The Ninth Gate

The Ninth Gate [Blu-ray]
$19.99
I've seen this movies so many times it never gets old. The blue ray version is really clear and crisp.

As for the movie, the story and the pace of the film will suck you in and make you wonder what will happen next and who is the good/bad guy.

Dumas Club: The Ninth Gate
$12.40
My first thought when setting out to write this review was, 'Hmmm, I wonder how many irrelevant and obscure titles I can work into the review, that may or may not shed some light on the subject matter at hand?'

I am a fairly well-read person (I am told I am too modest, and that I qualify as a very well read person, but I don't want to claim too much, lest some diabolic force leap forward to claim me back for my sin of pride, a particularly bad thing for those of holy orders, as every guide and advice to the priestly states since the days of Irenaeus). But I digress.

But this is in keeping with the flavour of the novel. Unless you like digression, stay far away (run, don't walk!) from this novel. But, if you go in for the seemingly endless, barely understandable and eventually irrelevant, then by all means, this is the book for you.

I would not have read this book but for the urgings of friends who were similarly reading this, and wanted to compare notes. Thanks, guys!

Now, I must hasten to add at this point, I did find myself enjoying the book several times. I don't mind the digressions, but I found the attempts (subtle but there) to equate Corso with a Holmesian character unconvincing (and the attempts were subtle enough that Perez-Reverte could claim they aren't actually there). Apart from Holmes, he ignores most of English literature--when he talks of those who wrote in serial form, i.e, Stendahl et alia, he neglects those such as Dickens.

I would love to have the card catalogue Perez-Reverte was sitting next to as he wrote this; perhaps he used Amazon.com and other internet searching to add that final irrelevant entry in each of the listings of books.

I am a bibliophile. I sit in a room, such as Perez-Reverte describes in several places, where shelves sag on walls groaning from the strain of heavy books, heavy in content as well as mass weight. I have several such rooms in my home. But I couldn't quite find the same love of books in this book, where sometimes bibliophilia was a fetish, and other times a useless detail.

Basic plot--is it a murder or is it a suicide? What does the manuscript have to do with it? Dumas (who wrote, among other things, the stories involving the Musketeers) is seemingly at the centre of things, along with a possibly-phoney book of occult forbidden knowledge, for which men will die (obviously) or kill. There is diabolic force at work, maybe. Corso is the rare-books expert called in to investigate the case, who doesn't always like the role of policeman.

Perez-Reverte seems intent on impressing us with his erudition in the field of literature and continental travel. It would be impressive if it were consistent and organised along better lines, and woven into a story where such details made a contribution. This book, as a mystery, fails to deliver because it both gives more information than is necessary (which can be an effective device, forcing the reader to separate 'the wheat from the chaff', or figure out which strands to follow; sadly, that is not the case here) and insufficient information in the strands which count to allow the reader to 'figure it out' (another sin, often difficult to avoid when one is trying for a 'complex' novel; even Conan Doyle frequently failed on this point).

In all, this is an inventive idea, with interesting character formation; for some reason, neither the story nor the characters get developed sufficiently (either in size or direction) to make this a first-class novel.

The New York Daily News described this book as 'A cross between Umberto Eco and Anne Rice' (Eco is very prominent here, as Perez-Reverte is obviously trying to emulate and cash in on Eco's prominence in the richer-and-book-purchasing English-speaking world). The New Yorker gets even more, well, New-Yorker-ish: 'A noir metafiction [please someone, tell me just what that means, in English??] Even a reader armed with a Latin dictionary and a copy of The Three Musketeers cannot anticipate the thrilling twists of this stylish, Escher-like mystery.'

Perhaps one of the reasons one cannot anticipate 'the thrilling twists' is the inconsistency in the novel? Just a thought.

Escher-like...well, yes, you read one thing and it turns out to be another (for instance, I thought I was reading a great novel, and it turned out to be...)

No, that is unfair. It is worth reading, but not devoting much time toward. Use as a diversion, not a devotional. I won't spoil the ending for you. I don't like it when others do that for me. You'll have to suffer as I and my fellow readers did to find out. You may love it! You may despise it! Yes, it is one of those books.

