|
|
Post by necrodemon on Aug 21, 2010 11:58:16 GMT -5
When Jack Nicholson is a wolf and is chasing the deer at night the movement and shots remind me of the six million dollar man.
|
|
|
|
Post by komodo on Sept 9, 2011 22:04:36 GMT -5
This movie is really the only bit of paranormal romance I could ever really get into.
|
|
|
|
Post by jamish23 on Oct 5, 2012 17:10:15 GMT -5
About the alternate ending last 30 minutes, think they made James Spader into a werewolf in the reshoots to app up the third act.
|
|
|
|
Post by lunaveil on May 30, 2014 14:55:21 GMT -5
It doesn't look like this topic has been touched on recently but being new and as this is my favorite I feel compelled to respond. This movie became my favorite not despite the lack of gore but because of it. It took the real raw animal instinct and "monster" buried in us all and showed it right there on screen in big bold gnashing teeth. Raw animal power and needs is something we all experience and often repress based on societies views or just a plain desire to fit in. However we forget its those basic animal instincts and a lack of repression that often leads to amazing things, even our own survival. I for one find the blatant desire to repress all that is wild and untamed in us is as unnatural a four headed hippo would be. Now I know that not everyone could get into or sit through it, because it lacked a certain action. But I find Jack's portrayal of the man releasing his inner beast quite well done.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on May 30, 2014 15:25:00 GMT -5
And Nicholson was exactly the right actor to portray the inner beast coming out. I was reminded of other roles where he went wild – Five Easy Pieces, Carnal Knowledge and of course The Shining. Except here he does it in a sort of slow motion, and goes all the way into a real animal. I also think Michelle Pfeiffer was a very good choice for that part. While the entire movie is very good, the ending is, to me, just perfect. The original version was tightened up somewhat after a test audience reaction. See this for some info. Top of column 3. And everyone knows that hippos have only two heads. |
|
|
|
Post by ArcLight on May 31, 2014 21:58:18 GMT -5
Probably my favorite Nicholson role. He's played a lot stuff where he's went wild, but most of time you could tell there was something off about him from the first frame of the film. Here he did a great job of toning it down and just being a regular guy before the change started.
|
|
|
|
Post by lunaveil on May 31, 2014 23:47:19 GMT -5
I have to agree, they did a fantastic job with casting in this movie. There are great films out there, or at least would have been if not for casting. I was really glad this movie didn't turn out to be one of them.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jun 1, 2014 19:46:15 GMT -5
I have to agree, they did a fantastic job with casting in this movie. There are great films out there, or at least would have been if not for casting. I was really glad this movie didn't turn out to be one of them. You mean like Kevin Costner as Robin Hood? Sofia Coppola in The Godfather III?  On the other hand sometimes the entire cast, even a large cast, comes together and creates something fabulous, e.g., The Lion in Winter or Murder on the Orient Express. But we are getting too far from our main theme, so how about The Wolfman (1941)? Chaney inventing that memorable title character, Claude Rains top notch as always, Evelyn Ankers who would make a career being the damsel threatened by monsters, Bela Lugosi unforgettable even in this brief role, the inimitable Maria Ouspenskaya. (I once heard her voice compared to a Romanian car trying to start on a cold morning.  ) Back in those days acting was expected, there not being much else to rely on. These days star appeal, sex appeal, FX and the latest techno gimmick too often are the whole show. There are good actors around but the chances for them to shine are getting fewer. And I read recently that Nicholson is retiring because he says he can no longer remember his lines well enough to concentrate on acting. |
|
|
|
Post by lunaveil on Jun 2, 2014 0:55:11 GMT -5
Honestly even home movies today have special effects computer edits and gods knows what else. Now don't get me wrong I'm not against effects in movies they can be amazing. I just think we shouldn't loose story and good acting to get it.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jun 3, 2014 12:42:34 GMT -5
One thing I like about Wolf is the inversion of some classic memes of old time werewolf movies. Nicholson does not become increasingly angst filled like Lon Chaney’s Wolfman. Although he is not the amoral murderer of more recent werewolf movies, he ultimately seems to enjoy where he is heading. And the usual pillars of morality, the love interest (wife Kate Nelligan in Wolf) and the friend (‘friend’ James Spader in Wolf) turn out not to be nice at all. Spader is screwing him out of his job and screwing his wife as well. And to complete the irony, Spader also becomes a werewolf and kills Nelligan.
Rather than the dark claustrophobic (low budget) sets of movies like The Wolfman, the spaces in Wolf are bright and spacious. Even when Nicholson prowls at night in his hairy form it is in Central Park, the most open place in Manhattan.
The Michelle Pfeiffer character is the mirror image of the usual old time (Hays Code compliant) girlfriend: bolder and more edgy, although not outright evil, just as Nicholson is not. Becoming a wolf herself at the end and seeming to be quite happy about it is the perfect resolution.
Unlike in the old movies and some newer ones as well, the beast within is indeed an animal but not necessarily a monster, or at least no more of a monster than the person it lives inside.
|
|
|
|
Post by lunaveil on Jun 3, 2014 16:54:45 GMT -5
Wow that was a perfect explanation for what I was talking about. We forget by nature animals arn't evil, they are instinct based. They don't see good and evil, that's a human concept. We forget that the real monsters inside us have nothing to do with our animal natures but our human. And I for one like Nicholson would find true enjoyment in being able to bring myself closer to my wild side than my human.
|
|
|
|
Post by lunaveil on Jun 4, 2014 0:38:38 GMT -5
Besides call me crazy but all in all werewolves are just sexy. And they did this one so well.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jun 4, 2014 13:59:25 GMT -5
Besides call me crazy but all in all werewolves are just sexy. And they did this one so well.  Ah, the romantic Autumn Moon… The accompanying article on The Wolfman (1941) contains some interesting comments that are relevant to Wolf (1994). |
|
Le Loup-Garou Qui Rit
On the other hand sometimes the entire cast, even a large cast, comes together and creates something fabulous, e.g., The Lion in Winter or Murder on the Orient Express. But we are getting too far from our main theme, so how about The Wolfman (1941)? Chaney inventing that memorable title character, Claude Rains top notch as always, Evelyn Ankers who would make a career being the damsel threatened by monsters, Bela Lugosi unforgettable even in this brief role, the inimitable Maria Ouspenskaya. (I once heard her voice compared to a Romanian car trying to start on a cold morning. 
) Back in those days acting was expected, there not being much else to rely on. These days star appeal, sex appeal, FX and the latest techno gimmick too often are the whole show. There are good actors around but the chances for them to shine are getting fewer. And I read recently that Nicholson is retiring because he says he can no longer remember his lines well enough to concentrate on acting.