Cinepals - BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992) Movie Reaction & Review!

Episode Date: October 26, 2024

Jaby and Steph react to the OG vampire in Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula"! Count Dracula, driven by centuries of unrequited love, travels from Transylvania to Victorian London in pursuit of a woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his lost wife, unleashing a trail of seduction, terror, and eternal devotion. Bram Stoker's Dracula was directed by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Megalopolis). The main cast includes Gary Oldman as Count Dracula (The Dark Knight, Darkest Hour, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Winona Ryder as Mina Harker (Beetlejuice, Little Women, Edward Scissorhands), and Anthony Hopkins as Professor Abraham Van Helsing (The Silence of the Lambs, The Remains of the Day, Legends of the Fall). Other notable cast members are Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker (The Matrix, John Wick, Speed) and Richard E. Grant as Dr. Jack Seward (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Withnail and I, Logan). You can watch the cutdown reaction on Youtube at https://youtube.com/@cinepals or become a Patron and watch the full episode along with us https://www.cinejump.com ~CINEPALS~ YouTube: @CinePals Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals ~STEPH SABRAW~ Insta: https://instagram.com/StephSabraw YouTube: @TheWhirlGirls

Senna. Pals! Okay, so we're watching Bram Stoker's Dracula. Right, here we go. Right. That's a very English thing. If you ever watch her an English broadcast, they go, right. And then they go into their thing. Right. Sorry, Steph.

Didn't quite go the way you wanted. No. Oh no. Okay. She finished the job. Did it. No half measures, Walter. She went all the way.

Aw. I'd be like, can I keep this? I know, right? So, how about that accent by Keanu Reeves? Not his best work. Not his best work, but he didn't have the most lines, so it was okay. I wonder if a lot of it got dropped in editing. Yeah.

They were like, shh. My sister told me right before we watched this that even Keanu wasn't happy with his accent. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I could see that. His voice in real life is so monotone. Tom Waits. Isn't he a musician? Tom Waits, he played Renfield.

Oh, okay. I'll use my phone for this. I'm not 100% sure of that, but I think Tom Waits is a, he's got this gravelly voice. Tom Waits. He's a, like a rock singer. Okay, from what band? Tom Waits. Oh, okay.

Oh, oh, that's. Yeah. Yeah, I learned about him from this woman I went on an OKCupid date with many years ago. That's random. Yeah, and I was like, this guy's interesting. I'll always remember her because when I swiped on her, I was like, can we skip to the second date where we agree to just be friends? And she thought that was hilarious. And she was like, hell yeah, that sounds cool.

You know what I'm curious about, though? How many Academy Awards did it win? Right, right. Yes, yes, yes. Did Bram Stokers Dracula win any awards? Best costume design, best makeup, that's it. Okay.

Did Gary Oldman get a nomination for Dracula? It doesn't seem like it. Yeah. He didn't get recognized by the Academy. That's crazy. Interesting. I don't know, dude. I feel like he at least deserved a nomination.

That's wild. That's crazy. I feel like he deserved a nomination. Like, because he, it's very easy for that to become nonsense, you know, to go, like, way over the top. But even the way he goes, I am, like, he was so convincing as that dude. Yes. The only time I was like, that's kind of funny, is when I was hearing the letter being read while Keanu was on the train. Oh, okay.

That was the only time I was like, that's a little, you know, interesting. Yeah, yeah. But other than that, I thought he killed it. Yes. You know. Yes. He is just so incredible to watch on screen. Every single character takes a completely new form, and this one is the same.

It is so, he is so amazing. I actually really liked Winona Ryder's performance as well because she's usually like the quirky weird girl. And she was really grounded and more so the it girl. And she's always like the gothic girl, but I felt like she was like the Victorian eight girl. and it really worked for me and even though Keanu's accent wasn't bad his performance, I mean wasn't fantastic his performance was good

so it's not like it took me out fully I was just like oh okay that's Keanu doing a British accent yeah that's what we would call that it was some kind of thing I mean you know I okay I have to say this he has a Keanu Reeves has a special place in my heart

because he's such a good dude like anything he does I will always watch good or bad I will watch it I will support it, and I will call it great, because he's one of the coolest people on the planet. You know, I met him when I was a little kid, and he was super, super nice to me. I can still recognize, despite my bias, you know, the accent wasn't great. His motivation and his intention was there, though. And I like, you know, I like that about him.

But he's always gotten shit for, like, not being the best actor, you know? I feel like over time, he's just gotten better and better as a performer. And so this is obviously earlier in his career, not that far removed from. Bill and Ted, which is interesting. I think it was probably around point break. I'm not sure. I'm not 100% on that, so don't quote me. But, and it was about five or six years before the Matrix came out.

