Regarding GAR's recent output, the other week I re-watched Land ... I've seen it several times now and while I initally "loved" it, I mellowed to "liking it" a while back.
I think time will help bed Land down into the original three films better. There's quite a difference between it and the previous movies, but there's huge differences between Night/Dawn/Day as they are already - that's always been the case ... and, indeed, Land is part of the wider conversation that is spread out across the other movies and even takes some themes from the original Day script, right?
Big Daddy is over-the-top. The howls are just too much ... they sound too human, as if he's comprehending the situation more than a smart zombie really should be able to. There's a few lines of dialogue here and there, and a couple of small things littered about that could have been improved with just a little tweak, but overall the film is a solid entry in GAR's zed flicks. The vibe of it definitely feels more 'movie like' than Night/Dawn/Day, which kind of had their own pace about them ... almost like it was GAR's own personal three act structure ... whereas Land feels far more movie-like structurally than any of his previous movies. Perhaps that's a subtle background thing that sets it apart a little bit and caused problems for some folks?
I'm a defender of Land. There's a lot of good stuff in that movie and I've always been a fan of it, albeit going from an initial lover to a considered liker, but I'm happy with the movie all-said-and-done.
Now ... Diary ... honestly, I have big problems with that film, and it's a shame. I was very excited for it, and initially dug it, but the more I watch that movie the more I see things I dislike. The tone is all over the place, and while GAR has many salient points to make, they're made in a very blunt manner, and in a way that kind of shows up that - as a filmmaker with his heart in the 1960s - is on the outside of the post-2000 social media movement. I have big problems with lots of "found footage" movies in general, so some of my gripes aren't Diary-specific in that regard. There are bits that I enjoy, certainly, but it's the GAR zed flick I've enjoyed the least. I don't hate it, but I have a lot of issues with it unfortunately.
Finally - Survival - like with Diary it's not part of the Night-Land cycle, so it's not fair to hold it too strictly to account by comparison (i.e. because it's not part of the same series, or even the same 'socio-political conversation' that took place across Night-Land). I really enjoyed Survival, but again there's issues - troublesome tonal moments ... the humorous aspects sometimes work, but sometimes they're jarring. The opening scene is supposed to be bleak and desperate, but then you have that ropey CGI gag with the middle of a zombie's head getting blown away and the scalp plopping down like a cartoon. Fair enough if that's the tone of the movie, like if it was Zombieland or something, but the tone of Survival is generally darker and almost has a Day of the Dead vibe to it (two warring factions with totally opposed viewpoints battling each other in spite of their common enemy, the political brick wall sensibility). I loved that it was contained on this little island, a sort of microcosm for modern North American (even global?) politics and that even in death they'll be shooting empty guns at each other for eternity. It's a beautiful-looking film as well, but it does have jarring moments as I've said (another example would be the fire extinguisher kill - iffy CGI, not bad per se, but tonally mis-matched with the rest of the flick). I dug the 'western' vibe of it too, and that the social commentary was more considered and subtle - particularly when compared to Diary which got very blunt at several points throughout. In spite of some issues, I dug - and continue to dig - Survival of the Dead.
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Originally Posted by RichW
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