2013 Summer Apocalypse Movie Trailers

The first one is the 2nd trailer for World War Z

The 2nd is for Seth Rogen's This is the End (just a head's up, NSFW)

Netflix Review: Exit Humanity (2011)

To say that Exit Humanity is a zombie movie set during the Civil War era seems misleading since the zombie factor is more of a background element of the movie and doesn't really take center-stage. The driving force of the film and what's really at the heart of the story is the main character's relationship with his family and how he copes with his grief from their loss.

It was more of the Civil War aspect that sold me on the film initially. Amidst the slew of zombie apocalypse movies I've viewed on Netflix, this has got to be one of the better ones but it's not without flaws. It wasn't great but it wasn't too unbearable to watch either.

This film exuded a big budget feel throughout with haunting shots although that bluish tint throughout became harder to look at after some time (or maybe it's just me). Its use of animated sequences (similar to the ones in Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows) to move the story forward works in this case. It wasn't overused and the quality of the actual animation was equally impressive. The division of the film by chapters as written by the main character in his journal, was also a clever way of breaking up the film into segments that displays Edward Young's (played by Mark Gibson) journey and transformation.

The performers played their parts well especially the lead character. Yes, this is despite one major complaint from me which is coming up in the next couple of lines. There were parts where it felt like Edward's crying and wailing would never stop. Picture the end of the film version of Stephen King's The Mist where Thomas Jane lets the most heart-breaking rip-whatever's-left-of-my-tormented-soul kind of wail, only it doesn't stop. Or it stops for a few segments then he continues where he last left off. Understandable of course, considering he had just lost his family, but still...how many times are they going to show him drop down to his knees and cry. After the first few times, it's pretty much understood that he is a grieving man. We got it.

I also had some worries with the narration in the beginning. I was concerned that it would be overdone and we'd be continuously told about the story rather than seeing it for our own eyes but thankfully the narration was used in moderation and only when it was warranted.

The soundtrack for the film wasn't bad either. It had that Appalachian twangy sound that lent itself to the period piece.

The zombies didn't seem like much of a threat really. The make-up was alright considering the Z-Horde weren't really the main focus of the movie. I think they were trying to do too much with this film, trying to address way too many things. It was like an attempt at horror (scare factor was not there to be honest), with social commentary infused, and a bit of love story thrown in for color.

There was one main source of distraction for me though and I just couldn't get past it which essentially brought down the level of authenticity of it being a period piece - the leather jacket. I'm no expert in Civil War era clothing but his leather jacket looked like he stole it from the Rocketeer's closet. Plus I think I saw a zipper on it.

Exit Humanity is not your typical non-stop action-packed gorefest. So if that's the kind of movie you're into, then let me save you some aggravation and just skip this one. This movie is more of a slow burn. If you're up for trying something different then you just might enjoy this drama set in a zombie-infested 19th century setting.

In a nutshell, this movie gets brownie points for the animated sequence, the soundtrack and the overall visual production.

It gets points deducted for the seemingly out-of-place Rocketeer jacket and the excessive dramatic wailing.

ApocalypseHub gives Exit Humanity (2011) 3 out of 5 stars.

Director: John Geddes

World War Z Movie First Official Trailer

Official Synopsis:
The story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.

Based on a novel by Max Brooks.

Release date: June 21, 2013

Here's the trailer:

Sound off below, let me know what you think.

Ruin: Animated Short set in Post-Apocalyptic Universe

Check out this Post-apocalyptic animated short by OddBall Animation

Note: The fluttering robots kind of looks like the MKV (Multiple Kill Vehicle) from this old test footage.

 

Check out their other works in progress at OddBall Animation

The one called In Search of Humans looks pretty interesting as well.

Doomsday Book: Korean Sci-fi Movie Anthology Trailer

Doomsday Book is a Korean sci-fi three-part anthology about the end of the world. A collaborative work between Kim J-Woon, Yim Pil-sung and Han Jae-rim.

One is titled "Heaven's Creation," about a robot who becomes sentient


The "New Generation," told from a POV of a boy zombie.
--this segment explores how humans lose control of planet Earth, becoming mere food for a different species.


"The Christmas Gift," an end of the world musical.
--re-interprets the beautiful love story “The Christmas Gift” by O Henry, this project confronts the basic instincts of a woman and her last chance to survive after witnessing the end of the world.

Due out in Korea next month, no word on international release yet.


Check out the movie trailer for it with subtitles:

[Source: 24fps]

Hunger Games Trailer (New TV spot)

Just wanted to post the latest Hunger Games trailer:

Out on theaters March 23, 2012.

The film adaptation is based on book 1 of the Young Adult trilogy by Suzanne Collins. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.





