The Walking Dead: "Clear"

I don't write about The Walking Dead much, partially because it would be too much work every week (and I am extremely lazy, obviously), but also because its just something that I really enjoy, and I never want what I really enjoy to feel like work. Not that this blog is work, but if I felt I HAD to do it, I wouldn't want to.  I love The Walking Dead and I can forgive it at its worst because it's best is so damn good.   Last nights episode, Clear, is being hailed as the best since the pilot, and I have to agree.  It's definitely the best episode since Pretty Much Dead Already (the one where they find Sophia in the barn) and strongest of this season (although for emotional wallop you can't beat Lori's death). 

I won't give out spoilers but everything from episode 12 was just about perfect.  The set design (read the graffiti and signs carefully: they payoff), the writing, the acting, the structure: just the best of what this series could be.  There are zombies and gore, for those of you who hate the "character building" episodes.  The returning character completely caught me by surprise, and it was heartbreaking.  Heartbreaking yet hopeful in a sense: I think the encounter made Rick take the fast train out of crazy town.  He saw what future could be: isolation, madness, despair.  Although it is true, as the returning character says, that "everyones fate is to be torn apart by teeth or bullets," Rick realizes he must have a purpose, he must keep his humanity or he will end up one of the "meek" who inherit the earth.

So many good things in this episode!  Can't wait to re watch it next week.  Here are a few non-spoiler highlights:

• Michonne says actual sentences!  They gave her more than one line!
• The zombies in the diner.
• The hitchhiker
• The graffiti and warning signs: read and watch carefully
• Carl proving he is not just a machine
• Rick being Rick again.
• "I know you see things"

Horror Comics: Rhymes with Orange

Happy October 2nd!  It is literally like 102 degrees here in sunny California.  How I love fall!  I also love with comics go dark.  Enjoy Edgar Allan Pooh.  Easy but so, so cute!

In other news, AMC and The Walking Dead have posted a new series of "Webisodes".  Check em out here.  Or watch the first one right now!!  God, I love this month!!!

The Walking Dead Season 3

Can't believe we have to wait until October!

The Walking Dead Season 2

Holy Shit!  That was an amazing season of The Walking Dead.  As I said each episode just got better and better and I am hard pressed to think of a more intense/stressful/horrific show that ever appeared on television (with Zombies.)  I now present my top Twelve moments of Season 2!

12:  The Merle Fever Dream

I love Daryl Dixon, but Merle scares the shit out me!  What an amazing performance by Michael Rooker: only appeared in two episodes last season but he is a fan favorite.  I have a feeling we will see him again..

11: Rick grows a pair.

"This is not a democracy."  A-Bout Time!  Rick does everything for everyone, and he is constantly getting shit on.  We are beginning to see the start of crazy Rick.

10:  Lady Macbeth

Lori made a play and the wrong man came back.  This is the end of Rick and Lori, and I don't know how much longer she can survive with no one fighting for her.

9:  Andrea goes bad ass and then gets some from Shane

Gawd she was bugging me at the start of the season (I did like her RV Zombie kill however.)  Now Andrea has found her purpose: being a bad ass. 

8:  Showdown at the Bar

This is actually one of my favorite Rick moments of the season.  This showdown was old fashioned and very intense.  I did not think Rick would do it but we have seen him turn a corner. 

7:  Well Zombie

Had me screaming at the TV: Holy Shit!!!  Amazing makeup effects!  Greg Nicotero and his team are geniuses!

6: First Horde: The Highway

I love a Zombie horde and season 2 gave us two big ones.  I liked the Highway Horde in the first episode.  Zombies are still really scary in the daylight.

5:  The Prison

Season 3 is going to be awesome!

4:  Shane's last stand

Not surprising at all but so well done and well acted.  I was crying and I hate Shane!!  My only question is: how the hell did Carl become such a good shot?

3:  Goodbye Dale

Totally surprising and unexpected.  Can a good, moral man survive in this world? 

2:  Sophia

Again, totally unexpected.  A perfect mid-season finale.  Showed what kind of man Rick was.  I was bawling!!!

1:  Michonne

Again: Season three is going to be awesome.

"The Future of Fear" and other thoughts

Last night, after The Walking Dead, I obviously couldn't sleep (more on that in a minute) so I watched something I had DVR'd, The Future of Fear, which originally aired on "Chiller" last November.

I am kind of late to "Chiller".  I was thrilled when we got it, but when I saw that it was mainly Buffy reruns and shows that were canceled after one season I checked out. (I love Buffy, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting a little something more from a channel devoted to horror).   The Future of Fear is a talking heads documentary that gathers some of the most esteemed horror filmmakers and writers to talk about where the horror genre might be headed.

I love listening to people who love horror talk about horror, and the Future of Fear delivers. We get commentary by the likes of Carpenter, Romero, Landis, Anne Rice, and my new horror crush Tom Holland. My only complaint is that for a show called the Future of Fear we don't have that many contemporary, up and coming filmmakers or writers throwing in their two cents. James Wan and Leigh Wannell are interviewed (James Wan is so hyper I can't imagine what it must be like to be on set with him) as is Oren Peli. My favorite sound bites come from Jovanka Vuckovic, former head of Rue Morgue magazine. It's great to see her sharing her opinions on the horror genre.

So in what direction do these experts think the horror genre is headed?  The big conclusion is "we have no idea."   The one thing they can agree on is that women will take a bigger role in horror, both as writers and directors.  Let's hope.

As I said earlier, I couldn't sleep because of The Walking Dead.  I don't talk about that show much here, but I love it.  I think every episode this season has been better than the last and last week's unexpected death devastated me.  I was bawling.  Last night's episode, Better Angels, was equally amazing.  I am not going to spoil, but let's just say it was downright Shakespearean.

