And Yet Another New Slideshow

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I can't speak for Midnite, but sometimes when it comes to picking the quotes/captures for the slideshow when it's my month to do so, I know exactly what at least one of them absolutely has to be. And this month's is definitely today's quote/capture because I positively love, Love, LOVE both her line and the expression on her face when Angie replies to Barnabas' question: "Do you know what I would very much like to do with you?"

1972 - Angie: 'I can only imagine.'

The subtext is just so deep - and, to say the least, so completely different for Barnabas than it is for Angie.

[Nicky]

This scene feels VERY DS to me, especially reminiscent of those many (MANY)  Cassandra vs. Barnabas subtext-loaded scenes from 1968.  Plus I love Barnabas' smoking jacket, which is damned close to the one Frid wore in 67/68.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

This scene feels VERY DS to me, especially reminiscent of those many (MANY)  Cassandra vs. Barnabas subtext-loaded scenes from 1968.

Yes, I totally agree - the exchange between Barn and Angie IS very DS and very reminiscent of the Cass vs. Barn scenes in '68.

Also, I have to say that I love today's capture/quote:

1972 - Angie: 'Poor, sweet Barnabas. Things have changed
while you were taking your little nap. My Angelbay IS
Collinsport now.'

It took me several attempts to get the exact expression on Angie's face that I wanted for the capture to accompany the quote - but it was well worth the effort IMO. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now that today's capture/quote marks the end of the scene, I have to say that it was extremely difficult for me to limit the number of quotes from it because it's definitely one of my favorite Barn/Angie scenes in the film - and not only because of the great dialogue exchanges - but because both Depp and Green milk the dialogue exchanges for all they're worth. Some may say the scene is a bit over the top, but there's no getting around the fact that some of the best Barn/Ang confrontations of the original show are indeed over the top. In fact, there's an operatic quality to many -

[spoiler]Who can ever forget the fantastic scene in Ep #1131 in which to Angelique's claim that she gave Barnabas the gift of immortality, he fires back that she gave him a thousand nights of agony?![/spoiler]

- and that same sort of operatic quality is reflected in this scene as well. And I truly love how the scene ends with Barn cowering from the sunlight and Angie looking down at him and saying, "Welcome back to the shadows, Barnabas Collins. I've missed you," because you know that as much as there is animosity in her towards him, she's also sincere in that she's glad to see him.

[dom]

I like the movie more each time I rewatch, and I loved it to begin with. I agree with all you said in the previous post. A lot of the emotional content in the film coincides with much of the emotional content in the show with regards to where we are in the WP. I found it totally fascinating experiencing the film and the show at the same time with many of the same issues being presented and discussed in both versions. I am really loving the Shadows right now.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I also enjoy it more and more each time I watch it (though I've actually only watched it all the way through on video twice - which is a total of seeing it four times considering I saw it twice in theaters) - and I also seem to see things with repeated viewing that I may not have fully caught the other times. For instance, while I was picking out captures for Midnite's quotes from the current scene in which Barnabas explains his past to Liz, I got an impression from the way Liz speaks to him that I didn't get the other times. Previously I'd seen her as being supportive of what Barnabas had been through and reenforcing that through it all he'd done everything he could to hold everything together. But this last time as I examined the scene closely, I got the feeling that there was also an undertone/subtext of Liz deliberately goading Barnabas to put him into the frame of mind in which he would not only fight for the family against Angie, but perhaps more importantly to her, improve their current financial situation. In others words, she wasn't exactly being completely unselfish in building him up. Her subtle manipulation of Barnabas is an undertone/subtext that adds a layer of complexity that makes the scene really quite interesting.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before I get into today's business, a bit of old business that I didn't get to yesterday:

I love the eye roll, the exasperated sigh, and the expression on Carolyn's face after Barnabas has his reaction to seeing The Carpenters performing on the TV:

And honestly, of all the humorous bits in the film, that one with Barn comes across as possibly the most realistic because how else would someone from the 18th century react upon not only seeing TV, but seeing someone who really does appear as if they're inside the TV performing? 

And while we're on the subject of The Carpenters, today's quote from the Top of the World montage doesn't display in quite the way I would have liked it to because for some odd reason special characters will not display with the routine that displays the quotes, so I wasn't able to include a music note. The way I really wanted the quote to look was like this:

1972 - Carpenters: ♫ 'I'm on the top of the world lookin'
down on creation and the only explanation I can find is the
love that I've found ever since you've been around, your
love's put me at the top of the world.' ♫

But alas...

