Tag: Dark Shadows

Los Angeles Times television critic Mary McNamara has an undying (and undead) affection for “Dark Shadows,” that grand old gothic soap opera, and she carried her torch to a scary place this weekend — the Los Angeles Marriott at Burbank Airport. There were, mercifully, no vampires in attendance at this weekend’s “Dark Shadows in the Sun” convention. Sure, there were a few Victorian cape coats, at least two wolf-head canes and several “Barnabas Collins for president” T-shirts (though with Johnny Depp’s face rather than that of role creator Jonathan Frid). But nowhere to be seen were the bouncing, writhing goth-tramp girls and boys who show up for “Twilight” premieres or appearances by the “True Blood” cast. This may have been due to the convention’s location — the Burbank Airport Marriott does not scream “fetch me my plum-colored waistcoat” — or ...

This year marks the 40th anniversary of “Let It Bleed,” the classic Rolling Stones album, and how perfect is that? There has never been more bloodsucking in pop culture that right now, and Gina McIntyre reports in this fun feature on Hollywood’s vamping pursuits. Next we may ask her to consider the link between the resurgence in zombie cinema and the current condition of Keith Richards…    Forget the garlic, the crucifixes, the security of daylight. Nothing is holding the vampires at bay these days. With the wild popularity of movie, TV and literary properties including “Twilight” and HBO’s hit series “True Blood,” the bloodthirsty undead are dominating the pop culture landscape in ways Count Dracula could have never imagined, and the trend seems unlikely to abate any time soon. “ He admits, though, that he was somewhat skeptical at first, well aware that his new show ...

EXCLUSIVE I got Tim Burton on the phone the other day while he was on the set of "Alice in Wonderland" and I had to admit right off the bat that I was surprised that, with the filming just underway, he was taking the time to chat. "Yeah, well, me too," he said in his droll deadpan, and I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or apologize and hang up. Then he let me off the hook. "Actually," he said in a sunnier voice, "we’re just about to get going so we’ll see how things go. Good, I hope." I’m guessing things will go quite well for the 50-year-old filmmaker, who seems like the ideal auteur to bring Lewis Carroll’s surreal 1865 classic "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland" to the screen for a 21st century audience. Young Aussie Mia Wasikowska will be ...

Johnny Depp will play Tonto in a Disney revisitation of the Lone Ranger, but who will be the masked man? The Hero Complex is officially supporting Viggo Mortensen for the role of mystery man of the Old West because, after seeing “Hidalgo” and the trailer for “Appaloosa,” we just think he does the dusty-trail adventure thing with a nice flair. George Clooney would also give Disney a powerhouse tandem at the top of this hoped-for franchise, as well as some major opportunity for the type of winking humor that gave “Pirates of the Caribbean” its box-office flair. Clooney may be too old, but we still think he has enough silver bullets in his ammo belt. Depp, meanwhile, may be just five years shy of 50 but still approaches his acting career like a kid rummaging through a trunk of dress-up ...