The Daily Zombies: September 2014

Universal’s Classic Monsters by Nicolas Delort & Dark Hall Mansion - Undead Monday

Ahead of the impending All Hallows' Eve, we take a look at French artist Nicolas Delort's renditions on the very icons of Halloween themselves, the Universal's Classic Monsters, courtesy of Dark Hall Mansion.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Final Trailer

"It's true. All of it. The Dark Side, the Jedi. They're real." A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... The Force Awakens! Bid farewell to your mundane, functional life as Disney and Lucasfilm unleashed the third and final trailer of J. J. Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII during the halftime break of Monday Night Football.

Suicide Squad: New Images

Say you want some new shots of Jared Leto's upcoming incarnation of The Joker in David Ayer's Suicide Squad? Courtesy of the latest issue of Empire Magazine, you will get that and more. Taskforce X Assemble!

Sadako vs. Kayako (貞子 vs. 伽椰子): First Look - Undead Monday

What started out as an April's Fool joke is now an absurd horror film reality. Move away, Freddy vs. Jason. Brace yourself for Sadako vs. Kayako (貞子 vs. 伽椰子) as the two most deadly spirits that redefined J-Horror face off.

R. Sikoryak's The Unquotable Trump

Hot on the heels of Mark Hamill's nefarious and downright realistic take on Donald Trump's tweet, we now have the Presidential Elect's most infamous tweets further glorified to iconic status courtesy of artist R. Sikoryak's The Unquotable Trump.

Star Wars Portrait Series by Mike Mitchell & Mondo

FA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... Los Angeles-based artist Mike Mitchell collide with the world's largest franchise at the Mondo Gallery.

Darth Vader & 501st Legion vs. Aliens

With Spanish artist Guillem H. Pongiluppi's 501st Legion: Vader's Fist VS Space Cockroaches, we witness an astonishingly awesome illustration pitting the two of the most deadly scourges of any galaxy into the mother of all hellish war.

Inherent Vice: First Look

Posted by The Daily Zombies

What's up, Doc?

Brace yourself, fans of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, as critically acclaimed film-maker Paul Thomas Anderson steps in for one live-action adaptation of the well-received 2009 novel with a stellar star-studded cast spearheaded by Joaquin Phoenix as Private Investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello.

We here at The Daily Zombies are without a shadow of a doubt, cinematic fanatics (or cinephiles for that matter) and there is with zero shadow of a doubt that the next cinematic project of acclaimed film-maker Paul Thomas Anderson is going to be in our undead crosshairs no matter what the critics are babbling about. And given the fact that the subject on hand is writer Thomas Pynchon's acclaimed 2009 novel, Inherent Vice, there is no reason to suggest that we won't get to have a good nostalgic time with the crime comedy drama set in the 70s.

Here to lend weight to that assessment, Warner Bros. Pictures has released the first trailer of the film. Generating a jovial retro vibe not unlike that of David O. Russell's American Hustle, the film is certainly a tonal depart from Paul Thomas Anderson's recent darker works. And apart from making a spot-on presence, Joaquin Phoenix seems to make a jolly good and gruffly Logan with his hairdo and chops. Check out the amazing trailer right below.

Official images from the film.

The first poster for the film.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

“Inherent Vice” is the seventh feature from Paul Thomas Anderson and the first ever film adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel. When private eye Doc Sportello’s ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him in a looney bin…well, easy for her to say. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic `60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” that’s being way too overused – except this one usually leads to trouble. With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists… Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp – all Thomas Pynchon.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Martin Short, Jena Malone, and Joanna Newsom, Inherent Vice is set to be released on 12th December 2014.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown by Nicolas Delort & Dark Hall Mansion - Undead Monday

Posted by The Daily Zombies

This Halloween... kicks off this very Undead Monday with this amazing rendition of It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown by artist Nicolas Delort and Dark Hall Mansion.

