Showing posts with label George A. Romero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George A. Romero. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

RIP David Emge

 
A Dawn of the Dead-themed post today in honor of David "Flyboy" Emge's passing this past weekend.
 


Watch:


Classic scene from the greatest Zombie film ever. 




Playlist:

The Cure - Pornography
Your Black Star - Sound from the Ground
The National - High Violet
Danko Jones - We Sweat Blood
Feuerbahn - The Fire Dance EP
Joy Division - Substance 1977-1980
Zeal and Ardor - Eponymous
Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Data Doom
FACS - Still Life In Decay
Tar - Clincher 




Monday, October 19, 2020

12 Days 'til Halloween

I know a lot of folks are up in arms about Michael Graves' political leanings. Being a person who dislikes staunch adherence to either party, I feel like there are good people on both sides - although these people are the ones who definitely get noticed the least, as they're not running their mouths preaching the kind of hate and intolerance now trafficked in on both the Left as well as the Right. Either way, I haven't ever looked into Mr. Graves' political philosophies because I don't care. I love the two records he did with the Misfits and after that, well, for me he just fell off the face of the planet, which I am 100% okay with. I rewatched George A. Romero's Bruiser recently, and the Graves-era-Misfits make a cameo in, and the bonus features on the disc reminded me that the late, great Mr. Romero directed this music video for the band. How absolutely perfect, no?




31 Days of Halloween:

I haven't watched Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning since I lived in Chicago, around the time it was released direct to video circa 2004, and in keeping with this year's attempt to watch some of the more under appreciated films in my collection during 31 Days of Halloween, I knew this would be a great undertaking. 

Here's the thing: when I first saw this, I did not want to like this movie. 

Why? 

Because it will ETERNALLY disappoint me that we got Ginger Snaps Back and not a proper Ginger Snaps 3, as in a continuation of the story started in the first film and carried through the second. Ginger Snaps 2 is one of the best sequels I have ever seen, and I SO very much wanted to know what happened next after that insane cliffhanger that changes every facet of Brigitte's story. Ghost's (a very young Tatiana Maslany) actions really throw the story to that point on its back, and the fact that the third movie didn't follow up on that was devastating. But after that initial watch, I have to admit, after rewatching Snaps Back, I'm once again resolute that this film stands on its own as a great reinterpretation of the original story.

After Orphan Black - also created by John Fawcett -  and Ms. Maslany blew up, I felt a slight reinvigoration of hope that maybe we'd get a proper conclusion to the original Ginger Snaps timeline, however, that hope is now essentially long gone. So Snaps Back is what it is, and I guess I'm okay with that.

I guess.

1) Tales of Halloween: Sweet Tooth/The Wolf Man (1941)
2) From Beyond/Monsterland: Port Fourchon, Louisiana/Tales of Halloween: The Night Billy Raised Hell/Tales of Halloween: Trick
3) Mulholland Drive/Creepshow (1982): The Crate
4) Waxwork
5) Synchronic/Bad Hair
6) Dolls
7) Lovecraft Country Ep. 8/Tales of Halloween: The Weak and the Wicken/Tales of Halloween: The Grim Grinning Ghost
8) 976-Evil
9) Repo! The Genetic Opera
10) Firestarter/George A. Romero's Bruiser
11) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 1 & 2/Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
12) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 3, 4, and 5/House of 1000 Corpses
13) Masque of the Red Death/Creepshow (2019) Episode 7/Creepshow (1982)
14) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 6 and 7
15) The Haunting of Bly Manor episodes 8 and 9/Roseanne (88) season 2 and 3 Halloween Episodes
16) The Mortuary Collection/Roseanne (88) season 4 Halloween Episode
17) Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning
18) Lovecraft Country episode 9/The Haunting/Roseanne (88) season 5 Halloween Episode

1999's The Haunting is an absolute stinker. The house gets five stars. The film gets one. Not even gonna put a trailer here.



