Cable Discovery of the Week.

[akirlu]

Imagine Pleasantville crossed with Sean of the Dead with a dash of every Lassie movie and bad '50s Sci-Fi horror flick evar, and you may have an approximate idea of Fido. Set in a ravishingly technicolor 1950s small town America, this is a heart-warming boy-and-his-pet film. Except that the pet is a zombie. Yes, the zombie wars have been "won" and people live in tidy, picture-perfect walled enclaves, surrounded by metal fences that keep out the untamed zombies of the Wild Zones. Inside the fences, instead of Stop, Drop, and Roll, clean-scrubbed, uniformed school kids practice long arms and marksmanship: "In the brain or in the chest, the head shot is the very best!" Meanwhile, benevolent, omnipresent corporation ZomCon is marketing 'safe' zombies as personal servants and laborers controlled by their electronic collars. Our protagonist, Timmy (yes, Timmy), gets a zombie (Billy Connolly) when his mom (Carrie Ann Moss) finally gets tired of being the last family on the block without a single zombie. Timmy and the zombie Fido become fast friends, and dark parody ensues.

Beautiful design sensibility -- I want all of Moss's dresses, and even more, the pristine vintage cars -- and a sharp, sly sense of humor throughout, with a sassy soundtrack punctuated by the Squirrel Nut Zippers. If you rent it, be sure to watch the credits through to the copyright notice. Well worth the wait.

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. Must Netflix.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Don't recall that getting a release over here.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I don't recall it getting a release over here, either, but it must have had at least a limited one since there was a NYT review of it. But it was very much a non-Hollywood Canadian project, so I can well believe it didn't get a very good distribution deal. Which is a pity, because it's a lot of fun.

[lintninja.livejournal.com]

I netflixed that awhile ago and was very happily surpirsed by it.It was really beautifull. The costumes were spot on. And the story was so much fun too.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, the clothes are spot on. I'm totally in love with the dress that Moss wears to funerals. I so totally want that.

[lintninja.livejournal.com]

Yeah me too.

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

Oh, good! Another item for our Thursday Night dinner gatherings.

Bytheway, I turned Karen, Hank and Tom onto Daria the other day. I'm so glad Hal introduced me to her way back in 2002.

I ordered Slings and Arrows from Scarecrow for next week's get-together.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It's a shame that Thursdays are so singularly bad for us, but that's a work night for Hal, and he has to be there by 8:00 on Thursdays.

Anyway, good to hear that the Daria went over well. Hal downloaded The Colour of Magic for me, and we enjoyed that a lot.

It's a fun movie

[u-must-b-joking.livejournal.com]

I love the teeth grinding girlie zombie.