So, as I predicted, Christmas has hit this blog hard. I can’t help it really, I’ve had so much to do, what with moving, going away, unpacking (I only actually finished yesterday) and preparing for the holidays, that this just hasn’t been priority number one. I can’t promise to get more than a couple of blogs up before the end of the year but hopefully when January hits, I’ll be able to get back into a rhythm, maybe two a week or so.
So what’s been happening? Well, I haven’t spied any new TV or films, although I did finally manage to start on The Walking Dead and I am hooked. When I heard about the show, I decided I was going to retrieve my bring-on-the-guts-and-gore attitude from my teens (lost when I saw the new Dawn of the Dead in the cinema and then returned home to an empty, eerie house) and get into the show. I borrowed the first three graphic novels from a colleague a couple of months ago to get a feel for it and really enjoyed them. A MASSIVE amount of dialogue to contend with for a graphic novel but it seemed really interesting and had a pretty solid plot, if possibly a few too many characters that the audience was supposed to invest in.
The TV show has got off to a great start (here’s hoping it doesn’t fall flat on its face), combining zombie invasion with deep personal drama and conflict. The characters are well presented and it is interesting to come into the story almost at the end of the drama – usually when dealing with zombies we look to films, where the outbreak, battle and ultimately, death or survival, is all wrapped up in a solid ninety minutes. The characters are usually one dimensional, with little to no background story and often entirely too predictable.
Walking Dead is changing that.
Because of the need to make the drama last for at least twelve episodes, if not more, the characters needed to have more depth. And depth they definitely have. Death and ‘zombification’ are nothing compared to their problems of domestic abuse, adultery, racism and general outbursts of manic rage from more than one character. The plot is so involved that it’s unlikely that any of our survivors will actually escape unscathed from their messy trip.
All that said, I genuinely love the show. It’s been added to my ever growing list of favourite shows (the list is truly now insane – maybe I’ll post it up) and I can’t wait till more episodes arrive. I’m also very tempted to go out and read the rest of the series; some shows are so visually brilliant that knowing the plot in advance really doesn’t spoil them.
So that’s my newest acquisition. Once again, many apologies with the delay, hopefully in the New Year I’ll sort it out.
