Tag Archives: zombies

Even Marc Forster Won’t Mention the “Z-Word” In Promoting “World War Z”

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In this new featurette for World War Z, Director Marc Forster does not once mention the word “zombie”.  You will hear the film describing the “global epidemic”, and that Brad Pitt is an “everyman” who is the accidental “hero”. Something about mother nature is a “serial killer”. Did I mention Brad Pitt? Because Brad Pitt is in World War Z starring Brad Pitt.

So is there any hope left for World War Z? I’m curious to see what the end result will be, but at this point my expectations are not that high.

via [First Showing]

Seems Like World War Z Is Not The World War Z We Wanted

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world-war-z-poster-600x938With a new trailer for World War Z running ahead of GI Joe: Retaliation, recently Paramount screened roughly 20 minutes of footage to press this week with Director Marc Forster along for a Q&A afterwards.  I’ve read the roundups from several outlets, but I found Mr. Beaks’ of AICN take the most dubious reports online:

I’ve been watching zombie films most of my life, and I can’t remember the living dead ever going about their flesh-gnashing business in such a tidy manner … I kept waiting for the carnage to match the gritty, hand-held aesthetic adopted by director Marc Forster. Curiously, even for a PG-13 movie, not a drip of the red stuff. If there is blood, they’re definitely holding it back.

Granted Forster is still a few weeks away from locking down the final cut, but what in the actual fuck are they thinking? You know what people love about zombie movies? The total lack of blood and gore. And if there are any of you out there with the hope that some structure of Max Brook’s novel exists, you can stop crossing your fingers.  Mr. Beaks highlighted that during the Q&A Forster had this to say:

I met Max a couple times when we just spoke about the book and his intentions and I think, ultimately, he just gave his blessings … He has seen some of the material, but I am looking forward to showing it to him. I hope I get his blessings.

I really hate to go into full fanboy mode here, but I have a feeling that World War Z is going to be a one shot.  I always felt that the most faithful treatment of World War Z would have been a mini-series a la Band of Brothers or The Pacific.  There are so many great interconnecting stories in World War Z, and they don’t need to get wasted on a Brad Pitt saves the world in two days scenario.

via [Ain't It Cool News]

‘The End of Humanity’ — New Trailer for World War Z

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The fast zombie hordes are still a bit much for me but it seems as though World War Z should be an entertaining popcorn flick. This latest trailer features a bit more of the global scope of this zombie epidemic and quick shots of supporting cast members James Badge Dale and David Morse.

I promise this time that I’m not going to go on a tangent again about how this is totally divergent from Max Brooks’ excellent book.

World War Z will be in theaters June 21, 2013

via [Latino Review]

World War Z … Is About Zombies, Right?

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A lot of blogs are running the new World War Z Super Bowl spot. I’m joining suit if only for the fax that I really, really want this to be good. It’s been pretty well documented that I’m a huge fan of Max Brooks’ original novel.

This film has had a rough going with reshoots and some significant script doctoring. With going the serious, drama angle I can see how the studio is trying to capture some of that Walking Dead audience … but we all know how they feel about fast zombies.

World War Z — Zombie Hordes 1, Philadelphia 0

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So here’s World War Z … finally. I really really don’t want to hate World War Z.  I absolutely love the book by Max Brooks, as I tend to pick it up once a year for another fun, quick read.  One thing that I also understand is that the narrative structure from the book is very difficult to translate to the screen, and Director Marc Forster would have to take a different approach.

We all know that this production has had its problems, but at this point I’m willing to give this the benefit of the doubt … even if the CGI zombie hordes look laughable.  I for one am glad that my hometown of Philadelphia gets overrun by hordes of the undead, as it gives me a dry run for when the zombie apocalypse actually happens.

via [/Film]

And Here’s a Teaser for The Teaser Trailer for World War Z

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So that World War Z movie that was finished in 2011 and set for release in 2012, that was so troubled it went back for reshoots … finally got a teaser trailer for a teaser trailer.  I’m really not a fan of this ongoing Hollywood trend.


