Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (AMC, October)

[atomheartbevo 89757]

Based on Anne Rice’s revolutionary gothic novel, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) and Claudia’s (Bailey Bass) epic story of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Chafing at the limitations of life as a black man in 1900s New Orleans, Louis finds it impossible to resist the rakish Lestat’s offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion. But Louis’s intoxicating new powers come with a violent price, and the introduction of Lestat’s newest fledgling, the child vampire Claudia, soon sets them on a decades-long path of revenge and atonement. Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire will debut on October 2 at 10pm ET/9c on AMC, with the series’ first two episodes available on AMC+ that same night.

Interesting, didn’t know they were doing this.  Big budget.

[Augustus 3061]

I've read every Vampire Chronicles novel and enjoyed each, although not surprisingly some are much better than others.  And a few are great.

The final few with "Prince" Lestat were really damned good.

The second novel in the series, The Vampire Lestat, is genuinely as much a work of philosophy as it is a horror/fantasy novel.

Not everyone enjoyed the Cruise/Pitt "Interview" but I thought it was well done.

So in other words, I hope this doesn't suck.

[Augustus 3061]

Why in the hell would they take a very young (in the novel) Daniel Molloy and turn him into a character played by 70-yr-old Eric Bogosian?

Edited August 9, 2022 by Augustus

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19128]

6 hours ago, Augustus said:

Why in the hell would they take a very young (in the novel) Daniel Molloy and turn him into a character played by 70-yr-old Eric Bogosian?

They also changed when Louis was made a vampire.  I think this will be very interesting.  Sam Reid is a very underrated actor.  He looks the part.

[Apep 645]

I just caught that in the synopsis up thread. That could very interesting if done right, but it strips away the deep time of the original. Seems a little Watchmenish. 

[gsoda3 3274]

WHOA 1:57 mark, thought i was looking at a reincarnated anthony bourdain.

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by gsoda3

[Augustus 3061]

4 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

They also changed when Louis was made a vampire.  I think this will be very interesting.  Sam Reid is a very underrated actor.  He looks the part.

Yeah, part of the fascination is that when Louis is telling his story to Daniel, he's around 200 years old.

Interview was nowhere near as great as the novels that succeeded it, but the part of it I found most compelling was Louis' desperation to know what they were, where they came from, how they came into being, etc.  Same existential questions we have but explored through perspective of an immortal vampire.

Although, I've often found it odd to refer as a being as "immortal" when there are a handful of ways you can permanently kill him.

[Michael Knight 12989]

This doesn't look anything like the book

[Buzzrock 14935]

17 hours ago, Augustus said:

I've read every Vampire Chronicles novel and enjoyed each, although not surprisingly some are much better than others.  And a few are great.

The final few with "Prince" Lestat were really damned good.

The second novel in the series, The Vampire Lestat, is genuinely as much a work of philosophy as it is a horror/fantasy novel.

Not everyone enjoyed the Cruise/Pitt "Interview" but I thought it was well done.

So in other words, I hope this doesn't suck.

I read the first five. She kinda lost me at Memnoch the Devil, but I always thought Body Thief would make a great movie. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19128]

First two eps up on AMC+.  Liking episode one so far.  

[BornOrange 1441]

On 8/9/2022 at 12:09 AM, Augustus said:

Why in the hell would they take a very young (in the novel) Daniel Molloy and turn him into a character played by 70-yr-old Eric Bogosian?

I think this is a second interview done years later with an older Daniel Molloy.

[safe sex 11738]

Great pilot. AMC needs to be bold and break those regular cable norms, though. Show some dong. I can't believe you'd take a vampire turning scene as far as they did in the pilot without showing dick. Pussies.

[jeevsie 3737]

Go on...

[Bogeywon 2519]

Broke back vampire 

[billfromlaketravis 11520]

It’s a faithful adaption of the book. If you’re on the fence, google the book. I’ll leave it at that. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

I quite enjoyed the first episode and looking forward to the rest of the season.  I am a big fan of the first 3 vampire books and first 3 Mayfair witches books.  I thought all of those were really great but after those books Anne Rice kind of lost me.  

[safe sex 11738]

23 hours ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I quite enjoyed the first episode and looking forward to the rest of the season.  I am a big fan of the first 3 vampire books and first 3 Mayfair witches books.  I thought all of those were really great but after those books Anne Rice kind of lost me.  

