Interview With The Vampire

Once again we are back to where we first began: the vampire film. Now one of my first reviews was Queen Of The Damned which was luck of the draw but now here is where that saga began with Interview With The Vampire. This was the first novel in Rice's Vampire Chronicles written in 1973 but published in 1976 and I read the book long after I saw the film which I believe was on FOX as a world television premiere...remember those? Anyway back on track...Anne Rice is probably the reason why I love vampires and without her vampires such as Lestat and Louis I would probably have no attraction to vampire films. There are differences between the book and the film but literary and celluloid combining always leave things out but we will get to that. First, as always...

What's The Plot?

In modern-era San Francisco, a young reporter (Christian Slater) sits down with a man who claims to be a vampire and wishes to share his story. Intrigued, the young man listens and begins to record the story of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) who wanted to die due to the loss of a family member. In New Orleans he meets with the answers to his prayers, the angelic yet devilish vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Lestat wishes for a companion and turns Louis into a vampire but his teachings of how vampires live does not sit well with Louis...he is still too human and does not wish to feed from humans with such a lack of compassion as Lestat does.

When the two vampires are soon chased away from Louis' former slaves at his plantation, they locate to the city where Lestat takes human victims while Louis feeds from rats. One night wondering through a plague-ridden district of the city, Louis feeds from a young girl crying beside her deceased mother but runs in horror at what he did. When he returns to Lestat, he finds that he did not kill the girl but Louis watches in horror as Lestat turns the young girl into a vampire that he names Claudia and calls her both his and Louis' "daughter". Knowing that Lestat did this to keep him from running away, Louis soon relents and begins to dote on Claudia and for years, the trio become an almost well adjusted family.

Soon Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) learns that she will never gain a woman's body due to her immortality and her adult mind begins to hate Lestat for what he has done to her and to Louis by keeping both under his thumb. Being the sadistic killer thanks to her inner maturity, Claudia kills Lestat to Louis' horror but they both dispose of his body in the swamp. Lestat manages to survive this ordeal and comes after both Claudia and Louis but they escape and flee to 1870's Paris. Now in Paris thinking they are the last of their kind, Louis soon discovers a coven of vampires and their charismatic leader, the vampire Armand (Antonio Banderas). These vampires pretend to be human and kill their victims by performing in a theater as pretend vampires in very realistic "stage shows" and it is clear that Armand desires Louis' as a companion as Lestat once did. After one such performance another vampire, Santiago, makes it known to Claudia and Louis that one rule amongst vampires is clear: never kill your own kind.

With this knowledge discovered...are Claudia and Louis in danger for their murder of Lestat? Will Armand be able to tear Louis away from Claudia and have him as his own companion?

What Else Is There To Know?

Even if you have seen the film and know what happens, there is a chance someone has not seen this film or even read the book and a few details differ in the plot after what I have just discussed. I never feel good handing out spoilers because it is like giving  you a hamburger when you deserve Beef Wellington: I hate to upset your palette too much.

Now when the movie came out, Anne Rice wasn't happy with Tom Cruise being cast as Lestat but she rescinded after viewing the movie herself. Now, Tom Cruise has his quirks but he turns out a good performance if you can bypass the fact that he hams up the role on occasion but after reading the book...that's just Lestat's personality. Brad Pitt as Louis was said to be an awful experience by the actor himself but this is the role that made me love Brad Pitt! Seeing as I fell in love with Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the vampire with a soul, Louis is my favorite character in the film and in the novel because of his tortured appeal and apparently since both Lestat and Armand want him he is easy to become infatuated with.

 Kirsten Dunst as Claudia is another one of my favorite things about the film because she performs the role so well...and at such a young age. Even though Claudia is younger in the novel, Dunst's maturity allows her to do more in the film without feeling kind of squicked out that a little girl is doing these terrible things but you have to remember that in mind, Claudia is an adult and her actions are deliberate. I also have envied Kirsten Dunst for many years because she got to kiss Brad Pitt on those brooding lips of his but after he hooked up with Angelina Jolie I can finally forgive her...

Antonio Banderas as Armand is sexy as hell but differs from the Armand of the book look wise but his acting is superb. We don't get to see Christian Slater as reporter Daniel Molloy very much but his subtle acting differs from his usual "bad boy" roles and it is amazing. Christian was offered the role after the original choice, his friend River Phoenix, died and he donated his pay to two of Phoenix's favorite charities...this makes me kind of love Christian Slater right now.

