My thoughts on Diary...

[carpetbeggar]

I totally agree with this. I watched it for the first time tonight and I tell you I am SO glad I neither, saw it in the theater, bought the DVD, rented it, NOR will I ever think about illegaly download it(not that I would ever do that even if I enjoyed the movie lol). Very disappointing IMHO. Oh man I just finished watching this. I really didn't dig it, everything was so contrived and badly done. The Amish deaf guy thing was silly, although I did chuckle. Ugh. I felt the actors would've had a chance had they not been given such outlandish and ridiculous things to do, and deal with. Jason Creed is a dickhead and I really doubt anyone in this kind of situation would tolerate this dude filming other people being attacked without dropping the camera and helping out. There was barely a sense of them questioning what was going on, they accept it so quickly it's stupid. The only saving grace is that I am glad I missed it at the cinema. The extras are good on the blu ray dvd though....

[DubiousComforts]

Very disappointing IMHO. Regardless, what is the point of being grateful for not having seen it theatrically?

[Trin]

What I want to know is how so many people can come on this forum and say how much they hate the movie and yet the poll only has 11 people in the disliked or worse category. Do you people not vote?!?! Edit - make that 12 - that was fast there carpetbeggar!!

[Legion2213]

What I want to know is how so many people can come on this forum and say how much they hate the movie and yet the poll only has 11 people in the disliked or worse category. Do you people not vote?!?! Edit - make that 12 - that was fast there carpetbeggar!! I've just cast my own vote for "disliked it" as well. GAR's last two films have been sub-par garbage IMO. Very disapointing stuff from the father of the zombie genre, the man who gave us one of the best "trilogies" of all time.

[clanglee]

What I want to know is how so many people can come on this forum and say how much they hate the movie and yet the poll only has 11 people in the disliked or worse category. Do you people not vote?!?! Edit - make that 12 - that was fast there carpetbeggar!! I struggled with my vote man. I voted disliked. . but I didn't WHOLELY dislike the movie. Nevertheless, every time I think about the damn movie I find something else to bitch about. . so . .I went disliked. Im a real fence sitter. There really should have been an option for ""

[AcesandEights]

What I want to know is how so many people can come on this forum and say how much they hate the movie and yet the poll only has 11 people in the disliked or worse category. Do you people not vote?!?! Edit - make that 12 - that was fast there carpetbeggar!! Some people can't be arsed, while others might not see items 'stickied' above the 'normal' daily forum topics. I know I didn't notice it till I saw the topic as a recently replied to thread in the 'Top 5' summary portion of the main, forum page.

[Trin]

I struggled with my vote man. I voted disliked. . but I didn't WHOLELY dislike the movie. Nevertheless, every time I think about the damn movie I find something else to bitch about. . so . .I went disliked. Im a real fence sitter. There really should have been an option for "" I didn't completely dislike it either. And there was really not much in the movie that I outright hated. But there was also nothing I loved. In the end there were tons of little things I disliked that wore away at my opinion. With Land there are parts I loved and parts I hated. It was very clear cut.

[Legion2213]

I didn't completely dislike it either. And there was really not much in the movie that I outright hated. But there was also nothing I loved. In the end there were tons of little things I disliked that wore away at my opinion. With Land there are parts I loved and parts I hated. It was very clear cut. I watched Land again the other night, it is a better zombie movie than Diary, at least there is some good action in parts.

[Thorn]

Honestly I disliked the film on a number of levels. First and foremost was the script, which was weak. The fact that he had film students in the woods shooting a movie about a mummy, which is an undead… and they later go on to film real undead. Weak. The fact that a scene from their movie comes to life in “reality” Doubly lame in my opinion. The acting was horrible, the characters were on dimensional and inconsistent in some cases. I liked the teacher, he was about it. Even with the whole “bow” thing going on which was forced and seemed contrived. Lack of leading minority characters, and the fact that the principle actors were teenagers/20 something’s made it feel like a “teen scream” slasher flick and I am not a fan of those at all. I think that in the past George has been more subtle or his commentary on society has been subconscious. In this he tried to deliver a message and did so with the force of a safe falling on your head the way it would in the keystone cops or a bugs bunny movie. Sad thing was the movie felt just as cartoon like at times and it bothered me. Yes, we film everything. I get it. Yes we are obsessed with YouTube, and the MySpace generation and blogs are telling history as it happens and not always accurately I get that too. I sense his message and disdain about the media and their corruption and spin. I got the subtle racist message, and the not so subtle “all the white national guardsman were scumbags” and “most of the black gang members were “good fellas” commentary. Bravo. Does it shock anyone? I think we all know there are good and bad people in all walks of life, and the government is not a bastion of honor and decency. Nor are our soldiers, or our law enforcement officials. Every group, team, business, organization, and subculture has both good and bad elements in it. The thing was and it has been said here in other ways already was it doesn’t make for very stimulating viewing. Others have said “why watched a horror movie if you are looking for a thinking man’s movie” well isn’t that what makes GAR films special? You do think, you can think, and pick up on his themes and ideas beyond what is shown to you intended or not? If not you can just pop in Friday the 13th part one. I just hate being preached at at, or talked down to. Talk to me, entertain me, wrap me up in your world and lore and make me care about your characters. Make a movie so good that suspension of disbelieve is not something I HAVE to do but something I have no coconscious choice in doing because the movie is that damn good. I respect the hell out of GAR for all he has done, and for trying to reboot his series this far into the “game” and return to his roots in a sense by walking away from the big budget film studios. That is not to say I liked it, because I didn’t. I also will watch it again at some point and I am looking forward to a part 2 just because I think GAR can and will do better.

