Zombies!

kongisking

Active member
Attila the Professor said:
We didn't <I>used</I> to call you that, but ever since the mods started spending so much time on TVTropes...

And thanks to that site, we all know (certain) Tropes Are Not Bad.

Anyways, back on topic. Is anyone going to buy The Walking Dead: Season 1 on DVD?
 
Whoa, Frank Darabont Got Fired from The Walking Dead?

So... uh... what's up, AMC? First there was that pesky problem with how much money Mad Men showrunner Matthew Weiner's getting—an amount sizable enough that it's causing budget problems for AMC's other shows—and now it comes out that the network fired The Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont, who recently left the show under mysterious circumstances (and shortly after talking up the new season at Comic-Con). Say what you will about the show (I'm not too keen on it, myself), but The Walking Dead is clearly Darabont's baby—and with as crazy successful as it's been, you'd think he'd have had a bit of a safety net. Nope.

The craziest part of that story, though, is how the cast reportedly feels in the wake of the firing:


There also have been no public comments from the cast, and a source with knowledge of the situation says AMC has been "terrorizing" them and their representatives to discourage them from speaking out on Darabont's behalf. "They're scared," confirms another insider. "They're on a zombie show. They are all really easy to kill off."


I'd never thought about what it would be like to be on a zombie show before (I guess 'cause there's never really been a zombie show before, with the possible exception of The View... ka-ZING!), but man, actors on a zombie show have no job security whatsoever. Complain about craft services even once and, boom, a zombie's gumming at your eye socket on next week's episode. So the moral, I guess, is don't work for AMC, maybe? Unless you're Matthew Weiner?

(Also, vaguely related: You guys know that Darabont's unused script for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—then known by the significantly less crappy title Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods—is online, right? 'Cause it totally is. And that's your Vaguely Related Indiana Jones Fact o' the Day™! [Tomorrow I will have a very scandalous one about Short Round.])

Distressing...
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Rocket Surgeon said:
Distressing...

But what he left is pretty damn impressive looking.

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I havent got around to watching The Walking Dead...my parents love it, which I can't decide if that makes my parents cool or the show uncool:D
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Rocket Surgeon said:
Thanks for posting, but I'll be waiting to watch even the slightest bit!

I read (and still read) the comic. Some of the changes have been interesting, and I'm looking forward to where this adaptation is going to end up. One of my favorite parts of Season One was Rick meeting up with Morgan Jones. That scene had much more resonance than the comic did.

But the one question all fans want to know:


Where's Merle?!

TWD-Wheres-Merle-Photos-560x400.jpg


Also:

Tim Bradstreet is doing the Season Two poster. Darabont signed my copy, and I wonder if it'll end up being something of a collector's edition thing.

TWD-S2-Bradstreet-Poster-357.jpg
 
Contest seeks zombie-proof home designs


To help us prepare for this potential undead disaster, the folks at Architects Southwest, an architecture firm based in Louisiana, have launched the 2011 Zombie Safe House Competition. The organization has tasked artists, architects and other zombie enthusiasts with one goal: Design a haven that can withstand a full-on zombie assault on civilization as we know it.

Design entries so far are varied and imaginative, to say the least. A top contender right now is the Zombie Ranch, a zombie-powered vertical farm. As per the design, humans live in a spiral housing system above ground, safely out of harm?s reach; down below, zombies run around in circles trying to catch hanging bait traps, all the while turning a turbine that provides energy for the humans in the ranch.

...and The Walking Dead premier was Sunday. I can't shake the "Dark Shadows" vibe I'm getting where the show is becoming more soap opera than anything else but I'll give it a pass...

Usually the first show of a new season sets the direction...hope thats not the case.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
exit-humanity.jpg


When I picked up Exit Humanity (2011) I was dubious about it, as I am about low budget films I've never heard of. Narration by the original Hannibal Lecter, Brian Cox, tipped the scales in its favour. For a quid what could go wrong?

