The Raven (2012)

First of all, Happy Actual Birthday to Edgar Allan Poe, who is actually very dead, but yeah, its his birthday.  I had the pleasure of viewing The Raven, starring John Cusack yesterday and today as I watched it in bits and pieces, because I have no attention span lately. 

I wasn't horrified, but I also wasn't psyched either.  It was a decent flick, but not exactly what I wished it could be.  I am not sad I wasted $2.99 watching this movie on Amazon Instant Video, because I would wonder for a long time if I didn't, but I would have been more engaged, I think, watching something else Edgar-related.

The plot of the film, according to IMDb is, "When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.".

The acting was ok.  I don't know that Edgar's character was captured that well.  I would imagine him to have a sense of humor and be quite sarcastic, which I note was well done, but I don't know how social he would have been or brazen.  I kinda picture the guy as an introvert, who is in lots of pain and likes to indulge in drugs and drink to ease them.  He was way too happy go lucky. 

I was also pretty aggravated that the language was adapted way too much for the modern era.  They could have injected a little more "period" into the acting and the manner of speaking of these characters.  They didn't live very "period", either.  The manner of dress was appropriate, but the rest was not.  It mine as well have been set in our time.

However, the plot was inventive and I didn't know "whodunnit" until the very end.  It was a bit of a thriller, but I wasn't on the edge of my seat either.  I kind of didn't care and couldn't wait for it to be over so I could watch the episodes of American Horror Story: Coven that I missed in the last two weeks.

If you are looking to watch something new, I can't say I don't recommend a quick view, but I can't say your pants will be scared off, you will jump, or even be wildly entertained.

Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe!

Edgar Allan Poe's birthday was January 19, 1809. He would be 205 if he were a vampire! He died on October 7, 1849 when sadly, he was just 40 years old, only 5 years older than I am now. Poe was born in Boston. I actually didn't know that until today or I just didn't remember.

Ok, just before I carry on about Poe, because I am obsessed with him, I want this!

I knew he was adopted by a Maryland Family and Allan was not his middle name, but in fact his last name he took on as a part of his adopted family, the Allans. Poe was his birth name. They never formally adopted him, but they cared for him until he was an adult after he was abandoned by his father and his mother subsequently died.

 

A recent theory in his cause of death was actually rabies. It is believed that he abstained from alcohol for about 6 months before his death and as we all know he enjoyed his absinthe and not a little bit of Opium, but a lot bit of Opium. 

You can watch The Black Cat, an Edgar Allan Poe short story as a bit less than a one hour short film done by Stuart Gordon on Master's of Horror for free on Hulu below.  

Then, if and when you so feel inclined, there is a Biography special (about 45 minutes long) outlining the life and important aspects therein of Edgar Allan Poe that you can check out here. 

You can rent The Raven, the one with John Cusack portraying Poe on Google Play here as well as on Netflix here. 

You can download these games for an hour of free game-play, too, if you feel so inclined!