13 Nights of Shocktober: Interview With the Vampire

 by A.J.

Night 6: Vampire Night

“I’m going to give you the choice I never had.”

Interview With the Vampire

There are only a handful of vampire movies that are so influential that they change the way people think about the undead creature and how they are portrayed in future movies. Among them are F.W. Murnau’s silent classic Nosferatu, Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi, Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), and the 1994 big screen adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel Interview With the Vampire.

Anne Rice’s novel, first published in 1975, not only had the vampire as the main character, but the vampire wasn’t a villain. These vampires have complex personalities: moody, brooding, and profoundly sad. The novel and movie are best described as drama rather than horror; the characters undergoing an existential crisis just happen to be vampires. 

As the title would suggest, the story is structured as an interview taking place in the present day (early 1990’s) between a radio journalist (Christian Slater) and a mysterious pale man who claims he is a vampire. Perhaps the journalist is putting together the most macabre episode of This American Life. The vampire is Louis (Brad Pitt) and he tells the story of his life as a vampire. This was a major role for Pitt that would help launch him to superstardom, but it is Tom Cruise as the charismatic, dastardly vampire Lestat who gives the standout performance. The casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat caused uproar and controversy at the time, which was quite a feat in the pre-internet era. His movie star persona seemed at odds with the character of Lestat who is more or less a villain in this story and anti-hero in later Rice novels. Rice was very publicly against the casting of Tom Cruise. She went as far as advocating for fans of the book to boycott the movie and saying that casting Cruise as Lestat was like casting Edward G. Robinson as Rhett Butler. However, after seeing the finished film she would publicly retract her protests and even took out a full page ad in the New York Times praising Cruise’s performance. In Cruise’s career, this performance really does stand out. It’s one of the few times he's played a villain and one of the few times he’s really gone broad with a performance, which is just what the movie needs. Lestat shows the appeal of being a vampire: he embraces having no remorse, overindulging in luxury and the superiority he feels as an immortal. Pitt’s Louis bears the weight of conscience and remorse and the disadvantages of immortality. Each character is overbearing in their own way, but since Lestat is the more lively of the pair his impatience with Louis feels surprisingly welcome, and adds some humor.

In a moment of weakness Louis attacks and feeds on a small girl and Lestat turns 12 year-old Claudia into a vampire child. Kirsten Dunst’s performance as Claudia is brilliant, proof of her innate abilities as an actress. They form a vampire family and these scenes are amusing in a dark comedy sort of way. These happy times are short lived and Louis and Claudia leave for Paris in search of other vampires and answers to their questions about their own existence.

There is a strong and blatant streak of homoeroticism throughout the film between Louis and Lestat and later between Louis and the old world vampire Armand (Antonio Banderas). A newer adaptation would explore this more, in fact, the recent TV series, very loosely based on the book, does just that. However, here the subtext is so loud that a more explicit or direct portrayal does not seem necessary. It’s obvious that Louis and Lestat are in a relationship, however toxic. When Lestat turns Claudia into a vampire it comes across like having a child to save a failing marriage; this turns out to be a mistake for both humans and vampires. 

There is a fair amount of violence and horror effects, but because of the overall tone of the movie they hit differently than in a straightforward horror movie. They are usually punctuated by humor or sadness. Only in the climax, which almost feels like an action scene, are the horror effects played for shock. Special effects master Stan Winston (whose other credits Terminator 2, The Monster Squad, Batman Returns, and Jurassic Park) created the vampire effects and makeup. When Claudia attempts to murder Lestat by poisoning him and slitting his throat, Winston and the effects team built an emaciated animatronic Tom Cruise that writhes dying on the ground. This effect remains impressive even today. 

This is a brilliant movie worthy of the lasting influence it has had on vampire stories and horror in general. You can watch it with a horror hesitant viewer since it is more of a drama than outright horror. Thanks to the well-played, deep emotions on display it has a great effect on a wide swath of people. No matter how many other versions or remakes, even if they are good, Interview With the Vampire will stand alone, unchanging and forever captivating.

Interview With the Vampire is available to stream on Max and free on Tubi.

Best Pictures #95: The 95th Academy Awards: My Pick

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #95: The 95th Academy Awards 

The 95th Academy Awards for films released in 2022 were held on March 12, 2023. Unpopular changes like handing out awards for the technical categories before the start of the ceremony were done away with and this ceremony embraced that it would be long, to the betterment of the ceremony. There were no major incidents or controversies though, as ever, the In Memorium could have included more people. Highlights of the night included Ke Huy Quan’s win for Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All At Once, an appearance by the “real” Cocaine Bear, and the performance and win of “Naatu Naatu” for Best Original Song from the hyper-entertaining Indian film RRR. Host Jimmy Kimmel made several jokes about the previous year’s slapping incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock, but he took no low shots at the nominated movies. Recently the ceremony has taken an embarrassed, almost apologetic tone towards the nominated movies. This year felt like a real celebration of movies. 

