goldenhawk40

I am old enough to be one of the kids who dashed home every afternoon to watch my favorite vampire. I am still just as much in love with it. In watching it again, I realize just how gloriously awful it was - over the top acting, really strained dialogue, cheesy sets, flubbed lines and yes the occasional boom mike in the shot. It is just wonderful, and each scene done in one take. The difference between the series and "the movie" - the series took itself very seriously. It wasn't intentionally campy - they played it straight and full throttle. If Ed Wood had done a soap opera it would have looked a lot like Dark Shadows, although the original DS did have talent. I don't understand how Burton/Depp missed the mark on this, especially since they claim to be fans. The "horror" of Frid's Barnabas was that he looked just like anyone else - you couldn't see the monster inside until it was too late.

From the description, I expected to see a lot of documentary footage about Patti Smith, especially since the title was taken from one of Patti's most popular songs. (Ivan did co-write the tune). I was very disappointed to find that it was mostly a poorly produced documentary about Ivan, with a few moments from his days with the Patti Smith Group. Perhaps if it had been made a little more clear that this was the case, I would have enjoyed it more, but mostly it was some sort of "Ivan is the second coming of Christ" message, primarily put out by Ivan. Self-worship is rarely attractive. Ivan is a very talented musician, but apparently no one thinks he is as talented as he does.

I remember seeing this on HBO when it first came out, and it hasn't lost anything in the 22 years since. It is still hysterical.

I wish Paul Reubens would bring Pee Wee back, even though I really like him in his non-Pee Wee roles. I just need Pee Wee.