Diablo 3, Walking Dead, and Comics Podcast

 

podcast104(diablo3:walkingdead)

Walking Out on the Walking Dead…

Okay I have finally decided I am more or less out on Walking Dead. First they lost me, then they sort of won my back and just when I gave them some props, they go and lose me again. Seriously, this show is a directionless as the Cain’s presidential campaign. Here is a summary of the season.

"So dramatic...especially Andrea on the right"

(No Spoilers- because there isn’t anything to spoil)

Episode 1: Little girl Sophia gets lost.

Episode 2: Search for Sophia

Episode 3: Search for Sophia

Episode 4: Search for Sophia

Episode 5: Search for Sophia

Episode 6: Search for Sophia

Episode 7: Search for Sophia

Epiosde 8-8.5: Search for Sophia.

Okay, was it six episodes or 8? I don’t even care enough to look it up. If it was 6 and I accidentally added 2, then I promise you the plot wouldn’t have changed, they would still be looking for Sophia.

Seriously, a little girl gets lost and they spend the whole freaking season looking for her! Could you possibly think of more contrived plot? With all the apocalyptic, zombie, end-of-the- world stuff and all they can do is waste 8 episodes looking for a girl? There are so many more epic plots they could have pick come up with.

Oh to be sure, there is some lame interpersonal stuff thrown in as well. Carl, the boy,  gets shot but sadly doesn’t die and Rick refuses to grow a pair. And what’s up with Carl anyway? Whenever they show him he just sort of has this retarded dazed grin on his face. Seriously, he looks like has special needs.

Ironically, the real zombies are the shows viewers who must be brain dead after watching this offal. Let’s see. It has the makings of a great show, it’s only missing one thing. A PLOT! Man, if only there was a vast volume of engaging, prewritten material the show’s writers could pull from. Oh wait! There is! It’s called 8 books worth of composed graphic novels by Robert Kirkman. They have 80+ comic books worth or material and they STILL can’t find a decent plot. AMC must stand for Aimlessly Mindless Content.

Okay I have ranted enough I suppose. The thing is I really want this show to be good, but the more I think of it from anarrative standpoint the more it makes me mad. The last 10 minutes of the last episode are pretty tasty and they do some heavy zombie brain blasting, but you probably won’t see it because you have already blown your own brains out watching it.

The Walking Dead S2 Trailer 2

I’m super excited to see where this show goes in comparison to the graphic novel. In the pic above, it looks like our hero Rick Grimes is running towards a farm. Hershel’s farm perhaps? There are so many great moments involving human drama and action in Robert Kirkman’s comic that I’m hoping turn up in Season 2. Take a look at the trailer below and let us know what you’re most excited for.

The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, October 16 at 9 PM with a 90-minute episode.

October Fest…

Here is the October calender, delivered to you as promised to your virtual doorstep! Created by staff writer Aileen Cacayorin (@A1l33n)  and sponsored by ZICO Coconut Water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: If you feel we left something appropriately nerdy off let me know. We probably did it on purpose just to start an online debate with you.

Zombie Reality TV Show Revealed!

From Zombieland, to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Walking Dead, it would appear that just like skinny jeans, zombies are all the rage. But have these poor, undead, victims of post necrotic animation been given a fair shake in societies eyes? Of course not! They constantly get their heads cut off by chainsaws and swords, their guts blown out by shotguns and their bodies’ burned or thrown off buildings without anyone even giving them a chance! (Like when the hot girl shoots down the nerdy guy before she gets to know him- ahem.)

That being said, there are several new reality TV shows coming out this spring that display the lives of zombies in a more honest and open manner. Ironically enough, if you watch enough reality TV, you risk becoming a zombie yourself. Here are a few of the new shows.

Are You Smarter then a Zombie? – This show, airing on Fox and hosted by Rob Zombie, places a panel of zombies versus one human in a trivia challenge to find out who really does have the most brainnnsss.

The Undeadlist Catch – Zombie fishers off the coast of Alaska risk their un-lives to haul in the mighty Alaskan King Crab. In the most riveting of TV drama the crew of the fishing vessel Big Valley, who drowned in the first season when their ship capsized, now return to continue their life long trade.

The Real Zombies of Orange County – Not all zombies are tattered, torn and in shambles. Watch these metrosexual zombies as they get manicures, massages, rotting skin buffed off and drink Zombie cocktails at the country club, all the while mingling with southern California’s elite and seeing if plastic surgery makes you less human then a zombie.

 16 and Zombie – After the success of 16 and Pregnant, MTV ventures into the world of teen zombies and the hardships they face on a daily basis. School bullies, peer pressure, dating, brain eating disorders, clothing and hygiene issues are all discussed with candid honesty as we learn the many challenges that zombie youths must face on a daily basis.

Survivor, Zombie Apocalypse – In a desperate ratings grab for it’s own survival, Survivor Zombie Apocalypse is the only show that pits zombies in their traditional roll of bad guys. A band of humans are dropped into a zombie filled post apocalyptic city and forced to fight for their survival. As they compete for such necessities as katana’s, chainsaws, food, basic medical gear and even the all powerful shotgun, they must learn to work together if they want to survive.

Well that is a look at the upcoming new reality TV shows this spring. Rest assured us Babblers will be closely watching these shows, and so should you! After all, zombies are former people too.

Top 5 shows of 2010 worth Babbling about…

It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but if you are TV geeks like us Babblers, it’s almost equally as dreadful. Don’t get us wrong, we love all the eggnog and little baby Jesus, but after weeks of being deprived new episodes of our favorite series is enough to go ‘Dexter’ on someone. Well the wait is almost over and in preparation for the Spring line up, the Babblers wanted to list our top 5 shows of 2010. So here they are in no particular order:

1. 30 Rock (NBC)

BabbleOn has been a long time fan of the ‘SNL’ parody 30 Rock. Besides all of us being Tina Fey geeks, the witty dialogue and zany characters make this show hilarious and surreal.