Now given a choice between film and novel, the movie wins but the book is something I recommend you read if reading is a hobby of yours. Anne Rice brings much life to her characters and her writing style is just as enticing as watching them come to life on the big screen or even your own TV screen. If you decide to check Interview With The Vampire out of the library, get the whole slew of The Vampire Chronicles while you are at it and be amazed at Anne Rice. If the movie is more your type, take the time to give it a view.

Next Blog: You guessed it...another vampire flick!! We go back to the 80s and view another vampire classic that you are sure to sink your teeth in to...The Lost Boys

Jerry Maguire

I've talked about mostly horror/thriller films that I have in my collection but it is not the only genre that I like: romantic comedy-drama films are favorites of mine as well. Being a woman you may think I don't like action films or sports themed films but if they can attract my attention with let's just say good characters and maybe a sub-plot of human emotion I can easily be persuaded...

Thank you so much, Cameron Crowe, for Jerry Maguire!

What's The Plot?
Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a sports agent with a hot fiancee who after a night of bad pizza and his conscience guilty with how he handles his job decides to write a mission statement about how he and his fellow agents should be more honest in dealing with their clients. However, Jerry later regrets his actions but his fellow employees, including single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) are touched by the statement. Too bad the management decides to fire Jerry and his former protege Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr) snags almost all of his clients except for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and university superstar, number one NFL draft pick, Frank "Cush" Cushman (Jerry O'Connell).

When Jerry asks anyone if they would be willing to leave with him and start their own agency together, Dorothy is the only one who goes with Jerry. Things seem to be okay until the night of the NFL draft when Bob Sugar resigns Cush back to Sports Management International under Jerry's nose while he is trying to show off Rod to other NFL teams in the hopes of getting him a better contract. The night is capped off by Jerry's fiancee Avery Bishop (Kelly Preston) rebuking him support, Jerry dumping her and Avery socking him in the face. The emotionally distant Jerry turns to Dorothy for support and ends bonding well with her five-year old son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki) which starts to make Dorothy fall even more in love with Jerry to her sister Laurel's (Bonnie Hunt) dismay.

Rod is becoming to be a very difficult client for Jerry to handle but on a personal level, Rod seems to be dispensing all the things Jerry mentioned in his mission statement without even knowing it. When it seems financial straits might have Dorothy and Ray moving out of Laurel's house and to San Diego where a secure position awaits, Jerry asks Dorothy to marry him. She agrees but soon after, even though Jerry adores Ray and is a good father to her son, Dorothy is ready to end the marriage. His marriage in danger and the biggest game of Rod's career ahead...can Jerry Maguire become the man he wants to be...or the man he needs to be?

I always hate telling a predominant amount of a film's plot but when movies are as good as Jerry Maguire and someone has not seen it, I like them to know a little bit of what is in store. Most people know quotes from Jerry Maguire like their own telephone numbers and that Cuba Gooding Jr. won an Oscar for his portrayal of Rod Tidwell but they don't know that the chemistry between Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger is phenomenal! Both Tom and Renee are very good at acting romantic, distant and friendly toward each other for whatever emotion the scene calls for and when Tom Cruise interacts with Jonathan Lipnicki as Ray...my heart just melts! The acting is amazing in this movie that if I had to talk about everyone we might be here for days!

It took five years after it came out in theaters for me to see Jerry Maguire because I thought I wouldn't be interested in the sports angle but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. For those who have seen it and liked it, good for you and for those who didn't like it...I'm sorry. For the few people who have not seen it ... give it a shot and see what happens. Last but not least I have to give proper respect to director Cameron Crowe.

I have three favorite directors and Cameron Crowe is the only who is not a horror director and I enjoy watching his films. They are always based somewhat loosely on real people and moments in Crowe's own life which makes the characters more human and easy to relate to and the music soundtrack and score is always diverse in genres but does not distract from the movie. Truthfully, I got into Cameron Crowe because he use to be married to Nancy Wilson, female guitar god of Heart, but I discovered how great a director and screenwriter he was all on my own. I've seen every one of his films and hopefully there will be more to come that I can add to my movie collection!

Next Blog: Yes we go back to the horror genre once again and talk about a film that is sure to be a real...Hellraiser