Dark Shadows

[MIB41]

Don't let some of these glowing reviews mislead those of you who anticipate a gothic thriller, this is not a serious gothic film at all.

This fragmented sentence states those with a positive opinion are misleading the forum because your perspective is right, while others are wrong. Gee, that's objectiveness at it's finest. What did you intend it to mean? And by the way, Gothic is capitalized. And to point out the contradiction, which is YOU, please read your statement to me below where you are CLEARLY offended...

Frankly, I've had enough and would appreciate it if in the future you refrain from addressing me specifically in your postings.

And then read as you say to Anthony...

If you wish to jump on MIB's bandwagon and take a personal offense from where none was intended...God love ya!

Gee... Isn't that what YOU just did with me? You not only took ridiculous offense to my simple request not to pull other people's opinions into your critiques, but then you go on some INSANE rant that I purposely "twisted" what you've said on THREE separate occasions? Wow...And you were actually counting? Did you lose sleep on those too? That's not only comical, it's clinical. But if your little feelings are too flustered to continue any additional discussions with me, I have no problem with that. Your incapable of having a free form discussion anyway without feeling like you have to 'prove' your points like it's a court case. Of course that request is only honored as long as you show the same courtesy to me. I'm not holding my breath, since your application of the double standard is well on display.

[emeraldknight47]

Awright youse guys---break it up 'fore I have to HULK out on your arses and pound ya's both inta the ground!!!

Not every movie is for every body, especially if it's a reimagining of a beloved franchise...

Now shake hands and make nice!!!

[Dark Shadow]

You are correct, as always, on all accounts. I bow to your uncanny insight into my intentions, motivations, limited capabilities & personal state of mind.

Thank you as well for the spelling lesson (psst...BarnabAs).

[johnmiic]

Yes, MIB41...that's EXACTLY what I meant. I'm clearly accusing you of intentionally misleading people...to what end...I'm sure I'll never know.

This is the third time you have twisted my words into something they were never intended to be. Frankly, I've had enough and would appreciate it if in the future you refrain from addressing me specifically in your postings.

Thank you.

Dude, I think that's a bit harsh. I mean, thats harsher than the time I slammed MIB41 for not believing in Bigfoot, (sorry man). We can all have a difference of opinion here without fighting. Don't turn into a geoffrude kind'a guy.

[MIB41]

Dude, I think that's a bit harsh. I mean, thats harsher than the time I slammed MIB41 for not believing in Bigfoot, (sorry man). We can all have a difference of opinion here without fighting. Don't turn into a geoffrude kind'a guy.

It's all good! Hey, BTW, I have a friend of mine who is actually writing a book about Big Foot. I think you would find it engaging. He's examining the people that follow Big Foot through the ages and will try to separate the facts from the frauds. Sounds like a good read!

[palitoy]

I finally got the opportunity to see this, wanted to love it but it's a mess.

It isn't the "fish out of water/Brady Bunch" movie it was advertised as, it's got humour but so did the Avengers. It has all the trappings of a great film especially the cast, sets, costumes etc et all.

However, I found the movie choppy and lacking certain character development. Perhaps the running time had to be cut but this felt uneven with too much crammed in. It's a fun movie and I did enjoy it but it's not Burton's best IMO. Maybe the DVD will include deleted scenes, I will be in for that.

[Earth 2 Chris]

This movie is performing very poorly. Is it possible WB felt the movie was a mess and thus concoted the comedy marketing to try and sell it somehow?

Chris

[MIB41]

I personally think Warner Bros didn't know how widely familiar modern audiences would be with the Dark Shadows license. On many reviews, I certainly felt that gap in the depiction of the show. Alot of critics deem the series something our grandparents watched and that most of those original fans would not be alive to see this (which is bizarre). But I think the advertising department probably felt if they focused on the dark humor of the movie, that would pull in the Depp fans based on his last few outings which have been really popular. Obviously it didn't help that the film actually was nothing like the trailers. So you either had people with no knowledge of the Dark Shadows franchise coming in expecting a comedy and not getting one. Or you had the loyal fan base coming in loathing the project from the trailers but getting mixed reaction based on whatever their expectations were. I think it was doomed to failure because they never got the message to line up with the product. It's doing much better overseas (like most films) and will likely find a profit on the world tally. For myself I went in expecting some comedic aspects. But I also knew Burton's style so I knew there would be a pathos to the characters and a mood that served as the undercurrent to the film. So I never expected a full blown comedy. What I didn't know was how much of it would be told as a straight ahead horror film. So that part was surprising. I enjoyed it though. But I also understand why others didn't. The marketing absolutely colored people's expectation and so getting a mixed reaction was likely the best they could hope for, given that decision.

