"I fought for the South; we lost."
July 3, 2012 6:08 AM Subscribe
Most folks are familiar with Kathryn Bigelow's film The Hurt Locker, in no small part due to the six Oscars that it won at the 82nd Academy Awards. Some twenty years earlier, Ms. Beigelow made another move with a certain three actors who have a habit of showing up together in films made by Bigelow's husband. Rotten Tomatoes lists this film at number 34 on its list of Top 50 Horror Movies, depite its meager box office performance. It is one of several films featuring music by Tangerine Dream. A remake of the film had been under consideration recently, but was shelved due to the presence of another film franchise in the same genre.
Both "three" and "actors" link to Jenette Goldstein. Is she so great she counts twice, or are we missing someone?
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:10 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:10 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
The "actors" link should probably go to Bill Paxton. Aside from that, Near Dark is not only one of the best vampire movies ever made, but probably one of the best horror movies of the 1980s as well. As for the Twilight series, if it caused an ill-conceived remake of Near Dark to get shelved, I suppose those sparkly vampires can't be all bad. (The vampires in Near Dark would steal eat 'em all for a midnight snack, though.)
posted by jonp72 at 6:14 AM on July 3, 2012 [13 favorites]
posted by jonp72 at 6:14 AM on July 3, 2012 [13 favorites]
Remember that fire we started in Chicago?
posted by Artw at 6:15 AM on July 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 6:15 AM on July 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
It's a wonderful movie, dreamy and surreal. Incredible photography. A remake would be criminal.
posted by fleetmouse at 6:16 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by fleetmouse at 6:16 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
anotherpanacea, you are correct and leotrotsky has the correct link. Thanks for picking up on it. :)
posted by DWRoelands at 6:17 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by DWRoelands at 6:17 AM on July 3, 2012
Yay that was a wonderful movie. Damn it I was going to put my favorite line from the movie here and realized you used it for the post title.
posted by marxchivist at 6:17 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by marxchivist at 6:17 AM on July 3, 2012
I just watched Terminator a couple if days ago for the first time in years and couldn't believe I'd missed Paxton before.
posted by adamdschneider at 6:23 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by adamdschneider at 6:23 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
She wins a boatload of Oscar and hasn't made a movie since...?
posted by gwint at 6:24 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by gwint at 6:24 AM on July 3, 2012
Near Dark is a glorious gory feast of a vampire film. Personally, I am glad to see the potential for a remake shelved. Contemporary Hollywood already stripmines my childhood and adolescence enough.
posted by Kitteh at 6:25 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Kitteh at 6:25 AM on July 3, 2012
As "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer" (somehow produced despite the chilling effect of the Twilight franchise) points out, the vampires did indeed fight for the south.
Also, god damn but I love everything Kathryn Bigelow has ever done. Someone gin up a Strange Days thread so I can go on about Ralph Fiennes and Angela Basset and how awesome the non-terrible parts of that movie are!
posted by Naberius at 6:25 AM on July 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
Also, god damn but I love everything Kathryn Bigelow has ever done. Someone gin up a Strange Days thread so I can go on about Ralph Fiennes and Angela Basset and how awesome the non-terrible parts of that movie are!
posted by Naberius at 6:25 AM on July 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
Near Dark is one of my favorite movies.
"I hate it when then don't shave"
"They ain't normal folk, normal folk don't spit out the bullets when you shoot 'em"
It so does not need to be remade, it is its own perfect little weird thing.
posted by biscotti at 6:29 AM on July 3, 2012 [10 favorites]
"I hate it when then don't shave"
"They ain't normal folk, normal folk don't spit out the bullets when you shoot 'em"
It so does not need to be remade, it is its own perfect little weird thing.
posted by biscotti at 6:29 AM on July 3, 2012 [10 favorites]
Came out the same year as the other big teen vampire movie - Lost Boys. Now, Lost Boys is not without its charms but if you put it head to head it is comical how much better a movie Near Dark is. Scarier, funnier, cooler, realer (if you know what I mean), better music, better plot, better acting (Edward Herrmann is a fine actor, and Dianne Wiest is extraordinary, and they are game here, but there just isn't much to work with). Near Dark is just a better made picture. It's a Cadillac.