Oh, yeah. The Matrix came out of 99. Yeah, to me, he's my Neo forever. Yeah, exactly. And so I was more captivated by the world and the world building and the effects of just kind of reeling you in. Even stuff like, I forget where it was and you kind of pointed it out, they were sitting at a eating dinner or something like that and the walls around them were kind of changing.

I'm like, yo, how did they do all this? Because, you know, Jurassic Park, the, I guess the wide adoption of CGI came after Jurassic Park. And so this was, I guess, like the year after Jurassic Park released or the same year, I don't know. But CGI wasn't as widely used as today, obviously. And so everything was more practical and had. to be done with a lot more thought, you know, because, like, you hear about Michael Bay, uh, I've heard, I've heard stories of like, there was a C stand in the shot during a big sweeping shot and, you know, some set person tried to move it. He's like, it's fine. VFX will take it

out. It's like, what? Like, you couldn't just move it. And so, um, interesting. You know, back then you had to like really think about how you're going to do all these shots. Yeah. Um, I thought just that alone was this, it made this film worthwhile. Just the world, you know, and how they executed it. Yeah, I think that was definitely the most enrapturing part for me was just seeing the visuals. It really made my heart tickle because it is so, I mean, the time that it took, the thought that it took, every single shot was, it's like a Wes Anderson movie, complete opposite visuals, but in the same intention where every shot could be a photo.

It could be like the most gorgeous painting you'd ever seen. And that was real people on set making this happen with Francis Ford Coppola's vision, which just as a director blows my mind that he can do something like Godfather and then shoot something like this, which just look completely different. And the costumes were just magnificent. But I really liked the story. It kept to me fascinated from start to finish. And it was like, obviously there was a villain, but I empathize with him, which is the best villain. Yeah. This is interesting just looking back on because in 1990, you know, Godfather 3, I think that's when it hit theaters, if I'm not mistaken.

And, well, it wasn't well received. And so it's pretty cool that he had a comeback with Dracula. And to me, it was a strong comeback because I just looked it up on Google. It said it became a box office hit. So that's pretty dope, you know. It's a bold vision. And it's like, it's not something you see a lot today. No.

You know, because he was, of how he was experimenting and showing you stuff. I guess the closest thing, what's her name? From Spider-Man 2. Emma Stone. Was it how I'm thinking of? Yeah. She did a movie where she won Best Actress. Pretty Little Things, I think is what it was called.

Oh, no, you're thinking, I love this movie. It's, um, poor things. Poor things, yeah. I didn't love the movie, but I admired the, just the visual spectacle of the film. it was pretty cool. And so it's like that, I'm using that as an example to say, like, that's a rare thing that you see something like that, where it's just such a visual spectacle to, you know, that's very bold vision.

Yes. And I thought, you know, just. It's a great example. I keep coming back to that notion just because it was such a marvel to watch. It really was. It was weird. I really enjoyed it. And thematically, it was a super cool movie.

But I do think this one was more digestible for not only it has. that look, but a more digestible story. Yeah, yeah. So it is more likable in that sense, but I love poor things. Yeah. I thought it was pretty cool how it just sort of slowly brought you in. Like when Keanu was in Dracula's castle or headquarters or whatever, and they did the thing with like, you know, he's right next to the, I think it was a map, and there was a shadow.

And his movement was just like slightly out of sync with the shadow. I was like, something's weird. And then they, it's like, you're not sure if you caught it, right? It's one of those things. And you kind of feel smart as the audience when you catch it because in the next moment you see the shadow and Keanu looks back and then he's over there, you know? It's like, oh my God, I did see that.

That's crazy. I thought that was just neat. It was weird that Keanu's character wasn't like more suspect of the whole thing and being like, you know, maybe I should just kind of bounce like Homer Simpson into the bushes. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think he was trying, which they did in after exposition,

play it cool because he knew that he couldn't say too much or do too much. But I do think that it could have, it wouldn't have hurt to show a little bit more external fear. Maybe it was a struggle on the limitations of Keanu, you know, of what he could give at that time. I have no idea. But it definitely falls in line with what is, there's a particular kind of casting I notice where even like Gangs of New York. With Gangs of New York, you had a, it's the first time. I noticed something like that, you have your classic actors who are older, and then you have your younger actors that are the more box office draw. And so here you had Gary Oldman and