The Walking Racist

Congratulations to AMC and The Walking Dead. Initial numbers and interest are so high that AMC has already signed on for another season. Pretty much all of us have written about how great it is, so I won’t bother on that note.

However, there is one thing that stood out to in the 2^nd episode. Without giving away any spoilers, they introduce a serious element of racism into the plot. The sad fact is that racist antagonists are all to cliché and racism is often tacked onto a character to “prove” just how evil they are, rather then letting their actions and character show it. I will give you an example, Crimson Tide, starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. It is a pretty good movie and has good acting, dialogue and loads of suspense. (I won’t rate it because it has been SO long since I have seen it so it isn’t fresh in my mind.)  Denzel Washington plays a young naval officer who stages a mutiny on a nuclear submarine to keep the trigger happy captain (Gene Hackman) from launching missiles and starting World War 3 without clear orders to do so.

Gene Hackman’s character is a total bastard the entire movie and you already hate him by the end. However, near the end, he makes a racist comment towards Denzel’s black character. When I saw it in theatres half the audience went “oooh” as in, NOW he is really, really bad, but to me it felt incredibly forced. There were no racist comments or connections throughout the entire movie and now they have to tack it on just to make sure we know Hackman’s character is bad. If you have to resort to that then you probably failed as a storyteller to begin with. The same often goes for stories with Nazi’s as well. Such as the last James Bond movie, Quantom of Solace, when in the end they reveal a secret Nazi organization still in existence. (Really? After 60 years they couldn’t think of a better villain?)

Grrrrrr....I'll eat anyone!

The Walking Dead didn’t need racism. It is already engaging and has a horrible evil that causes enough conflict as it is. Yet being set in the south, they decided to go ahead and add it to the subplots, and they made it work really well. The characters were believable, the dialogue good and the racism felt sincere, not merely tacked on as a cheap plot devise.

Now I am not naïve here folks, I know that sadly enough, racism still exists in America. (I’m from Texas, ever hear of Jasper?) Obviously racism is necessary in many movies and there have been some great movies about racism. (Mississippi Burning) It is a valid topic. For that matter so are the Nazi’s. It’s especially hard to make a World War 2 movie without them, but let’s not trivialize something evil or use it to make excuses for bad storytelling.

On a side note, as bad as they are, zombies are the most tolerant and accepting lot there is. They will eat anyone and all can join. Way to be progressive!

A walking dead community

I am going to review two shows that I have recently started watching. They share nothing and everything in common. While no where near the same hemisphere as the same genre, they both share three common themes: reluctant leadership, a community of misfits, and survival in bleak conditions.

The Walking Dead
AMC’s newest drama premiered on Halloween night and ended up being the highest rated cable series of 2010. Based on a comic book series (which I am a big fan), the story follows sheriff Rick Grimes as he wakes up in the hospital after an inexplicable zombie apocalypse has occurred. The world now is a cold, harsh place with a sparse population of human survivors. As a sheriff, Grimes is seemingly the only law enforcement left on the planet although almost nothing is revealed about the state of the US or the rest of the world. Danger lurks behind every corner and surviving is based on ingenuity and keeping quiet. Survivors encountered are  desperate and flawed while strangely clinging onto a ‘normal life’.

However, make no mistake, this is a DRAMA, not an action/horror series. Walking Dead reminds me of Sci-Fi’s Battlestar Galactica. The villains and action are secondary to the interpersonal conflict of the community. Like BSG, Walking Dead is about how humans cope in dire situations and how they need each other to survive. This series will be a character study not a zombie war.  

The effects and environment have a scope of a cinematic level (not surprising since it’s created by Director Frank Darabont). Production value is high and in my opinion, it is one of the best shot tv series I have ever seen. From what I understand, it will eventually diverge from the comic book and explore new ground. I am so excited about this series and it looks like the 8.1 million viewers are too.

I give this a 4 out of 5 Babbles.

Community (Season 1)
I also started watching NBC’s Community this past week. Where else can you find more ‘walking dead’ than at a community college? I know I am a season too late but there wasn’t room on my TV vegging schedule until now. Community follows an ex-lawyer Jeff Winger as he wakes up in a second-rate community college trying to finish up his bogus undergrad degree. The community college world is a cold, harsh place with a sparse intelligent population. Seemingly the only person that has a grip on reality, Winger becomes the fearless leader of a misfit Spanish study group. Fellow students encountered are  desperate and flawed while strangely clinging onto a ‘normal life’. Community is about how humans cope in dire situations and how they need each other to survive. These characters have no idea where they are going or what their purpose is- but they just a doing it together as a community.

The writing is really witty and the characters are lovable. I would consider shows like The Office and Arrested Development as cousins to Community. I have to admit that I have not been a fan of Joel McHale until I started watching this. His snarky comments and resistant compassion makes for a great leading character. Early reports are that season 2 is not as strong so that’s making me worry a bit. But for now, I will enjoy journeying through season 1. I haven’t seen any zombies yet but it wouldn’t surprise me if one showed up!

I give this a 3.5 out of 5 Babbles:

amc ‘the walking dead’ trailer

One of my new favorite comics, ‘The Walking Dead’, is being made into an AMC television show drama. Now, I’ve never been a huge fan of the zombie genre but I can say that I LOVE this series. I’m only two thirds through the compendium and it’s been gripping! The story is deep with complex drama, emotion, conflict, relationships, humanity issues, survival tactics, and of course zombie action.