The Writer's Life 4/18 - Let Me

American artists have frequently remade works from other countries, typically Europe. I watched one last night, courtesy of Netflix. Let Me In (2010) is an adaptation of the fine Swedish film, Let the Right One In (2008), which in turn was adapted from the novel of the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who wrote the screenplay. It is a noirish vampire love story -- without sex, the non-vampire protagonist being 12. Since so much time has past since I viewed the original, I can’t say which is superior. Each is riveting. One can argue that the remake was unnecessary, as the dubbing in the first version is excellent, just as it was in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, but, since there is money to be made, it’s going to be done. Fortunately, they have been done well. What sets these two apart from other vampire stories is freshness. They offer a different take on the myth in the way that Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark (1987) did. Of course, they would not work unless the actors were appealing. The leads in the USA version, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Grace Moretz, are excellent. Moretz, only 18, already has 52 credits to her name. She has been acting since age seven. The principal adults are played by Hollywood veterans whose faces, not names would be familiar: Richard Jenkins as the caretaker of the undead, Cara Buono as the boy’s mom and Elias Koteas as the cop. Matt Reeves adapted the screenplay and directed. He has now been at the helm 11 times, most recently for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), which I look forward to seeing, having really enjoyed its prequel. He also created and wrote for Felicity, the TV series starring Keri Russell. I have a hunch he will be making several more notable films. 82,000+ users at IMDb have rated Let Me In, forging to a consensus of 7.2 of ten. Let the right One In fares better, eight, rated by almost 158,000. Anyone squeamish about violence should pass. Also, the dark lighting may be a turn-off for some viewers. It may have been overdone in the American take. I don’t recall how it was in the original.


In Spring a young man's fancy turns to... Apparently in Ohio it turns to Spring Football. Defending national champion Ohio St. drew 99,391 to its Spring game. What -- they couldn't fill the rest of the 104,944 stadium seats?


It was a beautiful day. Unfortunately, people on Bay Parkway weren't in a book-buying mood. My thanks to Ralph, who purchased a children's illustrated version of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and a work of non-fiction about the easy way to wealth, which makes one wonder if only the author got rich because of the book.
Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/pdxwsnt

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/