Requiem for the OG zombie

R.I.P. Bill Hinzman, 1936-2012.



You set the tone for 45 years of cinema and I'll be disappointed if you're not shuffling around out there as I type this.

Best of 2010: DVDs

What makes a great DVD? Sure, the content of the movie/show/concert/whatever itself is imperative, but more important for whether something is to be deemed a success on the format is the audio/video quality, packaging, and the scope and depth of the bonus features. Due to budgetary reasons, an ever-increasing lack of storage space, and willingness to wait so as not to double dip on discs when I get my own Blu-Ray player, I've greatly slowed down my purchases. Honestly, I only bought a handful of titles. But I made sure they were all winners. Here are the shiny discs that I think were the best to come out in 2010:


Kick-Ass - Okay, so I still haven't really checked out the bonus features of this Blu-Ray, but it looks packed. The film transfer itself is excellent, though. The colors of this world of costume vigilantes absolutely pops.

The Office: Season Six - When it comes to DVD releases of TV shows, "The Office" is tops in terms of what it gives back to its fans. The webisodes (ugh, I hate that term) and bloopers are fun, but the real meat is the all of the deleted scenes. When you add it all it up it's like getting almost another 10-15 episodes. And it's not chaff; this is quality humor that just couldn't be fit in due to time constraints. Points off for completely excising the Halloween cold open of the "Koi Pond" episode because some nervous nelly watchdog group complained. Boo!

The League (The Complete First Season) - The deleted scenes and extended episodes make a funny debut season even better.

Survival of the Dead (Ultimate Undead Edition) - The movie was crap, but this Blu-Ray is packed with zombie goodness. The feature length documentary is better than the actual movie. And some of the autumnal scenery really is nice to look at.

Best of 2010: books

In 2009 I read embarrassingly few books. To make up for that, last year I read more books than in any other year, including seventeen books from an entirely new genre to me and the best freakin' book that I've ever read. My year end list for books is different than most people's since I'm a relatively slow reader. And sometimes inspiration takes a while to hit me. So I don't catch everything as it's published. So these are the best books that I've read in 2010:

The Stand by Stephen King - At 1,100+ pages, this epic novel is the longest book that I've ever read. But the daunting length did nothing to diminish how extremely intriguing the story is. Seriously, this is the best book that I've ever read. King really threw everything into this tale of good versus evil. I can't recommend it highly enough. Baby, can you dig your man?

Hard Case Crime books by various authors - I've decided to lump these together, but they aren't a series of books per se, but a publishing imprint. I had never really read any crime noir fiction before, but the dual siren song of a dollar store find and the best damn covers in the business swayed me. And I'm so glad that I spent those hundred pennies. Last year I ended up reading 17 HCC books and have loved every one of them. The cream of the crop: Christa Faust's Money Shot (murder in the porn industry; this is the title that got me hooked), Lawrence Block's Grifter's Game (the ending is completely shocking; I can only imagine how it played in 1961 when it was first published), and David J. Schow's Gun Work (this would make an excellent revenge movie). Hard Case Crime's original publisher decided to get out of the books-on-paper business this year (damn you, Kindle!), but luckily they found a new home and will resume putting out these pulp classics in the autumn.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill - Stephen King's son whipped up a very creepy ghost story, about an aging rock star haunted by his past. The first half is great, but it loses steam when the setting changes halfway through. Still worth a read if you want some chills.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown - Hey, I'm not above reading airport novels. And I like stories about the Freemasons, so it's got that going for it. In usual Dan Brown fashion, it's briskly paced. It's not as good as Angels & Demons. (The Illuminati are my favorite nutty conspiracy theory.) I'd put it on par with The Da Vinci Code. Great for the beach or your next trip to Washington, DC.

The old college try: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - Last year I tried yet again to read this, but I just couldn't get into it (again). It takes a lot for me to abandon a zombie tale and that special something is Jane Austen's writing style.

Today's spookymendation: "Shaun of the Dead"

I saved the best for last.

Today's spookymendation: "Day of the Dead"

It's certainly not Romero's best zombie flick, but it's also not Diary of the Dead-level bad, either. For that we can all be happy.

Today's spookymendation: "Night of the Living Dead"

I've spent the better part of the day trying to restore my computer to its pre-virus state, so here's a quick no-brainer (har har!) for you. Remember: Cooper was right.

Today's spookymendation: "Dead Rising"

Today's spookymendation: "Dead Rising". Admittedly, I haven't gotten too far in this video game, but there's something satisfying about mowing down (literally!) an endless sea of zombies.