As awards season rolled along and Everything Everywhere All At Once picked up more and more accolades, it suffered the same minor problem as Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water in 2017 in that its frontrunner status made it the conventional choice, though the movie is far from conventional. So, many of its wins did not come as total surprises, however, this did not stop the excitement of this sci-fi multiverse martial arts movie winning a total of 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. It is no overstatement to say that Everything Everywhere won big, picking up the most awards by a Best Picture winner since Slumdog Millionaire at the 2008 Oscars. The impressive tally of wins include: Best Picture, Director, Actress-Michelle Yeoh, Supporting Actress-Jaime Lee Curtis, Supporting Actor-Ke Huy Quan, Original Screenplay, and Editing. 

The flipside of Everything Everywhere winning big, along with the remake of All Quiet on the Western Front, which won 4 Oscars, is that films with multiple nominations like The Banshees of Inisherin (9), Elvis (8), The Fabelmans (7), and Tar (6) went home empty handed. Typically, the Academy spreads the wealth, but not this year. 

Everything Everywhere is a fun and exciting choice for Best Picture, a nice change from the last couple years in which the Academy has awarded Best Picture to films that were good but not very daring. For me, the Best Picture nominees of 2022 were a mostly great selection of films and I was torn about which film would be my choice, if I had a vote, because for the first time in a long while not one but two of my absolute favorite films of the year were nominated for Best Picture. On my personal list of the best of 2022, Top Gun: Maverick and The Fabelmans are tied for first place, but if I can only award one…

My Pick for Best Picture of 2022: Top Gun: Maverick

There are scenes in Top Gun: Maverick that do not advance the plot but are important because they grow the characters. This is not done through dramatic monologues or speeches or cheap tricks but in intimate person to person moments. These moments feel honest; they add humanity into an action movie, something that is not strictly necessary but greatly enhances the movie. Jennifer Connolly’s character Penny is a great addition, a real challenge for Maverick, since flying comes so easy to him. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is close enough to the character you remember, but a lot of time has passed and the screenplay and Tom Cruise are not afraid to show us a different, mature version of a familiar character. The scenes of the F-18s in action will always dazzle and they are more than pure spectacle because of the work the cast and crew put into every aspect of the movie. It is difficult to blend action and emotion but, here, every thrill and every heartfelt moment are well earned. I can’t wait to watch it again.

Best Pictures #91: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Top Gun: Maverick

by A.J.

Best Pictures #91: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Top Gun: Maverick

“You’ve been called back to Top Gun.”

I was skeptical, more than skeptical actually, about a sequel to Top Gun thirty-six years later. Even though I enjoy the original very much, and am a big Tom Cruise fan, I was flat out dismissive after seeing the trailer. I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel that no one asked for, is not just a fantastic, entertaining summer action movie, it is a masterfully crafted, exciting, and fun movie that every big budget action movie should strive to be like. If it was released in the 1980’s or 90’s this might be just another action movie, but in 2022, Tom Cruise, as star and producer, and director Joseph Kosinski have created a dazzling technical achievement, a thrilling entertainment, and something truly special. 

After his program testing experimental supersonic jets is shut down in favor of a drone program, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is called back to the Navy’s elite pilot training program known as Top Gun. However, Maverick won’t just be teaching young pilots, he will be training them for an almost impossible mission deep in enemy territory. Like the first Top Gun movie, the “enemy” is never specified or seen up close. Like the first Top Gun, this film can be seen as patriotic Navy propaganda or an elaborate recruitment video. However, like the first movie, Top Gun: Maverick is neither political nor mindless. It is a thrill ride with enough sense to allow room for characters to grow and even emotions to build. 

This older version of Maverick is a more mature character, deeply informed by the tragedy in his past, the death of his best friend and F-14 Tomcat partner, Goose (played by Anthony Edwards in Top Gun). Maverick is concerned with the safety of his students, but not his own. It is interesting to note that in Top Gun, characters are referred to almost exclusively by their call signs. Before watching the sequel I could not have guessed Maverick's real name. In Top Gun: Maverick, he is called Pete more than a few times. In the training scenes and in the air, Tom Cruise shows us Maverick. In the scenes on the ground, in scenes showing concern and vulnerability, Cruise lets us see Pete Mitchell. I’m a huge fan of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible movies, but this movie's Oscar nominated screenplay allows for character driven acting that we haven’t seen from Cruise in a while. 

Jennifer Connolly plays Penny, a divorced mother and owner of a bar in Fighterown, USA, the location in San Diego of the Top Gun training facility. She is also an old flame of Maverick. They reconnect in a pretty amusing scene of him violating her bar policy and having to pay for everyone’s drinks. But there are other scenes where Connolly gets to play a mature character, not just a trophy. These more intimate scenes I enjoyed as much as the rest of the movie. 

