Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is coming out for blu-ray and digital download next week on May 31,  which made me realize that I never said anything about it here on Blogging Dead. So here are some thoughts on a marketing piece released with the film and a brief review of the movie itself. 

Zombify Yourself

Since I’ve extensively covered The Walking Dead’s Dead Yourself app, I thought I’d check out a similar feature that Sony Pictures released as part of the film’s marketing called Zombify Yourself. The press release announcing said feature said that after users visit the site they can upload or take a photo and facial recognition software will create a gif of them transforming into the decaying undead. That gif can then be shared easily across social networks or via text with friends.

My attempt at Zombifying Myself

My attempt at Zombifying Myself

I was skeptical, but I gave this feature a shot anyway, only to find out that it’s pretty boring. All you really do is upload the photo and the feature does the rest. There’s no personality or customization. And it doesn’t even really look that cool. The resulting gif might be sharable, although I don’t think I’d really want to show it to anyone. I’m reluctant to even share it with you. The transformation part happens so quickly and looks like such crap. It might be better if it was more gradual. My main issue with it though is basically the same one I have with the movie itself, it doesn’t to commit enough to the zombie premise to be engaging. So on that note, I will share my brief review of the film.

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Review

The cast of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies doesn’t have enough Pride and Prejudice or zombies fully please fans from either camp. On paper, the mash up of Jane Austen and the undead seems entertaining, and for the first few minutes of the film it is, as you see the comical juxtaposition of 19th century English propriety against the brutal utility of what’s needed to the survive the zombie apocalypse. However the entire thing feels like one joke that overstays its welcome, just like the flamboyant character played by Matt Smith, who shows up in way too many scenes. The movie doesn’t deliver nearly enough action or contribute anything interesting to mythology to be a good zombie movie. In fact, it gets so hung up laughing at its own joke that it forgets to even explain how the undead are dispatched in this world. It also doesn’t give you enough of Austen’s characters or plot to be engaging. The only decent performance comes from Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet, who has almost no one to play off aside from her father (Charles Dance) or a warrior woman (Lena Headey). Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has a zombified 19th century exterior, but it’s missing the substantive guts to make it a memorable, satisfying experience.

✭✭ ½  out of  

Fear the Walking Dead Neighbors 2 Promo

I love zombies. I love Seth Rogen. I laughed my ass off during both Neighbors movies. So I should love this Fear the Walking Dead promo for Neighbors 2, or rather this fake pitch for “Neighbors 3: Zombies Rising,” where Mac (Seth Rogen) and Teddy (Zac Efron) take on zombies. The fact that Seth Rogen wields a longsword and that he disagrees with Zac Efron on whether to dispatch zombified fraternity brothers seems like it could be hilarious. Except the whole affair is as sad and unfunny as the joke Rogen cracks in the promo’s beginning about accidentally killing his hamster as a child because he sat on it. What a letdown.

Bloodletting: Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 2

Chad L. Coleman as Tyreese in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 2

Chad L. Coleman as Tyreese in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 2

Warning: This Walking Dead Season 4 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further.

The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 2 (Infected) proves that the show’s writers haven’t lost their penchant for eerie openings. This episode’s pre-credits sequence is creepy as f*** and it’s not just because it follows the season premiere’s foreboding ending.

In his opening, director Guy Ferland tantalizes us with a mysterious figure feeding walkers live rats at the prison’s outer fence. Then Ferland transitions indoors, where Tyreese sings to his girlfriend Karen. After that, he follows Karen as she travels perilously toward the newly zombified Patrick. Until she retires safely to her cell, Ferland has you on the edge of your seat because you’re suspicious that undead Patrick could jump out at any moment. Ferland finally delivers the gore you’re expecting, when he has walker Patrick chomp into the juicy throat of some poor sleeping guy. And…cue the show’s opening credits.

During the chaotic events that follow in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 2, there are several haunting scenes that stick with you long after the end credits.

