My Geeky Trivia

By Geeky Gem

Last week I brought you trivia on a young man named Edgar Wright, this week I bring you one of his movies. This has to be one of all time favourite movies, so I will say no but just get on with it.

Many of the Zombie extras are fans of the TV series Spaced, which also starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and was also directed by Edgar Wright. They were recruited through the Spaced Out fan web site to be in the film.

Frequent references are made to Big Al’s claim that dogs can’t look up. This is a reference to the commentary to the second series of Spaced in which Simon Pegg (Shaun) and Edgar Wright talk about Nick Frost (Ed)’s claim that the difficulty in shooting a scene with a dog was due to the fact that dogs can’t look up.

The zombie that Shaun (Simon Pegg) and Ed (Nick Frost) find in their garden is Mary, the checkout girl from the film’s credit montage. A short story detailing her transformation into one of the undead was featured in issue 1384 of the classic British sci-fi comic 2000AD. The issue went on sale 7 April 2004. The strip was called “There’s Something About Mary” and was written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (the film’s co-writers) with art by Frazer Irving.

The game that Ed (Nick Frost) is playing throughout the movie is Timesplitters 2.

Shaun (Simon Pegg) complains that Ed (Nick Frost) isn’t his boyfriend, then says, “Thanks, babe.” In season one of Spaced, a conversation begins in a similar manner between the two actors (“All right, babe?”). This was, however, a total mistake. The writers used the same joke again, forgetting they had used it in Spaced.

ecause of the timing and the indisputable similarity of the names, the distributors were forced to hold the film back until two weeks after Dawn of the Dead was released in the UK.

The “pyjama zombie” had his voiced dubbed over by Simon Pegg.

At one point, a zombie can be glimpsed wearing a yellow cycling helmet and lycra shorts. He’s played by comedian Michael Smiley, who made appearances in Spaced as a bicycle courier named Tyres.

All of the newsreaders and television presenters are real people portraying themselves.

While flicking through the Yellow Pages, Shaun finds the number for an Italian restaurant named Fulci’s, a reference to Italian horror director Lucio Fulci.

I know its not October but there is never a bad tie to have some zombie trivia in you life right? Well until next week Bye bye

Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all! Wednesday again, already?! Where has the week gone?! Well, here I am; back with more geekyness for ya’ll. So, I can’t believe that there have already been 3 episodes of The Walking Dead, and I haven’t blogged about it! Well… I guess I can, what with Valentines’ Day and me missing the one post and all.. uh, anyway! Aside from The Walking Dead, I’ve also been getting excited about a couple of other things; mainly this whole bad-ass fairy tale kick that Hollywood seems to be going on. Also there is a new television show coming on March 3^rd (well, here in America anyway; not sure if it’ll show anywhere else) called Vikings that looks awesome.

  

Anyway, how about those new Walking Dead episodes, eh? They’ve been freakin’ awesome! Michonne is kicking ass and taking names, Rick is absolutely losing his marbles, Glenn is getting stressed and best of all Daryl is getting screen time! I love me some redneck Daryl screen time. I’m not so happy about Merle being back in the picture, but I can always hope he’ll die soon and I’ll be rid of him. Speaking of annoying; Andrea is getting on my nerves something fierce as well. She’s been pretty stupid lately, and I’ve got to say that I liked her better in the comic. Then again, I find myself liking a lot of the characters better in the comics, although precious few are better in the show, like Carol, or have grown on me like Carl.

So amongst the things that I mentioned I am excited about, aside from my zombies, was the bad-ass fairy tale kick that Hollywood has been on recently. We’ve had a couple variations on Red Riding Hood, a few Snow Whites, a Hansel and Gretel and now we are getting The Wizard of Oz and Jack and the Beanstalk with Oz the Great and Powerful and Jack the Giant Slayer respectively. I keep finding movies, like these two or Hansel and Gretel, that didn’t make my initial list of movies I really wanted to see in 2013. I’m totally shocked by it too, because they look absolutely freakin’ awesome. Hansel and Gretel was awesome, but I already blogged about that. Jack the Giant Slayer (initially billed as Jack the Giant Killer) comes out this Friday, on March 1^st in America and March 22^nd in the UK. Oz the Great and Powerful, on the other hand, comes out on March 8^th in both countries.

