REVIEW: Dawn of the Dead documentaries

My call for the movie today isn’t until 4:30, so I watched the documentary disc of Dawn of the Dead: The Ultimate Edition. Here’s my quick review:

There are four features on this disc, but the two documentaries, "The Dead Will Walk" and "Document of the Dead" make it required viewing for any serious fan of DotD. The contrast between the two is remarkable, and the result is much greater than the sum of the individual parts.

"The Dead Will Walk" is the obligatory look back at the making of the film, complete with cast and crew interviews, and original behind the scenes footage from the production. It’s an enjoyable retrospective, and it’s nice to see people look back fondly on this great film.

"Document of the Dead" is a documentary made during the prodction of DotD, and has a decidedly different point of view. Interviews on the set and a narrative examination of Romero’s style are woven together to give us a much more in-depth look at the making of this landmark film, which was clearly not an easy production and struggled to find distribution. "Document of the Dead" was made long before Romero was the unquestioned master of the genre, and after watching him discuss his philosopy on filmmaking, it’s easy to see how he earned the title.

UPDATE: I’m out of the ACME show the next two weeks

Sigh. This is always a risk when the cast is made up of working actors, but it still sucks.

The schedule for the movie can not be changed, so I had to take myself out of the ACME shows for the next two weeks. This means that you one and only for reals chance to see me in the show will be on November 19th, our closing night.

I’m really sorry, and feel terrible for the cast, the theatre, and especially the WWdN:iX readers who were planning on coming out to see the show. I hope everyone understands.

Toe-wik-a-whissa

Heeding the "it’s not real until you’re actually on the set" philosophy, I haven’t written about this movie that I’m working on tomorrow.

Yeah . . . I booked a movie! I’m have a cameo as a director called "Alan Smith" in this great movie, which has a title I can’t disclose. I’ll call it The One Where Wil Wheaton’s Cameo Kills And Wins Him Some Stupid Award (TOWWWCKAWHSSA, which is actually pronounced "Toe-wik-a-whissa." Which makes me giggle like a product tester in the nitrous oxide factory.)

The thing is . . . I was supposed to work in the morning and make it to the ACME show at night. I just got my call time, and they’re bringing me in late in the afternoon. Unless they change the schedule, there is no way I’ll be able to make it to the show. I know that several WWdN readers are planning to come to the show tomorrow night, and I reminded the folks at The One Where Wil Wheaton’s Cameo Kills And Wins Him Some Stupid Award that they assured me the movie wouldn’t conflict with the my show. They’re working on it, but I’ll be very surprised if they can shuffle around an entire day’s work just to accomodate a day player, (even if he name *is* in the title of the movie.)

The cast will survive without me, and the show will still be hilarious, but if you want to see me do my funny, you’re probably better off waiting until next week.

Check back here in the next couple of hours, as I’ll update when I know for sure whether or not we can make it happen.

i walk the line

I’ve been watching I Love The 80s 3D for the last 90 minutes or so, and I keep seeing commercials for I Walk The Line.

Huge Johnny Cash fan that I am, I have been really excited about this film . . . but I’m scared to death after seeing the commercials. I really hope the personalities of the lead actors don’t overwhelm the characters they are playing.

. . . just like me.

Ryan and Nolan played basketball in the driveway. I had my PowerBook on the breakfast table, and I caught bits of their conversation through the open window as I worked.

". . . a freshman?" Ryan said.

"Yeah," Nolan said.

"What’s her –" A car drove up the street, and drowned Ryan out.

Her? My parental spideysense switched on, but I tried to stay focused on my work.

"That’s cool." I thought. "I shouldn’t be listening to their conversation, anyway."

For the next several minutes, I couldn’t hear anything but the bounce of the ball, and then "Brick!" from Nolan as the ball bounced off the backboard, and landed beneath the kitchen window. Ryan walked over to pick it up.

" . . . is so freakin’ hot," Nolan said.

"Yeah," Ryan said as he picked up the ball, "but she’s not your type. She’s a geek, just like me."

I looked out the window. Did he see me? No. He tossed the ball back to Nolan.

"Your ball," he said.

I closed my Powerbook and watched them play in the fading afternoon sunlight. I saw that Ryan was wearing a Mozilla T-shirt.

. . . just like me.