Exactly, Cathy.  I thought that tone and temper had a lot to do with what Helena said, and one always has to take into account the classic British tradition of "taking the piss" (making sarcastic fun even of one's nearest and dearest), of which she is clearly a mistress.

If you listen to both interviews, she is really saying that the new movie is extraordinary, even by Tim Burton's standards.  She said it is very subtle.  I remember in an interview before the filming started she commented on how unusual it was going to be because the focus was overwhelmingly going to be on interactions between actors, as opposed to big box FX sequences.

In her own mind she may have been saying that DS was a "so bad it's good" cult classic.  As MB and others have commented, we're used to hearing this from others, including the stars of the original series.

I remember at a Brooklyn festival a few years ago, there was a moment where Selby and Karlen sat while a clip sequence played of their scenes together on the series (mostly Desmond and Quentin from 1840).  I remember Selby saying something like "that dialogue!  Sam Hall, you have a lot to answer for!"  But then subsequently he stated:  "I'm really amazed at how good this is."  It was his first time seeing the show, apparently, in many years.


G.

Huge fan of PT 1970 here.  I agree that it was the last of the really good storylines on the series. (1995 feels more like an idyll than a fullblown storyline.)  Nancy, Grayson and Louis in particular all had some really great material... Parker had great clothes and great opportunities to do what she did best. 

[spoiler] I personally failed to "get" the whole Yeagar-goes-after-Maggie Collins thing, and both Quentin and Maggie seemed wearisomely one-note to me ... others disagree which is a fan's prerogative of course ...[/spoiler]

I also LOVE Hannah and Tim Stokes...  great characters!  I wish Hannah had stayed on for awhile after Hoffman returned.

G.

Well, they were there for perhaps two days.

I realize KLS read the shooting script, but as has been stated several times, the completed film could look very different from that beginning point.

And KLS *always* seems to put the most positive spin possible on any situation... *biting tongue on sarcastic comment*

cheers, G.

There was discussion of this interview over on the main thread about the movie.  I don't think their marriage is in trouble; I think Helena is just in love with the sound of her own voice.

Great shot of her scarily working the Michael Jackson hair.

These interviews with HBC remind me of when Grayson and Sam were touring around doing interviews to promote NoDS, and some unfortunate journalist tried to ask Sam to talk about the story of the movie, and Grayson barked:  "DON'T give away the ending!"

Clearly, HBC is even in more need of a minder...

G.

Re Helena's tendency to run at the mouth... I suppose being married to the director has its perks... though I imagine Tim is FURIOUS with her at revealing that. 

The Great Expectations thing doesn't really count because anyone who has read the novel or seen one of the 99 other film versions (though to me, the 1947 film with the Divine Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham IS definitive) knows what happens to Miss Havisham.

For those who play the spoiler, bear in mind that what she spoke of could be presented in any number of ways in the completed film.  It could play out as part of a dream or nightmare sequence, for example.  As I wrote, where DS is concerned, you never know!

G.

michael c, Helena reveals--

[spoiler]that Barnabas kills Julia during the action of the movie, by draining her of her blood.  Of course, given that it's DS, that doesn't necessarily mean that Julia is dead and gone for good--nor that the only way she could return would be as a vampire![/spoiler]

Sounds as if it's going to be quite a ride.  I did not know that yet ANOTHER remake of Great Expectations has just been done, and Helena plays Miss Havisham--apparently she just finished shooting that.

G.

I don't really agree, btw, that interest in vampires goes in cycles.  It's just that some vampire themed projects get more play than do others.  To think about the past three decades, in the Eighties we had The Hunger, Near Dark, Fright Night and The Lost Boys; in the 1990s we had Interview with a Vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula, the cult series Forever Knight (my personal fave of all of them) and the start of the BTVS craze; in the 2000s there were the projects already referenced plus any number of others.

Margo Adler, NPR reporter and author of the landmark history of US Paganism, Drawing Down the Moon, has a new book out already or imminently on the fascination with vampires.  I heard quite a bit of buzz when I was out at the Pagan conference in San Jose last Feb., the Pantheacon.  Interesting stuff.

I don't think there is any danger that people will fail to go see DS because they're done with vampires.  There is a danger that the movie will stink and word of mouth will keep people away in droves.  A friend told me that Alice raked in big bucks because it was rated G.  I do not see how DS could possibly be rated G.

G!