It's nice to see Samantha Mathis getting work again.

Man. I totally thought I posted this, but I had it saved as a draft. I would have made this entry "yesterday", but apparently my computer is in desperate need of more memory. As such, AOL decided to throw a tantrum for most of yesterday and would not let me online.

So, anyway, Sunday and Monday nights I watched the TNT world premiere of 'Salem's Lot, based on the novel by Stephen King. There was a post on the WD about it, and I posted some reflections there, but the post was a bust so let's pretend I didn't.

I read the novel 'Salem's Lot when I was in sixth grade. I liked it very much. Possibley because it was about vampires, but also because it was just well written. For some reason my school system thought Stephen King was what you should read in middle school. I was ahead of the curve, I suppose. Whatev! Anyway, the novel contains the most definitively suspenseful sequence I have ever read. What follows are spoilers.

[Begin Spoiler for 'Salem's Lot. — Highlight to view]

In the book, Mark Petrie is knocked unconscious and when he wakes up, he's locked and tied in a bathroom. In the film, the struggle isn't as great, but I realize they had a lot of film to go through, and 10 minutes watching someone try to get out of ropes would probably make for ass boring television. Instead they upped the suspense by having him need to get the gags and such off because help is right outside the house. And the evil guy is coming up quicker. It was still great. Mark Petrie is such a great character. I loved the kid that played him in the film, though I had envisioned him blonder and geekier. Oh well. I particularly loved his final scene. I'm sure make-up assisted the effect, but he looked seriously wan and shell-shocked and haunted. It was great. They also changed the ending. It was an upnote. Well, relatively. More death, but a better finale. The tone of the ending was something that had bothered me.

Sutherland and Hauer were good too. The first was good being overwhelming creepy, and the second is good as quietly evil. So they created a nice sense of menace together. And Andre Braugher kicked all sorts of ass. He really is a terrific actor. I totally want him on my side if my town is taken over by the evil undead.

There are only a select few things that I didn't like about the movie, and most of them were in the second half. And the very beginning. Rob Lowe's voice-overs made me giggle. He really didn't sell the words, and King's words are pretty cool. He was good in the straight acting (though I never would have picked him for this character) but just ... stupid in the voiceovers.

The other major niggle - the vampires were way inconsistent. Sometimes (in the case of Mathis and Hauer, and all the main characters that get vamped, really) they were totally lucid and normal - like people. But what was with the eyes? They had a good hypnotic effect going, but then why did some of them start glowing green? Heads up effects crew: NOT THE TOMMYKNOCKERS! Wrong King flick! Oh well. Also, towards the end, the mass of them started acting like zombies. The fuck? They hit two with the car! They're not zombies! Why are they all sluggish and unresponsive suddenly? In addition - the "wedding" scene I felt lapsed into cheese. And I was disappointed. By contrast, I loved that Ruth and Dud got together. It was sweet. I have so many issues.

Finally, what was up with Samantha Mathis's hair once she was dead? Why was it crimped in certain places? I understand that she was ... done up, but what the fuck? Barlow has a crimping iron? Weird, man.

[End Spoiler]

So that's that. It's over, but I'm glad I saw it. It entertained me. Really need to read that book again.

I'm sure there are other things I meant to talk about when I was initially going to post this, but I've forgotten them. So, in their stead, I will say: "Dance With Me" by The Sounds is quite good. It's not as dance, and more rock than its chorus would suggest. So, thanks VH1.