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Massawyrm's Fantastic Fest Day 1!! DIARY OF THE DEAD And TIME CRIMES!!
Hola all. Massawyrm here.
Timecrimes (Cronoscrimines)
One of the problems with being a die-hard science fiction fan is having our heart break most every time we sit down to watch a story involving time travel. As we all know, it is rarely done right. Most often the story involves setting up an internal consistency, a set of rules explained to the hero that eventually the hero will end up breaking anyway for story reasons. And we, the science fiction dorks of the world, are left to walk out arguing the logic. And we're rarely happy with it.
Enter Timecrimes, the new Spanish entry to the genre and perhaps the best time travel movie in decades. Unlike its predecessors, Timecrimes has an almost slavish devotion to its internal logic. In fact, the entire story is about a man struggling against the rules that get set up, only to deal with the constant frustration of them not breaking. It is a tense mystery about a man accidentally gets shot backwards in time and sets out to try to make everything right so he can go home again. Sadly, nothing wants to go right and the movie becomes a slow, slippery slope of watching how far a man will go to get his life back to what it was.
And what really works is that hard core sci-fi buffs will have this one figured out for a while. There comes a moment in which every time travel nerd figures out every step of the film, sits back with his arms folded and says I know what's going to happen next - and they do. Until the end of the second act. And just where you think the movie will end rather predictably, an x-factor comes out of nowhere and changes the whole scope of the movie, creating a pulse pounding third act that is wildly unpredictable.
All this culminates in a perfect ending that will send you out into the lobby talking, dissecting and marveling at what first time feature director Nacho Vigolondo has accomplished. This movie is tightly paced, brilliantly constructed and will send any sci-fi buff into spastic fits of joy. This is that time travel movie that we sit around and wish someone would make. The special effects are sparse and every dime went into the caliber of actors and making sure every shot is perfectly executed. If you're at Fantastic Fest and you missed this first screening, you owe it to yourself to catch the second one. I don't know what the hell is going on over in Spain right now, but they've sent over several of the best genre films not only of the fest, but all year. I hope to god a distribution company here in the states gets a hold of this and puts it in theatres. This is exactly the kind of thought provoking science fiction we fans live for. This comes with The Highest of Recommendations.
Diary of the Dead
I've had a number of conversations with friends recently about many of the geek masters who have seemed to be slipping in recent years. Their films, which while still entertaining, lack the power and presence of their early work. And I've remarked that many of these guys need to go back to school so to speak - to get back to their roots with almost no budget and make a film like they have something to prove. I mean, I LOVED Grindhouse, but how awesome would it have been if rather than making a $70 Million film that looked like 2 $1 Million dollar movies, they instead just made 2 $1 Million movies – attempting to make the best god damned movie they could with the same tools that their inspirations had? Last night I saw such a master make a no budget zombie movie in an attempt to recapture the glory of his early days. And the proof is in the pudding. Romero is back and doing what he does best.
Romero himself talked about how he just HAD to make this movie - that he set out to make it for a direct to video market if he had to - just to tell a great zombie story again, to get back to what made them scary in the first place. This was a film not made to capitalize on the market, but a story that was clawing its way out of him. And one can hardly blame him. He created a mythos that has gotten away from him. Zombie movies have all become about "The rules." We've all heard or taken part in the discussions. Zombies can to this, zombies can't do that. Fast zombies versus slow zombies. Yada yada yada. Hell, look at what happened to Romero himself when he dared to continue the evolution of his own universe and created a smart zombie horde. People whined and groaned that the idea of a smart zombie was stupid. Because that's not how zombies work.
Well, Diary of the Dead is the reset. The reminder of Romero's rules. If you die. You come back. Period. Not if you are bitten. Not if they vomit blood on you. If you die. We are taken back to that very first night when all hell broke loose but tells a completely different story than Night of the Living dead. This isn't the story of a group of people locked up in a house and waiting for it all to end. This is the story of a group of people on the road, just trying to get home to their families. It is about crisis and the selfishness of humanity. It is exactly the same while being completely different. In all the right ways.
And, as usual, Romero has something to say – this time about the globalization of information and the desire for everyone to have their voice heard among the millions of others screaming to be heard at the same time. Many have already trashed the conceit of this film, comparing it to The Blair Witch Project. And yet, while watching it I never got that feeling. Mostly because this movie is ABOUT the guy holding the camera, about his desire to let the world see through his eyes, to tell the truth in a world where the media lies to us. He wants to be the hero and for him the hero isn't the guy killing zombies to save his friends, he's the guy filming the guy killing zombies to save his friends. And the film is very much about wrestling with that idea. In a world in which we can turn to youtube and see a number of horrific videos – we all ask ourselves and our friends the same question. Why the fuck didn't they put down the fucking camera and try to stop it? The soul of this movie is about answering that very question – for better or for worse.
But what makes this film so god damned good is that it gets back to the roots of survival horror. It is set in a universe where zombie movies and comics and videogames aren't part of the culture. No one knows that you have to shoot them in the head – they have to LEARN that. No one knows what a zombie is. No one can grab their copy of the Zombie Survival Guide off of their bookshelf and know exactly what things they should be taking along. It's watching these people try to survive in a crisis. It's about the best of humanity and the worst of it.
It is exactly the type of story we love Romero for.
I loved the hell out of this movie, and I think it makes a great bookend to the first two movies in showing us that "First Night" mentality. The last two films, Land and Day (which I both dig) are about long-term survival. They're about being locked up and dealing with a wait that may never end. But the first two are about that initial survival, about Darwinism at its best, culling the idiots while the strong rise from the rank and file into hero status. And this gets back to that.
