Comics to movies (again)The Walking Dead.

Today's post is the 3rd type of Blog I've done like this about translating a comic property to film or tv.

The point of these Blog's are to show the times that Hollywood was faithful to the subject matter and how the public reacted,how the move/tv show did and the possible future for comic creators and their properties.

Today I'm gonna take a look at all that has happened so far concerning one of my personal favorite comics on the stands: The Walking Dead. For those of you out there that has never heard of The Walking Dead, shame on you. Okay,all kidding aside TWD is a great character driven story that apart from having zombies in it deals with a lot of different subject matter in every arc. All arcs have issues or topics that make each character identifiable to the average reader. It has great writing and great artwork. It's consistent in that the people involved have all shown their commitment by putting out the title for the most times around 12 issues a year. Just the fact that TWD is a black and white comic and since it began it's readership has grown continually and continues to do so.
In this day and age I find that pretty amazing. Most of the creators out there are always bitching about not enough work for everyone. Personally I've always believed that if you do your best work with the utmost passion and you show your commitment to whatever project you're attached to the readers will eventuallly follow. I know this is not a universal truth BUT there are a lot of times this is true.

More times than not.

I know that some of the great writers of our time didn't have any form of success until much later, sometimes after they have passed on they become huge. I find this unfortunate and unescessary. Unfortunately life is like that.

Getting back on topic of TWD - For a while we all had heard rumours of TWD tv show that was being developed and as images began to trickle out a lot of fans began to become hopeful that Hollywood wasn't going to screw this one up too like so many countless others. A very good sign indeed.

Then last week happened.

The Walking Dead trailer was put on the web. 4 minutes long and jaw dropping in it's overall depiction of Rick's story and TWD. By the end of the trailer my jaw was on the ground. The first season will be only 6 episodes but I can not wait for the fall( Halloween)

There is literally no other tv or movie that I'm looking forward to more,not even Machete that I've been dying to see can eclipse my excitement for TWD.

Anyone that still hasn't seen it yet trust me it isn't hard to find and it'll be so worth it.

This is showing a lot of creators out there several things: If you want to have Hollywood translate your idea you have 2 choices.
(1) Sell the idea,make your money but shut the hell up if the screw it up. Look at Alam Moore at least for the most part. Separate the comic from the show or movie.
(2) Fight with all of your might to make sure whoever in Hollywood is doing your idea that YOU have the final vitto or that you're on set as a consultant or at the very least hired as some kind of consultant to be involved with the production of your idea into whatever form it'll take.


My final word for today?

Things look really good for creators and their properties.

There is hope.

Have a great week.

Richard Serrao
Optimum Wound

Creator,Artist,Writer for
Memento Mori Volume 1
Silent Scream

Co-owner of www.optimumwound.com
www.myspace.com/richardserrao
www.twitter.com/richardserrao
richard@optimumwound.com

First week of vacation pt 1

Hey everyone,
I can't believe it's already been a few weeks since my last Blog,time really does fly by when you're busy.
I was getting ready to go on vacation for 2 weeks(which i needed really badly) and I'm still on vacation as I write this Blog.

My first week was simply awesome. We(the whole family) went to Lac St. Jean to stay at my Father-In-Law's chalet for the whole of last week. We were extremely lucky as the weather was beautiful for the most part. The private beach where we were was just gorgeous and got even more tanned from enjoying time outside playing with my son. Just going to the beach everyday was a treat as it was just 5 minutes away from where we were staying BUT we did so much more and I'll have a few awesome pics to show next Blog. There was one place we went to hike and check out a bat cave that was called Trou De la Fee (excuse my lack of accent on the proper words) which translates out to The Fairy's Hole( which I won't even make any jokes about but could).
We ended on some trails that while being incredibly beautiful was dangerous if you didn't look where you were hiking. A few times I slipped but managed to grab onto trees so that I didn't impersonate Arnold in Predator flying off the side of a mountain. Okay maybe I embellish things a bit but seriously when you see some of the pics and how high we ended up your jaw will drop. I hate heights and have a major case of vertigo but I toughed it out for the family and my son,which by the way I'm extremely proud of myself for doing that. All in all we spent bout an hour and a half hiking and unfortunately my son freaked when we got to the actual cave. I have to say I wasn't thrilled either about how close it looked inside of it but I was biting the bullet and just going with everything. I felt bad for him because after we started to head back he changed his mind and wanted to go back.
The only problem being is that we didn't have any hard hats and needed to be next to the guide so that he could make sure that we didn't bang our heads, so once we separated from him he we had no choice but to head out of the cave and couldn't go back to find him as it was forbidden to do so. my son learned a lesson that day about the choices that we make and sticking to them. I didn't like enforcing this life lesson but it was necessary as he sometimes has a habit of changing his mind after the fact. Parenting is never easy but when you have to be tough it gets even harder(sigh).

