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Reviews
Screen Two: Northanger Abbey (1987)
Somebody please film a GOOD version!
My first hugely disappointing BBC/Jane Austen flick. The tone is off, the costumes are off, the hair is off, the music is from outer space, and Robert Hardy, bless him, looks like he's really annoyed to be in such a stinker. Even some of the casting is off. No, I take that back, a good director can make a silk purse out of a sows ear, so to speak. The performances in this thing are so over the top and melodramatic that it's almost a farce of a Jane Austen story, which is ironic since Northanger Abbey is a sort of homage/send up of the early Gothic novel. I wanted to slap the female lead after awhile; who made the decision that she should be such a ninny? I had to watch Pride & Prejudice ('95) immediately to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Phew!
Alien (1979)
A classic Gothic horror tale
I couldn't not comment on this film in response to MovieCritic2003, who seems to dislike "Alien" because it is not "Aliens". Different director, different plot, different tone, different characters, different scenario. Even at the tender age of 17, when I first saw "Alien" (btw the scariest film I had ever seen up to that point), I recognized it as a classic horror/suspense/Gothic story, albeit in a sci-fi setting. Ridley Scott is a genius for creating atmosphere, and "Alien" succeeds at many levels. These are "regular folks" dealing with something completely beyond their experience. They are "merchant mariners" and miners, and they respond accordingly. It's silly to compare them to the hardened Colonial Marines from the sequel.