And it grossed about 1/100th of what Lost Boys did, and if you ask basically anyone if they've seen Lost Boys, they always have, and if you ask them if they've seen Near Dark they rarely have. Funny old world.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:29 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
And it grossed about 1/100th of what Lost Boys did, and if you ask basically anyone if they've seen Lost Boys, they always have, and if you ask them if they've seen Near Dark they rarely have. Funny old world.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:29 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
It's prediction that the band Skunk Anansi would still exist in 1999 came true!
posted by Artw at 6:30 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 6:30 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
(Strange Days, that is)
posted by Artw at 6:31 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 6:31 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Oh: and, continuing the Lost Boys v Near Dark thing: the soundtracks. I dig the bubblegum goth of Lost Boys, sincerely. I've owned it in several formats. But, Near Dark has Tangerine Dream and it is just better. More worthy. Finer.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:35 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by dirtdirt at 6:35 AM on July 3, 2012
Someone gin up a Strange Days thread so I can go on about Ralph Fiennes and Angela Basset and how awesome the non-terrible parts of that movie are!
She did Strange Days? Huh!
Also, fun fact: Jenette Goldstein may indeed be great enough to count twice, but she's definitely got one of the quirkier sideline gigs of any actor out there.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:35 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
She did Strange Days? Huh!
Also, fun fact: Jenette Goldstein may indeed be great enough to count twice, but she's definitely got one of the quirkier sideline gigs of any actor out there.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:35 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
She wins a boatload of Oscar and hasn't made a movie since...?
Looks like she made a pilot for HBO that quietly disappeared and is working on an unnamed project.
posted by Artw at 6:36 AM on July 3, 2012
Looks like she made a pilot for HBO that quietly disappeared and is working on an unnamed project.
posted by Artw at 6:36 AM on July 3, 2012
Funny thing is I always thought Near Dark preceeded Aliens and was eerily prescient of it (marines = vampires, aliens = rednecks, APC = blacked out van) - I guess it's the other way around.
posted by Artw at 6:39 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Artw at 6:39 AM on July 3, 2012
And it grossed about 1/100th of what Lost Boys did,
This didn't seem right when I read it, but a check of boxofficemojo reveals that it made about $3.4 million dollars in release, about 10% of the haul of Lost Boys, and was the 128th-biggest box-office draw of the year. I guess Paxton and Henriksen and Goldstein could not compete with Kiefer and some boys named Corey.
Weird: in my mind, Near Dark is one of those movies that defines 1987, along with The Untouchables and The Princess Bride and Robocop.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:42 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
This didn't seem right when I read it, but a check of boxofficemojo reveals that it made about $3.4 million dollars in release, about 10% of the haul of Lost Boys, and was the 128th-biggest box-office draw of the year. I guess Paxton and Henriksen and Goldstein could not compete with Kiefer and some boys named Corey.
Weird: in my mind, Near Dark is one of those movies that defines 1987, along with The Untouchables and The Princess Bride and Robocop.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:42 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
She wins a boatload of Oscar and hasn't made a movie since...?
Looks like she made a pilot for HBO that quietly disappeared and is working on an unnamed project.
Actually she's been working on a film about the bin Laden raid, which has triggered quite a bit of controversy.
posted by Rangeboy at 6:42 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Looks like she made a pilot for HBO that quietly disappeared and is working on an unnamed project.
Actually she's been working on a film about the bin Laden raid, which has triggered quite a bit of controversy.
posted by Rangeboy at 6:42 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Near Dark is a fantastic movie, marred only by a terrible ending that feels like a cop-out to the rest of the film.
And while we might have Twilight to thank for a horrible remake being averted, I feel like I'm justified in blaming Twilight for this horrible Near Dark DVD cover, which is a pretty obvious attempt to draw in Twilight fans. (I only hope it succeeds!)
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:48 AM on July 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
And while we might have Twilight to thank for a horrible remake being averted, I feel like I'm justified in blaming Twilight for this horrible Near Dark DVD cover, which is a pretty obvious attempt to draw in Twilight fans. (I only hope it succeeds!)
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:48 AM on July 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
Remember that fire we started in Chicago?
Won the MLS and US Open cups in 1998!
posted by eriko at 6:51 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Won the MLS and US Open cups in 1998!
posted by eriko at 6:51 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Hah, this looks just as formulaic as The Hurt Locker.
