list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around George Romero's Diary of the Dead on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/George_Romero_s_Diary_of_the_Dead/352119/default.aspx Title: George Romero's Diary of the Dead
Year: 2007
Director: George A. Romero
Plot: Horror icon George A. Romero effectively hits the "reset" button on his hugely influential "Dead" series with this scaled back look at the zombie apocalypse as told from the perspective of a student filmmaker who sets out to shoot a low-budget fright film, but instead captures the breakdown of modern society at the decaying hands of flesh eating ghouls. Jason Creed (Josh Close) and his crew are shooting a mummy movie in the Pennsylvania woods when media reports begin pouring in about the dead rising from their graves to feast on the flesh of the living. While self-centered star Ridley (Philip Riccio) beats a hasty retreat to his family's fortified mansion halfway across the state, the remaining cast and crew are forced to fight for their lives despite having with no weapons to speak of, and only a wobbly recreational vehicle in which to seek shelter. Immediately recognizing the gravity of the situation and outspokenly skeptical of the media, determined director Creed decides to use his own camera to capture the real story in a documentary entitled "The Death of Death." Now, as the group attempts to fight their way to safety, the skeptics will all watch as their greatest fears become reality and the realists will attempt to process a nightmare that modern science would pass off as impossible. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 15
Number of Lists: 15
Number of blog posts: 12
Number of discussion threads: 5
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:49:32 GMTGeorge Romero's Diary of the Dead2007George A. RomeroHorror icon George A. Romero effectively hits the "reset" button on his hugely influential "Dead" series with this scaled back look at the zombie apocalypse as told from the perspective of a student filmmaker who sets out to shoot a low-budget fright film, but instead captures the breakdown of modern society at the decaying hands of flesh eating ghouls. Jason Creed (Josh Close) and his crew are shooting a mummy movie in the Pennsylvania woods when media reports begin pouring in about the dead rising from their graves to feast on the flesh of the living. While self-centered star Ridley (Philip Riccio) beats a hasty retreat to his family's fortified mansion halfway across the state, the remaining cast and crew are forced to fight for their lives despite having with no weapons to speak of, and only a wobbly recreational vehicle in which to seek shelter. Immediately recognizing the gravity of the situation and outspokenly skeptical of the media, determined director Creed decides to use his own camera to capture the real story in a documentary entitled "The Death of Death." Now, as the group attempts to fight their way to safety, the skeptics will all watch as their greatest fears become reality and the realists will attempt to process a nightmare that modern science would pass off as impossible. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide15Tag Target (>10)151253http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s352119.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/George_Romero_s_Diary_of_the_Dead/352119/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/ushimu/archive/2009/9/23/44000.aspx Post By: UshiMu
Post To: UshiMu Blog
Post Date: 9/23/2009 7:19:57 PM
Body: Diary of the dead was only my second Zombie movie, and I wasn't dissapointed at all. I thought it was interesting how Romero was portraying the film like an accidental documentary. The beginning was well done, it set the stage for the rest of the movie. The only thing that I didn't fully appreciate was how abrupt the ending was.
