I don't wanna die at James Franco's house...

This is the End

Rating: 4/5

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride and Emma Watson
Director: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Year: 2013
  
After reading a feature in Total Film magazine about an upcoming film focusing on various post Apatow celebrities and how they would deal with the apocalypse, I was genuinely excited. Having been in love with Judd Apatow’s graduates including Seth Rogen, Jason Segel et al since Freaks and Geeks, Superbad and Knocked Up, this was the factor that attracted me the most. The other was the mystery, the audience knew very little about the plot; only that a party was being thrown at James Franco’s house and the famous celebrities are faced with the apocalypse. I had many questions in my mind before seeing this film including how the world would end, the running plot strands of the film and who would or wouldn’t survive.

This is the End is a remake of a short film Jay and Seth versus the apocalypse. I absolutely loved the opening of the film as immediately we are introduced to two characters, Jay and Seth. Seth lives in LA and is picking his friend Jay up from the airport, who doesn’t like LA and instantly I knew this film was going to centre on their friendship. Seth feeling bored wants to take Jay out for the night and so convinces him to go to a party in his good friend James Franco’s house. There we see various famous faces including Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Aziz Ansari, Martin Starr, Jason Segel and Paul Rudd. The face that stood out the most to me was of course Michael Cera. I was blown away with his performance as Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim VS the World, and in every scene that he appeared in this film he stole it. I doubt I’ll ever be able to look at this actor in the same way again. After the ‘disaster’ scene, where a sink hole opens up outside Franco’s house and swallows plenty of guests, we are left with five main characters: Seth, Jay, James, Jonah and Craig who all take refuge inside Franco’s house to await out the end of the world. Danny McBride later joins in the fun, however after eating most of their food and ‘enjoying’ himself with James’ magazines gets kicked out. As the food and water dwindles, so do the celebs, with some going to heaven we are left wondering what fate has in store for Jay and Seth.

I really liked this film and did not stop laughing throughout. I felt that it was really well written. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen know comedy and have a special talent for writing comedies for the younger generation. I seen this film with my fiancé opening week and immediately wanted to see it again.

The toilet humour and slapstick jokes are not for everyone, however it is a wild ride and I found myself watching the film and constantly thinking what could possibly happen next? That is what I liked overall, having no idea of what twist or turn was in store. If you liked the 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad etc then you will like this film. It isn’t supposed to be taken seriously and can be considered as a bit over the top, but I think its all part of the fun and those involved in the film look like they are having the time of their life. 

The Walking Dead

 

This was always a show which I was really interested in watching, having had a love of Zombie films including Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Zombieland et al. I can remember seeing it advertised but it just seemed to be one show which I never seemed to get around to watching. My other half managed to obtain the first season and then urged me to watch it and it is one of my current favourites and I haven’t even started season three yet!
 

The show is based on a series of graphic novels and follows Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who wakes up alone in hospital after being shot whilst on duty. He makes his way out into the world only to find it isn’t the same place that he left and that the world has been taken over my zombies. As he realises that he is entirely alone he decides to travel to Atlanta to search for his family, meeting fellow survivor Glenn, who takes Rick to a camp outside of town. We are introduced to a group of people who seem to be the last survivors, it is there that Rick finds his wife Lori, son Carl and friend Shane, who all work together to fight off the zombies and try to survive.

This show has finished airing its third season on Fox and season four is due to start in October. I thought season one was quite hard to get into at first and eventually it did pick up; however season two is far superior in my opinion. I think this is where the writers knew what worked for them and you can certainly see that they had a much bigger budget to play with. The Walking Dead is a firm favourite among its fans, with many saying that it succeeds the graphic novels.

I was having a discussion with my fiancé the other night and I was talking about the characters and how I actually don’t have a firm favourite with The Walking Dead, which is unusual. Every other show that I watch I always manage to identify with a particular character though I do have a few favourites within the group. I was also advised not to get too attached to any characters, as the writers don’t plan to keep the same cast for too long. I like this theory that ‘anything can happen’.One character who I particularly dislike is Andrea. The whole time I have been watching season two she has turned into someone who I don’t recognise, it seems that after her sister was killed she has turned into ‘one of the boys’ and a gun wielding maniac! However, I did like the chemistry between her and Shane during this time. It seemed as if the two outsiders came together and defied the others by being the bad guys. I think they also enjoyed playing everyone off against each other.  

The Walking Dead is an addictive programme and one which is well constructed. I think that the cast are fantastic and each plays their roles so well. It is one show which I could quite happily watch an entire series in a day, something I would love to do. If you haven’t caught this great series already then please start watching it, you won’t regret it.