Zombies, Munich

New reviews from Nick at Nite

Land of the Dead

I love Zombie movies. Anyone who really knows me, knows I do. I can't really explain it. I saw Omega Man at an early age and was struck by the way Charleston Heston existed as the lone survivor in a post-apocalyptic world run amok with the Zombies. From Omega Man I moved on to Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Resident Evil, the list goes on and on and on ... I was pumped about seeing Land of the Dead because it is from the mind of George Romero, the grandfather of all modern day Zombie movies. My viewing of the film was delayed because Blockbuster got into a dispute with George over the distribution of the film. The result: you could buy it at BestBuy or Amazon or wait for it to come out on cable. I waited. I caught it last night at 11:30 on HBO. I could not have been more disappointed. Everything that was campy, strange, and scary about the first George Romero's movies was missing from this movie. This movie took itself a little too seriously, without the plot, actors, or special effects to justify it. It just was not what I expected. Basically, Dennis Hopper has taken over an exclusive high-rise building in a the middle of an unnamed city and managed to keep all the Zombies outside the city. He has created a rich-poor gap inside the city - with lower class workers living in old warehouses and rich folk living in his high-rise. Well the rich-poor gap spills out into the Zombies who attack the city. Much mayhem ensues. People die. People get eaten. I was mostly bored. Save your money, save your time. Rent one of George's older movies or rent Shaun of the Dead, it's a riot. I give it an F.

Munich

Spielberg is a genius. I have enjoyed every movie he has ever made, with the notable exception of Munich. Unlike others, who were disappointed in the movie because they thought it was only supposed to be about the original hostage crisis at the Munich Olympics, I was disappointed because the after story seemed slow. I know a story about how the Israeli secret service took out its revenge on those responsible for the hostage crisis should be a reflection of the methodical and deliberate nature of the Israeli secret service's actions, but how Spielberg was able to take such an interesting and compelling story and make it boring, I'll never know. Honestly, I might have been more interested in the how-did-they-do-that and who-is-that-person, than in emotive character development. I'll give it a C. He can do better.