Last but certainly not least is the new show I found that starts on March 3^rd called Vikings. It looks awesome! I am super excited about it. I first noticed it when I heard Sail by AWOLnation playing on the television. They used it in the background of the trailer, which I thought was awesome. According to Wikipedia; Vikings is an upcoming historical drama series inspired by the epic saga of Viking King Ragnar Lothbrok. One of the most popular Norse heroes, Ragnar was a great Viking commander and the scourge of France and England. Vikings will tell the tale of the epic and violent world of the mighty Norsemen who raided, traded and explored during medieval times. It will tell the tale of the driven young Viking, Ragnar Lothbrok and the gripping sagas of Ragnar’s Viking crew and family as he struggles to become ‘king’ of a large part of modern day Scandinavia and Europe. Ragnar longs to discover civilizations across the seas. With the help of his visionary friend Floki they build a grand new generation of faster and sleeker ships. Jarl Haraldson is Ragnar’s lord and adversary. A man of little vision, the Jarl is suspect of Ragnar’s ambitions and goes head to head with him in a struggle for supremacy. Now doesn’t that just sound freakin’ awesome! I am so excited for it! Take a look at the trailer below and let me know what you think.

Well there you have it; my television and movies for the next little while. I know I’m going to be watching more television than normal the next few months, what with all the awesome stuff going on. I mean, I didn’t even touch on the new Game of Thrones, or the new Doctor Who episodes coming out in April. I know I’m not the only one excited about those! Anyway, I’d best be bringing this blog to a close; see ya’ll next week.

Until next time,

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Wednesday Whimsy

By: Caelrona

Hiya all! Another week, another blog post. It’s Wednesday again, and so here I am to bring you a dash of geek. This past weekend I went to see the new release Warm Bodies in theaters with a couple of friends. My popcorn was amazing, because we went to a theater with the flavored pop-corn salt thingies, and the movie was pretty good too. I mean, it’s nothing I’m super excited about, but it wasn’t bad at all, it just wasn’t as good as, say, Zombieland. It just had too much chick-flick in it to be something that I could really love. But anyway, I would hate to ruin it for those of you who have yet to watch it, so instead of telling you about it I thought I’d instead use it for inspiration. Between it and the new episodes of The Walking Dead airing this coming Sunday, I’m in a zombie mood. So here we have my Top 5 Worst Zombie Types.

Number 5: Suiciders from Dead Island

These zombies are gross. The game booklet describes them thusly; “This poor creature trapped in a disfigured, pulsing form retains a semblance of awareness even though its instincts drive it to get close to an uninfected survivor and attack with a self-destructive explosion. Fighting suiciders in a confined space is or from close range is… suicidal.” So yeah, they are big, walking pustules of infection waiting to explode themselves to kill you, and if you survive the explosion you’ll be covered in their nasty infectious puss. Gross. Also they attempt to garner your sympathy by uttering a creepy ‘Help Me’ when ever you come near them. No thanks!

Number 4: Rage Virus Zombies from 28 Day/Weeks Later

Zombies that can run? Screw that shit! If the zombie apocalypse ever happens then I want the dumb, slow, dead kind. I do not want running live ones!

Number 3: Bonies from Warm Bodies

Now, I don’t want to ruin the movie for those of you who haven’t seen it, so I’ll keep this short. They are zombies that have peeled all their flesh off. That’s right. Skeleton zombies. Creepy as fuck. Oh, and they can run.

Number 2: Mutations from Resident Evil

In basically every Resident Evil there are always weird mutated zombie-things. From the wall-crawling Lickers that bite Rain Ocampo in the very first Resident Evil movie, to the huge, muscled Axeman that Alice fights in the shower room of the prison in the 4^th Resident Evil movie, to the tunnel-digging Majini also from the 4^th movie. I dislike them intensely. Mainly because of their creepy factor, but also I just dislike the entire premise of them. While they have backstory and purpose in the games, they really just make very little sense at all in the movies.

 

Number 1: Reavers from Serenity/Firefly

The Reavers from Serenity/Firefly aren’t actually zombies, I know. But they’re cannibalistic, and kill everything so it is close enough for me have always kind of considered them as sort of zombies. Anyway, one thing is for certain; I absolutely, positively do not want able-bodied, running zombies who can think and use weapons and technology. That would be horrible.

