Hey there zombies, Harry here with the latest on Romero... Seems like he has some things in the works right now... Hearing about this freakin strike endangering the Romero 4th LIVING DEAD makes me want to take a big stick and start beating Union Heads and Studio Heads till the settle this thing RIGHT NOW. But hearing about an Ed Harris/Assassination film in Romero's future is definitely delicious news. Ed Harris is going to have a good first half of 2001, with POLLACK and ENEMY AT THE GATES... and he'd also be a great lead character stuck in the center of a Zombie Hell! But... maybe that's just me... Here ya go...
Hey Harry,
Writing in to let you know about a public screening of “Bruiser” that went on tonight up here in Rochester, NY (Jan 27), which was personally presented by George A. Romero. It was held at the Dryden Theater at the Eastman House in Rochester. The theater has been running Romero’s films the last few weeks, “The Crazies” two weeks ago, “Monkeyshine” last week, and “Night of the Living Dead” last night. I was able to attend last night’s showing of Dead, fun times.
Bruiser was little advertised, and I was lucky to hear about it almost last minute. We got tickets, and made it there right on time.
It began with the local host, some kid who looked like he was 12, really an asshole, who explained to us about the deep meaning he was happy we were all receiving from Romero’s films. He then presented a 15-20 minute montage of Romero’s films, with clips from most of his films (excluding Day of the Dawn for some reason).
After that he introduced Romero, who gave a short little speal about the movie, then presented it to us.
I personally enjoyed the movie, I went with a group of people of about 8, and the general feel after the movie was a good one, only one person didn’t really enjoy the film.
I’m not going to go into depth about the plot, other reviews have explained the movie enough. Overall, the film was very well done, and genuinely entertaining. I felt Henry’s switch to serial killer was a bit sudden, all things considered, but the rest of the movie held together. I disagree with other reviewers take that the end of the movie was a “tired slasher film”. Granted, the antagonist’s death was anti-climatic, but the rest flowed well, mixing into the confusion of the Misfit’s concert.
To be short, all in all I felt it was a good film and should be granted at least an independent run.
After the movie Romero gave his Q&A, in which he answered the typical, “I heard…”, and “What do you think was…” questions. He responded to all the questions great, really giving his whole thoughts to every answer, taking his time and not cutting anyone off. He had great character, very pleasurable listening to. He said that Lion’s Gate films has picked up Bruiser, but he dosen’t know where they will actually go with it. He talked a lot about studios, studio execs, etc, mimicking and mocking the state of Hollywood.
He was asked about a fourth Dead film, and said he would love to do it, even mentioned that he has played around with the idea of the film revolving around the public ignoring the fact that zombies are loose and killing people. He said that he may be able to do it with the upcoming Movie strike.
He talked about his lost projects, namely The Stand, Pet Semetary, and Resident Evil. He mentioned the upcoming “Girl who loved Tom Gordon” adaption.
He also mentioned another film in the works, one I haven’t read anywhere, called “The Assassination”, which will deal with the assassination of Trujillo Molina, the president of the Dominican Republic. He mentioned that Ed Harris had pushed him to consider it.
After the considerably long Q&A, it was announced that he would sign autographs, so a massive line formed up to the stage. I managed to scurry up and got in line. After some wait, I finally stepped up to him, shook his hand, pleasure to meet you, etc, then had him sign a copy of the ticket (only thing I could grab at last minute).
It was a great night, and a great pleasure meeting Mr. Romero, and watching his new movie. Recommended!
From Rochester NY,
RedFate