  • Cell block D’s fight for survival
  • Michonne’s tearful breakdown
  • Pig sacrifice to the walkers
  • Rick’s fire and rearming
  • Discovery of Karen’s torched remains

The fight in cell block D is unforgettable because the episode’s music reaches a peak that deftly conveys the frantic tragedy of the situation. Then as things settle down, the score comes crashing down, leaving you emotionally winded. Michonne’s breakdown while holding baby Judith is memorable since she hardly shows emotion. While she sheds tears, you can’t help wondering if she lost a child of her own. Rick’s sacrifice of his pigs for the safety of his settlement gives horrifying validity to the expression “bleeding like a stuck pig” as he cuts them and throws the unfortunate squealing animals to their death. The spray of blood and somber music here are gut wrenching. Following that mess, when Rick burns the pig area and puts his gun belt back on, you become certain that there’s nothing but trouble ahead for him. Lastly, Tyreese’s discovery of the bloody trail to Karen’s burned body is heartbreaking since he never got a chance to say goodbye or know for sure that she turned.

Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 2 provides answers on how Patrick got sick (pig meat) and whose gun Rick dug out of the garden (Carl’s). However the episode leaves us with a brand new questions as well. Who burned Karen’s body and why? Plus the subject of this week’s poll: Who is feeding the walkers rats?

Who do you think torched Karen and why? Click here to leave me a comment.

It’s Raining Dead: Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1

Hershel and Rick talk in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1

Hershel (Scott Wilson) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) in The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1

Warning: This Walking Dead Season 4 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further. 

(Singing) It’s raining dead! Hallelujah, it’s raining dead! Amen!

For me, the high point of The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1 (30 Days Without an Accident), is a delightfully action-packed scene where walkers are raining down on our heroes. This is a frightening situation for them, but thankfully Daryl Dixon is there to save the day by delivering lethal shots with his crossbow and stomping zombie heads into pulp. The juicy supply run gone-wrong represents the season-opener’s most intense section. There’s blood by the bucketful, peeling rotten flesh, and a walker hanging entertainingly by its entrails. It’s an absolute delight for zombie fans.

Although new showrunner Scott M. Gimple rewards us early on with this thrilling gory conflict, he does a fantastic job balancing The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1 with some great character development. A significant amount of time has passed since the end of Season 3, so in this episode we’re treated to catching up with the significant changes that have taken place at the prison. There are physical modifications that the site has undergone like an outdoor cafeteria, a garden, a stable, and a pig pen. Relationships have shifted too during that window. Romantic connections have emerged for Tyreese and Beth. Maybe even Daryl and Carol got together too? Carol calls him “Pookie,” however that mostly seems like a joke.

Rick and Carl have also been working at fixing the rift that formed between them at the end of Season 3. Rick has turned into a farmer and provider who helps find food for everyone while others have formed a council to lead the community. It’s nice to see Carl acting like a kid again, talking about comics and following his dad around. One of the stranger moments in the episode is the odd flirtation between Michonne and Rick when she gives him an electric razor and jests “Your face is losing a war.” Perhaps they’ll hook up as well at some point?

A bizarre detour during the episode involves Rick’s trip into the woods and his encounter with a deranged, lonely woman named Clara. What’s silly about the whole thing is that Rick follows her without telling anyone where he’s going. Then she ends up attacking him and killing herself senselessly. The subplot goes on longer than it should considering the whole adventure serves one point: for Rick and Hershel to later debate whether you can come back from the terrible things you have to do for survival. Hershel believes you can. And it appears Rick has turned himself around.

By the end of The Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1, you’re left with three fascinating questions and a fun cliffhanger. First, whose gun is it that Rick digs up in the garden? Second, how are the pigs getting sick? Third, and most importantly, the subject of this week’s poll, how does the kid get sick who dies at the end? His death and transformation into a walker in the final moment spells trouble for our friends at the prison. Can’t wait to see how it plays out.

