Gothic is an absurdly bad hammy pudding of a movie, possibly the worst that Julian Sands has ever made - and just stop to ponder that statement for a moment - but enormous fun.
Apart from Julian Sands, this describes a lot of Ken Russell, which is why I like his stuff (his stuff that's not so much fun is very hit or miss - sometimes effective (THE DEVILS), sometimes just painful and embarassing (VALENTINO). CRIMES OF PASSION is a particular favorite, but it's also a bit of a change of pace for him (apart from the kinky stuff, of course).
Ah, but he also made Billion Dollar Brain which (from very faded memories) rules all.
Also, re GOTHIC, while Julian Sands (and Timothy Spall) are pretty wretched in it, Natasha Richardson and Gabriel Byrne were quite effective.
Byrne defined his schtick in Gothic. Spall, of course, has kiled more movies than any actor alive; a friend of mine judges movies by the Spallness Factor.
Spall, of course, has kiled more movies than any actor alive; a friend of mine judges movies by the Spallness Factor.
Does that include his Mike Leigh movies? I thought he was good in one of those I've seen (I memfault on the name) - pretty much the only one I thought he was any good in. He was the first serious casting (as opposed to directing) miscue in the Harry Potter movies, I'd say.
Spall, of course, has kiled more movies than any actor alive; a friend of mine judges movies by the Spallness Factor
BWAH!!! There ought to be a warning label, along the lines of the Hedgehog warning for Ron Jeremy appearances.
I liked Gothic quite a bit. It creeped me the fuck out at first, but that's good. I also love the Ken Russell bit in
Aria,
just breaks me every time. NSM with his other movies; there are images that stick (Kathleen Turner's heels gouging into Anthony Perkins' thighs, Hugh Grant's bed), but the movies themselves generally don't speak to me. I had to watch
Altered States
for a college class, and I didn't get what the big deal was.
(Here's a challenge: for the same class I had to watch
The Doors
as well. It was not a film or performing arts class; can you guess what it was?)
We watched
Dead Man
last night. Iggy Pop! Gabriel Byrne! Crispin Glover! Billy Bob Thornton, unrecognizable! An amazingly sculptural Johnny Depp! Even without all those plusses, I would have liked it. A lot.
And thanks for the Jarmusch help - it helped me go with the movie rather than trying to make it into something left-brained. Corwood, I think your comments about
Ghost Dog will help me appreciate that movie more.
BWAH!!! There ought to be a warning label, along the lines of the Hedgehog warning for Ron Jeremy appearances.
Argh! Picturing Spall naked. Pass brain bleach.
Pretentious Use of Native American Iconography?
