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DIARY OF THE DEAD
Although this is a DVD release and I tend to review new releases, I found it pertinent since this movie never saw a wide release.
George A. Romero's latest foray into re-inventing his zombie genre produced "Diary of the Dead". Contrary to what is likely to be popular belief, the movie does NOT bank on the "live camera" feel of Cloverfield as it technically was made a good year before it. It just happened to hit some distribution road blocks and never made it into many theatres at all. That being said, Zombie fans with their ear to the ground have been hearing about this one for some time.
Unfortunately, the title has proven to be a further downhill decline after Romero's Land of the Dead a few years back. The use of live action cameras proved to be completely useless in the context of the film as the acting is not believable enough for anyone to buy for 5 seconds that this is being filmed live. It might have done a lot better as just a cheap zombie flick filmed traditionally, but as it is, really fails. I will say this for it, it did have some good "gore effects" . . . but that wasn't enough to save it.
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULLS
Like Star Wars before it, comes a new Indiana Jones almost 20 years later. The difference being that other than rumours of a new instalment floating around for the last few years, we were never necessarily promised new movies like we had been with Star Wars. All that to say that it is the return of the other beloved Lucas-created ( In this case Spielberg directed ) cultural icon that is Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr.
Taking into consideration the last 20 years, and the obvious age of the star himself, the film takes place during the cold war of the 50's. The enemies are no longer the Nazis but cold war era soviets and in this one, they are running against time to discover the secret of the Crystal Skulls of South America. The film delivers what Indiana Jones has always been about. Action, adventure and a few wisecracks. Stephen Spielberg also opted to film the movie with older equipment and on-location shooting to preserve the same feel the other movies had. He wanted it to feel as though this could have been released a year after the last film. There's even several nods to people and things from the old films. Seeing Indy again was like seeing an old friend, complete with the John Williams theme fans have grown to love.
-Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
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