ReWatching »

Fans can get finally get a look at the other side of the Exorcist prequel coin this week with the DVD release of Paul Schrader's Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist. It is the point to Renny Harlin's 2004 counterpoint Exorcist: The Beginning, and while it is a slightly better film than Harlin's, there remains a question as to why production company Morgan Creek commissioned either one of them, or why Warner Brothers bothered to re-cut the original Exorcist, as they did back in 2000.

The story of why there were two somewhat similar prequels goes like this: Morgan Creek had first planned to make the film with John Frankenheimer directing and Liam Neeson as Father Merrin. The veteran Manchurian Candidate director fell ill, though (and later died), so Morgan Creek tapped writer and sometimes director Schrader, Scorsese's scribe on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ. Schrader was to craft a compelling story of Father Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) and his first contact with the demon that the Max Von Sydow version of himself would meet 25 years later when it possessed young Regan MacNeill in a posh Washington brownstone. Schrader, with a screenplay by William Wisher and novelist Caleb Carr, completed the film, which was ultimately rejected by Morgan Creek, which apparently wanted something more traditional. Translation: they wanted something the kids would dig.

I had comic book movies on the brain this past week, since I had just ordered the Batman Begins DVD from Amazon. I had already watched the first two, Michael Keaton-starring Batman flicks, so didn't want to duplicate that film festival. So as to not inflict any injury on myself, I decided to keep the mini-marathon to just Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, X-Men and X-Men 2. This was also prompted by a desire to remind myself how good the X-Men movies are, before Brett Ratner comes in and ruins the franchise. Really, though, I wanted to see how the best four films based on Marvel Comics characters fared in head-to-head competition.

Tomorrow's opening day, which means I finished this up just in the nick of time.  Anyway, over at TVSquad I've finished my trip through Firefly in anticipation of the big screen Serenity.

• Episode 12: The Message 
• Episode 13: Heart of Gold
• Episode 14: Objects in Space

By the way, if you're a fan of the show and are going to see the movie this weekend make sure you've also checked out the Dark Horse comic book mini-series. The story takes place between the show and the movie and not only sets up the latter nicely but is a nice story in its own right.

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
--Robert Frost, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" (1923), featured in S.E. Hinton's book, The Outsiders (1967) and its film adaptation (1983)

"Stay gold, Nancyboy."
--Me to my little brother after he foolishly revealed that he cried when reading the part of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders in which the oh-so-sensitive Johnny Cade dies (1985)


I was never really a fan of S(usan) E(loise) Hinton's book about wild boys on the loose in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960's, but based on the cult of popularity that the millions-selling, often translated novel has spawned, I am in the minority. I must admit, though, that Francis Ford Coppola's new cut of his 1983 film, re-dubbed The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, is an impressive love letter not only to fans of the phenomenally popular book, but to anyone who's ever loved anything passionately.

In case you hadn't noticed with my previous two Countdown to Serenity wrap-ups I'm doing these by DVD volumes. So volume three here means I'm done with disc three which means we're almost to the end of the short-lived series. In case you haven't been following it on TVSquad here's the latest batch or recaps.

• Episode 8: Out of Gas
• Episode 9: Ariel
• Episode 10: War Stories
• Episode 11: Trash

My anticipation for the big-screen feature Serenity grows as I continue to revisit "Firefly", the failed series that spawned it. For those of you who aren't regular TVSquad readers (and you really should be), you can catch my recaps of four more episodes over there.

• Episode 4: Shindig
• Episode 5: Safe
• Episode 6: Our Mrs. Reynolds
• Episode 7: Jaynestown

As always keep your browsers pointed to TVSquad for more. You never know when the next recap will appear (and neither do the editors).

It's too bad there isn't a "Tooting Your Own Horn" category I could lump this into.

That being said, for those of you anticipating the big-screen release of Serenity in just over a month I am revisiting "Firefly", the series that spawned it over at TVSquad. If you surf over you can read my recaps of the episodes, in DVD order (not the order the lunkheads at Fox broadcast them). If you're on the fence about the movie and/or haven't seen the show yet then you really need to get over there are check these out. Then, when you're done with that, go out and rent/buy the series. It's one of the best in recent memory.

• Episode 1: Serenity
• Episode 2: The Train Job
• Episode 3: Bushwacked 

Stay tuned to TVSquad over the next few weeks as I keep going.

On a light Movie Night at my house, a double feature is sometimes all I can handle. Usually on such occasions, I am tired, and choosing something to watch (considering the size of my library) makes me even more so and eats into precious viewing time. This is why when an oh-so-clever pairing of such staples crosses my mind, I write it down.

For example:

Glam, Bam, Thank You, Man!:
  Phantom of the Paradise & Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Spoof! There It Is!:
  Kentucky Fried Movie & Airplane!
  Hollywood Shuffle & I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
Dammit, Mamet!:
  House Of Games & Wag The Dog

And so on.

When there's a remake or sequel about to hit theaters I usually like to watch the original or first installment again in order to revisit a movie I like and be able to accurately compare the two. So, with the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp led re-imagining of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory set to hit next week I thought I would rewatch the beloved Gene Wilder version I so enjoyed as a youth.

I must have watched this three times a week when I was a kid, thanks to my grandparents having a VCR and a tape of the movie. My brother and I would sit mesmerized by it day in and day out. When the widescreen DVD came out a couple years ago, I snapped it up, since I hadn't seen it in it's entirety, much less in widescreen format, in years.

I planned to, and did, wind up seeing Batman Begins Monday night. In observance of this event I took the opportunity to rewatch both Batman and Batman Returns as well. I thought I would be able to view all three of the Dark Knight's flicks (they only made the three, right? RIGHT?) and see how the older entries held up. I realize that Begins is not meant to be an extension of the previous attempts but instead intended to relaunch the franchise. I just wanted to see how, after watching Nolan's new vision for the character, the Tim Burton-helmed movies compared.

My impressions?