Film: Warm Bodies

Hey you guys, World War Z comes out on Friday and even though I didn't love the book, I am excited for the movie!! So since I have some things I'd like to say about zombies I'm going to sort of make this an unofficial zombie week. I know a lot of people are over zombies, but to be honest I DON'T KNOW WHY. There are not multiple zombie TV shows and movies out right now. There are some books but nowhere near as many as there are for vampires. So I really don't understand the sentiment that there are too many zombies everywhere, I think it's mostly just people that don't like them to begin with saying that, okay?

I'd like to get the bad out of the way, so let's start with Warm Bodies. I didn't like the book and I also didn't like the movie.

I know it might seem crazy that I watched the movie anyway, but I thought it has potential to be kind of cute and funny like Zombieland. But...I guess what I realized is that there is a fundamental problem with the story for me which is that I don't like to think about zombies coming back from the dead or being saved or redeemed or humanized in any other way. That's just not the kind of zombie story I like and so that's why Warm Bodies was problematic for me and also part of why I greatly disliked the British show In the Flesh which I will be discussing later.

So, the basic premise behind Warm Bodies is that zombies are not actually really gone, they can still sort of think and stuff. But they do still eat people. And one day R (yes for Romeo) eats a brain and falls in love with a girl. And takes her back to zombie camp. And there's some funny and cute stuff there, but it all goes south when they take off because the actual REAL zombies want to eat Julie.

Sigh. Which...if you need actual real zombies vs. sort of but not quite actual zombies, I just...it doesn't work.

I guess the thing for me is that you can use zombies for all manner of social commentary or thematic purposes. And Warm Bodies uses them for the idea that love is the most powerful thing of all and if we could all just love each other and listen to each other and care then we'd come back to life and save ourselves. It was cheesy and saccharine in the book and equally so in the film.

So...it was a bust. I think I realized I'm never going to really like this kind of zombie story, I'd rather this kind of thing be a vampire story or something. Also, I think it's really irresponsible because when the zombie apocalypse happens no one will want to kill any zombies because WHAT IF THEY CAN BE SAVED? (there was some A+ dialogue though like zombies eat brains not broccoli!/sarcasm)

Tomorrow hopefully I will discuss why In the Flesh also did not work for me for similar failed thematic reasons.

What is your favorite zombie movie? Or do you hate zombies? Did you like this one? It seemed to do well in reviews.

Lotsa Literary Adaptations

I didn't realize how many books I want to read are going to be movies this fall. I was sort of distracted by some of the main ones, The Great Gatsby and Anna Karenina but there are plenty of others I'd like to read before seeing.

So anyway, I thought I'd post a collection of trailers of movies based on books most of which I'd like to read before seeing the movie. (I've already read The Great Gatsby so yay for that!) I have a complicated relationship with deciding whether or not I should read a book before seeing the movie...sometimes it's better to read the book afterwards, but sometimes I have no interest because enough of the plot has been spoiled for me. So...there's that.

Life of Pi based on the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Les Miserables (okay I'm unlikely to read this ever, tbh) based on Les Miserables by Victor Hugo



Cloud Atlas based on Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (have plans to read this with Iris!)



The Silver Linings Playbook based on The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick.



Anna Karenina based on Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy



The Great Gatsby based on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald



There are probably more and some I'm forgetting! Which of these books do you think are worth reading and which movies are you planning to see? To be honest, I wouldn't mind if Hollywood put a ban on adaptations and sequels for a year and just came up with original films, but you can't have everything.