]]>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:19:57 GMTUshiMuUshiMu Blog9/23/2009 7:19:57 PMDiary of the dead was only my second Zombie movie, and I wasn't dissapointed at all. I thought it was interesting how Romero was portraying the film like an accidental documentary. The beginning was well done, it set the stage for the rest of the movie. The only thing that I didn't fully appreciate was how abrupt the ending was. http://www.spout.com/blogs/slipofthetongue/archive/2009/1/26/39894.aspx Post By: slipofthetongue
Post To: SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Post Date: 1/26/2009 1:09:09 AM
Body: Romero has taken his fifth installment in the classic DEAD series back to basics. Instead of a gritty black and white indie feel (like in the original) he uses a Panasonic HDCAM and tells the story from the point of view of a modern film student. The results are mixed. This is not quite the total disappointment Land of the Dead turned out to be. GEORGE ROMERO'S DIARY OF THE DEAD is a semi-effective morality tale with some joltingly good bits of C.G.gore and little else to recommend it except that it does feel truer to the indie spirit of vintage Romero than it's predecessor. The movie tilts toward annoying in its first hour, mostly due to its stock characters and a series of head scratching events in the story. Romero does build some tension so you go with it. But DIARY OF THE DEAD never does really find its own footing as a movie. About halfway through there is a series of scenes with an Amish farmer that are both funny and bizarre which serve to illustrate the problem. You're not sure whether to laugh at this character or laugh with him. Suddenly, you wonder what might have happened if the movie had more of the tone of Dawn of the Dead, blending humor and gore into a knit that supports the necessary feeling of creeping dread. Laughter sometimes helps to provide a tension and release that can support other emotions (in this case, fear). What if...you think to yourself. What if...? In the final analysis creativity is lightning in a bottle for some people. Romero caught it in the sixties and seventies but he just can't seem to get it back. I would see any DEAD film that he made because he has built up a lot of credit with me over the years. However, I view his current films with some trepidation because they just don't have the same pop as the old ones. In Dawn of the Dead Romero critiqued American society. He told us that we were a bunch of mindless consumers bumping into one another in the night, creatures with no souls, creatures that produce nothing except more of themselves. In the intervening years our society has devolved toward that reality. It is further proof of our decline, that we don't even have the money to purchase the goods we want anymore. We instead use credit. Romero created his original terrifying morality tales decades ago and to this day people still don't recognize that they were full of double meaning. Back then he even knew how to make his morality tales scary. For this country and for Romero the only hope for greatness lies somewhere in figuring out how to re-invent ourselves. Figuring out how to re-boot. Romero doesn't quite do it here, but it's a decent try.
]]>Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:09:09 GMTslipofthetongueSlipOfTheTongue Blog1/26/2009 1:09:09 AMRomero has taken his fifth installment in the classic DEAD series back to basics. Instead of a gritty black and white indie feel (like in the original) he uses a Panasonic HDCAM and tells the story from the point of view of a modern film student. The results are mixed. This is not quite the total disappointment Land of the Dead turned out to be. GEORGE ROMERO'S DIARY OF THE DEAD is a semi-effective morality tale with some joltingly good bits of C.G.gore and little else to recommend it except that it does feel truer to the indie spirit of vintage Romero than it's predecessor. The movie tilts toward annoying in its first hour, mostly due to its stock characters and a series of head scratching events in the story. Romero does build some tension so you go with it. But DIARY OF THE DEAD never does really find its own footing as a movie. About halfway through there is a series of scenes with an Amish farmer that are both funny and bizarre which serve to illustrate the problem. You're not sure whether to laugh at this character or laugh with him. Suddenly, you wonder what might have happened if the movie had more of the tone of Dawn of the Dead, blending humor and gore into a knit that supports the necessary feeling of creeping dread. Laughter sometimes helps to provide a tension and release that can support other emotions (in this case, fear). What if...you think to yourself. What if...? In the final analysis creativity is lightning in a bottle for some people. Romero caught it in the sixties and seventies but he just can't seem to get it back. I would see any DEAD film that he made because he has built up a lot of credit with me over the years. However, I view his current films with some trepidation because they just don't have the same pop as the old ones. In Dawn of the Dead Romero critiqued American society. He told us that we were a bunch of mindless consumers bumping into one another in the night, creatures with no souls, creatures that produce nothing except more of themselves. In the intervening years our society has devolved toward that reality. It is further proof of our decline, that we don't even have the money to purchase the goods we want anymore. We instead use credit. Romero created his original terrifying morality tales decades ago and to this day people still don't recognize that they were full of double meaning. Back then he even knew how to make his morality tales scary. For this country and for Romero the only hope for greatness lies somewhere in figuring out how to re-invent ourselves. Figuring out how to re-boot. Romero doesn't quite do it here, but it's a decent try. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_August_25_Monster_Madness/625/34361/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 8/25/2008 5:06:52 PM
Body: [quote user="mercurial"] Well, before I go into my long list of monsters, I'm going to go ahead and say that I loved Cloverfield. I saw it in the theater the weekend it came out, I followed the viral marketing campaigns, and am slowly becoming a J.J. Abrams fan (despite never seeing a single episode of Lost). I must also say that I am one of the freaks that loved The Blair Witch Project. The Blair WItch being one of my favorite unseen movie monsters. To the point, Cloverfield was just one of those adrenaline rush movies for me. Where you never get a sense of the monster that's lurking around every corner. You really get a sense of the characters and root for them to survive the whole ordeal. Granted the guy holding the camera was rather annoying and certain scenes (the climbing from one demolished building to another, I mean, really!?) were implausible, but yet, I was completely absorbed into the whole film. [/quote] I think I really have a problem with the whole cinema-veritas style in general. I guess the idea is: Make what you are watching seem more real by making it more obvious that what you are watching is through the eyes of a camera. I also have a problem (for somewhat of the same reason) with movies shot entirely in digital like Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead. I can't say that I loved Blair Witch, but as a whole, I thought it was extremely clever, especially the marketing. If you recall, the trailers were extremely short and they didn't show anthing. And the actors hid away for the first few months of the release. There was a similar film that came out a few years before Blair Witch called The Last Broadcast in which these guys go into the woods to find the Jersey Devil. I think the set-up was a little bit better than Blair Witch but the acting wasn't very good.
