Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

About the movie, there were things I liked and didn't like from what I saw so it's hard to form an opinion.

I am not a fan of Depp Shadows.  But it's worth remembering statements from Burton and others (if I recall aright) that a large chunk of the movie was sliced away by studio mandated edits.  Something like half an hour to forty-five minutes of the print he turned in.  It was so weird to read about this because it was such a repeat of what happened with NoDS.  I know DS seems to be a phenomenon with some truly uncanny aspects but that one really takes the cake.

Apparently a number of plot elements that no longer make any sense in the picture were more fleshed out in Burton's completed film.  Which was then butchered by the studio.

Depp's makeup AND performance are two crucial elements that don't work for me.  I actually thought the early scenes before Depp's arrival were well done and show signs of being a decent movie--not how I wold have liked this to be done, but not the awful embarrassment that does often make me cringe when people who aren't fans mention it to me.

G.

No one cast Johnny Depp, he cast himself because he got the movie made.  That's part of what's wrong with Hollywood.  It's an interesting high budget fan parody.  Depp was not Barnabas in the slightest.  To call their choices mistakes though, is to miss the point.  Depp and Tim Burton were bound to make a Depp/Tim Burton movie, no matter what.  But without Depp, no DS film would have been made at all.  So it shouldn't have been Depp and Burton, but at least an odd DS-related film got made.  A serious film was never going to happen.

Considering that he was replaced by Seth Grahame-Smith as screenwriter and is now simply given a co-story credit, it's interesting that this article refers to John August as "DARK SHADOWS' John August". But then, interestingly enough, it's not the first recent article to reference August that also references him in connection to the Depp/DS film...

'Fifty Shades Darker' Dakota Johnson, Bella Heathcote: Their Sexy Johnny Depp Connection


'Bella Heathcote starred alongside Johnny Depp in the 2012 hit film "Dark Shadows."'


Hmmm - apparently fashionnstyle.com didn't get the memo that the Depp/DS film is only supposed to be referred to as bomb.    Well, either that or they've decided to forgo toeing the line that way too many would want the world to believe and to see that the film actually was a hit when its worldwide box office is considered and not simply its US box office.    And there's also the fact that the film actually played in US theaters for at least 23 weeks and not simply the 14 weeks that WB stopped reporting boxoffice figures at. But then, why should reality play any part in the actual track record of any film... 

This is interesting - from India comes:

Weekend treat for Johnny Depp fans on MN+ all this month

"This March, MN+ will feature some of the best films starring Johnny Depp, one of the most gifted and talented Hollywood actors.

...

Another remarkable movie that is set to be aired, is Dark Shadows, a 2012 American horror comedy based on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows. The film is about an imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, who is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection."

And once again we see that outside the US there is often a very different opinion of the Depp/DS film from what some in the US would like us to believe...


And while I'm on the subject of the film, once again I just have to say that more I see of Helena Bonham Carter as Julia, the more I love her performance. Her body language is so fascinating, as has been on view lately in the film's slideshow:

1972 - Julia: 'Yes, David believes his mother has some kind
of, um... cyclical immortality. Fascinating, really.


1972 - Vicki: 'I think ghosts are just people who've moved
into a slightly different dimension than ours. And I think some
 people just have antennas strong enough to pick them up.

And changing the focus to Vicki's line in today's slideshow, who better to have an opinion on what ghosts might be than Vicki, who has been seeing one for nearly her entire life. Vicki's opinion get's thrown away in the scene because Liz doesn't want to hear any of it because it will only encourage David, but little do they all realize how she speaks from experience. But then, as I've mentioned before, for just so many reasons that first dining room scene is one of my favorite things about the film...

This might be a repeat - Shadows12 review:

http://lwlies.com/reviews/dark-shadows/

Today's slideshow just happens to feature one of that reviewer's favorite moments from the film:

1972 - Barnabas (to a McDonalds sign): 'Mephistopheles.'

 

Methinks it's time for another viewing. You know, they got me right off the bat using The Secret Room for the opening scene, even before the actual story began.

Another US Web site that apparently hasn't gotten the memo, or at least chooses to ignore it: Collider.com has recently written:

"Despite the general consensus that Burton has softened and become less inventive in his recent years, he has turned out a few minor masterworks, including Dark Shadows, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, and Frankenweenie."

(Find a link to the article in the Miss Peregrine topic on the "Calendar Events / Announcements '16 I" board.)

Who knew that Fandango has a Depp/DS section in German? For some reason I received a Google alert to it today:

DARK SHADOWS (GERMAN)

It was a hoot to watch the German trailer, especially because it contains a moment that was deemed too sexual and was cut from the US version of the trailer. Hello, US MPAA, the film is PG-13 and the US trailer is approved for PG-13 audiences - it's not like there's an R version of the film!!    But then, the US is often sooo puritanical...

College students given movie star treatment

Article about movie set caterers, Anne and Kevin Chamberlain, with two photos that purport to have been taken "on the set for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows." The first I can see as being true because it looks like it may be from the souvenir book that was handed out to the crew to commemorate the production. It's hard to tell about the second one...

BarnaDepp bears a REALLY strong resemblance to an adult Eddie Munster in today's shot...

Just reporting what I'm seeing.

G.

If only there was a werewolf doll on the chest instead of a big troll. (Plus, it's placement in the scene could have been a potential clue to Carolyn's secret.)

Until I happened to just come across it on Amazon, I had no idea that this packaging of the Depp/Burton DS film with Depp/Burton's Sleepy Hollow was even available:

Dark Shadows/ Sleepy Hollow (DBFE)


But don't even get me started on how much better the releases of the DS film are in other countries, especially the steel book releases in Europe.    But then, it's no secret that the film was a much bigger hit in Europe and elsewhere than it was in the US, so I suppose WB felt they would be able to recoup more there so they went bigger. But charging the likes of $75 on Amazon for some of them does seem more than a bit excessive...