Diary of the Dead

"ZOMBIES don't run. They can't! Their ankles would snap. What did they do — wake from the dead and immediately join a health club?”
As the undisputed king of the zombie genre, it seems only fair that veteran filmmaker George A Romero is using the opportunity of his new film to take a pop at the pretenders to his throne.
He is referencing movies like 28 Days Later or more specifically Zack Snyder’s remake of his 1978 film Dawn of the Dead — where zombies dash at terrifying pace.
It’s now 40 years since Romero made his first zombie movie, the black and white Night of the Living Dead, and once again he is strictly keeping to the rules he established for the flesh eaters in 1968.
Although that’s not strictly true because this time, hot on the heels of Cloverfield, the action takes place as if it is happening on handheld camera with footage added from news feeds, CCTV cameras and Internet sources.

The protagonists, a group of students and a tutor, are making their own horror movie when a real breakout of the undead occurs.
After that, it’s the usual gory fight for survival, mixed with a touch of humour here and there and some very inventive zombie death scenes.
It’s certainly better than Romero’s last movie, 2005’s Land of the Dead and the handheld camera technique gives it a more personal feel.
But this time, the film’s social commentary is less subtle with Its parody of our multi-media society and reliance on technology clearly on the surface.
If you’re a fan of Romero or the zombie genre you’re in for a treat — otherwise it’s probably worth giving this one a wide berth.

Vantage Point

IT is a sad fact that often when something is tried differently in the creative industries it is either disregarded or doomed to failure.
Vantage Point seems to be a case in point. While it is far from a bad film it will hardly change the way we watch movies and seems to have split audiences across the country.
What is different about Vantage Point is that the narrative is told from eight different points of view as you gradually piece together the jigsaw puzzle of what has happened.
The film opens with an anti-terrorism summit in Spain and within moments the President of the United States is assasinated.
From the unique points of view of the TV crew and Secret Service to bystanders and those responsible, each segment of the film has a different take on what happened before time is literally rewound.
It pays tribute to 1950 Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon that pioneered this method of filmmaking but is a fairly new concept for western cinema.
And some viewers obviously didn’t have the patience for the technique as some people sighed and laughed as the clock continued to be rewound.
It is also quite telling that the best part of the film came in the form of a pulse racing car chase after time was reset for the last time — which was quite a relief after more than an hour of coincidences and unlikely twists.
As for the cast, Sigourney Weaver is excellent as a news producer, though Lost’s Matthew Fox seems to be a little out of his depth and the ever-talented Forest Whitaker could have done with a meatier role.
Although it doesn’t quite work, kudos goes to the filmmakers for trying something different.

There Will Be Blood

FOR the first 17 minutes, there is no dialogue. Just the vast expanse of the New Mexico wilderness and a man’s determination as he works his silver mine.
It is the turn of the 19th century and Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is hell bent on finding success and wealth as prospector in the early days of the trade.
In 1911, he meets the young, naive reverend Eli Sunday (Little Miss Sunshine’s Paul Dano in a strong supporting role) who tells Plainview of oil near his family ranch in Little Boston, California.
Sunday sees this as an opportunity to bring wealth to the impoverished area and spread the word of God but darker times are ahead.
In a stirring and dark Oscar-winning performance by Day-Lewis, Plainview wins the village folk over with a tidal wave of charisma, adopted son in tow to bolster his family man image.
But when the oil starts to flow, everything from his family to the safety of the workers is put on the sidelines.
The film is set over many years from 1898 to 1927 and cuts in and out at the important moments in the story.
And as time goes on, Plainview graudally descends into madness fuelled by ambition turned sour.
At 158 minutes, There Will Be Blood is a long haul and quite intense viewing matched with a hazy soundtrack by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.
But if you want to see a rich story develop with some amazing performances, it is essential viewing.
Apparently Day-Lewis researched his role for years and you can tell.

Rambo

WHERE’S the worst place you could put a troubled Vietnam War veteran who has difficulty adjusting to normal life?
A war zone, you might think...but that doesn’t stop a group of Christian aid workers persuading John Rambo to give them passage to war-torn Burma, against his better judgement.
Within moments, they are attacked by Burmese pirates and 60-year-old Rambo has to return to his living hell as he saves the group and awakens his inner demons.
But the death of three men isn’t enough to deter the Christian aid workers who press on with their mission before getting predictably kidnapped.

Rambo is soon enlisted to help a team of mercenaries (including a brilliantly stereotypical ex-SAS soldier) recover the group and the stage is set for the carnage to begin.
As a movie, Rambo’s merits are hard to judge because while the story is fairly hollow, that is not why anyone would go to see this type of film.
On the other hand, the aesthetics and style of the film are close to perfect but this presents problems too.
This is because the scenes of violence and war are incredibly horrific and gratuitous and perhaps too realistic for what is essentially a straight forward popcorn action film with a darker core.
Basically, it’s a brilliant film if you are able to detach yourself from what is going on and simply embrace it as the hero movie it is.