[Film] 28 Weeks Later (2007) Review

Amazing. I feel this film surpassed the first by miles when it came to storyline. I found this one much more interesting. The first helped in showing what people were doing at the start of the apocalypse, but this second film shows you what they did during it - securing off a part of London which would then be deemed 'safe'. Also, my friend was a stunt double for Andy (the young boy) in this film!

[Film] 28 Days Later (2002) Review

I actually really enjoyed this film, again, set in my hometown of London, England, it is fantastic to see places that you have been to and the most iconic places in London as if there had actually been an apocalypse. What really gets me is that London is so packed with tourists and Londoners, trust me, it's disgustingly packed - in fact, we probably are in need of a plague... Anyway, back to the point, it is so packed I'm amazed how they managed to make these iconic, busy places look so quiet and deserted. This, in my opinion, makes the film more favourable than the likes of Cockneys Vs Zombies.

I found out that filming started on September first, (how funny, considering I decided to review this film on September 1st without knowing that initially). And they started filming in the early hours when they could control traffic and the coming and going of people. What amazed me was that that actually briefly shut the M1. For people who don't know, the M1 is a motorway which connects London and Leeds. How amazing is that?

This film is great if you are English and would like to see what your country looks like post apocalypse. The story is great and it's pretty gruesome too.

[Film] Cockneys Vs Zombies Review (2012)

Okay so, considering this is set in my gracious homeland, England, UK, and from where I pretty much live and am very familiar with, The East End, I wasn't 100% taken with this film as I was with the others that I have seen. Considering I enjoy zombie and apocalyptic films almost every time I watch one I was gutted when I wasn't with this. It's a comedy, I get that, I enjoy zombie comedies - Zombieland for example. But this, it just didn't get me like a zombie film usually would. I chuckled here and there, and it was funny to hear the cockney accent that we Brits love, but as a film it is definitely not in my top ten. I wouldn't completely rule out watching it though as it does have some hilarious moments.

Thinking about it though, this is how the Brits would probably do it.

The Walking Dead 100 Project

When this came out I pre-ordered it. Originally I wanted the hardback, I ordered it from Forbidden Planet in October 2013 and still by February it wasn't here, so I got a refund. By this time I couldn't find the hard back so I opted to get the paperback instead.

What I like about is book is that it supports independent artists, it is worth it because their drawings are amazing. There's no story in this book but the art work is breath taking so for that alone I recommend this book.

Night Of The Living Dead Film Cell, TWD Comic #1 LFCC #3

My main posts about London Film and Comicon were ultimately based around me meeting George A. Romero. However, I did pick up a couple zombie related goodies which make really cool additions to my collection.

Firstly, I found a stall called A Place In Space, they caught my attention because they had a load of Walking Dead memorabilia, so of course, this drew me in. I was having a look at the books when I noticed the first ever Walking Dead comic for £3!! I thought this was amazing because I was often on eBay looking for one. Not necessarily a first print or anything I just thought it would be a great addition to my collection considering I had all the Walking Dead books. The comics on eBay were going for quite a bit of money, at least £10 so I bought it straight away, and for £3 you can't really argue.

Secondly, I bought a really cool a Night of the Living Dead film cell, they were four for £10 or £3 each, I love this sort of stuff so I got four, only one zombie related one though. The others I got were from The Godfather, Beetlejuice and The Jungle Book. Anyway, back to zombies! This film cell isn't from the original, it's from the 1990 remake which I think is brilliant anyway. It is so hard to take a picture of the film cell itself, but basically it is when brother and sister, Johnnie and Barbara are in the cemetery  and the zombie is coming towards them.

Overall, I am very pleased with my two purchases, I would have bought more but I spent £30 on Romero's autograph and £30 on the picture with him, so all in all a massive £60 just for that experience, and £21 for entry, leaving me with very little spending money!! I can't say it wasn't worth it though, because it entirely was.