I agree about a lot of her later vampire books, though I remember really enjoying Memnoch the Devil.

[burntorangebongos 10750]

She was an odd woman, but a great storyteller. Claudia was such a tragic figure. Those near 80 years that Louis and LeStat lived as a happy family with her, spoiling her and doting on her while in a loving relationship. They had everything until they didn't. How bitter she became, how vicious. I always felt sorry for her. I think Anne wrote herself in the novel has the woman who lost her child and wanted Claudia to turn her so she could be mother to her little girl forever. So twisted and so sad. Anne wrote some badass stories.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19128]

23 hours ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I quite enjoyed the first episode and looking forward to the rest of the season.  I am a big fan of the first 3 vampire books and first 3 Mayfair witches books.  I thought all of those were really great but after those books Anne Rice kind of lost me.  

I liked when they did the one off books about the various vampires, like Pandora.  I did enjoy the first three Mayfair Witches books, and I also enjoyed #4 which was Merrick.  

[atomheartbevo 89757]

On 10/7/2022 at 10:43 PM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I did enjoy the first three Mayfair Witches books, and I also enjoyed #4 which was Merrick.  

On 10/7/2022 at 10:43 PM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I did enjoy the first three Mayfair Witches books,

Guess what’s coming in January

 

[Jerry Callo 8709]

On 10/7/2022 at 10:25 PM, burntorangebongos said:

She was an odd woman, but a great storyteller. Claudia was such a tragic figure. Those near 80 years that Louis and LeStat lived as a happy family with her, spoiling her and doting on her while in a loving relationship. They had everything until they didn't. How bitter she became, how vicious. I always felt sorry for her. I think Anne wrote herself in the novel has the woman who lost her child and wanted Claudia to turn her so she could be mother to her little girl forever. So twisted and so sad. Anne wrote some badass stories.

This will be a good measure of how well this series adaption stays to the important elements of Rice's story.  Rice's story with an 80 year old in a 5 year old's body is impossible to pull off on camera.  I believe this show makes Claudia a young teenager - which is fine as long as her arch follows the storyline. 

[Augustus 3061]

If you gave up at some point on the Vampire Chronicles novels I strongly encourage you to read:

Prince Lestat

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

Blood Communion

They (the novels) got really great again. You'll thank me.

[Jerry Callo 8709]

If you gave up at some point on the Vampire Chronicles novels I strongly encourage you to read:
Prince Lestat
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
Blood Communion
They (the novels) got really great again. You'll thank me.

Looking at my bookcase, the ones I didn't read are the Prince Lestat books. I have all the other Vampire Chronicals, Pandora, Vittorio, and the Mayfair books. For some reason, I have two copies of The Vampire Armand. I might give the later ones a read. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Augustus 3061]

20 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

On 10/9/2022 at 11:53 AM, Augustus said:

If you gave up at some point on the Vampire Chronicles novels I strongly encourage you to read:
Prince Lestat
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
Blood Communion
They (the novels) got really great again. You'll thank me.

Looking at my bookcase, the ones I didn't read are the Prince Lestat books. I have all the other Vampire Chronicals, Pandora, Vittorio, and the Mayfair books. For some reason, I have two copies of The Vampire Armand. I might give the later ones a read. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

My pleasure.  She takes the story in a direction I never imagined it going, and even thought a little silly at first, so I was surprised at how great they turned out to be.  Lestat is forever Lestat, of course, so he's awesome as usual.

[rage-a-holic 4417]

On 10/9/2022 at 1:53 PM, Augustus said:

If you gave up at some point on the Vampire Chronicles novels I strongly encourage you to read:

Prince Lestat

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

Blood Communion

They (the novels) got really great again. You'll thank me.

I ran out of new stuff to read, so I re-started the Atlantis book, couldn't remember why I didn't finish it.

Oh right, I remember now, it's because the author is fixated on every male vampire sucking each other off. 

[safe sex 11738]

Vampies gonna vamp.

[Buzzrock 14935]

Guess what’s coming in January
 

Oh shit. Ok I never read those books so I have an important question: does Rowan get naked?

Also was that Dr Oz?

[Jerry Callo 8709]

Finished the season last night.  I thought it was done pretty well.  Although it doesn't follow the book in every way, I felt it stayed pretty true to the story and told the story much better than the movie.  Looking forward to season two.

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

7 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

Finished the season last night.  I thought it was done pretty well.  Although it doesn't follow the book in every way, I felt it stayed pretty true to the story and told the story much better than the movie.  Looking forward to season two.