 

There we have it! My Top 5 Worst Zombie Types. Of course there are individual zombies I dislike intensely, these types are my least favorite. Well, I should rephrase that. I enjoy watching them; they would be my least favorite kinds to have to deal with. but anyway,  all this talk of zombies has given me some cravings… No, not for human brains. For a zombie movie marathon! Or a zombie tv-show marathon… ooh, now I’m even more excited for the new episodes of the Walking Dead! I suppose I will survive the few days we have until the first one airs. Hopefully ya’ll can too!

Until next time,

Caelrona – signing off! ❤

Autumn of Terror: Horror Anime

By Geeky Gem

Hello there, How have you been? I have been trying to tink of things I can tell you about during Autumn of Terror. Then I remembered I like horror but I also like anime so way not share with you something that combines the two? Horror anime it is then, here are some of my favourite ones with pictures and videos you lucky people.

Hellsing

Hellsing was given to me by a friend under instruction that I watch or else, so as I didn’t want to mess with him I went home and watched it. It is a brilliant show that is dark and edgy but with some lights bits in it. The story is about Alucard who works for the Holy Order of Protestant Knights, whose job it is to search and destroy those that threaten the safety of the Queen and Country. This can be anything from undead and other supernatural forces. Alucard is a powerful vampire, I should have mentioned earlier right? Oh well he is and he is awesome and his sidekick is former police officer Seras Victoria,  Alucard turns her into a vampire fairly early in the show, she is the light part I was talking about as she her get used to becoming a vampire is funny. If you havent seen the show here are the opening credits for you to enjoy.

Blood +

Blood + is based on the early life of the central character from the movie Blood: The Last Vampire, Saya Otonashi a seemly ordinary girl is going about her life when she is attacked by a Chiropteran, it is then that she learns she is the only one that can defeat them. Armed with her katana, well what other weapon would have to fight beats of the night. She travels around hunting them down, see a simple story I feel. This is a really good anime and a perfect build up after the Blood: The Last Vampire, which you havent seen it you really should.

Death Note

Death Note is ones of those gems that you find when you aren’t really looking for anything at all. I found this one when I was looking for movies that stared Tatsuya Fujiwara, other than Battle Royale. Then I noticed he was going to be a movie called Death Note, it kind of went from there, first I read some of the manga then moved onto the anime, which blew me away. I loved it, the story follows Light Yagami, a high school student. Who one day finds a mysterious book called a Death Note, inside are number of rules for the use of the book. The book was dropped on Earth by Ryuk a Shingami or god of death. Who was bored and wanted to see what a human might do with his Death Note. The Death Note allows the user to kill anybody whose name they write within its pages. Light decides this could be used for the ower of good, but is that what really happens you will have to watch it to find out.

Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied is another anime I fond when I wasn’t really looking for anything, once I saw the opening few minutes that was me hooked, it’s a really brilliant show. It centres around Lucy, who is no normal girl she is Diclonius she is a mutant, she looks human to a point but then you notice that she des in fact have horns. Diclonii have special powers they can use telekinesis, Lucy who has been rejected by human’s wants revenge and so the show follows her as she try ‘s to get it.

High School of the Dead

As Caelrona mentioned High School of the Dead in a earlier a blog I wont linger on it for long. It is however thanks to her blog that I sat down an watched this show, I mean it has zombies in it who doesn’t want to see a zombie anime. Caelrona is right its a brilliant show and if you get time to watch it then do so. All you really need to know is in the title of the show, its a hifh school that is now over run with zombies and the last of the stuents nw have to surivie. Here are the opening credits just for you to see, if this is the show for you.

There you have it folks some horror anime for you to enjoy.

Autumn of Terror: My Favourite Monsters Part 2

By @hmsbeefnuts

Yesterday I brought you part one of a two part blog about my favourite versions of all the classic monsters. Well guess what? Here is part two, so you know the deal, here comes some more monsters that I love, and some more honourable mentions that I love almost, but not quite, as much. Part One can be found here. Part Two starts…. Now.

