DS were shot today, fashions might be courtesy of H&M (one of my favorite stores) - all the fashions at bargain-basement prices.

Gerard

11
I don't know, Bob.  I'm thinking that Collinsport's most sophisticated shopping center, would've been SS Kresge's.  It would be where everyone did their shopping, from back-to-school apparel to Christmas gifts, and everything in-between.  And, to compete with the Collinsport Inn coffee shop, there might even be a lunch counter.  If the denizens, including the Collins family, wanted something more cosmopolitan, they would take the drive to Bangor to shop at Woolworth's. 

Gerard

12
I might've mentioned it here before, but the most horrific novel I've ever read is Off Season by Jack Ketchum.  I literally couldn't sleep after I finished it.  It's not for the faint of heart in the least little bit.  And the version I read was edited by the publisher, removing scenes that were more horrifying than what was in the initial printing.  An "author's cut" with the restored scenes came out in 1999, but I didn't get a chance to read it.

Gerard

13
I've seen some of them, not on streaming, but either in the theater or good, ol' fashioned cable TV:  It Follows; Train to Busan, and Dawn of the Dead.  The last one is dear to my heart because the setting is in Milwaukee, just a bit over an hour's drive from me and which I frequent quite a few times a year (Toronto stood in for Milwaukee).  Ironically, the original is set in Monroeville, a suburb of Pittsburgh where I also lived and was filmed in the local shopping mall that, at the time, was fully functional, and which I frequented.  Zombies in malls seemed to have followed me no matter where I go.

Gerard

14
I saw Dark Skies on TV (probably SyFy, but it could've been another).  It is truly creepy and unsettling, especially the end.

Gerard

15
Living in Anchorage for 12 years, I went through quite a few earthquakes, some ho-hum, others real groundshakers.  So the odds were in my favor that while I watched an episode of DS that I videotaped from the daily two on Sci-Fi, I would experience one and I did. 

Gerard