You Can Take Away My Geek Card Because…

[Spaceghost]

You can take my geek card because...

I think Guillermo del Toro is the most overrated film maker around. I really don't like most of his films at all.

Of the ones I've seen - Mimic, Hellboy 1 and 2, The Blade film he did, Don't be Afraid of the Dark and Pacific Rim all suffer form the same problems. They're too long and have uninteresting characters.

Having said that I thought Pan's Labyrinth was pretty entertaining and had an excellent baddie.

When he tries to "go Hollywood", the results are flawed at best. As you say, Pan's Labyrinth is fantastic, as is The Devil's Backbone. These are more personal films which don't feel like they've been shoehorned into mainstream convention.

[Link Prime]

I recently saw Crimson Peak and was very, very impressed.

Del Toro has had a far higher hit than miss ratio in my books.

[Grugz]

The hellboy films are what introduced me to him in the first place and I loved those. Pacific rim not so much and I hated "the strain" couldn't even get halfway through the pilot...still not seen crimson peak yet.

[Eric Plumrose]

Dawn and Day were both pretty satirical.

I'd say it was social commentary rather than satire.  Dawn in particular took a massive swipe at consumerism.

I'm wondering if one of the reasons I usually prefer NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD to any of its ghoulish zombie sequels is because the social commentary was (apparently) accidental. Which might explain why it doesn't clunk, unlike DAWN and LAND, endearing as Romero's heavy-handedness is in a Seventies/Eighties B-movie context, less so the Naughties.

I can't really remember that much about DAY apart from it being a bit camp. That and Bub, natch. DAWN is a zombie movie that associates mindless consumerism with (surprise!) zombies. That's about as deep as it goes. I remember when my uncle told me about this horde of zombies endlessly going up and down the shopping mall escalators, I thought "Darn, that's a cool image". Until I saw it, sadly. The mechanical serenity I'd envisioned was, in fact, little more than hammy extras in blue make-up clawing at the camera.

Fun for sure, but disappointing.

[shaolin_monkey]

Dawn and Day were both pretty satirical.

I'd say it was social commentary rather than satire.  Dawn in particular took a massive swipe at consumerism.

DAWN is a zombie movie that associates mindless consumerism with (surprise!) zombies. That's about as deep as it goes. I remember when my uncle told me about this horde of zombies endlessly going up and down the shopping mall escalators, I thought "Darn, that's a cool image". Until I saw it, sadly. The mechanical serenity I'd envisioned was, in fact, little more than hammy extras in blue make-up clawing at the camera.

Fun for sure, but disappointing.

I'd say there was more to it than that - the focus was as much on how the survivors dealt with a sudden splurge of material wealth, as much as watching shambling shoppers/zombies.

Initially you saw them enjoying the riches, eating whatever, helping themselves to jewellery, trying on the latest fashions etc, but over time you see them come to the realisation of the vacuousness of it.  It was basically showing that when there's no more civilisation to speak of, those trappings become empty and worthless.  It inferred that material possessions only have meaning because we as a society are told they do - a perpetual lie we tell each other. 

Ultimately, the only things they really needed were the items that prolonged their survival - camping stuff, protective clothing, food, guns.  Everything else was surplus to requirements, and the aim of Romero may have been to make the viewer ask if those other items are currently surplus to requirements too. 

[I, Cosh]

Del Toro has had a far higher hit than miss ratio in my books.

Quite the opposite for me. Blade 2 and Pan's Labyrinth are great but nothing else rises above the level of mediocre. To be fair, there is usually an interesting visual aspect to his films which makes them worth a look.

[Proudhuff]

Can't stand comics about men in tights... so sue me

[von Boom]

I thought Brandon Routh was very good as Superman.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

I thought Brandon Routh was very good as Superman.

You'll get no arguments from me. He was a great Superman in a not so great Superman movie. Still, there were sections of Returns that I enjoyed more than the entirety of IV and MoS put together. I quite liked III, but that was more of a Richard Pryor vehicle. The only thing that takes away from Routh's performance was it was a bit derivative of Reeve, although that was probably necessitated by the context of the movie. If you're going to rip off another actor's Superman performance, it might as well be the best.

[JamesC]

I thought Brandon Routh was very good as Superman.

Yes he was. Very good but the movie was pretty forgettable.

[Eric Plumrose]

I'd say there was more to it than that - the focus was as much on how the survivors dealt with a sudden splurge of material wealth, as much as watching shambling shoppers/zombies.

You're quite right, of course. Again, though, that's pretty much it. Insightful, yes, but also a logical extrapolation given the scenario. Much like the biker gang's hubris, these are as much story beats as they are social commentary. They elevate the movie from fun to thoughtful but it does seem a lot of fans (and I count myself as such) overstate its profundity.

It was basically showing that when there's no more civilisation to speak of, those trappings become empty and worthless.  It inferred that material possessions only have meaning because we as a society are told they do - a perpetual lie we tell each other.

Ultimately, the only things they really needed were the items that prolonged their survival - camping stuff, protective clothing, food, guns.  Everything else was surplus to requirements, and the aim of Romero may have been to make the viewer ask if those other items are currently surplus to requirements too.

It's undeniably interesting stuff but none of it's especially startling, other than it happening in a 1978 splatfest. Which may well be why it's held in such regard, perhaps more so than I think it deserves.