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Cruentus1
Reviews
loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies (2006)
Fragile Individuals that Make Magical Music Together
I've been a Pixies music fan for years, but I never really knew much about the individual members. All I knew is that they inexplicably dropped off the face of the earth one day, and reappeared recently as middled aged people.
This documentary makes it quite clear what happened. The individual band members are fragile, sensitive, flawed people, who made unbelievably unique and magical music when they were together. Unfortunately their fragility made it impossible for them to deal with their success.
This film could have very easily taken the TV-style doc route with music industry producer and "expert" interviews, instead it just follows the band members around during their 2004 reunion tour. By showing Charles, Kim, Joe and Dave engaging in mundane everyday activities, we come to know them better than from any lecture delivered by a music "expert".
Despite the fact that they never achieved any great commercial success during their heyday, the string of recent sold out tour dates proves that their music had a profound effect on millions of people worldwide.
The Pixies now have a second chance to achieve the financial success that eluded them the first time around. Very few people in this life get a second chance at anything. I hope that they can achieve their financial goals, as well as finding the inner peace that they lacked in their younger years.
I highly recommend this film to Pixie fans, new and old alike.
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
A Fairly Good Sequel, But Does Not Surpass the Original
The majority of film critics are of the opinion that Bride of Frankenstein is the rare sequel that surpasses the original, in this case the majority is wrong.
Bride of Frankenstein is a fairly entertaining movie that surpasses the original on technical merits only. It is very obvious, when comparing the two, that "Bride" was produced with a much larger budget than the original. The beautiful cinematography, and lavish, well designed sets make wonderful eye candy.
The actors playing the main characters all do a fantastic job. Elsa Lanchester, playing dual roles as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and the Monster's mate, is stunningly beautiful -- both with and without her "Bride" makeup.
This production also has some very glaring problems that keep it from greatness.
First, there are continuity problems when compared with the original film. Why, for instance, were the names of reoccurring characters changed? There appears to be no good reason except for sloppiness. How did Dr. Frankenstein get to be the Baron? What happened to his father? This is never explained. Admittedly these are minor problems, but it wouldn't have been all that difficult to tie up loose ends. Sloppy.
While we're on the topic of changed character names, why did the "Monster" murder the parents of the little girl that he accidentally killed in the first movie? In the first movie it is clear that the "Monster" drowns the little girl by accident. After he kills the child, he is horrified by his own actions and shows shock and remorse. The murder of the girl's parents, in the the second film, are done out of pure malice. What is the point?
The "little people" scene with Dr. Pretorius(Ernest Thesiger) takes the movie from the realm of science fiction into that of fantasy. It is totally out of place in this film, even the character of Dr. Frankenstein comments on this by saying, "This is more black magic than science." This one scene very badly damages what is otherwise a fine performance by Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius. BTW, Ernest Thesiger's character of Dr. Pretorius is the very definition of "mad scientist".
The "comic" character of Minnie, played by Una O'Connor, is beyond stupid and annoying. The only people who will be entertained by the cackling, screaming "Minnie" character are mouth-breathing, knuckle-draggers that make the "Monster" look like Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz by comparison.
Finally, the biggest problem with this film is the limited amount of time given to the "Bride". The "Bride" is revealed. The "Monster" is rejected. The "Monster" blows up the lab with everyone in it. End of story. All this in the last 10 minutes.
The story really should have started after the "Bride" was animated. It would have been much more interesting to watch the characters of the "Bride" and the "Monster" develop and interact and eventually lead to some tragic ending. Instead we get a comic book hack ending with the "Monster" pulling the "self destruct lever".
Bride of Frankenstein: Missed opportunity.