The last 20 minutes were so intense I could barely watch.  I think we all knew what was coming, but that didn't take away from the actual shock of it.  Everything this season has led up to this point, and those that complain that the show is too slow or too talky need to realize that last nights episode wouldn't have had the same impact if we had not gone on this journey with the characters.  And for those that just want some Zombie action, don't worry: they are coming!  The final shot is what kept me up all night.  The siege is coming! 

On a final note: I just want to declare my nerd love for John Carter.

People are bashing it but I found it old fashioned, exciting, and rather charming.  I am not a huge Sci-Fi fan, but I love pulp, I love Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I love the thought that kids reading the Barsoom series back in the day could look up at Mars and wonder if there really was life up there.  That sense of wonder is becoming a faint memory.  John Carter restores it a little.  It's long, but there are worse places to spend a few hours than on Mars.

The Walking Dead: Season One

 The Walking Dead final aired on AMC last night.  The season was six episodes long- way to short!  AMC is such a tease.  I believe we will have to wait until October for season two. 

The Walking Dead was quite simply amazing- all I could have hoped for and more.  I am not super familiar with the comics: I have only read a few of them, but I know enough about the general storyline to have me very excited about season two.  I understand that the show is not following the comics exactly: certain characters who should be dead are not, but as long as they make it to the prison and the Governor shows up I will be happy.

The show was a perfect mix of gore, horror, and good old fashioned storytelling.  It was the characters and their relationships that had me turning in week after week.  I can't wait to see what happens to them as their situation goes from bad to worse.  Thanks to AMC, Frank Darabont, Gale Ann Hurd, Greg Nicotero, Robert Kirkman, and everyone involved bringing this awesome show to life. 

Now- the top five reasons I still love TV:

1. The Walking Dead
2. Dexter
3. Glee
4. True Blood
5. Toddlers & Tiaras

Yes, Glee ranks above True Blood just because it is slightly less ridiculous.  True Blood is only a little more horrifying than Toddlers & Tiaras.

Zombies invade TV: Dead Set and The Walking Dead

It has been a jolly good week for us who love Zombies and love TV.  Zombies invaded the tele during Halloween, and we were treated to not one, but two pretty decent Zombie shows.  First up:  Dead Set.  This five part mini series created for Channel 4 wears its affection for Romero on its sleeve (well, except for the fact that these are fast Zombies.)  Set at the "Big Brother" house, Dead Set examines what happens when a bunch of a-hole fame whores try to survive not only in a world of flesh eaters, but in a world without cameras and an audience!  The horror!

With it's obvious social commentary Dead Set is very Romero-esqe.  Being set in the "Big Brother" house, we are introduced to a cast of characters that I found very hard to root for.  The only "likable" one in this lot is Kelly, a production assistant who survives the initial carnage and finds herself in the house with the rest of the contestants.  It is up to her to explain to these vapid morons what the hell is exactly going on. Dead Set has some great moments of humor and a lot of gore.  It also boasts one of the more depressing endings to come along in a while.  I mean we are talking The Mist depressing.

But call me old fashioned--I don't want my Zombie apocalypse tied up with a pretty pink bow.  There is no happy ending to this mess.  People often ask me what my thing is about Zombies.  I find myself defending my love of the genre.  Friends say that Zombies are "boring" monsters, that there are no new stories to tell, that they are not "scary."  I say for one: Zombies are scary.  You can't reason with them, they are relentless, they want to eat you, and that Zombie out there trying to break your door down to get at your juicy brains?  That may be your Husband.  Or your Mother.  Or your Kid.  That is scary.  And I say for two: the Zombie genre is not intriguing because of the Zombies.  It is intriguing because of the humans: the survivors.  And here we arrive at The Walking Dead.

I have not read the entire comic series that this show is based on, but I have read enough to know that the focus is on the survivors, not the Zombies.  Their stories, their struggles.  Living in a world where you are no longer the dominant species.  All government and social order has broken down.  Everyday is a fight to stay alive.  This is the reason I love the Zombie genre.  And this is what The Walking Dead is all about.

A man wakes up in a hospital bed.  He doesn't know how long he has been there.  When he cries for help, no one answers.  Blood covers the walls of the hospital.  Dead bodies lie everywhere.  He sees half rotting corpses come alive in front of his eyes.  So begins the journey of Rick Grimes through the land of the dead.  This show is as good as I hoped it would be.  It was scary.  The Zombies are of the good old fashioned slow moving kind and they look like they have seen better days. It was also very moving.  I cried twice (three times if you count the horse).  I am very reluctant to become attached to risky TV shows such as this: they usually get cancelled and all we are left with is Season One on DVD (Pushing Daisies anyone?).  But I have a feeling The Walking Dead may be here to stay.  I hope people watch it and get off my case about the Zombies.  Try having nightmares about them every night of your life and tell me what is scary.

Greg Nicotero Short

Ran across this on AMCTV today.  The site is all Halloweened out with lots of great shorts and interviews and tons of The Walking Dead stuff.  Only a few more days to go!  I love this short for so many reasons, number one being that it was directed by Greg Nicotero.  I can trace my horror obsession back to AMC actually, back when it was just classic films with no commercials.  It was one Halloween that I had a fever and stayed in bed watching all the classic Universal monsters in one marathon.  Changed my life it did...

The Walking Dead: The scary trailer

Loves this trailer! The Comic-con one was almost a bit too much for me..this brings the chills. Lucky thing I am an old lady and don't party on Halloween night any longer. No way am I going to miss this.

The Walking Dead trailer

Life is good!

The Walking Dead

Life just keeps getting better....