Why Is Z Nation Not Dead In The Water?

*Spoilers from the first episode of Z Nation*

Z Nation has been on my watch list for a while and after watching the first episode last night I can swiftly remove it.

Z Nation takes place during a zombie apocalypse and initially follows Lt. Mark Hammond (Harold Perrineau) as he transports Murphy (Keith Allan), who may be the only person that can save the human race, to a lab in California with the help of Citizen Z (DJ Qualls). Along his travels he encounters a group of survivors including Sergeant Charles Garnett (Tom Everett Scott) and Lieutenant Roberta Warren (Kellita Smith) who decide to aid him in his quest. If you hadn't already noticed I love zombie fiction and even the stuff I admit isn't quite good *cough*Fear The Walking Dead*cough* I make attempts at watching more than one episode. That isn't the case with Z Nation. I did wonder if it was because The Walking Dead has ruined any zombie show for me but I've come to the realisation that that is not the case, Z Nation is just plain bad.

The Path May Lose Its Way

*Spoilers for season one of The Path*

Streaming media seems to be where it is at these days, auteurs are given greater creative freedom and aren't bogged down by the standard run time and censorship that conventional television stations have to adhere to. Some of the shows that they come out with are great, some are more questionable, but one thing that is certain is that viewers are lapping it up. When you think a streaming television service everyone's mind jumps firstly to Netflix and secondly to Amazon Instant Video, especially in the UK because they seem to be the only two major ones we have access to. There are actually others out there, including Hulu and I heard about one of it's latest offerings and was intrigued. The Path starring Aaron Paul, Hugh Dancy and Michelle Monaghan to name a few premiered in March and was quickly renewed so I had to check it out.

The Path follows the exploits of a "religious" movement *cough*cult*cough* called Meyerism, and although the creator has denied that Meyerism isn't inspired by Scientology it seems an awful lot like Scientology. Go ahead, flame me Scientology interweb dwellers. The protagonist Eddie Lane (Aaron Paul) begins to have doubts about his faith following a religious retreat in Peru, this is a complicated matter because his "religion" doesn't take kindly to people that doubt their faith, dubbing them deniers and ostracising them. Due to this he has a fear of speaking out as his devout wife Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) and children also belong to the "religion" and leaving the movement would mean also leaving his life with them, and this is the only life he knows. If matters weren't worse already he also has to tend with the cult leader Cal (Hugh Dancy) who has feelings for his wife and would do what he can to plant a wedge in between the two.

When Marnie Was There

Over the weekend I had a tough choice to make, I'd received a voucher for 50% off at Odeon and I had to decide what film I wanted to watch. I've started to favour a small Odeon in Covent Garden, it never seems too busy even with big blockbusters but because it's smaller it means fewer screens and less choice. My options were The Nice Guys, X-Men: Apocalypse and When Marnie Was There. All I knew about The Nice Guys is that it's a crime comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe but I wasn't prepared to waste a voucher on a film that could be stupid funny rather than genuine funny. The obvious option with me would be X-Men: Apocalypse, I ingest a lot of comic book adaptations and this would just be adding to the list but something put me off. Probably the fact I knew it would be absolute rubbish. When Marnie Was There was the winner.

When Marnie Was There is a animated Studio Ghibli film that was originally released in 2014. I've never been inclined to watch the work of Ghibli, not because I'm not a fan but because I've never been that interested in animated features. Whenever I did watch them it was usually in passing, I never actively sought them out. Other than Finding Nemo. And Toy Story. Tears. After watching When Marnie Was There I had to message an array of people to recommend the film and they in turn recommended other Ghibli flicks to me so if I don't post for a while it's because I'm hoarding Ghibli works and locking myself away with them. I've been late to the game before (a lot) but I've never regretted it this much, I wish I had gotten into it earlier because the film was superb.

I Really Wanted To Love The Strain

I have stated my adoration with Guillermo del Toro before, I think I fell in love with his work even before I knew I loved film. Even though I have an obsession for him I put off watching the 2014 adaptation of his co-written novel, The Strain. I did still purchase the season one DVD when it was released and ever since then it has been gathering dust sitting atop my shelf, but the summertime slump in television got to me so I picked it up and binged. I almost loved it for a while there.

The Strain follows Dr. Ephram Goodweather (Corey Stoll), a doctor for the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and prevention), and his merry band of misfits as they fight a growing strain of a vampire virus that it sweeping over New York. Eph's group includes colleagues Jim Kent (Sean Astin) and Dr. Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) who have made the discovery of the virus with him and are attempting to find a cure for it. Others adopted into the fold include Vasiliy Fet (Kevin Durand), a rat catcher with an admiration for dynamite, and hacker Dutch Velders (Ruda Gedmintas) who inadvertently aided the vampires to take over New York and has now switched over to the good side. The group are aided in their quest by the ever watchable Professor Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley), a holocaust survivor who has an in depth knowledge of the virus and has a long standing grudge against patient zero and the loyal servant that aids him, Thomas Eichhorst (Richard Sammal).

AMC's Preacher Would Make Me Go To Church

If you've been living under a rock then you might have missed the onslaught of comic book and graphic novel adaptations that have been taking over the big screen as well as the small. This year we've already had four Marvel and DC releases in theatres with another two yet to arrive, as well as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On television Marvel and DC have a combined total of eleven on going series, not including shows that are yet to premiere as well as numerous others originating from other publishing houses. Preacher is a new edition to that list and as of right now it seems like a cut above the rest.

It has only aired three episodes so far and it already stands out from it's peers. It's in the Deadpool section of this comic book adaptation craze, it isn't shackled by political correctness or a younger skewing target audience. I was unfamiliar with the comic book series and only initially heard about it through Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg who were tapped to adapt it. I essentially grew up with the two and their stoner comedies, loving most of their efforts so much that I managed to write a six thousand word essay on drug comedies. No, I did not tell my tutor that they were the inspiration. The duo adapting the series intrigued me and I was looking forward to checking it out. It wasn't what I expected.

Any Human Heart: Mini-Series Vs. Novel

*Spoilers for for the novel and the mini-series of Any Human Heart*

I recently professed my new but undying love for the novel Any Human Heart which is a compilation of fictional journals by Logan Mountstuart, a novel that proved that "every life if both ordinary and extraordinary". I had purchased the mini-series prior to the novel and it's been sitting on my shelf gathering a large amount of dust and after reading the novel I was quite happy for it to gather even more. Although I was aware that there was some critical acclaim for the series I was afraid that my love for the novel would make my opinion about the series biased, I would feel that the series paled in comparison. I had nothing to fear.

I recently had a birthday and rather than be fun and celebrate I decided to take a few days off of work to stay at home. I planned on it being a lazy few days where I'd accomplish something which I love, mass procrastination. It was not to be, I saw a light shining on the DVD and for some reason I couldn't resist. I popped it in the player and sat atop my bed for several hours ingesting the mini-series in one binge watch session. I've already lived with Mountstuart, loved with him, grieved with him and died with him so what impact could the mini-series really have for me? I feared that it would dilute the events that happened in the novel but it didn't, it opened my eyes a little more.