 |
 |
|
|
 |
New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.
• Reviews A-C • Reviews D-F • Reviews G-J • Reviews K-M • Reviews N-Q • Reviews R-T • Reviews U-Z
• Redbelt **1/2 • Roman de gare **1/2 • Son of Rambow **1/2 • Speed Racer [review coming soon] • Still Life **** • Iron Man *** • More
• A Collection of 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films • The Hottie and the Nottie • I'm Not There • Over Her Dead Body • Paddle to the Sea • The Red Balloon • Silent Ozu: Three Family Comedies (Criterion Eclipse #10) • Teeth • Twister: Special Edition • More
• My Top 60 Directors [Updated] • Charlton Heston (1924-2008) • Scott B. Smith • Estelle Parsons • Roger Donaldson • Roy Scheider (1932-2008) • Mike Binder • James McAvoy • Tony Gilroy • David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen • William Friedkin • Peter Fonda & James Mangold • Kasi Lemmons on Talk to Me • Steve Buscemi on Interview • Lynn Hershman-Leeson • Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost on Hot Fuzz • Scott Frank, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Matthew Goode • The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006) • Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host • Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Billy Bob Thornton • My latest blog entries at cinematical.com • The 'Mexican New Wave' • Interview with Singaporian Filmmaker Djinn • Joe Carnahan & Jeremy Piven Interview • Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut • Alfonso Cuarón Interview • Guillermo Del Toro Interview • Chris Noonan Interview • Robert Altman (1925-2006) • Scarlett Johansson: A Study in Scarlett • Christmas Movies • Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies • Joe Eszterhas • Jet Li • Zach Braff • Kirby Dick • James Ellroy • Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson • Adrien Brody • Steve Irwin (1962-2006) • Elisha Cuthbert/Jamie Babbit • Matt Dillon • David R. Ellis • Maria Bello • Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson • Mickey Spillane (1918-2006) • Al Gore • Cult Movies • Actress Interview Gallery • The Top 100 • More Features and Interviews
• James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee • Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis • Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon • Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard • Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs • A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller • Dark Lover, by Emily Leider • Agee on Film, by James Agee • Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks • Negative Space, by Manny Farber • 5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael • More Books The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews! Sign up for my weekly newsletter! More of Jeffrey's reviews are available at: Rotten Tomatoes and All Movie Portal. About Lists Gallery News Links E-mail me. | |
The Addiction (1995)Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4) By Jeffrey M. Anderson
What we get is a slight, but entertaining movie, that's (dare I say it?) unintentionally funny at times. Here's the twist; these vampires are all philosophers. Taylor plays a philosophy student at NYU. After she gets bitten (by Annabella Sciorra), she justifies her own killings by quoting philosophy. She tells her victims to ask her to leave, to validate their own lives, (which none of them seem to do) before she bites them. In the middle of the movie, she bumps into Christopher Walken, another vampire / philosopher. He takes her up to his loft and spouts philosophy back at her. "I haven't drunk in over four years. It's a matter of control. I can lead a normal life. I have a job. I can defficate. When was the last time you did that?" He bites her a few times to keep her weak. She tries to kill herself and he laughs at her. He keeps spewing philosophy. He lets her go. She finishes her doctorate, has a party and in a spectacular blood orgy of a climax, bites everyone there. Regular Ferrara screenwriter Nicholas St. John often imbues his exploitation scripts with a deft intelligence, but in The Addiction, quoting from Sartre and Nietzche made me erupt in laughter. It's a student's idea of what makes an "intelligent" film. But, hey, Ferrara's grit and ferocity is there, and I haven't seen a good "bad" horror movie in a long time. It's no Horror of Dracula or Near Dark, but it's recommended. Note: For some reason, as of October 2004, this film still hasn't been released on DVD. Starring: Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken, Annabella Sciorra, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli |
| Home |
News |
Search Reviews |
Classic Movies |
DVDs |
Features |
Film Books |
Gallery |
Links |
About |
The Rating System |
Email Me |
When I first read about Abel Ferrara's new picture, I expected a dark, bloody,
gutsy tale of vampires in New York City. Something in the vein (pardon) of Bad
Lieutenant and Dangerous Game (both of which I liked). The Addiction is
filmed in black and white, features a rap score by Schooly D, and gutsy actress
Lili Taylor in the lead.