"Is that blood on your zombie?"

[meddow]

One of my flatmates and I were watching a movie last night, Fido, which is about a boy and his pet zombie in an alternative 1950s (crackasticly brilliant btw), and as a zombie was tearing into an old woman another one of my flatmates walked in the room, saw it and scolded us with a level of righteous indignation that Mary Whitehouse would be proud of for finding such things entertaining And for the first time in my life it occurred to me that some people just do not find zombies amusing. I always assumed a love of zombies was universal. They're zombies: decomposing people that lumber along and try to eat your brains. What's not to like? Even my mother likes zombie movies (then again, my mother is a Quentin Tarantino fangirl so maybe she's not the best person to drag up). Obviously, if there actually was a zombie apocalypse, I probably wouldn't find them funny. But as long as they remain fictional I shall find them entertaining.

Although, zombies aren't my favourite monster. That prize belongs to killer plants – triffids, krynoids and the like. There's just something so brilliant about people-eating vegetation.

Anyway, I've been at it with the Aaron Eckhart movie watching again:

Neverwas (2005, dr. Joshua Michael Stern)
Assets: IAN MCKELLAN, Nick Nolte, IAN MCKELLAN
Warnings: Britney Murphy (see, now I can't find it within me to dislike anyone who appeared in Drop Dead Gorgeous - unless they happened to appear in Marie Antoinette - but I know quite a few out there don't like her).

This movie suffers at the hands of Bridge to Terabithia esq miss-marketing. If you read the box, you would think it's a fantasy complete with a CGI magical world, when it's really not at all. It's actually a drama with slightly mystery elements to it about a psychiatrist (Eckhart) who works at the place his mentally ill father (Nolte) was institutionalised. His father before killing himself wrote a book about him rescuing a king in a fantasy world, and Ian McKellan is the patient claiming to be that king and believes Eckhart is destined to be his saviour.

Furthermore, it's not a family film. Since first scene is the main character as a child discovering his father's dead body, I think this is established pretty quickly.

So it's not really a movie in the same vein as Lord of the Rings or Narnia, rather it is more like Finding Neverland or an adult-oriented Bridge to Terabithia. Basically, it's an angst-fest with an eventual uplifting message about the power and importance of fiction.

It's a great little movie. It won't be to everyone's tastes, I'm sure but it was to mine. It's far better than the cruel straight-to-DVD and never advertised fate it suffered. There's some gorgeous illustrations, great performances (especially by Ian McKellan – I just love him), and wonderful score, and it's one of those movies that leaves you with warm fuzzy feelings and a smile.

Fangirl wise, Eckhart plays the main character and so there is tonnes of him, and if I ever go properly nuts, I want his character in this movie as my psychiatrist. He's adorable.

Film Rating: 4 ½
Fangirl Rating: 4 ½

The Black Dahlia (2006, dr. Brian De Palma)
Assets: Hmmmm….Fiona Shaw, I suppose. The Aunt Petunia factor gives a humorous spin on certain events.
Warnings: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson (The two blandest actors in Hollywood together at last).

I have to admit, I was pretty drunk when I watched this movie. Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett are in it – nether of whom I can stand – so alcohol was an essential requirement for viewing. But I don't think this impacted upon my ability to notice that this movie sucks.

It's trying really really hard to be a film noir. I've never watched a classic film noir flick, and if this is an accurate representation of what they're really like, I'm in no hurry to rectify this situation. It does look very 1940s, I'll give it that. However, the plot is too dense. It leaps from one thing to another, with no thought for characters and their motivations. The one character that does get attention is Josh Hartnett's, and both the character and actor are boring. The far more interesting characters are relegated to the sidelines.

I have a thing for fedoras (the origins of which possibly have something to do with Casablanca and Indian Jones), so this movie gets points for putting Aaron Eckhart in one. He also happens to play the most interesting character in the movie, so he's underused.

Film Rating: 2
Fangirl Rating: 2 ½

Comments

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

I didn't like The Black Dahlia at all, and I wasn't even drunk. Agree with your review completely. Johansson and Hartnett? YAWN. Aaron was the only interesting thing about the film, but even then the plot was too convoluted and had no flow. The style was pretty, film noir, as you said, but didn't have anything going for it.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I caught a bit of it while sober, and have decided my drunken opinion is on the mark. I have to wonder what on earth the people who made that movie were thinking, besides the visual look of it, it's done all wrong.