Nelson also gives a lot of time to Harlan the writer, with Harlan storming through a series of lively readings from his work. His readings aren't just bland recitations, but dancing, vivid recreations of the passion that exists in every syllable. While Dreams is more about Harlan as personality over evaluating his literary worth, it gives you enough to make you want to re-read your old paperbacks and hunt out new ones. The DVD also includes plenty of extra features, including additional readings and a long informal conversation between Ellison and Gaiman.
Dreams doesn't touch on some of the controversies and lawsuits involving Ellison in immense detail, but it does enough to give you the picture — if he's a friend, he's a friend, but if you piss him off, lawyers are standing by and he's more than willing to bash a skull or two. (Among his victims/enemies are Fantagraphics Books, the Terminator franchise, Walt Disney, the I, Robot movie and many more.) Tellingly, Harlan's enemies aren't really given a chance to tell their side here, but that's not really the point.
I wouldn't want to live with Harlan Ellison, but he's been an immense influence on my own writing and how I view the world. I admire his strength and his voice, even when it's a bit too sharp and certain for his own good. An entertaining rant of a film, Dreams With Sharp Teeth is the portrait he deserves, for better and for worse.
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