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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
 Posted - 02/08/2008 : 6:24:27 PM
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Such incisive social commentary:
http://www.cinematical.com/2008/02/08/exclusive-george-romero-prepping-diamond-dead-next/
Check out this nut graf:
quote:
The film is a horror-comedy about a rock band called Diamond Dead whose members are all zombies and whose hot babe manager tries to use her media wiles to take them to the top despite their rather unappealing habits, like eating brains and stuff. It takes swipes at the media, Christian fundamentalists who hate the band, and various other Romero-style targets.
Oh those backward knuckle-dragging Christian fundamentalists hating undead brain-eating zombies as they do! What a bunch of unhip squares they are! A threat to the very social fabric! Maybe George should think through his metaphors a bit more. |
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TheFoywonder
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
833 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2008 : 6:57:58 PM
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Romero just has the same problem too many filmmakers have when it comes to trying to inject social commentry into their movies: all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
And reading that plot synopsis, isn't he about 15-20 years late for a film like that to have any relevance?
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Plus: B-WARE THE BLOG is alive at http://www.livejournal.com/users/foywonder |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2008 : 7:17:55 PM
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Romero had the potential to be a great filmmaker once. You can laugh at the acting in Night of the Living Dead, but if you consider every other element of the picture -- the pacing, the cinematography, the editing, not to mention the movie's wonderful sense of irony -- overall it was a pretty damn good job from a first time director out of Pittsburgh whose only previous experience was shooting local area TV commercials.
The late 70s and early 80s showed Romero in peak form: Martin, Dawn of the Dead, and the unjustly maligned Knightriders. But after that: straight downhill. He never really mastered his craft. His films became increasingly labored and obvious. Foywonder has it right: subtle as a sledgehammer. You might say he immatured with age.
In some way, I see a parallel between the respective careers of George Romero and his contemporary, George Carlin. Romero reached his peak at the same time Carlin reached his. Even their personas were similar: anti-establishment, but in a genial, "It's nothing personal"-type way that couldn't help but make you smile. Then somewhere along the line both Georges became angrier and cruder. Why, I don't know. But today they've both reduced themselves to virtual relics who seem to trade more on reputations they forged in the distant past than on anything substantive they've done in recent years.
The young Romero was content to wink at you in order to get his point across. The old, crochety Romero would rather shoot laser beams from his eyes. |
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Citizen Carrier
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
322 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2008 : 9:21:15 PM
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His last one set in Pittsburg was something that could have been so, so much better.
You're a city in the middle of a collapsed country surrounded by hordes of the undead and the baseline of the plot is some Soviet style agit-prop about the evils of the bourgeoisie and how the workers of the world need to unite?
[sigh]
Hate to say it, but the third installment of Resident Evil, which I just recently watched, was a much better zombie movie. Sure, the villains were evil corporate types, but the film wasn't trying to beat me over the head with populist tripe. The "message" was watch an attractive woman kill a lot of zombies.
Also, in a zombie situation Romero can send me all of the Christian right-wing fundamentalists. I want them on my team! I suspect these generally well-armed and individualist-minded folks would make a good account of themselves. I'm pretty sure I could hold Pittsburg.
Romero can have the entire editorial staff of The Village Voice, as many chapters of Code Pink as he can muster, the entire membership of DailyKos, and all of the pottery barn owners in the greater San Francisco area.
With Romero and Carlin, I think you have to remember that they are both products of the 1960s counter-culture movement. If I remember correctly, Carlin started out as a fairly "classical" kind of stand-up comedian doing shows in the Catskills and generally "keeping it clean".
He changed his act to better resonate with the protest culture of the 60s, which appealed to him.
I think the bitterness you see from the likes of these old fossils in part stems from frustration. After the 60s, we weren't "supposed" to get two terms of Nixon, two terms of Reagan, then two Bushes. America wasn't "supposed" to be rolling around in huge SUVs, fighting wars, and all that. The Age of Aquarius failed and these guys don't like it. |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2008 : 9:41:02 PM
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I love Knightriders. Seriously. It's one of the goofiest, hippiest, romantic idealistic pieces of nonsense ever and I totally buy into the whole thing. I guess it's the artist in me that relates. I also think Day of the Dead was a fine film. Land of the Dead, not so much. In fact it was a complete failure IMO. Citizen Carrier has it exactly right. Romero's earlier Dead films were great in spite of the heavyhanded editorializing, not because of it. As for this latest idea, sorry dude but Simon Pegg has been there, done that and owns the tee-shirt.
Oh, BTW I'm a Pittsburgh native and the town in PA is the only one in the country (AFAIK) to have retained the final "h". Just a FYI *g*
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 02/08/2008 9:43:38 PM |
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