Finally watched Diary

[MoonSylver]

....Diary? Is that the one with Bud the vegetarian zombie? Santa is sooo gonna stick a lump of...coal...yeah..coal in your stocking for THAT comparison young man!

[bassman]

Santa is sooo gonna stick a lump of...coal...yeah..coal in your stocking for THAT comparison young man! It wasn't a comparison. Just being silly. I kinda dig Diary even if it is the least of the series. But damn Mena Suvari is so fine in Diary! I'd like to play football on her forehead. And Nick Cannon is a riot!

[MoonSylver]

It wasn't a comparison. Just being silly. I kinda dig Diary even if it is the least of the series. Then all is right in the world again. But damn Mena Suvari is so fine in Diary! I'd like to play football on her forehead. And Nick Cannon is a riot! I need to watch this one again a 2nd time, just so that...I dunno why...maybe to see what a train wreck looks like the 2nd time? I do feel oddly compelled to watch it again though...

[MikePizzoff]

In my opinion, the def guy was the only good thing about Diary!

[sandrock74]

I need to watch this one again a 2nd time, just so that...I dunno why...maybe to see what a train wreck looks like the 2nd time? I do feel oddly compelled to watch it again though... I can say that the Day remake gave me nightmares. Not from being scary or anything, but from the fact that I actually watched it!

[AcesandEights]

I can say that the Day remake gave me nightmares. Not from being scary or anything, but from the fact that I actually watched it! I'm still resisting seeing it. I take it one day at a time, but I manage

[bassman]

I actually like Day08 in a MST3K kinda way. It's great fun in the worst of ways... At first I was so shocked that I wanted to kill the people behind it. Now I watch it for a laugh.

[deadpunk]

I will state what I have said many times before... This looked amateurish! GAR is a man with many years under his belt and should know better. Then again look at the star wars prequels? I think this is a trend in movies overall. The directors seem to be getting worse with age rather than better. Except Scorsese! Great assessment. I was thinking Star Wars prequels as I was watching it. When I watch NOTLD or Episode IV and then try and watch a Diary or an Episode I, I'm put off by how much the film takes advantage of modern film making. And, in my humblest of opinions, if GAR really felt the need to make a movie that tells a first night story, he should have set it in 1968. I would have loved to watch GAR take advantage of modern film making techniques to recreate a believable 1968 setting for Diary (and possibly Land). The time jumps in Dawn and Day are much more believeable and more well explained in Dawn and Day. The story is movie forward. Land doesn't really give you a timeframe. It could be happening from Dawn forward for all GAR really tells us. (Yes Philly, I just validated your opinion slightly ) And Diary is clearly a first night story set in modern times...? Is it any dumber than the farmhouse area in NOTLD being absolutely infested with ghouls as well? I always thought that to be a little off myself. And you could argue that it's just the local population, as sparse as it may be. But you would have to believe that everyone of them met their demise in the past 2-3 days. Plus, there wasn't another house in sight for that matter! That doesn't make any sense to me yet we swollow it hook, line and sinker. I grew up in Zelienople. There is a larger populace here than you realize. You could walk to the farmhouse in Evans City (or the cemetary it starts in) from any of the 8 neighboring towns in less than an hour. I could walk there from work in about a half hour. The facility I work in is a Residential Treatment Facility that permanently houses over 200 clients. Plus staff (about 75-100). To say that 50-100 zombies were surrounding that farm house in 3-5 hours isn't really that unrealistic. Most of the zombies (even those in Night '90) leave you with the impression they had been turned, not recently deceased. I can swallow that much easier than I can swallow most of the plot devices utilized in Diary. I agree with Deadpunk in everything said. I'm one of those who says that Land has risen as far as it will. That is, no amount of time or repeated viewings is gonna make me love it any more than I loved it within the first year or so of its release. But in one way that's not true. Diary sucked so bad I actually ended up liking Land more as a result. I agree. I have come to appreciate Land, if not actually like it. This will never be true of Diary. It's not really fair to comare the two though, is it? One was made for horror while the other was made for comedy. Now whether or not the horror or comedy work is a matter of opinion....but comparing the two is like apples and oranges... The problem I have with this is (lengthy ):   First...it wasn't funny. It was so grossly over the top, it lacked humor. Every bit about the amish dude was forced and the character himself was clearly no more than a plot device. Within seconds of seeing him, I knew he wasn't getting on that motorhome when it got repaired Secondly, the whole premise of Diary revolves around the girl wanting to piece together the documentary her boyfriend had died creating. She even states at the beginning "I've added music in places for effect because I want to scare you." Or something similar. At no place does this imply we should see that much comedy. Accidental comedic value in a documentary is generally tounge-in-cheek style stuff. Not outlandish antics. It feels like Romero was trying to capitalize on the point-of-view movies like the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity and rather botched it. Those movies worked because the horror was subtle. This wasn't. The zombie kills were way too action packed to be scary. This also didn't really show us what we have come to expect from character development from Romero. There really isn't one memorable character from this film. You can spot the fodder from the survivors about 10 minutes in. And among the survivors, there isn't really anyone to identify with:   1. The lead girl. She's a pretty shallow creation. Right away you know she is the type of woman that will only harden as the movie goes on. She is classic Hero material driven by inner strength and determined to save as many people as possible while still feeling for the antagonist. 2. The professor. The old drunk that has a mysterious past that just happens to make him cool under pressure and the ultimate killing machine? Didn't Clint Eastwood establish a career playing this character sans british accent? 3. The non-believer.The guy that just can't bring himself to step up to the plate until the shit finally hits the fan. He just can't admit they're zombies until he is forced to brain one with hydrochloric acid (another cool but over-the-top slay). He again can't step up to the plate as the "better camera man" until it is too late and the kid that films 99% of the movies gets his ass chomped for the sole purpose of filming his own death. I can't think of one stand-out moment in this movie, for me. The closest I can get is in the hospital, but even that scene makes little actual sense. Whew...done

