So I watched Diary on cable tv last night

[Geophyrd]

And I actually liked it better than I did before. Yeah, the acting wasn't all there, but let's face it, as a slice of life, a lot of people go through life somewhat unconvincingly. It was actually a pretty good movie all told. I'm speaking as someone who didn't really like Land. I think I liked Diary better and can't wait for the new one.

[darth los]

And I actually liked it better than I did before. Yeah, the acting wasn't all there, but let's face it, as a slice of life, a lot of people go through life somewhat unconvincingly. It was actually a pretty good movie all told. I'm speaking as someone who didn't really like Land. I think I liked Diary better and can't wait for the new one. Well, I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree with just about everything you said. I didn't like diary very much after the first viewing. However, on subsequent views I discovered what was a good movie. One that I also like better than land.

[AcesandEights]

I've been thinking it's time I give Diary another whirl, myself. I can see how a late night viewing would help. There are certain things GAR did, some places he took the story, that had potential, but the first two times I saw it (once in theater and once on DVD) I just couldn't appreciate the effort. Maybe with time and while doing some paperwork or the like, I'll appreciate it all a bit more as a pleasant distraction.

[MoonSylver]

And I actually liked it better than I did before. Yeah, the acting wasn't all there, but let's face it, as a slice of life, a lot of people go through life somewhat unconvincingly. It was actually a pretty good movie all told. I'm speaking as someone who didn't really like Land. I think I liked Diary better and can't wait for the new one. Glad people are giving this one a second chance. As I've said before, it's a bit uneven & flawed, but I think there's some great stuff in there as well & it gives me a early/indie Romero vibe. I think it gets a bit more of a bad rap than it honestly deserves, IMO anyway.

[bassman]

Diary is my least favorite, but just as everyone has said it can be viewed as enjoyable even with all of it's negatives. I think Romero's films get better with age. It seems like they grow on more and more people as they get older. Even if it is just a little bit of growth.

[Yojimbo]

I am one of those who loved Diary when it first came out, caught it two nights in a row on opening weekend, thought it ruled. Funny thing, though, is after I purchased it on DVD, a few viewings later left me a little less high on Diary. I still like the film, mind you, but after seeing it multiple times on DVD, I find myself increasingly annoyed with the voiceover, and the acting of the cast. By way of contrast, I am also one of those who - while I generally liked LAND at the time of first viewing - find that I like it all the more after repeated viewings. Glad people are giving this one a second chance. As I've said before, it's a bit uneven & flawed, but I think there's some great stuff in there as well & it gives me a early/indie Romero vibe. I think it gets a bit more of a bad rap than it honestly deserves, IMO anyway. Once again, I agree with Moon. In spite of my new issues with DIARY, I still think it is a good film and there is some very cool stuff in there. Acid head zombie, deaf Amish dude, the dorm looter.

[bassman]

I am one of those who loved Diary when it first came out, caught it two nights in a row on opening weekend, thought it ruled. Funny thing, though, is after I purchased it on DVD, a few viewings later left me a little less high on Diary. I still like the film, mind you, but after seeing it multiple times on DVD, I find myself increasingly annoyed with the voiceover, and the acting of the cast. Same here. I left the theater LOVING Diary. Then I got the dvd, watched it a few times, and my rating for it dropped. I can still enjoy it, but it won't get as many repeat viewings as the other films. Then with Land, I left the theater thinking it was okay. I didn't hate it, but it was a bit of a let down compared to the originals. Then I saw it a few more times in theater and enjoyed it more and more each time. Then when I got the dvd I fell in love with it. It's now quite close to the original trilogy, imo.

[darth los]

I can see how a late night viewing would help. Hey if it works with so so looking women at the club then WHY NOT diary. Just remember to kick it out of bed before sunlight. You do remember what the professor from diary said about that doncha?

[MoonSylver]

Oddly, my feelings stayed pretty consistent all along...but then again, even though I praised it fairly well in the original review thread when it opened here, I was aware if some of the things I DIDN'T like as well (a little too much voice over & some awkwardly long/placed soliloquies being a couple off the top of my head), so maybe that's why. It was a "warts & all" proposition for me from the beginning I guess..

[clanglee]

I started out not really disliking it, but not being very impressed with it. On further viewings, my opinion of the movie actually got worse. So. . I have put it away. .and havn't watched it in months. I'll give it a chance again and see if it has improved, maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder. . who knows?