Making good promise on their namesake, Dark Hall Mansion comes out kicking and screaming in a long line of horror-themed prints from Universal's Classic Monster last Halloween to the recently-unveiled Seminal Film Series and The Twilight Zone. With All Hallow's Eve in our immediate horizon, Dark Hall Mansion takes their first shot to celebrate the festivities with an unusual rendition courtesy of artist Nicolas Delort.

The last time we checked out Delort, we were looking at his dark and intricately detailed take on Werner Herzog’s “Nosferatu the Vampyre” released by London-based Black Dragon Press. In his latest work for Dark Hall Mansion, Delort continued his signature dark imagery on a particularly unsuspecting subject, Charlie Brown. Taking on the classic 1966 Halloween television special based on the timeless comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, "It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", Delort conjured a mesmerizing image just in time for the festive season. While focusing on Linus's wait for the Great Pumpkin, we can see Snoopy up in the air as World War I airman fighting the Red Baron while the rest of the Peanuts Gang on the far background engaging in their Trick-or-Treat activities.

Ever the resourceful purveyor of pop culture, Blurppy has managed to speak to Delort on the piece in their exclusive coverage. Check out the an excerpt of the interview right below.

BLURPPY: Well we are keeping our fingers crossed that you get some time to complete that “personal project” and we’d LOVE to see you do some official Harry Potter stuff. Ya know, they ARE coming out with the Harry Potter spin off, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” We could TOTALLY see you doing work with this property. We have to admit, this new print for DHM took our breath away. Theme wise, this is a polar opposite from ‘Nosferatu’ so what drew you to this project?

Nicolas Delort: I actually first heard about DHM through Laurent Durieux’s Charlie Brown prints and I absolutely loved what he did with them. I remember thinking “that’d be a fun job to do”. It was a challenge because Great Pumpkin is definitely more “subdued” in tone than what I usually do and I couldn’t resort to a dramatic composition to depict this little boy’s hopeful evening. So I tried to find a balance between my usual work and the more emotional tone of the cartoon, hopefully the image will resonate with Peanuts fans!

We implore you to head over to Blurppy for more on the interview as Delort touches on future projects, dream projects, and more. For now, check out below for all three astonishing versions of “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”, as well as some cool early drafts by Nicolas Delort.

“It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

By Nicolas Delort

18″ X 24″

Standard Edition Run of 280

$65

“It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

By Nicolas Delort

18″ X 24″

Variant Edition Run of 50

Includes a fantastic glow in the dark layer (seen below)

$100

“It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

By Nicolas Delort

18″ X 24″

Foil Edition Run of only 15

$150

Early sketch by Nicolas Delort for “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

Another early sketch by Nicolas Delort for “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

First draft for “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

Third draft for “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”

Here are the details from the official press release:

PRNewswire/Dark Hall Mansion, www.DarkHallMansion.com, welcomes an exceedingly gifted artist onboard for its officially licensed 2014 “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” print release, artist Nicolas Delort! Our limited edition screen prints for Charles M. Schulz’s Halloween masterpiece is like no other we’ve ever released.

Dark Hall Mansion, under license from Peanuts Worldwide, will release Nicolas Delort’s gorgeous interpretation of the annual classic that signals the holidays are upon us. Nicolas’ emotionally charged vision of a faithful Linus awaiting the visit of his beloved Great Pumpkin is pure pathos. His highly detailed linework well serves his hauntingly beautiful composition, truly making this year’s “Great Pumpkin” a singular and moving release.

There will be a Standard edition, a Variant edition with special Halloween GID (glow in the dark) layer, and a very select FOIL edition. Think you’ll
find his Halloween patch and pumpkins quite beautiful as they come alive via the Variant’s nighttime GID layer, or watch as they gleam within the negative space of the Foil edition, where pumpkin carvings and select brushstrokes by Nicolas will allow the foil to shine right through.

You may also view all on Dark Hall Mansion’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Hall-Mansion/212394752134162

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” limited edition screen prints go on sale next Thursday, October 2nd on Dark Hall Mansion’s dedicated store page here: http://www.darkhallmansionstore.com/ at a random time
between 9:30 AM PST and 12 PM PST.

