Devon BOstick

61 Days of Halloween: Survival of the Dead

Posted on by bernardovillela

Most holidays worth their while encompass entire seasons, such as Christmas, for example. However, as you may have noticed there is a corporate push every year for us to think about the next holiday even sooner. While this has many negative side effects I figure I may as well embrace it.

Since Labor Day is really only good for college football and movie marathons cinematically it is as significant as Arbor Day, which means the next big day on the calendar is Halloween and we can start looking toward it starting now.

Daily I will be viewing films in the horror genre between now and then and sharing the wealth. Many, as is usually the case, will not be worth it so for every disappointment, I will try and suggest something worth while as well.

Before diving in and talking about the film itself there are two tales to tell about the actual viewing of this film which are rather relevant. First, being that even though this film is set in Delaware for much of it there were no showings on its opening weekend in either Wilmington or Newark, why? Which leads to the second tale: The film is available on Video on Demand through Verizon FiOS. Me and two friends viewed it at $7.99 for three as opposed to a movie theatre where that price would’ve been in excess of $30.

While some fans of Romero might be a little put off by this different approach to the zombie tale he takes, I love it personally. The zombie subgenre has been vastly overexposed in recent years, in fact, it’s likely that only vampires are more in vogue at the moment, for better or worse. Yet, amazingly Romero keeps finding new ground to tread and he does so in this film with incredible deftness and skill.

The main issue examined in this film is how to handle the overwhelming amounts of the undead that exist. This debate is examined through the guise of a family feud. The opposing sides of the quarrel is kill them on sight versus capturing and trying to rehabilitate them to eat other game. As is frequently the case Zombieism is seen as a disease so it’s a logical question to ask: why is this the only disease in which summary execution is the only remedy?

Also vastly improved in this installment is the dialogue and the script overall. In fact, here Romero seems to have addressed one of my main problems with Diary of the Dead head on and leaves his social commentary only in the voice-over narration, and, as expected, that works brilliantly and adds poignancy to the tale and allows for a subtlety in this film, which is rarely seen in his works.

Those who admire and/or frequently view horror films develop quite a high tolerance for incompetent thespians, however, overall this cast may be the strongest he’s had, seeing as there is no one who makes you want to run smack into a brick wall while screaming. The standouts aren’t many, but again just the fact that there are standouts is great, but there are three: Richard Fitzpatrick as Seamus Muldoon, Kathleen Munroe and Devon Bostick, seen earlier this year as Roderick the bullying older brother in Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Not that everything is absolutely sparkling about this film. The cinematography, for example, is not always on. It has in it the kind of video images that show you why 35 mm film stock is still king. The framing is never terrible and the lighting is never godawful but a lot of it is awfully video. Based on what your tolerance is it may have a great effect on your view of the film. Some of the CG is surprisingly good some tries to do things beyond the capabilities of the film and is comedic, at times intentionally.

In this film, there is also an awesome dovetail into Diary of the Dead as one of the minor characters carries over and we see where their stories intertwine. It is a great and fascinating storytelling technique not employed often enough in film. The fact that Romero chose to do it and executed it so well is the mark of a true auteur.

Another thing this film has going in its favor is an open ending- to an extent. Open endings are very hit and miss. Some work brilliantly and some make you wish they had sewn it up. Considering the narrative that proceeded the climax a neat ending just wouldn’t have worked at all. The reason the openness of the ending is qualified is because while it does give you a verdict on whose assumption about the undead was correct, Muldoon or O’Flynn, it puts a twist on it that you’re left thinking about. All this is done visually reinforcing the more subtle nature of this work as opposed to his others.

Survival of the Dead is definitely Romero taking his series in a different direction and if he can keep it this interesting I am definitely all for him continuing the series, as he has stated he intends to.

8/10

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Posted on by bernardovillela

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is a better film than its predecessor. This was something I rather anticipated, however, I don’t believe its to the detriment of this installment that it is second. There is not too much shorthand used and the narrative is accessible enough that that much enjoyment will not be stripped away if you are walking into this one cold.

This film benefits from a more unified and less episodic plot than did its predecessor as well. Not that it still doesn’t reap the benefit of humorous and well thought out subplots but they weave their way into the larger narrative with more finesse than prior. These tales like Chirag’s invisibility, the new girl, the teacher with a vendetta, are all well-handled and add to the film but do not ever threaten to overtake the film from what the central conflict is.

The conflict being that of sibling rivalry, which is handled very well because you see a relationship in stasis go from just about as bad as it can possibly get to become rather functional. It also contains the peaks and valleys that are requisite for such a struggle, and even more of a credit to the film it goes from being borderline cartoonish in its animosity to being rather real and honest in the handling of the themes of both resentment and insurmountable hatred that sometimes accompany such relationship, especially when the age difference is large.

