So, fortified with snacks and delicious beverages, some friends and I gathered to watch the premiere of
Zombiemania, directed by Canadian documentary filmmaker Donna Davies... and it was pretty entertaining. Definitely a light, very mainstream look at the cultural history of zombies (that's Starz), but some great interview footage with George Romero (I love that he still wears those giant '70s glasses!), Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, Max Brooks (yes, son of Mel; allow me to put in on more plug for his novel
World War Z, which is brilliant), Wade Davis, the ethnobotanist who wrote
The Serpent and the Rainbow, and various zombie experts. As promised, I got plenty of screen time.
A warning if you decide to DVR a future showing: It may not be listed as
Zombiemania. On our system (the one that comes with RCN), it's listed as "Starz Inside," which is the collective name for the channel's behind-the-scenes documentaries. After inviting friends over to watch, Frank and I had a couple of sticky moments when we couldn't find a Tuesday listing for
Zombiemania.
In any event, we finally figured out that it was listed as "Starz Inside" (the generic name for all the channel's behind-the-scenes docs) and a good time was had by all. Except, of course, my cat, who was bored to death and annoyed that all of a sudden everyone was watching the television instead of paying him the attention he feels is
his due. (Confession: the photo was not taken during the showing of Zombiemania -- the sunlight streaming through the window is the tip off -- but is an accurate depiction of Chip's attitude towards anything that isn't all about him.)
As a child I wanted nothing to do with childish things: I wanted to read grown-up books, watch grown-up movies and do grown-up things. But Wired's list of Halloween-themed moies suitable for children is actually pretty good.
Okay, this is final reminder — no more annoying reminders. But Zombiemania will make its debut on Starz tomorrow night, and I'm interviewed in it... at some length, I've been told.
It's a terrific movie, made in the style of a silent movie from the late 1920s and extremely faithful not only to Lovecraft's story, but also to his unique tone, which is the far harder thing to capture. And the Avon is a great theater (click here for their website, which includes directions). I'll be doing a Q&A after the movie, so come one, come all!
Posts
