Highschool of the Dead: Episode 11 – First Impressions

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Arleigh

We are down to the last final episodes of this first season of Madhouse’s anime series adaptation of the zombie and ecchi manga series, Highschool of the Dead. The last episode was the start of the calm before what I hope to be the major storm that will take this series into a second season.

Episode 11 didn’t linger on too much on the fanservice side of the series with the exception of an all-too-brief look inside the school bus of Shido-san and his sex cultists. We get a glimpse at how Shido deals with the students who don’t conform to his twisted (albeit must be quite fun) outlook on the new world order as it stands now. The manga had shown that particular sequence of why that one student was thrown off the bus to be taken by the zombies. In this episode we didn’t see what caused his expulsion, but got a sense that the student didn’t want to join in on the bus orgy going on between the students with Shido-san acting as a sort of Aleister Crowley-like figurehead.

While inside the Takagi compound it looks like the episode skipped some more of the manga and didn’t show how Takagi’s father was finally swayed to allow Kohta to keep the groups weapons. I can understand the Madhouse writers trying to cram as much of the manga into a 13-episode season, but the way they’re going about things they could catch up to the manga by episode 13 which would definitely might be a sign that a second season won’t be in the offing. Here’s to hoping that the writers were just trying to move things along to the crisis which sends the group out of the compound and back into the dangers of the city-proper.

While the fanservice was limited the harem aspect of the story continued to grow as Rei literally threw herself at the mercy of Komuro but to no avail. Does Rei know that Saeko and Saya may be competing with her for Komuro’s attention? If that’s the case then Komuro definitely has shown quite a bit of restraint when it comes to Rei’s increasingly aggressive advances. There’s also the fact that Komuro and Saeko may have already sealed their partnership a few episodes past though we never really saw it but definitely implied.

The arrival of Shido-san into the compound definitely explains why Rei was so adamant to leave the safety of the bus early in the season. The fact that Rei dismissed Shido-san as less than worthy of her attention was a nice touch even though this could become a major problem for the group down the line. Even in the manga the fate of Shido-san and his group of students were not truly explained though not all of them could’ve survived their subsequent exile.

With two episodes left and with the major superpowers throwing nukes at each other, I hope that this calm has finally ended and the storm that’s been brewing since the group arrived at the Takagi compound can finally smash into the city. If there’s to be no second season then these last two episodes need to put the previous 11 in terms of action, horror and fanservice to shame. It’s the only way for the series to go out with a huge bang.

Review: The Walking Dead Volume 6 (by Robert Kirkman)

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Arleigh

[Some Spoilers Within]

The Walking Dead follows-up the 5th volume with This Sorrowful Life and Kirkman sure does hit it right on the nail with the title. The book tells the second half of the story arc begun in the previous volume. To recap in the previous volume Rick and his group make way to investigate a crashed helicopter only to run into another group of survivors who have holed up in the partially walled off and fortified town of Woodbury. Whatever joy they find in knowing there are other survivors other than themselves was short-lived as they finally meet the person who runs and rules Woodbury.

This Sorrowful Life takes the story up with Rick, Michonne and Glenn in even a worse situation than being stuck outside with the zombies. The book introduces the people of Woodbury as not just survivors but also the polar opposite of those surviving in the prison. While the book makes a point to not paint the whole Woodbury population as losing their humanity it also points out that they’ve sacrificed their humanity to those promising them safety. They’ve pretty much given up their rights to the one who calls himself the Governor who rules Woodbury through intimidation and so-called bloodsports involving gladiator-like fighters and corralled zombies. We see who the difference between Rick and the Governor’s way of keeping their people safe also show the kind of people the are. Where Rick tries to keep his people safe and together without losing their humanity the Governor goes the opposite way and grabs a hold of power even at the cost of everyone.

Kirkman does a great job of showing the two groups and how its probably inevitable that the two will have a confrontation either in Woodbury or back in the prison. While not everyone in Woodbury were out for themselves, a few manage to sympathize with Rick and his group, the rest of the town could easily be considered as the biggest threat hanging over the prison survivors. Again Kirkman shows that sometimes its not the zombies themselves who’re the biggest threat to humanity’s survival. It’s people and their flaws to always get into conflict with each other instead of pulling together for the greater good and survival of everyone.

The book ends with Rick having to make another decision where he has to sacrifice some of his own ideals in order to keep his family and friends safe. Will this sacrifice end up costing him down the line will be up to Kirkman to tell us. I hope he continues to expand on this Woodbury angle but at the same time not go overboard on the extreme end of the emotional spectrum. It’s great that he’s limited the amount of soap opera-style stortelling which dominated volume 4, but going for just action and action and action without plot would be just as bad. So far, volume 6 and it’s predecessor in volume 5 tells me he’s got a great hold on the story.

