Dawn/Day of the Dead Q+A in Edinburgh 25/10

[SymphonicX]

Hey all

Just thought I'd post my experience at the Cameo picturehouse in Edinburgh, where we all saw Dawn and Day on the big screen, followed by a Q+A with Ken Foree and Joesph Pilato.

Our day started out pretty hectic - this day is also my mum's birthday so we went via a short trip to Blackpool - this set us out really really late and my sat nav said we'd arrive half hour after Dawn started!!! We bombed down the motorway at speeds usually reserved for idiots or the starship enterprise, and made it to our hotel with 30 mins to spare - we pre-ordered a cab and it took us straight to the Cameo so we didn't have to worry about parking or any of that stuff...

So we get in the cinema at literally the opening time and the organiser guy starts Dawn of the Dead - telling us they are showing the European (Argento) Cut because "no one's seen it"...

Well...personally I didn't want to see that inferior version - something I see just as a curiousity piece...its vastly inferior actually, and seeing it on the big screen made it no better. A couple of people actually walked out apparently!!

They were blatantly playing it off a Blu-ray projector, the sound was low and tinny and some of the audio on this cut is so badly mixed, that some of the dialogue was impossible to hear. At one point the movie froze during playback!!!!

Cue the end of the movie, a round of applause and Ken Foree pops out for his Q+A...

But do we get a Q+A? No.

Instead we get a thirty minute lecture on racism and Obama...I'm not kidding. Now don't get me wrong, I know these are important issues for Ken - but his "ignorance is exceeded only by his charm"...we weren't there for a pop quiz on racism nor (in my opinion) were the majority of the people there racist at all...the fact is racism in the UK is less and less of an issue with the white middle class that mainly populated this audience...if we saw race as an issue we certainly wouldn't be there, idolising probably the greatest black man in the world!!!! I wanted to hear about Dawn of the Dead - I wanted to ask Ken if he really WAS in the Terminator at one point! But instead two or so questions were posed about Dawn, but the majority of the Q+A was all Ken having a race debate with us....

Then a short break and we got some drinks, as I've met Ken before I saved money for Joe Pilato's appearance...Day of the Dead started and we all reseated, suddenly five minutes into the movie we hear a huge booming American voice scream "CAPTAIN RHODES IS IN THE HOUSE, ENJOY THE MOVIE PEOPLE!!" followed by applause....We all enjoyed watching Day of the Dead, and the transfer quality was excellent (although a couple of alternative vocal takes appeared here and there which have been discussed before).

After the movie Joe Pilato came out for his Q+A and he was obviously slightly on the drunk side, he came up to the front in a scarf, carrying an umbrella! He answered a few questions (nothing the hardcore fan didn't know already) - and even gave a shout to the NOTLD puppet show (which he accidentally refered to as Day of the Dead) and gave his opinion on the Day of the Dead remake which he hadn't seen (he was diplomatic and honest about not seeing it but said he admired Ving Rhame's work).

After the Q+A myself and a mate went outside and got some stuff signed - he asked me if I wanted him to write something like "choke on 'em" with the autograph but I instead asked him to write something about "a mouthful of greek salad" - he laughed and said that no one had ever asked him to write that before, then we got a picture with him and exchanged some pleasantries and that was it!!!

Then we had probably the worst drive back from Scotland to London that I could ever imagine possible. We left at about 10am, and I finally got back home at......wait for it.....01:10am. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!

All in all a mixed bag of experiences but definitely one I'd do again but hopefully I'd plan it better and buy a sat nav that didn't function in a similar fashion as a turd in a sewer!!

Thanks for reading :)

[capncnut]

Instead we get a thirty minute lecture on racism and Obama...I'm not kidding.
That's all Ken talks about. I love the man but it seriously gets on my tits.


After the movie Joe Pilato came out for his Q+A and he was obviously slightly on the drunk side, he came up to the front in a scarf, carrying an umbrella!
Lolski. :lol:

[MinionZombie]

I'd have been pissed if I got there and had to sit through a lecture on Obama and racism.

I'm not racist, I love Ken's work - I wanna hear about that - and Obama's celebrity cache is fucking annoying, as is the love-in and cock-suck festival that goes on around him. It's as annoying as fundamentalist Bush lovers.

...

ha, I would have loved to have seen Pilato rocking up on stage like that. :D

[krakenslayer]

Went to the Glasgow showing last night, and it was fantastic! There were a few hiccups but they just served to make it more memorable.

First off the little announcer guy came on stage and apologized that Ken Foree would not be arriving until the end of the movie because he was still in the hotel recovering from the previous night. Apparently the previous night's audience were so unresponsive and dour-faced (he didn't mention Edinburgh by name but that's Edinbuggers for you) that Ken and Joe and the little journalist guy went out and got shit-faced afterwards.

They played Dawn of the Dead (US Theatrical Edit) which was fantastic. The print seemed a little touch on the dark side, but like Symph reported reported from Edinburgh, it was probably played off a Blu-Ray and the brightness and contrast on the projector could have used a little tweaking. I have no complaints about the actual visual and sound quality of the film - in fact, if that WAS the newly released disc they were showing, they did a good job on it.

