So..

[childofgilead]

Girlfriend's best friend brought Survival over from her brothers video store..I'mma give it another shot..may need alcohol.

[clanglee]

Great Peter Gabriel album.

[childofgilead]

Nope, still assy. So's the commentary for that matter.

[krakenslayer]

Worst thread title ever :p

[darth los]

Worst thread title ever :p

Vauge much? :lol:

:cool:

[bassman]

Oh good! I was just thinking to myself, "I wonder when gilead will watch Survival again?":rockbrow:

[Mr.G]

Just got the Blu Ray today (along with Night of the Creeps Blu) and watched it for the second time. I doubt there will be a 3rd; I'm still not impressed.

[childofgilead]

Oh good! I was just thinking to myself, "I wonder when gilead will watch Survival again?":rockbrow:

Um..ok..I wasn't trying to offend or anything.

[JDFP]

This thread has gone over about as well as my thread on why Peter Pan peanut butter kicks Jif's ass.

j.p.

[AcesandEights]

Girlfriend's best friend brought Survival over from her brothers video store..I'mma give it another shot..may need alcohol.

I still have yet to see it! I'll check it out when I pick up the BR/DVD and that'll be soon enough. Wish me luck...

[bassman]

Um..ok..I wasn't trying to offend or anything.

Just busting your balls. How'd it go?

[MoonSylver]

Just busting your balls. How'd it go?

I think he already awswered...(Wha'samatter, no link to Wikipedia to tell you that?!?!? :lol: )


Nope, still assy. So's the commentary for that matter.

[bassman]

I think he already awswered...(Wha'samatter, no link to Wikipedia to tell you that?!?!? :lol: )

Missed that post.:o

:lol:assy.

[Legion2213]

Still not seen it, waiting for the blu-ray to hit £5 or less before I buy it. :(

[childofgilead]

Oh, ok, I didn't know you were bustin my chops..

Anyway..I mean..*shrug*..I don't want to ruin the first time "experience" for anyone else, maybe some folks round here will like it..I just didn't..
:(

[AcesandEights]

Anyway..I mean..*shrug*..I don't want to ruin the first time "experience" for anyone else, maybe some folks round here will like it..I just didn't..
:(

Nah, dude. Review it if you like. Anything too spoilerish you can always wrap spoiler tags around: ["spoiler"]Like this minus the quotes["/spoiler"].

[soulsyfn]

Ok so this movie is coming in from Netflix today and I will give it a viewing tomorrow night. I am going in with ZERO expectations that this is going to be anything other than shit. So I will report back after the weekend is over...hope I make it out alive!

[bassman]

Ok so this movie is coming in from Netflix today and I will give it a viewing tomorrow night. I am going in with ZERO expectations that this is going to be anything other than shit. So I will report back after the weekend is over...hope I make it out alive!

"Good luck. I just wanted to let you know that we're all counting on you"

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cehS0phSX0Y/0.jpg

[soulsyfn]

Hopefully I wont be saying, "Mayday! Mayday!" and no I dont mean the Russian New Year... And no we cannot have a parade and serve hot hors d'oeuvres...

[soulsyfn]

I really wanted to like it... I really did. But this was complete garbage!

[rongravy]

Admittedly, in some places the CG is atrocious, but it's not that bad of a movie.
I'd have to give the severed heads on sticks my worst grimace.

[soulsyfn]

Come on now the grenade explosion and the dynamite hand off... the acting, the accents, the ridiculous plot... the stand off... the stupid sister ... the horse that saves the zombie ...

Should I continue?

But I will admit its better than the day remake and contagium combined... but is that really saying much?

I love gar but I think he would do better with a more talented cinematographer and someone to sanity check his scripts.

[ChokeOnEm]

Come on now the grenade explosion and the dynamite hand off... the acting, the accents, the ridiculous plot... the stand off... the stupid sister ... the horse that saves the zombie ...


I don't have a big problem with the Looney Tunes-ish grenade and dynamite scenes. If George wants to play for over-the-top Evil Dead 2-type laughs, he can certainly try. My problem is, other than the fire extinguisher and flare gun kills on the boat, the film then remains mostly serious. Where is this creative insanity when all hell breaks loose on Plum? That was probably the most anticlimactic feasting scene ever. 'Survival' becomes subdued when it should be setting a new bar for gut-munching insanity.

I actually don't have a problem with most of the things you mentioned. It's the execution that's bad. Like Land, there's actually a good movie lurking in there somewhere. I DEF. agree with you about George getting a writing partner.

[Trin]

You know, the thing is, I really liked this part...


When O'Flynn and his crew confront the children in the cribs and he cannot bring himself to do what - by his own position - must be done.

The entire concept of an island of people split as to whether to destroy the zombies vs. keep them around sounds insane. I mean, you destroy zombies. That's just a rule. But when O'Flynn is trying to bring himself to shoot children who are sitting sadly in cribs... well that's not so clear.

The movie went downhill from there is so many ways I had a hard time making a post less than a full forum page, but the intro at least had me engaged.

I agree that GAR needs a writing partner. Please lord add some sanity to these horrendous scripts.

[ChokeOnEm]

You know, the thing is, I really liked this part...


Yea, I really enjoyed that part too. Felt like vintage classic Romero to me. I thought I was in for a real treat. Little did I know, right? :|:lol:

[Wyldwraith]

That's the thing,
The only horror in Romero's last two offerings is in the realization that, according to GAR, Diary and Survival represent a much more desirable-to-direct end product than his previous films, which GAR seems to dismiss/devalue because other people own the rights.

