There’s a new trailer for the upcoming season of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” the last with showrunner Glen Mazzara (who on some level I blame for Frank Darabont, the showrunner before him, leaving the show, despite the fact that I should know better).
I remain a fan of the series–after all, they haven’t got rid of the zombies (yet)–but the showrunner isn’t a minor position, and has a lot to do with the direction and feel of a particular series. For instance, I get the feeling that under Darabont there would be more of the original cast still on the show (some of whom decided to leave BECAUSE Darabont was treated so shabbily).
Then there’s the odd feeling that AMC management is killing the show gradually, by degrees, and we viewers are the frog put in a pot of water, with the heat turned up so gradually that it doesn’t realize that there’s a change.
Till it’s too late.
I also thought that I should mention that I don’t like the new poster, especially when you compare it those from prior seasons.
I recently read, via the ever reliable Deadline, that “The Walking Dead” has a new showrunner, someone by the name of Scott Gimple.
I don’t mean to disparage Gimple, after all, he may be an awesome showrunner, but it seems to me that if he does the least thing that runs afoul of AMC brass (like asking for more money for one of the top shows on cable television), then he’s gone.
Why am I so cynical? Because Frank Darabont was an A-list writer/director, and they were able to remove him from the picture when they felt the need to do so. Glen Mazzara, while not quite as famous as Darabont, had made a name for himself as a showrunner on other series before ‘Dead.’
And look what they did to him.
And now comes Scott Gimple.
I give him a season, maybe two before he too decides to move on to greener pastures, or is released.
Sometimes it’s difficult to be a horror fan because, to paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield: “We don’t get no respect.”
I don’t know what what other conclusion to reach when studios are turning out drivel like “Hellraiser: Revelations.”
We want nuance. We want character development. We want pathos. And sure, we want some gore and violence accompanying that nuance and character development, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t want substantial, weighty movies (at least sometimes).
And there are directors out there that know what we want, and take us seriously. A few personal favorites are Stuart Gordon, Ernest Dickerson, George Romero, David Cronenberg, and Frank Darabont.
And while it’s too early to tell if Ole Bornedal will join such august company, at least his latest film, “The Posession,” looks like it at least has the potential to generate a few scares.
Even if it doesn’t, at least it has Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who’s a great character actor and isn’t afraid to tackle genre (which is why it surprises me that “The Resident” was barely watchable despite Morgan AND Christopher Lee in the mix).
According to Vulture, Frank Darabont’s “L.A. Noir” has cast Milo Ventimiglia as the lead.
That being said, they still want Jon Bernthal for another role, which isn’t great news for “The Walking Dead” because Frank Darabont is known to really like working with Bernthal.
Yesterday’s return of “The Walking Dead” to AMC made cable ratings history, earning more than 7 million viewers.
That being said, I am a bit torn. While I am glad to hear of it’s success–Heck, any show with zombies on a consistent basis I am glad to know is successful–though I still can’t quite get over the raw deal Frank Darabont got.
Does that mean that “Nebraska,” the episode that earned those spectacular ratings yesterday, isn’t downloading via iTunes as I type? Not really, though that doesn’t mean that I have forgotten the man that brought it to the screen, either.
There’s a rumor that Jon Bernthal, who plays Shane Walsh on AMC’s zombie series, is leaving the show soon. Not unusual on the face of it, people leave television shows all the time, even successful ones.
But when the show he’s supposedly to be going to, L.A. Noir, is being developed by…wait for it….Frank Darabont, things get a bit more interesting.
Karma’s a bitch.
Nothing in the way of spoilers, so read with confidence
I have been watching the second season of “The Walking Dead,” and beside certain odd beats (Why was the smell of the dead on the highway a non-issue, while a rotting corpse in a tent makes everyone gag? These are some of the same people who covered themselves–literally–in the entrails of the dead in the episode, “Guts,” so you’d think that they would be somewhat accustomed to the way corpses smell by now. Then there’s the convenience of finding an assortment of bladed weapons just when it’s the most efficient way to kill a zombie come to mind. I understand that television is full of “coincidences” like that which I just mentioned, but the best television makes those coincidences seem natural. I am by no means saying that “The Walking Dead” isn’t good television, though if it wants to touch greatness, it needs to watch the deux ex mahina.) I like what I see.
That being said, I noticed that there’s an executive producer credit for Frank Darabont during the opening, when it’s common knowledge that he was fired as showrunner.
I understand that he and his title are (probably) contractually obligated to be there, but it still smarts.
I also saw that Ernest Dickerson worked on the season opener with Gwyneth Horter-Payton (I assume to clean up whatever problems existed, which gave AMC a reason–which I suspect that they were looking for all along–to release Darabont) as well as directing “Bloodletting,” the second episode in its entirety.
Here’s the latest trailer for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s “The Adventures of Tintin.”
All the spectacle looks really interesting–especially the parts were the two ships are dueling.
That being said, and based only on the images that I have seen thus far, the characters still haven’t shaken that rubbery look CGI motion capture is infamous for.
I am just wondering why they didn’t just use real actors, minus the motion capture, because I haven’t seen too many photo-real CGI characters that don’t have that walking dead look in their eyes.
And speaking of “The Walking Dead,” (cool segue, Yes?), the first episode of the second season premiered, and it was pretty good–though I thought that some of the dead, when they were shot or killed by various weapons, looked a bit fake.
I understand that it is fake, but it makes me wonder are we seeing the effect of the budget cuts the series have undergone.
If this was the episode that Frank Darabont was fired over, I am confused because it was relatively strong.
Here’s the trailer for the upcoming second season of the Frank Darabont-less “The Walking Dead.” While I can’t get around, over, or under that it seems that he was treated very shabbily by AMC, there’s some comfort in, according to Aint It Cool News, that the first episode of the new season is the believed by them to be the best yet.
That’s great news, because I really want to continue watching the show, and if there was a visible decline in quality that could (in my mind) be traced to either Darabont’s firing or the reduced per-episode budget, then the dead wouldn’t be the only ones that would be walking.
Glen Mazzara Interview and ‘Walking Dead’ Season 3 News
In my defense, if you’re in the desert and the only potable water you have is a bit murky and smelly, I suspect that you’ll drink deep just the same.
Anyway, The Wrap has an interview with Glen Mazzara, the current show runner, who replaced Frank Darabont. He reveals–in a spoiler-free fashion–some of what he expects of the upcoming third season.
Speaking of which, when are they going to get George Romero to direct an episode or two? It would be so cool to have the spiritual father of all movie zombies at the helm, if only for a little while.
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