Diary of the Dead

[josh]

it's only playing in select cities (what the ****) but it opens today. anyone else as excited as I am about this?

trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MdqNr0gN4Y)

[Chuck]

I read the IGN review. They made it sound lame.

[josh]

IGN itself is pretty lame.

[John Mora]

Romero is lame.

[Chad]

It's official. John Mora has no soul.

[John Mora]

I'd love to see you defend Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead.

[Duel]

Never heard of it.

[Chad]

I'd love to see you defend Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead.

Great fun.

[SirTMagus]

Each of Romero's ...Dead movies are decade-defining work. They may not always entertain (they all drag at points) but they have great, practical special effects (no CG to my memory), funny characters and are interesting at least on a subtextual level. That's the level I always enjoy my zombie movies anyway.

Besides, Danny Boyle and Shinji Mikami would be nowhere without him!

Night of... = 60s. Black protagonist, Civil Rights Movement, zombies = racists.

Dawn of... = 70s. Consumer culture is out of control, society is about to collapse as a result. Zombies = mindless masses.

Day of... = 80s. Consumerism has failed. The opening shot is a rundown bank. The Reagan-era military is completely bonkers. Science is doing weird stuff. The zombies are starting to gain intelligence. Also, the goriest of the bunch with great/terrible villains and a psycho mad scientist that looks like the mad scientist from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Zombies = ****** off they didn't get NES for Christmas because they just lost their homes due to foreclosure.

Land of... = Post-9/11. Post-Bush re-election. People eke out a pathetic living in a strict class-based Guantanamo-esque haven. The protagonists do the dirty work of a greedy, grubby president/dictator/Jew (Kaufman) who lives at the top (literally). Everyone is divided. The humans use "shock and awe" fireworks to distract the zombies who have, at this point, formed a Ganados-like hierarchy and work to infiltrate the human city. Zombies = Their banding together under a charismatic revolutionary suggest they're terrorists or insurgents but most likely they're the U.S. populace tired of war and flimsy gov't. That would make "Land of..." the most optimistic of the bunch.

I wonder why Romero skipped the 90s. Were they so tranquil to not warrant zombie satire?

As for this one... I dunno. Never saw a Romero film in theaters. Would be cool, I guess.

But I think Cloverfield beat it to the punch.

[highwind]

I'd love to see you defend Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead.

Day of the Dead had Bub and a ton of nasty special effects.

It was worth it for that.

Land of the Dead is prettty terrible.

[Dreamknight]

The 90's did have Savini's Night remake, though.

Which I like more than the original. :3

[Chad]

Day of the Dead had Bub and a ton of nasty special effects.

It was worth it for that.

Land of the Dead is prettty terrible.

My fiancee thinks Bub is a cutie. :lol

[Jamos]

Never heard of the movie... guess I'm not one of the select cities.

[John Mora]

Day of the Dead is people talking about boring stuff in a warehouse designed to look like a cave.

Land of the Dead... John Legwommybear and King Koopa acting like dicks.

[SirTMagus]

Oh my god, you're right! Luigi and Koopa! TOGETHER AGAIN!

And let's not diss talking about boring stuff, Mr. Death Proof.

:V

[josh]

BAHAHAHA

Magus beat me to the punch though. I just wonder what the underlying theme to Diary will be. it's always great when someone who defined a genre revisits it.

[Ryner]

Dear Diary,

Still dead.

[Snarf]

Land of the Dead sucked, there is really no excuse for it. But for the first three, they were great. I doubt that I will see this new one in theaters, though.

The first three Dead movies are ground breaking, but he has other films that are just as good. The Creepshow movies were great, Martin was brilliant and I even enjoyed Monkey Shines. He will never get an Oscar or even an artsy fartsy award for his work but that doesn't make his films any less.

I think the reason why Mora never enjoyed these films because they are not obvious or literal enough for him. I know liken yourself to be a grand critic who is complex and discerning but I would have to disagree. It seems you are just another sarcastic, pretentious, art school wannabe who has no vision and likes to hear himself talk... a lot.

Your general statement of Romero sucking is like saying The Beatles suck or Nirvana sucks. You may not "like" them but you cannot disregard the power of their influence on their medium or say they "suck".

[John Mora]

Don't put words in my mouth. I enjoyed Night of the Living Dead. But Romero shouldn't pretend that he's a good screenwriter.