The Walking Dead

Based on the Hit comic series by Robert Kirkman

Release Date: Debuted Oct 31, 2010 on AMC
Rated: TV MA
Run Time:  60 Minutes
Episodes: 6(at this time)
Genre: Horror


A television series involving zombies? How could anyone pull this feat off? No way they could take what Robert Kirkman has been splattering on the pages of his hit comic series "The Walking Dead" over the past several years. The blood is not a rarity nor is the maturity of this series so could anybody really bring this to the small screen and make it worth the time of day?

The first episode is in the books now, things could easily change but my thoughts from this first hour and a half that we have been given is not something to be scared of.

I must say that without a doubt anything can happen in the next five episodes that could change my thoughts on this debut series, but I want to just give this series a review based off its first episode, which is a bit crazy to do, But i have my opinion and I dont mind sharing my braaaaaiiiiinnnns with you all.

TV is one thing I dont often check into, I have no currently active series that i truly follow, After "Lost" finished up I wasnt sure if i would have anything to really put my Tivo to use with. But Now that Frank Darabont (Man behind  "The Shawshank Redemption and most recently one of my personal favorite films "The Mist" Not a bad track record) has put plenty of effort into the 90 minute pilot for AMC.

But has the thought of a zombie tv series sunk in yet? Think about all the violence that is in movies such as "Dawn of the dead" or "28 days later" Could you imagine a show like that? Maybe on Showtime or HBO right? But not on cable.... Well AMC seems to be the go to channel for your mature content these days.

The series opens with a bloody child zombie and a nice headshot to finish her off, It instantly told me that AMC doesnt plan to treat this show poorly it will put all its effort into making it a worth while series with all the same content that you may see in popular zombie films and of course the hit comic series.

Without spoiling much the first episode introduces us to the main character of Rick Grimes played by Andrew Lincoln who isnt a house hold name, So right off the bat the casting may not get peoples attention, This actually might be the downfall to the series is the lack of true star power, Could it be that new stars are bore from the tragedy of the undead? Only time will tell when it comes to a TV Series, but not much you could really tell from one episode but I have to say Andrew has the look and seemed to fit the role thus far.

Rick Grimes is a sheriff's deputy from a small town who ends up getting shot while stopping a car chase, he awakes in a hospital alone with no answer to his cry for help. As he makes his way around the abandon hospital he slowly realizes the world has changed since the last time he was awake. Soon enough he finds his way to the streets which are just as lonely as the hospital was, Until we meets up with a father and son duo who inform Rick that the world has been infected by the Walking Dead.

As hard as it is to believe he must find his family as any hero knows his family is waiting to be rescued from this nightmare. The show seems to cover issue one of the comic pretty well.  Rick finds himself in search of his family only to end up in the big city. He is not alone.

The soundtrack looks to be a winner as the very calm and creepy music or lack of fits the new world that rick finds himself in now. The background sound is amazing at times you can just tell that the character is not alone that something is hiding in the shadows, The music is not about ripping your face off its more so a slight stabbing that just adds to the horror of things.

Something that plenty of people had brought up was the Comic series is black and white and how would that effect the TV Series if at all? Well of course the show is not black in white by any means, The red flows as crimson as you'd expect it to. But at the same time the series has its own feel to it, It has a very gritty feel to it, not your normal viewing experience it brings things more so down to earth, things dont seem to pop out oddly its more of a real effect that keeps you in the world of the dead.

Either way the Story, Sound, Look and Maturity are all things that make this series a Must watch thus far. Things could change as Days go by.

The only thing that might worry me is some of the casting with no huge names to hold the cast together these guys need to bond and bring each other together as family we will care about. We want to see them survive and keep on breathing. Hopefully Carol(the son) can be a stand out actor as he has plenty of air time ahead to shine bright.

I have Faith. Thus far it is an amazing adaptation of a great comic series. If you enjoy Zombies or end of the world situations or maybe just want a more mature series to watch, this would be the one to keep your eye on.


This is defiantly a hard little rant to post as its only based off the pilot episode and my fandom of the comic series but of course as always I would like you to judge it for yourself.
one thing is for sure....I hope the dead keep on walking.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand(S1) Review

 

Some legends are written in blood.

Release Date: September 21, 2010 (DVD/Blu Ray)
Rated: Not Rated
Run Time: 692 minutes
Episodes: 13
Gene: Action/Drama/Fantasy

I love blood and guts like most male movie goers are, But when it comes to TV series some times you just dont get the right amount of it, well thats when Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Steps in and kicks you into the dirt.

This series from the get go is covered in blood, as you can tell from the name of the series it hides nothing from its viewers, which it has no real need to keep the rating down or anything of the such as it is a show on Starz(a Premium movie channel)

Before the series aired people wondered if it could be worth the time to even give it a shot, as who really watches series on starz when you still have HBO and Showtime giving us great series every season. This is when Spartacus came into view, It was that must watch event for starz, they hoped it would catch on like Weeds or Dexter and so on.

When the series finally made its debut it came with mix reactions for most, which I must agree after watching the first episode I couldn't even understand why anyone would watch this series let alone say it was so worth while.

That is the thing, the first episode is pure trash in my opinion as well as others, but I did not give up on the series after only one episode, i kept at it. I must admit it didn't take long at all for this to catch my attention. Episode two the story easily starts to grab me.

As the series goes on you quickly fall in love or find pure hate for characters, This show is all about the story which most people may find odd as it has so much blood, sex and straight up violence in it at all times. That just might be something to help the not so Story loving folks, stay viewers.

