Telltale games released the first episode of The Walking Dead game to PC/Mac, Xbox, and PS3 this week. This afternoon, after 2.5 hours of supremely focused game play, I immediately headed to their website to see when I'd be able to continue to play with the next episode...only to find out they're only releasing one a month! AHHH! Patience FAIL!
So, needless to say, I enjoyed the game. The gaming style was really the kind of game play I can get into; it was primarily based on character interactions and decision making. There was some zombie killing action, but really not very much. This isn't the next Left 4 Dead, but I think it's something just as special and engaging.
The game follows the story of Lee Everett, a man on his way to prison for murder when the zombie apocalypse hits. After his cop car crashes, Lee finds a young girl, Clementine, and the two team up to face a bleak and dangerous world. From there on? I can't really tell you what happens because that will be determined by the decisions that YOU make. And, unlike in some games, the decisions are reasonable and your response choices are realistic. I didn't feel like I was forced to say anything in the game that I really wouldn't have said in real life.
In episode one, Walking Dead fans will enjoy seeing Herschel and Glenn as well as the Greene farm. The world seems to be a comic-television show hybrid. For example, Herschel only has two kids (like in the show), but his farm looks a lot like the comics. In fact, the animation was very reminiscent of Adlard's work which gave it a familiar feel.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing and I can't wait until next month! Download the game on Telltale's website or on your Xbox/PS3. I opted for the XBox version and was happy with the choice.
My last review from Chicago Fear Fest this year is going to be for the last flick we saw at the festival: Fear Eats the Seoul. It's difficult to know where to start when reviewing a movie like this. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the film. I absolutely loved the opening sequence, and I was really excited from the first minute of movie, but after that, a lot of it let me down.
My primary struggle was with the pace of the film. The flick was about two hours in length, but you left the theater feeling as though the story really could have been cut down to about 70-80 minutes. Rarely do I find a horror or zombie film that has me checking my watch, but this one certainly did. That's not to say that there weren't some genuine moments of both tension and action--there were. Still, the gaps between these moments seemed a little languorous.
The majority of this problem might have stemmed from the fact that this film jumps back in time frequently to look at the characters before the outbreak. This could be a nice touch, and occasionally it is, but often it seems unnecessary. We don't usually learn anything important from the flashbacks, and I feel that many of the flashbacks didn't answer any questions for me or inform my understanding of the characters one bit.
Possibly, that's because I wasn't really invested in the characters. It was very difficult, as a 28 year old senior citizen, to sympathize with the characters in this story. The majority of the characters struck me as self absorbed, whiny, and without solid ideas or survival instinct. At times I found myself thinking, "Really? This is who makes it out?" As a result, I didn't care about their back story and I certainly didn't care if they made it out of Korea before it was bombed.
The main protagonist, Nadia (Amber Green), was my primary fish-to-be-fried. Her voice over was cliche, trite, and vastly lacking in maturity. She was moody and bitchy with other people, and not in a funny or relatable way, but rather in a "Dude, why haven't you people thrown her to the mutants?" sort of way. That being said, I'm absolutely sure that I would have adored both this movie and her character when I was seventeen. This flick would have been like my bible, and she would have been my idol. Thank the lords of Kobol that I'm no longer seventeen.
But the film wasn't all bad. First, you have to give the director, Nick Calder, some mad props for undertaking such an immensely challenging project and executing it completely and professionally at such a young age. I've certainly never been that dedicated to my craft. The film looks and feels more professional than you would expect, and for a very low budget, Calder has done some admirable work. In addition to being the director and writer, he's also the only mildly palatable actor in the whole movie. The effects on the infected (they're not...really...zombies. more like demons.) are really cool and original. They certainly strike a little bit of fear into the soul. And speaking of my horrible pun, I really dug the title of this flick. It was one of the main things that had me speeding up to Rosemont from C2E2 to watch it.
But aside from a few moments of "looking cool", an interesting base-level concept, and some original make up effects, this film is not destined to be a horror cult film for decades to come. The film is weighed down at many points by overly emotional writing, purposely shaky cinematography, slothful pacing, and unlikeable characters. All of these elements band together to make the audience disengaged and apathetic. Will they get out of Seoul? Will you care? Decide for yourself by watching Fear Eats the Seoul.
The trailer is below. Rewatching the trailer makes me rethink this entire review (the trailer is really good), but unfortunately the movie is not what the trailer advertizes. God, I wish it was. Maybe some very generous editing could recut the movie into a faster paced narrative. When that happens, someone call me.
I know it's been two weeks, but I might as well get around to posting my final two reviews from Chicago Fear Fest. One of the primary reasons that I went to the festival was to see Alejandro Brugues' Juan of the Dead. This independent flick has been devouring awards like outstretched limbs at recent festivals, and I couldn't wait to see what all the hub bub was about.
