Monthly Archives: July 2022

An Unofficial Extended Cut of 1978’s Dawn of The Dead

Romero’s Zombie masterpiece, Dawn of the Dead, officially has three versions, the 2-hour 7-minute US theatrical release, the 1-hour 59-minute Dario Argento edited European release, and an extended cut release on home video of 2 hours and 19 minutes.

On YouTube I discovered an unofficial 2-hour and 34-minute edit that combines material from the previous version. It was quite an edit and in general I really like this fully fleshed out version of the story.

I saw the original release of the film back in 1979 when it played at a local drive. (We’ll skip over the part where I bicycled to the drive as I had no access to a car.) The film then was impressive and as I have aged and matured my appreciation has only grown. In addition to horrific events, gory set-pieces, and action the film is a satirical commentary on American consumerism and how easily we put material goods and comforts over more important matters and duty. I do not think it is by chance that our characters are all people who have abandoned their responsibilities in favor of themselves.

The long version has more ‘world-building’ as we spend more time with the characters and their environment before they discover the abandoned shopping mall. We see more of the disintegration of society at the television station and with more police abandoning their posts as the main characters flee the crumbling city.

Nothing about the core story changes and the ending remains the same as Romero never photographed his script’s original conclusion. It is a shame that this is an unauthorized edit as I think it works quite well and it would be nice to see it have a proper home video release.

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Abusing the Word Private

One of the recent controversial and in my opinion dishonest ruling from the Supreme Court of The United States is Kennedy v Bremerton School District which ruled that the school district violated Coach Kennedy’s right when it fired him for conducting prayers on the football field directly following games. I will not relitigate the case, there are numerous good sources to understand the legal issues in contention, but I want to point you towards a podcast, Advisory Opinion, where the lawyer representing Kennedy appeared and argued the case for the hosts and the public. Hiram Sasser abused the English language so thoroughly that words ceased to having meaning, particularly the word ‘private.’

Sasser argued that his client had engaged in private prayer which is Kennedy’s right to exercise and the school district trampled on his religiously liberty by firing him.

This ‘private’ prayer took place on the football field, immediately following the game. A field which just moments ago had been the focus of attention for a stadium full of people. It is difficult to conceive of a setting less private. Had Coach Kennedy strode out to the 50-yard line and begun masturbating I doubt a single conservative in the nation would have considered this a ‘private’ act. The abuse of the word continues. Members of the football team followed Kennedy to the field as asked if they could join him to which he reported replied ‘It’s a free Country.’ Call me a stickler for language but when you participate with other in an activity, others who members of the general population and not there by invitation, that is public and not ‘private.’ The continued abuse of the language in describing any of this as ‘private’ is nothing short of dishonest doublethink. In my personal opinion, clearly not private as I am stating it in the open and in full view Sasser, the Supreme Court engaged in deceptive contorted logic with selective facts to arrive at the conclusion that the conservatives had already decided was the one that they wanted.

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Movie Review: Thor: Love and Thunder

I wish I could say I loved Thor: Love and Thunder but the film was a disappointment. I will cover

Disney Studios

the general reason why it failed to work for me, but I will avoid spoilers and anything that really hasn’t appeared in trailers. However, if you are concerned the short review is that the film failed and is likely for me the bottom of the MCU.

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Still here? Okay Let me present my arguments why this film did not work for me. There are three major failures in execution in the movie.

1) The humor was forced.

2) The stakes carried little weight for the audience.

3) There was little to no thematic statement or argument in the film.

The 9:30 am showing I and my sweetie-wife attended was not packed but there was an audience, and I cannot recall very much audible laughter during the screening. All of the best jokes and punchlines seem to appear in the trailers and what was surprising seemed to be trying too hard. If felt like someone attempting to replicate Thor: Ragnarök but failing. Where the broad characterizations utilized in that film were set against an equally broad and exaggerated setting here the same over the top characters were principally in more ‘grounded.’ as much as any MCU setting can be grounded, and the clash of styles failed to be funny.

The villain of the piece if Gorr, The God Butcher, a being defined by tragedy and wielding a weapon that allows him to slay gods. Which he does. The problem is that all of these gods are new characters to us, disconnected from the on-going storylines of the MVU and divorced from its characters so why should any audience member have an emotional attachment to their demise? All the gods whose death’s would have a serious impact have already died in other films. Also, Gorr’s course towards his goal is ill-defined and inconsistent within the film itself. Gorr needs X to achieve his ultimate goal, but he doesn’t act like he is trying to obtain X until after the audience if informed of the need. It really felt as though the film was being written and re-written as it was being produced.