What did you think of The Walking Dead’s Season 4 premiere? Any surprises or disappointments? What do you think will happen next? Click here to leave me a comment.

The Walking Dead Comic, Chapter One: Days Gone By

Walking Dead Comic Days Gone By

“The Walking Dead,” created by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Tony Moore

Warning: This Walking Dead comic post contains spoilers. Please wait until after reading Chapter One, before exploring further. 

Summary: After he’s shot in the line of duty, police officer Rick Grimes, wakes up to find the world overrun by flesh-eating zombies (aka walkers). A kind stranger named Morgan and his son Duane fill Rick in on what’s happening and help him get back on his feet. Then Rick sets out to find his wife and son in Atlanta, where he believes they’ve found safe haven. He nearly gets overwhelmed by zombies in the city, but Rick is saved by another Good Samaritan Glenn, who brings the weary traveler back to his camp of survivors. One he arrives, Rick finds that his best friend Shane is there and that he has taken care of Rick’s wife Lori and son Carl. The grateful Rick reunites with Lori and Carl, although he doesn’t realize that Shane isn’t willing to give up his new family so easily.

The first issue of The Walking Dead comic, Chapter One: Days Gone By, starts out briskly with only a single page of back story before it throws you into the fray. You see Rick get shot in the line of duty and then the next thing you know he’s jolted awake, alone in the hospital. Because you don’t learn much about Rick beforehand, there’s more fear and urgency to Rick’s situation. It’s very much like the opening to the Danny Boyle film “28 Days Later,” except Rick discovers the flesh eaters quicker.

Unlike a film, the comic doesn’t have sound or music to amplify the anxiety of Rick’s frightening discoveries. It also lacks color, something that would normally add to the disgusting characterization of the zombies you see. What’s amazing about the comic is that even without these embellishments, it’s remarkably successful at telling a grim, unsettling tale. That’s because the incredibly detailed dialogue, spelled out sounds (like “BLAM!”), and facial expressions of the characters compensate for the absence of more in-your-face methods. Lighting and shading are also used to bolster the atmosphere in this tale by establishing time of day and providing another layer of emotional depth to each individual scene.

Stylistically, the layout is a nice mixture of different types of art. There are pages comprised entirely of framed sketches, half-page scenes which have framed drawings woven around them, and in some instances, full-page art. I love artist Tony Moore doesn’t draw the frames straight and crisp. Instead they have a rougher, uneven look that fits in with the comic’s post apocalyptic setting. The most compelling work is obviously the full-page stuff, which can be incredibly gruesome, frightening, or beautiful in a disquieting way.

From a story perspective there are some really entertaining things going on, like when Rick and Glenn coat themselves in walker blood and body parts as a disguise. This wacky plan keeps the zombies from smelling them in Atlanta, and allows the pair to retrieve a cache of guns. It’s one of the better things that The Walking Dead television show lifts from the comic. The traumatizing zombie attacks and deaths of group members are tough to read, but they serve to mentally prepare you for future books in the series, which aren’t shy about killing characters off. The conflict between Rick and Shane is also really intense. When Lori tells Shane it’s over between them in the pouring rain you feel his pain and when Shane’s yelling at Rick you can sense his raw anger.

Probably the best moment in the first chapter of The Walking Dead comic, is the climactic showdown between Rick and Shane at the end. After Carl shoots Shane to protect his father, the issue closes on a disturbing piece of full-page art. Rick and his son share a scared embrace over Shane’s dead body.

What did you think of the first Walking Dead comic? If you watch the show, were you happy with the elements they brought over from this first issue into Season 1?

We Didn’t Start the Fire: Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 14 (Prey)

Laurie Holden on The Walking Dead

Andrea (Laurie Holden) on The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 14 Copyright 2013 AMC TV

Warning: This Walking Dead Season 3 post contains spoilers. Please wait until after watching, before reading further. Similarities and differences between the show and the comic are also discussed, but whenever possible, details of the comic are left ambiguous in case you decide to start it later on.