These discussion points come first to illustrate that despite its varying brands of humor, there is a point to be made in the film and its not just mindless and “low-brow” comedy. As for the comedy, it does do a wonderful balancing act again. As this is a home-based tale, there is more parent-child and husband-wife comedy than before.

Again the Steve Zahn brilliantly plays a dad who wants to be as hands off in parenting as he can and also is a typical guy in some regards and not just your typical distant patriarchal archetype. He is countered wonderfully by Rachael Harris. They are funny enough, however, the comedic quotient in this film is amplified greatly when you consider that the talented and previously under-ultilized Devon Bostick gets to step to the fore in this film. He is astonishingly good in this film and rarely delivers a line that doesn’t elicit some sort of response whether it be a laugh or one that connects dramatically.

Zachary Gordon’s character Greg is somewhat mellowed this time around not as hellbent on achieving popularity and other superficial means of acceptance but glimmers of that self appear even in a more rounded character that he creates just as easily, if not easier than he did before. His honesty in situations that in tandem can be seen as absurd are what carry the film and make it something you can connect to sympathetically rather than watch as a disinterested observer.

This film moves along at a very healthy clip, not only are there some fun and creative editing choices like “Disappointed” montage for Mom but things cut swiftly within scenes such that the whole things seems like its done in a blink and not in a disappointed I-Can’t-Believe-They-Call-That-A-Feature kind of way but in a fun and escapist, easily re-watchable way.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules allows the narrative, characters and young performers to grow and evolve from where we left them and you can call it an experiment if you like, but if you do it is surely a success. Those who were there are better, more confident and comfortable in their roles and those who are new like Peyton List, who carries off the important role of Greg’s love interest with uncanny ease, blend in perfectly.

It’s a funny, fun, must-see.

10/10

Review- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Posted on by bernardovillela

Zachary Gordon and Devon Bostick in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (20th Century Fox)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is a better film than its predecessor. This was something I rather anticipated, however, I don’t believe its to the detriment of this installment that it is second. There is not too much shorthand used and the narrative is accessible enough that that much enjoyment will not be stripped away if you are walking into this one cold.

This film benefits from a more unified and less episodic plot than did its predecessor as well. Not that it still doesn’t reap the benefit of humorous and well thought out subplots but they weave their way into the larger narrative with more finesse than before. These tales like Chirag’s invisibility, the new girl, the teacher with a vendetta are all well-handled and add to the film but do not ever threaten to overtake the film from what the central conflict is.

The conflict being that of sibling rivalry, which is handled very well because you see a relationship in stasis go from just about as bad as it can possibly get to become rather functional. It also contains the peaks and valleys that are requisite for such a struggle and even more of a credit to the film it goes from being borderline cartoonish in its animosity to being rather real and honest in the handling of the themes of both resentment and insurmountable hatred that sometimes accompany such relationship especially when the age difference is large.

These discussion points come first to illustrate that despite its varying brands of humor, there is a point to be made in the film and its not just silly comedy. As for the styles comedy it does do a wonderful balancing act again. As this is a homey tale there is more parent-child and husband-wife comedy than before.

Again Steve Zahn brilliantly plays a dad who wants to be as hands off in parenting as he can and also is a typical guy in some regards and not just your typical distant patriarchal archetype. He is countered wonderfully by Rachael Harris. They are funny enough, however, the comedic quotient in this film is amplified greatly when you consider that the talented and previously under-ultilized Devon Bostick gets to step to the fore in this film. He is astonishingly good in this film and rarely delivers a line that doesn’t elicit some sort of response whether it be a laugh or one that connects dramatically.

Zachary Gordon’s character Greg is somewhat mellowed this time around not as hellbent on achieving popularity and other superficial means of acceptance but glimmers of that self appear even in a more rounded character that he creates just as easily, if not easier than he did before. His honesty in situations that in tandem can be seen as absurd are what carry the film and make it something you can connect to sympathetically rather than watch as a disinterested observer.

This film moves along at a very healthy clip, not only are there some fun and creative editing choices like “Disappointed” montage for Mom but things cut swiftly within scenes such that the whole things seems like its done in a blink and not in a disappointed I-Can’t-Believe-They-Call-That-A-Feature kind of way but in a fun and escapist, easily re-watchable way.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules allows the narrative, characters and young performers to grow and evolve from where we left them and you can call it an experiment if you like but if you do it is surely a success. Those who were there are better, more confident and comfortable in their roles and those who are new like Peyton List, who carries off the important role of Greg’s love interest with uncanny ease, blend in perfectly.

It’s funny, fun, must-see.

10/10