Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows: The Cheese Factor Continues

I was so looking forward to Tim Burton & Johnny Depp’s take on the classic 60/70’s paranormal soap opera, Dark Shadows.  Despite all the negative reviews, I decided to check it out last night.  *sigh*  I’d have to say, the one thing the original, the 90's remake and Tim Burton's take have in common is they’re cheesy as all get out! The only thing that would have made it more cheesier is if Chester cheetah himself made a cameo—instead of McDonald's.

Aside from that, the movie was bleh.  Part morose and part family drama, Dark Shadows was riddled with humor which I found confusing.  Don't get me wrong, I laughed, but still either you're a comedy or a drama.  Look, I love Tim Burton so much it’s heartbreaking when his movies don’t measure up.  Sadly, the truth is not every film he makes will be legendary. Not every one he produces or directs will be an instant cult classic.  As much as I’d like to wave his flag, this was not a win.  It was okay. The cheesiness was there, the plot eh, but other than that, the vampire paranormal family drama was only slightly mollifying.  Should you go and see it?  If you love Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, sure…why not?  Just keep your expectations in check.

What about you? Have you seen it? What did you think? Am I way off?

***

Bloody Good Writer News!

- Jessica Therrien recently announced that the foreign rights to her YA series, Children of the Gods, which include Oppression and her next book (Title TBD) have been sold to publishers in France, Canada, and Taiwan. That is truly amazing news for Jessica and her debut novel. Awesome job, sweetie. If you’re feeling up to it, stop by and give her a shout out.


- Jessica Redmerski released her adult fantasy book, Dirty Eden back in March.  Jessica, who I recently interviewed and reviewed her YA debut novel, The Mayfair Moon, is also set to release book two in her Darkwoods series, The Kindred, in July. See her post for more details

Do you have some killer news you want to share?  Shoot me an email with the details so I can share it with my minions too! 

Fridays with Fred

And let’s not forget about Fred—the lazy bum. 

If you can, stop by and visit Schatze over at Mary’s BookHounds too.  We love her!


Have a great weekend. 


Mina B.

Tim Burton's Dark Shadows & Fridays with Fred

I have to apologize for this week for no posts.  Between renovating, house guests, internet connections and last but not least computer issues, I couldn't pull it together.  Thankfully my computer issue will be resolved later today since I had to order a part.  Anyway, here's a post I've been wanted to do for sometime.  Luckily, the movie trailer released yesterday for the goth classic, Dark Shadows. 

From the original to the updated version, what can we look forward to in the coming months with Tim Burton's remake of the unearthly soap classic, Dark Shadows.  At first, all we had to go on were images alone.  For those that have never seen the episodes of the original click here.  Additionally, there was a TV movie remake in the 80's - which I posted last year here.

About the original story from Wikipedia
The beginning of the show introduces Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) and the members of the Collins family, who reside on top of Widows’ Hill in a house called Collinwood in Collinsport, Maine. Victoria was orphaned, and she came to Collinwood in order to find out more about her eerie past. David Collins (David Henesy) would constantly tell Victoria of the ghosts he saw. Victoria also encountered the ghost of Josette Collins (Kathryn Leigh Scott) when she was looking through the closed-off west wing of Collinwood... (To read more visit Wikipedia)

Yesterday Warner Brothers released the website for the movie: http://www.darkshadowsmovie.com and...Apple has officially posted the trailer here if you're interested - http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/darkshadows/

I wanted to post the clip here too since I'm such a fan of Burton.  So...what do you think?

And of course here is Fred...under the bed.

 

Remember to stop by and visit Schatze over at Mary’s BookHounds too.

Have a great weekend.

Mina B.

Remember when? Dark Shadows

I wasn’t even born when Dark Shadows first came out. My sister, God bless her, was practically an insomniac watching reruns of this classic crap in the late 70’s. I vaguely remember the main character, vampire Barnabas Collins. But I came across this remake of the classic not too long ago. It was done by MGM in 1991.

Even though this is a blog about primarily books, I thought from time to time, I’d highlight a creepy classic movie/film/tv series etc…as well. Dark Shadow’s was a gothic soap opera that initially ran from 1966 to 1971. For more information on Dark Shadows, check out this link from Wikipedia. 

In 1991, NBC created a Dark Shadows (1991) series, remaking the original. The storyline focuses on vampire Barnabas Collins being released after centuries of being in his coffin. He’s returned home and is renovating his old lair located in New England. He’s going around killing people for blood and wooing young Governess Victoria Winters.  I’m not saying it’s the best movie or tv show to watch but hey, Dark Shadow’s is a classic.  And if you like vampires, ghosts, werewolves - basically anything that’s creepy - than take a look see. Dark Shadows can definitely be cheesy at times so FYI when you're watching it.  Once you do, you can say you’re familiar with the series.  And people will think you're cool.

Until next time – creepy can be cool too.

Mina B. 

VUY2TDCKVK5E