[JDFP]

Great, yet another "DIARY" bashing thread, as if we haven't been through enough of these. "DIARY" was by no means a great movie, but for me it will always be far superior to "LAND", and most other zombie movies for that matter as the vast majority of them are pure sheisse. It's a matter of opinion of course, but there are plenty of us that feel that "DIARY" is just a better flick compared to "LAND". Apparently, we're just not as vocal about it as you folks here who enjoy ripping "DIARY" apart limb from limb. It's all a matter of opinion in enjoying a film v. not enjoying a film anyway. But, I'll be the first to go to bat for "DIARY" against "LAND" as being a better movie any day of the week. In fact, from all this negativity I'm inspired to write a thread on why I feel "DIARY" is FAR superior to the utmost disappointment of "LAND"... j.p.

[Trin]

The entire Amish character scene was written for comedy, imo. It's like the pie fight in Dawn. A bit of fun thrown in the middle. And the blade to the face is too extreme, but would the zombies ripping people apart by hand in Dawn and Day be believable? I guess I can see where the Amish guy scene could be interpreted as written for comedy, but I didn't really get that from it. And it's soooo stupid. I always thought the pie fight scene (which is kinda hard to defend since I didn't care for it) was a bit of levity and a poke in the eye for anyone who imagines that only intelligent and serious people would survive. It also showcased how the biker's had no respect for the situation or for the dead. I guess I'd say that if the Amish guy scene were the ONLY bad part of Diary then it's forgiveable. That's how I view the pie fight scene in Dawn. I just kinda ignore it. But Diary leaves me wanting to ignore huge chunks of it by that argument. I didn't really fixate on the zombies ripping people up as unbelievable, with the exception of Rhodes. That one always makes me groan. I don't remember much of that in Dawn, but that could be rose colored goggles. In any case the people getting ripped to pieces is more believable to me than a dude stabbing himself through the forehead and out the back into a zombie head. To other people's points, I also thought the hospital scene was odd given the lack of people/zombies. I didn't mind the characters, with the exception of Jason - retard. They might be cliche but they were okay. I did like most of the settings and tone. I liked the black survival group situation/setup, if not how it all played out. I think that group would be a fun one to follow in a movie. @jdfp - I'd be interested to see a Land vs. Diary discussion thread, even though I know I'm already on the opposite side of the argument from you. I'd be interested in anything that might improve my opinion of Diary.

[bassman]

In fact, from all this negativity I'm inspired to write a thread on why I feel "DIARY" is FAR superior to the utmost disappointment of "LAND"... Please don't. The last thing we need is another repeat of the Land/Dawn04 threads.

[AcesandEights]

In fact, from all this negativity I'm inspired to write a thread on why I feel "DIARY" is FAR superior to the utmost disappointment of "LAND"... j.p. Epic threads, complete with bickering, flaming and fuming, stoked by piles of geekitude have been birthed in such a fashion. One such example is the infamous Land v. Dawn '04 thread (can't find a link ). I look forward to your efforts with guarded optimism.

[deadpunk]

Great, yet another "DIARY" bashing thread, as if we haven't been through enough of these. "DIARY" was by no means a great movie, but for me it will always be far superior to "LAND", and most other zombie movies for that matter as the vast majority of them are pure sheisse. It's a matter of opinion of course, but there are plenty of us that feel that "DIARY" is just a better flick compared to "LAND". Apparently, we're just not as vocal about it as you folks here who enjoy ripping "DIARY" apart limb from limb. It's all a matter of opinion in enjoying a film v. not enjoying a film anyway. But, I'll be the first to go to bat for "DIARY" against "LAND" as being a better movie any day of the week. In fact, from all this negativity I'm inspired to write a thread on why I feel "DIARY" is FAR superior to the utmost disappointment of "LAND"... j.p. It wasn't my intention to start this thread to bash Diary. However, this is a Romero dead film message board, and having just viewed the movie, I felt I could go ahead and give my honest opinion of the film.

[AcesandEights]

So, question for you guys... Is "Why Diary is Land's Bitch and the Reasons Both Should Bow Before Dawn '04" too long for a thread title?

[darth los]

I grew up in Zelienople. There is a larger populace here than you realize. You could walk to the farmhouse in Evans City (or the cemetary it starts in) from any of the 8 neighboring towns in less than an hour. I could walk there from work in about a half hour. The facility I work in is a Residential Treatment Facility that permanently houses over 200 clients. Plus staff (about 75-100). To say that 50-100 zombies were surrounding that farm house in 3-5 hours isn't really that unrealistic. Most of the zombies (even those in Night '90) leave you with the impression they had been turned, not recently deceased. I can swallow that much easier than I can swallow most of the plot devices utilized in Diary. I can believe that there are that many neighboring towns. What i find it hard to believe is (the population can't be that high) that they would produce 100 corpses in less than 3 days and even harder to believe is that they would all congregate around the farmhouse. As for turned vs. recently deceased, most of the ghouls had no obvious psysical trauma to speak of. The ones that did we have no evidence if it was pre or post mortem.