And while we're on the subject of today's capture/quote, I have to say I just love the contented little smile that suddenly crosses Vicki's face as Barnabas is reading from Love Story. Quite possibly it's our first indication that she really does enjoy spending time with Barnabas. It's a cute moment - and one that I was very happy that Midnite chose for the slideshow.

Also from the montage, I just love Mrs. Johnson suddenly zooming by on a riding lawn mower:

Not to mention Mrs. Johnson and Willie unloading a coffin for Barnabas:

But then, I love everything Mrs. Johnson in the film. She's an absolute hoot and a half! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I don't know if anyone else has come across this same problem, but I noticed that when I put together the last batch of captures for the slideshow, several of them came out quite grainy - and I wasn't really sure why that had happened. Well, after doing a bit of research, I discovered that it seems as if some of the latest Windows updates have wreaked havoc with some older versions of Windows image software. Not that Windows would ever intentionally break older versions of its software so that people have to go out and buy the newer versions. No. Never.    But I decided that instead of doing that I would simply process the images in my Linux image software instead to see if I could correct the original problems - and sure enough, it did. Ordinarily, I would have used Linux anyway because it's no secret that I hate Windows and prefer Linux. But none of my Linux DVD software can get screen caps. So, since I'd already been in Windows to get the captures from the film, I'd also been processing them in Window. But obviously that won't be happening anymore.

But anyway, as an example of how much better things turned out in Linux, here are two examples of some of the recent captures that I've redone:

Windows version:

Linux version:

Windows version:

Linux version:

The redone ones aren't the exact same moments in the film - but close enough. And certainly much better quality (Barnabas doesn't look like he's suffering from a case of Chicken Pox). And truthfully, rather than curse Windows, I should actually be thanking it because I honestly like the redone captures for the 18th and 19th better than the ones I'd done originally. But those will have to wait until their turns in the slideshow. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I love the shocked look on Roger's face in the scene in which he's witnessed Barnabas emerging from the secret opening in the fireplace and stopping to count the coins he's taken from Joshua's secret stash:

Unfortunately there isn't any dialogue in the scene (or singing over it as with the Top of the World montage), so it couldn't be included in the slideshow. But I didn't want the scene to go unaddressed because obviously it's an important part of Roger's story arc and will figure into things that will be upcoming in the slideshow.

And speaking of Roger, and considering that today is Father's Day, what better example of fatherhood could we possibly focus on in celebration of the day but Roger from the Depp/DS film?! He's a perfect specimen! Well, in the DS universe, anyway!    And here are what I hope are some interesting comments and observations concerning his character:

First up, what's up with Roger's oft repeated nervous tic of flexing the fingers of his left hand? Why so nervous Rog? And why does he fidget with and squeeze that hand (something Burton makes sure is visible in frame) -

- when David brings up that his mother can't be dead? Could Roger have actually known more about Laura's fate than we're ever given to believe in the finished film? After all, we have no idea what Roger's secret was supposed to be - well, beyond the fact that he's a sleaze who thinks nothing of stealing people's valuables from their coats - but that's not much of a secret - especially compared to the secrets the other members of the household harbor. So, it would have been very interesting if Roger was hiding some secret in connection to his wife's death - and that's what made him so nervous and fidgety. But who knows if we'll ever know?

And how did Roger ever become a person with such a complete lack of decorum? I mean, who, without any thought whatsoever, snuffs their cigarette out in the paint on the palette of a person who's task it is to help to restore the house you're living in to its former grandeur?

Way to set a perfect example for David. Not!

But then Roger would definitely seem to think that somehow many of those around him are either insignificant or there to do his bidding. A particularly egregious example of the former would certainly have to be when it comes to how Roger treats his own son - well, except when Roger needs David to guard the door for him while he indulges in two of his seemingly favorite predilections: stealing and sex - two more perfect examples for David. Certainly not! And a good example of the latter is when Roger claps his hands to get the workers restoring the cannery to work faster.

(And we had also been told by a few sources that Roger supposedly treated Willie very badly in the film - though barely anything like that appears in the film as we know it.)

