The zombie apocalypse returns for a limited engagement...
"The Walking Dead" returned to AMC, minus Frank Darabont and its previous budget (thanks, "Mad Men"), though it still managed to press the right buttons and hit the right notes. An "automotive graveyard" on the highway had a short trail of items belonging to a little girl, complete with baby bottle; no special effects needed to set the dread-o-meter on that one. It set the stage perfectly for what I'd call the "zombie migration," which demonstrates why slow zombies can be just as scary as fast ones. Again, I'm finding the zombies more chilling than the comic book if only because they still look more human than their drawn counterparts and don't come with blank eyes. Also, screwdrivers and zombie camouflage. Not wanting to spoil too much (since they've deviated from the comic book in a lot of places), in the end it's still got a lot more going for it than a lot of zombie movies and other zombie fiction I've (if you'll pardon the expression) digested. If the show is too heavy (or too serious) but you still like the idea of mankind fighting for survival, you might like (slight language warning) "The Walken Dead" as an alternative. For more info on the show, Screen Rant has a summary of the Walking Dead panel at the New York Comic Con over the weekend.
Speaking of the NYCC, here's a few photos of the cosplayers in attendance. And speaking of horror TV, this link has a trailer and some footage for "Bag of Bones," A&E's adaptation of the Stephen King novel.
In a similar vein, "Supernatural" took a bit of time off from the whole "Leviathan" thing to battle another pantheonic god roaming about causing trouble. In this case, it's Osiris, who's judging people and sending spectral things to come after them if (when, really) he finds them guilty. The criteria is that if your soul is weighed down by more than a feather's worth of guilt, you're toast. This is a self-condemning system, which probably hasn't had the best results for the Egyptian afterlife. Ah, well, they were all Goa'uld aliens anyway. Over on "Fringe," the episode wasn't terribly compelling, but it sets up what happens when someone erased from a timeline returns to it. That is, unless the Observers get involved again, which is probably a safe bet.
You never know when what you say on the internet might lead to a major motion picture deal. In this case, a question about whether or not a modern-day battalion of Marines could take on and defeat the Roman Empire. The response to the query spiraled into a huge what-if tale that reminds me of some other pulpy sci-fi novels. If it works, maybe it'll finally result in something I figured would have happened by now: Adapting other time-warping concepts that involve knights in spaceships, Civil War regiments vs. aliens, and modern towns transported back to 1632 in Europe. Some of those concepts probably don't have the same level of research, but that wouldn't stop one from becoming a new SyFy series it could cancel in two seasons, right?
In other movie stuff, not Michael Bay will be directing the "Twilight Zone" movie. It will also not come in the form of an anthology, but be a sci-fi action film with an "eerie" feeling. Aside from maybe trying to attract ticket buyers by slapping "Twilight Zone" on the film, I'm wondering if the association would really be needed. I mean, "Twilight Zone: Inception," "Twlight Zone: Moon," and "Twilight Zone: Wall-E" would all have fit the Rod Serling motif but didn't need it, so I dunno what'll be gained. I hope it at least confuses a few people into seeing a different kind of Twilight movie than they'd expected; it can only do them good.
Thank goodness Josh is only two and still delighted to just see his parents every day. His birthday festivities are going to be spread out over several visits to various homes in the coming month, as he, at least two grandparents, and three cousins (many living in different cities) all came down with some kind of fall flavor of head cold. I'm hoping we can help make up for it by taking him to Fritz's Union Station this week, which should give him an epic-level thrill, assuming his love for trains hasn't suddenly vanished. So while we (hopefully) introduce him a restaurant where your grub is delivered by overhead train tracks, here's a few things you might find amusing:
- The world's oldest running car was just sold for $4.6 million. So when does that happen to my old Civic? Is that covered in the Blue Book or something?
- And now, a comparison of the hairstyles of David Lynch to various famous paintings.
- An interesting article about the architecture of the comic book city.
- After the whole "Big Ben" fiasco a few posts ago, I'm trying to bone up on similar topics with You Know You're British When.
- "WE ARE THE SUPERIOR BEINGS! OUR ONLY WEAKNESS IS MILLLLK!
- A point-n-click adventure that artistically invokes ancient mythology as well as the urns that displayed its events in The First Hero. Mind the sphinx; it can be... testy.
- Engineers at Raytheon-Sarcos have modified a Ditch-Witch earth mover into something that Ellen Ripley could use to fight an alien queen with.
- Next up is your "chill out and say 'oh, wow, man'" clip for the day: Ball bearings vibrating at 1,000 frames per second.
- Then down some caffeine and enjoy 2011's Burning Man festival at about three hours per second.
- One of the new features on the iPhone is called "Siri," and it does searches based on your vocalized queries. It also appears to have a sense of humor as evidenced by this screencap collection called (language warning) "S*** That Siri Says." Bonus nerd points if you get the Eliza reference in this one.
- This next gallery is one of unique motorcycle sidecars, though a few appear to make the whole an entirely new sort of vehicle. There are also a few ideas for your next "Car Wars" game.
- Fans of the UK film, "Attack the Block" can prepare their nerd rage for a possible American re-make, spinoff, or sequel.
- Finally, some realism in fighting video games. In "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3," you can play as Galactus with predictable results. Apparently, some might disagree with my use of the word "realistic." They do not wield the Power Cosmic. :)
- You do not love your cat unless you commission Harry Potter themed cat house that takes 300 hours to build.
- The new record-holder for "World's Most Expensive Dessert" costs more than double the value of every car I've ever owned.
- If you have a lot of money and a pile of love for the "Back to the Future" franchise, a bunch of props, including a DeLorean, will be auctioned off in December.
- Agent Coulson, from the movie version of S.H.I.E.L.D., makes an appearance in this fun short:"A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer."
- A parody Dr. Seuss cover and and 'what we know' list about "Die Hard 5" can be seen here.
- If you were waiting for "Prince of Persia" to be released for the Commodore 64/128, your day has come.
- Fisher-Diver is an interesting little game that reminds me of older vector-based arcade fare. Control your spherical "diver" and collect fish by shooting them (this uses air, so replenish often at the surface) and use the proceeds to further your diving career.