540: The Dead Don't Die

[00:00:01] Let's get to The Dead Dont Die from 2019. It's written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, stars a huge cast, Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Chloe Savini, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry-Jones, RZA, Austin Butler, Rosie Perez, list goes on.

[00:00:26] And the synopsis is, the focus is on a sleepy small town of Centerville, where the dead become undead.

[00:00:38] So I hadn't watched this one since it came out. I saw it in theaters. Overall, I'm a Jim Jarmusch fan.

[00:00:46] Patterson would be my favorite and then probably Dead Man with Johnny Depp would be second.

[00:00:52] I think this was his follow up to Patterson. So I was very excited.

[00:01:00] When it comes to Jim Jarmusch, he's a very mellow, meditative, contemplative kind of director in his style.

[00:01:08] It's very low key and relaxed. And there's also deadpan humor.

[00:01:14] He's a man. He's an auteur for sure. And so I always watch whatever he does, no matter what.

[00:01:21] My biggest problem, and I liked it maybe just a little bit more this time, but not by much.

[00:01:28] I like being in this world. I love the look of the town. I like being in that small town.

[00:01:33] It reminds me a lot of where I'm from in North Carolina, just that very kind of rural, very quiet, historical town that's covered in green and hills and mountains, that kind of thing.

[00:01:44] In the long run, though, it's not really that funny, like not funny enough to be a straight out comedy.

[00:01:52] It's not really that scary to be a true horror film.

[00:01:57] It's not really that emotional to really stick with you.

[00:02:01] It really just glides along in this middle ground, kind of driving the median, as I like to say sometimes.

[00:02:10] However, some design things and things I do like, the whole cast, like I was saying in the synopsis, stacked cast across the board, like every great character actor you could imagine.

[00:02:22] There's not a lot for them to do, but I appreciate and enjoy them being in this movie.

[00:02:30] The Dead Don't Die song, the title song, is replayed a lot, which I don't mind.

[00:02:36] And I think it's a good song and it works for the kind of story.

[00:02:41] The design of the moon, where it's talking about fracking and the world is tilted on its axis and the moon has this purplish blue hue and haze.

[00:02:55] The look of the zombies is very classic, very George Romero, which they mention in the movie.

[00:03:03] The score is top notch as it is with most Jim Jarmusch movies.

[00:03:09] Music is a big thing.

[00:03:12] Steve Buscemi playing the, basically a MAGA guy is pretty funny.

[00:03:17] Selena Gomez is really enjoyable in this.

[00:03:20] I just wish she was in it more.

[00:03:23] Bill Murray and Adam Driver are a great pair together.

[00:03:28] One of the funniest scenes in the whole thing is when they pull up to the diner after the zombie attack and Adam Driver's character is late, but he comes in a tiny little smart car and he's huge, obviously, and a police officer.

[00:03:42] The creative choice to have the zombies not bleed and instead when they're hit, whether it's with a sword or a bullet or whatever, they are just dust, like black dust.

[00:03:58] Tilda Swinton's character is just wild, but she can do anything and she pulls it off really well.

[00:04:04] She's probably the only actor who could do that kind of role in this movie and have it work.

[00:04:10] When Selena Gomez's group is attacked and Adam Driver goes in and beheads them and comes out with Selena Gomez's head.

[00:04:20] Or Tilda Swinton driving around town just knocking zombies heads off.

[00:04:25] Like there's a lot of really enjoyable, weird, strange scenes in this movie that definitely keep me engaged.

[00:04:33] Like I'm never losing focus really.

[00:04:35] I'm always wanting to be invested more.

[00:04:41] The meta stuff, the self-awareness, I don't really mind that.

[00:04:45] It's kind of in the Jim Jarmusch way.

[00:04:48] But the biggest problem writing wise is the commentary about like fracking and the system and all that.

[00:04:57] It just, it feels so insignificant.

[00:05:00] There's so little there to really think about in terms of the real world and how it connects to this zombie outbreak.

[00:05:09] Plus the ridiculousness of the movie.

[00:05:11] It's hard to take all that stuff that seriously.

[00:05:14] So I think they could have easily lost that from the script and it would have lost nothing.

[00:05:23] And on top of that, the ending is by far the worst part of the movie.

[00:05:28] Just overbaked.

[00:05:29] It's too meta.

[00:05:30] It's too mishmashed with, okay, are we supposed to take this seriously?

[00:05:35] Is this satire?

[00:05:36] Is this like, I don't even really know.

[00:05:39] So when I first saw that, I was so let down in the theater.

[00:05:43] I was like, this is just such a weak ending.

[00:05:48] When you see Iggy Pop as a zombie and the female zombie going into the diner and they attack the two workers there.

[00:05:57] And then they drink coffee.

[00:05:59] Just a random thing, but I like that.

[00:06:03] When it comes to the ensemble cast of characters, it's more frustrating than anything.

[00:06:10] Because, for example, the Caleb Landry Jones, great actor, by the way.

[00:06:15] I love his little storyline, but there's not much done there in the end.

[00:06:20] And most die at random points or they all go their separate ways in the ending.

[00:06:26] And there's not much resolution to any of it.

[00:06:32] So in terms of zombie movies, this is definitely one for the Jim Jarmusch indie audience.

[00:06:38] Like, the average zombie movie audience member, I don't think is going to like this.

[00:06:43] I think they're going to turn it off in 15 minutes and say, this is boring.

[00:06:46] Nothing is happening.

[00:06:47] We're the zombies.

[00:06:49] And I don't blame them.

[00:06:51] Not everything needs to be mass appeal.

[00:06:54] And I don't think Jim Jarmusch is ever going to be a filmmaker like that.

[00:07:00] Ranking-wise for Jim Jarmusch, I mean, ranking-wise for zombies, it would be pretty low on the list with my favorites.

[00:07:09] And same thing with Jim Jarmusch's movies.

[00:07:14] That is a light three out of five.