The film, as best as I can determine, has nothing to say. Thor: Ragnarök under its flashy, colorful, Kirby-Inspired production design and it broad comedic tone had a lot to say about the legacy of sin, crimes of the past shaping the present, and colonialism. Love and Thunder apparently has nothing more to say than live life fearlessly and with love but even that rather cliched message is at best muddled and buried in the confusing chaos of the movie.

I have respected and been vastly entertained by Taika Waititi’s previous creative outings, his work often infused silliness with deep emotional heart, but sadly I cannot in good faith say I enjoyed this movie.

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Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 1

When someone says Star Trek because I am an older fart my mind immediately flies to The Original Series with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and its ropey effects. When Next Generation arrived, I watched and enjoyed the series through about season five and after that I just sort of dropped off. Deep Space 9 I watched the first two seasons, Voyage I managed 3 episodes before switching it off in disgust and Enterprise lost me at the pilot, and with Discovery I managed 8 episodes before ‘space sonar’ drove me away. I had really liked Discovery but the hard drift away from the series history made it difficult to integrate with my existing fandom and eventually the rupture was too much ignore. Still, I had hope for Strange New Worlds despite having dropped out of Discovery before these actors had stepped into the series playing these iconic cannon characters.

Strange New Worlds has justified that hope.

Anson Mount brings his own spin, quite different while still honoring Jeffrey Hunter’s, to the character of Christopher Pike. The same can be said for Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Spock. There are echoes and resonances of the original portrayals enough to

Credit: Paramount Pictures

respect the prior actors but fresh enough for current styles and trends. The actor most divergent from the original portrayal is Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel but it is an unfair comparison as Majel Barret-Roddenberry was given very little to do with the character beyond pining for Spock. The cast is large, and I am not going to cover them all, not even the pair of legacy characters with Uhura and M’Benga other than to say the entire cast is a delight and I do not think a single wrong has been miscast.

The ten episodes run of season one has finished airing. (A strange phrase as the series is only available via networked streaming.) The approach the show’s creators have used is not the sprawling tightly interconnected chapters of a ten-hour movie that has become so common with television of late, but rather a more episodic nature with each episode a self-contained story with continuing plot threads woven throughout the season. This comes close to the original series format allowing the show’s writers to have episodes that explore different styles that would likely clash in a more tightly plotted season, such as having comedic episodes, space battle episodes, and stories turning about a single moral question. Not all of these episodes land on target, I found the humor of Spock Amokforced but the beauty of a truly episodic series is that the next episode can turn things around.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed Strange New Worlds, both the legacy characters and the new ones have a sharp chemistry that make watching a pleasurable and engaging experience. I look forward to season 2.

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Nordic Noir/Horror: Postmortem No One Dies in Skarnes

In the isolated rural town of Skarnes Norway the body of the funeral home director’s daughter is discovered in a field. Perhaps not to her good fortune, Live (pronounced Liva) is discovered to be alive before the police budget busting autopsy is performed. Grappling with fragmentary memories of the attack that left her for dead in the field Live discovers that not only has she developed a compulsion for blood but that dark familial secrets present new dangers from unexpected quarters.

Postmortem: No One Dies in Skarnes is billed as Nordic noir/horror/comedy though from the first two episodes I would say the show’s emphasis is horror/noir with only occasional touches of humor serving as counter point to the bleak tone and setting. Produced in Norway and currently streaming as a Netflix Original the show has a distinctly Nordic noir aesthetic, presenting the fantastic premise with grounded realistic performances and cinematography. While the story has one foot solidly in its own unique vampire lore the other remains planted in a world of overdue bills and heartless banks so familiar to the audience giving the fantastical a realism necessary for the audience suspension of disbelief.

This commitment to a realistic approach continues to its casting, hair, and make-up with the production eschewing the ‘cover model’ look for its female performers but a more grounded sense of attractiveness that avoids glam for a relatable appearance. The performances themselves are balanced to small emotes with a restrained quietness in keeping with the Nordic noir tradition and that serves the story better than loud overly expressive gesticulations.

Having watched just two of the six episodes of the first season it is difficult to say if the show succeeds. I am of the personal belief that ending are essential to artistic success of any film or series and that a bad one, looking at you Game of Thrones, can critically damage the good that came before. That said I am hopeful that Postmortem: No One Dies in Skarnes will stick its landing.

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