Since the last time

I reported on the films we've watched, we've been quite busy, and haven't been watching as many as usual. As well, I've been watching a bit more television, so that cuts down on the film viewing time. Here's a short list of what we've watched, in reverse order...


Dracula's Great Love

Yes, it's a Spanish film. It was dubbed into English and may or may not have had the original Spanish audio track included. I didn't spend a lot of time trying to find out. Most of my regular readers know of my vampire film interest, but this film, while not as terrible as some of the schlock, sexploitation films of the '70s is, none-the-less, not one I'd go out of my way to find. If it hadn't been in a store in a bargain bin for next to nothing I never would have given it a chance. This film doesn't try to follow any sort of traditional vampire lore, it makes it up wholesale. The wooden acting of the actors and the breathless acting of the female leads become tedious very quickly. There are characters who appear for no explanation. One isn't even certain why any of them are there. Unless you get a chance to see it for nothing, don't bother. It hasn't any redeeming qualities to speak of unless you enjoy that genre of film. Suffice to say that SWMBO didn't watch it with me, nor would I put her through that. If I were giving stars I think this one would be 0 out of 5, or perhaps 1, just to be generous.


Romancing the Stone

Ah, the '80s! This film is one of my guilty pleasures. I really enjoy the humour, the acting is really good and the story, while not fully explained, is so easy to follow that even your friends who keep saying 'who's that?' throughout a film will have no trouble following it. Its one of those films that you can just sit back and enjoy, without having to figure anything out. Danny DeVito plays the nasty little character that he made his own in Taxi and Manuel Ojeda plays an incredibly menacing Zolo. It's something about his eyes... Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have great on-screen chemistry and both play their parts perfectly. SWMBO enjoys it too, so we can watch it together. Car chases, shooting, crocs, romance novels, this picture has a bit of everything. It's a great popcorn film!

And finally, 2009's


Zombieland

First, I have to tell you that I talked SWMBO into watching it with me. Yes, two zombie films in as many months. I never would have thought it could be done. Still, neither Shaun of the Dead nor Zombieland are your normal zombie films.

Zombieland is first a zombie film, and second a comedy. Or the other way around. I'm not sure. Being a zombie film there's the expected amount of gore. It wouldn't be a zombie flick otherwise. One thing they did do is try to give what amounts to a reasonable explanation of the cause of the zombie outbreak. I wouldn't have thought they'd care, but it's one of the things that makes this film so good. There's romance, lists, humour, OCD, irritable bowel syndrome, lists, drama, Twinkies, a Bill Murray cameo, lists and so much more. Both Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg steal the spotlight and make the film absolutely hilarious to watch. This, for me at least, was a real sleeper. I didn't expect it to be as good as it is, and it's certainly one that I'll watch again, whenever I want a zombie film and lots of laughs. It's not what one would expect, though if you're a bit squeamish you have to get by the gore. It is a zombie film. What did you expect?

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