this week on 100 Films

Lots to report this week -- it's been a very busy one on 100 Films in a Year.

Firstly, it's now November, so here's the monthly update for October. It's mainly filled with my next topic...

In honour of Halloween last Thursday, the past seven days have been the Week of the Living Dead for 100 Films. All six reviews are summarised in chronological order at that link.

...but even then that wasn't all this week, oh no. In total there were seven brand-new reviews published in the past seven days. In alphabetical order, they were:


Dawn of the Dead (1978)

The film is rich with analogy and symbolism for them that wants it; what’s kind of depressing is that so many viewers today don’t. I’m a fan of a well-constructed largely-mindless action movie as much as the next Bloke, on the right occasion, but that’s now what Romero was purporting to construct. It’s not “pretentious” to see these themes, because that’s why he made the film.

Read more here.


Day of the Dead (1985)

the darkest and most nihilistic of all Romero’s films, lacking the humour that played such a significant role in Dawn. It’s not as if Night was rolling in laughs, but... there are no villains — characters conflict, but their motives are all understandable. Day has a clear-cut villain: the base’s new commander, Captain Rhodes, a power-mad borderline-caricature of small man syndrome. This is where that B-movie thing comes in: he’s eminently quotable, but he’s also thoroughly unlikeable.

Read more here.


Diary of the Dead (2007)

a greater focus on action and gore than ever before. The first three films limit the majority of their violence to a final-act brawl... but here we’re given a smattering throughout, with no all-or-nothing finale. That’s not a bad thing, but it makes it feel more pervasive — even more so than Land, which was an action-adventure movie through and through.

Read more here.


Land of the Dead (2005)

clearly bursting with Romero’s usual socio-political analogies and commentary. There’s the rich/poor divide and the abundance of entertainment; there’s certainly some post-9/11 thoughts, and perhaps post-Katrina too; perhaps the zombies represent foreign nationals, either breaking in or kicking off a revolution; and there are freedom fighters within too, who are incarcerated and apparently tortured without trial...

Read more here.


Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies, World War Z… zombies seem to be everywhere at the minute (generally in things beginning with ‘W’, for some reason), and generating big business. But this particular subgenre began 45 years ago, in a simple black & white independent movie, made for less than 1% of Brad Pitt’s salary for World War Z.

Read more here.


Survival of the Dead (2009)

There are, unquestionably, better zombie movies written and directed by George A. Romero, but I think here he’s produced one of his most watchable; one that can be as entertaining as the others, is still at times as innovative, and does even support a deeper reading, if you’re prepared to look for it. The film not only shows us that the dead can survive, but that so should Romero’s reputation.

Read more here.


Toy Story of Terror! (2013)

a mash-up of horror-trope-spoofery and usual kids’ tale Toy Story antics, pretty much divided half-and-half around the midpoint. Which is no bad thing when it’s all so much fun. The horror movie stuff early on is a suitable tribute to the genre, packed with atmosphere. Of course it’s kid-friendly and so not really scary, but there are plenty of nice references and a solid mystery

Read more here.


And on top of all that, one review was new to the new blog...


2012 (2009)

The end of the world occurs courtesy of messy CGI. I’ve seen better graphics in current-generation computer games than some of the sequences here. And there’s too much of it. Letting Emmerich’s imagination — and budget — run rampant means there’s an assault of imagery that’s just too much for one film.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.