Tropic Thunder

[Grand Design]

Maybe you should read up on Scientology and their practices. They are not a danger for what they believe, but for what they do.

Excellent point.  They are far more dangerous than say, Catholics are to children, Jews are to Muslims, or Muslims are to non-muslims.

[shiznitz]

Thank you for confirming that not reading that series was a correct decision.

It's not worth reading just for Rice's writing style alone. Her stories are always fairly cool (imo), but she can't write. Kind of like Steven King. Good stories -- but can't write worth a shit.

Anne Rice never wrote an IT. That was King's best work, if not his defining work, sadly.  If IT doesn't scare you, then you have no soul.

[stray]

Nothing wrong with IT the "story". Or many other things he's done. Personally, my favorites are his non-horrors like Dolores and Shawshank, but really, the guy has a bunch of classics.. No other word for it. It's just that I think he executes his stories in a crappy way. Like, he derails a lot or some shit.

Anne Rice doesn't have any horror stories that match his, but she doesn't write horror anyhow. All of her stories are about alienation. I think Interview holds up as a classic story. She writes kind of melodramatically though.

[WayAbvPar]

IT was fantastic until the last 60 pages or so. King really should hire a ghost writer for his endings.

[Margalis]

Try last 300 pages or so.

When the dude's wife gets kidnapped for no reason other than to move the plot along it really loses it, and the characters themselves even say something like "this plot is like out of some twisted soap opera!" Even they can't suspend their disbelief.

I really liked It when I read it as a kid but when I read it again a couple years ago I thought it sucked.

[Merusk]

No, I mean I actually like his take on Lestat. He's a "love tohate kind of shithead". The Anne Rice Lestat is like a rockstar or some shit. In touch with the direction with "modern culture" or something. Tom Cruise really doesn't fit into that mold well.. The other dude, in that other movie pulled off that version of Lestat well enough I guess. But it sucks. I like Lestat as the villain, from Louis' point of view.

I've decided she fell in love with the Lestat character when writing Interview.  The "love to hate kind of shithead" is exactly what the character was in Interview. He morphed into the Rockstar and center of the entire series with the next book, "The Vampire Lestat."  Every book after that has centered on him, insted of doing something interesting like examining the stories of all the vamps.  I had many hopes of the series examining things in a similar way to Interview and TVL and showing how the situations and characters looked differently to each vampire who was there.  But no, instead they became secondary characters and we got Douchy McHiddenEmo stealing bodies and talking to Queen Vamp, God and Satan while whining he couldn't have gay sex with a human. 

But I believe it's intentionally a skewed version of Lestat or something. He sometimes comes off as the character he was in the Vampire Lestat... It's just that Interview was done through the eyes of Louis. Or so I think.

It comes off that way, yes, Interview is Lestat through Louis' eyes. Seeing those parts again from Lestat's POV makes the reading the overlapping parts between Interview and Lestat much better as a whole.  I think this was the direction she was originally intending to take the series.  You've got the "Book of Marius" and "Armand's Story" within the Lestat book which, to me, seem to say that's where she was originally headed.   Seeing parts of a larger story through the different vampire's eyes, tainting the personality of each vampire with the viewer's opinion.  Sort of like how Louis saw Armand as this perfect companion and mentor for himself, even though Armand was a manipulative cowardly douchebag. That'd be a pretty damn cool series, IMO and a much more interesting story over all.   However, I think that after writing the first two books she decided, "No, Lestat is the Hero!" and things went to pot.

Just an opinion, tho.

[HaemishM]

It is the correct opinion, however. The series became shit after the second book. By Tale of the Body Thief, I got really stabby about Lestat. He's just not that interesting a character.

[Rishathra]

I enjoyed them up through the fifth book, but the magic was starting to wear off well before the end of the third.  Memnoch the Devil was actually pretty entertaining; it suffered more from having to shoehorn Lestat and the gang into an interesting Christian mythology tale than anything else.

[Margalis]

Lestat was easily the worst sequel I've ever read. There was a dramatic shift in tone and it got real stupid real fast. I remember thinking "what the fuck am I reading?" after about 10 pages.

[Ironwood]

Anyone seen Tropic Thunder ?

[Grand Design]

Tropic What?

[Riggswolfe]

Lestat was easily the worst sequel I've ever read. There was a dramatic shift in tone and it got real stupid real fast. I remember thinking "what the fuck am I reading?" after about 10 pages.

Lestat and Queen of the Damned are the only two vampire novels she wrote that I mostly enjoyed. Interview was too fucking angsty and the rest of them got stupid fast. In fact, I kept wishing death on Louis because of how much of a whiny bitch he was.

[Rishathra]

Interview was too fucking angsty and the rest of them got stupid fast. In fact, I kept wishing death on Louis because of how much of a whiny bitch he was.

