Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.
Directed by: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, John Ortiz, John Finn, Kimberly Elise, LisaGay Hamilton, Jamie Kennedy
Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), Interview with the Vampire (plus Louis and Lestat!)
By popular request, the Vampire Claudia returns! I’ve made this character a few times before, but I’m most pleased with this version. I’ve always loved her blue dress, but now I feel I’ve improved enough sculpting hair that her bangs are closer to how I want them.
Claudia, Louis de Pointe du Lac, and Lestat de Lioncourt are available now for purchase at my Etsy shop. Just in time for Halloween! ♀️♂️♂️⚜️
For those unaware, Claudia was based on Anne Rice’s own daughter Michele, who died at five years old from leukemia. The resulting depression led to Anne Rice publishing her first of many gothic horror novels, starting with Interview with the Vampire, in 1976. While Claudia was based on Michele, so was Lestat on her husband Stan (originally intended to be named Lestan) and Louis on herself.
The 1976 novel is unfortunately the only entry in The Vampire Chronicles from Louis’ POV, which came from a place of her own personal trauma. Lestat was obviously a far more flamboyant, fun, fanciable character for her to focus on, but ultimately not as prone to exploring the existential crises and philosophical questioning present in her original novel.
One may also notice that the doll shop owner Madeleine’s backstory is that of a mother who lost a young daughter who likewise never got to grow up. Rice’s house in New Orleans was famously filled with antique dolls, which is imagery very much associated with Claudia.
For obvious reasons, a five year old was deemed unable to handle the demanding role of Claudia, which is that of a woman’s mind driven mad trapped in a child’s body (she’s actually over eighty years old by the end of her story), and so the role was aged up for a then eleven-year-old Kirsten Dunst. There was a nationwide search that included younger actresses, but Dunst was one of the few who could handle the part. She actually didn’t get to see the film until years later, either. The 1994 film also included her first kiss, which was with none other than Brad Pitt, though neither were enthused! Dunst also wore the blue dress when she attended Rice’s Memnoch Ball in 1995.
The biggest crime of the later books is how Anne Rice completely threw away what would’ve been far more profound for Louis (and of course, Claudia was dead) because of her rampant author’s pet blind spot. Ironically, Louis was her self-insert, while Lestat was her husband and Claudia was her dead daughter.
It’s like it never occurred to her that the “Human Nature” trope (see Clark in Superman II, Angel in Angel: the Series, Clark again in Smallville, the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, Castiel in Supernatural, etc…) is so much more profound for the tragic inhuman character who actually desires most to be human, is at odds with their own species or wants to experience human belonging/family/love, rather than the one who would happily throw away that humanity they never really wanted (Lestat in The Tale of the Body Thief). Funnily enough, Brad Pitt’s Meet Joe Black is also this trope. Louis, not Lestat, is the character who belonged with this trope as it is in every other piece of fiction that uses it. Those medias understood it’s best used as a heartbreaking gut punch instead of a comedy romp. It’s something that hurts when it is cruelly snatched away or must be given up for the sake of a duty larger than oneself. The only Vampire Chronicles character who would prefer even more to be human than Louis because of the profound unhappiness in their physical form would be Claudia. It’s the thing they most have in common together.
Merrick was yet another time when these characters’ potential to continue on the center stage was woefully misused and under-realized in favor of endless new OCs and Lestat. Louis was written out of the starring role that put Anne Rice’s career on the map the second she and the fandom wrote him off as a liar, despite never being able to fully retcon out Lestat’s actions during Interview with the Vampire. There were certainly better uses for Claudia’s ghost than as a cruel manipulation that then never gets closure for her or Louis’ obviously continuing feelings for her. Given that he’s still not over her death more than a century later, it’s always the elephant in the room in regards to Louis in the present. It’s the storyline that keeps Louis frozen in time, unable to continue his own story beyond the 19th century except as a series of vignettes and observations by other characters. Merrick completely failed both Louis and Claudia. He’s as much of a ghost in the present story as she is.
Because of this, Louis’ story now will always be incomplete; a profoundly influential character used as little more than a prop in the background of other characters’ narration. And of course, Claudia’s tragedy was being incomplete from the start.