Playlist:

The Ocean - Phanerozoic II
Van Halen - 1984
Various - Twin Peaks: Music from the Limited Event Series
Dead Swords - Enders
Skinny Puppy - Last Rites 
Fear Factory - Demanufacture




Card:


The fiery part of fire denotes activated Will, which fits, as I'm back in the swing of writing and it's going very well. The idea that I may finish writing two novels in one year is pretty great, and a total esteem boost when I need it most.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

2018: October 14th



I had not heard of Prospect previous to encountering the trailer on Bloody Disgusting earlier this weekend. Looks pretty good. I think Annihilation paved the way for more of this type of Sci Fi film getting major theatrical releases, and that's a good thing.

Zeal and Ardor absolutely killed it last night at the Roxy. Having seen them about a year ago at the Hi Hat, a smaller venue, this band proved it is going nowhere but forward. Very little talk between songs, except to express gratitude and joy at their 100th show and such an awesome turnout (if it wasn't sold out it was close), the ripped through pretty much everything you could ask them to. I was especially happy to hear Waste live, and they closed with a new song called Baphomet, which was fantastic. Also, like I may have mentioned a few months ago when I saw Windhand there, the Roxy really does a good job maintaining their beer taps. The Lagunitas Pils was exceptional.

Here's a video of Baphomet from Lowlands in August:



31 Days of Horror continued with the Director's Cut of Land of the Dead. I liked it about as much as I did the theatrical version back in 2005 on opening night, which is to say not very much at all. Recently, George A. Romero's widow announced he had left behind a lot of scripts. Now, not all of them are necessarily zombie movies. However, I've always been kind of bummed that George A. did such an amazingly cerebral take on horror - while creating a new monster/genre* with the zombie film, no less - devolved into the pretty straight up action film Land and then he re-booted the continuity with Diary and Survival of the Dead. I've not seen those last two, but as soon as I heard he was no longer continuing the original timeline, I was out.

Why?

I want to know what the world we were introduced to in Night of the Living Dead looks like 6 days down the line, 6 months down the line, 6 years down the line, etc. Romero deftly continues the evolution of that world in Dawn and Day, the former being, in my opinion, the best zombie film of all time, and the latter, despite some questionable acting and directing choices (Jamaican accent?), a great continuation of that evolution, for both the "monster" and the concept, but what's next? This is why I've always loved The Walking Dead comic series: the evolution of the world where this apocalypse has come to pass. Incidentally, I read once that Robert Kirkman's original title for The Walking Dead was Night of the Living Dead, or that the intention was to set it in Romero's universe (it's public domain).

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle

And yes, at the time of writing this I've already watched today's movie, the just-dropped new film by Gareth Evans, Netflix's The Apostle. The articles I read about this describe it as somewhat Lovecraftian. Man, that is one over-used term these days! There is nothing Lovecraftian about this film. That said, I enjoyed The Apostle, however it has an odd pacing that feels a bit over-stuffed at times. My guess is this was originally supposed to be a series, then while filming the pilot someone decided to make it a film, and they shot enough to complete it. The film handles its multiple storylines well, however it just feels like the first season of a show streamlined into a 2 hour and 20-something minute movie. Not a bad thing, but makes for a little bit of cumbersome viewing. Cumbersome might be too harsh, so let's just say it doesn't flow the way a film like this seems it should.



Playlist from yesterday:

Joh Corigliano - Altered States OST
John Carpenter - Lost Themes II
Windhand - Eternal Return
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Tom Vek - Luck

Card of the day:


Confirmation of the dark side? Entering the night, exploring the darker aspects... of myself? Or something I'm writing? No real frame of reference for this one today.

Saturday, October 13, 2018

2018: October 13th



The closing track from Windhand's Eternal Return, my current musical obsession.

Zeal and Ardor tonight at the Roxy! Can't wait. Normally I'd show up a bit later and hang at the bar, but K wants to get there early, grab a spot by the stage and hang there all night, so it'll be front-and-center for one of her favorite bands. We saw them last year at the High Hat and hot damn! what an awesome show. Not a huge fan of The Roxy, but I'm happy as hell to see them growing into bigger venues.