Official movie site: http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com

The Darkest Hour (Movie Trailer) - Alien Invasion / Apocalyptic Thriller

Been seeing trailers for this film a lot. Looks mildly interesting - the general premise of it anyway. Invisible aliens take over to harvest all of Earth's energy resource. I'd watch it just for the special effects. Otherwise, it looks like your standard alien invasion flick.

Synopsis: Director Chris Gorak (Right at Your Door) teams with producer Timur Bekmambetov for this tense apocalyptic thriller centering on the fight for survival waged by five youths who find themselves stranded in Moscow during an alien invasion. As the invisible extraterrestrials absorb all of Earth's energy and life forms, finding a means of escaping the unstoppable attackers becomes a seemingly impossible task. Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, and Max Minghella star.

As the tagline in the following teaser trailer puts it: 

Phase 1: Seize the planet
Phase 2: Devour energy
Phase 3: Destroy all life

Check out the official site: http://www.darkesthourmovie.com
Out in theaters on December 25.

The Hunger Games Food Recreated

Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games)

I very much enjoyed the Hunger Games Trilogy and I'm looking forward to its theatrical release, so on my quest to scan for apocalyptic/post-apocalypse content I came across someone who is actually recreating some of the dishes straight out of that book.



What's on the menu so far:

Peeta's Burnt Nut and Raisin Bread

Mr. Mellark's Cookies

Lamb Stew with Dried Plums

District 11 Bread

Haymitch's basket of love

Pale Purple Melon

Everdeen reaping supper. Fish stew with greens

Goat cheese and apple tarts

Lunch with Cinna

Katniss Style roasted rabbit

Perfectly prim goat cheese


How to make a Mockingjay Cupcake:

[Sources: iO9, Fictional Food ]

Post-apocalyptic Animated Short Film: ROSA

ROSA is an epic sci-fi short film that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where all natural life has disappeared. From the destruction awakes Rosa, a cyborg deployed from the Kernel project, mankind’s last attempt to restore the earth’s ecosystem. Rosa will soon learn that she is not the only entity that has awakened and must fight for her survival. The short-film was created entirely by young comic-artist Jesús Orellana with no budget during a single year.

Source: ROSA movie

Creator spotlight - The 'Skirts (Post-apocalyptic film)

There's a lot of creative folks out there involved in cool projects within the apocalypse / post-apocalyptic / dystopian genres. Here's a spotlight on one of them:

The project is a short film entitle The 'Skirts.

From their Facebook page:

The 'Skirts is the story of two young women in a post-apocalyptic world, and their struggle to survive against the only surviving city, now a fascist regime.

Plot:

In a post apocalyptic near-future, there exists a single society; Strata -- a totalitarian dystopia ruled by a charismatic and manipulative figure-head, wherein its denizens must adhere to strict conformity or be subject to execution or banishment. Beyond its borders is the outskirts -- the wasteland that is the rest of the world. Starving and poor, for those on the outside it's every man for him...self, as Strata's elite mercenaries (known as shepards) are sent not only to keep the 'skirts out, but to prevent and destroy any forming civilizations or organized society.

Knell, a deprogrammed shepard defector, now living among the 'skirts, is being hunted by her former fellow enforcers. When she and her companion, Scrap, a mentally unhinged vagabond-warrior who raised herself alone on the outside, must fight back -- they become Strata's prime targets.

They've got a Kickstarter page to help fund their film:





Kickstarter for The 'Skirts
Facebook page
Twitter @TheSkirts
It is written and directed by Jack Lawrence from Charming New Society

Zenith - a transmedia conspiracy film

Zenith is a 2010 American psychological thriller about two men attempting to solve the same conspiracy theory. The title refers to a grand 'Zenith Conspiracy' formed by the film's protagonist, Ed Crowley. The film also utilizes an alternate reality game and transmedia storytelling to augment its narrative. (wiki page)

Trailer

 Ed Crowley's Tape 6

Starting from a fictional recreation of Stanley Milgram's Obedience to Authority experiment, Zenith plunges into exploring multifaceted dimensions of the human experience. The film follows two parallel stories - of father and son - now, and 40 years into the future. Searching for the same elusive conspiracy, both father and son find no answers; instead, their journeys unravel their lives and force them to look deep and hard at themselves and their surroundings. In the end, they are both confronted with the same Faustian bargain - but each one chooses a very different path.

Sidenote: The main site will lead you down a handful of related media and interactive sites. I understand the intent but the end product can be too confusing - it's like the choose your own adventure books on steroids. I wouldn't be surprised if transmedia films would be the next trend, right behind all the 3D movies.  Personally, I think it's too much work, I watch movies for its entertainment value. You'll have to decide for yourself.

6 new Priest movie posters

I don't know about you but I love movie posters just as much as movie trailers. Here's 6 new images for the post-apocalyptic vampire movie Priest starring Paul Bettany as a warrior priest.