The film centers around the plight of Juan (Alexis Diaz de Villegas) and his portly, degenerate friend, Lazaro (Jorge Molina). Usually heroes are likeable, white toothed super men. They get all the woman and are the envy of all the men...but not Juan and Lazaro. Their bumbling idiocy, their blatant selfishness, and their inability to employ provident thought to any situation, are all some of the main reasons that this film is both unique and enduring. These aren't unrealistic super people surviving the zombie apocalypse; these are kind of scummy, realistic people surviving the zombie apocalypse.
Juan and Lazaro are certainly the central figures of the flick, and their crude banter is one of the main reasons to watch, but the supporting cast is loveable, dynamic, and brings a lot to the table--both in terms of zombie killing and comedy. Juan's daughter, Camila (Andrea Duro), is realistic and pretty. She brings a little drama and heart to a film that is otherwise pretty saturated with dick jokes and crime. Lazaro's son, Vladi (Andros Perugorria), is the eye candy you're missing in Juan and Lazaro. Some of my favorite characters in the film, however, were La China (Jazz Villa) and El Primo (Eliecer Ramirez). This couple consists of a particularly sassy drag queen/car radio thief and her enormous blood-shy boyfriend. La China's banter with Juan and Lazaro definitely adds to the comedy here, as does El Primo's tendency to faint every time he sees blood--not a great deficiency to have during the zombie apocalypse.
My only complaint about the film at all would be that the translation seems a little off. At times it is clear that a native Spanish speaker with a better understanding of Cuban history than I possess (Merci for that, three years of high school French) would find some of the jokes funnier and clearer. Because we're not watching a story about Cuban upper crust citizens here, the jokes are very colloquial and clearly contain many idioms. Unfortunately, at times these do get, pardon the cliche, lost in translation. Other than that, I have no complaints, but the movie is quite vulgar, especially sexually, so those with a reduced tolerance for the dirty joke might want to stay away.
Overall, the film will have you laughing and it may even tug at
the heartstrings for a moment or two. There are absolutely some strong
zombie effects here, and the story moves at an engaging pace. In other
words, there isn't a "good time" to go grab some more popcorn from the
concession stand.
Wondering when you'll be able to catch this gem on the big screen again? How about NOW!? The good folks over at The Wilmette Theater, one of my past employment stomping grounds, will be showing Juan of the Dead in a one week run between April 27th and May 3rd. The theater manager is a huge horror geek, and he is really excited to be premiering the film in its first American theatrical release. For tickets, check out the website. Showtimes are listed on the left. And don't procrastinate! The film won't be there next weekend!
Robert Kirkman's talking that talk once again. Recently, Kirkman talked about Dale's death and suggested that someone else could die the way Dale does in the comics. Basically, he wanted to communicate that they won't always be pairing people with their actions from the comic. Sometimes a character will suffer a different character's comic book fate, for better or for worse.
Kirkman was quoted as saying "There will be cases where something memorable like that will be displaced and given to somebody else. I'll hint that that actually happens in our first episode back in Season 3—there's something memorable that happened to a character in the comic is happening in the show in our first episode back and it's not the same character." Read the entire spoiler article here.
So here comes the part where I start my speculating. Okay...so here are some thoughts. Don't proceed any further if you haven't read the comics.
Could someone besides Rick get his hand chopped off? I'm hoping not, but this one would seem to make some sense since having Andrew Lincoln handless for the coming seasons might be a television nightmare. Still, episode one of next season would be a little early for this to happen.
Could someone besides Dale and Allen get bitten and have to have their leg chopped off? This seems reasonable, but it's a little benign to be "something memorable that happened to a character".
Could someone besides Herschel's two girls get decapitated by a prisoner? That'd be awesome, but who? And honestly, I always thought that was one of those story lines that wouldn't translate very well to the screen. It was interesting, but not entirely necessary.
Could someone besides Carol walk into a zombie on purpose as a type of bizarre suicide? Possibly. Carol's character is certainly very different than her comic book counterpart, and she's lacking the relationship piece that pushes her over the edge. Still, this seems like something that would happen later on.
Could someone besides Tyrese go into a gym full of zombies, get left for dead, and then reappear an episode later? This would be way way way cool. This was one of my favorite moments from the comics, but I don't know who is BA enough for it except Michonne (and she only just arrived) or Rick (and you can't really do that with the protagonist).
Could someone besides Dexter get shot in the neck during a prison rebellion? Not unlikely, but I think this also falls under the heading of not big enough to be considered "something memorable that happened to a character".
Could someone besides Michonne get tied up and abused by the governor? This would be a huge change. Like mega huge. I would be surprised, but I also would be intrigued as to whom they would select. Andrea?
Could someone else be locked in the prison cafeteria? Maybe Tyrese? I've been guessing this one for a while. Anyway to get Tyrese on the show would be fine with me.
Alright, enough of my speculating. What do you think?
Holy. Crap. I'm so glad that this film was at Chicago's Fear Fest.
