CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Romero Can't Live Without His Diary
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Romero Can't Live Without His Diary

post #1 of 44
5/21/08 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 
Kevin's article- http://chud.com/articles/articles/14...ARY/Page1.html
Reply
post #2 of 44
5/21/08 at 8:18pm
The article seems pretty optimistic about future Dead installments considering all the hate garnered by Diary. Based on what I read here, I skipped Diary completely...here's hoping Romero gets his game back if any of this comes true.

Also, last I'd heard Romero was back on Diamond Dead as his next project (which seems way more interesting). Then again, I don't know how well that would work post SoTD anyway. I guess this story puts a fork in Diamond again.
Reply
post #3 of 44
5/21/08 at 8:25pm
I saw Diary of the Dead, I will probably pass on everything Romero-related from here on out
Reply
post #4 of 44
5/21/08 at 9:16pm
I went over to Hollywood Video to rent Diary this evening (I know I know, it's shit. Well, sometimes shit interests me, especially if its Romero's. I'm a huge fan of the Dead series and I'm insanely curious to see it) and couldn't find it under the D's. So I'm thinking "alright, maybe they filed it under "George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead", so I head on over to the G's. No luck. I ask the clerk if I'm mistaken about the release date of the flick and he says that it is indeed out, but a Blockbuster exclusive, so Hollywood can only carry it if they go out and buy copies. What the fuck?
Reply
post #5 of 44
5/22/08 at 12:34am
It sucks. Romero's saying some interesting things - the way the internet facilitates clustering us with like minds instead of forcing us to interact with "the other" is a theme worth exploring. And the bit about "keeping her around and feeding her because it's grandma" could play up how the rules apply to everyone except US, that notion that turns up at every red light or waiting line in life. But my faith in Romero is badly shaken by Diary. If this next film has characters and other trappings from Diary, double that faithshake.
Reply
post #6 of 44
5/22/08 at 1:06am
I think it's cool. I'm in favor of a filmmaker finding a way to get his stories out there without having to go through the system. It's analogous to the bands that play their gigs and release their records on their own and find a way to make a living doing that. I may not always be a fan of their music, but I appreciate that they've taken their own path and will support it more than I might have otherwise done. Same with this deal.

If it gets his juices flowing, gets the passion and enthusiasm raised, and allows him to follow where he wants to go without fear of studio interference, then more power to him.
Reply
post #7 of 44
5/22/08 at 1:32am
I would like so much to agree with you, but (and no, I can't find a source link) Romero has said things in interviews recently that suggest this is his retirement plan, a way to have some steady income in his twilight years.

Trust me, no one was pulling for him the way I've been. My dad took me to see Day of the Dead at a midnight screening in 1985. I saw these last two on opening day. I once got to interview Romero, James Lipton-style, in front of a group of film students, and it was one of the coolest nights of my life. Romero is "that one filmmaker" for me. But his "social commentary" stuff is now starting to ring hollow, like Elvis doing "Hound Dog" on autopilot in 1975. He's giving his fanbase what they want, not challenging us. I miss the crazy, march-to-his-own-drummer bastard that made Martin and Knightriders.

That said, I know anything can turn around. I admire your optimism.
Reply
post #8 of 44
5/22/08 at 11:07am
i don't know if I would just completely give up on the guy that made Dawn of the Dead. Even if you don't like Diary of the Dead, who knows what he might do next. It seems like most of the films are pretty unique for usually having the same basic elements. Although sometimes I think he sounds a little pretentious and it is almost like "having a message" has become a gimmick. That said, I haven't even seen Diary of the Dead so I might hate the guy too after I watch it.
Reply
post #9 of 44
5/22/08 at 11:29am
Quote:
I haven't even seen Diary of the Dead so I might hate the guy too
I didn't say I hated him.
Reply
post #10 of 44
5/22/08 at 12:14pm
I don't know if I'm just a crazy idiot, but I'm still holding out hope for Diary. My expectations are so abysmally low that I don't see how I can be disappointed at this point.

After recently watching the Day of the Dead remake, things can only get better. Right?
Reply
post #11 of 44
5/22/08 at 7:09pm
I still haven't seen Diary either, but even a bad Romero zombie movie is still better than 90% of other zombie movies that are out.
Reply
post #12 of 44
5/22/08 at 8:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BubWilliams View Post
I still haven't seen Diary either, but even a bad Romero zombie movie is still better than 90% of other zombie movies that are out.
Normally I'd agree with you. But DIARY is an exception to that rule. Phil pretty much summed up how I fee about the movie. Like him, I was there on opening day for the last two Dead flicks.

But regardless of how I feel about the film, I recently discovered something that really pissed me off. Some jerkoff recently posted DIARY OF THE DEAD on YouTube.

