Speaking of remakes, I saw the remake of SLEUTH today. I can't say I recommend it, unless you're a) very fond of the original (play or movie, since the movie pretty much kept the entire play) and want to see an altered version of it, b) fond of Pinter, as he basically re-wrote almost every line of dialogue and made it feel like a Pinter play, or c) fond of the actors since they have a field day. Branagh tried to tart it up directorily, but that was the least interesting thing about it.

Pinter did somehow manage to make the play more gay than DEATHTRAP, let alone the original play/movie, without necessarily having a charcter who was actually gay. It's a little hard to tell with Pinter writing the characters.

I wouldn't recommend it as a theater movie, let's put it that way, but an interesting curio on DVD, probably.

There was a definite STRAW DOGS reference with the man trap used on the barkeep (especially since I think it was he and his wife who said they'd been extras in the movie themselves).

Aw, man. Here I'm reaching the end thinking I'd get to mention that, but Frank's beat me to it.

I liked Children of Men quite a bit. The Departed was ok, but not in the same league. Infernal Affairs was a much better movie, but make no mistake: it was still a mess.

If I see one other Boston Irish Melodrama in my life it will be one too many. I wanted to beat every single character in that movie with a shillelagh until they bled green beer.

Also, as I said on the day I watched The Departed, in Hollywood movies about Boston, stereotyped Italians count as diversity. Grrrrr!

CoM was one of those movies where I was left wanting to know more about the world it was built in, which is rare. My only complaint was how bored I became during the final action scene with all the gunfire and running and confusion. I don't care to watch The Departed. Organized crime so does not interest me. My brother got a bootleg copy on the streets of NYC, and what little I saw left me cold.

If I see one other Boston Irish Melodrama in my life it will be one too many.

Hey, that Ben Affleck adaptation of Lehane's Gone Baby, Gone just came out this weekend. Apparently Affleck used a lot of regular Boston people off the street for extras, and Casey Affleck who plays the lead, is from Boston so at least his accent should be authentic. You get both Irish (Patrick) and Italian (Angie) so two stereotypes for the price of one!

And my childhood crush wrote the script!! (I know it says co-written by Ben, but I'm pretty sure Aaron did the heavy lifting.)

Ben's movie has gotten surprisingly good reviews. At least that I've seen.

They note particularly the performances he gets from his actors (which you would expect from an actor-turned-director), but also that it's well paced and directed.

I *so* want to go to that. go on, pretend you're suprised. But I love it when Ben(and Matt) get all Boston. But I live in the land of no ethnicity, so I want all the stuff my grandparents fled here from.

Also, am fucked up enough to consider Zodiac as mom-daughter bonding. Suddenly, my lack of childhood slumber parties is not exactly Shock Theater, huh?

Huh. I didn't know the Stephen King short story "The Mist" was turned into a movie. I remember thinking when I read it that it'd make a great flick. Anyway, it opens in about a month. You can see a preview here (I think): [link]

Looks awesome.