Characters like Angel and many copycats (not only vampire characters either–Russell T Davies has fully admitted Buffy and Angel’s influence on his Doctor Who revival and Torchwood spinoff, while the entire Fanged Four are Anne Rice’s archetypal lineup) would directly not exist without Louis. And yet, Angel got the center stage as the deeply-flawed inhuman protagonist with a “human soul” that Louis never got again. Louis is Anne Rice’s archetype (a massive influence on all inhuman creatures with human feelings ostracized from their own kinds, doomed to never belong to either world and the outsider looking in on a life they can never have) that has actually inspired more leads than Lestat ever did. Other media, in Interview with the Vampire’s image, knew that the flashier, funnier, cooler Lestat archetype (which was likewise influential, but rarely an initial lead) is instead an antagonistic, often villainous foil to a more serious, introspective character’s existential crisis and the greater philosophical and moral depth that this brings a story.
Anne Rice stumbled upon that when she wrote Interview with the Vampire, but seemingly didn’t understand it. Or perhaps it was easier for her to avoid her personal trauma by focusing instead on an object of fantasy and fancy.
Unfortunately, she denigrated Louis to make Lestat palatable as an antihero instead of a villain or even antivillain. He and his POV became inconvenient to the change in narrative and Lestat’s POV became rarely challenged, despite him being the more likely of the two to fit as the unreliable narrator with far more reasons to lie and make himself look better. His verifiable actions contradict lies like him only killing evildoers. Claudia being the most glaring refutation, but also the fact that Louis was targeted not because he was evil, but rather because he had wealth Lestat wanted. Louis was telling his story as a cautionary tale in which he wasn’t sugarcoating himself (quite the opposite–he’s the king of self-loathing) or anyone else, not a narcissistic ego trip disguised as a rebuttal.
The author’s retcon and fandom buying into the narrative of Louis as the unreliable narrator is a huge mistake and it goes a long way to explain the fall in quality of the later series. Louis should never have been consigned to the role of Antonio Salieri.
Back in the day (30 years ago) Sandra Bullock was the Queen of RomComs (“While you were sleeping”, “Two If by Sea”, “Hope Floats”, etc.). But in recent years she has focused on dramatic roles. That is until “The Lost City” which opens this week.
The setup for TLC is remarkably similar to “Romancing the Stone” (1984) where Kathleen Turner played a romance novelist (check) who is forlorn (check), and is forced by criminal (check), to find a treasure (check), and becomes irritated by the man trying to help her (check) BUT they slowly fall in love (check).
The two films are so similar that The Lost City could have been a sequel or reboot of the Romancing the Stone (or the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit)!
Before diving into the core of the plot - I’ve got to address the elephant in the room - or should I say Botox vial. At the age of 58, Bullock looks good, but there are shots where her face looks unnaturally smooth and plasticky. Of course she’s not the only older star to seek out age-defying treatments. But when paired opposite a leading man 16 years younger - the Botox looks more obvious.
I hadn’t planned to see TLC until I saw the trailer which featured Brad Pitt. He plays a parody of an action star and (while he’s on screen) it’s a lot of fun. But (spoiler alert) Pitt doesn’t have many scenes because Channing Tatum is the actual costar and is also 16 years younger.
Daniel Radcliffe plays the villain and does his best Lucius Malfoy impression. Later in the movie someone refers to him as “the boy with a beard”. I suspect Radcliffe will suffer that comparison far into his old age.
The movie is a comedy… but resorts to lame and juvenile attempts at humor (Tatum feels the warm water when Bullock pees in a stream; they both comment on how a tunnel opening looks like an anus).
Tatum’s character is one-dimension at first (a walking talking hair swishing Fabio joke). Although he develops, I can’t understand why he is so desperate for Bullock’s approval (other than modeling for her books is his meal ticket). He wants her because the script tells him he wants her.
Bullock’s character has been mourning the loss of her husband for 5 years but it seems as if it’s only yesterday. She is very dismissive of everyone around her - especially Tatum (who she treats like a Him-bo).
One of the funnier scenes (included in the trailer) is when Tatum discovers leeches on his back. But in the film - both Bullock and the audience see a whole lot more… Tatum displays his might fine leech covered butt (for more than just a glimpse). While Tatum’s naked ass might be worth the price of admission - I’d recommend waiting a couple months when it will likely be available on Paramount+.
Note: The director said that’s Tatum’s actual butt, not a butt double. Here are a couple shots of Tatum’s butt from his modeling career and another movie. You’ll get a better closeup in The Lost City (but fake leeches will be glued to it).
