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

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 Hunger Games (2012) Movie Trailer

The first full-length trailer for the Hunger Games was released on Monday.

Definitely, a lot more exciting than the teaser they showed at the MTV awards.

More posts on the Hunger Games.
Hunger Games food recreated
Hunger Games sneak peek preview trailer
Hunger Games - banned book at school?

Hunger Games Prevew Trailer

This preview of the highly anticipated Hunger Games film adaptation was shown during the MTV Video Music Awards.

As a fan of the series - I devoured the trilogy, could not put it down once I started it - I was looking forward to seeing this and was a bit disappointed that they didn't show more. I think it was too brief, too vague (maybe not necessarily for those who've read the books but for those who've never read it, well, they'll probably be scratching their heads a bit). Although the more I watch it, the more I like it.

It shows Katniss running in the arena, a few things exploding around her, trees falling then we get a bit of archery action (More please!) - At the end of it is (what I'm guessing) Rue's 4 note song which had a very eerie melody.

Here's the video clip.

"Listen to me. You're stronger than they are. You are. They just want a good show, that's all they want. You know how to hunt. Show them how good you are." - Gale

The film is slated to come out on March 23, 2012.

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

Brazil - A film for the times

Film review by Noel - http://lekayrnthon.wordpress.com/

          Brazil follows Sam Lowry, a desperate, petulant everyman working in his nation’s public sector. Sam’s life is at a dead end; he works in the Department of Records, thinking for his boss, a most paranoid and aged bureaucrat. At night he dreams of soaring through the skies with his blonde haired, blue eyed lady love, the only escape he has from the daily drudgery. Sam possesses no ambition, a fact stated by his mother, an aging socialite, as instrumental in her decision to arrange a promotion. He at first turns it down, but when he discovers that his dream love actually exists he wakes from his lethargy, taking the promotion with the intention of using the power it affords him to find her.
           Brazil is a masterpiece; a comedy that at once entertains and, in ways both obvious and subtle, moves us to thought. The world in which Sam Lowry lives is stifling and oppressive, mistrust and suspicion being encouraged by the powers that be in guarding against an undefined enemy. Posters and slogans encouraging this are to be found everywhere, drawing from both soviet propaganda and 1984, a book which Terry Gilliam, one of Brazil’s writers, its director and a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, intimates to be a heavy influence on the film. Said powers and their agents are made to seem buffoonish and idiotic, but with every chuckle at their actions comes the thought that these people are in charge of this world and their actions, silly as they might seem, impact all of its inhabitants in far reaching ways. Sam does not even appear onscreen until late in the tenth minute of the film, the previous time being used to make clear the exact nature of his society. In them, a mistake is made in a central ministry that causes a man to be bagged and hauled out of his home in the dead of night, his family being left with nothing but a shattered home and a receipt for his arrest.
          Jonathan Pryce is brilliant in the lead role and Kim Greist shines as Jill Layton, ephemeral and seductive in Sam’s dreams and tough-as-nails in reality. They are backed by a cast that performs to perfection; from Robert De Niro in a memorable supporting role as a terrorist heating engineer (no, I’m not making that up), to Katherine Helmond as Sam’s irrepressible mother and Jim Broadbent as Dr. Jaffe, a smarmy plastic surgeon catering to the social elite. The world they inhabit is grey and tired, filled with crushing architecture, charred landscapes and ducts. Yes, ducts. These ducts are everywhere, running in a literal sense, throughout their society. As the logo of the Ministry of Information has arachnid overtones and these ducts are everywhere, one wonders at their real purpose. The only real colour comes from Sam’s dreams and the numerous posters, as well as his mother’s hair, dyed a startling shade of red. The entire production feels futuristic and yet dated, with hi-tech computers possessing typewriting keyboards and miniscule screens equipped with mirrors. Every layer of their society is designed to appear as comic as possible, without slipping into heavy parody.
          All of that, combined with a plot that meanders between reality and Sam’s dreams can be a bit confusing to follow, but this also is felt to be intended. Sam’s decision to accept the promotion is followed by one rash decision after another, as he tries to grab and hold onto happiness. It is telling that his quest for happiness brings him into direct opposition with the aims and policies of his society and nation. That is the brilliance inherent in Brazil; it is at once a hilarious comedy bordering on slapstick and a film that, on several layers, serves up extensive food for thought. Consider a world wherein a man is forced to give up his dreams to fit, where expressing dissent gets you labelled as a terrorist, where the rich and the poor lead markedly different but no more fulfilling lives, where the citizenry are treated as the property of the state, to be dealt with as they please, where working outside of the system affords you more space for good than within it and where ducts are to be found running everywhere. Well, maybe not the ducts. It is in the hilarious yet deadly serious presentation of these matters for our consideration, which Brazil shines. I highly recommend it. 4 stars out of 5.

Brazil - Directors Cut (1985)
Running Time - 142 minutes
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Written By Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles Mckeown
Starring: Jonathan Pryce as Sam Lowry, Kim Greist as Jill Layton, Robert De Niro as Archibald "Harry" Tuttle, Jim Broadbent as Dr. Jaffe , Michael Palin as Jack Lint and Katherine Helmond as Mrs. Ida Lowry.

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/ 

Film review: The Running Man

Running Man is set in a dytopian future where America has turned into a Fascist state. Any cultural activity is pretty much censored. Enter Arnold Schwarzenegger who plays Ben Richards, a helicopter pilot for the Federal police who disobeys a direct order from his superior by refusing to shoot down women and children during a food riot. Next thing you know he's locked up and the media had already broadcasted a different remixed version of the actual massacre that sent him to the labor camp.

He manages to escape along with fellow cohorts only to be caught and forced into participating in a game show called The Running Man. The state-run production chooses a prisoner "the runner" to be hunted down by professional "stalkers". A futuristic gladiator-type setting broadcasted live on TV to keep the rest of the population docile. Ben Richards is supposedly given the chance to earn his freedom if he manages to stay alive for the next 3 hours. But we all know there's no "winners" in a dystopian movie, just unmarked graves and a brainwashed population.

The movie is filled with falsified media reports and terrible one-liners such as "I'll be back", "Hey Christmas Tree!! Hey Light Bulb!!", "Here is Sub-Zero, now Plain-Zero", "Get me the Justice Department - entertainment division".

My fave one-liner: "I don't want to be the only a**h*le in heaven."

Lots of familiar faces in this movie:
Jesse Ventura, Mick Fleetwood, Dweezil Zappa, Richard Dawson

The movie is based on a short story by Richard Bachman (Stephen King). I've never read the book but apparently it's very different from what the film ended up being. By different, I mean better. I'll be sure to add that to my reading list.

I'm categorizing this movie under "things you should watch at least once that way you can say you've seen it but nothing more"




Buy the movie and enjoy the dystopia (and the one liners!)