Quote from: michael c on April 01, 2012, 06:14:34 PM

i'm sort of indifferent to the tongue but what i can't get is why the film's promotional team keeps beating the 'chevy' joke into the ground?

The only thing I can figure is they want to showcase Pfeiffer.  And maybe that is one of her few "one liners" in the film.  (See that bit of hopeful thinking I injected into that notion?  Though I would not mind Liz having a million one liners directed to/about Roger.)

Or perhaps Chevy paid a hefty fee and WB is making sure they got their money's worth.  Given the golden arches in at least one of the spots, I presume McDonalds has also signed a sponsorship deal. 

Then again, there seem to be at least two VW vans in Collinsport (one outside the movie theater, one parked in the Collinwood driveway). 

The third and final spot from the weekend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWK3wSVLShI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[spoiler]I guess that ends the mystery of whether (at least) Elizabeth knows Barnabas' secret.[/spoiler]

Sigh...

Luck today! I was just scanning through the basketball game and discovered that at 2:29 ET a 30 second spot with all sorts of new scenes was shown. (Scenes that answer all sorts of questions and seem to beg one huge question!)

Thank God!  I felt bad that I'd mentioned seeing it on the basketball games and then saw that you'd skimmed the games yesterday in vain looking for it.  I didn't catch the commercial today and am anxious to see the screen captures as well as learn about the questions (answered and revealed) from the newest one. 

I saw The Hunger Games yesterday with my daughter, who is a fan of the books.  I personally thought the movie was just OK.  They did have a large number of previews, including the original trailer we've seen for Dark Shadows.   I didn't detect any reaction (positive or negative) from the audience. 

I didn't see anybody mention this line from the article:

[spoiler]

...Burton chatted with Bonham Carter next to a laboratory vat of vampire blood.

I would infer from this that there will be some aspect of Julia working on a cure for Barnabas in the film.[/spoiler]

I personally find that somewhat encouraging...

First, there's the talk of Dan Curtis' "vision."  Well, he betrayed that with the '91 remake.  With a huge budget, huge sets, and a few big-name stars (mostly miscast, save for Jean Simmons), bad writing, et. al., it was not the DS those of us who grew up with remembered.  Still, because it was DS, I enjoyed it.  I was saddened by its cancellation.  We have folks here who did not like HoDS (and NoDS).  They consider HoDS Hammeresque exploitation and their stomachs rumble when they see it.  That was also Dan Curtis "vision," and we have DS fans who feel betrayed by it.  And those of us who grew up with, and loved and still love, his original "vision," had to put up with tons of faux pas'.  So why did Dan Curtis allow them?  To make money.  But DS continued on, and so did we. 

Gerard, I feel exactly the same way.  I know there are some fans who enjoyed the Leviathan storyline, which was clearly part of Dan Curtis' vision.  I absolutely hated that portion of the series.  I don't think that Curtis' vision was the only true way to view the characters. 

Maybe another way to look at this is to compare it to some of the Marvel comic book heroes.  Some Batman fans hated the TV series that aired in the '60's.  There were mixed opinions about the series of movies that started with Tim Burton's effort in 1989.  Still others were not wowed by Christopher Nolan's first movie in this trilogy.  As the saying goes, you can't please everybody, and clearly Burton's decided to make a film that pleases him. 

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012) proves that a straightforward period Gothic horror film is still viable and very much in vogue.

Maybe we have different definitions of in vogue, but I don't believe The Woman In Black fits my definition.  I went and found it to be kind of slow, and the scariest things were more startling than anything else.  The movie was never #1 at the box office, even in its opening weekend and with a considerable advertising campaign and opening on Super Bowl weekend.  Honestly, I think Chronicle, which came out the same weekend, was a better film.  A quick look at Rotten Tomatoes suggests 63% of the people who watched The Woman In Black liked it. 

I guess my point is, I recognize that different people can see the same film and have drastically different opinions about it.  I am planning to keep an open mind and see the movie.  Only after actually seeing it will I form an opinion about whether I like it or not. 

I guess I'm in the minority who enjoyed the trailer.  I was struck by the inspired choice of Deliverance as the movie at the theater in Collinsport, given that it's a story of a group of outsiders coping with a society that they have trouble understanding. 

I'd like to echo the thoughts of others about how appalling it is for people to argue over who is or is not a "real" fan.  As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and just because I may or may not like something doesn't make it wrong for others to feel differently.  If this movie brings new fans to Dark Shadows and a fraction of them go back and watch the original series or the 1991 revival, I think that's a good thing.  What's more, nothing that this movie does is going to change any of the prior art.  If your preference is for the original series, it will continue to be available on DVD, streaming or whatever new medium becomes available.  In fact, the restored versions of HODS and NODS may not have happened if not for this latest effort. 

Maybe the best analogy is the Tolkien movies that Peter Jackson has made.  There are plenty of Tolkien enthusiasts who are unhappy with the LOTR trilogy.  The thing is, it introduced a whole new generation to Tolkien's works, who then can judge for themselves what they think of Jackson's movies.  I guess I fail to see how that's ultimately a bad thing. 

I will most definitely see the movie when it comes out.  I seriously hope that it lives up to my expectations, and I hope that it is successful enough that it ultimately leads to additional movies.  I would prefer to continue to hear stories of the Collins family rather than think that this could be their swan song.