I sent emails to Dimension Extreme to notify them but I havent heard back yet. Hope it gets pulled down before they lose too much money.

Alex, maybe you can make sure they know?
Reply
post #13 of 44
7/18/08 at 3:33pm
http://chud.com/articles/articles/15...D-2/Page1.html

The rumors bubble up again. I'm still amazed every time I read how thrilled Romero was with Diary of the Dead. The working conditions may have been a treat, but the end result was so depressing. I went to the theater opening night and just sat there in mortified silence. I don't know if I could watch a sequel to that movie.
Reply
post #14 of 44
7/18/08 at 3:44pm
I didn't hate Diary, but it certainly was a disappointment. What I did love about the Diary DVD? The zombie short films featured in the extras section that were made by the winners of Romero's MySpace contest. My absolute favorite was the one done by Teller. Teller! Of Penn & Teller fame. He did a short film playing himself (and narrated by himself!) and how he dealt with the zombie apocalypse after having to take out Penn when he discovered him in the dressing room with blood oozing out of his mouth from a fresh feed.

Great stuff. I actually like that short film better then Diary.
Reply
post #15 of 44
7/18/08 at 3:46pm
See this is a double kick in the balls for me. I absolutely hated Diary of the Dead and I was planning on seeing Romero this weekend, what a loada bullshit!
Reply
post #16 of 44
7/18/08 at 3:58pm
I hope it follows the further adventures of that funny southern chick!
"Don't mess with Texas!"
Reply
post #17 of 44
7/18/08 at 4:07pm
Quote:
Furthermore, with the shoot taking place in Toronto and Romero having such a good experience with the local crews, Romero went as far to defect from his native Pittsburgh and set up residence north of the border with the intent of shooting more productions in our home and native land.
Unless by saying "Romero having such a good experience with the local crews" you mean "he left his wife for the Canadian script supervisor on Land of the Dead", I respectfully disagree.
Reply
post #18 of 44
7/18/08 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Unless by saying "Romero having such a good experience with the local crews" you mean "he left his wife for the Canadian script supervisor on Land of the Dead", I respectfully disagree.
Is this the woman to whom you refer?

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0188315/

If so, how did you gain such knowledge?
Reply
post #19 of 44
7/18/08 at 4:48pm
"Diary of the Dead?"

more like "Diarrhea of the Dead"...

amirite guys, amirite?

...sorry...
Reply
post #20 of 44
7/18/08 at 4:50pm
Quote:
how did you gain such knowledge?
My vast network of geek spies. In Pittsburgh.
Reply
post #21 of 44
7/18/08 at 4:53pm
All of Pennsylvania is Phil's playground.
Reply
post #22 of 44
7/18/08 at 4:57pm
The PA is MINE, motherfuckers. From the Three Rivers to the still-on-fire-after-46-years town of Centralia, to Gary Heidnik's basement.
Reply
post #23 of 44
7/18/08 at 5:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Egg View Post
http://chud.com/articles/articles/15...D-2/Page1.html

The rumors bubble up again. I'm still amazed every time I read how thrilled Romero was with Diary of the Dead. The working conditions may have been a treat, but the end result was so depressing.
Maybe depressing for you, but he says that because Diary was so easy to make and cheap, that the movie is already well into profits, allowing him to make more movies.

He says that Land of the Dead will never be profitable and his whole experience with major studios has been terrible that he'd rather make a simpler movie than deal with all the trappings of dealing with them. It wasn't until they started filming Land that he found out the studio was planning for it to go straight to DVD. That's some shit that has got to piss you off a bit.

That being said, I don't think Diary is his best but it has some absolutely AWESOME kills in it. Some of the best in any of his movies, or recent horror movies for that matter. I definitely think it is worth checking out if you haven't seen it already.

The deaf Amish farmer who writes on a chalk board hanging around his neck and throws dynamite at zombies? Awesome.
Reply
post #24 of 44
7/18/08 at 5:23pm
"Ya know, growin up in Pittsburgh, one of the things you want to be when you grow up is a zombie in a George Romero movie!"
-Tom Savini, every single interview

SHUT YOUR MOUTH SAVINI
Reply
post #25 of 44
7/18/08 at 5:56pm
After hearing this news, my fever has dropped to tepid 98°

Only way ill get excited is if they focus the whole movie on how the Amish population dealt with the attacks.
Reply
post #26 of 44
7/21/08 at 6:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kreeper View Post
But regardless of how I feel about the film, I recently discovered something that really pissed me off. Some jerkoff recently posted DIARY OF THE DEAD on YouTube.

I sent emails to Dimension Extreme to notify them but I havent heard back yet. Hope it gets pulled down before they lose too much money.