]]>Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:06:52 GMTleeroy711Weekly Theme8/25/2008 5:06:52 PM[quote user="mercurial"] Well, before I go into my long list of monsters, I'm going to go ahead and say that I loved Cloverfield. I saw it in the theater the weekend it came out, I followed the viral marketing campaigns, and am slowly becoming a J.J. Abrams fan (despite never seeing a single episode of Lost). I must also say that I am one of the freaks that loved The Blair Witch Project. The Blair WItch being one of my favorite unseen movie monsters. To the point, Cloverfield was just one of those adrenaline rush movies for me. Where you never get a sense of the monster that's lurking around every corner. You really get a sense of the characters and root for them to survive the whole ordeal. Granted the guy holding the camera was rather annoying and certain scenes (the climbing from one demolished building to another, I mean, really!?) were implausible, but yet, I was completely absorbed into the whole film. [/quote] I think I really have a problem with the whole cinema-veritas style in general. I guess the idea is: Make what you are watching seem more real by making it more obvious that what you are watching is through the eyes of a camera. I also have a problem (for somewhat of the same reason) with movies shot entirely in digital like Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead. I can't say that I loved Blair Witch, but as a whole, I thought it was extremely clever, especially the marketing. If you recall, the trailers were extremely short and they didn't show anthing. And the actors hid away for the first few months of the release. There was a similar film that came out a few years before Blair Witch called The Last Broadcast in which these guys go into the woods to find the Jersey Devil. I think the set-up was a little bit better than Blair Witch but the acting wasn't very good. http://www.spout.com/blogs/analogzombie/archive/2008/7/18/32716.aspx Post By: analogzombie
Post To: analogzombie Blog
Post Date: 7/18/2008 11:12:30 AM
Body: For someone like myself, a zombie film lover and Romero devotee, this film was a hope that the wayward Land of the Dead would not be the final chapter in Romero's zombie bible. It's a good thing then that Dawn of the Dead stands on such a high pedestal that it is unlikely to be dethroned, ever. Diary of the Dead is a major disappointment. The film definitely carries the style that seemed interesting and quirky in Martin, and was flat out unnerving in Day of the Dead. It does feel like a Romero film. Even Land of the Dead had his signature opn it, although somewhat diminished and washed off. Unfortunately that's about all this film has going for it. Romero is not the best director by far. That issue is not really open for debate. What he does well is to create a mood, a feeling, an environment that seems plausible and beleiveable. He brings horror into the real world. Diary of the Dead does attempt to do this. The college students, the cranky professor, the world gone out of control, it's just that the performances are often so bad no information is conveyed tot he audience. He never grounds the apocalypse in our world. It never hits home, because he we never truly see the outside world excpet through the lens of a new programs, and radio declarations. Unlike Dawn of the Dead in which the survivors isolate themselves fromt he world, ROmero begins Diary of the Dead witht he characters already isolated. There isn't a sense of something they are running from. Instead they are moving towards the world and their families. This desire to connect is at the core of Romero's social commentary in the is film, but it never resonates. I understand that he's exploring the world of self-centered media, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, but it appears that Romero is too old, too much a part of a different media ethic, to have anything truly important to say. Romero came of age as a commercial editor at a time when the news was shot on 16mm. Night of the Living Dead was a film he piece meal with borrowed and left over goods. The concepts at work here are just not fully fleshed out. It's also obvious that the man is very disconnected from the youth he seeks to portray in this film. Their clothes, mannerisms, and motivations seem half-hearted and unreal. Some of that is due to the relatively poor acting, but there is no excuse to put someone in Buddy Holly glasses to show he's a nerdy hipster in 2007. Unfortunately Diary of the Dead seems closer to Romero's more forgettable works like Bruiser, than to his past zombie masterpieces.
