Swag & News: Lego Gets Bitten?

Lego's CUUSOO program, which gives people the opportunity to propose new Lego designs, has yielded a very zombie-tastic idea. Designer Yatkuu has recreated the interior and exterior of the Winchester pub from Shaun of the Dead and has also designed Lego people to look like the protaganists of the fabulous flick. Check out the awesome design and feedback about it here.

photo: yatkuu

As a kid, I was a super huge Lego fanatic, so this would be a pretty sweet item for the 2012 Christmas list. Still, don't get your credit card out yet. The way that the CUUSOO program works is that designs have to earn 10,000 votes to be entered into consideration for production. While Yatkuu's design has already earned those 10k votes, it has just begun the review process from Lego. I'm a little skeptical about Lego producing something based on a rated R film, but it would be totally awesome if they did.

Until then, we can always glut our zombie and Lego desire on their current Lego zombie products...even if they aren't as cool.

Review: Dead Snow

From the opening sequence, you know Dead Snow is going to be a good movie. The film opens against the stark white backdrop of Norwegian mountains and snow on a lonely arctic night. A woman is running through the trees, pursued by what? We don't know. Music from the Nutcracker blares in the TVs speakers as you struggle to discern what's happening...and just as you do and the woman meets her untimely end? Opening credits roll. Genius. I'm instantly engaged.

After the credits, Dead Snow begins like many movies of its type. You are introduced to a number of stock characters of varying levels of acting ability. They're all supposed to be college students, but they all look they could have been guests at my late-twenties Halloween party. The girls are too attractive for the boys, but hey...it's film. I was wary for a little bit at the beginning, as the dialogue pirouetted around sex jokes and cheesy puns, but this film won back my allegiance very quickly.

Dead Snow is a gore-lover's dream. The filmmakers were certainly not shy with their karo syrup and red food coloring, and they seemed to hold a special place in their hearts for intestines and other internal organs. By the end of the film, every character is shellacked in a lovely coat of fresh blood, and every stab wound seems to hit a vital vein...sending pumping and squirting blood everywhere...even on to the camera. Yum. Definitely not for the faint of heart. That being said, the effects are actually quite nice and realistic looking (with a couple reasonable exceptions). For a small budget flick, they made some pretty involved gore look pretty damn realistic. You'll be screaming and squirming the whole way through.

From a zombie standpoint, I'm a little on the fence. The movie was certainly a good horror movie, but it's hard to title it a straight, classic zombie flick. The monsters are clearly dead, they're referred to as zombies, and the makeup artist certainly intended for you to think that the are the living, brain-eating undead. But here's where I get a little iffy. They're nazi zombies, which of course means they are still in full nazi regalia, but these zombies also use binoculars, lead organized charges, and stab, punch and kick like actual, living soldiers. My only other complaint would be that they don't seem to eat their victims at any point, although they do disembowel them and dismember them like true zombie pros. So don't expect a whole lot of zombie gluttony here, but as long as you go in with that in mind you'll be fine.

From a film making standpoint, this film usually gets it right. The narrative is clear, focused and honest. The cinematographer was original and gutsy, but everything he tries really tends to work. Sometimes his choices seem a little out of place stylistically, but they really do help to tell the story. My personal favorite is a moment when one character is buried under the snow...you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there. Great camera work. Also, while the film is foreign and is therefore subtitled, you get used to it very very quickly. There isn't much dialogue in the final 1/3rd of the film, so it isn't too distracting even if you don't watch many foreign flicks. My only filmmaking complaint would be the editing (both sound and video). It seemed too abrupt and actually impeded the story telling at times. There were a few moments in the film where I was left like "wait...what just happened?" because of the editing, and I don't really feel like that was intentional.

Overall, it was well worth the 90 minutes I spent watching it. It had a sort of Shaun of the Dead vibe, and I both gasped and laughed numerous times during the film. It has a good handle on the balance between black comedy and horror. Also, the backdrop certainly adds to the creepy factor in a very The Descent kind of way. You keep thinking, even if they can avoid the zombies...how the heck are they gonna get out? On the first really snowy day of the year here in Chicago, it was a perfect choice.

You can check it out on Netflix (it's available on streaming), or you can purchase it for $14.99. After watching it, I may have to add it to my amazon wishlist. Until then, here's the trailer...

Top 5: Scenes of Zombie Gluttony

I'm sure that today you are all headed to delicious feasts prepared by your loving family. For me, it's Thanksgiving cajun style around noon, and then your traditional Thanksgiving fare around 6pm. By the end of the day, I basically have to be rolled into bed. But zombies? They don't have a loving family to prepare them turkey and mashed potatoes. As a result, they are left to fend for themselves...and boy, do they.

So enjoy this top 5 in honor of the holiday. May it make you that much hungrier.