[wayzim]

And I actually liked it better than I did before. Yeah, the acting wasn't all there, but let's face it, as a slice of life, a lot of people go through life somewhat unconvincingly. It was actually a pretty good movie all told. I'm speaking as someone who didn't really like Land. I think I liked Diary better and can't wait for the new one. I'm glad someone posted this thread, since I finally saw Diary for the first when I got home late Saturday night. I guess after all the ruckus over Land ( which I thought was a better movie than most people give it credit for. ) it made me alittle slow to embrace what seemed a Romero quickie flick (like he had to redeem himself to his more fickle fans. ) So at last I watched it at 2AM this morning with very mixed reservations. My biggest wish was that George had not so clearly ridden the wave of the YouTube Generation on the heels of pseudo reality films like Blair Witch, The Last Broadcast and Cloverfield. Jason shouted all that student film crap about subjective reality which Blair Witch 2 had so totally deconstructed, and it just simply wasn't that interesting after awhile. What did strike my curiosity was the massive number of hits the various vid-sites were getting, Who were all these people? Another aside, the sly wink toward horror cliches at the beginning and toward the end of the movie was more satisfying than the smarmy self congratulatory Scream films (which always annoyed the Hell out of me. At least in Diary it comprised two brief segments and we moved on. ) and the question of whether a set of defib paddles, strong enough to make eyes explode wasn't strong enough to at least partially fry the brain? That wasn't enough to make Diary more than a mild side bar to Romero's larger body of work. It was OK. IMHO. Wayne Z

[Yojimbo]

Another aside, the sly wink toward horror cliches at the beginning and toward the end of the movie was more satisfying than the smarmy self congratulatory Scream films (which always annoyed the Hell out of me. At least in Diary it comprised two brief segments and we moved on. ) Wayne Z Damn straight!

[DubiousComforts]

My biggest wish was that George had not so clearly ridden the wave of the YouTube Generation on the heels of pseudo reality films like Blair Witch, The Last Broadcast and Cloverfield. He didn't; Diary had already been made prior to Cloverfield, which was simply Paramount beating Universal to the punch after losing the bid to remake The Host. The "found footage" genre also didn't originate with Blair Witch Project. The Last Broadcast claims to have beaten them to the punch, as well as Cannibal Holocaust which beat the lot of them by nearly 20 years. The director of the latter film was even brought up on murder charges until he could prove that no one had been harmed during production. If anything, it is obviously the Weinsteins whom are guilty of riding the wave of Cloverfield's promo in their moronic decision to delay Diary's release.

[wayzim]

He didn't; Diary had already been made prior to Cloverfield, which was simply Paramount beating Universal to the punch after losing the bid to remake The Host. The "found footage" genre also didn't originate with Blair Witch Project. The Last Broadcast claims to have beaten them to the punch, as well as Cannibal Holocaust which beat the lot of them by nearly 20 years. The director of the latter film was even brought up on murder charges until he could prove that no one had been harmed during production. If anything, it is obviously the Weinsteins whom are guilty of riding the wave of Cloverfield's promo in their moronic decision to delay Diary's release. I wasn't necessarily being specific about Cloverfield, or suggesting that said cliches couldn't be made Shiny and New, only that a fair chunk of Diary seemed to echo them without necessarily adding anything new. It's possible there was additional subtext lost in my single viewing, and again the idea that the Dead are knocking at our door as we score hits on a website, it's something worth following up. Oh, and the uber scam in dubious film reality was one from my generation (The 70's ). It was called SNUFF aka Slaughter, and became a fake genre where directors supposedly killed people for real on camera ( and no, we're not talking about psycho kids with Camcorders. ) Another thing about Diary I got a kick out of was when our students run into another gang of survivors and among them was Boyd Banks(Tucker from Dawn04 ), a sneeze and you'd miss him moment. Wayne Z

[DjfunkmasterG]

Diary is a good movie. I enjoyed it and for me it was Romero in original form, doing the indie thing. My biggest Pet Peeves with Diary are some of the smart ass dialog when they come across the burnt cop zombie, and some of the choices of shots used in that same sequences. Acting wise, they were a bunch of college kids, who were making a film out in the woods, to be honest, I didn't think it was overplayed as much as some people feel it was, plus comparing it to night, the acting in Diary is miles above, but Night is just a better film because of the taboos it explores. Diary feels more Romero than LAND does, and made me gain a lot of respect back for him that I lost after seeing LAND of the DEAD. Plus, Diary has a kick ass line from my favorite character, the professor. "The problem isn't that people are waking up dead. its that dead people are waking up." That is a great line, and really put a chill down my spine.