My favorite is the 5th one, although I like the 2nd one too. What's yours? 

COLIN: zombie film made with a $70 budget

Got $70 and an army of volunteers? Cool, let's make a film.

It's exactly what British indie director Marc Price did with his film Colin in about 18 months and some guerrilla ingenuity. It's been described as a zombie film with a heart told through the eyes of a zombie. And it's received quite a bit of buzz.

It's being screened through select theaters in the US.

The official Synopsis:

Our hero Colin is bitten by a zombie; he dies and returns as one of the undead. We follow him as he wanders through suburbia during the throes of a cadaverous apocalypse. Through his encounters with objects, places and people, we learn who Colin was and more pertinently, what he has now become. Including a broad daylight zombie versus human street battle, an epic housebound siege and bags of gore. Colin is the must see Zombie phenomenon of the year.

 




Sidenote: I really want to see this film to review it. Almost want to drive to San Antonio, it's the closest theater to show it. Anyone know of any Austin screening? Either way, I love how it shows that you can pull anything off if you just go for it.

When Lego Zombies Attack!!!

Lego fans and Zombie fans alike - if you like either or both, prepare for nerdvana.
So I was digging around and looking for interesting things to post here and I stumbled across these nifty little stop motion films.

This one is by a couple of guys named Tom and Joe.



All of the Dead - black and white

OBLIVION: film adaptation of illustrated novel snagged by Disney

Disney is going post-apocalyptic by securing the rights for a film adaptation on Oblivion, an illustrated novel from Radical Publishing. OBLIVION is set to be released in Summer 2011 (containing prose and painted illustrations) and will have worldwide distribution through Random House.

From the press release:

Radical Publishing is proud to announce that Disney has acquired the film adaptation of OBLIVION, based on Radical Publishing’s illustrated novel created by Tron: Legacy director, Joseph Kosinski, written by Rex Mundi  creator, Arvid Nelson, and with illustrations by Andrée Wallin. OBLIVION will be directed by Joseph Kosinki and will be produced by Radical’s President and Publisher, Barry Levine, and Kosinski. Radical Studios’ Executive Vice President Jesse Berger is signed on as Executive Producer. Kosinki is repped by Verve and Anonymous Content while Radical is repped by CAA and David Schiff.

In a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition, the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jak discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.

Monahan's credits include Kingdom oh Heaven, Body of Lies, and Edge of Darkness.

Priest - New movie trailer

Get ready for next year's summer of blockbuster - a new trailer for Priest has emerged, pack-full of action scenes and just enough to whet your little vampiric-like appetites.

It doesn't lack star-power either.
With Paul Bettany as the protagonist. Karl Urban, Maggie Q and True Blood's Stephen Moyer.

Worldwide release date is May 13, 2011

A legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

Check out the official site: http://priest-themovie.com/ 

Zombieland 2 in the works

Jesse Eisenberg recently confirmed that a first draft of the script for the sequel to "Zombieland" has been completed by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, despite the fact that the writers are also penning "Deadpool" and "GI Joe 2."

STYD has now caught up with "Zombieland" director Ruben Fleischer, who revealed that he has already read the script. "Yeah, I read it," he said. "I mean, it's an early draft and we have plenty more to do to work on it, but I think it's going to be amazing, I'm really excited about it."

At this point, Fleischer is not sure if "Zombieland 2" will be his next project. "I got a couple irons in the fire, so we'll see, but I'd be psyched to do it," he explained. "I have this buddy cop movie that I sold to DreamWorks that's pretty cool. There's a movie that Mike White (Nacho Libre, School of Rock) wrote called 'Babe in the Woods,' that's a really cool script, so those kind of exist and I guess we'll see what happens."

Fleischer has already spoken to Sony Pictures about shooting the sequel in 3D. The original cast is expected to return.

[Via Shock Till You Drop]

Eaters - an Italian zombie film (watch the trailer)

Check out EATERS, Marco Ristori and Luca Boni's Italian zombie horror flick by Uwe Boll.
I'm impressed with what I've seen in the trailers, what strikes me the most is the intensity of each framed shot. You can't help but be drawn into it. 

The synopsis:
After being devastated by a deadly epidemic, the world is now governed by hordes of living dead. Locked in a fortress that has been turned into a research center and shelter, three men - zombie hunters Igor and Alen and a scientist named Gyno - are trying to find an answer to what has happened to the human race.

No word on when this baby will see the light of day yet but for now drool over official trailer and a teaser.

Juan of the Dead (Zombies in Cuba): Teaser trailer & update

What would you do if your entire city was taken over by flesh-eating zombies and communist leaders insisted it was nothing but a plot by U.S-backed dissidents to destabilize the government?

If you were the protagonist of Juan de los Muertos -- "Juan of the Dead" -- the first zombie flick ever shot in post-revolutionary Cuba, you'd figure out how to make some cash out of the carnage.