6 More Trailers: The I Am Woman Hear Me Roar Edition

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s the weekend and that can only mean that it’s time for another installment of my favorite grindhouse and exploitation trailers. This installment is devoted to films about women kicking ass.

1) Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

From infamous director Russ Meyer comes this classic drive-in feature. I just love that title, don’t you? This was the original cinematic celebration of women kicking ass. As the lead killer, Tura Satana has to be seen to be believed. Whenever I find myself struggling with insecurity or fear, I just call on my inner Tura Satana. (All women have an inner Tura Satana. Remember that before you do anything you might regret later…)

2) Vixen

This is another one of Russ Meyer’s films. Released in 1968, Vixen is best remembered for Erica Gavin’s ferocious lead performance. For me, the crazed narration makes the entire trailer.

3) Coffy

I love this movie! Pam Grier battles the drug trade and kills a lot of people. When we talk about how a film can be both exploitive and empowering at the same time, Coffy is the type of movie that we’re talking about.

4) Kansas City Bomber

Before there was Ellen Page, there was Racquel Welch. Playing her boyfriend/manager in this film is Kevin McCarthy who was the lead in the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. My mom used to love this movie.

5) Shock

This was the last film that Mario Bava ever directed and it’s one of my personal favorites. In the lead role, Daria Nicolodi gives one of the best performances in the history of Italian horror.

6) Let’s Scare Jessica To Death

This is one of the greatest horror movies ever made and it reamins sadly neglected. You must see this film before you die (which, hopefully, will not be for a very long while).

Quickie Review: The Town (dir. by Ben Affleck)

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Arleigh

If someone just five years ago told me that Ben Affleck would turn out to be a director whose work has been some of the better crime drama/thrillers of the past decade then I would declare shenanigans on that individual. Ben Affleck might have won an Oscar for helping write the screenplay for Good Will Hunting, but his career since could be labeled as being one of a joke (Gigli) interspersed with huge paycheck projects (Armageddon) that showed his range as an actor.

This is not to say that Affleck has no talent in front of the camera. I just believe that early in his career after winning his Oscar he got fooled into thinking that everything else since would be Easy Street paved in gold (financially and critically). To say that it hasn’t turned out to be that way (though he did make a ton of money) would be an understatement. But one thing happened while Affleck’s acting career was heading nowhere but down. He got behind the camera as a director and his very first time directing a feature-length film he would make one of 2007’s best films. I speak of his film adaptation of the Dennis Lehane crime drama, Gone Baby Gone. He didn’t just direct the life out of that film, but he also the screenplay with the help of Aaron Stockard.

The two of the them would collaborate once again on Affleck’s latest Boston-based crime drama, The Town. He wrote the screenplay and directed the film and pulled in some wonderful performances from an ensemble cast which included Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Titus Welliver and Pete Postlethwaite. Fellow site writer Lisa Marie already reviewed the film in detail and her review pretty much put down into words exactly what I thought of the film. I will say that I would swerve slightly away from what she considered some of the flaws in the film.

The Town was adapted from Chuck Hogan’s novel, Prince of Thieves. I would consider the screenplay and dialogue as a major strength of the film. While at times it did seemed to follow the step-by-step and by-the-numbers heist thriller story the screenplay itself didn’t ring false. I liken this film to another heist film which shared some themes and similarities. Michael Mann’s Heat also dealt with the cops-and-robbers foundation. Where Mann’s film had a much larger and epic scope to its storytelling it still boiled down to two groups of determined men playing a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. The women in both film were written just enough that they had distinct personalities, but in the end they were motivations for the men in the film.

Affleck shows that he doesn’t just know how to direct, but continues is reputation as being one very good screenwriter. One just has to be reminded that he is now 3-for-3 when it comes to screenplays he has written which have turned out to be great ones. While he doesn’t have the same flair for words as Tarantino or Mamet when it comes to the screenplay. What he does well was to create an efficient script which flowed from scene to scene. Tarantino’s screenplays are great, but at times he does allow himself to overindulge his inner-film geek and create dialogue that might be Sorkin-like in execution. What I mean is that as great as the dialogue sound there’s no way people really spoke like this to each other. Affleck’s screenplay for The Town felt very natural and even with Jon Hamm’s less than great performance the film had a natural and genuine sound to it’s dialogue.

That’s one flaw pointed out by Lisa Marie that I would disagree with her on. The other two I can see her point, but it bothered me none. Though if I ever took on a life of crime I would hope I find someone just like Rebecca Hall’s Claire. Now there’s a woman who stands by her man no matter what.

I think in the long run this film might just be seen as one of the best of 2010 and some critics have already dubbed it so. While it’s prospects come awards season time is still up in the air I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up nabbing one of the ten Best Picture nominations when the Oscar nominations get announced. It would be well-deserved and would just prove that Affleck’s career in the film industry might just be hitting its stride. Who would’ve thought it would be as a writer-director and not as an actor.