With Diary of the Dead, George Romero has returned to the zombie subgenre of horror films and he’s getting his best reviews in years. The 68-year-old director has unleashed his latest “…of the Dead” films, which has included the legendary Night of the Living Dead and its sequels of sorts, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, as well as the 2005 installment, Land of the Dead. Romero’s zombie films have always had social commentary with the zombies of course being the lifeless people who shift listlessly through the world and he’s always lead subtle attacks on modern culture’s petty ideas and trends.
Romero will be in Dallas to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Night of the Living Dead with the surviving cast and crew with a special screening presented by AFI Dallas at the Inwood Theater on the 21st, followed by a convention appearance at Texas Frightmare Weekend from the 22nd through the 24th. Romero is no stranger to conventions and actually prefers them to most of the things he’s rather do in association to promoting a film. He says, “It’s actually great fun. I mean, I don’t really have fun doing any of the promotion stuff – I’d rather be home playing with the cats. I like the convention stuff because I get to meet the fans because I have 16-year-old fans and 70-year-old fans. I feel like because they’ve been around long enough my stuff has had a shelf life and it’s very gratifying. They’re friends [the fans] and usually we get a chance to go to the tavern at the end of the day so I love going to conventions, actually.”
Oh, American Idol -- we know you're trying to rebound from last year's crappy season of lame, mildly talented contestants, but must you go this route?
All over the Web, fans are abuzz about several contestants and whether they've been "planted" on the show to boost its quality.
First we find out that finalist Jason Castro of Dallas was on the MTV reality show Cheyenne.
Then we learn via several news reports that fan fave Carly Smithson was once signed to MCA, released an album called Ultimate High under the name Carly Hennessy (including the single "I'm Gonna Blow Your Mind," above) and that the label spent more than $2 million on a failed publicity push (the album sold in the hundreds. As in around 300).
Now, Blender magazine is reporting that finalist Kristy Lee Cook, best known for her touching rendition of "Amazing Grace," was once signed to Arista and Britney Spears' production company!! What gives, Idol?
I thought the show was about discovering undiscovered talent, not giving singers who once secured (and subsequently lost) major-label deals another shot. Not fair!
Carly's still one of my faves, talent-wise, but does she really deserve the Idol prize if she's had a similar situation before?? I wonder if this online uproar will brew into something more ...
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