there are like 2 stories about sexy zombies, Warm Bodies and Izombie, and like 800 stories about sexy vampires
The thing about zombies is that, after the initial panic and outbreak, the survivors learn how to barricade themselves and deal with them and they become no more than a wild animal. In almost all recent longform zombie stories, they become less important to their own narrative and it evolves into the human vs. human stories they want to tell instead. The zombies in The Last of Us 2 are little more than wild coyotes, and in the Telltale Walking Dead games people are almost always killed by zombies when something else human contributed to it. There is little commentary other than the "humans are the real danger" angle that they always take.
True....probably why a lot of the most fun zombie stories tend to be the "outbreak day" ones, because after that it starts to become formulaic in how you deal with them and thus the story you're telling itself because repetitive. Or you do it like mini series/anthology series where you see how different people/different areas are dealing with it. World War Z did that AND did it through different 'stages' of the timeline from outbreak to 'victory', which is really why it shouldn't be a movie lol. Rot & Ruin series is set years after outbreak so kinda contradicting myself but I will say the world he builds in that series is pretty cool and the various human v human aspects are fun. Really wish that would get a miniseries too. I guess every zombie outbreak day story/movie/book is relatively similar too or will have a lot of the same beats at least, but I don't care, I'd go to any movie that does it it/watch any miniseries about it on streaming. Always enjoy a good outbreak story.
Nezha (2019) - 10/10 A24 is bringing Nezha 2 to America and it’s the highest grossing animated movie of all time, beating Inside Out 2 by a lot. So I wanted to check out part one. The music, animation, characters…I can see why this franchise does so good overseas. Excellent film that blew me away. I’m planning on seeing part two when it’s in a theater by me in two weeks.
I got into them before they started doing the vampire thing! (to be unfair, there’s a fair amount of horniness in some of their earlier work/the lead singers side projects too, so…)
Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird (2023 ‧ Documentary) This starts out strong Omar filmed everything and we get the most interesting footage. Young artists and friends growing up and experimenting. It's at its most compelling with them leaving At the Drive-in and starting the Mars Volta with Jeremy. There's a reason coming of age is a popular genre staple and 40 yr olds hanging out again isn't. Jeremey dies and after Amputechture there is a shift for the worst (musically and lack of footage) with a lot of runtime still left in this 2 and a half hour doc. Cedric becomes an unrelatable scientologist while a curtain is drawn preventing us from seeing what is happening. What's happening is not good but we only get glimpses and some commentary from Cedric looking back now to say “yeah my bad”. Eventually they get the band back together and go on a reunion tour leaving behind a stack of bodies and broken relationships in their wake. Favourite moment Jon Theodor ripping drums for Amputechture while Omar whiplashes him (didnt like Omar but god damn those drums). For fans its great to see all the footage and the live clips were banging, as a doc its an hour too long.
This is why Romero is GOATed. Romero's original Zombie trilogy (Night, Dawn, and Day) is comprised of three of the greatest horror movies of all-time. Zombies were destined to take off after those first two, but I'm not entirely convinced they should have. Of course Return of the Living Dead rules as more of a punk-rock horror-comedy, and 28 Days Later presented the most original and well-executed concept since Night, but with a couple of exceptions that justify their existence simply for being solid (Romero's Land of the Dead, Snyder's Dawn remake), The Walking Dead may as well have killed the entire subgenre. Vampires, on the other hand...there may be more fleshed-out lore, but them shits is boring.
The Monkey - 7.5/10 I missed this at the theater, but it’s on Hulu now! I went into it blind. It felt like Final Destination, but the mastermind is a toy monkey. None of it was explained, so it made it more ominous. Hot take: I preferred Longlegs. But this was still good.