Congratulations! You said something stupid on the Internet.
posted by nicwolff at 6:53 AM on July 3, 2012 [20 favorites]
Congratulations! You said something stupid on the Internet.
posted by nicwolff at 6:53 AM on July 3, 2012 [20 favorites]
about 10% of the haul of Lost Boys
That's better than I thought!
Honestly, I didn't see or even hear of Near Dark when it was in the theater. I saw Lost Boys several times first run and even, along with the rest of my 14 year old buddies, went as a Lost Boy that Halloween. But. I saw Near Dark when it came out on video at the strong urging of my friend Russell and I was astonished. In fact (getting a little introspective here) I think Near Dark was one of the things that was instrumental in setting me on the path (such as it is) that I have been on my whole adult life. It, along with Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, and Repo Man showed me, starkly, how good stuff could be and still not be mainstream. Now, none of those things are all that obscure, but they all seemed wildly esoteric to the 14 year old me, and each acted as a gateway drug into other things, so to speak.
And they each hold up.
posted by dirtdirt at 7:00 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
That's better than I thought!
Honestly, I didn't see or even hear of Near Dark when it was in the theater. I saw Lost Boys several times first run and even, along with the rest of my 14 year old buddies, went as a Lost Boy that Halloween. But. I saw Near Dark when it came out on video at the strong urging of my friend Russell and I was astonished. In fact (getting a little introspective here) I think Near Dark was one of the things that was instrumental in setting me on the path (such as it is) that I have been on my whole adult life. It, along with Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, and Repo Man showed me, starkly, how good stuff could be and still not be mainstream. Now, none of those things are all that obscure, but they all seemed wildly esoteric to the 14 year old me, and each acted as a gateway drug into other things, so to speak.
And they each hold up.
posted by dirtdirt at 7:00 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Am I correct in my recollection that it's a vampire movie that never actually uses the word "vampire"?
God, what a fun and vicious little film. I've only seen it a couple of times but now have a hankerin'.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:11 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
God, what a fun and vicious little film. I've only seen it a couple of times but now have a hankerin'.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:11 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Near Dark is a fantastic movie, marred only by a terrible ending that feels like a cop-out to the rest of the film.
Yeah, that ending is really bad. There are some amazingly intense scenes (the bar!) and a realistically gritty and non-glamorous take on vampires, but the movie gets really dumb in the last third and kinda ridiculous at the end. The first half or so is great, though. Just don't expect *too* too much and you'll be fine.
posted by mediareport at 7:16 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Yeah, that ending is really bad. There are some amazingly intense scenes (the bar!) and a realistically gritty and non-glamorous take on vampires, but the movie gets really dumb in the last third and kinda ridiculous at the end. The first half or so is great, though. Just don't expect *too* too much and you'll be fine.
posted by mediareport at 7:16 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Ah, Near Dark - the one film that inspired me to get cowboy spurs.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:18 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:18 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
middleclasstool - You are correct; the word "vampire" is never mentioned in the film.
posted by Robin Kestrel at 7:24 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Robin Kestrel at 7:24 AM on July 3, 2012
but was shelved due to the presence of another film franchise in the same genre
Sorry, you're saying it was shelved for fear of being deemed imitative? Coat-tailing a trend? Was this remake in development in Bizarro Hollywood?
posted by nanojath at 7:25 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Sorry, you're saying it was shelved for fear of being deemed imitative? Coat-tailing a trend? Was this remake in development in Bizarro Hollywood?
posted by nanojath at 7:25 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
She wins a boatload of Oscar and hasn't made a movie since...?
posted by gwint at 6:24 AM on July 3 [+] [!]
Apparently Bit Torrent lawsuits promised to be a more profitable venture.
posted by Stagger Lee at 8:04 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Sorry but Tangerine Dream in a movie means this.