Okay, so I've never seen Rec 1 or 2, but now I'll absolutely have to check them out. Apparently Quarantine was an American remake of Rec 1, and I have seen that, but it didn't come anywhere close to the awesomeness of Rec 3: Genesis.
This movie was stellar for so many reasons. The beginning was strong, and it did a good job of using cinema verite at the onset of the film, but transitioning to a more traditional camera style after about fifteen minutes when cinema verite would be annoying and unrealistic. The normalcy of the beginning was unsettling, and the filmmakers did a good job of incorporating both foreshadowing and red herrings to keep you anxious and attentive.
When the zombies do attack, the wedding of our protagonists, Clara (Leticia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martin), turns into a bloodbath in one swift and realistic moment. From there, it's the job of our heroes to find each other and find a way out, and it was never a dull moment watching them try.
This film is commendable for its bloody and realistic effects, its commitment to realism (aka: killing off a whole crap-load of people), its ability to seamlessly mix horror, comedy, and drama into one authentic piece of fiction, and its cultural commentary of/connection to Catholicism. But in addition to all of those strengths, this movie is absolutely excellent because of Leticia Dolera's performance. She is absolutely beautiful, even when covered in blood and running eyeliner, but she's also an immensely talented actress. I believe her, but I also want to BE her. She's the ultimate badass femme without being bitchy or unrealistic. This balance is not an easy one to manage, but both Dolera, and her director, Paco Plaza, have managed to craft a likeable and realistic female protagonist.
If you have a chance to check this flick out, I very highly recommend that you do so! Watch this preview...
The first zombie-related flick we watched at Chicago's Fear Fest this weekend was a short called The Zombie Factordirected by Matt Cantu. This flick was a pilot for a mock-reality television show in which nine unsuspecting strangers are put in a zombie infected hell hole and forced through funny and death-defying challenges. It was a funny idea, as if George Romero were to direct a Fear Factor/Real World hybrid.
Overall, it was very funny. My favorite performances were Steve Forbes (Jason) and Earl Cabo (Kareem). Cabo and Forbes had some of the funniest and best lines, but they also completely committed to their characters and seemed comfortable and natural in front of the camera.
The challenges, especially the "zombie hat day" challenge, were funny and original, but occasionally moments like these went on for a little too long. They clearly had enough funny ideas, so I thought it could have been edited to be a little tighter. My only other complaint was that there were two or three more characters than needed. It's not that the characters were poorly acted, but it became a lot to keep track of in 22 minutes. Still, I would concede that this is absolutely authentic to many reality TV shows.
Overall, Cantu has produced a funny, loveable and engaging piece with some fresh and original ideas. It was definitely worth 22 minutes of my time. Watch the trailer below...
Steven Yeun takes a picture of us as we all do the opposite.
Because I don't wake up at 4am on Saturday mornings, I was unable to get autograph tickets for Steven Yeun (Glenn) and Lauren Cohan (Maggie). Still, once I'd passed that little snag, I had a great time at C2E2. I sat through some great panels, got a signed copy of The Walking Dead: Covers from Tony Moore's table, and bought some nerdalicious swag.
My day was capped off with the Walking Dead panel. Steven Yeun and Lauren Cohan hit the stage in the IGN Theater to talk about the show and the romantic relationship of "Glaggie". Overall, the two were both absolutely adorable and very articulate. Cohan talked about killing Shane as something that "had to happen" and condoned Rick's decision. She also addressed a question about why Tyrese, Rick's BFF in the comics, hasn't arrived yet. She explained that keeping Shane alive for season two kind of fulfilled Tyrese's role for a while, and that she hasn't heard anything about casting him or having his character appear in the show. I know. Sad face.
Steven Yeun was a laugh a minute during the panel. He talked about his script-reading habits (ie: on the toilet), and discussed how that made encountering Dale's death for the first time a little awkward. When asked about Glenn's relationship with Maggie, he jokingly referred to their relationship as "two people who love each other doing cool sh*t". He also referenced that before there would be any sex scenes, he'd have to get to the gym, but he was reassured when Cohan revealed that he was absolutely a better kisser than her Supernatural co-star. Yeun was quite the jokester, even threatening to take season three back to the farm (to which the packed theater booed and jeered), but he did reference the gloomy nature of the show by saying "any of us can go".
I guess we'll have to wait and see if that is, in fact, true when season three of The Walking Dead hits television screens in October. The cast returns to shooting in three weeks, and hopefully we'll be getting a couple of spoilers soon. Until then, I'll leave you with this highpoint of the panel. Imagine Lauren Cohan and Steven Yeun doing their best "zombie walks" across the stage. Who do you think did the best job? The answer: Lauren. Steven admitted that his just really looked like him "on a sad day".
In episode one, Walking Dead fans will enjoy seeing Herschel and Glenn as well as the Greene farm. The world seems to be a comic-television show hybrid. For example, Herschel only has two kids (like in the show), but his farm looks a lot like the comics. In fact, the animation was very reminiscent of Adlard's work which gave it a familiar feel.
