Eva Green cast as female lead in Dark Shadows

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Out Of My Vulcan Mind, Feb 4, 2011.

  1. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I don't think the only possible approach they could take to make money with this is to make it a comedy.
     
  2. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

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    I was disappointed when I saw the trailer. I didn't realize it would be a full on comedy. Comedic, dark comedy elements are fine, but the 70s fashions and the farcical comedy setting put me off. It just didn't click for me. Who's going to go see this that is completely unfamiliar with the original show? I know the 20 something, non sci-fi crowd probably hasn't heard of it, but would that trailer appeal to them? It wouldn't to me.
     
  3. Kelso

    Kelso Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I think if any version of Dark Shadows is going to appeal to a broad audience, it'll be this one.
     
  4. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

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    Blech. You're probably right, though. Still, I'm wistful. I wanted a reimagining a bit more on the serious side. Barnabas just looks.....dumb. My first thought was that he looked like Alfalfa turned into a vampire.
     
  5. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Perhaps then the problem is that you need to watch less tv. ;)
     
  6. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    That's a fair point. Perhaps farce, as Dorian said, is a better term (and noting that farce is not necessarily a derogatory term, in the right context).

    Doing it right doesn't mean not bringing anything new to the table. One can expand on a concept while still maintaining its artistic integrity-- Star Trek expanded from the original into four sequel series and successfully maintained its integrity better than 90% of the time before losing it with nuTrek. The Charlie's Angels movies made the concept contemporary without losing touch with the original. The Tales From The Crypt TV show adapted the comics very nicely while still updating them. Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated completely reboots and re-imagines the original show while actually distilling and refining the original concept. It can be done if the writers are invested enough and have talent enough.

    Yes, this is exactly it.

    This is exactly my point (or at least part of it). As I've said before, a sequel would have been a much better idea than yet another remake.
     
  7. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    If the fans of the original are so insignificant numerically, there's no need to freshen the material into a comedy. If the youngsters (who've driven most older people out of movie theaters with their manners,) don't know anything about Dark Shadows, the story could be done straight.

    If the problem is that doing vampires straight is impossible because the genre has been overloaded, there's no reason to do this movie at all. Because there's one thing that is very well established is that comedic takes on popular emo is not a big seller. And in my experience, genuinely funny jokes in the movie would just make it more uncomfortable for the audience it's going to be perceived as laughing at.

    I predict we will not see a sequel with Quentin, much less Count Petofi or whomever. (Yes, that was a reminder there was enough material there to go in many other directions.)

    I'll only consider seeing this movie if I'm in a mood to see a comedy. Most comedies do better on a small screen for me, very likely this will wait till the DVD comes out.
     
  8. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

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    Mmmmmm.....Quentin. :drool: Now he was my first crush when I watched reruns in the late 70s. They could have done an excellent reimagining with Quentin, whose ghost was caught in the house.
     
  9. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Funny how a show I saw a hand full of times when I was 12, can remain lodged in my brain. I was either too young or out of the country for most of the original run, only catching the odd episode of it's last four months when we returned to the US in '71. My sisters were quite taken with Barnabas Collins, possibly the most unlikely teen heartthrob since Spock.

    Brutons take is interesting, especially the 1970s setting. A bit like the Brady Bunch meets the Addams Family.
     
  10. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Watching the trailer again I think it has some potential to be a decent Burton movie. I think it's a major shock to the system on first viewing when you were expecting something else though. Of course, I've only seen a half-dozen or so episodes of the original so I don't have as much stake in this as some. They might have been able to prevent some backlash had they been more upfront with the direction they were taking.
     
  11. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

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    I agree. They should have been upfront from the beginning. That trailer was a "shock to the sytem" when you were expecting something darkly gothic.
     
  12. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^^ There looks to be a lot of Burtonesque gothic mixed in there amongst the rest.


    One thing I don't get in the trailer is when Barnabas unplugs(?) the TV and it still has a picture but no sound(?). Am I missing something there. EDIT: Answering my own question, watching again he's ripped out the back and some of the guts attached with a wire, I thought he had ripped out the cord.
     
  13. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    That was my take... the only "comedic" parts we saw were the "future-shock" elements of him adapting to the 1970s. The rest of the shots seemed pretty straightforward to me, at least for Burton lol... not sure this can be entered as evidence that whole thing will be done that way. Perhaps this is just a comedy-focused trailer to troll for general audiences.
     
  14. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It'd be interesting to see the same trailer, with a couple parts cut, and with some moody music added.
     
  15. Professor Zoom

    Professor Zoom Admiral Admiral

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    I think farce is a great word, actually, and more fitting for what I saw in the trailer. Could be fun. I thought the "sex scene" was pretty hysterical, being LITERALLY thrown around the room.
     
  16. sidious618

    sidious618 Admiral Admiral

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    That looked both awful and brilliant. Eva Green is certainly at her sexiest in that, though.
     
  17. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Kind of reminds me of some samurai porn that I ran across when I was new to the Internet. :rommie:
     
  18. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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  19. Captain Dago

    Captain Dago Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Yeah. Still not liking it. :vulcan:
     
  20. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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