Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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It's Not Based on the Book World War Z (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS World War Z by Max Brooks is one of my desert island books. Adapting such a story to film presented a number of challenges, and production was apparently plagued by them all. They went over budget, they had extensive re-shoots, there were last minute rewrites and the release date was changed three times. I was convinced I would hate it before I even walked into the theater. As World War Z (116 minutes) played out on screen, I put down my haterade. Other than the title, the film has very little in common with the book. For one, filmmakers decided to pick a single hero to follow through the beginning stages of the zombie apocalypse, and that single choice changed the entire structure of the story. It also limited the global scope of the book to an unimaginable degree. I think one legit alteration was the change to the North Korean reaction — it's not exactly better than what is described in the book, but it worked on a Marathon Man level. Our hero is Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt). He and his quietly supportive wife, Karin (Mireille Enos) are traveling through Philadelphia when the zombie apocalypse gets going. They are quick-thinking enough to start moving when they see that chaos has descended, though how they were ultimately able to leave Philadelphia is left to the imagination. I have tried to get out of Philadelphia during rush hour, so I can only imagine their escape involved levitation. Though they are smart enough to keep moving, they are not smart enough to avoid Newark. They end up running through the streets and into an apartment, where they wait for the United Nations to get it together enough to send a helicopter for them. The U.N. Secretary General, Thierry Umutoni (Fana Mokoena) airlifts Gerry and his family to a flotilla in the Atlantic, then extorts him into getting involved in the defense of humanity. The defense apparently involves flying a virologist into Korea because somebody there used the word zombie, and finding the origins of the outbreak will enable them to create a treatment protocol. While in Korea, his wife calls him at the worst possible time so he almost gets eaten. That's why women shouldn't get satphone privileges! Seriously though, I like Enos just fine as an actor, but couldn't they find something interesting for her to do besides wait in safety while clutching a phone? The rest of the film is a fairly exciting series of zombie encounters, even if the ending is insulting to the collective intelligence of the audience. Feel free to feel outraged and/or giggle at the disorganization and plot holes, of which there are several. If you watch mouths you will see that the dialogue is often out of sync. Several good lines featured in various trailers didn't make it on screen, irritating me immeasurably. There are several comments made in background scenes that are highlighted for our benefit, but which the invaluable U.N. guy completely ignores — for example, it is established that some people take longer to turn than others, but he continues to count to 12 and then declare potential victims in the clear. Overall, as an adaptation of the book the film was a failure. What should have been 50 or so traumatized individuals from a dazzling array of backgrounds narrating their story over accompanying visuals became Brad Pitt, action hero running through zombie hordes. As a stand-alone film, it worked pretty well and I am looking forward to the sequel so we can see Lobos, LAMOES and Yonkers. With any luck, before filming, someone will tell production that zombies aren't fast, and we can hope that lameness about zombies going dormant will provide an excuse to slow them down. Now showing at Wynnsong 7, HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Carmike 12 and Carmike Market Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandFair 15. comingweekly.com. Zombies vs. Dinosaurs in Outer Space Axe Cop aims to be the most awesome cartoon ever TV by DEAN ROBBINS Fox premieres Animation Domination High-Def (Saturday, 11 p.m.), a block of late-night cartoons featuring Axe Cop and High School USA! It's the product of the network's new digital animation studio, which aims straight for the pleasure centers of 14-year-old boys. Not to mention former 14-year-old boys. As a member of the latter demographic, I immediately fell under the spell of Axe Cop. This deadpan masterpiece sets a single goal — to be awesome — and then goes about achieving it. This week's episode parodies over-the-top, comic-book-style storytelling, its thrilling 10 minutes packed with zombies, flying dinosaurs, evil geniuses, secret potions, killer robots and even the queen of England. Axe Cop himself (voiced by Nick Offerman) is a hatchet-wielding policeman with a penchant for saving the world. The Fox publicity materials reveal he was created with the help of a 5-year-old boy, and you have no trouble believing that, especially in this week's poop-oriented tale. Given Axe Cop's wonderfulness, I vote for more 5-year-old TV consultants. Who else could have written a line like this: "What?! A jetpack-wearing zombie!!" Childrens Hospital Thursday, midnight (Adult Swim) Childrens Hospital is arguably the strangest show ever to air on TV. And there's no argument whatsoever that it's the strangest show ever to win an Emmy (for Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program). Creator-writer Rob Corddry stars as a doctor in a pediatric hospital who wears ghastly clown makeup, all WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM the better to "heal patients with laughter." He's viciously parodying Robin Williams' doctor from Patch Adams — and the viciousness doesn't stop here. In season five, Corddry and his game cast (including such stellar names as Henry Winkler, Michael Cera, Jon Hamm and Megan Mullally) gleefully brutalize medical-show clichés. Their surreal approach makes Samuel Beckett's work seem practically rational. In other words, don't be alarmed when Corddry's character is shot, stabbed and electrocuted to death in the season premiere. It will in no way affect his participation in next week's episode. American Haunting Saturday, 8 pm (A&E) This three-hour special features multiple families experiencing paranormal activity in their homes. A&E sets up surveillance cameras to capture the ghostly events, as well as "confessional cameras" that allow family members to express their terror, preferably in the middle of the night. The McGlone family of Grayson, Ky., are prone to sleepwalking while possessed by demons. They usually end up by the knife drawer as the soundtrack lays on the eerie sound effects: the heartbeat, the screeching whistle, etc. The McGlones call in one of those paranormal-investigator teams that, judging from cable reality series, never lack for work. Personally, I think hiring the investigators is a waste of money. My advice is to simply turn off the sound effects. It's well known that ghosts can't thrive in the absence of heartbeats and screechy whistles. JULY 24-30, 2013 UCW 21