TV Review: "Hannibal"

The Cast of NBC's "Hannibal"

Now that I've finally had the chance to see the second episode of Bryan Fuller's latest series "Hannibal," I have a better idea of what I think of it. 

Fuller ("Wonderfalls;" "Dead Like Me" and my beloved "Pushing Daisies") has created a prequel of sorts to Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon (the novel introduces the already incarcerated Lecter as Grahame seeks his advice in tracking down a serial killer - much like Clarice Starling would do in The Silence of the Lambs). "Hannibal" takes place several years before the events of Red Dragon, when Grahame (who self-identifies as being 'somewhere' on the autism spectrum and possesses an extraordinary ability to get inside the heads of serial killers) is called in by Agent Jack Crawford to work a case involving ritualistic cannibalism, of all things. Lecter is called in to consult - and later take Will on as a patient, and the two try to analyze one another as they begin to play a very intriguing cat-and-mouse game. 

This is the third pair of actors to to play the duo; William Petersen and Brian Cox in Manhunter (Michael Mann's excellent 1986 adaptation of Red Dragon*); Edward Norton and Anthony Hopkins in Brett Ratner's regrettable remake and now Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen in a 'pre-boot' (forget all about Harris' last novels Hannibal and Hannibal Rising and their mostly dreadful adaptations). I must say that I am enjoying both of their interpretations of the characters, though Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) makes it clear from the beginning that he is quite insane, simply by raising an eyebrow or twisting an odd smile on his magnificently cheek-boned face. Dancy ("The Big C") is trying his best not to overact in a role ripe for some set gnawing. He doesn't always succeed, but his restraint is generally effective. I wish I could say the same of Laurence Fishburne's Jack Crawford. Fishburne's very dark storyline on "C.S.I." is undoubtedly what led Fuller to cast him in the role previous played by Dennis Farina, Scott Glenn and Harvey Keitel. Fishburne plays Crawford as a volatile hot-head, practically bullying Will to return to fieldwork The rest of the cast is fine and it's great to see former Kid in the Hall Scott Thompson as saucy lab technician Jimmy Price. 

Dripping with weird atmosphere and loaded with Fuller's often outlandish and always beautiful visuals (even the gory stuff, though kept to a minimum, is gorgeously shot) and his very dark sense of humor, "Hannibal" may well be the best series Fuller has created, yet. I'm certainly interested to see where it goes and how the relationship between the eventual adversaries develops. Still, as much I like it, I can't imagine it going beyond a few seasons, and I'll tell you why. Fuller's concepts are smart and original and engaging, but they usually aren't enough to sustain more than a few seasons' worth of story before getting repetitive. I think he'd be much better served creatively, if he would start writing a feature film. I'll also say that while "Hannibal" is only slightly less salacious than A&E's 'preboot" "Bates Motel," it seems this may just be another attempt by NBC to jump on the genre bandwagon after the success of "Grimm." But what I've seen so far has been fascinating and I am very hopeful. *** (Three Out of Four Stars).

More, anon.
Prospero

*And sorry Ralph Fiennes - you may be an excellent actor in most things (we won't mention The Avengers), but Tom Noonan is far creepier and far more compelling as Francis "The Red Dragon" Dolarhyde.

Review: "The Wolfman"

I almost titled this post "The Hair of the Dog that Bit You," but thought it might be a little too on the money, especially given the plot-twist that's been added to Curt Siodmak's 1941 screenplay by modern screenwriters Andrew Walker and David Self. But since I refuse to be a spoiler, that's almost all I'm going to say about it.

Anyway, Dear D and I met this afternoon at our favorite local multiplex to see a movie both of us have wanted to see for a long time. Since today was a holiday, the place was unusually crowded for a late Monday afternoon, especially with the threat of more snow looming in the very near future. After sitting through a series of rather uninspired trailers for movies neither of us is likely to see, we settled back and watched The Wolfman with lowered expectations, hoping we wouldn't be disappointed by this remake of a childhood favorite. And I'm happy to say that were not disappointed. Well, not exactly.

