Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
I went to see this with my sister and friend on a weekday afternoon, there were a few people there in the theatre with us. We suspected it to be a pretty good film, and walked out of the theatre liking the film and felt we got our money’s worth. The cast was loaded with major or future major Hollywood players. Christian Slater did the acting for the role of Daniel Malloy for free and gave the money he would have earned to River Phoenix’s favorite charity. Originally River was selected for the part of Daniel Malloy but tragically died. Christian’s late friend was a lost talent and taken too early from this world.
Neil Jordan directed this film originally based upon the writings by author Anne Rice a New Orleans native. She also did the screenplay as well for this film. Neil Jordan has directed other features such as the controversial The Crying Game (1992).
You will see Brad Pitt playing a vampire named Louis de Pointe du Lac and is the leading character in this story. He is accompanied by Tom Cruise playing a vampire named Lestat de Lioncourt. Also keep your eyes open for a very young Kirsten Dunst who plays Claudia. This was her early breakthrough role which gained her popularity. To see all three of these actor’s as vampires is worth the watch itself. But, there is an interesting storyline which surrounds them as well.
Also, keep your eyes open for Thandie Newton playing Yvette. The cast is rather small, but there are other appearances by Antonio Banderas as Armand, Stephen Rea as Santiago, Virginia McCollam as the Whore on Waterfront, John McConnell as the Gambler, Mike Seelig as the Pimp, Bellina Logan as the Tavern Girl, Lyla Hay Owen as Widow St. Clair, Lee E. Scharfstein as the Widow’s Lover, Indra Ové as the New Orleans Whore, Helen McCrory as a Whore, Monte Montague as Plague Victim Bearer, and Nathalie Bloch-Lainé as the Maid.
Overall, I think you will find this to be quite an entertaining film, if you like horror films and films with narrative sequences in them you will certainly like this. The story is told in a number of flashback scenes which are fittingly done. This is a vampire tale you have to watch!
This was the film that absolutely made Tom Cruise’s career and catapulted him into stardom. Aside from that, it was an entertaining film with a fabulous cast and a relatively simple storyline good enough to hold your overall interest. It is classified as a comedy, with some drama to it. This is the standout work of director Paul Brickman who not only directed but also wrote the screenplay.
I’m sure many have rebelled against their parents while throwing a party with them gone. That is the main premise of this story. But what also happens is taken to another level of deviate behavior. Things certainly get out of control for teenager Joel Goodsen played by Tom Cruise especially after he meets up with a newfound romantic interest. This film also gave actress Rebecca De Mornay a bit of notoriety and helped jumpstart her career playing a call girl named Lana. Joe Pantoliano appears in this as Guido and things only get more complicated for Joel from this point onward.
There are more appearances in this such as former screen actor’s president Richard Masur playing Rutherford. Bronson Pinchot appears in this also as Barry. You may know him best from the television series Perfect Strangers as the character Balki Bartokomous the series aired between 1986 until 1993. He has also appeared in features such as Beverly Hills Cop (1984) as Serge. Miles is one of Joel’s best friends played by Curtis Armstrong. He is probably best known as the character Dudley (Booger) Dawson from the Revenge of the Nerds (1984) series of films.
Nicholas Pryor and Janet Carroll play Joel’s parents and briefly appear in a few scenes. Both of them have appeared in a number of features over the years. Shera Danese appears as Vicki a friend to Lana. Raphael Sbarge plays Glenn, Bruce A. Young is Jackie, Kevin Anderson is Chuck, Sarah Partridge is Kessler, Nathan Davis is the Business Teacher and Scott Harlan plays Stan Licata.
Joel is under quite a bit of pressure from school and his social status among the peer group he runs with. A lot of scenes are fairly accurate to things teenagers deal with while coming of age. Some people might refer to this as one of the great teen sex comedies of all time. It certainly holds up as a funny, dramatic and provocative film. There is no denying the infectious chemistry between Cruise and De Mornay as they light up the screen together in this. Tom Cruise has a dance scene that has been used in a number of parodies over the years which I’m sure his fans appreciate. Overall, I’d recommend this film to those who enjoy a well rounded film with a good cast of characters.
I just finished watching this movie, and at first I couldn’t get into it. But after about 20 minutes of understanding where they were going with the story it got better for me. I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who doesn’t like historical type movies, because that is what you exactly get. I’m not sure how accurate some of these events were, but nonetheless the story was interesting and helped you understand Germany and everything that happened in world history. I thought at first that Tom Cruise couldn’t play this role or didn’t fit the part. After seeing him for a while, you start to believe he is Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
There are loads more of talented actors in this such as Kenneth Branagh as Major-General Henning von Tresckow, Bill Nighy plays General Friedrich Olbricht, Tom Wilkinson plays General Friedrich Fromm. The actor Thomas Kretschmann plays Major Otto Ernst Remer, Eddie Izzard plays General Erich Fellgiebel, Kevin McNally as Dr. Carl Goerdeler (as Kevin R. McNally) and Terence Stamp is Ludwig Beck. The actress Carice van Houten plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenbergs wife Nina von Stauffenberg. This movie was directed and produced by Bryan Singer who also did X2 (2003) it was the sequel in the X-Men series of movies.
Would I recommend watching this one? Well, maybe if you were in the mood for a period piece. I don’t think it was received well by critics or the mainstream audience. I think because we all knew what already happened from reading the history books.
Wow! Well what to say about this film, For starters it is 165 minutes long! Watching this in a theatre would have been painful to anyones gluteust maximus!
My family enjoyed watching this together in front of the good ole tv sitting on the living room sofas.
This movie takes place in northern Australia before the start of World War II.
Both Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman star in this entertaining look at the country and the history of the events that took place in this time period.
Nicole Kidman plays Lady Sarah Ashley who inherits a farm type ranch set in the northern part of Australia.
Hugh Jackman plays a character named Drover who is a cattle driver trying to move 2,000 or so cattle along the way.
As a Hollywood formula both of them meet up together and first bump heads but as the story progresses things begin to change for them.
Both of them see the Japanese bombing of Darwin. This leads to Australia’s entry into war.
From what I understand, director Baz Luhrmann co-wrote the story.
It was nice to see Bryan Brown from movies such as Cocktail (1988) with Tom Cruise and FX (1986).
I always thought he was a better than average actor, and he appears as a villian in this tale.
The child drives this story along the way, and is the centerpiece of the entire film.
Basically, everyone else revolves around him in some way or another.
The child (Nullah) is played by Brandon Walters who is of Aboriginal descent.
And I thought he stole the movie, in a film like this it was easy to see why.
I must not leave out David Wenham from “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers(2002) and The Return of the King (2003)”.
I just realised he also starred in Van Helsing (2004) along with Hugh Jackman. Perhaps they are friends in real life?
The scenery and cinematography adds much to the film.
This film also was nominated for Best Costume Design at the Oscars.
I recommend seeing this, but be prepared to take your own intermission at some point along the way due to the length of the film.