Emmet: Thanks for pointing that out! I wasn't aware that TD did the music for that film. :)
posted by DWRoelands at 8:15 AM on July 3, 2012
Emmet: Thanks for pointing that out! I wasn't aware that TD did the music for that film. :)
posted by DWRoelands at 8:15 AM on July 3, 2012
Someone gin up a Strange Days thread so I can go on about Ralph Fiennes and Angela Basset and how awesome the non-terrible parts of that movie are!
you shut your mouth Strange Days is one of the best movies ever YOU SHUT YOUR DIRTY MOUTH
("America's been my bogeyman for four hundred years!")
posted by mightygodking at 8:29 AM on July 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
you shut your mouth Strange Days is one of the best movies ever YOU SHUT YOUR DIRTY MOUTH
("America's been my bogeyman for four hundred years!")
posted by mightygodking at 8:29 AM on July 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
"Lets just say I fought for the South..... we lost."
my. favorite. vampire. movie. ever.
posted by djseafood at 8:37 AM on July 3, 2012
my. favorite. vampire. movie. ever.
posted by djseafood at 8:37 AM on July 3, 2012
It's such a great movie I got the Blu-Ray *despite* the grotesque Twilight-esque cover. And hey, Tim Thomerson's in it too!
I'd like to give special recognition to Jenny Wright as Mae, previosuly seen as the groupie who licks Bob Geldof's fingers in The Wall.
posted by Gelatin at 8:38 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'd like to give special recognition to Jenny Wright as Mae, previosuly seen as the groupie who licks Bob Geldof's fingers in The Wall.
posted by Gelatin at 8:38 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Martini Ranch - "Reach" (1988)
Martini Ranch: Andrew Todd Rosenthal (vocals, guitar), Bill Paxton (vocals, samples)
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Kathryn Bigelow, Lance Henriksen, others
posted by eyeballkid at 8:41 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Martini Ranch: Andrew Todd Rosenthal (vocals, guitar), Bill Paxton (vocals, samples)
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Kathryn Bigelow, Lance Henriksen, others
posted by eyeballkid at 8:41 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Actually I have to admit the Twilight cover is at least better than the DVD I have, which is a horribly injured character from the movie. Looks wretched.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:46 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:46 AM on July 3, 2012
you shut your mouth Strange Days is one of the best movies ever YOU SHUT YOUR DIRTY MOUTH
Listen, pal, I love Strange Days the way a real man loves a movie. With a nuanced recognition of its flaws and an acceptance of its imperfections as facets that just make its magnificent beauty more unique, more startling, and even more heartbreakingly beautiful.
So you go ahead, you just love Strange Days the way a tweenage girl loves Justin Bieber. Scream and rail that I don't understand because I've never been in love before! But I don't think anyone but you is under any illusions about which kind of love is more mature, deep, and meaningful.
Nyah. So there.
posted by Naberius at 8:51 AM on July 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
Listen, pal, I love Strange Days the way a real man loves a movie. With a nuanced recognition of its flaws and an acceptance of its imperfections as facets that just make its magnificent beauty more unique, more startling, and even more heartbreakingly beautiful.
So you go ahead, you just love Strange Days the way a tweenage girl loves Justin Bieber. Scream and rail that I don't understand because I've never been in love before! But I don't think anyone but you is under any illusions about which kind of love is more mature, deep, and meaningful.
Nyah. So there.
posted by Naberius at 8:51 AM on July 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
I love the incredulous looks I get when I tell people about this movie.
Of course, I tell them it might be the best vampire movie ever, but then, when I tell them no one says the word "vampire" and they don't have fangs, they give me this look of doubtful curiosity, like I just told them I, like, switched their coffee for Folger's or something.
Oh, and the two-disc DVD cover has the Hooker gang all beat-up-looking and monochrome against a foil sunrise.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:21 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Of course, I tell them it might be the best vampire movie ever, but then, when I tell them no one says the word "vampire" and they don't have fangs, they give me this look of doubtful curiosity, like I just told them I, like, switched their coffee for Folger's or something.
Oh, and the two-disc DVD cover has the Hooker gang all beat-up-looking and monochrome against a foil sunrise.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:21 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Oh yeah. Recognized that quote straight away. Bigelow == bad ass.
posted by whuppy at 9:24 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by whuppy at 9:24 AM on July 3, 2012
I think at this point Not Using The Word Vampire might be it's own subgenre... Ultraviolet being another great example of it.
posted by Artw at 9:24 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 9:24 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I once took a date to a Lost Boys / Near Dark double feature at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. I was going on and on about how awesome Near Dark was. Unfortunately she didn't feel the same. Did I mention she was a Twilight fan?
posted by Sandor Clegane at 9:25 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Sandor Clegane at 9:25 AM on July 3, 2012
And there goes my play money for the month.
posted by DisreputableDog at 9:30 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by DisreputableDog at 9:30 AM on July 3, 2012
My god. I just had a freak out at my office yesterday because nobody has seen this. I then spent the evening out with friends asking if people had seen this and freaking out when they hadn't!
