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Is this the purest, rawest expression of Cageness there is? Just two hours of Cage running, shouting, grimacing, reciting the alphabet and smiling like an idiot, often all at the same time. Such odd voice inflections, such odd gestures... It's the kind of film that, thanks to Cage, is always one step away from becoming a total trainwreck, but also thanks to Cage, it avoids that and becomes pure brilliance. Nic Cagey brilliance.
Some things that struck me about it:
- I take it in the script, Peter Loew is supposed to be a relatively normal guy at the beginning, not completely normal but not bananas either. However, since they cast Cage, he already seems like a total nutcase.
- The scene in which Peter's colleagues laugh about how he harassed Alva by jumping on the desks and going into the ladies' bathroom seems unrealistic. It's one thing for Peter to be weirdo but what's with the fact everyone else accepts that so well? The film provides no solid indication that the world is so overtly nuts, only that Peter is. Could it be another one of his fantasies, or is it just some out-of-place satire on nasty bosses and toxic workplaces?
- Maria Conchita Alonso works very well with Cage. Her character is such a reasonable, normal person compared to Peter that in the scenes between them, the film is most successful as a combination of thriller-horror and comedy. Cage, with his nutty behavior, creates the comedy, and Alonso, who's all too real and makes us feel for her, serves a means of creating an uncomfortable, thriller kind of vibe.
- Look at those dancers in the street, slapping and spitting at each other.
- I like the elegant, matter-of-factly way in which the film shows us the whole vampire thing is a delusion. It reminds me of the movie The King of Comedy. In some scenes, we see Peter's fantasies playing out before us, but then we nonchalantly step outside his mind and see he is in fact all by himself, talking to nobody. In other scenes, there are no preceding subjective shots: when he is in the bathroom, we see him react to the mirror, but we can already see his reflection and don't get to see things from his point of view. The final fantasy sequence with the psychiatrist is pretty great, too, in how it slowly transforms into something so idyllic for Peter that it's phoniness becomes obvious. For a moment, it did make me wonder if the previous scenes with the doctor were also bogus, but I don't think they were, since in them he wears that bandage that covers what he thinks are bite marks (and that bandage probably serves as a means for him to avoid destroying his vampire fantasy, by keeping him from looking at his clean neck).
- Seeing Cage running around wearing plastic fangs and eating a pigeon... I have no words. One thing I suspect this film portrays very well is that insanity takes shape in some truly random, bizarre ways.
- I love how the woman in the nightclub mimicks Peter's bow to her and his fang-wearing mouth.
- I like that part when Rachel --the real one-- reappears in the nightclub. Neat little touch to tie things together.
- The ending is so... ugh. It plays out in such a weird way, with Alva's brother stabbing Peter with the stake, and yet the film treats that with such banality. And yet I don't see the film possibly ending in any other way.
- We don't ever really understand why Peter goes nuts (not that I care much). There are hints that his relationships are superficial and throwaway. That may have something to do with it.
- I like the music score very much, and the on-location New York photography is absorbing.
(Edit 2: Joseph Minion, who wrote the film, also wrote After Hours. Both movies feel similar in several ways.)
I feel I have to say more about Cage. He is not a naturalistic actor; he's some sort of theatrical performer who exaggerates everything until it almost breaks but somehow makes it compelling and distinctive. In this day and age in which everyone strives for naturalism, his is a refreshing presence. A non-exhaustive list of memorable Cage acting moments in Vampire's Kiss:
- Jumping on the desks. "There you arrrrre!"
- Showing his knowledge of the alphabet. Crossing his arms and placing his hands on his waist while saying he has never misfiled anything.
- That wide-eyed stare and disdainful tone of voice while telling Alva her job is horrible.
- In the taxi: "It never just GOEOUS AWAY..."
- When he sees he is not reflected in the mirror, he stands back and puts his hands in front of him at chest height, as if he was throwing a magic spell at the mirror.
- Those cries after he fails to commit suicide... "boo hoo!"
- Biting the pillow.
- Talking to the psychiatrist with a barely intelligible voice while wearing the fangs.
- His wide-eyed, "sinister" expression as he moves through the nightclub, fangs in sight.
- "My gurlfriend broke up with muh. I'm a vampiruh, kull muh, kull muh!" The funniest moment, perhaps?
