Helen Corliss

Hmmm I WANTED to love this so much. I’m a huge Ridley Scott fan… I didnt connect to the main character at all.. Russell was an average looking man really.. but what he had in SPADES and always has had… even now.. is CHARISMA.. bucket loads of it.. he was in peak physical form in Gladiator and combined with his charismas- he was devastating.. Men wanted to be him.. women wanted to be WITH him.. this guy has no charisma.. and I just couldn’t get invested.. I mean he was in direct comparison to Russel so he was always going to have a hard task against the acting behemoth.. that last speech he does.. sorry no.. The CGI was very jarring.. the ships on the water.. those MONKEYS!!! What?? You wouldn’t think this was Ridley Scott.. The acting.. the guys rowing in an early scene aren’t even pretending to strain.. I read so many things about Denzels amazing performance.. he was the second best thing in this movie for sure.. but still looked like he was phoning it in… The best in this movie and an actor WITH charisma is Pedro:.. totally wasted in this… why he agreed to this role - I don’t know. Did him no favours.. but I connected with him.. he was as good as the script would allow him to be. Are end of the day.. not a bad move.. if it was stand alone .. I may have liked it more.. but in comparison to the TRIUMPH that was Gladiator.. with the original performances by Connie, Joaquin and Russel it just couldn’t compare.. It actually made me realize what a tremendous movie the original was.. I feel worried that our best years of cinema are gone for good

Still a fan of Bram Stokers Dracula (apart from Keanus awful performance even though I love him usually) .. Nosferatu is more faithful.. less Hollywood for sure, so maybe has less appeal- but I think it’s the best version of the original story ever. This incarnation of Nosferatu is fabulous .. it really is a gothic feast for the eyes.. The bad reviews of this movie annoy me… I went and rewatched both previous versions of Nosferatu again.. the original was a very sparse movie- obviously incredible for its time .. but criticism of the new movie not having enough storyline is unfair., considering it fleshed the old movie out considerably, while remaining very faithful. The colour tones and the cinematography is incredible.. the coach scene is iconic. The atmosphere may be unmatched I feel. The Count looks great. I loved the moustache.. it’s very historically accurate! Critics say he wasn’t sexy enough.. he was DEFINITELY more sexy than all that came before him.. I could understand the appeal.. err the full frontal?? lol.. I do think they went a bit far at the end with the decay.. but when you see the original pic of him on top of Ellen it’s accurate.. he was supposed to be a shrivelled decay ridden plague carrier.. The casting was great. Most people criticize Lily Rose but I though Aaron Taylor-Johnson was the one that kind of played it a bit wrong in parts here (lovely to look at though) Lily Rose I wasn’t into at the beginning.. she didn’t fit the physical description I thought really.. however she does have something about her, and she grew on me.. definitely the aesthetic for gothic horror.. like her father before her when he was Tim Burtons go to.. This movie should be recognised as a triumph in gothic horror.. the problem is people have poor attention spans these days and if something isn’t happening every minute they get bored.. also I think people went in expecting a horror not a gothic horror.. I hope he gets his recognition for this.. I loved The Witch a lot.. hated The Northman.. I was worried about him remaking this.. I think it improves on the first two.. as for Bram Stokers Dracula- it was probably more exciting and had broader appeal.. but this was more faithful and truly Gothic .. plus no appalling Keanu performance to ruin it.. My criticism would be - Nosferatu wasn’t on screen enough.. we hardly saw him. Wasted Bills talent.. otherwise i really did love it.. not enough Gothic horrors being made I think.. I had dreamt of Tim Burton doing a version of this.. but now I’ve watched this, Eggers definitely does the right amount of bleakness and despair.. Tim Burton would have been too campy

I’ve read some ridiculous critic reviews in the negative about this movie.. just goes to show you should take them with a grain of salt & watch whatever you want anyway. I’m a massive Emma Thompson fan, and she’s fantastic of course! Not a massive Emma Stone fan, but in this - she’s incredible & and deserves all the awards. The Soundtrack is astonishing - Queen, Blondie, Florence, Nina Simone etc The movie is just dark enough to keep me interested but not horrify a younger audience. It’s almost Tim Burton meets Disney in its dark quirkiness. The best of the live action remakes!