A lot can happen in 20-plus years: careers can rise and fall, empires can crumble under their own weight, cult fan favorites can give birth to money-minting franchises, a minor horror subgenre can suddenly become ubiquitous. When director Danny Boyle and screenwriter (and future director) Alex Garland dreamed up 28 …
Read More »The Zombies' Rod Argent Retires From Touring After Stroke
After surviving a recent stroke, the Zombies‘ keyboardist and songwriter, Rod Argent, has decided to retire from touring and focus on songwriting. The group’s management announced the news on Thursday. The group canceled all upcoming live dates. “Rod had recently returned home from a triumphant Zombies tour of the U.K. …
Read More »'Daryl Dixon' Finally Gives Us a Fun 'Walking Dead' Spinoff
The zombieverse was a much different place when AMC’s The Walking Dead jerked and growled to life back in 2010 at what seemed like the crest of a wave for the genre. There was still ample room to grow, with takes both serious (28 Weeks Later) and comedic (Zombieland) in …
Read More »'Final Cut' Is a French Zombie Comedy for Would-Be Tarantinos
Pop quiz: You’re a filmmaker. You’re making a zombie movie. The crew is … let’s be charitable and say “adequate.” The budget is somewhere in the high three-figure range at best. Your main actor is a pompous diva. Even worse, your lead actress isn’t giving you the amount of bone-chilling …
Read More »'Dead Island 2' is a Mindlessly Gory Slog Better Left in the Grave
After 10 years in development, Dead Island 2 is finally here. The zombie-themed action role-playing game underwent four studio changeovers before being dragged across the finish line by Dambuster Studios. With a development cycle about as long as vaporware legend Duke Nukem Forever, a title with a similarly troubled and …
Read More »'The Last of Us' Delivers a Heartbreaking Season Finale
THIS POST CONTAINS spoilers for this week’s episode of The Last of Us, “Look for the Light.” As we come to the end of an utterly fantastic debut season of television, it’s worth looking back to note that of these nine episodes, only three of them (the premiere, “Infected,” and …
Read More »'The Last of Us' Episode 6: Pedro Pascal's Powerhouse Performance
THIS POST CONTAINS spoilers for this week’s episode of The Last of Us, “Kin.” Late in “Kin,” Joel passes the time on a long ride by explaining the rules of football to Ellie. “So, basically, just moving in one direction?” she asks. “Basically,” he acknowledges. “But violent.” This could perhaps …
Read More »'The Last of Us' Episode 5: These Deaths Will Tear Your Heart Out
THIS POST CONTAINS spoilers for this week’s episode of The Last of Us, “Endure and Survive.” “Endure and Survive” takes its title from the catchphrase of a comic book that Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and her new friend Sam (Keivonn Woodard) find while traveling out of Kansas City with Joel (Pedro …
Read More »'The Last of Us' Presents an Achingly Beautiful Gay Love Story
This post contains spoilers for this week’s episode of The Last of Us, “Long, Long Time.” The latest chapter of the story is bookended with sequences featuring the series’ only two ongoing characters at the moment. With Tess gone — though she appears in flashbacks later in this episode — …
Read More »'All of Us Are Dead' Remains Netflix's Most Damning Success
Even before Hyosan High becomes ground zero for the world’s zombie outbreak in All of Us Are Dead, its teen inhabitants are struggling to survive. Severe bullying, threats of suicide, wealth inequality and a suffocating pressure to succeed make Hyosan High — and Korean society — a kind of hell. …
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