The Final Cut: A Closer Look At Romero’s Land Of The Dead, Bewitched

This week, The Final Cut takes a look at a zombie-lovers’ dream come true, and a movie based on a 1960’s sitcom classic.  Other films out this week include Herbie: Fully Loaded starring Lindsay Lohan; and Rize, a film about “krumping” (a form of dancing, just in case you didn’t know) directed by David LaChapelle. Check out our thoughts after the jump.

GEORGE A. ROMERO’S LAND OF THE DEAD

Stars: Dennis Hopper, John Leguizamo, Lara Amersey, Simon Baker, Asia Argento

“George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead is the acclaimed directors’ long-awaited return to the horror genre he invented, beginning with the seminal Night of the Living Dead and continuing with Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. In this new tale, Romero creates a harrowing vision of a modern-day world where the walking dead roam an uninhabited wasteland and the living try to lead normal lives behind the walls of a fortified city. A new society has been built by a handful of enterprising, ruthless opportunists, who live in the towers of a skyscraper, high above the hard-scrabble existence on the streets below. But outside the city walls, an army of the dead is evolving. Inside, anarchy is on the rise. With the very survival of the city at stake, a group of hardened mercenaries is called into action to protect the living from an army of the dead.”

The King of zombie horror films hits us with the fourth installment of the “Dead” series.  Land Of The Dead offers viewers an interesting twist to it’s undead plot…the zombies are communicating- being led by a “head zombie” on their never ending journey to feed on human flesh.  This film had a pretty good budget compared to the “Night”, “Dawn”, and “Day”, so it will be interesting to see how this impacts Romero’s style of film making.  As with all films of the zombie genre, you can look forward to plenty of gore and flesh eating, unless of course you don’t like that stuff, in which case I’d recommend skipping this film and maybe catching one of last weeks’ releases. I’m really looking forward to this movie, as are many Romero fans who’ve waited 20 years for his next zombie flick.  If you love horror, gore, and the flesh eating undead, take a bite out of this film on Friday.

BEWITCHED

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Heather Burns, Jason Schwartzman, Michael Caine

“A beautiful young witch named Isabel determined to live without witchcraft transports herself to Hollywood in search of romance. A handsome but bumbling actor named Jack convinces Isabel to co-star in a remake of the original “Bewitched” series in a move to resurrect his career. The two fall in love causing the worlds of witches and mortals to collide. A spellbinding, romantic comedy.”

This movie, directed by Nora Ephron (Michael, You’ve Got Mail), is another film born in the latest craze of movies based on 1960’s television shows.  Nicole Kidman makes an adorable Samantha, and we already know Will Ferrell is a really funny guy. The big question is how much comedy will really be in this romantic comedy?  This film features a small part played by Steve Carell (The Office, Anchorman), but from what I’ve heard his appearance isn’t as great or humorous as it was in other movies/shows (some even say it’s the low point of the film).  I hope that this isn’t true, because if Steve Carell isn’t funny in this movie, it makes me wonder just how many laughs we’ll get out of Will Ferrell.  I have also heard from many people that this film starts out strong, but runs out of steam well before the movie nears its’ end.  I may give this movie a try, but I prefer a “comedy” to a “romantic comedy” and I’m not confident this film will provide enough comedy to keep me entertained.  I think it may be a good idea to skip this movie and check out Herbie, or a recent release that you haven’t had a chance to see yet.