Alex, maybe you can make sure they know?
Lose money? How are they going to lose money by people watching their movie on YouTube? DVD sales are in nowhere near the amount of trouble that CD sales are so I wouldn't go bending over backwards worrying about Dimension's sales figures.
Reply
post #27 of 44
7/21/08 at 7:13pm
You know, I still have not seen Diary of the Dead. Should I just not watch it and let Land of the Dead* be my last Romero zombie movie?

*I actually think Land is very good.
Reply
post #28 of 44
7/21/08 at 8:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BubWilliams View Post
You know, I still have not seen Diary of the Dead. Should I just not watch it and let Land of the Dead* be my last Romero zombie movie?
Yes.
Reply
post #29 of 44
7/22/08 at 1:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BubWilliams View Post
You know, I still have not seen Diary of the Dead. Should I just not watch it and let Land of the Dead* be my last Romero zombie movie?
A thousand times yes.
Reply
post #30 of 44
7/22/08 at 6:37pm
'Kay...
Reply
post #31 of 44
8/7/08 at 1:39pm
My opinion of Diary Of The Dead? Blair Witch Project meets George Romero, but he didnt show up!
Reply
post #32 of 44
8/7/08 at 1:40pm
American Zombie was better. That's a shame.
Reply
post #33 of 44
8/19/08 at 3:14am
http://chud.com/articles/articles/16...UEL/Page1.html

Last time I reported on Diary, I hadn't seen the thing. I actually thought it was good. Better than Land of the Dead for sure. But it looks like Diary 2 will be filming Sept. 15.
Reply
post #34 of 44
8/19/08 at 3:34am
Explain? There's this faction of horror fans who think Land is somehow inferior to Diary, and that formula just does not work.
Reply
post #35 of 44
8/19/08 at 3:42am
What killed Diary of the Dead for me was the awful, awful acting. Well, okay, the dialogue got real groan-worthy real damn quick, but if the acting had been even SLIGHTLY better I could've forgiven it more.

Still, I like to see Romero working, so bring it on.
Reply
post #36 of 44
8/19/08 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTSMGL View Post
What killed Diary of the Dead for me was the awful, awful acting. Well, okay, the dialogue got real groan-worthy real damn quick, but if the acting had been even SLIGHTLY better I could've forgiven it more.

Still, I like to see Romero working, so bring it on.
Add in the fact that the story itself just don't hold up....


Christ, my internet goes out if someone farts too hard. A worldwide panic brought on by the dead walking the earth devouring the flesh of the living and Youtube uploads faster?

I'm not going to even go into the utter stupidity shown by the characters.
Reply
post #37 of 44
8/19/08 at 5:53pm
I actually watched Diary the same weekend as the Dawn remake. Two zombie DVDs on two consecutive nights. One created by Romero, the single most influential man in the history of the entire genre. One created as a remake/update/homage to Romero's original creation.

Sad to admit which I preferred - by a wide margin.*


*That said, don't get me started on running zombies...
Reply
post #38 of 44
8/19/08 at 6:25pm
Running zombies are alright.
Reply
post #39 of 44
8/19/08 at 7:17pm
Land of the Dead is Dawn of the Dead compared to Diary of the Dead. Diary was just so awful that I would rather Romero do something completely different than waste his time with a sequel.
Reply
post #40 of 44
8/19/08 at 7:19pm
I just bought the dvd of Diary Of The Dead on saturday, and I dug it, but not as much as Land Of The Dead. Looking forward to the sequel, and I hope the badass British professor is in it. He was easily the best part of the movie for me. Well, him and the dynamite/scythe wielding deaf Amish man.
Reply
post #41 of 44
8/19/08 at 7:34pm
I saw the Amish guy bit on YouTube, sucks that Romero can't center the new movie on that guy. But the Vanguard pretty much seems like it's about a deaf mute killing 'zombies', I still want to check that movie out.

Any word on whether or not it's going to be shot in the same style?
Reply
post #42 of 44
9/12/08 at 12:26pm

c'mon guys!

okay, okay. it's not stellar. it's not even all that interesting. but it ain't ishtar either. granted, i am a rabid romero worshipper, but i sort of got it. and the acid disolving head thing was pretty fuckin cool. i'm interested to see where he goes with this.
if you want to see remarkably bad, rent the remake? re-envisioning? re-fuck up? of day of the dead with mena suvari. that traveled right thru funny bad and into just plain awful.
Reply
post #43 of 44
9/12/08 at 12:59pm
I love George Romero as much as anyone. Doesn't make this movie any better. I'll certainly hope the sequel is better, but I'm skeptical.
Reply
post #44 of 44
9/12/08 at 1:18pm
Even with the subpar acting, I still dug it albiet not as much as the original 3 and even Land. It was interesting to watch (and I know there is a good version of this idea out there somewhere) and it was better than Day of the Dead remake. *shudder* Now that's a horrible zombie flick.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Creature Corner Main
CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Romero Can't Live Without His Diary