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.

The Hi-5 Podcast

In leu of any big recent blockbusters, the BabbleOn crew decided to podcast our top 5 movies of this past month. Reviewed in this ‘hi-5′ podcast are Zombieland, Trick R Treat, Invention of Lying, Couples Retreat, and Where the Wild Things Are.

Listen to the Hi-5 reviews by going to our podcast page.

Zombieland: Dead never looked so good.

I won’t say too much about Zombieland since it’s already been reviewed a couple times by my esteemed colleagues. A couple of months ago, I went to the Comic Con panel with the Director and entire cast. They showed long clips and really hyped it. Overall, I was not impressed. It looked okay but nothing I to kill for. I expected another mediocre, zombie experience. I was dead wrong.

From the very beginning, it is clear this won’t be like any typical Zombie outing. The introduction is done in a campy, witty narrative (by Jesse Eisenberg) about how to survive in this post-apocalyptic world now re-named Zombieland. Sure there is a lot of what you would expect like shotgun blast and slow moving half dead humans, but more importantly there is a solid charm and love among the characters. That’s something you don’t expect. Throw in there a couple of unexpected twist and you have a fun adventure worth multiple viewings.

I would put this on par with Shawn of the Dead. I won’t say it’s as good but it’s VERY close. I give this a 4 out of 5 Babbles.

Come on down to Zombieland! Dinner is waiting…

So for whatever reason, our nation has been infatuated with zombies and vampires, they’re sort of the new pirates and ninjas. Video games, movies, online survival guides, you name it and you can find the zombie apocalypse in there somewhere. It is with this backdrop in mind that I went and saw Zombieland. I know this movie has been out for a couple of weeks so you are getting a late review, however just like a cure to a zombie virus outbreak, better late then never.

This movie is obviously a comedy, in a similar vein to Shaun of the Dead. The movie stars Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee, Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus, Emma Stone as Wichita and Abigail Breslin as Little Rock (yes they are all named after cities). All are survivors of a zombie apocalypse and all our trying to head to anywhere they think might be safe. Oh, there is one great and unexpected celebrity cameo who plays himself in a very funny twist, but I won’t ruin it for you.

This movie is fun and entertaining and makes no real attempt at anything serious. There are some brief moments involving the loss of family members and the need for loved ones, but it is done quickly and in a light hearted way that doesn’t bog the movie down.

This movie is gory, I mean it is a zombie movie. Heads get smashed, bodies get splattered, limbs break off and foul liquids flow profusely from the mouths of the unfortunate virus victims, yet is still get laughs.

The R rating is for gore and violence and some language. There is no nudity in this, except for on brief scene in the beginning with a zombie stripper. (Do tassel’s count as clothing?)  Otherwise the movie is pretty straightforward and lives up to its name.

Three and a half is a little low but four seems a little high. Heck, half of it takes place in Texas and they even mention good old UT and Garland, so I will bump it up to a four.

Zombieland Review

Zombieland was an unexpected surprise. From the clips I saw at Comic Con, I can’t say that I was excited at all to see this movie. After seeing Facebook status’ from several girls that I would think too squeamish to see this type of movie, praising it ‘HILARIOUS’ and the high percentage of positive reviews on RottenTomatoes, I went out late one night and saw the Zombie flick with some friends.

The dialogue is brilliant. Jesse Eisenberg, a Michael Cera type, really has excellent comedic timing and plays well off of Mr. Harrelson’s blunt humor. The story is simple enough. It’s about survival in a zombified world. ‘Tallahassee’ played by Woody Harrelson spends most of his journey searching for the very last Twinkie snack left in this world. Along the way he meets ‘Columbus’ (Eisenberg) and ‘Wichita’ (Stone) and ‘Little Rock’ (Breslin). Names of cities are given to each person to avoid any emotional attachment to each other. Together they must learn to trust each other if they want to survive.

The film proceeds to provide the audience a nice little guide to how to survive a zombie takeover. Example, #1 rule: ‘Cardio’. It’s important to know to keep up your stamina because the ‘fatties’ are the first to be turned into a zombies. Rule #2, ‘Double Tap’. A nice little rule that an audiences have been screaming at the movie screen for years. Finally, the appearance of ‘BM’ was a nice touch. A complete surprise, that added so much to what could have been a typical zombie genre film.

I laughed throughout this movie. It probably could beat ‘Shaun of the Dead’ as best zombie film in this genre. Definitely would watch this again and add to my dvd collection.

4 out of 5 babbles.