ZOMBIES

Zombies really don’t have that much in the name of variety. You have your standard undead, raised by magic, meteorites or simply if Hell is full with souls, and your voodoo type slave zombies. I happen to like the undead type, and what better, more horrible zombies than the Nazi variety. Call of Duty is a great game and the zombie mode is always fun. The scary thing about zombies is that on there own, they can be quite manageable, it is only when there are a crowd that things become a problem. When that crowd comes running screaming towards you, dressed like nazis, shit has really hit the fan, all one can hope is the magic box grants you a ray gun…

HONOURABLE MENTION

Little girl rage zombies, well that is just scary as shit right?

WITCHES

Responsible for more children’s nightmares than any other monster on this list, The Wicked Witch of the West is the perfect embodiment of evilness. Green skin, perfect witchy outfit, broom stick, hatred of children and general goodness, and if that’s not enough, she has flying blue monkey soldiers, and it doesnt get more evil than that.

HONOURABLE MENTION

The head witch is very scary. That moment when she takes her face off, absolutely terrifying, and she looks grotesque. Imagine waking up to that? No thanks.

MUMMIES

I like my Mummies wrapped in bandages and the Hammer mummy looks creepiest to me. Boris Karloff may be one of my favourite horror actors, but then so is Christopher Lee, and his eyes are way creepier than the Universal Mummy.

HONOURABLE MENTION

If Karloff had stayed in the bandages all the way through the film, he would have been my ultimate choice, however, he doesn’t and is quickly portrayed as a Dracula type figure. Love that black and white picture though.

MR. HYDE

I have always loved this look for Mr. Hyde. Very simian looking, very primal, and a brilliant transformation scene. It has to be this version of Hyde, it is the greatest.

HONOURABLE MENTION

Forget the film, the comic version of this Mr  Hyde is king. The way he deals with the invisable man alone proves this.

HUNCHBACK

Lon Chaney Snr. old school make up job, say no more.

HONOURABLE MENTION

Bela Lugosi played an evil hunchback assisstant in Son of Frankenstein, almost the best.

Autumn of Terror: My Favourite Monsters Part 1

By @hmsbeefnuts

You may have noticed that around All Geek To Me, we like our monsters, we like them quite a bit in fact. As this month is our celebration of all things that go bump in the night, I thought that I couldn’t really let it pass without a look at my favourite monsters, so I wrote something about that very thing. I have picked my favourite iteration of each of these monsters, and as they have been put on screen many times, I hope this adds variety, as I could just choose the Universal or Hammer film versions, but I will try my very best not too. These choices are based on the look alone, film quality does not enter into my choices here, just this is my prefered version of the different monsters mentioned. So with that out the way, lets get on with some monsters.

WEREWOLF

I know the remake of The Wolf Man was not well received, but I liked it, I liked it a whole lot. Now yes, there is some dodgy cgi, but the main Wolf Man suit is quite simply spectacular. I loved it. It takes the look of the Lon Chaney Jnr. version and ups it to new super fearsome and crazy levels. This for me, is the finest example of The Wolf Man, all claws, jaws and ripped clothing. I will always have a soft spot for the 1941 original, but I don’t think you can argue that this design is far more awesome.

HONOURABLE MENTION

Van Helsing is another movie that everyone thought sucked. Well for all the cheese and bad acting, I still liked it. The Wolfman from Van Helsing is supersized, really huge and powerful, but once again, I really dug the design, I would definitely not like to meet this beast on a dark night.

VAMPIRES

For me Bela Lugosi owned the voice, but Christopher Lee owned the physical manifestation of Dracula, and so, as the Lord of all Vampires, he has to be my top pick for best Vampire. Hammer vampires were much scarier than Universal ones, all blood shot eyes and dripping fangs. Christopher Lee was just such a badass as Dracula, the embodiment of evil, however, Hammer did also show a talent for other types of vampires too, as we shall see below…

HONOURABLE MENTION

Hammer ruled the roost in terms of Horror sexiness, and thus any female vampire, bride or victim of Dracula, instantly becomes very appealing, especially Ingrid Pitt. I know it’s shallow and a bit sexist, but fuck it, vampire chicks are hot, and lesbian Hammer vampires are the hottest.

THE MONSTER

The Monster, not Frankenstein, has never been bettered since 1931 and Boris Karloff’s portrayal. The make up is stunning, the acting is amazing, the Universal Monster is the greatest that has ever been, and ever will be. Can’t really say any more than that.