 

Ugh.”One very attractive man with a scarf has the answer to save humanity”. Such dreck, I don’t have high hopes for this film as it will have been languishing in the editing room purgartory for nearly two years before it actually hits theaters.

via [/Film]

DDOY Book Club: The Dog Stars

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The Dog Stars
By Peter Heller
Knopf, 2012

Everyone loves a good end of the world story.  That’s why we get wrapped up in the worlds populated by the characters in The Walking Dead or The Hunger Games.  We all like to project our selves into these fantastic situations where survival is no longer a simple task.  Morality takes a back seat to survival when help isn’t a phone call away anymore.

The world we find in Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars is a bleak one, in a United States nine years after a super flu ravaged the country and killed 99.7% of the population.  Somewhere out west we meet Hig, who with his dog Jasper and a gun-nut partner in Bangley eek out a defensive perimeter in one of those fly-in communities.  Hig happens to have an old single engine Cessna, which he takes up on sorties to scout the area, relaying the location of marauders and ne’er do wells  that mean to take their supplies and threaten their safety.

Warning … mild spoilers ahead …. proceed at your own risk.

Hig has had to make compromises.  He’s helped Bangley kill trespassers that have come within their perimeter: men, women, even children.  Hig’s consolation is in the woods with his dog Jasper, hunting and fishing what’s left in the mountains surrounding their refuge.  Hig and Bangley aren’t cannibals, but Jasper does eat the remains of the bandits. The other avenue in which Hig makes his penance is helping out a family of Mennonites, who have struggled to survive after contracting a blood disease which hit survivors after the super flu left.

The first half of the book is difficult and very tense at times, and Heller does a masterful job in showing how Hig is able to survive and cope with the decisions he has to make.  Despite having some companionship, Hig is alone and he mourns the loss of his wife each day.   Hig is a man alone with his thoughts, struggling to survive in a world where he is willing to kill a man over a couple cases of Coca Cola.  Hope for a different life is sparked one day when Hig catches a radio transmission from an airport that is beyond his little Cessna’s point of no return.  Does he stay in the relative safety within his perimeter with Bangley? Or does he put himself at risk for the greater unknown?

Heller uses a stream of consciousness narrative style which I think is very effective in this kind of story. It may take a while to get used to Hig’s rhythm and cadence, but it becomes oddly soothing by the time you reach the conclusion of the story.  The Dog Stars is a an intimate post-apocalyptic tale that instills a sense of hope for a future where there are no guarantees or certainties.

 

 

The Walking Dead Season Three Gets A Cast Photo

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Courtesy of Screen Rant comes the official cast photo for The Walking Dead’s third season.  Noticeable additions are Michonne (complete with samurai sword and zombie walker pets) and the Governor.  The second half of season two picked up considerably, and I’m very much looking forward to the prison, the town of Woodbury, and especially Michonne. [via Screen Rant]

According to The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, the mid-season finale has wrapped and he tweeted a picture from the set.

Many blame the disjointed start of season two to the departure of series creator/show runner Frank Darabont, who got into a rather public feud with the executives at AMC over funding and other creative decisions.

Apparently the 90-minute season premiere was actually put together from two completely different hour long episodes, one of which had an entirely different opening than what actually aired.   Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that the  the Blu Ray release of The Walking Dead Season Two will actually feature more of the unused footage along with commentary from new show runner Glen Mazarra.  [via Ain't It Cool News]

Remember That World War Z Movie That Wrapped Last Year? It’s In Trouble.

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I’ve long been a fan of the Max Brooks’ novel, World War Z. It’s one of my go to summer reads, and one of my prized possessions is my autographed copy of The Zombie Survival Guide.  To say that I have a very strong interest in this movie is an understatement.