- "No speaking English." "The cross, THE CRUCIFIX, ME VAMPIRE!"
(Edit 1: I forgot the main one: "I'm a vampayah, I'm a vampayah, I'm a vampayah...")
Anyway, Vampire's Kiss, a strange combination of horror and comedy. You can't possibly spoof this film; it already is a mockery of itself. I liked it very much!
This actually was a scene I liked very much. When he's in the phone booth all depressed and the camera pulls that wonderful angled close-up on him. Perhaps the only scene in the movie I genuinely enjoyed and laughed with, not at.
1 Rumble Fish
2 Memento
3 L Aventura
Next week s movie, The Big Lebowski, is also available online. It s a funny one.
For all we know, it was, until Cage distorted it.
Absolutely.
US .99 on VUDU. HDX, 75% off.
For the last couple of weeks, it has been Rumble Fish. Tomorrow it s The Big Lebowski.. Even the thread originator is far behind. Maybe he is too busy typing up 10 000 words for each film to keep on track?
No. Me.
So what did you think of Rumble Fish? One of my all time favourites.
I will catch up and comment in my minimalist style. Business and emergent family events have overtaken.
Even if it was a year, it would be too busy for most.
Reminded me a lot of The Outsiders. I guess that makes sense given the source material. That soundtrack made me way too tense throughout the thing. Would you PM me? I'd like to ask some questions, but don't want to spoil it for those who've yet to see it.
I think so. Keep it up, there's a big cash prize waiting! :P
I'll watch Rumble Fish tomorrow. I've already seen The Big Lebowski, so I'll be back on schedule soon enough.
I do wish @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 shared his thoughts on Vampire's Kiss, 10,000 words or less!
This is the spoiler discussion week for that film. Brady is way behind with updating the thread title.
That is probably the reason
@Thunderfinger, can't tell if you're serious or not, so won't bother telling you to reign it in.
The schedule hasn't been as originally outlined for a while now, as we went from watching a film during the spoiler discussion of another film and sharing impressions of the former film to simply allowing each movie a two week period on their own. That way, movies don't have to share time, and instead of the second week of discussion also being flooded with comments about the next film in the list, it's only focused on one film. I assumed this was agreed upon as satisfactory and improved, since everyone has been following the new method?
So no, Lebowski's time does NOT begin tomorrow, the first opportunity for discussion on that film would start around the 10th and no sooner, as that is the two-week end of Rumble Fish's time. Which allots at least five more days to the current film and whatever people wish to discuss.
Apologies for getting slightly behind on this thread, but I've spent the last week in and out of the hospital and honestly didn't even think about this thread and obviously didn't find a lot of time to just sit down and watch a film to post my thoughts. Don't like to share private things or what's going on personally in my life very often, but if there's an implication about my apparent laziness then it's best to be frank and upfront to quiet accusations.
Happy viewing.
Yes, I'll do that now, to avoid future hoopla.
Those who haven t chosen a film, haven t participated in this thread at all despite claiming interest initially. Why not strike them off that list, or at least move them all to the end of it, in case they want to join in later.
With the schedule fully outlined now, hopefully the confusion will end. It's just that people will often post early or late about a certain film, and that throws off everyone's perception of how long the film has been discussed. Now, there should be no questions at all about what film is up for discussion and when things begin and end. I think that's a bit too draconian for my tastes. I'm not in the mood to penalize those who haven't picked a film yet, as I know some were waiting to see what others selected or wanted to see what they felt like picking as the group went on. @Birdleson is the only one of the first handful not to have picked a film yet, and I'll ask him to select something this week to get that sorted. But beyond that, we've got films chosen that will take us to March 2018, and in that time I'll get everyone else to pick their selections who haven't to get that squared away. Right now, however, it's not a pressing concern.
Nobody is getting stricken off the list or moved back either, as that's silly in the extreme from my view. I wish there were more contributions and more consistency in contribution in this thread (I wish I could contribute more with my current schedule too, in fact), but I knew going into this that we would all have our commitments outside the forum and that films would be missed by some because we can't find the space to watch a particular film (or even find one) or get on here every day to talk about another. Because people are busy and have their own lives, I don't have an interest in punishing them for having those natural commitments and lives.
What genre would Rumble Fish be considered? I thought it rather plotless.