Movies
John Dies at the End
“‘John Dies at the End‘ is a wonderful irreverent horror movie. The great thing about irreverence is I think you have to have reverence before you can remove it. Don Coscarelli celebrates his and our love of monsters and cataclysm by reframing their cinematic power.”
John Dies at the End is a wonderful irreverent horror movie. The great thing about irreverence is I think you have to have reverence before you can remove it. Don Coscarelli celebrates his and our love of monsters and cataclysm by reframing their cinematic power.
David Wong (Chase Williamson) and his friend John (Rob Mayes) deal with supernatural problems all the time. A meat monster is just something they know how to handle. They do get in a bit over their head when a drug called Soy Sauce gives them psychic powers and unlocks their path to alternate dimensions and time.
All of these wonderful creatures and metaphysical tangent must come from the book by the real life Wong. It still makes a very special movie where talented artists bring these ideas to visual life. This breadth of this story encapsulates al different types of monsters from the paranormal to the surreal. I won’t give away any more specifics.
The banter between David and John is sly. Maybe not quite as fast paced as a Joss Whedon script but the right tone and a confidence in the nonchalant perspective the characters take.
The story covers a lot of ground, taking David and John to different realms and reaching through multiple time periods. It flows smoothly and you never lose your place as an audience. I found the pace a little slower in the beginning, establishing plot in between wild monster moments, but man, those moments were totally worth waiting for. I felt that way about Bubba Ho-tep too so maybe you all will like that aspect of it. Then it totally ramps up once all the balls are in motion.
Coscarelli makes the most of the indie spirit/budget too. The effects are top notch and film looks polished like a studio movie. It’s clearly working within the constraints of the genre, so instead of filling the world with clutter like a Hollywood movie, they focus on the one important element.
You might hope Paul Giamatti were in the movie more, but the only character that makes sense for him is really a bookend. Clancy Brown stands out too and Doug Jones has a nice non-makeup role, but it’s really about the guys.
I don’t know if it’s scary but I’m pretty immune to that anyway. I like entertaining horror and John Dies at the End is definitely that. There are other shocking horrific midnighters at Sundance that will satisfy the other need. I can’t think of the name off the top of my head but there’s at least one.
Movies
’28 Years Later’ – Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join Long Awaited Sequel
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men), the director and writer behind 2002’s hit horror film 28 Days Later, are reteaming for the long-awaited sequel, 28 Years Later. THR reports that the sequel has cast Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
The plan is for Garland to write 28 Years Later and Boyle to direct, with Garland also planning on writing at least one more sequel to the franchise – director Nia DaCosta is currently in talks to helm the second installment.
No word on plot details as of this time, or who Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes may play.
28 Days Later received a follow up in 2007 with 28 Weeks Later, which was executive produced by Boyle and Garland but directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Now, the pair hope to launch a new trilogy with 28 Years Later. The plan is for Garland to write all three entries, with Boyle helming the first installment.
Boyle and Garland will also produce alongside original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of one-time studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel.
The original film starred Cillian Murphy “as a man who wakes up from a coma after a bicycle accident to find England now a desolate, post-apocalyptic collapse, thanks to a virus that turned its victims into raging killers. The man then navigates the landscape, meeting a survivor played by Naomie Harris and a maniacal army major, played by Christopher Eccleston.”
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is on board as executive producer, though the actor isn’t set to appear in the film…yet.
Talks of a third installment in the franchise have been coming and going for the last several years now – at one point, it was going to be titled 28 Months Later – but it looks like this one is finally getting off the ground here in 2024 thanks to this casting news. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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