31 Days of Horror continued with George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, primarily because I ordered the bare bones, director's cut Blu Ray for Land of the Dead - a movie a saw opening night in '05 and did not like very much. In spite of this, I've decided it's time for reassessment, and my friend Anthony swears the Theatrical was unlikeable because of studio edits which the director's cut corrects. We shall see...

31 Days of Horror:

10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

Playlist from 10/12:

The Final Cut - Consumed
In Solitude - Sister
Alice in Chains - Eponymous
Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Steve Moore - The Mind's Eye OST
Windhand - Eternal Return
Zeal and Ardor - Devil is Fine

Card of the day:


Probably because the prospects of doing any real writing this weekend are slim. Boo social activity!

Monday, October 10, 2016

Dawn of the Dead 3D at Beyond Fest 2016


I will admit that while I have extremely low tolerance for the Zombie film as a genre there are several Zombie-related stories in popular culture that inspire an allegiance in me that little else receives. My Zombie list goes like this, not in any order of preference:

Night of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
The Walking Dead (comic)

That's it. I don't hate everything else Zombie-related by I dislike most of it*. Or rather, maybe it's just that I don't have time for most of the rest of it. All that said, if asked what I think is the absolute pinnacle of films on the subject I would answer without hesitation George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. I feel as though Dawn does everything a Zombie story should do, from chronicle the dismemberment of social/political and economic structures amidst the ensuing chaos to addressing the modern human psyche's reaction to not only the stresses resultant from those structures ending but to themes of isolation, agoraphobia and, ultimately, the Lord of the Flies survival mechanism that would no doubt cause other humans to become an even bigger threat than those shambling monstrosities waiting to eat your flesh.

Thanks to the labors of original Dawn of the Dead** Producer Richard P. Rubenstein Dawn of the Dead has now been converted to a BEAUTIFULLY rendered 3D experience and while I generally take 3D with a grain of salt, if you are a Dawn fan this is a MUST SEE.


Saturday, 10/08/16 I was fortunate enough to attend the premiere of this newly converted film thanks once again to the fine folks at Beyond Fest and The Egyptian Theatre. To say it was one of my favorite theatrical experiences from over my 40 years on this Earth is not hyperbolic. Mr. Rubenstein spoke before and after the film, going out of his way to not only explain the conversion impetus and process, but also to assure everyone that "This is 100% George's film - I did not alter it at all". Mr. Rubenstein also went on to talk about his plans to get this version of the film into Cinemas across the country and finally to assure everyone that the 2D version is not going anywhere.

Also, if you're a fan of The Walking Dead but have not seen this film before I can't recommend it enough, in either 3D or 2D. As the first Zombie film to address the above-mentioned themes of extinction, isolation and inter-species betrayal Dawn is quite literally where The Walking Dead comes from - its part of TWD's DNA. In fact, Robert Kirkman has stated in interviews that the original title for TWD was Night of the Living Dead and that it would continue the "Universe" that Mr. Romero began. Obviously that title did not happen, but the plot absolutely did; I've always read TWD with the idea firmly in place that this was the further evolution of Romero's world.

To further celebrate this historic piece of horror cinema I'm going to embed a making of I found on youtube while searching for a trailer to post. Enjoy.


..........................

*I should also clarify that I am most definitely a fan of 28 Days/Weeks later but do not consider those Zombie flicks

** Mr. Rubenstein also produced the remake, as well as most of Mr. Romero's classic canon of films

Sunday, October 27, 2013

George A. Romero's Season of the Witch



Whoah! The previous post turned my train of thought to other 70's, witchy movie-related tunes and of course Donovon's Season of the Witch and its use in George A. Romero's largely unknown classic of the same name sprang to mind. When I popped over to the youtubes to look for said song imagine my surprise when I noticed that the entire freakin' movie was on there! Now, I don't own the rights and as usual I implore you to buy this is if you dig it, but it's up there and a lot of folks don't know about it and it's almost Halloween, so when you get a minute, sit down and thrill to the domestic witchery of a lost Romero gem!!!