Did you... ...are you in my head?
posted by lumpenprole at 9:30 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Did you... ...are you in my head?
posted by lumpenprole at 9:30 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Strange Days is Kathryn Bigelow's The Abyss. Big ideas, lots of heart, some awesome stuff that is as awesome as stuff can be, and some parts that are just as resoundingly, abjectly, preternaturally flawed as can be. I love them both, possibly even more for the flaws.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:35 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by dirtdirt at 9:35 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Hah, this looks just as formulaic as The Hurt Locker.
Congratulations! You said something stupid on the Internet.
I for one found The Hurt Locker to be dull, formulaic, and trying to appeal to a bunch of sensibilities I don't possess. And yet it won a bunch of oscars, so clearly my judgement isn't universally shared on that point. Thus for a review of other Bigelow output I'd be more willing to trust someone who hated The Hurt Locker than someone who loved it.
Thus, to me, that comment didn't seem stupid. Can someone who disliked The Hurt Locker and liked Near Dark comment on this?
posted by iotic at 9:49 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Congratulations! You said something stupid on the Internet.
I for one found The Hurt Locker to be dull, formulaic, and trying to appeal to a bunch of sensibilities I don't possess. And yet it won a bunch of oscars, so clearly my judgement isn't universally shared on that point. Thus for a review of other Bigelow output I'd be more willing to trust someone who hated The Hurt Locker than someone who loved it.
Thus, to me, that comment didn't seem stupid. Can someone who disliked The Hurt Locker and liked Near Dark comment on this?
posted by iotic at 9:49 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's an 80's vampire movie. Blue lighting, fog, leather, badass dialogue, a bunch of actors from Aliens, and creepiest "kid" ever. Just watch it, man.
posted by schoolgirl report at 10:16 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by schoolgirl report at 10:16 AM on July 3, 2012
My god. I just had a freak out at my office yesterday because nobody has seen this.
lumpenprole, I've had half a dozen or so freakouts over the years because the philistines in my social circle have never seen Near Dark. I love it unapologetically. :)
posted by DWRoelands at 10:20 AM on July 3, 2012
lumpenprole, I've had half a dozen or so freakouts over the years because the philistines in my social circle have never seen Near Dark. I love it unapologetically. :)
posted by DWRoelands at 10:20 AM on July 3, 2012
Well, it's true that between Near Dark and The Hurt Locker I have definite ideas as to which one I'd save from a burning building....
posted by Artw at 10:21 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Artw at 10:21 AM on July 3, 2012
I love this movie. Also great by Bigelow is The Loveless, her first and also Willem Dafoe's first credited role. It's about a biker gang in small-town America. It's Lynchian in its weirdness, and has so much rockabilly homoeroticism in it, it has to be seen to be believed. Anyone who loves NEAR DARK needs to see it.
Oh, and obligatory POINT BLANK mention.
posted by old_growler at 10:24 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Oh, and obligatory POINT BLANK mention.
posted by old_growler at 10:24 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Point Break is, no joke, one of my favorite movies. Seeing Point Break Live was the most sublime live theater experience of my life.
posted by adamdschneider at 10:57 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by adamdschneider at 10:57 AM on July 3, 2012
@palbo Yes, that's what I meant. I always convolute those two titles
posted by old_growler at 11:22 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by old_growler at 11:22 AM on July 3, 2012
In many ways that Rotten Tomatoes "Top 50 Horror Movies" list is a miserable failure of direct democracy.
Super excited about watching a new-to-me good horror movie, though. Thanks!
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:40 AM on July 3, 2012
Super excited about watching a new-to-me good horror movie, though. Thanks!