Today's spookymendation: "World War Z"

While it's not terribly scary, the oral history format does liven up the zombie genre. A great read.

Today's spookymendation: "Dawn of the Dead" (2004)

By all accounts, I should hate this movie: Unnecessary remake of a classic? Running zombies? But it works. Plus, it's got one of the best opening credits sequences ever, with Johnny Cash scoring the breakdown of society.

Quick movie reviews: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Expendables

The Expendables: My expectations were sky high - how could they not be? - but I left a little disappointed. Just a little. My biggest gripe is that, for a movie that aims to bring back the glory of '80s cinema, Syvlester Stallone opted to film the action scenes mostly using the trendy "extreme close-up/ADD editing/shaky cam" trifecta, so a lot of times it was hard to tell what was going on. Other than that, you get exactly what you expect: laughable dialogue, little plot, and tons of explosions. I had a blast! Kudos to Terry Crews for having the most awesome character name ever ("Hale Caesar") and providing the best "blow 'em up good" sequence of the film.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Another slight disappointment. It wasn't as funny as I'd hoped and I'm totally over Michael Cera's charms. Also, I didn't buy the relationship that drives the plot. But this flick is director Edgar Wright's show. He really shines here, with loads of visual quirk, creative editing, and a very brisk pace. Hey, Hollywood, how about letting Wright direct every movie?

Toy Story 3: Congratulations, Toy Story 3. You're second only to Big Fish in the category of films that make me bawl like a schoolgirl. I hope you're happy with yourself.

The A-Team: By all accounts, I should really hate this movie. The last thing the world needs is a cinematic retread of a silly '80s TV show. And that flying tank scene shown in the trailer? Stupid, stupid, stupid. But guess what. The movie's pretty damn fun for what it is. Going into it, my expectations were low, but Bradley Cooper and company won me over.

Iron Man 2: Eh, I liked it well enough, but it suffers from sequelitis. There is way too much going on and the film seems a bit bloated. Robert Downey, Jr. is excellent, as usual, and you can't go wrong with Scarlett Johansson kicking butt in a skintight suit, but I've got to give top honors to Sam Rockwell, who improves every movie he's in. He steals the film. My new favorite actor? Maybe.

Colin: This extremely microbudgeted (£40) English flick was screened on the last night of the "Zombies in Art, Film, and Literature" class I took last week. By taking the point of view of the titular zombie, it puts a fresh spin on a genre that churns out more turds than gems. Sometimes the camerawork gets overly shaky and it suffers the same Multiple Ending Syndrome as Return of the King, but given how much it cost to make, it's impressive. Worth a look, if you can find it.

Seven reasons why autumn can't get here soon enough

Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot. Even worse, the current pop culture landscape is pretty lackluster. Sure there have been some bright spots these past few months (Toy Story 3, "Breaking Bad"), but overall I've been wanting. With thankfully cooler climates, though, comes some hotly anticipated media and such. Here are seven things I'm greatly looking forward to over the next three months and why I'm not in such a rush to kill myself.



"The Walking Dead" (October): Oh, boy. There are few things I'm looking forward to more this fall in life than this Frank Darabont written/directed/produced AMC adaptation of the ongoing comic book. I think we as a nation are finally ready for a television show set during the zombie apocalypse.



Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 (September?): After being delayed a year because of MCA's cancer diagnosis, the new Beastie Boys album is hoped to be released this fall, depending on how his recovery is going. Get better, MCA!



Rock Band 3 (October 26): As more and more information gets released about this game, it's shaping up to be epic and I will be required to take a week off of work when it comes out. One word: keyboards! Two more words: "Bohemian Rhapsody"!



Due Date (November 5): Robert Downey, Jr. + Zach Galifianakis + the director of The Hangover and Old School = at least a few belly laughs, right?



E. Claiborne Robins Stadium (September 18): Spider football finally comes to campus when the new stadium is christened at the home opener against Elon Phoenixeses. Now maybe more than a handful of UR students will actually show up for the games. They have no excuse.



In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks (November 2): Over the past year or so I've become a dedicated listener of Adam Carolla's podcast (even with the ill-advised morning zoo-esque format switch) and the man himself. This should be a good book to read while on the can.



Mid-Term Elections (November 2): Hopefully the insanity will be stopped slowed down, though possibly replaced with a different kind of insanity. But at least it won't cost us trillions of dollars. One party rule is good for no one.