The audience was fantastic - laughing and cheering and whooping throughout - it was the best experience I've had watching either of these films since the first time I saw them.

It's weird - when half the audience roars with laughter or cheers and applauds at a gag or set piece that I have seen a thousand times and have become inured to - it really makes one see the film with fresh eyes. For example, I never realised until now, but Fran and Steven's ineptitude at fighting zombies is actually played for laughs in the film. I was always slightly embarrassed by the scene in which Fanboy clumsily fights zombies at the airpad while Fran looks helplessly on - but this audience, many of whom were Dawn first-timers, lapped it up. They weren't laughing in a "this movie is old and sucks" kinda way, they were laughing in a sort of empathetic "these characters are as bad at fighting zombies as I would be" kinda way. And when Roger slapped Steven's poorly-aimed rifle out of the way and took aim, the roof almost went off the place - I'd never thought of that as a comedian scene, but it IS! Dawn of the Dead is a funny, funny film. These movies are packed full of intentional gags, almost to the level of a Shaun of the Dead, but I'd seen them so many times and picked their plot points apart in sombre discussions so often that I'd forgotten it.

It made me think about Survival of the Dead. The movie has been getting flak for being too silly, people have been saying that Romero isn't taking the genre seriously enough anymore. Now I realise he never did - and it's not a bad thing. Last night I sat there thinking: if George showed up tonight, and played his movie with Chinese fishermen falling off rooftops, heads exploding with fire extinguisher foam, zombies on horseback, people saying cowboy-movie style lines, etc. he'd have this audience eating out of his hand. It also explains, for me, why some showings of Survival generated better reviews than others: GAR's films are MADE to be seen with a lively audience, preferably with a high quotient of willing non-Romero fans who, unlike us, are not sitting there quietly and desperately praying "please be good, please be good", but just enjoying the movie in the context of wacky humour and gross-out scares. That's how I hope to see Survival for the first time - the laughter and mirth of the n00bs loosens up the hardcore GAR nuts and lets us enjoy the film at face value.

Anyway, back on topic. Dawn got a round of applause and, when Foree came out, it extended the overall ovation to about the ten minute mark!! He announced at the start of the QA session that he wanted to tell some stories about his life and talk about racism and Obama but the promoter had asked him not to, as it ran on for so long the previous night; so his hands were tied. First question from the audience? "Can you tell us some stories from your life and talk about Obama?" LOL! So he gave us the condensed version of the time he was called out to Vancouver to shoot The X Files, and he was pissed off because he was intending to go and visit his old neighbourhood that week and catch up with all the people from his childhood, only to discover that he knew David Duchovny and used to play basketball with his brother. (He didn't do the racism talk though). So he had an interesting QA - lots of questions asked - he told us his thoughts on the Dawn remake, he told us about his upcoming films (Zone of the Dead and El Superbeasto), talked a little about his friendship with Duane Jones before he died, etc. etc.

Afterwards, they played Day of the Dead. Again, too dark but otherwise amazing quality. Again, the audience had a blast. One thing that is clear is why people didn't like Day of the Dead at first. After watching Dawn, it stands out so clearly that the first 40 minutes (and a lot of the rest) of Day is just people shouting at each other. After that time, the humour starts creeping back in, Bub appears and all the girls go "aww". By the end, everyone was enjoying Day just as much as Dawn, and the gore scenes actually raised some shocked cries and surprised laughter from the newbies in the audience.


Another lengthy round of applause as Joe Pilato came out in character as Rhodes - but holding the umbrella Symph mentioned, and said the following line in the Captain's voice (shivers down the spine time): "They say it's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors. They say it's bad luck to say the word... MACBETH in a theatre. Especially a SCOTTISH theatre. We ain't gonna have any of that bullshit superstition here tonight, COS I'M RUNNING THIS MONKEY-FARM NOW GLASGOW, AND I WANNA KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE DOING WITH MY TIME!!" The audience - including both old fans and newly acquired ones - almost died from a deadly combination of violent mutual nerdgasm and pants-shitting terror.

Pilato's QA was just as interesting as Foree's (moreso, and I'll get to why in a moment). He talked about his involvement in an early version of From Dusk Till Dawn (the production trailer, featuring him, is apparently available online). He talked about how they should have sent Rhodes into Afghanistan to deal with the Taliban ("shoot the mothers in the head"). He told various stories about Day of the Dead, and spoke a little about the healthcare debate ("you all look a lot healthier than Americans"). But then - the most interesting thing, because I'm not sure if this knowledge is out there on the web yet - he spoke a little about his upcoming projects:

Apparently he is involved in the new "Night of the Living Dead: Origins" CG Dead movie. And he spilled quite a few beans on it, here they are:

* Origins is not a remake or a sequel, instead it takes the very same characters, interpersonal conflict and basic premise from Night and transplants them into a new setting: New York City on Christmas Eve at the start of an outbreak!

* The film is basically an allegory about the September 11 attacks and the world of fear, mistrust and conflict we live in now.

* The film is almost fully CG. Not rotoscoped like Sin City.