Anthony Hopkins, who are like the seasoned veteran actors who are going to give you that like awesome performance. And then you have the younger talent, which is Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. That's the, so you get like kind of the best of both worlds. You get the audience who wants to see the performance and the younger people who want to see the actors they love. Totally. And Winona Ryder's accent also kind of came in, you know, was up and down sometimes. But again, her intention was strong. Her intention was clear. Yeah. And I thought that over the course of the film, you really got to see highs and lows within her character. And I thought it was an interesting journey to watch her go on. Yeah. Yeah. I liked her journey. I liked

that we brought characters back like Van Helsing and the idea of reincarnation. And then the character of Lucy was a cool addition as well. I thought all of the character, where this world is so fun. We have like a cowboy, a doctor, a vampire, a woman in waiting. There's so many different great characters in one story that worked cohesively. Yeah.

So fun. It's definitely weird. And sometimes things just sort of happen and it never comes back. And I'm like, okay. So we had this one shot where she kisses her friend. And it's like, that's not like a hello kiss. that looked like they were making out or something like that.

I'm like, okay, what is that? That was about as fulfilling as the Game of Thrones kiss, that ever that was such a huge controversy. Did you see Hassel's Dragon? Oh, Ha, Sa's the, no, I heard about it, though. Yeah, okay, so for those of you that, everyone knows this, right? Yeah. There's like a kiss, and it went nowhere.

And so it was sort of, it sort of happened here as well, and I'm like, why was that there? Was it just for the sake of being weird? Right. You know, because it doesn't, like, it doesn't have a payoff of any kind. Yes. Like, because she was a more reserved character. She even said in the film, like, all we've done is kiss.

I'm like, okay. She couldn't even look at the Arabian Nights book with sexual imagery. Right, right, right. She was so, yeah, exactly. Oh, my stars. I know, but then you're making out with your friends. So I didn't know if that was an, this is a movie you have to rewatch. And I think, like you said, while we were watching it, there's more to get into and kind of break down.

and I think perhaps they were, it was that harem mindset under his spell a little bit. Yeah. Overall, I really enjoyed this. There was just like weird things along the way that I didn't quite get. There was, you know,

they're in the carriage in Kianu sees Dracula for the first time. And he's like struggling with the door. I'm like, are you really struggling with this door? Like, I guess it would have been too much time to like have him actually go outside and Dracula's not there anymore. But it just looked a little funny to me.

And so there were just funny things here and there. Admittedly, most of them have to do with Kianu. But, you know, how did you feel? Because you've been studying screenplay writing a lot lately. How did you feel about the overall structure of the story? Yeah, it's interesting. It does, it kind of goes off it on its own beat. I didn't know where it was going. And I think that totally fit the movie. And it's so specific to this film, whereas I don't think a lot of films can pull off the beats that they did. It was more just, It was kind of like watching a play almost. Gotcha.

It was, yeah, so I think it's unique to the story, but it definitely went off a path that is different than most films and could have not worked. Yeah. But I think with editing and everything, and kind of the artistic distraction, you're not as focused on everything making perfect sense. Right, right.

You know, filmmakers like Coppola and Scorsese put a lot of emphasis on a mood and a feeling more than an actual plot. I notice. You know, like, well, I didn't love it, but the one he put out recently about the Native Americans. Oh, I can't remember. Oh, Killers of the Flowerman.

Thank you. Now, I did not enjoy that film, but I enjoy Scorsese in general. He's one of my favorite directors. I just thought the movie was too long. But anyway. Many of his movies are very long. Yeah.

But, you know, because like a good, fellas and Gangs of New York. I love those movies. I like Casino and Raging Bull, but all this to see. I did watch Kings of New York. Oh, you did? Yeah, I really enjoyed that. Okay, okay, cool.

Yeah, yeah, I watched it on the channel. Oh, you did? Oh, you did? Yeah, I couldn't remember because, like, we have posts and circulated, you know. Yeah, it hit me and I was like, I think I've watched that. Okay, you watched it with Michael or Kristen? It doesn't matter. Yeah.

Okay, but anyway, move forward. Yeah, sorry. No, no, it's all good. It's my own fault because I forgot, but all those movies, you know, when you watch it, it's not really like a clear plot trajectory. It's more of like there's an atmosphere to the whole thing. You know, you go back and watch, I never finished it, but I tried watching mean streets. I should finish it because I have a, you know, someone that I am kind of related to had a big part in that film. And so it's like kind of like I should have watched it. My uncle David,

David Proval, he's been in a bunch of, he's always playing like Italian mafia or Italian cop. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, but anyway, he was in the movie. And I tried watching it, excited to see my uncle, and I couldn't get through the film, but I was also much younger when I watched it. What I recall was, there was just a vibe, and it's like this dirty, dirty, grimy sort of experimental vibe. And I saw that here, and it felt like it was nicely balanced because Coppola is definitely experimental, and it didn't go so far off the deep end that it lost me, or maybe it's just aged well with time, and I'm more mature now so I can accept something like this.