[Legion2213]

I just hate being preached at at, or talked down to. Talk to me, entertain me, wrap me up in your world and lore and make me care about your characters. Make a movie so good that suspension of disbelieve is not something I HAVE to do but something I have no coconscious choice in doing because the movie is that damn good. Excellent comment.

[Yojimbo]

I suspect that there are folks here posting their dislike of Diary simply because they have this perception that it is cool to dislike Diary. Not all of you, mind you - I am aware that many of you have legitimate complaints about Diary, and I can respect that. I personally liked Diary, and found it to be an entertaining, well made zombie movie. Surely, it is not as unique as NOLD 68 was when it was made, and not as entertaining as DOTD 78, and not as gory as DAY. So in the context of GAR films, it is perhaps not his best work, but I think it kicks the ass of most of the zombie-genre films being made today, or at least the ones that I have seen recently with the exception of Shaun which I found to be more entertaining. Sure, a lot of the actors were wooden, and I could have done without the Texas crap and a lot of the stupid voice over. I also believe that the lead female's acting ability was not solid enough for the role. But overall, I did like the movie. BTW: -On the topic of the hospital being empty - I used to be a unit manager for the Family Practice/Urgent Care clinic for a major hospital here in Los Angeles, and I must say that I did not find the lack of staff at the hospital in the midst of this crisis to be unbelievable in the least. If you would like to debate this issue, I am game to go head to head, point by point, and argue that the hospital sequence was believable if you wish. -And on political messages in film: take any film and if you wish you can interpret a political agenda from it if you try hard enough.

[Danny]

-And on political messages in film: take any film and if you wish you can interpret a political agenda from it if you try hard enough. i submit pokemon 2000 up to your scrutiny!, MYA-HA-HA!

[clanglee]

-And on political messages in film: take any film and if you wish you can interpret a political agenda from it if you try hard enough. Of course you can, but the message in this movie was not hard at all to figure out man. George was beating us with his message. In some movies people can get differerent ideas about what the "message" was. Not this movie. This message was so overpowering that it made it difficult to enjoy the story. But. . I am not about to go into my old story/message arguement again.

[Yojimbo]

Of course you can, but the message in this movie was not hard at all to figure out man. George was beating us with his message. In some movies people can get differerent ideas about what the "message" was. Not this movie. This message was so overpowering that it made it difficult to enjoy the story. But. . I am not about to go into my old story/message arguement again. I agree to disagree with you about whether or not the message overwhelmed the story, Clang, but I conceed that there was indeed a "message" in Diary specifically intended by the old fart, and that this message was very clearly stated. GAR himself has mentioned this message in interviews, so I am certainly not denying that there was one in this film. i submit pokemon 2000 up to your scrutiny!, MYA-HA-HA! Haven't seen it yet, but I would guess that the message is cooperation triumphs over individual needs, reflecting that bipartisan efforts will win in the end over the agendas of the separate political parties. (Ok, I admit I am pulling this one out of my ass!)

[bassman]

I agree to disagree with you about whether or not the message overwhelmed the story, Clang, but I conceed that there was indeed a "message" in Diary specifically intended by the old fart, and that this message was very clearly stated. GAR himself has mentioned this message in interviews, so I am certainly not denying that there was one in this film. Although I like Diary, I agree with this. It's a bit heavy handed but people also said this about Land and I think that sometimes they forget about Dawn. Dawn is generally considered THE zombie movie and the favorite of favorites, but that message was right there in your face. I see people saying that it was subtle, but I say "PFFFT" to that. Dawn is 'in your face' with commentary. It's not implied, it's not hinted, it's a HUGE portion of the film. Even Romero himself admits that when he saw the mall and first got the idea for the film, it was to have the comparison of what would people do if they were held up in a consumer's paradise with everything they could possibly want or need but only a few people to have as company? Now you could argue that Romero has made that statement since the film was released, but everytime I watch Dawn...I'm seeing commentary out the ass. The mall, the projects, the TV station, the bikers, EVERYTHING. It's not subtle. I give you an excerpt from Ebert's review of Dawn that was written right after the film was released: The depravity is in the healthy survivors, and the true immorality comes as two bands of human survivors fight each other for the shopping center: Now look who's fighting over the bones! And people say the commentary wasn't intended and didn't come about until later years. I hate to say it once again...but people pick on romero's new entries because they hold the originals so high that they don't want a new spin or something original. They want to see duplicates. Look how people reacted when Day was released... Whew. Okay...Rant over.