Best of 2009: movies

While 2009 wasn't a terrible year for movies, it wasn't the best one, either. I didn't catch all of the films that I wanted to, but of the ones that I did see, these are the best:

1. Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino's return was all I hoped it would be. Well, almost all, as I was expecting it to focus more than it did on a Dirty Dozen-esque band of soldiers. Brad Pitt made me laugh and Christoph Waltz was outstanding.

2. Watchmen - I may be the only person to hold it in such high regard, but I really dug this extremely faithful adaption of the funny book. Saying "it could've been worse" is not high praise...but, really, it could've been much more worse.

3. Up - Pixar magic.

4. Up in the Air - Jason Reitman magic.

5. The Hangover - Hands down the funniest movie of the year and it still holds up on repeat viewings. I'm glad the world is finally discovering the genius of Zach Galifianakis.

6. Moon - Sam Rockwell gave an excellent performance as a man isolated in space (or is he?). It's a shame that he seems to be getting overlooked this awards season.

7. District 9 - Who would've thought that a relatively low budget South African alien flick would be better than most of the ludicrously expensive Hollywood blockbusters? Or more poignant than all of the Oscar bait?

8. Star Trek - Before this I had never seen a full episode of the series or any of the movies. I'm no Trekkie, but I had a blast watching this. Not enough Simon Pegg, though.

9. Zombieland - Obligatory Zombie Movie In Micah's Top Ten. This was the second most fun I had in theaters all year.

10. Taken - Liam Neeson is the Irish Jack Bauer.

Scariest movie I've seen in a long time:
Paranormal Activity

Jeers for not getting a wide release and thus I didn't get a chance to see it:
The Slammin' Salmon

Great parts, lackluster whole:
Where the Wild Things Are

Good, but didn't meet my sky high expectations:
Big Fan

Best of 2009: video games

Like I am with books, I rarely play games during the year that they are released. This is due mostly to limited free time and my damned thriftiness. (Hey, I like to wait until a price cut. Sue me.) But this past spring I procured an Xbox 360 and the amount of gaming that I've done has increased greatly. As I played catch up with a console that's already a few years old, these are the ten or so titles that stood out the most (and I played enough to make a qualified evaluation):

Rock Band 2 - By far, this monopolized most of my Xbox 360 time this year. Developer Harmonix has put a lot of care into achieving its goal of having this be not just a game, but a platform. Thanks in part to a promotion with Pepsi over the summer, I've downloaded tons of songs of widely disparate genres. (Simon and Garfunkel! The Pixies! Kelly Clarkson! Gorillaz!) I used to fly the Guitar Hero flag, but now that I've seen the light I'm squarely a part of Team Rock Band.

The Beatles: Rock Band - Simply a beautiful game that utilizes the best pop music in recorded history. Based on my own personal experience, this is THE game that bridges the generations. During one session I was holding down on the fake plastic guitar while my mom and grandma were taking turns singing. The only gripe that one could have is that, even with the DLC that fleshes out Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper, and Rubber Sole, there aren't enough songs. Bring on Revolver!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Yes, I'm a Marvel fanboy, so my opinion of this game is heavily biased. But I think that I can say in confidence that this is the best Marvel game that I've ever played. Snikt! Bamf! Loser!

NCAA Football 10 - College football season is a wonderful thing and so is this game. This was my first introduction to the current generation of sports games and I was wowed.

LEGO Rock Band - Pretty much just a LEGO skin over top of Rock Band, but therein lies its charm. And, hey, 45 more songs to play (The Zutons! Ray Parker, Jr.! T. Rex!), so I'm not going to complain about the lack of inventiveness.

LEGO Indiana Jones - Yet another licensed LEGO game. Yet another success.

Viva Piñata - Sure, it's a kids' game, but sometimes you just want the serenity of tending to your garden and making your piñatas get it on.

The Incredible Hulk - I've barely scratched the surface of this game's story, but I've spent countless hours smashing up New York City. Really, it's a great stress release.

Civilization Revolution - Once I started a campaign of world domination, I could kiss the next five hours of my life goodbye. It's like when I stumble upon a "Law & Order" marathon on TNT.

Scene It! Box Office Smash - No one can best me in a head-to-head film trivia competition. Yes, that is a challenge.

Xbox Live Arcade Games:
Peggle - An immense time suck and more addictive than crack cocaine.

Xbox Live Indie Games:
Miner Dig Deep - It's like Dig-Dug, but without any antagonists. All you do is, uh, dig deep for minerals and jewels. Sounds simple because it is. It's also really fun.

I Maed a Game With Zombies In It!!!1 - Quite possibly the best dollar that I've ever spent* and a great way to kill a few minutes. Plus, the very meta song that runs through it is totally bitchin'.