]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:12:30 GMTanalogzombieanalogzombie Blog7/18/2008 11:12:30 AMFor someone like myself, a zombie film lover and Romero devotee, this film was a hope that the wayward Land of the Dead would not be the final chapter in Romero's zombie bible. It's a good thing then that Dawn of the Dead stands on such a high pedestal that it is unlikely to be dethroned, ever. Diary of the Dead is a major disappointment. The film definitely carries the style that seemed interesting and quirky in Martin, and was flat out unnerving in Day of the Dead. It does feel like a Romero film. Even Land of the Dead had his signature opn it, although somewhat diminished and washed off. Unfortunately that's about all this film has going for it. Romero is not the best director by far. That issue is not really open for debate. What he does well is to create a mood, a feeling, an environment that seems plausible and beleiveable. He brings horror into the real world. Diary of the Dead does attempt to do this. The college students, the cranky professor, the world gone out of control, it's just that the performances are often so bad no information is conveyed tot he audience. He never grounds the apocalypse in our world. It never hits home, because he we never truly see the outside world excpet through the lens of a new programs, and radio declarations. Unlike Dawn of the Dead in which the survivors isolate themselves fromt he world, ROmero begins Diary of the Dead witht he characters already isolated. There isn't a sense of something they are running from. Instead they are moving towards the world and their families. This desire to connect is at the core of Romero's social commentary in the is film, but it never resonates. I understand that he's exploring the world of self-centered media, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, but it appears that Romero is too old, too much a part of a different media ethic, to have anything truly important to say. Romero came of age as a commercial editor at a time when the news was shot on 16mm. Night of the Living Dead was a film he piece meal with borrowed and left over goods. The concepts at work here are just not fully fleshed out. It's also obvious that the man is very disconnected from the youth he seeks to portray in this film. Their clothes, mannerisms, and motivations seem half-hearted and unreal. Some of that is due to the relatively poor acting, but there is no excuse to put someone in Buddy Holly glasses to show he's a nerdy hipster in 2007. Unfortunately Diary of the Dead seems closer to Romero's more forgettable works like Bruiser, than to his past zombie masterpieces. http://www.spout.com/blogs/lopezdash/archive/2008/5/16/29292.aspx Post By: lopezdash
Post To: The Movie Blog
Post Date: 5/16/2008 1:22:49 PM
Body: McCain campaign ad on Zombie NationThe John McCain campaign would do well to exclude certain sites from its web ad buy. Maybe the philosophy of "cast a wide net" will pay off. Maybe Mark Penn missed a micro-trend somewhere along the way--conservative Horror fanboys.The ad was probably triggered by the keywords, because the original post was about a photoshop contest on SpoutBlog to turn any of the 2008 presidential candidates into a zombie poster for a new "______ Dead" film. (The prize is a George Romero DVD 2-pack, including Diary of the Dead, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead).The first entry from Jordan Gray is simply fantastic. It's John McCain starring in "Rhetoric of the Dead."I'll enter the contest over the weekend, but I can't decide between making a "Barack from the Dead" one or something about Ron Paul's zombie army. Originally posted on:Cerebral Politics
]]>Fri, 16 May 2008 17:22:49 GMTlopezdashThe Movie Blog5/16/2008 1:22:49 PMMcCain campaign ad on Zombie NationThe John McCain campaign would do well to exclude certain sites from its web ad buy. Maybe the philosophy of "cast a wide net" will pay off. Maybe Mark Penn missed a micro-trend somewhere along the way--conservative Horror fanboys.The ad was probably triggered by the keywords, because the original post was about a photoshop contest on SpoutBlog to turn any of the 2008 presidential candidates into a zombie poster for a new "______ Dead" film. (The prize is a George Romero DVD 2-pack, including Diary of the Dead, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead).The first entry from Jordan Gray is simply fantastic. It's John McCain starring in "Rhetoric of the Dead."I'll enter the contest over the weekend, but I can't decide between making a "Barack from the Dead" one or something about Ron Paul's zombie army. Originally posted on:Cerebral Politics http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/5/15/29244.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 5/15/2008 4:01:00 PM