Later on in the week we ended up at a cousin of my wife for supper and had a great time talking,drinking and laughing. It's really too bad she doesn't live closer.

Lac St. Jean is a small town and is beautiful and a great place to enjoy nature. The people are friendly and very helpful. I know to me it's always funny when townspeople realise that I am English because I speak french( and while I'm not anywhere as good as my wife who is french btw) I think I do a damn good job. i think it also impresses them that I make the effort to speak another language that is not my first.

Staying with my Father-In-Law was relaxing as he does his best to make sure we're comfortable and never stresses us out. He allows us enough space when we need family time and I truly enjoy his company.

It's always sad when it comes time to leave though. The trip back to Montreal takes about 6 hours but this time around we left there around 2:30 and between all of the bathroom stops and supper we ended up back in town around 11:00 pm at night....We were all tired and while it was an awesome time it's good to be back home.

Next Blog I'll be showing off a few photos from the trip.

Rich.

Predators movie review

Today's Blog will be a bit lighter in tone than some of my others as I wanted to throw in my two cents on what everyone has been saying about this summer's Predators, hopefully you'll enjoy my review.

Predators movie review

By Richard Serrao

Directed by Nimrod Antal

Originally taken from a story idea written By Robert Rodriguez

Writers: Alex Litvak and Michael Finch

Actors: Adrien Brody: Royce

Topher Grace: Edwin

Alice Braga: Isabelle

Laurence Fishburne: Noland

Oleg Taktarov: Nikolai

Danny Trejo: Cuchillo

When I had heard that Robert Rodriguez was rebooting the Predator Franchise I was pretty excited for several reasons:

Pros:

(1) Rodriguez has a really good track record for doing his best work when he's involved on all levels

(2) He also has this incredible ability to get the most from whatever budget he has to work with.

(3) The ability to take things in a movie so over the top but it still never becomes a cliched thing to laugh at instead of being wowed.

Cons:

(1) When a big studio becomes involved the movie usually suffers. EG: Faculty,Once Upon A Time In Mexico

(2) I later found out he wasn't directing the reboot.

(3) Aliens Versus Predators (Nuff Said)

Okay so this was from my initial reaction to the news of the reboot.

Now let's jump into the actual review of the flick.

Predators starts up with Royce( Adrien Brody) free falling into the atmosphere from an unknown height and immediately I got the sense this wasn't going to be another Predator versus Aliens fiasco.

I originally had my doubts about Brody being able to play a bad ass mercenary. I'm happy to say Brody did surprise me quite a bit with his performance. He looked the part,having bulked up with some serious weight training and being stuck on location for several months while training 5-7 days a week and not being able to have sex. In an interview I read with Brody he said this helped him get into and maintain his character during the film's shoot and I have to agree with him on this. He acted like a thinking man's bad ass and not some half cocked steroid jock with no brains kinda hero.

The movie then begins introducing each character as they fall from the sky joining the cast. I personally liked each of the characters and actors that portrayed them, especially Alice Braga, who continues to surprise and endear herself more and more each time I see her in a movie. It was nice seeing Trejo in Predators unfortunately I felt he was highly underused but that's what happens when you have so many cool characters mixing it up. You just know that some of them are going to get the short end of the stick and this time around it was Trejo's Cuchillo.

I won't get into any more spoilers other than to say this movie follows the conventions and rules set by the original with Arnold. Sure there were a lot of homages to the classic. Honestly I was too busy enjoying the film to be nitpicking about something as mundane a problem as this. The jungle looks hot and dangerous,the Predators are awesome looking,even though I had read somewhere that someone had compared them to very angry vaginas. I don't know about you but if I saw a vagina that was that angry I think I would run for the hills. My next question would be where the hell are you guys sticking your penises?.....

Okay getting back on topic.

The idea of the hunting grounds or preserve being a planet where all types of soldiers and animals from various races are sent to help the Predators refine their skills is a natural evolution to the original. The action is well paced,directed with skill and I enjoyed each actors performance.

This is a summer flick just like the original and while Arnold isn't in it I feel it's a worthy sequel or reboot or however you want to phrase it. I enjoyed it and would go back and see it again in a heart beat. If you're a fan of the original check Predators out and see for yourself.