As for myself, I found love with characters. Varro played by Jai Courtney became an instant favorite of mine, As he had the good guy role placed out before him but easily showed some what of a darker side as things go on. But he was no match against Ashur(played by Nick Tarabay) as far as dark side goes. Then again this series show plenty of evil from multiple people, some are given reason pushed by good intention but others....Just for blood.

The acting is top notch surprisingly from everyone, not a single character brought me out of this series, Lucy Lawless has his best roles in years(not that it was very hard to do so) and Andy Whitfield became a star.

I Dont feel as if i should go more into the story other than what starz has already told you in the info guide, which is Spartacus is screwed over by a Roman general and then sold as a slave to Batiatus (played by a pure genius in John Hannah) to train to become a Gladiator, The basic story shows his rise to glory but we also have side stories that bleed into the over all arch, which is very well done.

I must give some bad thoughts on the series, which as i have already mentioned before hand, I personally think the first episode was bad. I do look back on it now and know it was setting things up but I just found it boring and i had no feeling for anyone, but that quickly changed as i kept watching.

Plenty of people will give hate for the blood and gore that is in this series, Its green screen CGI stuff somewhat like the scenes from the movie "300" but some of the blood defiantly feels a bit out of place or overly spilled. Some of the blood is done very well and done more from a make up point of view than that of CGI(Make up always wins over CGI for me) but I grew to not be bothered by the poor CGI. Which is also seen when they show us the stadium or selected areas of the world, That CGI is poor at all times.

On to the nudity, Some may be turned off by nudity on television, I'm not on of them as i really dont care either way but trust me if you dont find your self enjoying a Boob once in awhile, You will find hatred for this series, Boobs are not the only thing you will lay eyes upon.
A slight spoiler that must be mentioned, Penis does find plenty of time on screen, especially in one bloody scene....I guess this isnt much of a spoiler but still. That was horrific and awesome but not for the weak at heart.

I watched all 13 episodes thanks to netflix but sadly it apparently ends its streaming status come 8-20-10.

Without any doubt I think this show is a must watch for story lovers, Blood lovers, nudity freaks and anyone that just wants to watch something a bit different than some of the other stuff we find on your TV sets.

The DVD comes out next month, I hope to add it to my collection as this is a champion among Series.

Skins Season 1 Review

 Let's just be friends, okay?

Creators: Jamie Brittain, Bryan Elsley
Release Date: January 13, 2009 (DVD)
Rated: Not Rated
Run Time: 425 minutes

I have never really put much thought into teenage drama shows until i found the British show "Skins" on netflix. It has to be one of the most in depth character driven shows i have ever laid my eyes on.

First thing to note is that yeah it is a British made series, which means it is way more adult then say Degrassi or some other American Teen drama that you may watch on TV. I want to say they have been in talks to bring it to the United States in a whole new remade version, which I have to say if they do it must be on ShowTime or one of the other channels. Letting it be on The CW or ABC would ruin it all together.

The show is about a group of teenage friends growing up in England, Going to school and hanging out just like any other group of friends would do. Which means they like to party, Drink and Smoke...Have sex. Things that teenagers do, With the censorship being much different for british television we are given more swearing and nudity and just more adult themes or teenage themes then most shows let us witness. It adds a whole new depth to the show from my point of view.

I have seen reviews that have said people come for the nudity in the series but have come to realize that the story drags them in and they no longer care about just seeing some British boobs, Which is a good thing because some people might be scared to view a show that may lack the censor ship Americans are use to. I say dont be afraid to live in the teens world.

Every episode revolves around one of the friends in the group, We still see bits and pieces of other characters but the focal point is always about exploring one character at a time, giving us that back story and making us care for or against these teens.

The first episode is about Tony, the main character in my eyes, He is the perfect kid. He is the ladies man and the best friend. But as the story goes on you may grow to dislike him. We have the best friend Side who happens to love Tonys girl friend Michelle but then this girl Cassie shows up and changes everything. We have other characters as well like Anwar who is a Muslim, with strict rules he fights a battle of his own faith and beliefs as his best friend Maxi is gay. So much happens in this series yet everything comes together perfectly. The show grabs you in with each passing minute, giving us an insight into their lives.


The show does however go a bit extreme at times but still keeps a pretty realistic take on other parts. But it is a Television show after all and not just a reality show. I think it was a very good mix of the two without going too far in either direction.

The cast is very young but as the show goes on you would think they have been doing this for a very long time, Every actor fits their role, They make that character for themselves. Its very hard to put into words how much i enjoyed every character and how the cast came together, they really seem like friends.
Some people might say they dont want to see the show because they dont know any of the faces, well The guy who plays Anwar is Dev Patel, From Slumdog Millionaire and The Last Airbender, Tony is played by Nicholas Hoult from About a Boy.

The show has a very crazy ending as well that you May not get a chance to see if you rent the dvd's as they had some issues with copyright laws. So i do recommend checking it out on Netflix watch it now as the scene was left in. It was a crazy ending that some may find very unfitting but to me it went with the crazy events that happened in the whole season.  They also have one final scene that gives you happiness and another scene that brings you worry. Perfect way to end a season.

The whole series has very good music from what i heard on the Netflix version(which as far as i know is what actually aired in the UK) but apparently like i said the DVDs have some copyright issues that might take away from the series as the music fits so well.

I really dont know how much more i could recommend this show to anyone, It has something for everyone honestly, it might be targeted at a more younger audience but i still think someone of an older age should take a view of the series. The writing is done so well and the acting compliments it perfectly, The camera work is very down to life in your face but with a steady shot, its not a crazy reality looking Real Word kind of show. It is still a production. Anyone who just likes a solid adventure in life should tag along with these teenagers as they grow in life.


Dont be a wanker, Jump into Skins now.