Van Helsing Was Putting Universal Monsters Into Boring Blockbusters Long Before Tom Cruise's The Mummy Showed Up

Don't you hate it when a movie has an excellent opening scene and then everything that comes after it is just crummy? It's like chowing down on a delectable appetizer prior to being served rotten meat as your proper meal, the already substandard main course gets its awfulness hammered home by coming hot off the heels of the delicious appetizer you just scarfed down. That's what happens with Van Helsing, which opens with a black-and-white sequence that feels like Universal Monsters Fan-Fiction come to life as Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) plots to use a new monstrous creation of Victor Frankenstein for his own wicked devices, a plan that Frankenstein's Monster (Shuler Hensley) does not particularly care for. This results in the monster grabbing the corpse of his now deceased "father" and running to a windmill that is promptly set on fire, resulting in the apparent death of the creature much to Dracula's anger.

The Only Living Boy In New York Is So Boring It'll Send Audiences Into A Snooze

Just as Star Wars is still influencing modern day blockbusters in way both big and small, fellow noteworthy 1977 motion picture Annie Hall, and other iconic Woody Allen movies that would follow it like Manhattan, are still having their impact felt on movies made in 2017. So many intimate dialogue and character driven dramas in the modern age still look to the works of Woody Allen as a guiding star of sorts, hoping the same level of critical adulation and high-quality storytelling that marked Allen's best works in the 70's will also befall their creative endeavors. That seems to be the hope of The Only Living Boy In New York, a Marc Webb movie that very much seems like it's a Woody Allen movie wannabe.

Love & Friendship Review

Let it not be said that Love & Friendship skimped on its shooting locations because the various locales that its large cast inhabit are mighty impressive. Ditto for the costumes of the movie, which are a colorful cavalcade of time period appropriate (the film takes place in the 18th century) outfits that are absolutely glorious, major kudos to costume designer Elmer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (who frequently works on notable European set projects like Calvary) for her stunning work here.