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Post by Amanda on Dec 29, 2006 23:59:33 GMT -5
Update: Brittany and I are going to watch 28 Days Later tomorrow...night. We'll be with family, of course. Let's hope they are enough for comfort.... We get to see all of Cillian... if you know what I mean.HAHA. I know exactly what you mean. The funniest part about that is that in the 28DL caps at uCillian, the full-frontal has like, twice the amount of views than the ones around it. LOL.
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Post by sunshinedna on Dec 30, 2006 13:00:57 GMT -5
Also-- yeah, I'm ranting now-- it's being produced by Fox's "youth division," which to this old bat has "video game" written all over it, Robert Carlyle's emoting aside. So you folks run on ahead; think I'm giving this one a miss. It's being produced by DNA Films and distributed by Fox Searchlight, same as Sunshine, 28 Days Later, The History Boys, Last King of Scotland.... Fox Atomic (Fox's 'youthful' attempt at doing stuff online), however, has been putting some 28WL videos up online.... they *may* do games, but, well, who knows....
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Post by punctuator on Dec 30, 2006 13:46:51 GMT -5
Also-- yeah, I'm ranting now-- it's being produced by Fox's "youth division," which to this old bat has "video game" written all over it, Robert Carlyle's emoting aside. So you folks run on ahead; think I'm giving this one a miss. It's being produced by DNA Films and distributed by Fox Searchlight, same as Sunshine, 28 Days Later, The History Boys, Last King of Scotland.... Fox Atomic (Fox's 'youthful' attempt at doing stuff online), however, has been putting some 28WL videos up online.... they *may* do games, but, well, who knows.... Still leaning toward "miss." Let those sleeping 28DL dogs lie, say I! (Sorry: I'm gettin' crotchety as middle age rears its grizzled head-- and my free time dwindles and dwindles...!) That aside: I am wondering if they'll address the problem-- or potential-- of London flooding. I've been reading about the Thames Flood Barrier and how many times it's been activated in the last few years, and, frankly, it's chilling information. With no one to operate the riparian defenses, and no power to keep the pumps running, things could get very wet in London very, very quickly. What-- I think one source conjectured flooding in something like twenty-six Tube stations.... Maybe Alex Garland was trying to touch on the issue-- indirectly-- by making it a very dry summer in 28DL. But that still wouldn't stop a freakishly high tide....
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Post by sunshinedna on Dec 30, 2006 14:27:16 GMT -5
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Post by punctuator on Dec 30, 2006 21:58:36 GMT -5
Thanks, Gia! But, you know... they're NOT ZOMBIES. (Okay, okay, yeah-- I admit it: I'm one of those 28DL fans.... Sad, yes...?) But that is a very interesting article. Will come in handy!
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Post by punctuator on Jan 1, 2007 5:22:55 GMT -5
And, hey, I just noticed your son is wearing a U of M Golden Gophers (or, as we call 'em at work, "Golden Goldfish") jacket. Cute!
(One very odd observation: London is lacking in "ornamental rodents," isn't it? Certainly didn't see any rats, but I only saw one mouse and one squirrel-- in the garden grounds at St. Paul's. Maybe it's that very, very zippy auto traffic....)
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Post by punctuator on Jan 2, 2007 13:25:41 GMT -5
Still talkin' to myself-- but, livin' in a house fulla animals, I've developed a knack for it-- A note:
The only part of 28DL that really doesn't work for me, writing-wise, is the prologue. Couple of reasons:
[And there may be SPOILERS ahead. Be warned!]
1. It's not necessary. Taking a page from cinematic history: the guys who wrote "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" back in the nineteen-teenies were mad as hornets when UFA insisted that their tale of madness have a setup, a framing scene. Since 28DL is essentially Jim's story, told from Jim's point of view, the "monkey business" at the beginning is out-of-bounds, point-of-view-wise. We could have gotten by perfectly well on the mystery of the virus that Selena frames for us in the Canary Wharf Tube station.
2. It's not very well written, and it's chock-full of cheesy shock value. I want to throw something-- and not a game controller, either-- at the screen every time Random Science Guy starts sputtering about how the PETA brigade has to "understand." Oh, no, they don't: JUST TELL 'EM IT'S FATALLY INFECTIOUS, MORON. And the Hey!-there's-a-monkey-stuck-to-your-face thing: PENALTY!! Ten yards for non-subtlety. I swear, some people just won't get it unless there's a character on-screen with a primate stapled to their nose--! Uh, no. Thanks, really: no. I get it. I do.
3. Speaking of which: cruelty. I have a frankly crap job in which I read court cases, about a hundred of 'em a day, five days a week. So my tolerance for cruelty in entertainment has dropped about five fathoms below "zero" in the last ten years or so. Especially when it's directed toward animals. So no tormentin' the chimps, okay?
