PosMeter: Vampires, Hobbits and Action Distraction

By Susan Thea Posnock

1. Depp Shadows: Now that Johnny Depp is involved in the development of a feature based on spooky soap Dark Shadows (as reported the end of July in Variety), I’ve finally gotten around to viewing the 60’s cult phenomenon. Depp, who has said he was obsessed by the series and its infamous vampire Barnabas Collins as a child, will likely take on the role of his toothy antihero. After watching a number of episodes on DVD, I think the show’s mix of camp and pathos makes it ripe with cinematic possibilities. Depp, whose stylistic tics range from brilliant to annoying, is the perfect actor to resurrect the iconic Barnabas. I just wonder if he’ll intentionally flub some of his lines as a homage to Jonathan Frid (pictured above), who originated the role and often seemed to stumble on the clunky dialogue.

2. Hobbit-y Goodness: Let the speculation begin anew. As Rollerboy wrote earlier today, it looks like Peter Jackson and New Line are at least on speaking terms with regard to The Hobbit. Not surprisingly, there are conflicting reports, including one from IESB.net that cites sources who claim Sam Raimi is still in talks to direct, while Jackson would produce. (Thanks to Dan for pointing out these rumors in the comments. More can be found at TheOneRing.net.)

I have to admit that when the Raimi rumors started circulating last year I was open to the idea. But then Spider-Man 3 came out and I suddenly worried that in his version Bilbo would have a feisty Aunt, “May the Grey” who spews deathly boring, homespun wisdom. On the plus side, maybe Bruce Campbell will show up.

3. The Bourne Disorientation: I saw The Bourne Ultimatum Saturday night and agree with this spot-on critique at Reverse Shot regarding the action sequences in the film:

The shaking, haphazardly zooming camera prevents us from following movement or comprehending space, while also making continuity editing nearly impossible. Time and again, Greengrass gives us a single establishing shot and a subtitle with a vague geographic location (“Madrid, Spain”) and then plops us in the middle of a cinematic nowheresville.
I’m not saying it was all bad. In fact, I found it to be a viscerally thrilling and entertaining film regardless of the erratic camera work. In fact the herky-jerky motion added to certain sequences (for example, the chase in Tangiers, because like the viewer, Bourne is anxiously trying to find the other assassin and his would-be target). But in other places, like the car chase on the streets of NYC, it’s just pointless and hard to follow. And it made my date sick!

To review:
Johnny Depp reciting lines like “The name Victoria is so beautiful to me. I couldn't possibly sacrifice a syllable of it,” as Barnabas Collins;
Peter Jackson directing The Hobbit;
Clutching my date’s hand nervously during the Morocco-chase scene in The Bourne Ultimatum;

Good.

Most of the dialogue in Dark Shadows;
Sam Raimi directing The Hobbit;
My date leaving the theater during The Bourne Ultimatum because of motion sickness;

Bad.

*Originally posted on Awards Daily