Solar - Extremely relaxing, this is something that you can start and just zone out on while listening to music or podcasts.

*Next to Father Guido Sarducci's "100 Balls on the Christmas Tree", of course.

Best of 2009: books

This was an embarrassingly light reading year for me. The reasons for my lack of motivation were twofold. First, in the spring I got an Xbox 360, which heavily competed for my free time. Second, I was unable to attend the annual family get together in Hilton Head over the summer, where I normally knock out 4 or 5 books. So, as my reading pile grew (I was still buying books), my time spent reading dwindled.

It should be noted that I rarely reads books the same year they come out. I'm a slow reader and I seem to buy so many that I tend to get behind. Add to that all of the older books that I never got to and those recommended by others, it's hard to keep current. So my list does not reflect a true "Best of 2009", but these are the best that I read this year, in no particular order:

Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne - Once you've read a certain number of zombie books, you find that they become formulaic and tend to run together. One needs a hook to distinguish itself. World War Z had one by matter of factly filtering the zombie apocalypse through an oral history text. Browne does it by crafting a romantic comedy told through the undead's point of view. This was a fun read, though a certain overused literary device got very grating after about the third use. You'll never look at venison the same again. The good: it's being developed into a film. (Yay!) The bad: Diablo Cody's attached to it. (Boo!)

Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition - Exactly what you'd expect from the Onion: hilarious commentary and general ridiculousness. Only this time their comedic tools are maps, stats, facts, figures, and history. Highly recommended if you need a good laugh.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - I can't believe it took the then-highly anticipated feature film adaption to get me to finally read this. And I'm glad I did because you practically have to have a working knowledge of the story in order to follow the movie. But I'm even happier that I gave it a go simply because Moore and Gibbons somehow made a work about costumed vigilantes during the Cold War seem timeless. I don't know how I made it this long being a self-respecting comic book geek without having read it.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown - Another "read it before the movie comes out, yo" book. Better than The Da Vinci Code, Brown created yet another intense page turner. (Short chapters! Abundant cliffhangers!) Sure, some parts were groan-inducing, but overall it was a nice way to spend my time at the beach.

See, I told you that it was a light year. But I'm hoping that I'll be more of a bookworm in 2010.

Samhain wrap-up

Candy, Ghost Busters, zombies, a cheetah, Thomas the Tank Engine, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", pizza, pumpkin beer, a kitty, the World Series, Night of the Living Dead, brownies, Paranormal Activity, and some comfort episodes of "30 Rock".

Quick movie reviews: zombies, Nazis, vampires and aliens! Oh, my!

Zombieland: I had a blast with this one. It's funny and Woody Harrelson is a trip. It's refreshing to get a zombie flick that goes balls-out with the laughs and kills and isn't weighted down with heavy-handed social commentary (I'm looking at you, late period Romero). Plus, it has one of the best opening credit sequences in recent memory, next to Watchmen*. And I won't spill the beans about the Big Cameo like Letterman did (Arrrrrgh! RAGE!), but that alone is worth the price of admission.

Inglorious Basterds: Loved it! Sure, it could use some trimming, but what Tarantino film can't (don't get me started on Death Proof)? I've got to give him credit: the dude even managed to somehow work his creepy foot fetish into a WWII flick. Honestly, from the marketing I expected this to focus on each individual Basterd and their contributions to the plan, but it didn't. And that's okay. There are two tremendously tense (and long) scenes that are just purely great filmmaking. If there's any justice, Christoph Waltz, portrayal of a charming yet menacing Nazi should win him an Oscar.

Let the Right One In: This Swedish vampire movie isn't particularly scary, but it is beautifully shot and acted. I'd classify the film as more of a coming of age tale with some unnerving scenes thrown in. This is a great one to watch while the temperatures outside drop.

Plan 9 From Outer Space (Rifftrax version): Somehow I managed to live my entire life without seeing The Best Bad Movie Ever until this past August. Boy, it really is a terrible movie - and perfect fodder for the former MSTies at Rifftrax to mine for snarky comedy. I saw this when they riffed on the movie in front of a live audience back in August and there'll be an encore presentation beamed into theaters tomorrow. Check it out. It's hilarious.

*Though not as brilliant as the opening of the Dawn of the Dead remake. What is it with zombie flicks are great credit sequences?