I Met George A. Romero! ... Twice!! LFCC #2

As previously posted I attended London Film and Comicon 2014, I love conventions as it is but this one was very special indeed... I met George A. Romero! Not once, but twice and the experience for me will go down in my little personal history of great events in my life.

On the Friday after getting all the tickets for entry and for the photo with him, we had a wander around as usual, looking at all the cool art work and stalls full of figures, DVDs, all sorts of merchandise, you name it they had it.

Luckily for me, Romero was due to attended Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Which gave me many opportunities to meet him. On the Friday I had a look by all of the celebrities autograph tables to see if I could spot a glimpse of him. Sadly I did not and so I went on about my business. Friday preview ended at 9pm and around 8:30pm I gave it one last shot. I walked around to where his stall was and low and behold, there he was!! There was no queue so I nipped in there quick to get his autograph, I picked a print of him and Simon Pegg, purely because it was white and you would clearly be able to see his autograph on it. He was such a lovely man, I had my favourite 'ZOMBIES' t-shirt on to which he pointed and said 'zombies!' and laughed. I must admit I grinned like an idiot, I thought being star struck was a made up thing but I couldn't muster a word to say to him. He then said to me 'you'll have to get Simon to sign this next, does he ever come to these things?' I said 'I don't think he does!' And was laughing stupidly because I was so happy.

Funnily enough, I went to see Monty Python Live the Wednesday after, and who was a special guest? Only Simon Pegg himself, and there I was thinking I would never ever see him in my life. What a coincidence, but no, I did not get his autograph.

I then said bye and went home.

The next day I arrived bright and early to get my picture taken with him, I was waiting in the queue, checking myself in the mirror, as you do. But I was shaking, I was nervous and excited - it made me feel so weird with emotion. I got to the front and he shook my hand and said hi. I think he recognised me because of the way he looked at me and smiled, I would like to think that he recognised me anyway! He even asked me how I was! He then put his arm round me and I him and they took the picture. He then shook my hand again and said goodbye.

What a couple of days! I never thought I would ever meet my favourite director, especially due to his age and because he lives in Canada, and obviously I'm from London. He lived up to and beyond my expectations, he was the nicest man you would ever meet and I am so glad that he wasn't up himself at all. I don't think I will ever get this opportunity ever again so I'm so pleased that I did it when I could.

London Film and Comic Convention July 2014 #1

I usually work weekends, but after swapping shifts and booking holidays I can easily say the weekend starting Friday 11th July to Sunday 13th July was one of the best and most memorable weekends of my life.

London Film and Comic Convention was having a preview night on Friday 11th from 6pm-9pm, people usually go on the Fridays to get their tickets to meet their favourite actors, actresses, writers, directors and so forth, and their early bird tickets for the rest of the weekend, meaning that Saturday and Sunday they did not have to queue and could spend the day meeting and greeting and browsing.

We queued for about an hour tops and got our early bird ticket for Saturday. Inside was mad busy though, I queued for about an hour and a half to try and get a ticket to meet my hero, the one, and only, George A. Romero. My favourite director of all time was here in London, Earls Court Two, meeting fans and signing autographs. When I heard this news I was overwhelmed and ridiculously happy. I was so worried that tickets for photographs with him had sold out online and, having a limited amount on site, I felt sick knowing there was a possibility I may not get a picture with him.

So we got to second from the front, and this girl pulled out the longest list of names ever, full of people she wanted to meet. This infuriated me, purely because she pushed in front of me to queue with her friend, and it meant I had to wait longer to find out if I'd meet my favourite director - the Godfather of zombies.

After this girl, who was clearly loaded, got all her tickets, it was finally time to find out and I asked for a ticket to have a photograph with George A. Romero. The bloody girl didn't even know who he was! Working at a film and comic convention and you don't know who Romero is! She should be embarrassed! Anyways, I got one! I actually got a ticket!! On Saturday 12th July 2014 at 11:20am I was going to meet an absolute legend.

