fantastic

This looks *in* *sane*.

død snø

Død Snø or Dead Snow, a foreign film from Norway. About zombies. Zombies who were Nazis in life and still retain their loyalty to their general. Uh, somehow.

Actually, I liked it a lot. Original, yet decidedly cliché where appropriate. With a feel similar to Evil Dead 2 (some boo! ahh! moments, but not taking itself too seriously), this one entertained with suspense, gore gore gore (ew), and humor. What was unique about our viewing experience was that the director was in the audience with us, and took some questions at the end. It was interesting to hear him speak, and explain his intent for the tone of the film, which came across nicely. He also noted that American audiences laughed in different places than Norwegian audiences, partly due to some jokes being lost in translation, and a different sense of comedic timing.

If you liked Dead Alive, Evil Dead 1 or 2 or Army of Darkness, or really anything with zombies (or beings with zombie-like characteristics), and if you can read subtitles, you’ll probably like this. And… they are in talks about making a sequel.

the snowman

I’ve been thinking about my favorite Christmas movies lately. While the Muppet Christmas Carol holds the title, one of the notable others is The Snowman. I don’t think it gets enough attention, but then again I feel like it requires kind of a long attention span, because there’s no dialogue. It won a few awards when it came out in the early 80s though. I think I a little biased to liking it because I remember watching it every Christmas season in my childhood, so it’s familiar. What isn’t familiar is when I went looking for it online, and realized that David Bowie is in it. Yes, that David Bowie. Take a look on google videos here. Poignant ending, no?