* There was suggestion that the film was aiming for a theatrical release in 2010.

* No mention, so far, of running zombies.

* And now the coffee-spilling moment. Joe Pilato will be starring in the movie as HARRY FUCKING COOPER!!!!

I'm still not sure whether this is awesomely cool or not. Anyway, I've typed enough now. I'm writing this post on my smartphone and my fingers are going to drop off.

Discuss.

[capncnut]

* And now the coffee-spilling moment. Joe Pilato will be starring in the movie as HARRY FUCKING COOPER!!!!
That coffee spilling moment was announced here weeks ago.

But yeah, sounds like a great night, Krackers. I'm all wet for Survival this Saturday!

[SymphonicX]

Man I tell you, the audience for Edinburgh were PISSED at having to watch the European cut!!!!!! And the reason why you got to see the proper version was because of this!!!!!!!!

I feel really fuckin' shortchanged on this front. No one wanted to see a 2 hour Goblin music video featuring scenes from Dawn of the Dead. I mean, it put EVERYONE off right there, it was unfair. We paid for Dawn, not for inferior Dawn.

Then when Ken came out and said "I don't want to do a Q+A I want to talk about racism" you could almost hear the collective sigh in the audience.

Which marries up nicely to why the organiser guy indeed told Ken not to go on about it...because he spent the whole time telling disjointed stories about his past (which included the x-files thing) but telling them back, and forth, and making no sense...babbling all over the place really.

So yeah, of course they had a bad time in Edinburgh, because people paid for one thing and didn't get it....what would anyone expect?

Joe certainly perked it all up though but because Ken over-ran with his racism rubbish, Joe had to cut it short...!!!!!!!

Seems glasgow definitely got the long straw there.

---------- Post added at 12:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------


That coffee spilling moment was announced here weeks ago.

But yeah, sounds like a great night, Krackers. I'm all wet for Survival this Saturday!

eh...survival?!? when? where?!?

[krakenslayer]

Man I tell you, the audience for Edinburgh were PISSED at having to watch the European cut!!!!!! And the reason why you got to see the proper version was because of this!!!!!!!!

I feel really fuckin' shortchanged on this front. No one wanted to see a 2 hour Goblin music video featuring scenes from Dawn of the Dead. I mean, it put EVERYONE off right there, it was unfair. We paid for Dawn, not for inferior Dawn?

Edinburgh people always find something to be miserable about though. :p

The version advertised for the Glasgow showing was the US Theatrical Cut. I have a GFT programme for the month of October and it says "Run Time: 126 minutes", which is the theatrical one. So it looks like we were always going to get that. I would have imagined the Argento cut would be good fun to watch in the theatre, though. I really don't understand all the hatred it gets - it's just the same movie pared down with a punchier soundtrack. Sure, it gets a little repetitive with the music, but it's a fun little curiosity.

[capncnut]

eh...survival?!? when? where?!?
The ICA in London (just off Pall Mall) this Saturday at 9.30. It's a part of Frightfest and the big man himself is going to make an appearance. :hyper:

[Mike70]

Apparently he is involved in the new "Night of the Living Dead: Origins" CG Dead movie. And he spilled quite a few beans on it, here they are:


does anyone else think this sounds like the title to a super hero movie?


great report, dude. sounds like you had a blast.

[SymphonicX]

The ICA in London (just off Pall Mall) this Saturday at 9.30. It's a part of Frightfest and the big man himself is going to make an appearance. :hyper:

fuck i'm gonna miss my chance to meet Romero!!!!!!!!!!!

[MikePizzoff]

I can easily see how you (and the entire audience) would be pissed off about Ken rambling on about racism. I could see maybe speaking [briefly] about racism after NotLD... but not Dawn. If he wants a podium to speak about racism from, he needs to find a different medium from which to do so; the fans want to know about the movie, not his personal beliefs and morals.

[SymphonicX]

Edinburgh people always find something to be miserable about though. :p

The version advertised for the Glasgow showing was the US Theatrical Cut. I have a GFT programme for the month of October and it says "Run Time: 126 minutes", which is the theatrical one. So it looks like we were always going to get that. I would have imagined the Argento cut would be good fun to watch in the theatre, though. I really don't understand all the hatred it gets - it's just the same movie pared down with a punchier soundtrack. Sure, it gets a little repetitive with the music, but it's a fun little curiosity.

Yeah but it misses all the significant moments, all the intense moments are either without music or have totally the wrong feel to it.

The vocal takes used in the movie are often badly acted, and quiet...there are headshots used that Romero didn't choose FOR A REASON!

The only thing it has going for it is the gunshot noises, otherwise it (IMO) pisses all over the original, its almost insulting how badly paced it is.

[capncnut]

The vocal takes used in the movie are often badly acted, and quiet...
Yeah, what's up with Wooley's voice? Sounds all dopey like he's dropped a dozen valiums.

[SymphonicX]

they blatantly overdubbed a lot of the voices again - listen to how Roger says "looks like a shopping centre, one of those big indoor malls" (love the way he says that, like they're new...I mean the obviously were back then, but its amusing...)