Wednesday, June 22, 2005

My Faith in Zombie movies has been Resurrected

I've been bummed out by zombie movies lately, but my love of the genre has just risen from the grave. And while I know that that was a lame thing to say, I couldn't think of any better way to begin a zombie movie related rant. I just watched Shaun of the Dead again. I cannot say enough good things about this movie, it's fan-freakin'-tastic. Though, I remember when it first came out it was acclaimed as being the first horror/zombie/romantic comedy film. I even heard the horrible buzz term "Zom-Rom-Com" being tossed around. I would prefer to call movies in this genre "Hor-mance" films, as opposed to "Zom-rom-coms." They're like date movies where everybody dies. But, I have to say that the distinction of being the very first horror/zombie/romantic comedy would have to belong to Peter Jackson's flick Dead Alive. Possibly the most disgusting movie ever made. My favorite part is the lawnmower sequence.

So, thanks to Shaun of the Dead, I'm actually excited about zombie movies again. I think I might even watch Land of the Dead when it comes out. I had pretty much decided to bail on the movie when I heard that John Leguizamo was in it. I figure Romero might have one good one left in him, who knows. It couldn't possibly be any worse than Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Not to suggest that Romero had anything to do with the RE flick, but merely to emphasize how unbelievably bad that movie was.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

"I Second The Nomination."

I'm about 45 minutes into The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance when I'm thinking to myself, "this is a damn fine western." And then sure enough, as if to seal the deal, the man himself appears. Lee Van Cleef, a veteran of some of the greatest westerns ever made. Like his role in High Noon, Van Cleef plays the strong, menacing, silent type. A hard nosed, squinty tough guy. He might have only had a few lines in Liberty Valance, but they were damn fine lines. It wasn't great just because of him though, the rest of the cast was superb, at least by more traditional standards. I especially enjoyed watching a drunken John Wayne stumbling about, trashing a saloon and burning his own house down. And while I haven't seen too many films by John Ford as of yet, his name is always up there with the great American directors and this film certainly lives up to such a reputation. Liberty Valance is a classic western, filled with great themes of honor, liberty (no pun intended), justice, compassion, civility and (dare I say it....) friendship. And now that I've just read that last sentence I know that I am too tired to type rationally anymore.