The path from book to screen for World War Z is a road filled with many detours.  It was initially optioned back in 2007 by Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B Entertainment.  They commissioned J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Thor) to write the screenplay and the film was slated  to go into production in 2009.  That didn’t happen, and another was screenwriter was brought in and production started in 2011, wrapping late last fall.

News comes via the Interwebs that none other than Damon Lindelof would be coming in to polish up the script yet again, as World War Z has been pushed from a December 2012 release back to June 2013. According to AICN the third act is apparently a mess, and more re-shoots are expected later this year.

Over at Collider, they are saying that the production will have somewhere between 6-7 weeks of shooting later this year, and it seems as though the June 2013 might be a little to advantageous at this time.

From where I’m sitting, this cannot be very good for the final product.  If you are familiar with the book, the narrative is from the view point of a singular character conducting interviews with parties involved with the Zombie War.

The story spanned the globe, touching on various people and cultures and how they dealt with the rising dead. I’m not alone in my appreciation for the style in which Max Brooks brought a new angle to the zombie genre.  It was very upsetting to myself and other fans when he was not involved in the development on the film.  Here’s an excerpt from Brooks’ personal blog posted in March 2011:

My involvement with this process consisted of selling the movie rights of my book to Plan B/Paramount. I have no creative input in the process, and have not even read Matt Carnahan’s script …. all I can do is sit on the sidelines and root for the team and with Brad Pitt, Matt Carnahan and Marc Forster, that’s one hell of a team!

There’s also something to be said about the state of Paramount Studios, who just pulled a similar stunt with GI JOE: Retaliation a couple of weeks ago.  I think the underlying problem is that AMC really changed the game with what they did on cable with The Walking Dead, and I think Paramount is scared.  The studio is heavily invested in this property, and see it as a franchise to build upon.  Given the quality that AMC has given fans, I don’t think people are overly eager to pay to see a PG-13 zombie flick.

Credits: [ Collider & Ain't It Cool News ]

 

Let’s Talk About The Walking Dead (Spoilers Ahead)

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The second season of The Walking Dead was full of drama, both on screen and off.  With the bitter separation with series developer/producer/writer/director Frank Darabont and AMC, many fans side with Darabont (I was one of them).  The second season was split with fans, most growing tired of the seemingly one-sided characterizations and (overly) long search for Sophia.  However, the second half of the season was packed with big plot revelations and characters dying off at a steady clip.

I will admit, I was about to bail on this show after Dale bought it two weeks ago.  I’ve been a huge fan of The Walking Dead since I picked up the first trade paperback in 2004.  I felt that the plotting was just inching along and that the show runners were trying their hardest to “stay away” from the source material.  They won me back with  Rick killing Shane, only with Carl to kill him again once he turned to a zombie.  The second season left our ragged troop in shambles, on the run from the remnants of Hershel’s Farm (which was overrun by a gigantic zombie horde) in search of safety.

There were three big reveals in Sunday night’s season finale, two of which are huge shout outs to fans.  The first being the mysterious woman who saved Andrea from certain death. Out of nowhere there is a hooded figure with a samurai sword, with two armless, mouthless zombies fettered on chains behind her.  That woman is Michonne, one of my favorite characters in the comic series.  No one really saw that coming, I surely did not.  Robert Kirkman announced the casting of actress Danai Gurira (Treme) as Michonne shortly after the airing of the finale.

The second big nod to fans came in the last panning shot in the closing seconds of the finale.  As the camera moved away from the group, huddled over a fire the wide shot revealed somewhere safe … a prison.  For those of you who are unaware of the importance of the prison, in the comic it is a crucial story arc which brings about the introduction of the villain The Governor.  And for you fans out there, it was only a month ago that David Morrisey was cast as The Governor, who is a truly despicable human being.  And with the third big reveal, in that Rick told the group that “everyone was infected” and he had been holding onto that secret since the end of the first season after the group’s run in with Jenner at the CDC in Atlanta.

With just these three reveals dropped on the viewing public this past Sunday, I can say now that I am fully on board for season three.  Let the feverish wait commence ….