Land of the Dead (2005) - Romero returns to the dead with strange, underwhelming results

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Signed by the filmmaker, a promising, apocalyptic, dark poster for George A Romero's Land of the Dead

Some zombie fighters are corrupted by money; the ruler of the last, barricaded human city, Kaufman tries to save himself; and the zombies have gotten brainy!

Land of the Dead is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker George A. Romero (There's Always Vanilla (1971)), whose 13th feature it is. It is the 4th in Romero's six-entry Dead movie series, following zombie classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), masterpiece sequel Dawn of the Dead (1978) and underground horror great Day of the Dead (1985). As may be indicated in the plot capture above, the film presents a fairly confusing narrative.
The evolution of the zombie genre is also evident in Land, as there are no longer any uncertainty of where to shoot zombies dead (in their heads.) But the film pales compared to the better horrors of the past as well as of its time, - and it isn't really scary, mostly just slimy and gross.
Simon Baker's (Heartbreak High (1996, TV-series)) protagonist could hardly be any duller, and John Leguizamo (The Hollow Point (2016)) plays an idiotic Hispanic part. Pointing up in the cast, however, are the lovely Asia Argento (Traveling Companion/Compagna di Viaggio (1996)), and Dennis Hopper (Nails (1992, TV-movie)), who makes yet another wicked villain here.

Related posts:

George A. Romero: Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror (2000, TV documentary) - Great bio-doc of master filmmaker Dario Argento (interview subject)
Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Romero and Savini hash up a superfluous remake (writer/executive producer)
Day of the Dead (1985) - Romero's underground-set zombie classic
Creepshow (1982) - Fun, campy horror anthology from King and Romero
Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death!
 

Romero answers 10 questions in this video

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 46.7 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.11 times its cost)
[Land of the Dead premiered 18 June (Las Vegas CineVegas Film Festival, Nevada) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place in Ontario, Canada, including Toronto, and in Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, from October - December 2004. It is the first in the Dead film series to get an MPAA rating; some gore was toned down in the theatrical version for the R rating. The film opened #5, behind holdover hit Batman Begins, new release Bewitched, holdover hit Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and new release Herbie: Fully Loaded, to a 10.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 20.7 mil. $ (44.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 3.8 mil. $ (9.5 %) and Japan with 2.7 mil. $ (5.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Romero returned with Diary of the Dead (2007). Baker returned in Something New (2006); Argento with a voice performance in Live Freaky, Die Freaky (2006) and physically in Marie Antoinette (2006); and Hopper in House of 9 (2005). Land of the Dead is certified fresh at 74 % with a 6.64/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Land of the Dead?

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) - Frankel's crowd-pleasing fashion romcom

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The ingenious pitchfork stiletto created for the poster for Dave Frankel's The Devil Wears Prada

QUICK REVIEW:

A good-natured, young journalist gets a job as assistant for New York's leading fashion editor. The work demands sacrifices, but is she willing to accept these?

Meryl Streep (Out of Africa (1985)) is fabulous as the 'devil' editor, who luckily is also a character of flesh and blood, and Anne Hathaway (The Intern (2015)) and Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games (2012)) are also good in this adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's (Revenge Wears Prada (2013)) same-titled 2003 bestseller.
Prada is a very well-polished story with a moral core and an interesting look inside the world of fashion. It is a good show of craftsmanship, bereft, however, of any significant sense of artistic, directorial vision.
It is written by Aline Brosh McKenna (We Bought a Zoo (2011)) and directed by master New Yorker filmmaker Dave Frankel (Hope Springs (2012)) as his second feature, following Miami Rhapsody (1995). He is next heading the Will Smith/Rachel McAdams-starring Collateral Beauty (2016).

Related posts:

Dave Frankel: Hope Springs (2012) - Making an old marriage work, peppered with Streep at her best and top-grade talent all-around
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Exces [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2012 in films - according to Film Excess 

Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep in Dave Frankel's The Devil Wears Prada

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 326.5 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Streep's character was based on Vogue editor, British Anna Wintour. Frankel, cinematographer Florian Ballhaus and Oscar nominated costume designer Patricia Field drew heavily on their experience from Sex and the City (Frankel directed 6 episodes between 2001-03) in getting the look for Prada. The costume design is said to have been 1 mil. $, reportedly among the highest ever for a feature, which seems destined to be a falsehood. Several huge fashion houses contributed costumes for the film free of charge. Shooting took place in New York and Paris October - December 2005. Streep was Oscar-nominated as Best Actress, which became her record-breaking 14th nomination. The film had a 27.5 mil. $ opening weekend, #2 behind Superman Returns, in North America, where it grossed 124.7 mil. $ (38.2 % of the total gross). It was a surprisingly big hit worldwide, with its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets being the UK with 26.5 mil. $ (8.1 %) and Germany with 23.1 mil. $ (7.1 %). The Devil Wears Prada is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.7 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Devil Wears Prada?
Other good films involving the fashion industry that you'd care to highlight?