The other important relationship for Maverick is with Bradley Bradshaw, callsign Rooster, who is Goose’s son and also a Top Gun pilot. I’ve been no fan of Miles Teller, but he does a fine job as Rooster, the cautious flyer with a chip on his shoulder. Maverick pulled strings to set back Rooster’s career as a Navy pilot to keep him safe. Now, Maverick must decide on sending Rooster on a mission with slim chance for survival. Visually, Teller is essentially cosplaying Anthony Edwards as Goose; his entrance is played on the right side of parody. Character-wise Teller and the screenplay avoid the pitfalls of this kind of character; he never comes across as whiny or over burdened, nor is he simply a rehash of Goose. I would have liked more time with the other new pilots (Hangman played by Glen Powell and Phoenix played by Monica Barbaro) but, as is, they are all the movie needs. 

Maverick’s biggest supporter, and the reason he still has a Navy career, is his old rival turned friend, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), now an admiral and commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Iceman is suffering from throat cancer, similar to what Kilmer experienced recently in real life, so he and Maverick communicate via text messages. Kilmer has only one scene where he and Cruise meet face to face and it, like so much of the movie, avoids pitfalls even though it plays out how you might expect. It is a wonderful and emotional character focused scene. 

Top Gun: Maverick received 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Original Song for “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and Bloodpop, Visual Effects, Sound, and Editing. Curiously absent is a nomination for the outstanding cinematography by Claudio Miranda. It is not just that there are great landscapes captured from the air by zooming jets. New techniques were developed to mount the IMAX quality cameras to the jets and Miranda worked with Sony to develop cameras that would fit inside the F-18s. This thrilling point of view footage combined with the excellent and rightfully nominated sound design really make you feel like you are in the jets, flying at supersonic speeds, trying not to blackout as the jets and pilots are pushed to their limits. Cruise made it well known that this movie used real jets and real G-forces and not only did I feel that in the theater, I even felt it watching at home on my regular TV with a regular sound set up. The cinematography and sound and editing and visual effects do more than just create thrills; they effectively convey the danger facing the pilots, which enhances the drama, which in turn adds another layer of substance. 

The references to the first Top Gun are more than just pandering winks and nods. Miles Teller plays “Great Balls of Fire” on a bar piano just like Anthony Edwards did in Top Gun, but this segues to a flashback to the first movie that builds drama while also functioning as exposition. The ending feels contrived but action movies, like horror movies, don’t have to be realistic, they just have to be good and Top Gun: Maverick is the best of the best. 

Nominees: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, Jerry Bruckheimer, producers

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Screenplay: Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks; based on characters created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connolly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Val Kilmer

Production Companies: Paramount Pictures, Skydance, TC Productions, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Release Date: May 27th, 2022

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Adapted Screenplay-Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie, Peter Craig, Justin Marks; Editing-Eddie Hamilton; Original Song-Lady Gaga, BloodPop for "Hold My Hand"; Sound-Mark Weingarten, James Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor; Visual Effects-Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, Scott R. Fisher

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It

by AJ

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is an intense action thriller that by many accounts, including my own, is the best of the series. This movie finds IMF team leader Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the entire Impossible Mission Force disavowed after a mission inside the Kremlin goes terribly wrong. Nevertheless, his team still has to stop a madman from instigating nuclear holocaust, but without the vast resources they would normally have.

The most thrilling scene involves Cruise scaling the side of the world’s tallest building in Dubai. He’s more than 100 stories up and the special gloves that provide an extra strong grip aren’t very reliable. The real thrill comes when he has to figure out how to get back down the side of the skyscraper - without the gloves. This sequence, like the rest of the movie, is expertly shot and edited and completely engaging. I was too wrapped up in the action on screen to wonder about the movie magic behind these incredible sequences. The action set-pieces are exciting, but not over the top; I found myself thinking what Ethan Hunt must have been thinking in those situations: “This is a terrible idea, but it’s all I can think of right now.”

The Dubai skyscraper sequence is the centerpiece of the movie, but the other action scenes before and after aren’t lacking in any way. Most action movies are only concerned with explosions, guns, fights, and noise. Ghost Protocol has all of those things, but they are never without a purpose and are certainly not run of the mill. Like every action movie in recent years, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is influenced by The Bourne Identity and its sequels, but it doesn’t flat-out copy Bourne (unlike a lot of recent action movies). It’s well paced, has interesting characters, a not-too-flimsy but not-too-complicated plot, great visual effects, and did I mention thrilling action?

Credit for all of this goes to cinematographer Robert Elswit, editor Paul Hirsch, and especially director Brad Bird, whose previous films are the animated The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and The Iron Giant. Bird's live-action debut proves that talent and skill can translate to any type of film.

Christmas may have passed, but it’s not too late to treat yourself to one of the best films of the year. And for an extra treat, see it in IMAX or the new IMAX Experience, the sound system is the same even though screen is not a true IMAX screen (6 stories tall, 8 stories wide) but you’ll be too engrossed in the movie to notice.