259: Warm Bodies (2013)

SPEAKER_00 0:04

All you need is love. Love. Love is all you need.

SPEAKER_04 0:09

Love is all you need. Bravo, bravo.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hack or Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. What am I doing with my life? If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

A total joke? A waste of time.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Or a slash. Totally killer, pun intended. We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

I wish I could introduce myself, but I can't remember my name anymore.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

And the paranormal paramour Binks. God, we move slow. This could take a while. Love is in the air and clearly on our patrons' minds this week as they voted to decide which movie we're covering. Before we draw back Cupid's Bow, though, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Let's follow up on a movie. We actually recently reviewed Friday the 13th, part six, Jason Lives, uh, which actually got a universal slash from us.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Hell yeah, it did. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

And we wanted to hear uh what our listeners thought, and let me tell you, it was not unanimous. Uh 23% of our listeners rated it a hack, while 73% rated it a slash.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

You know, there is some controversy here. There was a lot of I love it, there's a lot of I fucking hate it, it's trash. I mean, probably because they're so tired of Jason continuing to live. They're just waiting for this man to die already. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

I guess so. It was a fun movie, though. I thought it was fun.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

It was. Friday the 13th, part 13. Jason expires. Hey. Corey Cunningham takes over.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Oh, oh no. Well, we do have some comments from our listeners. And Stevie B. Cha Cha says this movie cranks everything up to a 10. Good action, good kills, one of my fave Friday sequels.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

A ten is a ten is right, including the camp and the comedy and the RV sex.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

I just think of uh Spinal Tap and say, but these all go to 11.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Oh god.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Uh Rob says, This is the best in the franchise. It's campy and fun, just what I want from a Friday the 13th film.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Rob will never stop evangelizing this movie.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Wow, it's really uh quite the statement to put it as the best in the franchise.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I beg to differ, but here we are. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Sick Puppy Seth, sick name, uh says it was a fun movie. Not the best, but at least I wasn't falling asleep trying to watch it.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Oh, for sure. It's no inception.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah, for sure. I mean, it was definitely a fun movie. I agree. EC says, Once we get there, the series no longer feels like it's a Halloween ripoff, but something that's its own.

SPEAKER_06 2:51

It only took how many movies to get there though? Six. I mean, I love I love this movie, but also let's, you know, six.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

To be fair, I do think it got there sooner than this movie, personally. But I will say that for for it to give EC that kind of feeling, I think it speaks to the quality of this one.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Yeah, for sure. But you know, even in this one, there were still nods to Halloween. But I digress. We have some new patrons. Welcome, Thomas and Justine.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Nice. Welcome, welcome. And you're stuck with us forever now. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Forever. And that's uh our follow-up.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Well, welcome, Thomas, Justine. Can't wait to see what you nominate for your patron pick, but let's get to this month's patron nomination. Now the patron voting this month featured a tie race between a warrior battling a predator, a haunted house, and an alternative take on Romeo and Juliet. The polls came down to the wire though, and we're nearly in a fifty-fifty deadlock up until the last moment. The winning film tells the tale of a zombie saving a woman from an attack and the spark that seems to exist between them. This week, after winning by a margin of two votes, we're talking about Summit Entertainment's Warm Bodies.

SPEAKER_06 3:56

So this movie was nominated by Nathan, who said, I think Warm Bodies is a unique pick for Hackerslash because it encompasses multiple genres. It's horror, but it's also romance, and it's also a comedy. It's also a unique take on the zombie genre. We usually see humans turn into zombies, but what if you're able to connect to the human that's left within the zombie and pull it back? This movie explores that.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Well, we'll see how it shapes up for the rest of us, but for now, who's seen this one before?

SPEAKER_06 4:24

Yeah, so me. Definitely, multiple times. Let me explain why a bit. So I had a big Skins UK phase in college. Skins UK specifically, have to be specific, because there was an American version and it was Hike trash. And so Nicholas Holt is like the main star. I think it might have even been his breakout role, really, in television. So have always followed Nicholas Holt since that show. And so Warm Bodies has actually been one of my favorite movies for a long time. And I would watch it so often because of course I own it on DVD like I do most movies. And it's kind of cool because it really actually just celebrated its 10-year anniversary recently. So that's awesome. I've never read the book that this is based off of, but maybe I'll get to that this month because I I definitely want to explore that a bit.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Hmm. So you know Nicholas Holt from Skins, this what I presume to now to be a TV show. And I learned about him from About a Boy, so I guess we're just two different people.

