Things I've noticed: June will be tricky in terms of movies

As we are leaving May I've seen the two big theatre movies I was hoping to (Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness), but my plan to stick to two movies a month gets tricky in June.  

First up in June is This Is The End, which puts together a bunch of my favourite comedy actors, my love of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films and the distinct benefit that my wife might be up for checking it out with me.

Chances of me seeing this is theatres - 85% assuming we find a good time and location to check it out.

Next up is Man of Steel - on the plus side, my youngest daughter may be willing to see this with me, and I've enjoyed most of the versions of Superman I've come across (definitely loved the animated series - Superman IV: The Quest for Peace - not so much)
In the end I'm likely to give this one a shot.

Chances of me seeing this in theatres - 75% (but up to 80% if my daughter wants to come along)

Finally we come to World War Z.


On the plus side you have zombies, an apocalyptic setting and Brad Pitt wearing dad pants (at least in the poster - as a dad, I know of what I speak and tan cargo pants are nothing if not dad pants)

On the negative side, I haven't read the book, and I'm a little concerned with a PG-13 rating for a zombie film - not that I need a lot of blood and guts, after all I loved Warm Bodies, but I'm just not sure.

Chances of me seeing this in theatres (85% - actually 95% as the ladies in my house are fond of Mr. Pitt)

So there you go - I have a pretty good chance of seeing all three films, but not if I want to stick to my two films a month policy - after all I've got work, school, family and friends who all want a bit of my time and I can't devote it all to movies.

hmmm....

Nope - I'll have to pick two.

Movie Review: Warm Bodies

This weekend my family and I checked out the recent supernatural romance film Warm Bodies.  Already being a fan of the original novel,  I went into the film hoping for something as intriguing and funny as a book with a zombie protagonist could be.

I loved it - the film looked great, it handled the original story in a very PG-friendly way, and honestly I was smiling most of the way through.

The main reason for this was in the two lead zombie characters, R and M (they can no longer remember their names) played by Nicholas Hoult and Rob Corddry.  Considering zombies are usually played as pretty soulless and almost a force of nature rather than individual characters, this film does a wonderful job of making each zombie an individual.

Most of what I like about the story I already stated in my post on the original novel, but I will add the casting, the music and the look of the film were all pretty great.  Also the fact that it was filmed in Canada made me happy as well.

Genre Character of the Week: R

Taking a short break from school-related texts, I spent the long weekend (Gee I love living in Alberta!) checking out the Young Adult (YA) novel Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. Going into the book here is what I knew – it was supposed to be some sort of zombie love story, it is being turned into a film that will be released in 2013, and it is clearly being marketed as something of interest for fans of the Twilight books and film franchise. Now you know why I might not have been excited to check it out.

On the positive side, I’d already had a really great experience of Zombie-themed YA fiction in Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth series, so I knew the topic could be covered in an effective way for younger readers and as I spend each day looking at my zombie calendar whenever I want to remember the date, I’ve had zombies on my brain (pun intended). But after reading the book I’ve got to say it’s success comes down to its main character, and our genre character of the week, R.

Structured in a lot of ways like YA animal based fiction (think The Incredible Journey or Warhorse), the novel is narrated and told from the point of view of a zombie named R. Like all zombies he can no longer remember his name, but the initial has stuck, although he doesn’t speak, it is through his strangely eloquent prose that we see a zombie apocalypse from the other side.

R’s world is a grim one indeed, but he does have occasional flashes of memory, hints of what his life may have been before. One thing I loved about the book is that as we are seeing everything through his eyes, we don’t actually know how old he is, he could be anywhere from a teen through to a man in his fifties so the character is easy to empathize with from my 35-year-old point of view. In a way it’ll be a shame that his age and appearance will be locked down in the upcoming film to that of 22-year-old actor Nicholas Hoult (who I liked in X-Men First Class and loved in the BBC series Skins) as it may distance the emotional connection for older readers like me.

The strange thing about zombies has often been how much they look like us, and sometimes even act like us, when it is also clear that there really isn’t anyone home, just echoes of a previous existence. R made me think differently about that – and that’s about the best comment I can make about the character and the book.

Definitely worth checking out.