Source: Dark Hall Mansion via Blurppy

Monday, September 29, 2014

Big Hero 6: New Trailers & Images

Posted by The Daily Zombies

With Walt Disney Animation Studios' Big Hero 6 set to be released in six weeks, the marketing machine is working hard to put over the much-anticipated animated film. The Daily Zombies takes another look at the animated film with the release of the new trailer.

And here we are, almost a year removed since Walt Disney Animation Studios captured thunder with their box-office smashing Frozen last year. Which only meant that we are at the verge of the release of the next money-printing franchise of the unstoppable machine.

In this case, we are of course talking about Big Hero 6, the first-ever Disney/Marvel collaboration that have been enticing us since our First Look at the animated film. With the characters taken from the otherwise little-known Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name based in Japan, the reimagining of the cinematic version of the team is set in a pseudo Land of the Rising Sun known as San Fransokyo (that's San Francisco collided with Tokyo for the uninformed). Thus far, there is no doubt that Disney is banking on the appeal of the film on Baymax, an extremely adorable, cuddly overweight robot (yes, that is such a thing known as overweight robot) that is right there with Olaf the Snowman in the Hall of Fame of infectiously hilarious animated Disney characters.

So with no further ado, here's the new trailer reemphasizing that fact.

In this promotion clip entitled "Emergency Preparedness", the pseudo PSA does what its title says: Preparing you for emergency with hilarious clips from the film.

And here's a clip that appeared to be the scene where Hiro first meet Baymax.

Here are the new posters for the animated film.

First up, the international posters.

New official images from the film.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Big Hero 6,” an action comedy adventure about brilliant robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who finds himself in the grips of a criminal plot that threatens to destroy the fast-paced, high-tech city of San Fransokyo. With the help of his closest companion—a robot named Baymax—Hiro joins forces with a reluctant team of first-time crime fighters on a mission to save their city. Inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, and featuring comic-book style action and all the heart and humor audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the CG-animated “Big Hero 6” hits theaters in 3D on November 7, 2014.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 - First Look - TGS 2014

Posted by The Daily Zombies

The Straw Hat Pirates are back for some kickass action courtesy of Omega Force and Bandai Namco's third installment of the wildly successful One: Pirate Warriors video game franchise. Announced at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS), The Daily Zombies takes a First Look at One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 with its first trailer.

Just when you thought the talented folks at Omega Force could not be too busy as they applies their tried-and-true combat 101 formula on Nintendo's beloved Zelda series and Square's Dragon Quest series in Zelda: Hyrule Warriors and Dragon Quest Heroes, respectively, here comes the game you knew is going to happen one way or the other: One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, the third installment of the wildly successful One: Pirate Warriors video game franchise. Also known as One Piece: Kaizoku Musou「ワンピース海賊無双」, a hack-and-slash game in the proud tradition of Koei's best-selling, long-running Dynasty Warriors franchise not unlike the earlier Hokuto Musou and Gundam Musou, the first two titles have been tremedously successful.

With the third title, it appears that we will be getting some additional plot development while filling up the storied history of One Piece mythology. Without further ado, check out the teaser trailer of the recently-announced title right below.

And for the first time ever, the title will also be hitting PlayStation 4, while simultaneously released for PlayStation 3 and Vita next year.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Blackhat: First Look

Posted by The Daily Zombies

Critically acclaimed film-maker Michael Mann returns after his long hiatus since 2009's Public Enemies with Blackhat, a globetrotting action thriller on the world of cybercrime. The Daily Zombies takes a First Look at the film courtesy of the release of its first trailer by Legendary and Universal.

Easily one of the most acclaimed film-makers of this generation, it has been painfully long since we last heard about Michael Mann (2009's Public Enemies). And we got to know that Mann will be taking on the subject of cybercrimes back when the Blackhat was known by its working title, Cyber, we are quite certain that we are in for some exhilarating times.