Almost nothing really.

Except a few issues with anachronistic firearms and confusion over the date when it was set: a caption in the film relates "Six years after the Civil War", while the hype on the DVD cover states "1875".

It doesn't really matter, however, as this is a zombie western which feels very much like a prelude to The Walking Dead. And much like that series, it's also character driven.

This was a very good film with great camerawork and effects on a miniscule budget.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
^ I was actually engaged in a bit of a dispute over this film and something I worked on in 2009. Long story but a different idea was pitched and based off the parameters "after the civil war... zombies" many aspects were taken from our idea and placed in that film... many call that stolen... but as I've come to learn you can't copyright an idea, only the paper it's printed on.

anyway I'll go ahead and bitterly say ours was better.
and I guess baptism by fire applies too.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Dr. Gonzo said:
^ I was actually engaged in a bit of a dispute over this film and something I worked on in 2009. Long story but a different idea was pitched and based off the parameters "after the civil war... zombies" many aspects were taken from our idea and placed in that film... many call that stolen... but as I've come to learn you can't copyright an idea, only the paper it's printed on.

anyway I'll go ahead and bitterly say ours was better.
and I guess baptism by fire applies too.

It's a small world!
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Montana Smith said:
It's a small world!
Indeed.

I'm over it now, but for awhile I was pissed. There wasn't even any arbitration over story credit. Nor could there be, as this was outside the WGA's purview. Young and stupid I was.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
An additional perk to having a very robust, permanent population of personages whose heritage can be traced back to the Subcontinent, is a local theatre that shows (nearly) first run Bollywood flicks.

Now playing: Go Goa Gone!

Go Goa Gone Synopsis said:
A comedy. A horror-thriller. An action-adventure. Go Goa Gone is all of these rolled into one! A unique combination of fear and funny makes this film a one-of-a-kind genre bender - A Zombie Comedy, or ZOMCOM!

Hardik and Luv are two dope heads who tag along to Goa with their best buddy, Bunny, on his business trip. Luv comes across a free-spirited girl, Luna who casually invites them to an exclusive underground rave party on a remote island! The party is the brainchild of the macho Russian Mafioso, Boris, to launch the ultimate party drug.

But something is not right on this island! All of a sudden, they are accosted by zombies! Where did these zombies come from? And who is Boris really? And why has this cold-hearted drug-dealing don come to save their lives? Together they need to get the hell out of the infected island! But do they?


<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gwhsuOljaxQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There's even time for musical numbers! Rick Grimes & Co. wouldn't be so stressed out, if they broke out into song on occasion.

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Montana Smith

Active member
Finished Season Three of The Walking Dead the other night.

Like kong I also love the dead, but not in an Alice Cooper kind of way.*

For me The Walking Dead has been the best series since Lost in terms of impact. The threat never lifts, and you'll see shambling zombies in the background of some shots, though they're too slow to pose an immediate danger.

You never know who's going to die next (apart from a few characters whom I suppose are zombie-proofed) And the writers aren't afraid to make main characters make wrong choices. A new world with new rules requiring a re-evaluation of morality in order to survive.

Every episode has something grisly and sickening. No right-minded person should enjoy this, and it's hard to justify it when telling somebody who has never (or would never) see this series. You have to experience it to appreciate the reasoning behind the excessive gore.

Thinking back, the George Romero film that comes closest to the sensibilities of The Walking Dead is the original Dawn of the Dead (1978), which I also saw again recently.



















* I love the dead before they're cold,
Their blueing flesh for me to hold.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
World War Z.

When there's no more room in hell the dead will converge like an army of fire ants!

Picked the Blu-ray up over the weekend amongst a bunch of other cheap movies.

When it started I was dreading the Cloverfield effect, i.e. excellent movie marred by shaky camerawork. But either the camera settled down or the film became so engrossing that I didn't notice it.

I loved it. The rage virus was quite a change of pace from The Walking Dead.
 
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