Body: In our never-ending quest to find new ways to mock contemporary popular culture whilst celebrating the classics, we bring the first ever (ever!) SpoutBlog Photoshop Contest. We have a George Romero DVD two-pack to give away: a copy of the new Diary of the Dead, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead. Here’s the quip from the press release: The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD features a fully restored and remastered version of the original 1968 classic film and bonus materials, overseen by the master himself. This DVD marks George A. Romero’s long legacy with great interviews and multiple featurettes that emphasize the quality of this ultimate horror classic. The DIARY OF THE DEAD DVD bonus features include an optional audio commentary by George A. Romero, character confessions, a making of and the top five Myspace contest shorts. Find out what you have to do to get the discs after the jump. 1. Using the image editing software of your choice, turn an image of a 2008 presidential candidate (currently in the race or not) into a poster for a new ________ of the Dead film. 2. Upload the image to your own blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can start one for free in two minutes at Blogger, or upload the image to your Facebook, MySpace, Flickr or anywhere that can be linked to. 3. Paste a link to your image in the comments to this post on or before Sunday, May 25. 4. Wait. We will pick a winner and announce it that week. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Thu, 15 May 2008 20:01:00 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog5/15/2008 4:01:00 PM In our never-ending quest to find new ways to mock contemporary popular culture whilst celebrating the classics, we bring the first ever (ever!) SpoutBlog Photoshop Contest. We have a George Romero DVD two-pack to give away: a copy of the new Diary of the Dead, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead. Here’s the quip from the press release: The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD features a fully restored and remastered version of the original 1968 classic film and bonus materials, overseen by the master himself. This DVD marks George A. Romero’s long legacy with great interviews and multiple featurettes that emphasize the quality of this ultimate horror classic. The DIARY OF THE DEAD DVD bonus features include an optional audio commentary by George A. Romero, character confessions, a making of and the top five Myspace contest shorts. Find out what you have to do to get the discs after the jump. 1. Using the image editing software of your choice, turn an image of a 2008 presidential candidate (currently in the race or not) into a poster for a new ________ of the Dead film. 2. Upload the image to your own blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can start one for free in two minutes at Blogger, or upload the image to your Facebook, MySpace, Flickr or anywhere that can be linked to. 3. Paste a link to your image in the comments to this post on or before Sunday, May 25. 4. Wait. We will pick a winner and announce it that week. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/5/15/29243.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 5/15/2008 4:00:49 PM
Body: In our never-ending quest to find new ways to mock contemporary popular culture whilst celebrating the classics, we bring the first ever (ever!) SpoutBlog Photoshop Contest. We have a George Romero DVD two-pack to give away: a copy of the new Diary of the Dead, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead. Here’s the quip from the press release: The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD features a fully restored and remastered version of the original 1968 classic film and bonus materials, overseen by the master himself. This DVD marks George A. Romero’s long legacy with great interviews and multiple featurettes that emphasize the quality of this ultimate horror classic. The DIARY OF THE DEAD DVD bonus features include an optional audio commentary by George A. Romero, character confessions, a making of and the top five Myspace contest shorts. Find out what you have to do to get the discs after the jump. 1. Using the image editing software of your choice, turn an image of a 2008 presidential candidate (currently in the race or not) into a poster for a new ________ of the Dead film. 2. Upload the image to your own blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can start one for free in two minutes at Blogger, or upload the image to your Facebook, MySpace, Flickr or anywhere that can be linked to. 3. Paste a link to your image in the comments to this post on or before Sunday, May 25. 4. Wait. We will pick a winner and announce it that week. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 15 May 2008 20:00:49 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com5/15/2008 4:00:49 PM In our never-ending quest to find new ways to mock contemporary popular culture whilst celebrating the classics, we bring the first ever (ever!) SpoutBlog Photoshop Contest. We have a George Romero DVD two-pack to give away: a copy of the new Diary of the Dead, and the 40th Anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead. Here’s the quip from the press release: The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD features a fully restored and remastered version of the original 1968 classic film and bonus materials, overseen by the master himself. This DVD marks George A. Romero’s long legacy with great interviews and multiple featurettes that emphasize the quality of this ultimate horror classic. The DIARY OF THE DEAD DVD bonus features include an optional audio commentary by George A. Romero, character confessions, a making of and the top five Myspace contest shorts. Find out what you have to do to get the discs after the jump. 1. Using the image editing software of your choice, turn an image of a 2008 presidential candidate (currently in the race or not) into a poster for a new ________ of the Dead film. 2. Upload the image to your own blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can start one for free in two minutes at Blogger, or upload the image to your Facebook, MySpace, Flickr or anywhere that can be linked to. 3. Paste a link to your image in the comments to this post on or before Sunday, May 25. 4. Wait. We will pick a winner and announce it that week. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Zombie_Obsession/George_Romero_s_Fear_net_Interview/329/25504/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: divinemsjunebug