Part horror show, part social satire, the soon-to-be-shot movie has the backing of a Spanish production company, a green light from Cuban authorities and a budget that dwarfs most big-screen offerings from the island.

And its irreverent humor -- one blurb for the film proclaims: "Fifty years later, a new Revolution has begun" -- could make Juan of the Dead the next big thing in Cuban cinema, and give it a real chance at global success.

It is the second film by 34-year-old writer-director Alejandro Brugues, who says his idea was to tell a story that was authentically Cuban -- but within the logic of a camp zombie flick. Closest to his heart, he said, is a quintessential island knack for making ends meet, whether by keeping a rusty '57 Chevy on the road for half a century, or finding a way to feed a family on a salary of $20 a month.

Locals even have a saying for how they will overcome the constant hurdles that are part of daily life on this cash-strapped, crumbling island: "I'll invent something."

"We Cubans have had to deal with a whole series of problems in the last 50 years," Brugues told The Associated Press, an allusion to the decades of economic hardship and isolation that have followed Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, particularly since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"We have become accustomed to resolving problems on our own and finding a way to survive. So I was thinking, 'How would a Cuban survive a zombie epidemic."

As Brugues spoke, makeup artists in another room were transforming actors into blood-soaked zombies, a process that can take up to five hours. A gruesome zombie head lay on a table alongside multiple cups of coffee and cigarette butts, and a producer was testing out the believability of a detached, latex hand by sneaking up on unsuspecting production assistants and tapping them on the shoulder with it.

Preproduction got under way this week, with shooting slated to start in late October. the filmmakers hope to release the movie in the spring or summer of next year, and plan to role it out at several film festivals before showing it to a wider audience.

The movie's plot is simple: A 40-year old layabout named Juan finds a zombie floating in the water while fishing off the coast of Havana. The zombie attacks but Juan makes a narrow escape, only to find that the undead are all over the city. State-run media blames the whole thing on government opponents backed by Cuba's archenemies in Washington, but Juan knows better -- and comes up with a plan.

Together with his sidekick, Lazaro -- described by the filmmakers as "just as lazy, but twice as stupid" -- Juan puts out the word that he is open for business.

Has your grandmother been turned into a zombie? Is your uncle stumbling about with blood coming out of his mouth?

Juan and Lazaro promise to get rid of your undead loved ones for just 15 Cuban convertible pesos (US$16) a pop, and to clean up the mess for an extra 20 (US$21).

The duo are making good money until they find themselves the only non-zombies left in the city, with the rest of the population having either fled or been infected.

The movie is backed by Spain's La Zanfona Producciones, two Spanish television channels, the government of Spain's Andalucia region and the state-run Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematography. It has a budget of $2.1 million, most of which is going to special effects that have to be added in Spain because the technology is not available in Cuba.

"Clearly, it is a very small budget for an international zombie movie," said Claudia Calvino, the film's 27-year-old Cuban co-producer. "But that's a lot of money for a Cuban movie."

Another co-producer, 34-year-old Inti Herrera, said most Cuban films are made for less than $300,000. He said that the makers of Juan of the Dead are hoping to produce something that has a professional feel to it which can be enjoyed by audiences everywhere -- even the United States.

"We really hope it comes out and is shown widely in theaters there," said Brugues. "That is definitely our idea."

Brugues says part of the movie's message deals with whether one should stay and face problems or get out of town when the going gets tough -- a politically sensitive topic in a country divided between those who have lived through the revolution for better or worse, and those who have left for exile in South Florida and elsewhere.

But he insists the film is not political.

"I want people to have a good time at the theater," Brugues says. "And I promise liters and liters of blood."






Synopsis:
Juan is a typical slacker forty years. One day Havana begins to fill with zombies. John decides that the best way to cope with it is to prosper. "John of the dead, killed their loved ones" is his slogan, and its mission is to help people get rid of those infected around them ... for a price. But the situation gets worse, and while everyone is out to sea to get away, John is left with no choice but to become a hero, staying to defend their country and protect their own on an island turned into a real bloodbath.

[Source: Indy Posted]

Superman / Batman Apocalypse screening and DVD/Blu-ray release

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse will make its world premiere on September 21 in Los Angeles and receive an encore New York premiere on September 23, Warner Home Video said today.

Screenings will be held at the Paley Center in each respective city. Filmmakers and voice cast performers will attend both events and join post-screening panel discussions.

A limited number of free tickets are available for the general public via email to SupermanBatmanLA@gmail.com or SupermanBatmanNY@gmail.com. Tickets to both events will be distributed on a first come, first served basis.

It's based on the Superman/Batman comic book story line The Supergirl from Krypton. Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse will be available in DVD and Blu-Ray on  September 28, 2010.




[Via Toon Zone]