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For the latest installment of That Was Then, This Is Now, Chad Denton, Zack Handlen and myself try something a little different, examing how film-makers from three distinct eras in the history of cinema went about the problem of bringing to the screen that most idiosyncratic of writers, Edgar Allan Poe.
We also discuss Poe’s writing generally, look at how well (or not) our films reflect their sources, and have a chat about cinema’s apparently irrestible urge to turn Poe into one of his own fictions.
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Edgar Allen Poe (1909) at And You Call Yourself A Scientist!
The Avenging Conscience (1914) at And You Call Yourself A Scientist!
The Raven (1915) at And You Call Yourself A Scientist!
The Premature Burial (1962) at The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
The Black Cat (2007) at The Duck Speaks
And The Conversation
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#1 by supersonic on July 27, 2009 - 9:09 pm
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borken link (http://www.aycyas.com/IndexTWTTINb.htm)
#2 by lyzard on July 27, 2009 - 9:22 pm
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Grr! Stupid hyphen. Fixed, thank you.
#3 by The Rev. D.D. on July 28, 2009 - 10:00 am
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Oh my…THREE AYCYAS reviews at once? Along with other delightful treats?
It truly is Christmas in July.
*runs off yelling “Merry Christmas!” to everything in sight*
#4 by lyzard on July 28, 2009 - 4:11 pm
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In an “original lyrics to ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'” sort of way, perhaps.
#5 by MatthewF on July 29, 2009 - 2:10 am
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I believe that Michael jackson once wanted to play the lead in an EAP biopic, it’s a crying shame that we’ll never see that.
#6 by David Lee Ingersoll on July 29, 2009 - 8:11 am
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Yay! I love these compare and contrast review sets!
#7 by Jen S on July 29, 2009 - 10:50 am
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Yay, I love roundtable discussions and such! Poe has always had such a unique striking gong of a voice in American literature: nice to see he’s gone but endlessly unforgotten.
I highly recommend the two following works. While both fictional, they present striking reexaminings of Poe’s life and work.
The Poe Shadow, by Matthew Pearl, presents the life of a young man (kinda a proto-goth) in ninteenth century Boston who reads and becomes obsessed with Poe’s works, and equally obsessed with resurrecting his reputation after his death. It presents, among other things, the theory that far from being a drunk, Poe tended to abstain from the Demon Rum, as he had an allergic reaction to alcohol that lead to the wild rampages and hallucinations associated with rampant alcoholism–but in actuality could be brought on by one glass of wine.
The second is a one man show I saw several years ago here in Seattle by Dawson Nichols, entitled I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe. It was brilliant, hysterical, and haunting and is a really good “new” reimagining of how effective Poe is. You should be able to find it at http.//wwwambitgroup.com/poe/ for the radio play adaption by the author.
#8 by Read MacGuirtose on July 29, 2009 - 2:19 pm
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There’s actually a live theater show currently in my neighborhood in which Jeffrey Combs plays Poe (and Stuart Gordon directs). Haven’t seen it yet, but I plan to, probably this weekend; that sounds like something it would be a real shame to miss…
#9 by Read MacGuirtose on July 29, 2009 - 2:21 pm
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Er… when I say “probably this weekend”, on further examination turns out it’ll pretty much have to be this weekend, since the show only runs until August 2. Okay, guess I know my plans for Friday night now…
#10 by lyzard on July 29, 2009 - 4:52 pm
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That sounds amazing, Read! In light of Zack’s review of The Black Cat, it would be great if you could pop back and give us a report on that show.
Thank you for those two suggestions, Jen.
Given that somehow we have managed to do a Poe Roundtable *without* a Vincent Price film, my own plans for the weekend include a viewing of Vinnie doing An Evening With Edgar Allan Poe. And possibly the 1963 Raven (“What do I look like, a fortune-teller!?”).
#11 by GalaxyJane on July 29, 2009 - 9:12 pm
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No “Maniac”? Along with all the other insanity, there’s a surprisingly straightforward adaptation of “The Black Cat” hiding in there.
#12 by lyzard on July 29, 2009 - 9:32 pm
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If we start on what we *didn’t* do, we’ll be here forever! 🙂 Yes, it’s certainly a topic that warrants a ‘Part Deux’ in the future.
#13 by Read MacGuirtose on August 2, 2009 - 8:49 pm
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In light of Zack’s review of The Black Cat, it would be great if you could pop back and give us a report on that show.
Well, I didn’t end up able to make it this weekend after all; turns out the Friday show was canceled, I couldn’t make it Saturday, and today’s show was sold out. However, all is not lost; the show was extended through August 29, so I went ahead and bought a ticket for the 21st. Still, while it won’t be quite as timely almost a month after the roundtable, I can still pop back in here after that with a brief account of it…
#14 by lyzard on August 2, 2009 - 11:44 pm
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Please do!