HONOURABLE MENTION

Yes it’s Van Helsing again, but I thought this design of the Monster was unique, I liked the steam punk legs and the glowing brain. He may be a bit theatrical, but then wouldn’t you be if you had been cobbled together from a few dozen other guys?

GHOSTS

Ghost? Demon? Well it’s responsible for Paranormal Activity anyway, so I think it counts. I absolutely loved Paranormal Activity 3, and especially the bit from the picture above. I love how usually the invisible force is scary enough, but I couldn’t resist this sight gag, amazing. Paranormal Activity is so scary because it happens in normal houses to normal people. Those are my favourite kinds of spooky stories, the other being the classic Victorian ghost story.

HONOURABLE MENTION

The Woman in Black was a great return to form for the bleak and depressing Victorian Ghost Story, and is a great example of such a ghost. Vengeful, scary, and a bit of a dick.

SWAMP CREATURE

Universal’s Creature From The Black Lagoon, or Gill Man, if you prefer, is the classic beastie from the depths. It’s a great look for a sea monster, webbed feet and claws, and slimy skin. Enough to make you think twice about swimming in that lake or river.

HONOURABLE MENTION

Maybe not a typical Gill Man, however, the Fluke Man is disgustingly scary. One of the most memorable monsters from the X – Files, Fluke Man was horrendous. Just look at him. That shit is fucked up.

My Top 5 Zombies

By @GeekyGem

 

 

This may seem like an odd subject matter, but if you know anything about me, and by now I hope you do, you’ll know that I like zombies a lot. This brings US to the article right here. I didn’t want to do the top 5 zombie movies I wanted to do the top 5 zombies. As zombies themselves, they always get picked for being the big bad in movie’s and TV. However, they used to be people, and it’s not their fault they got a virus and bit the next person they saw. So here are my top 5 zombies.

  

 

Ed from Shaun of The Dead

Poor Ed, he tired so hard to save Shaun in the movie, yes OK he was lazy bum, but when it came down to it, he had Shaun and Liz’s back at the end of the movie. This meant a lot to Shaun and that’s why he brought him home and locked him in the shed with the Playstation.

 

 

Bicycle Zombie from The Walking Dead

 

 

Now this poor Zombie was one of the first Rick comes across while on his way home after waking up from his coma in Season 1. Not only is this a zombie, its only half a zombie as its legs have been chopped up, she still wants Rick for lunch though.

 

 

Vivian from Dawn of the Dead (2004)

 

 

I have a thing about creepy kids in movies, they bother me. So add a zombie child in the mix and the creep level grows. Zombies do not freak me, out I am not scared easily, I just find children in horror movie’s creepy. Anyway zombie children are even more creepy as they have lost all the innocence they ever had.

 

Rain Ocampo from Resident Evil

 

Rain was a gun happy solider until that faithful day when she and the other members of her team went in to investigate The Hive. Well we always knew not every one would make it out alive didn’t we? Even though Alice tired to save her by shutting the Red Queen up this did not stop the T-Virus turning Rain into one of zombies.

 

 Bub from Day of the Dead (1985)

 

Bub, well where do we start with Bub. He has to be on the list right as he wasn’t just a mindless flesh hungry creature. Bub was smart, he was able to learn things and this was a rare quality in a zombie seen at the time. He has this innocence all over again just like a child. Bub rocks simple.

 

There we have my Top 5 favourite zombies. I think I have picked some interesting ones there. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time, hope you don’t come across a zombie, if you do RUN and hide. I’ll see you on the other side.

The Walking Dead: Part 2

The Television Show

By Geeky Gem

Last time I talked to about The Walking Dead, I regaled you with the tale of how good the comics are. Now I shall share with you my thoughts on the AMC show based on the afore mentioned comics.

 

When I first heard that some fantastic folk in America had decided to turn Robert Kirkman’s epic comic into a show, I squealed like only a geek can, I was so excited. I waited for months as filming started, and promos appeared all over the place. I read everything I could; I was totally up to date with the comic at the time so that was all good. 

Then casting began. I won’t lie to you, most of the cast are people I have not heard about. There were a handful of cast members that I did know, for example Andrew Lincoln who was cast as Rick was an excellent pick. He brings Rick to life, and really shows how deep source martial is.

