Dark Shadows
Tagline: Every Family Has Its Demons
Is there a double act in modern cinema quite like the duo of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp? Sure, you can point to Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, but those two at least seem to make movies with other peple sometimes. Billion-dollar pirate franchises aside, Tim and Johnny could be practically monogamous. For their latest project, the duo set about remaking an old TV favorite (Dark Shadows aired on ABC between 1966-1971, dominating the after-school time slot).
The program was about the family life of vampire Barnabas Collins (sadly, the original actor Jonathan Frid, died just weeks before the premiere of the movie at the age of 87). Back in the day, Barnabas was a rich, powerful playboy who made the grave error of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), a local witch. Bouchard, in return, turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. Two centuries on, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and blinks his way into the light of 1972. All hell, you suspect, will break lose.
Unfortunately, some of that hell is being unleashed on the film itself — surprising, considering how many film critics often appear to be in the tank for the Burton/Depp projects. “The humor slithers between the clever and the sophomoric and the film too often seems willing to settle for mild humor at the expense of hippie-era mores instead of pursuing the palpable temptation to become genuinely twisted,” notes the Hollywood Reporter. “Less a resurrection than a clumsy desecration,” slams the Village Voice. Time Out New York offers a modicum of support, stating that, “filled to bursting with voracious stares and high collars (and even an Alice Cooper cameo), Dark Shadows struts its glam harder than any film since Velvet Goldmine — again, a good thing.” Whether you’ll have a good time is a different matter.
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Girl in Progress
[youtube=http://youtu.be/NCqzkNl2gXI]
Tagline: Lessons in motherhood. Taught by a Kid.
Grace (Eva Mendes) is a single mother, too busy juggling work, bills, and a married Dr. Hartford (Matthew Modine), to offer her daughter Ansiedad (Cierra Ramirez) the attention she desperately needs. Yet thanks to an inspiring English teacher, Ms. Armstrong (Patricia Arquette), who introduces her students to coming-of-age tales, Ansiedad is inspired to try and begin her life without mom.
As with Dark Shadows, the reviewers aren’t particularly enamored (perhaps they’re suffering from Avengers withdrawal). “Unconvincing, flawed matriarch Mendes and junior showboat Ramirez appear to be acting in entirely different movies,” is the opinion of the Village Voice. “There’s little to complain about here, but there’s also little to cheer about. Benignly enjoyable during viewing, the production ultimately takes too few risks,” concludes Paste. But New York magazine is more of a fan, first making the good point that Girl in Progress is “likely the first coming-of-age story centering on a girl who learns in class what a coming-of-age story is and meticulously designs her own,” before summing up that “it has the unpretentious energy and charm of a good YA girls’ novel.”
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NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick: Most people will probably go see the Avengers (perhaps for a second time) but if we had to stick our neck out, we’d go for Dark Shadows from our two choices.