Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo

This site discusses and displays photos of the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, a very interesting - and very creepy - place in Palermo, Italty.

The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test

Normally I don't pay attention to those "What kind of XXX are you?" or whatever quizes on the Internet. But we all know how important it is to be ready for the coming Zombie Apocalypse. Therefore, this quiz is rather important.

My result:

Official Survivor Congratulations! You scored 75%!

Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 34% on survivalpoints

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Review of Land of the Dead

Possible spoiler warning: I try not to get into details below, but some people may want to avoid reading this until after they've seen the movie.

So, we saw Land of the Dead last Friday. I enjoyed the movie, though I still like Dawn of the Dead (the original and the remake) more. Some of the characters where fairly clichéd, but others were pretty cool, like "Charlie" and "Pillsbury".

The thing for me, though, is that with this film the series seems to have shifted from horror to more action/sci-fi. The biggest reason for this is the fact that at the point when the movie takes place, zombies are considered to be commonplace. They aren't a horrific deviation from day-to-day life - they're a part of day-to-day life. Now, this isn't a problem with the movie itself - it's a natural progression of events; you actually saw this to a certain degree with Day of the Dead. It's still an interesting and creepy setting, but it's not really horror any longer, at least in the conventional sense.

The other thing that causes this movie to deviate from the horror genre is the "evolution" of the zombies. This may or may not be a "natural progression" of events - who knows if this would happen, or if it's feasible that it would have happened in the relatively short timeframe from when it all started in Night of the Living Dead to this movie. But given that the zombies are manifesting intelligence and, seemingly showing emotion (at least for "Big Daddy"), they are no longer the mindless, relentless walking dead but something else. Something even to be pitied, if one buys in to the hippy, zombie-hugging ending (which was the only part of the movie I truly didn't care for).

Overall, I guess it's still a "horror" movie, just not the type of "horror" that a zombie movie tends to be. I have no desire to quibble over what a genre label means, particularly since such definitions are so subjective.

I'd rate Land of the Dead...um...hmm...I suppose I need a rating system. I guess I'll go with 1-3 stars, like so:

1: Didn't like it; don't waste your time or money
2: Liked it; it's worth seeing, but not a big loss if you miss it
3: Loved it; definitely worth seeing

So, Land of the Dead gets 2 stars.

Now, A Zombie Apocalypse Highlander Movie Would Rule!

Just saw Highlander 4 this weekend. Yeah, I know it came out years ago, but I never got around to seeing it until now. Unfortunately. Holy crap, does that movie suck. It's not as bad as the mythical Highlander 2 is supposed to be*, but it's pretty damn close.

Now, I picked up the unrated version of the Dawn of the Dead re-make. That should be decent; I enjoyed the theatrical release. Though I hope that in the coming Zombie Apocalypse (and I know it's coming; my prophetic dreams say so**), we get Romeroan zombies (ala Night of the Living Dead, original Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead) rather than those new, 21st-century zombies (Dawn of the Dead re-make, 28 Days Later). If the latter, we're screwed. If the former, I really don't think the end of the world will come as it evolved in Romero's films (which I enjoy, don't get me wrong). I think Shaun of the Dead (which I liked, though I have mixed feelings about the comedy/horror genre mixing) did the ending right. For criminey's sake, they're slow. We can outrun them. And shoot them. Or put them to good use as free labor.

Of course, in that case we'd have to contend with some extremist group like PETZ - People for the Ethical Treatment of Zombies.




*: I've always wondered why the second Highlander movie was numbered "3" rather than "2", but people claim there was actually a HL2. Supposedly it had ridiculous references to the "planet Zeist" and lame skateboard-like flying-wing guys and a global shield or some such, but a movie that bad simply cannot exist. I must believe that... Even Sean Connery's presence didn't help...er, I mean so I've been told. HL2 was to Connery what that steaming pile D&D Movie was to Jeremy Irons. Anyway, in conclusion, there is no Highlander 2. Nope.

**: Unfortunately, they've varied between the Romeroan style and the modern versions, so I can't say which are coming. In one dream, in fact, they ignored you completely unless you started bleeding, and then they pounced on you - sort of like sharks, but without the water and with the whole animated corpse thing. And no, I don't think I need treatment. Yet. If I start seeing the Elder Sign in my dreams and sunken cities with non-Euclidean architecture, then we'll talk...