I'm going to write a separate blog post about when I met Romero. It. Was. Amazing.

Read it here: http://thestrollingunwell.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/i-met-george-romero-twice-lfcc-2.html

Zombie Plushes

This is just going to be a quick post just to show you a couple of plushes I have that are zombie related.

Firstly, I bought this cute little penguin in the sale of an online store. Penguins are my favourite animals ever, and zombies are just, clearly, my passion, so what better than a zombie penguin?! I'll tell you, a zombie penguin in the sale! I love him, he's so cute and the detail is really good for a cute little toy.

Secondly, I love Funko and they have now brought out their own range of plushes! They have a few Walking Dead ones, including Bicycle Girl but I opted to buy my favourite male character, oh yes, Daryl Dixon. In my opinion it doesn't really look like him, but it made me laugh and considering I get a student discount in Forbidden Plant I thought 'why not?' He's adorable and makes a cute little addition to my zombie collection.

Night Of The Living Dead - Graphic Novels (Incomplete set)

After getting into Zombie books and graphic novels, I decided to broaden my horizons a bit and buy another zombie graphic novel which didn't involve TWD. An obvious option was Night Of The Living Dead, written by John Russo and Mike Wolfer, being a huge Romero fan they did stick out to me so I chose to buy the first one. They are quite dear but I found them cheaper online, there are three volumes and a few 'Aftermath' volumes. The thing I LOVE about the first volume is the cover work, it is my favourite zombie art work of all time.

The first book in the picture I got for £2.50 in Forbidden Planet. It basically has extracts from and summarises all three books, so if you aren't sure whether to buy them or not, or if you will like them, this is very handy to get, and for £2.50 you can't go wrong really.

Volume one and two are indeed, cracking. The thing I enjoy about these graphic novels is the art work, I love how colourful they are (unlike TWD which is black and white). I don't prefer black or white, or just colour, I appreciate both of them but colour was really refreshing from constantly reading a black and white graphic novel. The art work was a huge plus in this case, the story was good, it was easy to follow and was generally a good story line but I did not feel the connection to the characters as I did with Rick Grimes and the rest.

There are three volumes before the Aftermath series. I ordered the third one a while a go but they did not have it in stock, ultimately leading to a refund. I have not gotten around to getting it yet but it is on my list to buy as I would love to finish reading them and would love to finish that mini collection within my huge zombie collection. When I purchase it there will definitely be an update that the mini collection is complete!

[Books] TWD Special: The Governor Books

You can probably tell by now, anything written by the creators of The Walking Dead I get my hands on pretty quick. However, I did not know about these books, no not comics, yes they are real books! For a long, long time, it was only when for Christmas 2013 I was given 'The Rise Of The Governor' as a present that I then found out about these books. There are four books written about The Walking Dead's very own character - The Governor.

If you have read the graphic novels then I highly suggest reading these alongside it, although do not fear if you have not read the comics, personally I feel it's not necessary to have read them and these four books could be easily understood if read on their own.

The first book reveals a remarkable twist, I recommend you read it just for that! But, like I've said before, Kirkman & Co's writing style gets me every time. It is written beautifully and they get you hooked on the first page, once I picked these up it was hard to put them down, I did have a lot of University work which forced me to put them down but being on my break means I got to pick them straight back up again. I am currently half way through the third book and it just gets better and better.

We get introduced to new characters, pretty cool ones at that and I love reading about their journey. There are a few familiar names in which we encounter, but so far just from the Woodbury area. For instance, Alice, Martinez and Doctor Stevens.

I can not wait to continue book three and head on to book four to see if all goes down like it does in the comics or television series, and I also wonder, will we get a glimpse of Rick? Or even Daryl? It'll be interesting to see the Fall of the Governor from his perspective.

Once I have read book four I will write another review, but so far, continuing the show of my collection.