Anyway, I rewrote the opening. Couldn't help it; I'm an editor (which, for an editor with a liberal arts background, translates to "interminable meddler"). And I just skip the opening chapter on the DVD. After all, the important stuff happens
...28 days later...
... right...? It's not a movie about a disease and the people it infects. Mostly, it's about the fear of being all alone-- of losing yourself, even.
Thazzal. Thus endeth the rant....
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Post by Amanda on Jan 2, 2007 14:28:20 GMT -5
Okay, well, I've actually only watched the film all the way through once (I can't help it--every time I think about it I get sufficiently creeped out), but I think the prologue was good for that first viewing. Probably if I watched it NOW I wouldn't need it, but maybe it was good for first-time viewers. Then again, I wasn't looking at it from a critical or analytical point then, and I have the worst memory of all time, so y'know how that goes.
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Post by punctuator on Jan 2, 2007 15:21:38 GMT -5
Okay, well, I've actually only watched the film all the way through once (I can't help it--every time I think about it I get sufficiently creeped out), but I think the prologue was good for that first viewing. Probably if I watched it NOW I wouldn't need it, but maybe it was good for first-time viewers. Then again, I wasn't looking at it from a critical or analytical point then, and I have the worst memory of all time, so y'know how that goes. And I'm nonstop critical/analytical-- it's my blessing and my curse, as they say in the funnies. In my line of work, it really comes in handy-- but, heck, I'd like to be able to turn it off SOMETIME.... Guess it works like this: the moment I find myself rewriting something in my head while I'm watching or reading it, the nits begin to take over. I love it when a show can just snow me.... Not that I think 28DL is a wash. Far from it. I love 28DL. (And I've got the overblown fan-fic to prove it.) It's just a matter of... tweaking. The monkey scene at the opening: that, and a certain ill-advised act of wounding toward the end (look, *that* doesn't happen unless a character is meant to be dead-dead, not just alternate-ending-for-which-country-again?-dead-- oh, the wonderful forensic things I've learned from my job...! ). So, okay, I would've done the opening more like this: Random Science Guy tells the PETA Squad, clearly, that some of these chimps are way messed up. And the PETA Squad buys it. Unfortunately, Bob the PETA Boy has already made for the chimps at the back of the lab. "Not them--!" calls PETA Leader. Bob hears-- he takes his hand from the lock he was about to release-- and BAM! MAD CHIMP hits the bars. Vicious growl, a widemouthed snarl, a spray of spit. Bob jumps back-- "You okay, Bob [or Ted or Bill or whoever]?" asks PETA Leader. "Sure-- Almost got me," Bob calls back, shakily. He wipes saliva from his cheek, from the corner of his mouth-- (or we could work it with him just barely nipped-- or did he catch his hand on cage hardware?-- "Better have that looked at when we get back," says PETA Leader, and Bob nods.) -- and he brings up the rear as the PETA Squad skedaddles. And by the time they're out the door, Bob is well infected-- See, it bugs me in movies when smart people do dumb things. That is, the lab guy should know how to explain the virus, and PETA people would know enough not to release plague-bearing animals. Can just see it: 28DL: 1665 A.D.: "Oh, those poor RATS--!" So never mind me and my nits. Give me a text, and I gotta interact. Sometimes, yep, sometimes to distraction....
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Post by chero on Jan 3, 2007 10:57:19 GMT -5
I promised to post my review...here it is: I loved it!