SPEAKER_06 5:16

Yeah, when you think of what Skins is really about, definitely very different.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Can I just add is I feel like everything is based off a book. Everything is based off a book. It just blows my mind.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Everything is based off of the same three literary concepts, and that's about it.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

It's a good point.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Listen, I've definitely seen this one before. It's been a minute for sure, but I I definitely remember seeing it when it first came out. We're coming up on its 10-year anniversary, and it really doesn't feel like I saw this 10 years ago. I've definitely seen it a few times. My wife really loves this movie, and so we watch it um we do we have watched it a few times over the last however many years. Uh I love zombies. I love zombies. I said I was talking about it earlier. I love uh I love vampires, I love witches, those three things. I mean, uh any you put those things in any movie, and I'm all over it.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Oh, fantastic. I love that for you, Sean. And I love that your wife loves this movie. I feel like it tracks with her other summit entertainment tastes. I approve. I've seen this movie a couple times, once when it came out in 2013, but I've also seen it as recently as maybe 2016, so not very recently, now that I say that out loud. But I feel like I remember this movie from front to back. You know what I mean? I remember it being fun, I remember it being serviceable. I didn't immediately fall in love with it the way that I think some people have, but I remember it being a fun ride. Uh that made me nervous though, because I had so many of these moments in my head that I felt that watching this again, it maybe wouldn't hold up as much as I would hope it would.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Yeah, I I think that's fair. I I I feel like I have that fear all the time. Like if it's a movie I remember enjoying and I haven't seen it in a while. Man, I feel like a lot of often more often than not, I end up feeling like the movie didn't hold up the second time around or whatever. But you know, I I I do I do remember my wife really loving this movie. I enjoyed this movie. Uh, you know, we really enjoyed it. She loves it so much that she really wanted to add it to our Halloween movie list, which to me, I'm sorry, just doesn't make a whole lot of sense because we have so many Halloween movies to get through. To add that to the list just is kind of like extra. I have a hard time already trying to get through that movie list as it is in 31 Days. I do remember having a good time with the movie, you know, knowing kind of what the movie's about, I'm expecting the movie to be a really, you know, cutesy 80s teen zombie romance with a little bit of gore to top it off.

SPEAKER_06 7:47

Yeah, I you know, I'd agree. This isn't necessarily a Halloween movie, but it's definitely a Valentine's movie. That's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 7:55

Yeah, this is this was picked just in time for the right time, right month. You know, you said that you haven't seen this movie in a long time, Chris. Although I've seen it a lot. I actually haven't seen it in the last like maybe two to three years. So I was really expecting to like really feel the nostalgia, was so excited to re-watch it. And I I figured, you know, maybe I'd feel a little differently, you know. I've gone through some things, feel a little jaded just a little bit. Oh no. So perhaps, you know, maybe I'd be like a little emo girl about it, right? So I don't know. Uh but nonetheless, this movie always is gonna be a one that I'm like excited to watch. It's gonna be a feel-good, so I was expecting to still get that kind of emotion out of it.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Yeah. I mean, look, let's just set the record straight here. Feelings just were abound for me watching this movie, but mostly positive. I found myself not only enjoying the comedy that's baked into the movie as subtle in some ways and as overt in other ways that it can be, but I found myself really feeling like, damn, this is way better of an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet than I recall, while also being different enough, right? Like this movie actually made me put on the version of Romeo and Juliet from the 90s right after it. Oh, yeah. Because it just put me in that, it just put me in that mood. You know what I mean? I was feeling like I was looking for love.