As for crew, the show was created by Frank Darabont, best known for such great films as The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. He joined the wave of film makers coming back to television. A trend that also saw Alan Ball bringing us True Blood, and Stephen Spielberg, Falling Skies and Terra Nova.

 

Now this is where I would usually tell you how much the comic is like the show. Well, in this case, I can’t do that. The show is very different from the comic, in more ways than one, to tell you them all would take me forever. I will say just a few things on it. For example there are some characters in the show that are not in comic, the show goes a different way to the comic, so what you really need to know is that you kind of have to view them as two different things and they stand alone.

 However the show can really get to the heart of the human condition just as much as the comic can and at the end of the day that is what this show is all about. Kirkman’s work has translated so well to the screen that I don’t miss an episode and with the casting of one of the most evil villains in comic book history just been revealed, (The Governor for those who haven’t heard) I know I will carry on watching this fantastic show. Each week I hate the fact I have to wait a week to watch another and that’s what a good show should do. The mid season cliff hanger for season two was brilliant. Now the show is back for the second half of season two and it just keeps getting better. There is just something about this show that keeps me coming back each week. Even with my knowledge of the comics, this doesn’t stop me because as I said, it is very different from the comics. I think that’s why I like it so much. If you haven’t seen it, it really is a much see show, come on jump on the band wagon and see what all the fuss is about.

The Walking Dead

The Comics

By Geeky Gem

 

Oh The Walking Dead, how much do I love this comic? It is brilliant, now I know there is a television show as well, but in this article, I want to share my thoughts on the comic, and then I will move onto the show at another point in time. Well, The Walking Dead is a monthly black and white comic book series that chronicles the travels of Rick Grimes, his family and the survivors of a zombie apocalypse.

The Walking Dead was first issued in 2003 by publisher Image Comics, the comic was created by Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, who was later replaced by Charlie Adlard.

When Rick Grimes, a Kentucky police officer is shot in the line of duty, he awakes from a coma to a whole new world. The town, in fact the world, has been overrun with walking corpses. When Rick safely exists the hospital, he makes straight for Atlanta in order to find his wife and son. Can you blame him, I am sure anyone of us would have done the same. 

In most stories like this Rick wouldn’t find his family for a long time, or in fact not at all. However in this story, he does find find his family, and will stop at nothing to make sure they survive and stay together. On their journey to find somewhere safe to live, they encounter a number of other survivors, they form a group as each person they meet seems to have something they need. As the group grows you can imaging not all of them make it, with characters’ frequently being killed off in some rather gruesome ways. They don’t all get killed by zombies, which is a welcome change, as a zombie induced death would get on your nerves after a while.

Robert Kirkman has written some amazing characters into this fantastic piece of work. There is of course Rick, who I mentioned was a police officer, there is Glenn a boy he meets in Atlanta and is the go getter of the group, Dale who’s kind of the father figure but is also pretty handy with a gun and my favorite character is Michonne, she is fantastic. Her entrance scene is brilliant she walks in with two zombies in tow and a big sword. 

Now besides the characters I have mentioned above, there are a whole lot more but I don’t want to mention some of them as they give away big plots and will ruin the story if you haven’t read them. Instead I will tell you a little more about the art work, Tony Moore did a brilliant job on the first 7 issues of this comic and he continued to do the cover art right up to issue 24, now the sad thing about this is that Kirkman and Moore are no longer speaking, and are currently going to court over the matter of the comic. This however sad it is, cannot over shadow what is a brilliantly illustrated piece of work. Adlard was more than a capable artist to take over from Moore and I have had the joy of seeing him in person at a Comic Expo I attended last year with Kirkie Chick and BlitzEvo. He was really good, and the panel he was on was really fun, and he was excited by his work and even appears in the first season of the show as a zombie. Anyway his work is brilliant it’s amazing what he can do with black and white.

If you are fans of the show but have yet to read these fantastic comics, you really should, you are missing out. If you have read this and are watching the show then you might want to check out the new novel called Rise of the Governor, which gives a much more detailed pre story to one of the most evil villains in comic history. If you have done all this, then I have no more to teach you, and I hope you continue to enjoy The Walking Dead as much as I do.