Post To: Zombie Obsession
Post Date: 2/23/2008 11:43:31 AM
Body: Horror master and godfather of the modern zombie movie, George Romero, took some time to talk to us about the future of his Dead series. He also spoke about Diamond Dead (his long-awaited zombie musical), his involvement in The Crazies remake, and the upcoming Diary of the Dead DVD! Do you see Diary of the Dead as the first film in a new zombie trilogy for you? [Laughs.] You know what, I see it as, if there’s another zombie movie for me—and right now it looks like there’s going to be—I would certainly make it a sequel to this film rather than keep going along the other track. The first four films, the phenomenon had sort of gone on, and for the first time I indicated, in Land of the Dead, that it had been going on for three years. So I sort of put a time frame on it. I sort of found myself in a place where I thought, 'Where else can I go? How much bigger can you get than that?' I felt that I lost track of the roots, and I just wanted to go back and be simple again. There’s a collection of short stories called Book of the Dead, and in fact there was a Book of the Dead 2, and it was all horror and science fiction writers that wrote stories that were based on Night of the Living Dead, but all of the stories were what happened to other people on the same night. I said, 'You know what? I can do the same thing with a new cast of characters and start over.' I also had this idea... I mean, all of my films grew out of what’s happening in the world. I don’t wake up and say, 'I just want to make another zombie movie for the hell of it.' All of them were more than ten years apart and were all about perceptions I had about what was happening out in the world. I had this idea to do something about all this new emerging media that’s replacing mainstream media very quickly. That’s why I had to do it quickly, so it was the first time I did a zombie film within three years of the last zombie film. But I had the idea and the urge to go back and do something smaller that I could control and that would have a low enough budget that I could get all of the creative control on it. It was just sort of everything falling into place, and good timing! There’s been some speculation about another zombie film that you may or may not be involved with--a zombie musical called Diamond Dead. I love it, I love it, I’ve always loved it. It’s a project that’s being promoted by an Australian producer named Andrew Gaty. People from Rocky Horror are involved in it. Richard Hartley wrote the score. It’s ready to roll. We tried everything we could do to get that movie made--nobody got it. We even got Ridley Scott and Scott Free (his production company) behind it and pitched it everywhere, and everyone said, 'We don’t get this.' This has gone on for the past three years. This is also the problem with the internet because anything that I discuss with anybody ends up on the internet as my next project. Diamond Dead happens to be one that I really love. I spent two years working on a script, pitching it. Ridley Scott came on and really wanted to do it, but everyone basically said no. But then just before I was ready to come on this tour I get a call from that Australian guy, who says the project is back up and there’s new interest in it, and he’ll send me the script. Apparently there’s a new script and I haven’t even gotten it yet. It is alive again but only to that extent. I haven’t seen the script, maybe I won’t like it. But that’s a project I would really love to do. I can point you to five or six other projects that, according to the internet, I’m just about getting ready to get up and shoot. None of it is true and none of it is real. It’s not real until it’s real. When it is real I’ll be up there saying, 'Hey guys, it’s real.' Each of your Dead films has a strong social commentary, could you already see what issues you might be tackling in a follow-up to Diary? No. [Laughs.] Diary is already a very successful film, just even based on pre-sales its already made money for everybody. There’s a lot of talk automatically about doing a sequel quickly. If I had to do it quickly I’m going to take the three surviving characters and continue the story. There’s a lot I’d like to say about American media and how we’re all being captivated by it but I don’t have a script yet. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't. If I have to do one very quickly that’s what it would be about. Otherwise I would wait. Until some sort of an idea, or until something happened in the world that would be dramatic enough. Another project your name has been attached to is the remake of The Crazies... I have absolutely nothing to do with that. I don’t have anything to do with the remakes of any of my films. Paramount had The Crazies for three years and never made the movie. I understand now that someone else just bought it, and now there’s some big flap about, 'Ookay we’re going to shoot it.' I have nothing to do with it. I know nothing about it. Because of my original film I have the title of executive producer, which means nobody even needs to call me up and tell me what’s going on. I’m blown away that all these movies are being remade, when no one wants to see them in the first place. [Laughs.] It kills me. With Diary, could you say if there are any scenes that you may have left out that we’ll see on DVD? I wish that I could tell you that the DVD is going to be all full of new scenes. We shot the movie in 23 days. There is nothing that we shot that we left out. There is a little bit of footage--all you could do is sort of extend scenes, but no there is nothing there. However, what I will tell you is the guy who made the 'Making of', is a wonderful filmmaker in his own right and I think it will be a fabulous thing to just watch us making the movie. I’ve never seen a better 'Making of' film than the one that this guy made. He also did the UK 'Making of Creepshow'. It’s a beautiful film on its own. I can’t honestly say there’s all this stuff we shot that isn’t in the movie, and now you’re going to be able to see it. The movie is what it is. It’s the 'Making of' with Nicotero and the cast and extra stuff that will be tacked on. There’s also going to be a contest that Weinstein is running for young filmmakers who are making horror films. I’m going to judge it myself and pick one, and that will be on the DVD. All the extras are really going to be extras, and it’s not going to be extended because we really don’t have any footage.
]]>Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:43:31 GMTdivinemsjunebugZombie Obsession2/23/2008 11:43:31 AMHorror master and godfather of the modern zombie movie, George Romero, took some time to talk to us about the future of his Dead series. He also spoke about Diamond Dead (his long-awaited zombie musical), his involvement in The Crazies remake, and the upcoming Diary of the Dead DVD! Do you see Diary of the Dead as the first film in a new zombie trilogy for you? [Laughs.] You know what, I see it as, if there’s another zombie movie for me—and right now it looks like there’s going to be—I would certainly make it a sequel to this film rather than keep going along the other track. The first four films, the phenomenon had sort of gone on, and for the first time I indicated, in Land of the Dead, that it had been going on for three years. So I sort of put a time frame on it. I sort of found myself in a place where I thought, 'Where else can I go? How much bigger can you get than that?' I felt that I lost track of the roots, and I just wanted to go back and be simple again. There’s a collection of short stories called Book of the Dead, and in fact there was a Book of the Dead 2, and it was all horror and science fiction writers that wrote stories that were based on Night of the Living Dead, but all of the stories were what happened to other people on the same night. I said, 'You know what? I can do the same thing with a new cast of characters and start over.' I also had this idea... I mean, all of my films grew out of what’s happening in the world. I don’t wake up and say, 'I just want to make another zombie movie for the hell of it.' All of them were more than ten years apart and were all about perceptions I had about what was happening out in the world. I had this idea to do something about all this new emerging media that’s replacing mainstream media very quickly. That’s why I had to do it quickly, so it was the first time I did a zombie film within three years of the last zombie film. But I had the idea and the urge to go back and do something smaller that I could control and that would have a low enough budget that I could get all of the creative control on it. It was just sort of everything falling into place, and good timing! There’s been some speculation about another zombie film that you may or may not be involved with--a zombie musical called Diamond Dead. I love it, I love it, I’ve always loved it. It’s a project that’s being promoted by an Australian producer named Andrew Gaty. People from Rocky Horror are involved in it. Richard Hartley wrote the score. It’s ready to roll. We tried everything we could do to get that movie made--nobody got it. We even got Ridley Scott and Scott Free (his production company) behind it and pitched it everywhere, and everyone said, 'We don’t get this.' This has gone on for the past three years. This is also the problem with the internet because anything that I discuss with anybody ends up on the internet as my next project. Diamond Dead happens to be one that I really love. I spent two years working on a script, pitching it. Ridley Scott came on and really wanted to do it, but everyone basically said no. But then just before I was ready to come on this tour I get a call from that Australian guy, who says the project is back up and there’s new interest in it, and he’ll send me the script. Apparently there’s a new script and I haven’t even gotten it yet. It is alive