1. Never apologize when you tell us *exactly* where to find a film on DVD. I looked up the Dracula Legacy collection at my library, and there it was, ready to get. It’s super-cheap used at Amazon, probably also at some used DVD/book shops – it’s right out there, easy and cheap. It was just as helpful as your being specific about which streaming services have it. Not on streaming is Hell and gone from not available. In fact, when ‘streaming’ can refer to any of 15 different major services, unless one happens to have all of them for hundreds a month, that’s really less, rather than more, of a genuine availability option. AND, now that I think of it, in a couple of years the streaming advice may become wrong, while the discs will still be the same. So, yeah, you get a ‘thanks,’ not ‘apology accepted,’ from this guy.
2. In the docs I’ve seen, Carl Laemmle’s name is pronounced “lemm lee”, as if it would be spelled Lemmly. Just FYI, since it’s probably going to keep coming up this month.
Nice series. I love the focus on the classic era. Not enough film programs focus on anything that isn’t now, and then most won’t go back more than 30 years. Top stuff this month.
Take care, mate. Also, nice stuff in August. I hope you enjoyed it too.
Hey, thanks for both of these points! In regards to #1, I always feel a bit bad when physical media is the only way that people can get their hands on something considering that blind buys and DVD rentals are both quickly evaporating. You make an excellent point though in the sense that libraries are often an untapped and overlooked avenue for releases both new and old.
Thanks for your encouragement and thanks for listening! This month has been a lot of fun. I’ll be sad to see it wrap up.
I haven’t seen Dracula’s Daughter, even though you prompted me to binge a bunch of Universal Monster movies (I went more for classics). All your discussion of how it differed from the original though just made them sound similar. Dracula’s opening attack on Renfield is also less focused on than what happens to Mina. This seems to be because the recurring pattern is the monster threatening to possess the female lead, even if that makes no sense (as in Creature From the Black Lagoon). The bit with the ring reminded me of The Mummy.
I think it might be a bit reductive to focus on one aspect of James Whale and assume every movie he makes is about that. Some directors do have fixations, but most are able to make a variety of movies about different things.
Dracula’s Daughter is worth checking out. There are certainly similarities between it and Dracula, but there are similarities between many of these films. No doubt a lot of that is due to the studio wanting to cash in on a formula, but they all have their own merits as well.
As for your comment about reducing James Whale’s output to being viewed through only one lens – I will talk more about that in the final episode.
1. Never apologize when you tell us *exactly* where to find a film on DVD. I looked up the Dracula Legacy collection at my library, and there it was, ready to get. It’s super-cheap used at Amazon, probably also at some used DVD/book shops – it’s right out there, easy and cheap. It was just as helpful as your being specific about which streaming services have it. Not on streaming is Hell and gone from not available. In fact, when ‘streaming’ can refer to any of 15 different major services, unless one happens to have all of them for hundreds a month, that’s really less, rather than more, of a genuine availability option. AND, now that I think of it, in a couple of years the streaming advice may become wrong, while the discs will still be the same. So, yeah, you get a ‘thanks,’ not ‘apology accepted,’ from this guy.
2. In the docs I’ve seen, Carl Laemmle’s name is pronounced “lemm lee”, as if it would be spelled Lemmly. Just FYI, since it’s probably going to keep coming up this month.
Nice series. I love the focus on the classic era. Not enough film programs focus on anything that isn’t now, and then most won’t go back more than 30 years. Top stuff this month.
Take care, mate. Also, nice stuff in August. I hope you enjoyed it too.
Hey, thanks for both of these points! In regards to #1, I always feel a bit bad when physical media is the only way that people can get their hands on something considering that blind buys and DVD rentals are both quickly evaporating. You make an excellent point though in the sense that libraries are often an untapped and overlooked avenue for releases both new and old.
Thanks for your encouragement and thanks for listening! This month has been a lot of fun. I’ll be sad to see it wrap up.
I haven’t seen Dracula’s Daughter, even though you prompted me to binge a bunch of Universal Monster movies (I went more for classics). All your discussion of how it differed from the original though just made them sound similar. Dracula’s opening attack on Renfield is also less focused on than what happens to Mina. This seems to be because the recurring pattern is the monster threatening to possess the female lead, even if that makes no sense (as in Creature From the Black Lagoon). The bit with the ring reminded me of The Mummy.
I think it might be a bit reductive to focus on one aspect of James Whale and assume every movie he makes is about that. Some directors do have fixations, but most are able to make a variety of movies about different things.
Dracula’s Daughter is worth checking out. There are certainly similarities between it and Dracula, but there are similarities between many of these films. No doubt a lot of that is due to the studio wanting to cash in on a formula, but they all have their own merits as well.
As for your comment about reducing James Whale’s output to being viewed through only one lens – I will talk more about that in the final episode.