This.  I enjoyed Interview, but in spite of Louis, not because of.  Holy fuck did he whinge like no body's business.

Ironwood, I don't remember Anne Rice writing something called Tropic Thunder. Does it happen before or after Lestat is conned into being Satan's lieutenant?  Or is it a separate work, perhaps dealing with the erotic adventures of Alice in Wonderland?

[Salamok]

Anyone seen Tropic Thunder ?

lol this thread is a perfect commentary for the movie.  Seeing how the movie as a whole is complete shit there is really nothing worth talking about.  That said you have to see this fucking movie, you just wont be a complete person until you see the 10 minutes worth of scenes that must be seen.

[Nebu]

That said you have to see this fucking movie, you just wont be a complete person until you see the 10 minutes worth of scenes that must be seen.

This film reminded me a lot of Zoolander.  90% of it was complete crap, but the other 10% keeps me coming back.  Some comedy gems buried in a heap of manure. 

[SnakeCharmer]

Definately requires a rewatch or two to pick up all the hidden gems. 

Seems to be a movie that you'll either love or hate.  Had me in tears nearly throughout it.  Downey, Jr was gold.

[Signe]

Oooh, I never liked Anne Rice books although Interview with a Vampire was a fun film.  I did try reading a few of her books because they were so popular but I don't think I got all the way through even one.  Evidently she also wrote a series of naughty books under a pen name in which people were always sticking things up their bums.  I met her and her husband at a fund raiser once years and years ago and I liked her very much.  It didn't help me like her books, though.  

[Riggswolfe]

 Evidently she also wrote a series of naughty books under a pen name in which people were always sticking things up their bums.  

The Sleeping Beauty trilogy. Not that I ever read them or anything...or own them.

[HaemishM]

I read parts of Sleeping Beauty. Seemed like typical pr0n trash lit.

[Merusk]

It's Bondage pron.  If you're not into hardcore bondage/ S&M, partner swapping and can't wrap your mind around Pony Girls with a fairy tale twist then Sleeping Beauty isn't for you.  I say this because the girls who suggested I read it were all REALLY into all of that.  The books fell kind of flat to me and felt more like your usual slashfic than literature.

Exit to Eden, her other bondage/ s&m story, was much better, IMO.  Plus I didn't feel like cheering-on the guys torturing the hell out of the main female.  Note; the book is also NOTHING AT ALL like the movie with Akroyd and O'Donnel.  It's entirely about the story of the male slave and the hot chick who ran "Bondage Island."  The other bits were added in because a mass release of a hardcore bondage film would never have happened. 

[Yegolev]

Dana Delaney.

I'll be in my bunk.

[WayAbvPar]

Dana Delaney.

I'll be in my bunk.

Rosie O'Donnell.


I will be gouging my eyes out with a rusty spoon.

[Evildrider]

Dana Delaney.

I'll be in my bunk.

She is hawt.   

[Yegolev]

Dana Delaney.

I'll be in my bunk.

Rosie O'Donnell.


I will be gouging my eyes out with a rusty spoon.

Some google will fix that.  That actually derailed my entire evening last night.

[Sauced]

[Salamok]

at 1st i was like whut... then i lol'd

...awesome pic...

[Sky]

We got around to watching this, loved it. The gags were paced enough to keep us chuckling more often than not. Felt Black was a little underutilized, the withdrawal stuff got old pretty quick and he never really cut loose in full retard mode.

I never liked Anne's Vampire stuff, but The Witching Hour was an amazing book. The second book in that series went downhill fast, never read any more Rice after that.

[Merusk]

Hey, I thought this thread was about Dana Delaney in bondage and/ or tight leather...

[Tarami]

... never really cut loose in full retard mode.

He knows one does never go full retard.

Downey Jr. was ace though. "I am a lead farmer, motherfucker!"

[stray]

I'm gonna have to disagree with the full retard rule though. Dicaprio did it in Gilbert Grape and was fine. DeNiro did it in Awakenings and was great.. although that one is sort of the anomaly of retard roles. He goes full retard half of the time, and then awakens and is a normal dude. Then goes back full retard.

[Hindenburg]

DeNiro did it in Awakenings and was great.

paralisy =/= republican.

 

[Tarami]

I'm gonna have to disagree with the full retard rule though. Dicaprio did it in Gilbert Grape and was fine. DeNiro did it in Awakenings and was great.. although that one is sort of the anomaly of retard roles. He goes full retard half of the time, and then awakens and is a normal dude. Then goes back full retard.

In Gilbert Grape's case, I believe the purpose wasn't that his brother was fully retarded in order to be pitied, it was that Grape loved his brother and familiy despite its problems. DiCaprio's role was to work as a tragic relation, not a lead character.

[Segoris]

Downey Jr. was ace though.

This is what did it for me. Downey and Cruise were top notch, McConahay (spelling?) was decent. Without them I wouldn't have enjoyed the movie much.