But...Dark Shadows itself was great campy fun.

Yeah, a friend of mine who's a huge fan of the show, which he described as "campy and melodramatic," is really excited about the movie.

Are the originals out there in some format?

Because my history with Dark Shadows is this:

from the age of 5-7 I lived in south Jersey and my best friend's older sister was a huge Dark Shadows fan. (She was also the occasional babysitter for my brothers and me.) I don't know that I've ever actually seen an episode.

Well, there's campy, then there's campy with a disco soundtrack.

Are the originals out there in some format?

They were all put out on VHS. Not sure about DVD. But I'd bet you could find it online.

Like the young Johnny Depp (we both grew up in South Florida in the same era), I used to race home from school to catch them on TV. (You had to race home because it came on at 3pm and school let out at 2:55. So if you were lucky you'd only miss ten minutes.)

First of all, they're super duper slow moving even by soap opera standards of 1970. Second of all, it was shot on video so the lighting is kind of harsh and crappy looking. And the styles are all Rich People Of the Early 70s (not a a good era for rich people fashion).

Also, Barnabas Collins was not introduced until the show was well into its run. But his character took off and it became incredibly popular and all the storylines revolved around him.

But it always had an awesomely gothic theremin theme. And Barnabas character was cool and the performance was interesting. But basically it was high cheese like Passions.

sumi, I just realized I've got the House of Dark Shadows (they did a movie with the regular cast in 1970, retelling the Barnabas story in condensed form) on MP4. I could send you a dropbox link if you want to watch it. It's actually less glacially paced than the series.

I've never watched Titanic--does making it 3D have much of a purpose other than adding another X onto the disaster porn rating? Make the necklace look more tangible?

A friend dragged me to see 21 Jump Street last night and I found it surprisingly enjoyable. There was a dick joke, like, every 10 seconds, but the core friendship or bromance or whatever between Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill was surprisingly sweet. Tatum's role was basically written to his, err, "strength," meaning his character was a dumb jock with an occasional goofy and sweet side. The two leads actually have good chemistry together, which I guess is the make-or-break element in something like this. Plus, the movie knows it's a ridiculous remake with a lot of cliches and it's actually got some ironic self-awareness about the whole thing.

Also, it's got a lot of funny people I like from TV in small roles. Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec! Nick from The New Girl! Ellie Kemper from The Office! Doc Spaceman from 30 Rock! A regular "Hey, It's That Guy"-fest. Plus there was a young actor I've never seen before in a supporting role, who kept reminding me of someone, then I learned he was James Franco's little brother. HA!

Anyway, it made me revise my opinion of Tatum. He should just quit trying to play anyone serious because no one would believe it, and stick to goofy roles that make fun of him.

The previews were wall-to-wall remakes / sequels. I don't think I have seen a single original movie among 5-6 flicks seen in Coming Attractions, which is a sad state of affairs indeed. I did see the Dark Shadows remake and thought it looked like an absolute hoot (the disco soundtrack really did it for me.) But then, I'd never even heard of Dark Shadows before so I'm in different position to most folks here. The cast seemed pretty awesome, I have to say. Especially Eva Green, but I've had total girlcrush on her forever.

And the styles are all Rich People Of the Early 70s (not a a good era for rich people fashion).

If by "not good" you mean FAAAABULOUSSS!

I can see how a guy might rue the hair and the oversized lapels later, but the ladies had great hair.

but the ladies had great hair.

Abundantly piled up in elaborate coifs! It's true there is a high degree of FABULOSITY.