Tag Archives: zombie apocalypse

Movie classic: ‘Shaun of the Dead’

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shaun-of-the-dead

Did anyone anticipate just how damn good “Shaun of the Dead” was going to be?

When the 2004 British comic-thriller, about a couple of goofy guys stumbling their way through life and, suddenly, the zombie apocalypse, debuted, I don’t think many of us appreciated how much comedic gold was to be mined from the end of the world.

Director Edgar Wright and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost – two under-achieving blokes who only very gradually realize the population around them is turning into flesh-eating zombies – turned the zombie story on end.

There’s plenty of creep factor, as zombies zero in on victims, and there’s some derring-do. But what made “Shaun of the Dead” so great was its humor, as Pegg and Frost sort through vinyl records to see which are suitable to toss at zombies or plot out schemes to save Shaun’s mum and girlfriend.

Random observations:

I love that Martin Freeman has a cameo in the movie. And I love that the actor, better known now as “The Hobbit” and John Watson from “Sherlock,” is featured in Wright’s upcoming apocalyptic picture “The World’s End.”

shaun-of-the-dead scene

I love that there’s a mirror-image group as counterpart to that led by Pegg. There’s an amusing scene when Pegg’s group encounters the other and nobody really seems to notice that they’re like an alternate universe version of our heroes.

“We’re coming to get you, Barbara!” Frost shouts into the phone to Pegg’s mum. It’s a play on “They’re coming to get you, Barbara,” From George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” of course.

Has there been a better ending to a zombie apocalypse movie? Plainly, no.

‘The Walking Dead” reveals ‘Secrets’

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AMC’s post-zombie-apocalypse series “The Walking Dead” moved into full-on soap opera mode tonight, and that was fine by me.

As a matter of fact, except for a couple of zombie scenes, you could almost mistake tonight’s installment for an episode of “Knot’s Landing.” There was even a suburban cul de sac.

But seriously, folks: As we’ve noted already this second season, the drama in this show revolves around the people. What happens when Daryl’s brother Merle returns and finds out his little brother has become a good guy? What happens when Rick finds out Lori was shacked up with Shane in the first days of the zombie apocalypse? What happens when Shane pops his cork and starts killing people?

We found out the answer to one of those questions tonight and maybe it wasn’t surprising. If you’re struggling to deal with the continued existence of you and your ragtag band of survivors, you probably learn to shrug, move on and worry about a lot of small stuff later.

Not that there wasn’t plenty of personal drama going on. With a title like “Secrets,” you can bet that a few were spilled.

My favorite character, once again, was Glen, who continues not only to be a capable guy when you’re dealing with the walking dead but also a go-to comic character. As a young guy entrusted with too many secrets, Glen started burbling: Walkers in the barn. Lori’s pregnant. I’m making it with the farmer’s daughter.

The secret of the walkers in the barn was as poignant as it was wrong-headed. Made me want to slap everybody concerned. And yet, at the same time, I understood.

With all the character drama, maybe it didn’t seem like there was time for zombies. But there were a couple of good walker moments. The makers of the series know how to make our skin crawl with a well-timed zombie attack.

Next week’s episode is the “mid-season finale,” AMC says, which means that we won’t see new episodes until February. I’m hoping it’s going to be a doozie.