Benicio Del Toro (who also serves as a producer) plays Lawrence Talbot, a classical actor raised in America, now touring London in a production of Hamlet. When his brother's fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt) writes to him, asking him to return to the family manse to help find his missing brother, he does so, only to find out he is too late and his brother's mangled body was found in a ditch two days before he arrives at said manse, a typical Gothic mansion in need of a good dusting and a power wash. There he confronts his father, Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), a former big-game hunter with a penchant for wearing tiger's fur robes and spouting cliches. The locals seem to blame brother Ben's death on a dancing bear in the employ of some gypsies encamped nearby, so Lawrence naturally heads out to gypsy camp for some answers. There he encounters Maleva (Geraldine Chaplin), an old gypsy who warns him against digging too deep. But she barely gets the words out when the camp is attacked by a monster, and Lawrence soon finds himself the victim of the beast's bite. Lo and behold, on the next full moon he transforms into the titular Wolfman, tearing apart victims and reveling in the eviscerations and limb-tearings. Meanwhile, Inspector Abberline (Hugo Weaving) of Scotland Yard has arrived in town to investigate a series of murders which he attributes to a madman on the loose.

Director Joe Johnstone clubs us over the head with his images of the moon, while reveling in beautiful (if pointless) long shots of distant figures among the woods, in a field or atop Victorian London buildings. Blunt is fine as the damsel in distress, who inexplicably falls in love with her fiance's brother, and Hopkins is having a grand time playing a crazy old guy (something he has specialized in since The Silence of the Lambs). Weaving does a Victorian twist on his Agent Smith character from The Matrix and Chaplin tries to channel the late Maria Ouspenskaya with limited success. Sadly, the least successful performance here is Del Toro's, mumbling his way through the film in what I can only assume was an attempt to apply 'method' acting to what is obviously a 'technical' acting role. For an actor playing an actor in an era long before 'method' acting was invented, he seems far too distant and self-involved, even during what are supposed to romantic moments with Ms. Blunt. Antony Sher is hilarious and creepy as a torture-minded psychiatrist who gets his comeuppance, while Roger Frost is a hoot as the local vicar.

Makeup artist Rick Baker (who has a fun cameo as an early victim) does a bang-up job of modernizing the look created by Jack Pearce in the 1941 original, and the CGI transformations are well-done (though I did have issues with the obviously CGI dancing bear). Composer Danny Elfman turns in his most 'un-Elfman-like' score, to date, setting the tone most effectively. There is plenty of gore, intestines, flying body parts and rotting corpses, though Johnston has a habit of lingering on them for a few seconds too many. And as for that plot-twist I mentioned earlier, it might have worked if it hadn't been so obviously telegraphed so early on in the picture. Let's just say it was very much a case of "less is more' and leave it at that. I'm glad I saw it, but also glad we only paid the matinee price to do so.

All in all, The Wolfman is a fun (if flawed) B-movie, perfect for gorehounds and Horror lovers, especially those who have never seen the original.

**1/2 (Two and a Half Stars out of Four).

More, anon.
Prospero

Drinkin' a Pina Colada at Trader Vic's

"Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers at night/Becomes a wolf when the Wolf's-bane blooms and the moon is full and bright."

Nearly as iconic as the vampire, the werewolf legend is part of most cultures. A cursed human (usually because of the bite of another cursed human), becomes a bloodthirsty beast by the light of the full moon, transforming into a hairy monster intent on murdering everyone with whom it comes into contact.

One of the earliest film incarnations of this classic monster is the 1935 Werewolf of London, starring Henry Hull as a doctor who can only be cured of lycanthropy with the help of a rare Tibetan flower:

Six years later, Universal Studios would produce their own werewolf movie, The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, the son of a wealthy Englishman (Claude Rains) who returns home for his brother's funeral, only to be attacked by a gypsy (Bela Lugosi) in wolf's clothing. Character actress Maria Ouspenskaya is the old gypsy who first spouts that little bit of doggerel at the top of this post. Chaney went on to make a career out of playing The Wolf Man in dozens of sequels, spin-offs and rip-offs, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. But it's this film that most folks remember him for:

Using "Replacement Photography" effects to show Talbot's transformation, Universal's makeup artist Jack Pierce set the standard for many years to come.