Courtesy of Legendary and Universal Pictures, the first trailer of Blackhat has been released online. Led by The Mighty Thor himself, Chris Hemworth, the trailer gave us a good sense of the globetrotting scope of the action thriller with Hong Kong being one of the most featured countries. In addition, Blackhat also boasts more than a few notable Chinese actors with Tang Wei and Wang Leehom getting their respective good share of screen time in the first trailer.

With no further ado, check out the trailer right below.

Official images from the film.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Set within the world of global cybercrime, Legendary’s Blackhat follows a furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners as they hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta. Directed and produced by Michael Mann, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Tang Wei and Wang Leehom, and it is written by Morgan Davis Foehl and Mann. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni produce alongside Mann, while Alex Garcia and Eric McLeod serve as the executive producers.

Blackhat is set to be released on 16th January 2015.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Kingsman: The Secret Service - New Trailer

Posted by The Daily Zombies

Here to remind us that director Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service is still alive and kicking following its constant predicament in settling down on an official release date, 20th Century Fox has released a brand new trailer of the spy action film.

Back in May, we took our First Look at Kingsman: The Secret Service, better known as the film that made Vaughn passed on the director chair for X-Men: Days of Future Past back to Bryan Singer. Being yet another live-action adaptation of a comic book series following Vaughn's 2010 live-action adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.'s Kick-Ass, as well as the remarkable X-Men: First Class in 2011, one might wonder what entice Vaughn in this particular project apart from the fact the title is also created by Mark Miller?

The question above is strictly rhetoric and we can perhaps only get to have a glimpse of the answer until 13th February. But based on the second trailer that has been recently released by 20th Century Fox, the film takes a depart from the regular action films with a precise focus on the super-suave Colin Firth kicking ass in good ol' British gentleman style with Taron Edgerton taking on the young punk-turned-spy role.

There are some pretty cool-looking action sequence complete with some obligatory funny one-liners from Samuel L. Jackson. Check out the new trailer right below.

With no further ado, here's the new trailer of the film.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class), Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

Kingsman: The Secret Service is currently scheduled to be released on 13th February 2015.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Gotham: Final Preview

Posted by The Daily Zombies

Come tomorrow night, we will be returning to where it all begun in Fox's Gotham, the origin story of a young rookie detective James Gordon in Gotham City courtesy of The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller. The Daily Zombies takes a final look at the much-anticipated TV series ahead of its premiere on 22nd September 2014.

With superheroes mythos hitting on all cylinders on both big and small screens of late, we can't help but recalled how Smallville opened up the markets of comic book adaptation despite the fact that the ten-season CW TV series lost its momentum trying to live up to its promise of depicting the adventures of Clark Kent before he truly get in the classic spandex and become Superman. Come tomorrow, a comic book live-action adaptation with remarkably similar concept will be premiering on Fox, and we are cautiously reserved about its prospects.

We have covered Fox's Gotham earlier on this year, and was relatively enticed by the mood and visual of the TV series though we are still on the fence over its necessity. Being major Batman fans here, we have absolutely zero issues with yet another mainstream depiction of the Dark Knight and one that attempts to start right at the beginning with the platform to slowly unravel the legendary elements of the Batman mythos is certainly welcome. And as a personal indulgence, I for one have to confess that I have been (slowly but surely) following showrunner Bruno Heller's The Mentalist despite its formulaic (and more often than not somewhat lazy) story-telling methods. With the incredibly rich mythos of easily one of the most iconic characters of the world, we are concerned over how Gotham can be tempted to go full-blown melodrama while fulfilling its obligatory fan-pleasing tasks of throwing as many characters as possible into it, an issue with the later seasons of Smallville. For example, the idea of Superman actually getting to take on Darkseid and his hordes from Apokolips before he even actually became Superman is absolutely ludicrous.

Which is why the news of an episodic tease of a character that might be the future Joker does not sit well with us. And since we are on the negative point here, we don't quite like the changing of Poison Ivy's name from Pamela Isley to Ivy Pepper for obvious reasons.

