The Automatik

Danny Boyle’s career seemed unstoppable until Ewan McGregor backed out of The Beach and Leo DiCaprio starred instead. Although ambitious, the film lacked the sincerity of Boyle’s previous work when it allowed DiCaprio’s movie star persona to overshadow everything else. But forget about that misstep: with 28 Days Later, Boyle has now achieved the same level of marvelous eclecticism as Peter Jackson by adding good old-fashioned horror to his already diverse oeuvre, all without sacrificing character or depth. Of course, there’s also an incredible soundtrack, a Boyle specialty, which enhances the mood rather than creates it.
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House of Blues
May 31, 2003

I’ll let you in on a little secret: that whole “grunge” thing from the 90s was just some A&R guy’s way of making real rock music palatable to the masses again. Consider that the only things approaching rock in the late 80s were Redd Kross, Jane’s Addiction, and the first Guns ‘n’ Roses album and this will start to make sense. I have no concrete proof of this theory; it’s just a hunch, but a hunch that is edging closer to a fully-fledged hypothesis after seeing the Melvins again.
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