Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Most of the you regular ZONE readers know that I love a good MONSTER movie. Obviously the key to a great monster movie is, well, a great monster. The really cool monsters are the ones that scare the crap out of ya before they actually get their paws, claws, or mitts on you.
The creatures from “The Lord of the Rings” movies are that kind of scary.
On Sunday I told you about Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s comic “The Walking Dead.”
I love a good end of the world, small band of survivors fighting to survive against all odds story. You know, like Stephen King’s The Stand… “28 days later” and the clasic “Night of the Living Dead.”
Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s comic “The Walking Dead” can now join the list! I’m not kidding. It’s really that good. Don’t believe me? Then check out this
review. And this one. Better yet, read it yourself. I did and I’ve added it to my monthly must buy list.I really wasn’t familiar with Robert Kirkman before reading “The Walking Dead.” If you’re like me and want to know more about him, you can check out this
interview. If you want to know a bit more about Tony Moore, here’s a link to his site.I’d like to hang around and tell you more about “The Walking Dead” but I think I’ll go back and re-read it again.
It’s really THAT good!
I don’t know which surprised me more: that “Scary Movie 3” opened in first place [beating out “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Mystic River,” “Runaway Jury,” etc.], that it earned $48.1 million in it’s opening weekend [$48.1 MILLION!} or that it posted the best first weekend ever for a movie opening in October.
One thing that won’t surprise me is that with numbers like that, there WILL be a “Scary Movie 4!”
Man, I love Halloween!
As we get closer to the big night, I find myself drawn to scary books and movies. For some reason even more so this year. Maybe it’s because there are so many good ones available.
I just finished reading Steve Niles‘ Dial M for Monster. Dial M is a book of short stories featuring his monster hunter, Cal McDonald. You’ve heard me praise Niles‘ work before and this book is no exception. I love everything about the world Niles has created for Cal [and I’m especially glad I can safely visit without fear of vampires, werewolves, fiends or other creatures coming after me!]. I’d suggest that you start with Guns, Drugs and Monsters [the first novel in the series] and then follow it up with Savage Membrane [the second].
If you’d like to get a taste of Niles‘ work before commiting to a novel, then by all means check out 30 Days of Night. This award winning comic series [with art by the extremely talented Ben Templesmith] is being developed into a feature film produced by none other than Sam Raimi! Why wait for the film? The graphic novel is available now and well worth every penny!
Changing gears just a bit… on Tuesday, one of my two favorite movies so far this year, becomes available! That’s right 28 Days Later is available Tuesday! Man, I can’t wait!
If you’ve read this far, then you’re probably a real horror fan. You probably already know that a Dawn of the Dead remake starring Ving Rhames is coming out next March. But did you know that the trailer is available now? At first I didn’t think that a re-make of Dawn of the Dead was a good idea since the original trilogy [Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead] by George Romero are considered cult classics. But I did like the remake of Night of the Living Dead ]… and Ving Rhames is starring… so why not?
Plus, it’ll give me one more thing to love about Halloween!
On another note, the trailer for the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre played before Underworld. I haven’t seen the orginal in years [and didn’t really care for it when I saw it], but this remake looks interesting… As does Gothica with Halle Berry [both of which also fit our continuing horro theme].
“Underworld” rates a C
House of the Dead has an interesting trailer and a classic plot. A group of young people find themselves stranded on an island with a group of zombies that want to kill / eat them.
If I go to see it, am I expecting a classic? No. An award-winning film? No. A scary good time? Yeah. And what more should you ask from a drive-in movie?
These are the big three. The kings of the hill. The monsters that other monsters aspire to be.
And next summer they’ll all be in the same movie!
Van Helsing stars Hugh Jackman as the famed vampire killer, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.
In the screenplay, written and directed by Stephen Sommers, Van Helsing goes to Transylvania to hunt down and kill Count Dracula, and finds himself up against the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s monster as well. How cool does that sound?
Cool enough that even though the movie doesn’t come out until May of next year, they’re already planning a tv series “based” on the idea and leaving the door open for sequels.
And that’s just great news for horror movie fans like me!
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a theater to see a movie, but with the summer season approaching that’s going to change. The best trailer that I’ve seen lately has been for Underworld. I really haven’t heard much about this movie, but the preview kicks and kicks hard. It will be on my “must -see” list.
Of the other new trailers, here are a few you might want to check out: S.W.A.T. looks like a sure thing with Samuel L. Jackson, Collin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle looks to be as much fun as the original, so I’ll plan to see it..
Hollywood Homicide [with Harrison Ford], Pirates of the Carribean and The Hulk look to be movies I’ll pass on, at least until a rental is available.
I’m sure that we’re going to see more trailers for “Terminator 3,” “Spy Kids 3D,” and many more in the next few weeks. And you know I’ll post up my thoughts and the links here!
Peter Jackson, the creative genius behind the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy has signed on to helm Universal’s remake of “King Kong!”
Jackson had this to say, “No film has captivated my imagination more than ‘King Kong.’ I’m making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic story.”
What Peter Jackson was able to do with “The Lord of the Rings” was amazing. You can tell by his quote that his true passion is for Kong. Can you even begin to imagine how cool this is going to be?
Eric Powell writes, pencils and inks The Goon, which is one of the few comics that I buy EVERY time it comes out. Dark Horse just picked up The Goon so if you wanna beat the crowd, get on board now! You’ll also find Eric’s work on the covers to DC‘s Arkham Asylum: Living Hell six issue mini-series starting in May.
Eric did his version of Sly when I caught up with him at MegaCon. I was so tempted to get a Goon sketch but just had to have Eric in the SZ Gallery. Eric‘s take reminds me of a sports drawing from the ’30’s.
Rough Stuff, a trade paperback which collects The Goon‘s first three issues is now available.
I’ll bet it’s the first graphic novel to come with a “director’s commentary!” Yep, a trade paperback book with a director’s commentary.
Isn’t that just goony?
Steve Niles is quite a writer.
I guess he should be though since he’s been making a living at it for about fifteen years. What? You haven’t heard of him? Sure you have! I wrote a ZONE piece on Steve way back on January 4th, after I read his novel, Guns, Drugs and Monsters.
I was so impressed with Guns, Drugs and Monsters that I immediately bought Savage Membrane, the first Cal McDonald novel. It was just as good! There are more Cal McDonald novels in the works, as well as a series from Dark Horse Comics.
Steve is also the author of 30 Days of Night, a vampire graphic novel that Ben Templesmith illustrated. It has just gone into it’s third printing, and was optioned [for a cool million bucks] by Sam Raimi‘s production company! Plus Steve get’s to write the screenplay!
You might think that all of this has gone to Steve‘s head. You’d be wrong. I got to meet Steve at MegaCon and he was very kind, gracious, and appreciative of his fans. Read this interview with Steve, check out his website [tell him I sent ya!] and then order his books. You’ll be glad you did because…
Steve Niles is quite a writer.