If he wasn't there already, it seems likely that Roger was well on his way to becoming a sociopath. Though, of course, the worst of Roger's faults has to be on display with the decision he ultimately makes regarding David. But I'd much prefer to wait until the slideshow gets to that point in the film before we discuss that.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I have to say that since I've been studying the actors' performances and expressions while picking out captures to hopefully best illustrate the quotes Midnite and I are selecting for the slideshow, I've really come to enjoy Helena Bonham Carter's Julia even more than I originally did. Recent examples are definitely the look she gives Barnabas when she tells him it's time she showed him her office (after catching him rambling on about Carolyn's lava lamp looking like a pulsating blood urn):

And then how she takes a proverbial blue pill of the '70s with a glass of scotch whiskey (classic '60s and '70s behavior in films and TV shows):

And then the expression and body language she throws at Barnabas in today's capture when she asks where he was born:

It was already clear in deleted scene #59 between Liz and Julia that Julia wasn't buying what Liz was selling when it came to Barnabas - but in this scene (which is the first of its kind to actually be in the film) it's even clearer that Julia isn't swallowing any of the cover story about Barnabas. 

It's all just so fantastic to watch!

[Gothick]

MB--even though to put it mildly I wasn't enamoured of HBC's performance in this role, I do admire her artistry as an actress, and these photos, and the snaps you shared from the deleted scene with Pfeiffer, make me realize how briliant her work in the part *could* have been, if certain decisions about the tone & content of the movie had not, apparently, resulted in a lot of her work in it being consigned to the cutting room floor.

Again, there's a sense of incredible potential that, to severely understate, just wasn't fulfilled in the final product.  For this viewer, at least.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I have to respectfully disagree - even though apparently much of her stuff ended up being cut, I still think HBC's performance as Julia was fully realized even as the film stands. Even just taking into consideration what's been covered in the slideshow so far, HBC's fantastic work as Julia is clearly on display in both the dining room scene in which Vicki is first introduced to the family and in the current scene in Julia's lab. As I've been working on the slideshow I've noticed that HBC seemingly steals every scene she's in - even against Michelle Pfeiffer, whose performance is certainly one of the strongest in the film (and when they're together in a scene, it's sublime).

Of course, one thing that probably goes without saying is that HBC's Julia is not quite the same as the Julia most fans eventually came to know as she evolved on the original series. But I would say that she is still fascinating to watch because her characterization is in many ways true to the hard edged Julia as she was first introduced - the Julia who was not simply driven by a desire to get to the bottom of things, but also the Julia who was only too willing to drive Sam and Joe away from Windcliff without much consideration of their feelings. But then inspiration for many of the characters in the film seems to have been taken back to the characters' earliest inceptions, just as much of the film itself seems to have been inspired by the '66 and early '67 storylines of the original DS.

The bottom line is that I've come to discover that as I watch/study the film for the slideshow, I can't take my eyes off of HBC because I'm always wondering what she's going to do next. Hers is definitely a performance that repeated viewings of the film can only make more fascinating. (But then, as others have also said, the entire film seems to become more enjoyable with each repeated viewing.)

[michael c]

I agree that after multiple viewings it would definitely be HBC and Michelle Pfeiffer as Julia and Elizabeth that have emerged as favorite performances. I've always been somewhat indifferent to them both as actresses but here they stole the show. great fun.


depp and green were what they were. but their scenes together lacked subtlety. it was all maximum overdrive.


Johnny Lee Miller was fun but underused. after the initial "shock" of the merged character situation Bella grew on me in subsequent viewings as well.


David and Carolyn were too irrelevant to the overall plot to leave much of an impression except Chloe Moretz was rather grating...and don't get me started on her "finale".

[Gothick]

I have to say, that's a GORGEOUS shot of Julia's lab in today's capture.  I totally missed that phantasmagoric lampshade to the right side of the image.  I do find myself wondering how the family were able to afford some of the more elaborate and expensive decor elements although that lampshade has a very 1960s look to me and could have been derided as "dated" at the time.  Hard to say.

Or perhaps Julia paid for the furnishing and fitting-out of her own lab in the mansion...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I forgot to post yesterday that I've often wondered if Julia's response to Elizabeth's comment -

1972 - Elizabeth: 'He's a Collins and a good man, and these
days, that's a desperately rare combination.'

1972 - Julia: 'Oh, yes, I almost forgot, the family that can
do no wrong.'

- as well as Elizabeth's comment itself might not refer back to a scene or scenes that weren't included in the film? For instance, Elizabeth's remark could easily refer to some previous scene with or about Roger (the second half of the remark is definitely directed at him). Though it could just as easily be that both don't refer back to anything and are merely there to help to reinforce why Elizabeth is so willing to accept Barnabas into their lives. And I suppose the only way we'll ever know which case is the correct one is if we ever get to see a copy of the script.

And while we're on the subject of this scene, I love that while, initially, Julia is completely off the rails at her discoveries and, of course, calming herself with a drink, Elizabeth just calmly goes about her business at her desk as if having a vampire living with them is just the most natural house guest in the world. A study in contrasts to say the least.