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:40 AM on July 3, 2012
Sorry but Tangerine Dream in a movie means this. Without Tangerine Dreams' soundtrack this would be nowhere near as good as it is. A remake of The Wages of Fear I feel it was much better than the original.
posted by pdxpogo at 1:07 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by pdxpogo at 1:07 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah, but Wages of Fear has that great line:
"There are silences, and silences. And I like this one not at all."
Or something like that.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:25 PM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
"There are silences, and silences. And I like this one not at all."
Or something like that.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:25 PM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
Wow, Sorceror is that good? I think the original is stunning.
posted by iotic at 3:54 PM on July 3, 2012
posted by iotic at 3:54 PM on July 3, 2012
Came out the same year as the other big teen vampire movie - Lost Boys.
Also interesting: Near Dark has Joshua Miller; Lost Boys has his older half-brother Jason Patric.
posted by candyland at 6:19 PM on July 3, 2012
Also interesting: Near Dark has Joshua Miller; Lost Boys has his older half-brother Jason Patric.
posted by candyland at 6:19 PM on July 3, 2012
Wow, Sorceror is that good? I think the original is stunning.
They're both great. Sorcerer outdoes Wages of Fear in the action department. You know that trope of the truck going across a crumbling rope bridge, that you've seen a million times, e.g. in the Mr. Plow episode of the Simpsons?
Sorcerer.
Throw in Roy Scheider, the aforementioned score, and stir (very gently), and it's pretty awesome. You get to see how all those guys landed in the little hellhole they're in, too, in a globe-trotting parade of action scenes, any of which could make for its own entire movie.
This is not the movie I expected to be talking about in a thread about Near Dark, but there you go.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:31 PM on July 3, 2012
They're both great. Sorcerer outdoes Wages of Fear in the action department. You know that trope of the truck going across a crumbling rope bridge, that you've seen a million times, e.g. in the Mr. Plow episode of the Simpsons?
Sorcerer.
Throw in Roy Scheider, the aforementioned score, and stir (very gently), and it's pretty awesome. You get to see how all those guys landed in the little hellhole they're in, too, in a globe-trotting parade of action scenes, any of which could make for its own entire movie.
This is not the movie I expected to be talking about in a thread about Near Dark, but there you go.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:31 PM on July 3, 2012
The RV with tinfoil on the windows was a little detail that made a big difference. I like that she thought about how vampires would exist in our world without obsessively over-explaining everything.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:47 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:47 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
"Look, the night.
It's so bright...
It'll blind you."
I still say this all the time. (Because it's true.)
GOD I love this movie so fucking hard. After I saw it (on VHS, duh!) I wrote a short story about a hot vampire redneck teenager who got turned at the Dairy Queen.
Every night, she'd wait for some asshole to order a Dilly Bar. Then she'd slash his throat with her crazy, sharpened mauve nails (so 80s, right?) and then tump him over her freshly curled cone and say: "Don't you want a dip cone instead, sugar?" and drench her cone in blood and then take a big lick...
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:23 PM on July 3, 2012
It's so bright...
It'll blind you."
I still say this all the time. (Because it's true.)
GOD I love this movie so fucking hard. After I saw it (on VHS, duh!) I wrote a short story about a hot vampire redneck teenager who got turned at the Dairy Queen.
Every night, she'd wait for some asshole to order a Dilly Bar. Then she'd slash his throat with her crazy, sharpened mauve nails (so 80s, right?) and then tump him over her freshly curled cone and say: "Don't you want a dip cone instead, sugar?" and drench her cone in blood and then take a big lick...
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:23 PM on July 3, 2012
Bill Paxton is totally just glorious in this film. and yeah - TIM THOMERSON! also, a very pretty, very young James LeGros in a tiny role. plus, y'know, Lance fuckin' Henrikson. even Adrian Pasdar brings it. i really do dig this movie, even with the less-than-perfect ending. saw it first-run, in the theater, even.
...i've never seen Lost Boys.
posted by lapolla at 11:48 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
...i've never seen Lost Boys.
posted by lapolla at 11:48 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I heard for years how good, how awesome, how mind-blowing Near Dark was.
When I finally found a copy I was ... underwhelmed.
It was no Lost Boys.
But I suspect if I had seen it around the same time I would have loved it more.
If I could stand rewatching movies I'd give it a bash.
