Monster Scholar

I had to resist the urge to name this post Snore-ian Gray or Bore-ian Gray, but this film, by any other name, would be as bad. With agonizingly slow pacing, poor dialogue and an utter lack of tension Dorian Gray falls far short of its literary and filmic predecessors. Dorian Gray is the story of a young man who has is portrait taken by artist Basil Howard. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian comes to embrace the “art for art’s sake” aesthetic lifestyle that preaches sensation over morality. When confronted with his beautiful portrait he wishes that he will remain always beautiful while his portrait bears the brunt of time and sin. In Oscar Wilde’s version, Dorian indulges in a life of hidden debauchery causing his portrait to age and decay until Basil discovers Dorian’s secret and Dorian murders him. It ends with a cataclysmic showdown between Dorian and his painted soul. In this film, Ben Barnes strikes a less than compelling caricature of the eternally beautiful you...

Take a gander at the new poster released by Momentum Pictures for their upcoming feature, Dorian Gray. Though a US release date has not been confirmed, the film will open in the UK on the 9th of September 2009. The poster effectively melds the man and the monster. The ruined side of Dorian's face is supposed to imitate the flaking canvas of the ruined portrait that bears the brunt of his decadence in startling contrast to his eternal youth. But as one user at EmpireOnline pointed out, the effect can be somewhat hokey--"Finally...a film about eczema!!! " Offering my own critique, I would have liked for them to do something more with his hair. It seems odd that the canvas effect would be limited only to his face, and a shock of white could have gone a long way to balance the effect. That is not to say I would want something a la Harvey Two Face, and perhaps that's something the designers of this poster were seeking to avoid.

Welcome to the first installment of the Trailer Park, a place for me to review the good, the bad and the ugly trailers of horror movies past and present. Today’s subject is the trailer for Dorian Gray by Momentum pictures. The trailer’s depiction of London is reminiscent of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd , with big sweeps of the foggy industrial mecca rendered with CGI, coupled with claustrophobic street close-ups. Focusing on Dorian, I love that the only difference between innocent Dorian pre-portrait and the jaded libertine he will become is the removal of a schoolboy hat and tie. The trailer flirts with the idea of masks and the deceit of outer appearances, an apt subject considering Dorian’s beauty is only an illusion. Dorian confesses to a blind priest “this is not my true face” and then glimpses himself in a silver serving tray at party where the guests are all in masks. Collin Firth, whose credits include Bridget Jones’s Diary and Shakespeare in Love is the decadent Lord Henry who l...

Momentum Pictures has released a one-sheet teaser for Dorian Gray , their dark version of Oscar Wilde’s timeless tale set to be released in the US in April of 2009. Ben Barnes, who you might recognize as Prince Caspian from the Narnia films, is cast in the lead role of the eternally beautiful Dorian who remains unscathed as his portrait bears to brunt of his infernal sins. With his good looks it’s no wonder Barnes scored the part, and it got me thinking about all the other pretty boys who have taken on the role of Dorian Gray over the years. Hurd Hatfield appeared in the 1945 MGM production of The Picture of Dorian Gray, as the young man with a vain wish to remain always young and beautiful.The role of Dorian Gray was the high point of Hatfield’s career and almost became the end of it. He had only been in one other film, Dragon Seed (1944) where he portrayed a Chinese peasant, but soon after finding success with Picture his film career took a downturn. He would comment later that...