Wasting Away (2007)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is a great movie. I saw it cold, unsolicited and had never heard or read anything about it. I just sort of, stumbled upon it I guess.Spoilers- First things first, this is a different movie than any I had encountered before (and since have seen once through Warm Bodies). You follow the characters that have been turned into zombies through some infected soft-serve and beer. Not terribly believable, but still funny, and this film is at its heart a comedy.The way the film shows humans reacting from their point of view (like they are in fast-forward) is genius in my opinion. And drunk humans are able to understand them. Just pure genius.Cinematography was good. The use of black and white and color shots made complete and total sense, and definitely improved the viewing experience.Acting is pretty bad with some of the ancillary characters, but they take on an overall B horror movie aesthetic intentionally, so it fits.Don't come in here expecting a special effects blockbuster or a scary story. However, the story was good. I didn't think anything made no sense, which is a rare thing in the genre.Definitely worth the watch, and worth purchasing.

You will have more fun and patience watching molasses flow through an inverted egg time that used to have salt. I sadly missed some of truTV World's Dumbest Drivers 11 and missed some of the great comments by the comedian commentators, because the video I rented was due the next day.This was soooo booooring, I could not believe it. Was it made in Sudbury, Ontario. It has that Canadian feel to it. Even 2x was not fast enough, I craved for 30X fast forward.Julianna Robinson was hot throughout the film tho, and she was wearing her strappy black high heel sandals throughout the film.What was this about. Uh, some zombies got unleashed in a bowling alley because of a government experiment gone wild. How original! The plot was very, very slow and the plot was nonsensical and totally uninteresting and non compelling.Now, readers you see why he Kohen Bros. will never equal the Waylan Bros., the Cohen Bros., or the Zuckers for comedy. Wasting Away really makes you appreciate those Scary Movies and Ariplane even more.I did not give it a 1 awful, because the production values were good, nice lighting, camera work, audio, and SFX. It is too bad the crew can't get a job on a good film where their talents won't be wasted.

Brain margaritas—anyone?Four friends at a bowling alley are infected by "toxic leftovers from a misguided military project designed to create a new breed of supersoldier" when the green liquid from a canister spills into a box of ice cream which is in turn mixed with beer and ingested turning them into zombies. What is different about director Matthew Kohnen's movie as it relates to the genre is that we are privy to the point of view from the zombies as if the humans they once were still remain, seeing a skewed world perspective where uninfected people seem to be "monsters" while they are "super soldiers".Colby French is "Private First Class" Nick Steele, the one responsible for the canister which falls from an army truck carrying barrels of toxic substance to be dumped in San Francisco. His intention was to halt the truck and keep it from its destination. Matthew Davis, Julianna Robinson, Michael Grant Terry(the television show BONES), and Betsy Beutler are the four who taste the "toxic ice cream" and become members of the undead.The punchline of this zom-com is that they don't know until much later that they are zombies! Davis has an absolute blast in his role as Mike, a cut-up who doesn't take things too seriously, motivating Terry to admit his love for a girl he's been friends with for over ten years, Beutler. Terry is timid and kind, and this zombie situation actually leads to his courage in telling her his feelings. The foxy Robinson is preparing an application for a position with a lawyer, meeting him for an "interview", not heeding the advice of Davis(her former boyfriend) that he's only wanting to "bone her". The crux of the matter as it pertains to their survival is that even though we see them as they once were(the director shoots them this way in color, as zombies in B&W), the group are still the undead and suffer the difficulties which derive from being such. Kohnen shies away from flesh eating—although, Davis has an affinity for brains. That will certainly raise the ire of zombie-philes who want their blood shed. This movie is designed to earn our sympathy and heart for those inflicted with the virus, perhaps the reason Kohnen and company decided to show them, for the most part, as if they were still human, their personalities and human traits intact. Kohnen does, however, show them from time to time, especially when they confront humans, as the walking dead, rotted corpses unable to speak, stumbling about, vulnerable to attack. In this film Kohnen plays with the formula by having humans understand the zombies when they're drunk! And, the scientist responsible for the invention of the virus(Jack Orend)does find a way for humans and zombies to communicate by way of brain waves in a contraption he created. Richard Riehle is Colonel South, the military leader who headed the "super soldier" project, the main nemesis of Steele. A severed hand and head figure into the comedy, both at the misfortune of Davis who finally gets a chance to let loose from the handsome straight parts he's normally saddled with, girls ogling him, the silent, sinister edge he carries is completely absent . Davis becomes a vocal leader even after his body had been taken away from him! This movie could've been rated PG-13, to tell you the truth, it's almost harmless and isn't that gory at all. There's hardly any blood, even when Davis' hand is severed, no arterial spray or squirting to be had, and the damage which we would normally see when Terry takes a shot gun blast to the chest doesn't leave that much of an impression. French's flag-waving patriotism, the American way, the bravery of a soldier, the heroism and duty of a man in uniform, is played to perfection, and his bravado is charming. I can't really say I was blown to smithereens by AHH!! ZOMBIES mainly because my once beloved attachment to the genre is waning, and I really need a jolt or a punch to the gut to derive any excitement for the movies anymore. The special effects(the skin and limited gore that is shown)leaves much to be desired, although I imagine zombie fans will giggle at the "scalp" gag that is a constant thorn in Terry's side. The cast works wonders, each member of this rag-tag bunch has plenty of personality and likability which can only benefit a zom-com desperate for laughs.

I saw this film as part of the Another Hole in the Head Film Festival in San Francisco. It was not only the best film I saw at the festival that year, it was the best I've ever seen at that festival! This was definitely a Zom-com, like Shaun of The Dead and Fido, only much lower budget. It manages to take a unique perspective in an extremely well explored genre. The visual effects really enhance the storytelling, which is not something I could say about most zombie flicks. While it's true that many of the visual gags, and just about all of the characters were zombie movie clichés, I was left with the impression that this was intentional. The film maker seemed to be riffing on stereotypical zombie movie attributes, and using them to create a movie that is both original and, pays homage to the great zombie films that went before it. I don't always go into indie film festival expecting original ideas and solid storytelling, but this flick set the bar pretty high! I think this is what George Romero's Diary of the Dead wishes it was!