I was sure there was a Near Dark 2, which had little to do with the original other than the title, but that must have been a fever dream. Or I am really bad at IMDB and Google.
And the remake? Pointless. I saw the remake of Fright Night.
WTF were they thinking there?
posted by Mezentian at 7:10 AM on July 4, 2012
When I finally found a copy I was ... underwhelmed.
It was no Lost Boys.
But I suspect if I had seen it around the same time I would have loved it more.
If I could stand rewatching movies I'd give it a bash.
I was sure there was a Near Dark 2, which had little to do with the original other than the title, but that must have been a fever dream. Or I am really bad at IMDB and Google.
And the remake? Pointless. I saw the remake of Fright Night.
WTF were they thinking there?
posted by Mezentian at 7:10 AM on July 4, 2012
It's an 80's vampire movie. Blue lighting, fog, leather, badass dialogue, a bunch of actors from Aliens, and creepiest "kid" ever. Just watch it, man.
So, I'm watching this movie on the recommendation of this thread (I'm really enjoying it) and I see this ...
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:44 AM on July 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
So, I'm watching this movie on the recommendation of this thread (I'm really enjoying it) and I see this ...
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:44 AM on July 4, 2012 [1 favorite]
You guys are totally misremembering the title and plot of The Keep.
posted by Artw at 10:09 AM on July 4, 2012
posted by Artw at 10:09 AM on July 4, 2012
Of course not. The Keep has nazis. Lots of nazis.
Nazis who step where no god-fearing man should step.
Fantastic movie. That one I much watch again before the remake and ruin it.
posted by Mezentian at 7:43 PM on July 4, 2012
Nazis who step where no god-fearing man should step.
Fantastic movie. That one I much watch again before the remake and ruin it.
posted by Mezentian at 7:43 PM on July 4, 2012
Whereas Fast Times is sort of retroactivly ruined by my increasing dislike for Tom Cruise.
posted by Artw at 7:48 PM on July 4, 2012
posted by Artw at 7:48 PM on July 4, 2012
Whereas Fast Times is sort of retroactively ruined by my increasing dislike for Tom Cruise.
Er, why would this be?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:07 AM on July 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
Er, why would this be?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:07 AM on July 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
Can anyone help me, but wasn't the point of Hurt Locker that we see the Geneva Convention rules of war broken and Americans see it and applaud it? When the taliban/whoever is not carrying a weapon and firing at them. The chief guy says 'it's your call' and the talib is crawling towards them with a rifle but he's not firing on them (or he's crawling away, bad memory) and the lower-down soldier shoots him? I remember british soldiers in the news saying how frustrating it was when taliban fired on them then went back to their compound or they couldn't clearly see if they had weapons, in which situations, because they weren't advancing plus firing, they couldn't shoot at them. At the start of the war of course - war erodes the finer sensibilities of those who kill and are shot at pretty fast, i imagine.
posted by maiamaia at 1:10 PM on July 5, 2012
posted by maiamaia at 1:10 PM on July 5, 2012
I mean, the point of Hurt Locker was that, because American audiences applauded the american army breaking the Geneva Convention eg by giving it a medal, they were implicitly saying it's true, we did that, and the film was a very meta act of subversion by KB. ???
posted by maiamaia at 1:12 PM on July 5, 2012
posted by maiamaia at 1:12 PM on July 5, 2012
Near Dark is one of those movies that defines 1987, along with The Untouchables and The Princess Bride and Robocop.
Speaking of which: RoboCop unveils OmniCorp’s new Enforcement Droids
posted by homunculus at 1:48 PM on July 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Speaking of which: RoboCop unveils OmniCorp’s new Enforcement Droids
posted by homunculus at 1:48 PM on July 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
I wonder if there's someone who refused to see the Maltese Falcon on the grounds that it was a remake the way I am refusing to see Total Recall/RoboCop, etc.
posted by adamdschneider at 3:08 PM on July 8, 2012
posted by adamdschneider at 3:08 PM on July 8, 2012
Anyone interested in seeing Near Dark can see it on TCM this month. Set your Tivo! I did.
posted by hot_monster at 4:49 PM on July 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by hot_monster at 4:49 PM on July 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by DWRoelands at 6:09 AM on July 3, 2012