again but only to that extent. I haven’t seen the script, maybe I won’t like it. But that’s a project I would really love to do. I can point you to five or six other projects that, according to the internet, I’m just about getting ready to get up and shoot. None of it is true and none of it is real. It’s not real until it’s real. When it is real I’ll be up there saying, 'Hey guys, it’s real.' Each of your Dead films has a strong social commentary, could you already see what issues you might be tackling in a follow-up to Diary? No. [Laughs.] Diary is already a very successful film, just even based on pre-sales its already made money for everybody. There’s a lot of talk automatically about doing a sequel quickly. If I had to do it quickly I’m going to take the three surviving characters and continue the story. There’s a lot I’d like to say about American media and how we’re all being captivated by it but I don’t have a script yet. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't. If I have to do one very quickly that’s what it would be about. Otherwise I would wait. Until some sort of an idea, or until something happened in the world that would be dramatic enough. Another project your name has been attached to is the remake of The Crazies... I have absolutely nothing to do with that. I don’t have anything to do with the remakes of any of my films. Paramount had The Crazies for three years and never made the movie. I understand now that someone else just bought it, and now there’s some big flap about, 'Ookay we’re going to shoot it.' I have nothing to do with it. I know nothing about it. Because of my original film I have the title of executive producer, which means nobody even needs to call me up and tell me what’s going on. I’m blown away that all these movies are being remade, when no one wants to see them in the first place. [Laughs.] It kills me. With Diary, could you say if there are any scenes that you may have left out that we’ll see on DVD? I wish that I could tell you that the DVD is going to be all full of new scenes. We shot the movie in 23 days. There is nothing that we shot that we left out. There is a little bit of footage--all you could do is sort of extend scenes, but no there is nothing there. However, what I will tell you is the guy who made the 'Making of', is a wonderful filmmaker in his own right and I think it will be a fabulous thing to just watch us making the movie. I’ve never seen a better 'Making of' film than the one that this guy made. He also did the UK 'Making of Creepshow'. It’s a beautiful film on its own. I can’t honestly say there’s all this stuff we shot that isn’t in the movie, and now you’re going to be able to see it. The movie is what it is. It’s the 'Making of' with Nicotero and the cast and extra stuff that will be tacked on. There’s also going to be a contest that Weinstein is running for young filmmakers who are making horror films. I’m going to judge it myself and pick one, and that will be on the DVD. All the extras are really going to be extras, and it’s not going to be extended because we really don’t have any footage. http://www.spout.com/blogs/paullittlejoe/archive/2008/2/21/25449.aspx Post By: paullittlejoe
Post To: paullittlejoe Blog
Post Date: 2/21/2008 9:23:43 PM
Body: DIARY has that "ROMERO" feel to it, unlike Land of the dead. Loved it and cant wait for it to come out on video. HAIL the zombie God, Romero is the master of all horror. Step aside all others and let George go to the front of the line. I hope he has a few more like this!
]]>Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:23:43 GMTpaullittlejoepaullittlejoe Blog2/21/2008 9:23:43 PMDIARY has that "ROMERO" feel to it, unlike Land of the dead. Loved it and cant wait for it to come out on video. HAIL the zombie God, Romero is the master of all horror. Step aside all others and let George go to the front of the line. I hope he has a few more like this! http://www.spout.com/groups/FilmCouch/FilmCouch_57_zombies_and_valentines/302/25176/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: paul
Post To: FilmCouch
Post Date: 2/15/2008 10:01:21 AM
Body: George Romero's Diary of the Dead opens tonight. In an interview with him at Sundance, our eyes were opened to what an eloquent artist he is. We watch Night of the Living Dead to examine the origins of the zombie genre and compare it to Diary. Just in time for Valentine's Day, Karina Longworth gets personal with the loneliest movie going experience ever: Watching Build a Ship, Sail to Sadness. (Subscribe to FilmCouch in the iTunes store and an episode will download each Friday) FilmCouch 57
]]>Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:01:21 GMTpaulFilmCouch2/15/2008 10:01:21 AMGeorge Romero's Diary of the Dead opens tonight. In an interview with him at Sundance, our eyes were opened to what an eloquent artist he is. We watch Night of the Living Dead to examine the origins of the zombie genre and compare it to Diary. Just in time for Valentine's Day, Karina Longworth gets personal with the loneliest movie going experience ever: Watching Build a Ship, Sail to Sadness. (Subscribe to FilmCouch in the iTunes store and an episode will download each Friday) FilmCouch 57 http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/the/MemberTagFilms.aspxthe
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