Five Nights At Freddy's (2023)

 My knowledge of the video game Five Nights At Freddy's is relegated to a student I had who was obsessed with the game. His free writing that he did in class was all based on the game. His art work was all based on the game. Any assignment he had a free choice with was based on the game. So, I was very familiar with the images, and that it was based around a Chuck E. Cheese/Showbiz Pizza idea and being stuck in the place when the animatronics came to life. But, that was about it.

The movie is the tale of a brother (Josh Hutcherson) and sister (Piper Rubio), of some age difference, who have gone through some pretty serious tragedy in their lives. The brother needs a job, so he takes the job of overnight security at the Freddy pizza joint. From that point on every single plot point that happens you can guess. There are no surprises, and the whole movie feels like fan service. 

But, oddly enough, it is still an OK time for somebody who knows nothing. The acting is good, the script is painless, and the cinematography is good, the FX are good, and the music is pretty good. Granted, I never want to hear The Romantics "Talking In Your Sleep" ever again, but I was pretty much at that point when the song was released. 

I believe if you are a fan of the games, the movie will work for you. If you are totally unfamiliar with the game, you might be lost at certain points (especially if you go to the theater, as I hear the fans are totally losing their minds over this thing), but it is competently made so enjoyment of it isn't a stretch. 

The Living Dead - George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus (2020)

Full disclosure: I first saw Dawn of the Dead in 1981 on home video. It quickly became my favorite movie, and has remained so ever since. I have seen it countless times. 

I also rate the other two in the original run almost in line with Dawn and was lucky enough to see Day of the Dead in the theater countless times, even though I was 15. I also have a strong love for Diary of the Dead, and don't hate Land or Survival, but see them with a fair share of faults. I do believe that, eventually, other people will finally come around to what Diary has to offer. 

If I am being honest, this has been a slog to get through. As you can see from the picture here, I am still a decent ways from being done with the book (in time it tells me I still have 9 hours to go, this is about 65% done), and only in the past few hours has it started to become good. I have read many books that it took a bit to get into, but none that have taken this long. 

When the book started I instantly had some hesitation with it, as it started to dawn on me that this could possibly be a World War Z situation, of the reader shifting from one situation to another, without ever returning to any of the characters. A sort of anthology styled book, but not billed as an anthology. While World War Z is a much beloved book, I can't claim to being a fan. I like getting to love characters, and WWZ never allowed for that.

For the first half of the book, that was the case. But, then the book shifted gears a bit and we were sent back to visiting our established characters. So, once that happened, my interest in the story started to grow. But, I still wasn't falling in love with the book, and fully understand the complaints of the book being a tad dull. It also has a very jumbled feel to it all. Where the author split is, one can't totally tell, but the book does not feel cohesive. 

The book did just hit another shirt, and we have now shifted to a different situation all together than where we started. This is the biggest shift in feel yet. So, now I am really undecided on how I am feeling about the book. 

From what I can gather, there is to be something else that comes along towards the end of the book. So, we shall see.