I had every intention of publishing this yesterday, but sometime between getting up too early, dealing with cranky kids, making breakfast for my brother and his wife, and doing laundry, I lost track of time. Oh, well. Here it is today!
Salt (2010)
I'm not a huge fan of spy movies. I'll watch 'em, but I don't go out of my way. I was a little surprised at this film. It had the regular intrigue, gun play, explosions (my favorite), but it also had a really nice twist.
The story is about Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who has worked hard for her country. One day, an ex-Russian spy shows up at their headquarters and tells a story about sleeper agents. He tells her that someone is going to assassinate the Russian president, then pronounces the agent's name is Evelyn Salt. Salt needs to find a way to clear her name and get the other agents to believe that she's not a Russian spy. Mystery and intrigue follow.
I was really impressed with the story. Bringing back the Cold War stuff was interesting, especially since we've supposedly buried all that ill will. I can't really say too much more about the film without giving something away. So, if you haven't seen it and have some time on your hands, it's worth it!
Survival of the Dead (2009)
I put this on my list because it's a George Romero film, and I'm a huge fan. I didn't expect much out of it, and that's pretty much what I got.
The film follows a group of soldiers who go AWOL and start pillaging other humans to survive. They find their way to an island off the East Coast, where they run into a feud between the Muldoons and O'Flynns. From there, they must find a way to survive the zombies and the humans.
As is typical of Romero, the focus is not on the zombies but on the reactions of the human counterparts. Sadly, though, it didn't have the heart or characterizations of his first films. Plus, for a zombie film, there weren't an overt amount of zombies, but there was a whole lot of talking.
I got his point. The Muldoon family didn't want to kill the zombies because they were hoping for a cure or just hoping there would be a way for the zombies and humans to live with each other. He would chain up his family members because they remembered how to do simple tasks, such as cooking or delivering the mail. Muldoon was hoping to teach them to eat something other than humans.
It was an interesting idea: wondering how much of the zombie's humanity was lost when they became the undead, but it just didn't play out well onscreen. It was slow and a little boring. Maybe if he had switched the focus from the rogue soldiers to Muldoon, it might have made more sense. It wasn't a complete waste of time, and it did give me something else to think about.
