I have Man 'Flu.
Luckily, it hit me after my Sunday night gigs and should be sufficiently gone before I start working tomorrow.
Anywho...
Being curled up on the sofa and in total control of the DVD player and Sky box has allowed me to catch up on some movies that I'd yet to indulge in. Hurrah! An old passion is rediscovered!
Survival of the Dead
This one appeared with no fanfare. A NEW zombie flick from George Romero.
Romero has been quite vocal about the stupidity of fast-running zombies in other people's movies. Seems that doesn't stop him putting one of his new zombies on horseback!
He's gone down the CGI route with some effects in this one (budget constraints, methinks), and some of them suck badly. There's a death-by-fire-extinguisher moment that would be better suited to a Loony Tunes movie. And the very final shot lays on the allegory with such a massive trowel, I honestly felt my IQ drop at that point.
And the zombies themselves aren't scary anymore. Granted, the horror in Romero's movies always comes from the conflicts that exist between living characters, but in this installment the walking dead seem to be more of an inconvenience than a catalyst for the end of rational social behaviour...
All that aside, it's actually quite good fun. I enjoyed it a lot.
District 9
I wasn't sure whether this would be my kind of film or not. I love sci-fi, and the premise seemed intriguing, but worried that it might be badly dumbed down - or that the social allegory could be layered on with a trowel in the belief that viewers are too thick for subtlety.
Wow. Bloody wow. And it is bloody. Very bloody. It's produced by Peter Jackson, and it shows - it's every bit as splatterfilled as Brain Dead and Bad Taste. But it's the characterisation that makes the movie so tense and horrific.
My only qualm was the way in which the movie's style shifts from 'documentary footage' to more mainstream narrative storytelling without any clear signposts. It gives two perspectives on the story - which is a fabulous device - but left me a bit unsure about whose vantage point we were supposed to be following. It'll probably be clear on the second viewing. And it's likely to get far more viewings that that ove time.
Great stuff.
Pandorum
Two spacemen wake up from hypersleep on a big spaceship. One is played by an unknown actor, who probably didn't cost much. The other is played by Dennis Quaid, who almost certainly has a higher daily fee.
One of those spacemen explores the ship, discovers lots of nice sets and has some well-choreographed action adventures, while the other sits in a small control room, so his scenes can be shot and finished with in under a week.
Can you guess who gets the cushy number?
It's fun though. There are cannibilistic mutants on the ship, a gardening ninja, and a kick-ass scientist lady.
And, just in case you guess the twist at the end, they throw a hundred twists at you at once in the hope that you didn't expect at least one of them.
Good brainless gory sci fi fun.
Now let's see if I can come down with the Lurghi on Monday morning...
Pete
