ZZZZZZZzzzzzz....hurrrghhh...zzzzz...huh? Oh sorry, I didn't see you
waiting there. I've been trying to review DAY OF THE DEAD for the last few
hours, but I keep falling asleep. The film opens excitedly enough with a
helicopter flying over a deserted town (as long as you ignore that moving car
off to the left). The occupants of the helicopter are some military folks
looking for survivors after a zombie outbreak. They don't see anybody from
the sky, so they land and start yelling into their bullhorn. After a few
moments, zombies sloooowy start shuffling their way towards the
helicopter. The military people fly off. See...I told you it was
exciting! Next, they return to their underground base where they bitch and
argue with each other until at the 58-minute mark, when somebody
finally gets killed by a zombie.
Over the years, I've revisited DAY OF THE DEAD a number times in hopes that I'll
enjoy it, but I never do. The first half is very slow and then, when the
violence finally, happens...it's so by-the-numbers that it's
still boring. Bad acting, no likable characters, low budget, slow
pace, tons of boring dialogue, Bub the world's most annoying zombie,
unsatisfying beginning, middle and ending. DAY OF THE DEAD had a lot of
potential, but in the end it's just a boring snoozefest. Skip it.
If you need me I'll be in my room checking my blood pressure while watching DAWN
OF THE DEAD.
Part 1 - Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Part 2 - Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Part 4 - Land of the Dead (2005)
Part 5 - Diary of the Dead (2007)
Part 6 - Survival of the Dead (2009)
Remake - Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
PRIMROSE PATH (1940)
Twenty-nine year-old teenager Ginger Rogers has a family ain't nobody jealous
of. Her mom's a hooker with a good heart, her grandma's a hooker with a
heart made of fossilized rat poison, her little sister is a hooker in-training
and her dad's a pants-shitting drunkard. She lives in a rundown shack with
her shitty family and she doesn't go to school since nobody makes her. One
day she decides to get some crabs (the crustacean kind) for her shitfaced dad,
so she hitches a ride down to the beach from a kindly old man who offers her
some free food at his hamburger stand. The cook (McCrea) takes a liking to
her and she (secretly) to him. Things happen and they hook up, but she
lied about her family. What's gonna happen when he finds out the truth?
Ginger Rogers ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for the same years KITTY FOYLE directed by Frank Capra, but according to Joel McCrea: "I think they really gave it to her for PRIMROSE PATH but they were afraid of the subject matter in those days. Even Frank Capra said it was a better film than KITTY FOYLE." That's very interesting. I haven't seen KITTY FOYLE, but I was surprised at Rogers outstanding performance in PRIMROSE PATH especially when you compare it to her terrible performance in 1942's ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON. It's asking a lot of an 29-year-old actress to play a teenager in a serious role, but Rogers pulls it off. Yeah, she looks too old, but her portrayal all the way down to the smallest mannerisms was spot on. Very impressive. The story on the other hand is interesting, but there wasn't enough tension and the abrupt ending was completely unsatisfying.
Worth a watch for fans of McCrea and Rogers, but overall I was hoping for better.
Ginger Rogers ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for the same years KITTY FOYLE directed by Frank Capra, but according to Joel McCrea: "I think they really gave it to her for PRIMROSE PATH but they were afraid of the subject matter in those days. Even Frank Capra said it was a better film than KITTY FOYLE." That's very interesting. I haven't seen KITTY FOYLE, but I was surprised at Rogers outstanding performance in PRIMROSE PATH especially when you compare it to her terrible performance in 1942's ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON. It's asking a lot of an 29-year-old actress to play a teenager in a serious role, but Rogers pulls it off. Yeah, she looks too old, but her portrayal all the way down to the smallest mannerisms was spot on. Very impressive. The story on the other hand is interesting, but there wasn't enough tension and the abrupt ending was completely unsatisfying.
Worth a watch for fans of McCrea and Rogers, but overall I was hoping for better.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
ZELIG (1983)
Woody Allen had one hell of a directorial run from 1977 to 1982 with
ANNIE HALL,
INTERIORS,
MANHATTAN,
STARDUST MEMORIES
and
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SEX COMEDY. He only won a single Best Picture Award (in 1977 for ANNIE HALL), but
in my opinion he should have won more. INTERIORS was especially deserving
in 1978, it wasn't even nominated and lost to THE DEER HUNTER. MANHATTAN
could have also won in 1979 although I think ALIEN was more deserving, neither
were nominated and the award ended up going home with KRAMER VS. KRAMER.
Allen's home run streak came to an end though in 1983 with ZELIG.
Set in the 1920's (and told with fake newsreel stories, archival footage, etc.) the story is about a guy, Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen), who takes on the physical and personality traits of those around him. Put him with a Native Indian and he turns into a Native Indian, put him with some Frenchmen and he grows a mustache and starts speaking French and so on. This "human chameleon" soon becomes the most famous man in the world. He's placed in a psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Mia Farrow. She studies Zelig and of course falls in love with him.
For about 15 minutes or so ZELIG is mildly amusing, but after awhile the single joke just wears thin. Alright, we get it, he can change the way he looks. Hardy-har-har. As a short film ZELIG would have been fine, but as a full-length film it seemed like they were just padding the runtime for a theatrical release. At only 79 minutes it's definitely one of Allen's shortest films if not the shortest. Worth watching, for Allen fans, but if you skip it you're not gonna miss much. I did chuckle at the Dreyfus Affair joke. You don't see a lot of humor about that.
Set in the 1920's (and told with fake newsreel stories, archival footage, etc.) the story is about a guy, Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen), who takes on the physical and personality traits of those around him. Put him with a Native Indian and he turns into a Native Indian, put him with some Frenchmen and he grows a mustache and starts speaking French and so on. This "human chameleon" soon becomes the most famous man in the world. He's placed in a psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Mia Farrow. She studies Zelig and of course falls in love with him.
For about 15 minutes or so ZELIG is mildly amusing, but after awhile the single joke just wears thin. Alright, we get it, he can change the way he looks. Hardy-har-har. As a short film ZELIG would have been fine, but as a full-length film it seemed like they were just padding the runtime for a theatrical release. At only 79 minutes it's definitely one of Allen's shortest films if not the shortest. Worth watching, for Allen fans, but if you skip it you're not gonna miss much. I did chuckle at the Dreyfus Affair joke. You don't see a lot of humor about that.
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