THE END .....what? Kidding! Only kidding, people! Since my review includes spoilers, I used the spoiler button. View at your own risk. Most of my review contains my scattered thoughts and some randomness. I apologize in advance. The whole concept of being infected by an overactive emotion..."rage" and all its behaviors it invokes in a person (or monkey )...infection caught by the mere contact of blood into your internal system (via eye, mouth, etc)...is...genius. Of course I was "on the edge" (one of many Cillian references, watch out!) the whole time, wielding my pillow as a shield in times of the most gorey of scenes. I admit...I had prior knowledge of the scariest parts and of other not-so-scary parts (tip of the hat goes to punctuator and Cillian fansites with their beautiful galleries ). Again, this actor Cillian Murphy shows up...you guys are getting the hint, right? So what...I have a celebrity crush...blahblahblah. The only reason why I watched 28DL was because of all the hype behind it (well-deserved I might add), Cillian Murphy, and director Danny Boyle (the director of my most current film infatuation ). I'm extremely new to Boyle's style of directing. I haven't seen ANY of his films before 28DL. By seeing his popular zombie film, I figured I could get a glimpse of "Sunshine", like seeing how the director wants his DVDs to be like and seeing how he makes his movies (and so on...). I was thoroughly pleased. I was ecstatic when I found out that Boyle decided against doing the "Radical Ending". Not only would the full body blood transfusion be hard to gather believers (it is a film though...films can tweak reality if they wanted to), but Jim doesn't deserve to be sacrificed for the father. Okay, so I'm a bit biased. Jim, as opposed to the father (I omit his name because I don't know it offhand...sad, eh?), is more fit for reproduction and general survival. C'mon! Young man...old man...young man...old man...? The father already gave his goodbyes to his daughter. If he remains dead after his infection, I don't think it would madden the audience. Right? *prepares for zombie-like movements from anyone who reads this* Also, the fact that the whole Radical Ending was a collection of sketched scenes and was voiced by none other than two of the most important members of the 28DL crew was HILARIOUS! Boyle is one creative fellow, let me tell yah! ;D Let's hope Sunshine gets alternative endings as well (don't ask me why). Have I distracted you guys enough to talk more about Cillian? No? Well, deal with it because here I go again: Cillian was amazing in this film! You really get to see his character Jim develop after every scene. If you haven't noticed it yet, I tend to dwell on the minute things in films if it becomes too scary (this concept can be applied to my daily life [i.e. dealing with stress, unwanted emotions, etc]). The first thing that caught my attention (besides the obvious, ladies ) was Selene's (or Selena? [there I go again with the names...]) comment about reproducing with Jim (quite crudely if I do say so myself). The thought stuck with me the rest of the film...I couldn't help it...when you're infected like me...you can't help it. Whew! I need a drink...I'll be glad to talk more...I just figured this post is long enough as it is.
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Post by Amanda on Jan 3, 2007 14:35:29 GMT -5
Glad you liked it, Chero! I hoped you would! This is a bit off-topic, but you should check out Millions, too, another of Danny's films. It's excellent!
What did you think about the opening of the film where Jim was all alone and wandering around? Didn't it just give you goosebumps?!
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Post by chero on Jan 3, 2007 16:00:40 GMT -5
Well, in most of the advertisements for 28DL, you already see this scene so it wasn't an "eye-opener" so to speak for me. Being that the world was infected ]28 days later I figured the city wouldn't look normal. That's only me talking though. As for goosebumps, I really got freaked out when Jim and that soldier met with the imprisoned zombie. I was nervous the whole time! I really was expecting the soldier to lock Jim up in there with the zombie. Yeah...I'm pretty extreme in my guesswork at movie plots. LOL
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Post by punctuator on Jan 3, 2007 17:48:49 GMT -5
Also glad you liked it, chero! Finally! Re: young guy vs. old guy in the "useful" department (ahem!): yep. Keep the young 'un. That ending was just daffy. Glad they included it; even gladder they came to their senses about it! (Oh, and they *are* missing an ending on the Region One disc! Interesting-- and we get to see Jim in his messenger gear-- but very intense and very, very sad.) Re: Selena's comments about, umm, y'know. She's a solid wall of cynicism when we first see her; she's done some awful things to stay alive (according to the backstory Naomie Harris concocted for the character); and she's wearing this no-emotion-zone shell. So her comment is, I think, more to shock poor softie Jim-- wake him up, as it were. Not that we haven't gotten a whole pile of giggles out of it on this end: when we watch it, we regularly have Jim chiming in-- in Jim's affable mumble-- with "What was Option B again--? That sounded okay." Re: "zombies" vs. "infected." The way I see it is this: in zombie shows, something kills you-- absolutely kills you-- and then something on the supernatural end of the spectrum brings you back to life. Or someone sticks bolts in your neck and jump-starts you with a car battery or lightning or something like that. In 28DL, the infected-- the ones who are actually up and running after you like speed addicts in the Boston Marathon-- aren't dead. So they're not zombies. They're just very sick people. Which implies that there's a cure for infection-- and opens up some shaky moral territory: how far would we expect a relief force to go to try to assist the infected? I mean, the Red Cross, Doctors Beyond Borders, and the United Nations wouldn't just mow down folks with cholera or the bubonic plague or AIDS, right...? (At least I hope not, or "Settlement"'s gonna be about ten chapters shorter than I'd planned...! ) Just thoughts! Again: glad you liked it, chero!
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Post by nimue on Jun 26, 2007 1:06:07 GMT -5
I've been having a Cillian Murphy marathon lately and 28 Days later totally knocked me off my socks. That guy is addictive!
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Post by aroreiel on Aug 18, 2007 16:48:21 GMT -5
28 Days Later is in my list of favourite films. Brutal stuff, but thought provoking, energetic, powerful, emotional. Amazing.
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