Red Dragon Reconsidered

The cover of Thomas Harris's 1981 novel Red Dr...

So a while back I asked folks if they had a movie they looked back on and reconsidered their opinion on.

The premise was simple: a movie reviewer looked back and reconsidered his opinion on old movies he had rewatched.

I promised I would find one, but I truly struggled until I rewatched "Manhunter" on TV a few nights ago.

This was the original telling of the novel Red Dragon, which is famous for being the first appearance by Hannibal Lecktor (as they spelled it in Manhunter) by Thomas Harris.

I remember being OK with that version by Michael Mann. He was in the height of his "Miami Vice" days and it REALLY shows in the movie. And yet, it works. Seriously, take a look at the IMDB page for this movie and be impressed by the acting power on display there!

I loved William Petersen in his pre-CS days. Maybe this is where that started? You have Brian Cox as Hannibal! Jon Landau who went on to produce Avatar worked on this movie!

Mind you, you REALLY have to look past the 80s values very well present in this film. The production design is hyper Mann in the 80s, but beyond that it is a solid piece of work.

So solid, that I never allowed myself to see the REMAKE "Red Dragon" a few years ago with Hopkins as Lector. Seemed really unnecessary, but then this begs the next question- what movie/book etc do you patentedly refuse to digest because it might not live down the hype? I gotta huge list for that!

Slow Death or Rebirth for Myspace?

Are we really watching the slow inevitable death of Myspace? With the integration with Facebook complete and the push towards what appears to be a mobile only function , isn't it time to call this one? One report says that Myspace is making $200 million less this year. They are functionally giving up on Myspace Music , which was always their bread and butter. Without the music tie in, why would people BOTHER with Myspace? I'm talking about it because my wife's band has used every medium known to mankind to promote themselves online and Myspace has been nothing but dead weight from the very beginning. Only bands and their most ardent fans go there. The rest are on Facebook. There is talk of selling Myspace, but who in their right mind would consider it? This will have some interesting implications for bands down the road. Many use Myspace as their de facto website, just pushing their domain name onto the customizable site. Now apparently, Reverbnation , a North Carolin

Check out my appearance on the The Toddcast Podcast

Click and watch the podcast recording of my appearance on the Toddcast Podcast Such a fun time!

New Life

It's weird, sad and slightly freeing. I've been headed towards a completely different life for a lot longer than I even knew. It took me a while to catch up to realize it was happening. Thankfully, I was cognizant enough to see it finally and mostly ready for it. It's amazing when you have the rug completely pulled out from underneath you. The adjustments are jarring. I made mistakes, but like most I learned from them, adapted, and tried my best to do better. The reason you see that truck next to a storage place? That's the sum of my life right now. Never take for granted that you will work hard for something or someone, and it will end up meaning very little. You are guaranteed nothing, owed nothing, promised nothing. Anything and everything can be taken away in a heartbeat. I wrote this to my kids a while back: I tried to be the best father I could be based on what I knew when I knew it and how I could. One of the lessons for your life needs to be: you need to b

Todd Lyden

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