[palitoy]

Alot of critics deem the series something our grandparents watched and that most of those original fans would not be alive to see this (which is bizarre).

DS was widely popular with children and teenagers because of it's after school timeslot. It's fan base is still alive and well.

I can't imagine there is an easier job than marketing a Burton/Depp joint in this day and age. Alice was a mediocre film at best and it grossed a billion dollars. I think the trailers harmed public opinion of the film and this was followed up by largely mixed reviews.

Alice got mixed reviews as well but it's ad campaign was pretty great IIRC.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^And oddly enough, Alice was a Disney production, and their marketing dept. has been lambasted for mishandling John Carter.

I have said this all along, but I was really looking forward to this movie, even after seeing Depp's somewhat dubious makeup as Baranabas. Then I saw the trailer. I'm hearing the trailers are somewhat misleading (even folks who hate the movie seem to agree that the trailers overemphasize the comedy aspects), but I think this is another case of bad marketing killing a film. With decent marketing the film would have opened strong at least. Bad or mixed word of mouth may have killed it quickly, though.

Chris

[Dark Shadow]

Speaking of the makeup, there are a few scenes where the makeup looks really good...mostly the outdoor night shots. Then there are scenes, and perhaps this is a pitfall of high definition, where you can see the dry crackling & flaking that comes with theatrical creams applied directly onto skin. This is mostly noticeable on the cheeks and around the eyes & lips.

It seems, that along with the unsteady flow of this film, there was a bizarre effort (conscious or unconscious) to overshadow character development with levity. Each time a character would demonstrate any significant depth of emotion it was either accompanied with, or quickly followed up by a bad comedic moment.

Three significant "for instances" (which may be lightly spoilery):

When Barney's spilling his guts to Liz, we get the organ fiasco overwhelming the sentiment of the moment. When Barn & Vicki are sharing their one and only brief intimate moment, we have the 70's Scope commercial gag. When David is devastated by a set of consecutive painful realizations, we immediately shift focus to the fire/water stunt.

While the subsequent trailers concentrated on the comedic highlights, the very first trailer showed the proper balance of this film. About 1/3 (or so) of the trailer is serious, dark & straight forward and the remainder is what it is. This holds true for the movie as well. The writer himself (SGS) is on the record stating that that particular trailer is a very fair representation of what the film actually is. He is 100% spot on.

[MIB41]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...dGZuoA&cad=rja

[MegoMark71]

Well i have read through every post and agree with some and think some need to relax. I saw this tonight with my wife and her mom. I went in with no expectations. I never watched the show or even knew anything about it. With that, i was not let down at all. I can see DS if you are as big of a fan as you sound how you could be upset with it as you had high expectations. I had a similar experience with Phantom menace..lol I also can see where it was rushed at times where a character could have used more time but it was only a 2 hour movie. heck i don't know. I know i enjoyed watching it from the perspective of not ever knowing a thing about what dark shadows was about.

[ctc]

>there was a bizarre effort (conscious or unconscious) to overshadow character development with levity. Each time a character would demonstrate any significant depth of emotion it was either accompanied with, or quickly followed up by a bad comedic moment.

I've noticed something similar in most films: they stop just short of any actual feeling. I first noticed it in "Titanic," but a lot of flicks have been doing it since. Maybe they're focus grouping out anything that makes the audience feel even remotely....well, anything?

Don C.

[rche]

Watched this last night and went in with the taste of the trailers in my head. Was pleasantly surprised to find that the film was not a complete series of yucks and gags. Tho there was some comedic element to the film, the trailers were certainly not indicative of the overall feel of the film.

I did enjoy the overall storyarc and was quite entertained with some of the characters and their interactions with each other. I would also have to disagree with the earlier comment about the monster-fest climax. I rather enjoyed the surprise reveals, tho I did think it was a bit too little too late. It would have been nice to see some more of that foreshadowed earlier. Perhaps it was and I missed it. I will probably take another gander at this movie when it comes to home format and see what I may have missed.