I mean, I get the basic concept, and could agree with his point if we were talking about movies of relatively equivalent quality, but we aren't. I understand GAR can't do anything continuity-wise with the Original Trilogy because of lack of control over the intellectual property, but his interviews seem to portray his decision-making as only including the one non-viable alternative, and his choice to make sequels/character continuity movies using minor characters from Diary and Survival.

That's what drives me up a wall. If, as GAR has repeatedly said, the man didn't enjoy and never wants to do a big-budget movie affiliated with a major studio because of interference by the studio in his movie-making, great. Go the "more indie" (because GAR's last few films are NOT "true" Indie Films), and go back to the drawing board and come up with the basic storyboards, find something that works for the money you've got, and THEN begin figuring out how to work "the message" into the plot as a nuance instead of the overwhelming heavy-handed detraction from the movie "the message" has been of late.

Regardless of how you feel about any or all of GAR's movies, if you read all the interviews from say, Diary's release onward, Romero exhibits a serious resistance to even the IDEA of starting back at Square One and doing something completely new.

What's the deal with his attachment to the continuity/character progression of "minor characters" from these last two movies when he's never exhibited a serious/repeated desire (at least not one he's indicated openly in other than a fleeting/offhand manner) in such "Continuity Continuance" or character progression-based sequels?

I think the lack of information/explanation of GAR's (to many of us) maddening fixation on the worst of his Dead films is part of what makes frustration with the director's current stance so intense.

Of course that's my opinion. Not a mind reader certainly. The entire issue depresses me and is hard to let go of, because from my perspective it means there isn't even the remote possibility of a non-shit Romero zombie movie anytime in the next 7-10yrs (assuming GAR lives and remains working that long), and then only if the man has a significant change of perspective.

In a way, that's almost harder to deal with than hearing a favorite author/director has passed away or retired. At least in those cases you can ponder the Might Have Been Made movies had a favorite director/leading actor survived. AKA "Bruce/Brandon Lee Syndrome."

GAR doesn't even allow adherents to his classic work that simple pleasure, because he's told us so many times he wants to keep churning out Diary/Survival-esque puke, just in slightly different film styles.

Zombie Western, Zombie Noir. What's next, Keanu Reeves as lead for Zombie Cyberpunk? Anthony Hopkins (or maybe Morgan Freeman) in a Crime Drama with a zombie backdrop?

Sad thing is, I'm mocking him, but my "ideas" would probably make for better films than what he'll come up with.

Edit: Was just considering the concept of Minor Characters. If you think about it, such roles aren't nearly created equal. For example: R2D2 and C-Threepio are minor characters, but add a great deal to the Star Wars movies, even on a first viewing.

By comparison, we have say, some of the minor characters in the Star Trek movies. Without Wikipedia or extra viewings, can anyone even name 3 minor chars. from any of the 7 movies? (main antagonists are not minor chars.)

See what I mean? Get "minor enough" and a character essentially becomes a (theoretically) named extra, which is what I feel happened in GAR's last 2 movies.

[Trin]

That's all fine and well Wyld but you know as well as I do that GAR's choice of character and backdrop is NOT what is making these movies suck. The characters are (for the most part) not bad in themselves. The backdrop is not bad. He could make a great movie out of any of them if he'd forego the message for a more plot and character driven story.

Take the black survivor group from Diary. There's a lot of kick-ass potential following that group. Throw in a serious amount of zombies surrounding the warehouse, add a depleting food supply, maybe a rogue group of fellow survivors or an internal conflict between the group and you've got a nice little story.

Maybe pick up after the Diary crew leaves and watch as the internal politics of the group fall apart in the wake of the leader capitulating to a white woman who stood up to him. It has intrinsic parallels to current event problems in the world. The message is built in.

BUT... as soon as it becomes a platform for a racial message, or a commentary on divisive leadership, ... well, you know, you can pretty much piss away your finely crafted story. Something like this could go either way really easily.

[soulsyfn]

I have been thinking about this all weekend and I really think that maybe GAR should move into a producer role and guide the next generation of directors and writers. He created the genre as we know it and was relevant until his most recent endevors. I believe he can add value by producing and letting a new batch of creators take what he has created recently and expand from that.

If only he would be willing to work with a group that is not in his inner circle...

:|

[bassman]

I dunno......Romero would make a horrible producer. He seems to know nothing about the business side of it all....

[Wyldwraith]

Hmm,
I was thinking Romero would make a horrible producer because he's lost all understanding of the term "enjoyable movie".

I can just see him listening to someone pitch a script to him, where he had to decide to green-light it as a picture or not.

Guy With Script (hereafter referred to as G.W.S): "Hello Mr. Romero, I'd like to tell you about my script. It tells the story of a man forced to watch paint dry for days and days on end. He goes mad, and launches into a mad-dog killing rampage.

Romero: Uh huh. (::disinterested sigh::)

G.W.S: Yes. I feel the story has a lot of potential, due to the strong and oft-reinforced message throughout the picture that watching paint dry can cause psychotic behavior. Having some problems with the message conflicting with the story in various places, but I'm confident we can tweak it some....

Romero: ::Suddenly interested expression:: "Strong message...conflicts with telling a solid story you say...." ::stands, decisive look on his face:: "All right, I'm in for say, 12.5 million?"

C'mon, tell me I'm far off the mark of how that would go with Romero as the deciding factor in whether a movie got made?

[childofgilead]

Yeah, that's it exactly, it was just so damn uneven..he SAYS it was lighthearted and fun..the only time I laughed was at the horrible special effects..and to jump from "horror" to "comedy"..well..I guess it takes less of a ham handed approach than he can provide, because this movie, to me, just doesn't seem to know what it wants to even be about.