And lets face it, if you always hated the idea of smart zombies, dude, they ain't around. They could still exist, but they aren't here yet. This film is everything about the original Romero films that we love and nothing that the detractors of the later films don't. Romero got back to being who he is and making a film that really stands out in a VERY populated field these days. And God bless him for it. This one comes Highly Recommended. I cannot wait to see it again. The Weinstein's cannot get this into theatres soon enough.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
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Sounds like for the old school, survive-the-day, initial-zombie-outbreak fans, Diary may just satisfy. No smart zombies, no "I'm sooo scaaared" Blair Witch bullshit. Just people wondering what the fuck is going on, and how do they get home.
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I watched Deja Vu recently with my housemates, I'd forgive the see through time device (clearly a 'wouldn't it be cool to have a time travel car chase' idea from some producer somewhere) thought it was all going to tie together with a throughly depressing but entirely logical and unavoidable ending, only to watch the last ten minutes with my mouth open at how far they were going to change the rules just to make it have a happy ending. Made no sense. Whatsoever. Just a film that was made cos someone thought 'Ooh, then he sees blood in the apartment and it turns out it's his!' Yeah nice idea, if you follow that through. Anyway, rant over, my mates didn't mind so I guess 3 to 1 is probably a fair reflection of people who don't worry about that sort of thing to those who do. Great to hear someone's got it right, looking forward to seeing this someday.
Cheers Massawyrm, great reviews. From another time travel nerd.
(Or it is really you, in the future?).
No. Its not. -
Land of the Dead was stupid in that Romero would have us believe that Dennis Hopper would be in charge because he has a lot of ash on hand. Money would be worthless (except as toilet paper) in a post apocalyptic zombie illed world. Men like John Leguizamo's character would run the show. He has survival skills and the abiliy to find food and kill zombies. One's net worth or stock portfolio would be meaningless in such a world.
"Primer" was genius. -
I meant to write that Hopper has a lot of "cash" on hand. I suppose it would have made more sense if he had a lot of "ash".
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or some footage from Diary? It's frickin' killing me, I'm reading all these reviews and there's nothing I can see.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are the bee's motherfucking knees. If the Dead movies were six year old boys, I'd go to jail for loving them this much.
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But at least it would wonderfully consistent
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His is the clearest, most reasonable take on DOTD so far on this site.
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Whoops, never mind.
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After Harrys over positive review and Quints lacklustre splurge I dint really know what to do about hyping my own noggin for Diary but you just switched my dial back towards interested.Nice reviews as usual.Choke on em!
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Obviously and eventually but I doubt it will be best served by the Fucking Weinsteins!Death Proof is out now over here in the UK but I'm biting a bit NOT to go an see that coz of how they fucked us out of GrindhouseAlso Quint stated the acting in Diary was universally SHITE! but Harr and you don't so is it all that bad or in Quinty-Poo jist maonin on it a wee bit much!?
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Wasn't there a news item this morning about Routh and Bale not appearing in the George Miller's Justice league movie??? I even posted there! Where has it gone? Did WB have it removed???
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Back to the Future, Planet of the Apes (the original), Donnie Darko, Somewhere in Time, 12.01PM (the short starring Kurtwood Smith, it's on google video), Primer, 12 Monkeys, The Butterfly Effect dir. cut. Which ones am I missing?
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Flight of the Navigator! =D
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"Well, Diary of the Dead is the reset. The reminder of Romero's rules. If you die. You come back. Period. Not if you are bitten. Not if they vomit blood on you. If you die."
Question: In Romero's earlier movies, the bites caused death, and then reanimation as a zombie after death. This is still true in DoTD? Or not? -
maybe one with a bag on her head
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What he means is that every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. They get up and kill. The people they kill get up and kill. (Romero's Law). The means of death are not important, be it bleeding out from a Zombie attack, old age or straining too hard on the toilet. You do not need to be bitten to reanimate. You just need to be dead.
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shit
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Apparently you haven't seen Porn of the Dead.
Yes, it really exists, and yes it's exactly what you think it is -- a zombie porno movie.
Err... Not that I would know this. Nope, not at all. -
It exists already? Aww crap, I was gonna pitch that! *deletes fifth draft*...
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You can die from straining too hard on the toilet?? I say godDAMN.
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nobody saw this? not even a plant that i could pour v-jolt on?
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Dairy of the Dead aka ISOLATION from last year's Fantastic Fest.
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i cant wait to see this
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Apparently this movie does not have the gore quotient of Dawn or Day because Romero stated that "nobody would hang around long enough to film it" but I figured an excellent way would be inanimate cameras eg. CCTV or even better a camera wielding fool gets taken down and drops his camera to the floor where we get an unblinking unmoving view of what happens next. Instant gore shot. Anyone remember a similar thing in "Henry: Portrait of a serial killer" when they drop the camera to take down the entire family in a one take home invasion? Some of that with a zombified Henry next time please George. ;o)
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Yeah it came out, and it was fuckin awesome. I also thought the second one was awesome. Nobody is still participating in this thread, so I doubt I'll be crucified for saying this.
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SUMMER TIME MACHINE BLUES! Search it out, it's japanese and it is the best. primer is great too, but this thing not only has a time travel logic that works, but it is funny and entertaining and inventively filmed. check it out! This one looks good too. I can't wait to see it.
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And I'll say that until it gets released wider and everyone realizes it for themselves.
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Best. Zombie. Movie. Ever.
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...I'll just go get my hammer and some nails...
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Where is the fucking trailer or teaser for this thing?
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