With that said, a weekly visit to Gotham is something we would want to sign up on any time of the year. And thus far, the series' cast and marketing campaign has been pretty encouraging. So without further ado, let's check out these cool trailers, TV spots, clips, featurettes, posters, images as we await the return of a live-action Dark Knight on the small screens tomorrow.

Kicking off, here's a Behind-the-scene featurette.

A snap TV spot highlighting the villains.

In particular, Fish Mooney, a new character created for the series and portrayed by Jada Pinkett, is the focus of the following featurette.

"You can't have organized crime without law and order."The lines between good and evil in Gotham City is explored in the following TV spot.

And here are a selected couple of clips featuring key scenes from the pilot episode.

First up, a look at Oswald Cobblepot's early criminal days with his boss, the aforementioned Fish Mooney.

Get a taste of the tension between Gordon and Bullock in the following clip.

An important scene in the history of the Dark Knight as depicted in the series in the following clip.

Here are the posters for the series, starting with the cool character portrait poster series.

The villains.

The official set images for the series.

Here’s the official synopsis for the series:

Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world’s greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon’s story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?

“Gotham” is an origin story of the great DC Comics super villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist,” “Rome”), “Gotham” follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time.

Growing up in Gotham City’s surrounding suburbs, James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, “Southland,” “The O.C.”) romanticized the city as a glamorous and exciting metropolis where his late father once served as a successful district attorney. Now, two weeks into his new job as a Gotham City detective and engaged to his beloved fiancée, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards, Open Grave, “Breaking In”), Gordon is living his dream – even as he hopes to restore the city back to the pure version he remembers it was as a kid.

Brave, honest and ready to prove himself, the newly-minted detective is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue, “Sons of Anarchy,” “Terriers,” “Vikings,” “Copper”), as the two stumble upon the city’s highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the scene of the crime, Gordon meets the sole survivor: the Waynes’ hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, Bruce (David Mazouz, “Touch”), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship. Moved by the boy’s profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer.

As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham’s criminal justice system, Gordon will confront imposing gang boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith, The Matrix films, “HawthoRNe,” Collateral), and many of the characters who will become some of fiction’s most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman (acting newcomer Camren Bicondova) and Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor, “The Walking Dead,” Another Earth).

Although the crime drama will follow Gordon’s turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, led by Police Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara, “Burn Notice”), it also will focus on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, Alfred (Sean Pertwee, “Camelot,” “Elementary”). It is a friendship that will last them all of their lives, playing a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the crusader he’s destined to be.

Gotham will be premiering on Fox tomorrow, 22nd September 2014.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Universal’s Classic Monsters by Nicolas Delort & Dark Hall Mansion - Undead Monday

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Final Trailer

Suicide Squad: New Images

Sadako vs. Kayako (貞子 vs. 伽椰子): First Look - Undead Monday

R. Sikoryak's The Unquotable Trump

Star Wars Portrait Series by Mike Mitchell & Mondo

Darth Vader & 501st Legion vs. Aliens

Inherent Vice: First Look

It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown by Nicolas Delort & Dark Hall Mansion - Undead Monday

Big Hero 6: New Trailers & Images

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 - First Look - TGS 2014

Blackhat: First Look

Kingsman: The Secret Service - New Trailer

Gotham: Final Preview

Presented in Zombie-Vision TV

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Final Trailer

Darth Vader & 501st Legion vs. Aliens

7 Zombie Survival Tactics That Will Get You Killed

Star Wars Portrait Series by Mike Mitchell & Mondo

Sadako vs. Kayako: Zombie of the Week

Sadako vs. Kayako (貞子 vs. 伽椰子): First Look - Undead Monday

Captain America: Civil War - First Look

Suicide Squad: New Images

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Final Trailer

Facebook of the Dead

Death Toll Or Rather Lack Thereof...

Undead United

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