But, yeah, try watching Mean Streets. Okay, I'll see how it goes. But yes, it was definitely a vibe. I like that. So, and I still think the story was strong. Obviously, he was going off source material, so it didn't need to work too hard. I don't know the source material, so I have no idea. I think it was going off from Stokers.

Yeah, Bram Stoker's Dracula. No, but like I have no idea how much he went in his own direction. Oh, yeah, yeah, but you have the source material. So it's kind of, when you have that, you have a character that's built in. I know we know a little bit of what vampires do. We know that who Dracula. is, obviously you're going to take different approaches to the story, but

it helps so that you filled in the blank so I can focus on what you're giving me on the screen. Right. Yeah, definitely a cast of interesting characters. Even the people who didn't have much to say, you felt like you understood them as a person

in a sort of three-dimensional way, like their personality and whatnot. You know, the cowboy versus Princess Bride. I forgot the actor's name. Carrie El-Weiss. How do you say it? Carrie Elwis. ways? I have no idea how you say that correctly, but yeah, Robin Hood. And then the doctor guy who

was obsessed with the crazy patient, Tom Waits, Keanu, Anthony Hopkins, and of course, Dracula and Winona, like everybody felt different and well defined. There was, like, with all three guys, none of them seemed like the same person. That was really cool because I think that one of the things I always admire when I watch a show or a film is when you have a wide cast of people and they all feel different because it's very easy to have a situation where I, everyone sounds like they came from the same person because they did effectively because it's one writer yeah usually yeah yeah I know it's it kind of feels like a more refined version of like a cowboy a vampire and a priest walk into a bar yeah for sure again great job on the like the set

design yes costumes were crazy good yeah the makeup oh man the practical effects yeah I love loved it. Yeah, it's definitely aged well. And speaking of effects, I feel like the effects, for the most part, aged well as well. Like, maybe there was a couple things. Like, there was one instance of during the carriage chase, some guy gets knocked over the edge. That looked a little. I thought they didn't need that.

You could have had the Wilhelm scream in the back and then just kept going forward. Yeah, exactly. But outside of a couple of moments like that, I thought the effects were dope. especially for the year I looked it up and I think Jurassic Park came out the following year and so yeah

this is before like I said the wide adoption of CGI so like the way they were able to make this work this fantastic it was very convincing I want to see the behind the scenes

of how they were like able to do all this stuff I was there was one part I was slightly disappointed that they didn't go for an effect which is when Gary Oldman or Dracula is in bed

with Winona Ryder towards the end of the film right before she's going to bite him, right? Or eat his blood. It's a two shot. And he's like starting to reveal that he's not who she thinks he is, like he's undead or whatever. And it goes in on her.

I thought when it pulled out, he was going to transform of some kind. Oh. And I was like, oh, you let me down. Like, why did you go in on her? Like, what was the point of that? I thought the whole thing was to hide that off screen he was going to like shape shift or something like that.

But he did. And oh, my gosh, he was dead. definite like even today how many years removed are we 30 years removed almost right yeah 30 30 years removed 31 the heat it still looks creepy as heck like I know it's prosthetic now but you can't see any mess up yeah it was really well done yeah because even now I see prosthetic makeup and sometimes it doesn't look good right right sometimes in star wars it looks really good, newer Star Wars. And sometimes I'm like, okay, that's clearly a mask and you're kind of taken out of it for a second. This looked, I was like, damn, Gary, you need a facial.

Yeah, exactly. No, like, because, yeah, there are definitely instances today. Like, I absolutely love Furiosa. So good. But the hair thing did look a little funny to me. Who's hair? Because she didn't actually shave her head. Oh. Why didn't she? It had something to do with the director, I'm not wanting to, like, shave her head or something like that. Okay. I don't know what exactly, but they put a cap on her, and I'm like, it looks like that to me. It looks like you had a cap on her. Do you want to go Natalie Portman and V for Vendetta and get the awards or not?

Exactly. So, yeah, like, what you're saying is definitely true. It's like sometimes you see stuff, you're like, oh, okay, come on. Yeah. You know, so applause, applause. Loved it. Yeah, you guys, thanks so much for hanging out. I'm Jabby Kouye.

This is. Steph's a bra. Peace out.