Tag: zombies

Simon Pegg, co-writer and star of “Shaun of the Dead,” surprised Hero Complex Film Festival attendees Friday night, joining director Edgar Wright on stage. The Q&A — at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles — capped a zombie-themed opening night, which included a screening of “Shaun of the Dead” as well as Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” a highlights reel of “The Walking Dead” Season 2 and a Q&A with Snyder and “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman. Wright would not discuss his Marvel “Antman” film project, only saying “there might be” some new developments. “I have to give a spectacularly vague non-answer,” Wright said, but credited Marvel producer Kevin Feige for having the courage to build “The Avengers” franchise from the ground up. Wright and Pegg did talk briefly about “World’s End,” the upcoming third installment ...

Zack Snyder, the director of the upcoming “Man of Steel,” remained tight-lipped about the 2013 Superman film, despite persistent teasing from “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman during a Q&A Friday night at the Hero Complex Film Festival. The Q&A — at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles — followed a screening of Snyder’s 2004 remake of  “Dawn of the Dead” during a zombie-themed opening night, which also included a highlights reel of “The Walking Dead” Season 2, a screening of “Shaun of the Dead” and a Q&A with Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. “I’m only here to ask him about the Superman movie,” Kirkman joked when he was introduced to the festival audience. But Snyder would only say he is in the editing process for the film. “It’s going really good, actually. I’m just cutting right now,” Snyder said. ...

It’s almost here — we’re just one week from the start of the 2012 Hero Complex Film Festival and with the franchise in its third year we’ve moved to a sweet new home (Regal Cinemas at LA Live, where in September we brought you a 30th anniversary screening of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with Steven Spielberg and surprise guest Harrison Ford) and expanded the program (four days now with more than a dozen guests, including three that haven’t been announced). To get a bead on the festival, peruse the photo gallery above — be sure to click the “CAPTIONS ON” option if you don’t see text across the bottom of each image – and you’ll get a snapshot description of all of eight of our separately ticketed screenings. The box here on the right leads to the ticketing page. And how about those fun images in the gallery? ...

2012 HERO COMPLEX FILM FESTIVAL It might be a good time to work on your cricket swing  – Edgar Wright is bringing “Shaun of the Dead” to the 2012 Hero Complex Film Festival. The always-witty British filmmaker will be on stage at 10 p.m. on May 18 to look back on the 2004 cult comedy that marked his feature-film directorial debut and opened doors that led to him to “Hot Fuzz,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and Marvel’s planned “Ant-Man” project. “Shaun of the Dead” also introduced many American fans to Simon Pegg, the title star, Wright’s co-writer on the movie and an actor with ramping popcorn prominence these days thanks to the “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek” franchises. The film grossed $30 million worldwide, and its mix of the daft and the diabolical had a lot of bite with critics such as Nev ...

2012 HERO COMPLEX FILM FESTIVAL The zombie business isn’t for the meek. Just ask Zack Snyder, who ran in the face of genre tradition with his daring “Dawn of the Dead” remake, or Robert Kirkman, who shattered core assumptions about marketplace and medium with “The Walking Dead,” which began as a comic book epic (the Image Comics series is now closing in on its 100th issue) and found second life on television (last month’s second-season finale drew 9 million viewers, making it the most-watched basic cable drama telecast in history). Snyder and Kirkman will take the stage together on May 18 at the 2012 Hero Complex Film Festival to discuss, celebrate and debate zombies and a horror subgenre that seems to possess an undying appeal. The pair also will share their Hollywood survival tales and share tidbits about their upcoming projects — including Snyder’s “Man of Steel,” which arrives in theaters next ...

“The Walking Dead” is living large. Editions of the zombie series currently hold three of the top five spots on both the hardcover and paperback graphic novel New York Times bestseller lists, and this July Image Comics will publish the 100th issue. “Sometimes I stop and go, ‘Issue 100 – really?’” the series’ writer Robert Kirkman said this weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Hero Complex lead writer Geoff Boucher led the discussion with Kirkman on USC’s campus Saturday. Kirkman is in the rare position of being the sole writer on a long-lasting comic book while also holding a place in the writing room of the TV show adaptation.  A television script “is like a novel where the script itself is something that’s supposed to be read and be entertaining,” Kirkman said. “Comic book scripts – at least ...

The post-apocalyptic drama “The Walking Dead,” which resumes its second season Sunday on AMC, prides itself on its sprawling ensemble cast: one part zombies looking for their next meal, the other part survivors trying not to become dinner. Although all the survivors have struggled to maintain a semblance of humanity and sanity, no one has struggled with it more than Shane, played by Jon Bernthal. (Spoiler alert: If you’re not caught up on this season, you may want to stop reading now.) In the midseason finale, the incessantly brash Shane initiated a zombie shooting spree, enraged that the owner of the farm where he and a group of survivors were staying had been housing a swarm of the living dead in a nearby barn. After opening the barn doors, Shane shot the creatures as they stumbled out, to demonstrate his ...

At the recent Aliens to Zombie convention in Hollywood, fanboy-favorite actor Michael Rooker turned up carrying a large box of life-sized polyurethane severed hands that he planned to dole out as souvenirs. “Thirty years honing my craft, and it’s come to this,” he joked. The unusual keepsakes were designed as a homage to Merle Dixon, the character Rooker plays on the hit AMC zombie series “The Walking Dead.” A despicable drug-addled racist and the nastier of two Southern brothers, Dixon sawed off his own hand to escape becoming zombie food midway through the show’s first season. He’s been missing ever since, though a sizable portion of the show’s audience has been clamoring for his return. Now, it appears the character is poised to come back on the scene this coming Sunday — if Internet buzz and teasers for the next ...

Monsters enthusiasts of all stripes will congregate this weekend in Hollywood for the inaugural Aliens to Zombies Convention, an event that will bring together visual-effects artists with specialists in the other-worldly for panel discussions, creature-crafting competitions and more. Todd Masters, a monster-maker himself, co-organized the event with Bruce Haring, the director of JM Northern Media, which runs the DIY Convention and multiple book festivals. Masters, who founded MASTERSFX, the company that handles effects for shows including “True Blood” and “Falling Skies,” used his industry connections to assemble panels that kick off Saturday starting at 11 a.m. at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Participants will include “I Am Legend” effects artist Shaun Smith, Zombie Research Society founder Matt Mogk, “Encyclopaedia of Hell” author Martin Olson and Amalgamated Dynamics co-founders Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., whose effects resume includes “The Thing” prequel ...

Rick Grimes and his ragtag crew of zombie apocalypse survivors are back on the small screen Sunday night for “The Walking Dead” Season 2 90-minute premiere. Based on “The Walking Dead” comics by writer Robert Kirkman and artists Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, the AMC television series made basic-cable history last season as the most-watched drama when 6 million viewers tuned in for the finale. The new season jumps from six episodes to 13, and executive producer Glen Mazzara is taking the reins from former showrunner Frank Darabont. The new season follows Rick Grimes as he leads the group out of Atlanta, to possible sanctuary (and new characters) at Hershel’s farm. “It feels very much like an invasion,” the show’s star Andrew Lincoln said in a press statement. “There is this safe haven that’s working perfectly well, and they seem to ...