Anyway, first up was...
'Stardust'
When this came out in the cinema I swore a mighty oath that I'd go see it. After all, I loved the book and the trailer looked like just the ticket. It's been well over a year now and I've only just got round to watching the DVD... No more 'mighty oath swearing' for me I guess! :o)
Although it differs from the book, more than slightly, 'Stardust' was great fun to watch and left me with that warm glow I get when I've found myself totally engrossed in a film and the time has just flown by. Even Ricky Gervais couldn't spoil this film and, to be honest, he did have a go... Everyone (apart from the aforementioned) seemed to fit their part perfectly and special mention has to go to Robert De Niro's camp sky pirate. This character wasn't in the book at all but he should have been.
'Stardust' is a film that I can see myself watching again and again...
'Night of the Living Dead'
Talking of films that I could watch over and over again... 'Night of the Living Dead' is one of those films that I've seen a number of times but never got round to getting my own copy, until I saw it incredibly cheap in HMV not so long ago. I had the house to myself last night so figured it was a good time to watch the film (read my review of 'Child's Play' to find out what can happen when my wife watches a horror film...)
Like I said, I've seen 'Night of the Living Dead' before but it still remains a film that can have me checking all the windows and doors if I hear a noise while I'm watching it. 'Compelling' is the best way to describe this film; as an inability to co-operate leads the people inside the house to slowly fragment, the number of zombies on the outside steadily grows larger...
Romero really set the standard with this film and it's a shame that his latest zombie films ('Land of the Dead' and 'Diary of the Dead') haven't hit these heady heights. 'Night of the Living Dead' remains a lesson in how this type of thing should be done. Having said that though, I still say that anyone who takes refuge from zombies in a farmhouse that is near a cemetery deserves trouble...
I love Stardust, both movie and book.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Robert de Niro fantastico in the movie? So funny.
I need to read Stardust the book now. I really enjoyed Stardust the movie, and I bought the DVD on the strength of recommendations about the book. Did that make sense?
ReplyDeleteI was pleasantly surprised by Stardust--it had that slightly campy, but totally awesome fun feel to it. Even though the movie deviates significantly from the book, I loved both :)
ReplyDeleteAnd YES to Night of the Living Dead. I could watch that movie (and actually all of Romero's zombie films--excluding Diary of the Dead, which was just...off) in perpetuity :)
Glad you enjoyed it :) Yeah, Gervais wasn't very good. I find him funny sometimes, but not in films. Same with Russell Brand.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't like the book that much, and I was shocked that I didn't. I may have to read it again sometime, as I did with Neverwhere. Never got to the end of American Gods! Will do, sometime!
~Chris
Ana - Robert de Niro was just great and possibly my favourite in the whole film :o)
ReplyDeleteHi Tia! It makes sense to me. Do give the book a go though as it's well worth a look (and very short!)
Hi Thea! You didn't like 'Diary'? It wasn't great but it kicked the tail off 'Land of the Dead'... I just need 'Day of the Dead' and my collection will be complete! :o)
Chris! Long time no see and all that ;o) Give 'Stardust' another go, I'd love to see what you think.