The Ninth Gate [Region 2]
$9.67
You'd think a film about finding the gateway to Hell might be interesting, but no. The Ninth Gate is a disastrous film and is a film I'm sure Johnny Depp would rather forget. This is probably one of the dumbest (And most boring) religious thrillers ever made. It's inconsistent, jumbled, confused, and not quite sure what it wants to be. Here's my opinion for why I think you should keep this gate closed.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) is a man who is hired by avid book collectors to track down rare books and investigate their authenticity. He is then hired by a man named Boris Balkan who wants him to investigate the authenticity of a book he recently acquired that supposedly can conjure the devil and open the gateway to Hell. So he gives Dean Corso the book and sends him to Portugal and France to compare it with two other copies that are about the same topic, but have different things about them such as differences in pictures. But then people start dropping dead around Corso, and someone is out to kill him and get the book. Along his journey to finding out the mystery to the Ninth Gate, he meets a mysterious woman who seems to have powers (I couldn't help but shake my head when there were scenes in which she glides down to Corso). Together they are taken on a dangerous journey full of mystery, deceit, and devil worship. The story doesn't go anywhere interesting and you're left bored senseless at the ridiculous plot.
MUSIC: This is one of the only areas of the film that actually worked. The musical score was decent and it seemed to fit the mood for the most part, but it was kind of dreary and dull at times.
ACTION: This film is very dull. This film can't seem to decide what it wants to be. Sometimes it tries to be a thriller. Sometimes a horror film. Sometimes a mystery. Sometimes it tries to be action. Sometimes it tries to be suspense. The problem here is the fact that none of these areas work. This in turn, turns the film into a garbled and inconsistent mess. It doesn't work as a thriller because well, there is nothing thrilling about it. It's not horror because it just isn't scary at all. It's not mystery because it's a cliched mess in which it doesn't take all that much time to figure out whose behind it. It's not action because it's badly done and full of terrible fight scenes. Then it doesn't work as suspense because you're never afraid (Not to mention excited) about what comes next because you already know what's going to happen. Let's also not forget this film features some of the most pointless sex/nude scenes I've ever seen. They are not done tastefully and they are laughable. Sadly, you can't pull a "so bad it's good" value out of this film, so don't even try.
ACTING: Johnny Depp is a good actor in most of his films, but he clearly dropped the ball in this film. He looked and sounded bored through the entire film as if wondering to himself, "Why the hell am I even here? I was in Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands, dammit! Is this what I've reduced myself to?" The other actors don't fare any better and are actually worse. Many of the actors seem comatose in their roles and display no emotion or believability. Then when the villains get into worshiping Satan you can't help but mock them because it's completely ridiculous and certainly in no way terrifying. When the actors do try and display emotion, they come off as a complete joke. Casting mishaps are aplenty in this film. But then again, I don't know whether I should blame the actors or the script, or maybe both. Still, this area is a complete mess.
OVERALL: While it may have a few interesting scenes and decent music, that will never excuse how bad of a mess this film is. It tries to be too many things at one, and it doesn't succeed at any of the genres it tries to be. It's a dreadfully dull film with no mystery or intrigue because you can always guess what happens next thanks to the terrible, cliched script. It has no good acting and you won't care about what happens to any of these people. A dull and thoroughly un-thrilling religious thriller that's also emotionally removed. Skip it.
THE GOOD: A few interesting scenes and decent music.
THE BAD: Terrible script, bad acting, it's dull and slow-moving, no scares, no mystery, no thrills, no cool action moments, and it's definitely not suspenseful.

Stir of Echoes / The Ninth Gate
$19.98
First off the movies are great. You can tell by the other reviews if you're interested in either of the movies themselves. My only problem is with the lack of features on both these DVDs. If you are a person that doesn't watch the bonus features or listen to the commentaries, then this double pack is the thing for you! Its a great deal in that case. I however like to listen to the commentaries and watch the "making of" features. Especially with good directors like Roman Polanski on Ninth Gate. I was pretty mad today when i went to wal mart and saw a new edition of Stir Of Echoes with added features (such as a commentary!!!!!).

Oh, well.