I also thought it was pretty good and can’t wait to see what they do with The Mayfair Witches in January.  

[Augustus 3061]

Just finished.

I got pretty doubtful about it into the second episode, as I wasn't caring much for replacing the broader existential questions/distress of Louis with the oppression of Jim Crow and homophobia, as that's fundamentally the purpose Rice's vampires served, a vehicle for exploration of humanity's greatest questions and dilemmas, but I thought they navigated it really well and it actually turned into (for a while) an interesting exercise in how attachment/selfish desire leads to suffering--in this case by Louis clinging to his mortal family and business goals. 

So, we ditched Kant but welcomed in the Buddhists.  

I've no idea where they're going to ultimately go with Lestat, but the other thing I didn't care for was turning him into an actual monster who gets off on cruelty for cruelty's sake, behaves like a psychopath, imprisoning whom he claims to love, etc.  This is still Louis' perspective, though, so perhaps it'll go the same way as the novels and we'll find out this characterization has been over-the-top unfair to him.  

Once we saw Rashid in Daniel's dream I thought it was obvious they were gonna make him Armand.  Interesting.

Only other thing I didn't care for:  The variation of presentism, so to speak, and I'm referring to Molloy and his high-horse self righteousness with the snarky comments about vampires--Claudia in particular--killing people.  Well no shit, dude.  Lions eat gazelles.  Vampires drink human blood.  We didn't start the fire...

Even though I didn't care for how Lestat was portrayed, Sam Reid went Barry Bonds on that role.  Bailey Bass did right by this version of Claudia, as well, though we've come a long way from 5-year-old Claudia in the novel.

No way for me to know, but I'd wager Anne Rice would have approved.

The atmosphere was great, very haunting at times, along with the sets, lighting and costumes.  Thumbs up from me.  Really looking forward to what they'll do with the Mayfair Witches.  Is Harry Hamlin playing Oncle Julien?  I haven't looked at the casting.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Augustus

[Augustus 3061]

By the way, speaking of racism and New Orleans and Anne Rice, if you haven't read Feast of All Saints, it's worth it.  When I read that novel, I had no idea what the gens de couleur were (free people of color).  Blew me away there was a society of free black/mixed race folks right in the middle of the slave owning south.

It's educational as well as compelling fiction.  

[Dennis Taylor 18847]

On 11/17/2022 at 11:20 PM, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I also thought it was pretty good and can’t wait to see what they do with The Mayfair Witches in January.  

They put this in it apparently 

[Augustus 3061]

On 8/9/2022 at 3:56 PM, Buzzrock said:

I read the first five. She kinda lost me at Memnoch the Devil, but I always thought Body Thief would make a great movie. 

It would make a great movie if done right, but I'd wager heavily they'd turn it into a vampiric action/adventure film.  The chase to get his body bck would be the plot, instead of the philosophical questions and fundamental fears involved in both his dilemma and ultimate choice.

[Prepuce of Doom 21097]

Haven't read the books, but we finished this recently and enjoyed it well enough. 

I've only seen the movie a long while ago, but I seem to remember significant differences in the Armond character in the movie - in the movie, doesn’t he arrive in response to some violation of vampire norms to hold Louis and/or Lestat accountable?

Edited January 9, 2023 by Prepuce of Doom

[Augustus 3061]

1 hour ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Haven't read the books, but we finished this recently and enjoyed it well enough. 

I've only seen the movie a long while ago, but I seem to remember significant differences in the Armond character in the movie - in the movie, doesn’t he arrive in response to some violation of vampire norms to hold Louis and/or Lestat accountable?

 

In the film, Santiago finds him on the Paris streets, then Armand appears and invites him to the Théâtre des Vampires, but it's never made clear that the reason for that was anything other than curiosity about Louis and Claudia.  Armand does comment that it's "forbidden to make one so young," but the trouble doesn't really start until Santiago discerns that Louis "killed" Lestat.   

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19128]

I struggle with shows that go week to week, so I finally came back and finished season 1. Honestly, the casting was fantastic.  I even like that they moved it forward to the 20's, 30's 40's vs. the late 1800's from the books.  Sam Reid as Lestat. Yeah, that was inspired casting right there.

I saw that season 2 is complete as well, so that will be a good thing to watch over the next week.

[Parliament 14272]

Who’s playing Blade in season 2?