Summary: Milton tells Andrea about The Governor’s plot to massacre her friends, so she flees Woodbury to warn them. Furious that she’s chosen the prison over him, The Governor leaves to hunt Andrea down personally. Meanwhile, Tyreese and his daughter clash with Alan and his son because they refuse to blindly follow orders and they start to suspect The Governor isn’t actually the man he claims to be.

The pre-credits sequence in The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 14 (Prey) features a flashback to when Andrea and Michonne were traveling together. They’re huddled around the campfire while Michonne’s chained up walkers restlessly moan and groan. As usual, the tactless Andrea prys by asking her who they were, prompting a brilliant response from Michonne, “They deserved what they got. They weren’t human to begin with.”

Speaking of inhuman, shots of the chains morph in a brilliant transition into freaky disturbing images of The Governor creating his own little torture chamber for Michonne. That sick puppy is getting all kinds of twisted pleasure out of the process. The only reasons I see for them showing these moments are to remind us of the bond between Andrea and Michonne, as well as to foreshadow Andrea taking Michonne’s place (at least temporarily) at the end of the episode in The Governor’s chair-o-punishment.

I know I complained about Episode 12 (Clear) because it only focused on one group of people, but I actually didn’t mind the almost exclusive concentration on Woodbury in The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 14 because of how suspenseful the episode is. The majority of the thrilling elements come from The Governor’s chase of Andrea, which feels like a classic slasher film villain stalking his hapless prey (Oh hey, that must be why the episode is called “Prey!” How clever!).

Thankfully Andrea is smarter than the traditional horror movie victim, since she stabs her way out of being pinned down by walkers in the woods and sicks a horde of trapped stairwell zombies on Philip. If I were her though I would have either stayed to make sure the bastard died or stolen his truck. After all she did to escape, I couldn’t believe that The Governor cornered her near the prison and got her all the way back to Woodbury tied up without her putting up enough fight to get away. I did like the moment near the prison where crazy-ole Rick was on watch and thought he saw something in the woods before shaking it off.

I also enjoyed the parts of the The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 14 that follow Tyreese and his daughter. I chuckled when his daughter mocks him for being a terrible shot and desperately hoped when they let Andrea sneak out that they’d go with her. I’m happy that they heeded Andrea’s warning about The Governor not being what he seems., and that we got some hints about some of Tyreese’s backstory with Alan. Their conflict at the biter pit was awesome. It honestly made me think that Tyreese was the one that torched all of the zombies there at first, but then later on when Tyreese apologized to The Governor for running his mouth, I wasn’t so sure and suspected Milton of doing the deed.

That brings us to this week’s poll. Click here to let me know: Who do you think torched the walkers in the pit?

Do you think someone will warn the prison about the impending slaughter? If so, who will it be? Any predictions for the next episode?

 

 

Walking Dead Takes Over ‘The Soup’

The Walking Dead Facebook page, posted this silly video today of Norman Reedus and Steve Yeun killing zombies on ‘The Soup.’ I love that people from the cast are such good sports about lampooning the show and joking around. I think that really proves that they know their target audience: nerdy horror fans who appreciate self-parody.

There are some pretty obvious stabs at celebrities in this, but it’s still amusing. Heck creator Robert Kirkman even turns up. It’s funny how awkward Steve Yeun is when he is hosting ‘The Soup,’ and mostly just disturbing to see Norman Reedus in a bikini top. There’s a moment when Joel McHale is taking a video with his phone, accidentally taping his face instead of the zombie-killing, which I really wanted someone to bring up. The disappointed look on his face would have been great once he realized he missed the zombie killing action.

Apparently I didn’t realize this was the second episode they’ve done, so I watched the first one (below), and honestly I think the it’s funnier. Hard to beat someone in a giant maxi pad costume with an AK-47.