There were plenty of cheesy werewolf movies in the 50's and 60's, including Michael Landon's infamous debut in I Was a Teenage Werewolf in which a young teen was hypnotized by a mad scientist into becoming a wolf at the sound of bell (calling Dr. Pavlov). 50's homo-eroticism at its best:

It wasn't until 1981 that Director Joe Dante (Gremlins) upped the ante on werewolf movies with The Howling, in which he and makeup FX wizards Rick Baker and Rob Bottin used modern physical makeup effects to depict a painful lycanthropic transformation on screen, that werewolf movies got interesting (and scary) again:

Later that same year, director John Landis would make the definitive 80's werewolf movie, An American Werewolf in London. Former Dr. Pepper spokesman David Naughten stars as David Kessler, an American student backpacking across Great Britain with his best friend (Griffin Dunne) who is attacked on the moors by a monster. Despite the ministrations of a cute British nurse (Logan's Run star Jenny Agutter), David soon finds himself killing random folks by the light of the full moon, transforming painfully in one of cinema's most memorable werewolf transformation scenes:

Sadly, the "official" 1997 sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris uses a bad script and lame CGI for its werewolves:

Even the presence of the beautiful Julie Delpy couldn't save that mess.

There were several terrible werewolf movies since, including the godawful Werewolf Vs. Vampire piece of crap Underworld and it's two (so far) sequels:

And I can barely bring myself to mention the atrocious werewolf comedy starring Michael J. Fox, Teen Wolf:

In 2000, Canadian director John Fawcett gave us the hilarious and chilling adolescent werewolf flick, Ginger Snaps:

Then, in 2002, director Neil Marshall gave us Dog Soldiers, about a group of British soldiers on a training mission who find themselves in the midst of a werewolf family conflict:

...and His Hair Was Perfect!

"Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night/Becomes a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the moon grows full and bright."

That infamous bit of doggeral from the original 1941 film, The Wolfman is first uttered by the late Maria Ouspenskaya, a Russian actress who would rise to marginal fame in Universal Studio's horror flicks from the 30's and 40's. When prodigal son Larry Talbot returns to the homeland, he is attacked by a peculiar beast and soon finds himself (via then state-of-the-art replacement photography) turning into a monster. Lon Chaney, Jr. - the less-talented son of "The Man of 1000 Faces" - had the titular role and no less than Claude Rains played his father and Bela Lugosi played the poor afflicted son of Ouspenskaya's ancient gyspy.

Now, the inevitable remake is soon upon us. Delayed for a very long time, The Wolf Man is finally scheduled for release in 2010. Sadly, it's in February of 2010. And you all know what that means. Or not. There have been those occasional February gems... I think... um, let me get back to you on that. Anyway. the good news is that is not being directed by The Mummy and Van Helsing (what a waste of everyone's time) schlockmeister, Stephen Sommers. The bad news, it's directed by Jurrasic Park III's Joe Johnston. Now Johnston is an okay director. I like The Rocketeer (I first feel in lust for Billy Campbell then) and Jumanji is just fun. Hell, I even enjoyed Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I haven't seen 2004's Hidalgo, but this is Johnston's first film since then. Six years is sometimes very long to be away in the business. JP3 was a complete piece of crap and I have to wonder whose fault that is. And Hidalgo didn't exactly break any box-office records, despite the presence of Viggo.

Alright, then. Here's the trailer for The Wolf Man, starring Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving and the amazing Geraldine Chaplin (!!!) as Maleva, the role that made Ms Ouspenskaya famous. Enjoy:

Mmmm... steak tartare...

Well, at least I know they'll never remake this 'classic:'

Oh wait! They did:

God bless Larry Cohen. Of course, watching that made me think of this:

I wonder if there's a Rifftrax version of Reign of Fire? There must be, don't you think? Oh, well. I suppose I should round the whole thing out with this trailer:

And maybe just one more:

"It's Scare-ewey!" Get it? Scary and screwy? Get it? And 10 bonus points to whoever can tell me what future icon of Horror has a voice cameo at the end of that last movie.

More, anon.

Prospero