Birth of the Living Dead (2013)
A documentary that shows how George A. Romero gathered an unlikely team
of Pittsburghers to shoot his seminal film: Night of the Living Dead.
Director:
Larry Fessenden,
Mark Harris,
S. William Hinzman |
See full cast and crew »
Rented from the library; watched with my beau.
I picked this one because my S.O. is a horror fan and likes to subject me to it. Obviously I willingly submit sometimes, like when I reserve a copy from the library and wait months to get my copy. I thought it was interesting enough. For some reason, I thought it was going to cover all the "Of the Living Dead" movies, so was a bit surprised when it was just just the first movie. I haven't seen it, but after watching the documentary, I feel like I have. In a way, they made it sound like something MUCH more than a movie. I realize it was a big part of zombie horror flicks and it seems like many stem from it, but they made it sound like perfection incarnate, sometimes. I can't help but think of the indie filmmakers today and how they try to rally the troops and convince people to hop on board. It's MUCH easier today because the access to digital resources is soooooo much easier than the 35mm camera and film that Romero used. You have to almost appreciate past efforts MORE than what is made today for the difficulties and dedication involved. Not to say that it's not difficult and people aren't dedicated... but it's a bit of a different beast. Less easy access, I'd say. I'd recommend this film for anyone interested in film history, horror films, filmmaking, Romero flicks etc. Oh, I found the historical information about the world setting (Vietnam, racism etc) pretty intriguing.
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Rented from the library. Watched sola.
RIP Gandolfini. Seemed like he wanted to play a soft-hearted guy that was more like his real self (from what I understand) and he/his character seemed pretty sweet. The movie was okay. I liked the cast. The movie had the runners... aka gags/scenes/moments that we kept seeing; that's pretty standard screenwriting requirements. The characters felt REAL, as in human and imperfect. It made it hard to really root for most of them, except Gandolfini's character who seemed to have few actual flaws (besides weight); everything else seemed just little quirks, whereas with our female lead (and her friend), flaws all over the place! It wasn't an amazing movie, but it was okay. Not all rom-com-like with outrageous, unrealistic situations, but a nice concept, played out okay.
Director:
Percy Adlon
Stars:
Rented from the library; watched with my beau.
I picked this one because my S.O. is a horror fan and likes to subject me to it. Obviously I willingly submit sometimes, like when I reserve a copy from the library and wait months to get my copy. I thought it was interesting enough. For some reason, I thought it was going to cover all the "Of the Living Dead" movies, so was a bit surprised when it was just just the first movie. I haven't seen it, but after watching the documentary, I feel like I have. In a way, they made it sound like something MUCH more than a movie. I realize it was a big part of zombie horror flicks and it seems like many stem from it, but they made it sound like perfection incarnate, sometimes. I can't help but think of the indie filmmakers today and how they try to rally the troops and convince people to hop on board. It's MUCH easier today because the access to digital resources is soooooo much easier than the 35mm camera and film that Romero used. You have to almost appreciate past efforts MORE than what is made today for the difficulties and dedication involved. Not to say that it's not difficult and people aren't dedicated... but it's a bit of a different beast. Less easy access, I'd say. I'd recommend this film for anyone interested in film history, horror films, filmmaking, Romero flicks etc. Oh, I found the historical information about the world setting (Vietnam, racism etc) pretty intriguing.
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Enough Said (2013)
A divorced woman who decides to pursue the man she's interested in learns he's her new friend's ex-husband.
Writer:
Stars:
Rented from the library. Watched sola.
RIP Gandolfini. Seemed like he wanted to play a soft-hearted guy that was more like his real self (from what I understand) and he/his character seemed pretty sweet. The movie was okay. I liked the cast. The movie had the runners... aka gags/scenes/moments that we kept seeing; that's pretty standard screenwriting requirements. The characters felt REAL, as in human and imperfect. It made it hard to really root for most of them, except Gandolfini's character who seemed to have few actual flaws (besides weight); everything else seemed just little quirks, whereas with our female lead (and her friend), flaws all over the place! It wasn't an amazing movie, but it was okay. Not all rom-com-like with outrageous, unrealistic situations, but a nice concept, played out okay.
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A lonely German woman ends up in the most desolate motel on Earth and decides to make it brighter.
Director:
Marianne Sägebrecht,
CCH Pounder,
Jack Palance |
See full cast and crew »
Purchased on VHS from thrift store. Watched alone.
I had high hopes that this was going to be a quirky, offbeat comedy, but it was just off. :( And maybe I'm wrong because it won lots of awards and maybe it's because it's driven by a German writer/director (hey, I LIKE foreign films... when they are well done), but I felt the pacing, editing, audio, and characterization was all off-kilter. It had a diverse cast, which was nice, but it seemed like 'Hey, let's create a bunch of quirky characters!' and not really real (especially with the musical number at the end...and the other one threaded through). I don't mind movies that have a bit of magic to them or symbolism and such, but this was too much. The main character didn't really change. She more just came out of her shell and was the catalyst to the change of others, but it was just awkward to watch the other characters sometimes, especially when the first half of it was an angry black woman running around being a total terror to everyone. Apparently, this was made into a TV sitcom with Whoopi but didn't last long. A lot more changes and it could have been something better.
Purchased on VHS from thrift store. Watched alone.
I had high hopes that this was going to be a quirky, offbeat comedy, but it was just off. :( And maybe I'm wrong because it won lots of awards and maybe it's because it's driven by a German writer/director (hey, I LIKE foreign films... when they are well done), but I felt the pacing, editing, audio, and characterization was all off-kilter. It had a diverse cast, which was nice, but it seemed like 'Hey, let's create a bunch of quirky characters!' and not really real (especially with the musical number at the end...and the other one threaded through). I don't mind movies that have a bit of magic to them or symbolism and such, but this was too much. The main character didn't really change. She more just came out of her shell and was the catalyst to the change of others, but it was just awkward to watch the other characters sometimes, especially when the first half of it was an angry black woman running around being a total terror to everyone. Apparently, this was made into a TV sitcom with Whoopi but didn't last long. A lot more changes and it could have been something better.
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