Adaptation

[chuk hell]

Just picked up the disc and watched it tonight. Pretty good movie that plays around with the usual film structure to an extreme degree. Some jolts and weird twists. I really liked it.

Not really a horror movie but neither is "EROTIC SURVIVER". :P

[Scott W. Davis]

Nope, definitely not horror but it's all levels of cult films, chuk. I myself was hoping to check this one out sometime soon. I must admit I've been more and more interested in seeing it, even though I'm one of the few people who hated BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Although the focus at HE is horror, we welcome off-beat films like this every now and then.

EROTIC SURVIVOR may not be horror, but that's only because Bill Hellfire and Joey Smack didn't get naked for it thank God. :D

[chuk hell]

Well I didn't see a non-horror section so I just posted it here. It does have some violence and suspence. It's one of those films that really provoked some thoughts and I thought genre fans may have passed it up due to it's cast. Personally I tend not to break a leg to see movies with Meryl Streep.

Adaptation is the story of a screenwriter writing a screenplay of the movie you are watching. The premise is not nearly as outlandish as BEING JOHN MALKOVITCH yet I think the film is even more creative. The screenplay is an adaptation of Susan Orleans' THE ORCHID THIEF, which sounds like it might be a good read, BTW. The movie is very unconventional in structure and blends fictional characters with real life personalities and events. Just when you think you know where it's going it takes a left turn. It's as much about how people and even life in generral "adapt" as it is about writting a screenplay.

Streep and Chris Cooper ( played the repressed, stern and possibly gay dad in AMERICAN BEAUTY) are both fantastic in their roles. I especially ejoyed Cooper who I didn't recognize until the credits. When an actor can just disapear into a role like that you know they are doing great work. Nic Cage plays twins, and while not the tour de force of Jeremy Irons in DEAD RINGERS, he does a fantastic job of portraying these 2 very different personalities. The main character is overweight and balding and sort of a social misfit so Cage is playing against the type of role he's sadly become known for latley. He proves he still has great chops when given the right material.

The disc is one of those Superbit+ deals and has no real extras but a trailer and filmographies but the picture and sound are outstanding, especially the dts track. I would really enjoy a SE of this film though, especially a commentary track or two as this seems like it must have been a very interesting production. Oh well, one will probably come along before to long.

Recommended to fans of inventive cinema.