Micah World Fall Movie Non-Preview Preview

Well, I'm a bit late in getting this out. Some of my anticipated fall movies have already come (The Informant!, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, 9) and, unfortunately, almost gone (Extract). But there are plenty of other movies coming out over the next couple of months that I'd like to see*. Here's what I'm looking forward to the most (in order of release date):

The Invention of Lying (Sept. 25): I'm not a huge Ricky Gervais fan - mostly due to ignorance of his work - but this comedy's got a great cast (Tina Fey! Louis C.K.! Jason Bateman! Jonah Hill!) and an interesting premise (a man becomes the only person in the world capable of lying and uses that to his advantage). It's got to be at least as good as Liar Liar, right?

Surrogates (Sept. 25): Like all Bruce Willis sci-fi films, this could be really cool or very bad. I'm hoping for the former.

Zombieland (Oct. 9): This one looks like a hoot. I'm always up for a zombie flick, especially a zom-com. It'll likely be one of the few on this list that I'll go see at the theater.

Couples Retreat (Oct. 9): Vince Vaughn! Jon Favreau! Kristen Bell! Jason Bateman! (That dude is everywhere nowadays.) Directed by Ralphie from A Christmas Story!

An Education (Oct. 9): The screenplay for this film about a 1960s London schoolgirl falling for an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) was written by author Nick Hornby and that's enough for me.

Where the Wild Things Are (Oct. 16): I'm not sure how you turn a beloved children's book consisting of only 10 sentences into a full-length film, but Spike Jonze is a master at producing great visuals, so I'm there.

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (Oct. 23): The main reason why I'm curious about this one is because the sight of John C. Reilly as a vampire cracks me up.

Gentlemen Broncos (Oct. 30): I hated director Jared Hess' Napoleon Dynamite, but I love Jemaine Clement. The presence of the great Sam Rockwell splits the difference in this movie's favor.

Saint John of Las Vegas (Nov. 6): I'm a sucker for Vegas flicks. Here the always-reliable Steve Buscemi plays a compulsive gambler.

The Box (Nov. 6): The director of Donnie Darko - which I still haven't seen (I know, I know) - brings this tale about a married couple given an interesting proposition: a mysterious man presents them with a small wooden box that has a button on it. If they press it, they'll get $1 million…and a stranger will die. Intriguing.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (Nov. 13): I'm a Wes Anderson buff and this features new music by Jarvis Cocker in it. Can I pre-order my ticket yet?

Red Cliff (Nov. 13): I'm also a John Woo fan/apologist. I even own the three disc Windtalkers special edition DVD set. Sigh. But this war movie is reportedly the most expensive Asian film ever, so it's got that going for it.

And though it's slowly been making the rounds across the country since August and still isn't slated for Richmond, I'm hoping that Big Fan eventually makes its way here. And is Romero's Survival of the Dead even going to get a theatrical release?

*As with my Summer Move Preview, I doubt I'll get to them all right away, though I have seen seven of the summer movies I was looking forward to.

I PAED 4 A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1

After reading this review, I decided to spend a buck on a new game: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1, which plays a whole lot like Smash TV. The most appealing thing about this game, though, is the theme song that plays throughout the game. It absolutely cracks me up (check out when the chorus kicks in at about :40 seconds into the above video).

The way I look at it, I paid the dollar for that song and getting the game is just gravy. Or, alternately, I would've spent four quarters on this back in the day.

The concept supposedly takes the piss at the typical offerings in the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace, but I've never played anything from there, so I'll have to take their word for it.

My Summer of Britcoms: a bloody prelude

Thanks for all of your suggestions, folks. I've done some very basic research - this article helped - and decided to spend the summer taking in the following shows, depending on availability (*ahem* torrents).

In no particular order:

• "Spaced"


• "No Heroics"


• "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace"


• "Saxondale"


• "Peep Show"


• "Black Books"


• "The Mighty Boosh"


• "The Worst Week of My Life"

Hopefully, I'll get to all of those over the next couple of months. As I finish a series, I'll let you guys know what I think. Midway through this summer I plan on cleansing my Britcom palate with "Dead Set" (a zombie outbreak in the "Big Brother" house!). And then, possibly, I'll extend this little project in the autumn and tackle some of the classic, pre-aughts shows that were recommended.

Now, where can I get a good scone and a Pimm's Cup around here?

Best. Viral ad. Ever?

The makers of the Nazi zombie film Dead Snow commissioned this viral marketing campaign to promote the Norwegian DVD (and concurrent US theatrical release). Curiously, the above video doesn't feature any Nazis, zombies, or even snow. Just a bunch of not-safe-for-work hot chicks jiggling to an inane Europop song. Genius.

For the record, I was intent on checking out this movie well before I saw this video. It did not affect my opinion. At all.