Honorable Mention: Zombies share in a round of Amy hors d'oeuvres in The Walking Dead
This makes the list, if only because (in both the comic and the show), it seemed like someone really could have done something to stop all the additional little bites. I mean, she's not finger food, people.

http://mimg.ugo.com/201011/6/6/4/132466/cuts/amy-death-complete_480x270.jpg

#5: Little girl zombie decides that mommies make the best dinners in Night of the Living Dead.
Moms really are good at everything: cooking, hugging, listening to your problems...and, oh yeah...devouring the second you turn into an undead freak. I mean, why go for a stranger as your first meal? You don't know where that's been! Take out mom and dad first.

#4: Zombies go for the leg's first--Stephen's legs to be exact--in Dawn of the Dead.
Nothing like a meal that fights back. Just makes that first taste of flesh all the more rewarding. Maybe we should start a new Thanksgiving tradition where we lock a live turkey in an elevator and bludgeon it to death. Us humans, we've lost all sense of barbarism. lol.

#3: Zombies go for David's stuffing first in Shaun of the Dead
For a comedy, this movie sure does do the gore up right. Nothing like being pulled through a window of broken glass and then disemboweled in front of your friends. Delicious. Just makes me want a full plate of stuffing. Check out the version below, or check out a better version here.

#2: Zombies dine on a feast of deep fried Tom & Judy in Night of the Living Dead
This was the scene that caused me to sleep in my parents' bed for a week when I was eight. Nothing like getting the whole zombie family together for some BBQ, right? I hope Tom and Judy had marinated themselves before deciding to become a human buffet because otherwise that meal is going to be a little on the bland side. Start the video below about 1:20 in and stop at 2:30. I had trouble finding one that just had the scene.

#1: Bub hunts his own turkey (Captain Rhodes) in Day of the Dead
You know what's NOT a good idea? Training zombies. Cuz, you know, if you do, they might eventually turn on you and hunt you down with the intention of feeding their very large zombie family. This scene is BY FAR the best scene of zombie gluttony ever. Awesome effects. Sure to have you licking your lips for some turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving! Give thanks that you are not one of the walking dead...yet...

Cultural Study: Zombieland vs. Shaun of the Dead

Ever watched Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead in the same day? If you ever get a chance, you might notice that in addition to being absolutely phenomenal zombie flicks, they, when looked at as a set, say a great deal about the differing cultures of America and the UK.

Zombieland (2009)

First, look at the idea of safety as put forth by each movie. In Shaun of the Dead, safety takes the form of the local tavern. This makes complete sense, as the pub is often a center of socialization and culture in smaller town British life. For years, the pub has meant more to British society than simply a place to drink.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

In Zombieland, the characters look to the flashy thrill of a theme park for their safety and security. It might be a leap, but to me this seems to say something about America’s eternal youth, its ability to take comfort in both innocence, familiarity and flash.

Zombieland (2009)

The weapons are also a huge commentary on our two societies. In Shaun of the Dead, the heroes wield cricket bats. When they finally procure a gun in the climactic moments of the show, no one knows how to use it in the slightest. The Brits are not a gun-toting group. Their policemen carry batons for goodness sake. 

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

In Zombieland, everyone has a gun. The freaking twelve year old is proficient in her usage of a shotgun. America loves their guns, and this is abundantly clear in Zombieland.

Zombieland (2009)

Next, look at the theme. In Shaun of the Dead there’s an emphasis on family. Shaun’s first instinct is to pick up “mum”. The urban setting only compounds a feeling of togetherness and familiarity. It’s an island and you’re never far from the ones you love. Hell, I once took a bus from Edinburgh to London that took a measly 7 hours.

But in America, we’re all spread out. Our families live days and days away from us, and there is a far greater sense of isolation and independence. This theme seems to be the central thesis of Zombieland. Americans are cut off, disconnected, isolated. Just look at the film’s barren landscape. Nothing says “new frontier” like the Southwest. Also, the characters are not only almost all strangers, but they also refuse to share names with one another. Now that’s isolated.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Lastly, there are the final moments of each film. You don’t get a better microcosm of British and American culture than that. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen these movies, stop reading now.

The Brits are an older civilization. They’re tougher, more used to the cruel humanity of the world than us: their thin-skinned, toddler children. We still want the world to be a happy place, while they’ve been convinced of its villainy and ugliness for centuries. And that is completely mirrored in these films. 

Shaun of the Dead isn’t afraid to kill of the vast majority of the cast in a single, Romero-esque montage of gore. It seems to actually look forward to it. But Zombieland can’t bear to part with any of its heroes. Even when Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) volunteers to be a clearly suicidal distraction for the zombies, he manages to somehow make it out of the fracas intact. Us Americans, this isn’t the first time we needed a rosy ending, and it won’t be the last.

Zombieland (2009)

So that’s that. My overly analytical take on Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead, two of the best zombie movies ever made. Who knew zombie flicks could say so much and be so funny at the same time? Or maybe I’m just thinking WAY too much into it. Lol. Probably.

Pictures of Shaun of the Dead were acquired from IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/mediaindex) and are copyright of Rogue Pictures (2004)

Pictures of Zombieland were acquired from IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156398/mediaindex) and are copyright of Columbia Pictures (2009)