I finished watching The Ninth Gate last night. Johnny Depp plays a somewhat unscrupulous rare book finder and he is excellent as the central character. The rest of the film is a bit silly. The film alternates between detective thriller and horror standard. His latest client, Frank Langella, wants to conjure the devil but he needs the right book and hires Depp. I am fairly convinced I had already seen this movie but decided to blog about it so I wouldn't accidentally watch it again. It has a few moments that are worthwhile and a few moments that are a tad cheesy but it is mostly forgettable. Roman Polanski doesn't do a thing for me as a film maker. The BOTD liked it a great deal more than I did.
Quote of the Day
You think the prince of Darkness would deign to manifest himself before the likes of you? He never has and he never will!
Boris Balkan, The Ninth Gate
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "With the almost singular purpose of heightening suspense, the soundtrack sadistically dances along, combining joyous glee with wicked mischief to create a greater sense of tedious unease."
I don't remember even hearing about that movie. I think I've liked everything I've seen Depp in and I do like movies where the devil plays a role. I might see if I can find it, even if it's a bit silly.
Give it a shot, Dave. It's kind of a cross between noir and CME. Depp gives a good performance and it does have some great European scenery.
I saw it when it first came out on video. I remember thinking that the actor's delivered good performances, but that the movie just meandered and never really seemed to go anywhere. As far as the mystical aspect is concerned, I think that Heath Ledger's The Order was a better movie that had a similar feeling (though very different subject matter).
Just did a quick read up on The Order, Cullen. Not sure it's my cup of tea but I'll give it a try if it ever passes through HBO or HDNet.
One of the reasons I'm on Good Reads is that I kept starting books I'd already read. I'd be two or three chapter into them before I realized it wasn't a similar book or a book in the same series with the same characters ... but the same book I'd read months or years before.
I haven't had that problem with books and it's kinda rare when I have it with movies. I usually have some memory of films, even bad ones. This one wasn't all that bad. It just wasn't all that memorable.