Good, but overrated

[JDFP]

Here's the thing for me, Survival is LITERALLY among the 3 worst movies I have EVER SEEN, of ANY SORT. Why? I'll go point by point. Yes. It sucked. But, compared to, say, Claudio Fragasso or some of Lucio Fulci's narratively incoherent films in which any form of logic should be thrown out the window, it only sucks as opposed to ranking anywhere near my all time top 10. You can argue about what you think of that, but you can't make the words go away. Romero has said, and more than once, that he wholeheartedly believes that Diary & Survival are his best Dead-related work to date. What can you call that, if not delusional? How can words like these FROM ROMERO *NOT* kill your respect for the man as he is today and his current prospects of making anything remotely watchable? Dementia perhaps? Eh, at least "Diary" was better than "Land". I agree with you completely here though. Seems hard to believe his recent three films were made by the same guy that gave us the original masterpiece trilogy. j.p.

[Trin]

To be fair, which director does that? Does it matter? If the answer is that no directors care about fan opinions then my statement still stands. Any director that won't listen to his fanbase gets what he gets. If he disrespects the fans by ignoring their opinions then he'd better churn out something to prove that he knows what they want better than they do or he'd better brace for people telling him his head is in his ass. Same as every other person in the world who won't listen.

[DubiousComforts]

Does it matter? Yes, it does matter because, unless it means kowtowing to the guys holding the purse strings, no director chooses to make films by committee. That's why they often become directors in the first place: control. Additionally, are you certain that all fans want the same thing, or would this be a case of only listening to the majority? It's easy to sit back and say "Romero doesn't listen to his fans" but once you begin putting this idea into practice, you see how silly it is. Btw, how do we know that Romero isn't happy with what he's already got? He's being paid to make small movies which have turned a profit. He attends conventions all over the world where fans stand in line for hours to meet him. Perhaps at this point, he's not interested in making an epic serial for TV and dealing with all the baggage that comes with a bigger budget.

[Trin]

Which is all wrapped up in my comment that if he wants respect he has to earn it. He does that either by listening to fans or giving us something we love regardless. He doesn't even throw us a "hey, I hear what you're saying." It's more of "let me tell you why the shit sandwich isn't shit." And if he wants to make his money doing what he wants, that's fine too. But don't tell me (as some posters have said, not necessary you Dubious) I have to give him "the respect he's due" in the face of that. You don't earn respect that way.

[thxleo]

Does it matter? If the answer is that no directors care about fan opinions then my statement still stands. Any director that won't listen to his fanbase gets what he gets. If he disrespects the fans by ignoring their opinions then he'd better churn out something to prove that he knows what they want better than they do or he'd better brace for people telling him his head is in his ass. Same as every other person in the world who won't listen. So the director or artist should just give you exactly what you want and do exactly as you say and not do what is in his/her heart? What person, with any intelligence, would respect that? Artists take risks that sometimes work and sometimes do not work. What would please you? Should Romero just keep having people hide in a shopping center or a farmhouse? Would that be better for you?

[ProfessorChaos]

i think a few things that spring to mind are: no zombie gags no beating us over the head with social commentary well developed and likable, believable characters

[DubiousComforts]

And if he wants to make his money doing what he wants, that's fine too. But don't tell me (as some posters have said, not necessary you Dubious) I have to give him "the respect he's due" in the face of that. You don't earn respect that way. I understand where you're coming from, though nobody is saying that you have to like or even respect Romero's current works. I think everyone here is smart enough to understand there is a line that is crossed when critiquing films becomes an overwhelming need to crown a reigning champ of a genre (or at least everyone here should). Normal filmgoers don't care about these things. I simply disagree that any director, musician or artist should base their work on fan comments or approval; that's what producers and marketing deptartments are for. Certainly, many people have told Romero that they enjoy his current films; I know I did in regards to DIARY.

[BillyRay]

So the director or artist should just give you exactly what you want and do exactly as you say and not do what is in his/her heart? What person, with any intelligence, would respect that? An empty suit at the corporate HQ?

[Legion2213]

Regarding listening to your fans. One of Agatha Christie's most famous creations was "Poirot", she was looking to have him killed after only his second story because she really didn't like him (said he was a smug fat git or words to that effect), but her fans loved him...so she wrote high quality Poirot stories for decades, she understood that apart from serving her own artistic vision, she also had a loyal fan base who she had a responsibility to please (they were the folks paying for her works after all). George AND many other artists could/should take note of this. Edit: I love GAR's first three zombie movies, I think Land is "meh" at best, Diary is an insult to the viewer and Survival I can't even be arsed with...does that make me a lover or a hater?

[bassman]

Even Michael Bay listened to fans to a certain extent during Transformers. Just throwing that out there. I mean...he's not the most story-driven director and he at least tried to listen and made some changes...

[Yojimbo]

While I get the issues that a lot of GAR's fans have with Land/Diary/Survival, I am somewhat glad that they are representative of GAR's artistic vision (though I suspect a fair amount of focus-group and committee meddling in the case of Land) Though I did enjoy all three of GAR's latest offerings, there are a number of issues that I do have with all three. But that being said, I would rather GAR's films be a product if his singular artistic vision rather than have him structure his movies specifically to appeal to the sentiments of his fans. At least then we are getting a product, however flawed I or anyone else might consider it to be, that is undiluted. I would be more upset if he was tailoring his pieces based on consensus opinion. Personally, I really dug TWD last sunday and look forward to seeing the new episodes. Like GAR's films there were some issues that annoyed me with the TWD pilot, but also like GAR's last three they were not issues that killed my enjoyment of the piece and will not cause me to be dismissive of the work as a whole. I'm happy to finally have a decent zombie series. And while I think it is fair and reasonable to have issues with GAR's latest works as a fan and feel that they did not live up to personal expectations, I think that it is not fair to declare GAR as no longer relevant simply because of these issues, or just because TWD had a decent pilot. As fans, we should be able to appreciate the merits of both and be able to discuss the issues we have with both without some of the personal digs which have been posted recently.

[DubiousComforts]

Even Michael Bay listened to fans to a certain extent during Transformers. If there is one group that nobody should listen to, it's Michael Bay fans.

[bassman]

If there is one group that nobody should listen to, it's Michael Bay fans. Actually...he was listening to Transformers fans. Fans of a franchise or series with pre-established rules and guidelines. It relates directly to whats being said here about Romero....

[DubiousComforts]

Actually...he was listening to Transformers fans. Fans of a franchise or series with pre-established rules and guidelines. It relates directly to Romero.... Judging by all the complaints aired over the Transformers films (unlike the DEAD films, the franchise is worth hundreds of millions of dollars), I'm not certain listening to fans is such a great idea.

[Legion2213]

Just wanted to add that GAR leaves himself open to more personal attacks because he confronts his audience with his own personal politics - right in your face and to the detrement of his latter movies. I've heard that a lot of people liked the first few "Terry Goodkind" (sword of truth) books but got really pissed off with the fact that his later books just seemed to be monologues about how great his favoured politics were and how evil the other guys were. Most audiences are more sophisticated than that and expect a bit more than political diatribes from escapist films/fiction. ---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 PM ---------- I suppose the bottom line is that if I pay for a product and don't enjoy it, I have every right to openly say I dislike that product.