SPEAKER_06 9:17

Yeah, you know, like I just said, I think that in terms of what I felt throughout the movie is exactly that. It it was what I expected, the nostalgia. I mean, it's so fun. And to be honest, you don't necessarily like overtly realize that you're watching a Romeo and Juliet type of situation. I mean, there's definitely some Easter eggs, right? Like, you kind of know this, but it's not in your face like all the other like adaptations or remakes or whatever you want to call it, right? I think it's just a feel-good movie. It's funny, it's cute. So I was I was feeling all the hee hees, you know, like, oh, this is cute. I like it.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Not the hee hees. The hee hees, not the little emo girl going, hee hee.

SPEAKER_06 9:55

Yeah, I guess I wasn't so emo after all, is I guess what I'm trying to say. Wow, it's like she feels. I know. Look at that.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, it's like the movie is living up to its name, right? Like you're just getting that warmth.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

How crazy.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

You know, I really enjoyed the concept of getting in the mind of the zombie. That I really enjoyed that, right? I really enjoyed getting both sides of the story kind of intertwined throughout the film. It was really cool to see the film come from both angles to tell the story. Um, that was one thing that I really enjoyed. Um I gotta say though, the propaganda in this film, you see, this is like the problem with humans. We just turn everything into a dictatorship.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

You know, it really be that way sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

You know, you just it just speaks to like you guys can't trust people, man. People fucking suck. You just can't trust these people out there. I always ask myself, like, what what would I be doing in this scenario, right? Like if I was in a zombie apocalypse, would I be part of like this new society following some asshole pushing his own agenda? Or would I be like out there putting it all on the line every day, killing zombies and really just living life?

SPEAKER_06 11:07

Yeah, you see, I don't have much of a choice. I have to be with you know the asshole. Yeah, I have to follow in his footsteps. And then maybe from the inside, I kind of like, you know, I take over. I get a whole clan together and I, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

You're giving Leader of the Rebellion in Hunger Games. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 11:21

Are we shocked though?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Nice.

SPEAKER_06 11:23

Not even remotely. Right, right. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

But you know, they're just really in this film, there really is a good balance of humor and romance. Like it's not enough to be considered like, you know, just horror, just horror comedy, just horror romance. It's truly like a little bit of all of it, right? And it was just really well balanced.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

You know, it really was balanced. I think that's actually one of the best parts about it because so often we can find like a horror comedy or horror insert other subgenre here that just feels so decidedly one way that it's really hard to get into literally anything else about the movie. But this movie does really play along these lines of building tension, of getting you invested in the characters. And one of the things that even surprised me was that I remember specifically hating a character, and I realized I must be projecting from who this character is actually related to because I don't I didn't fucking mind him that much. I was like, oh wait, the backstory is tragic and he's not as much of a dick as I remember. The other element of that is that nothing in the movie itself surprised me aside from that feeling. I remembered every moment, I remembered every chomp, I remembered every line, every joke that made me laugh originally. But what does surprise me about that is how much it did hold up, and I still found it just as entertaining in spite of that. And I think that speaks to the quality of those moments.

SPEAKER_06 12:43

Yeah. Interesting in terms of what you were talking about earlier, because I've actually felt the exact opposite. So I can't wait for us to get into that.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Nice, spicy.

SPEAKER_06 12:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. What I felt I was most surprised about, despite having seen this movie so often, and what there's a there's something specific about this movie that is what resonates the most with me, and it's the soundtrack. Man, when you watch this movie, you're gonna have such a good time, at the very least, with the soundtrack. When I was re-watching it, it was like, man, this soundtrack is so freaking good. And I know this about this movie, right? It's like I feel like people attach the soundtrack and warm bodies as far as like um an identity, right? So when you think of oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm about to do this, of course. Twilight is known for its very good soundtrack, you know, just putting it out there. I think that's we can all agree on that.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Listen, if you think that's the last time Twilight is coming up in this episode, don't. I mean, we're it's gonna keep coming.

SPEAKER_06 13:40

I'm just saying, but you know what I'm talking about? Like how there are certain movies that you know them because it's got just like a killer soundtrack. Warm bodies is one of those movies. And although I've seen it so many times, it still gets me every time. Today I was listening to that soundtrack from beginning to end. It it's such a great vibe, it fits so well with it. So, man, I I was pleasantly surprised by how it still had that effect on me.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

I'm completely floored that you cannot buy this soundtrack on the vinyl. It's a crime, illegal, jail.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

That is crazy. And you know what, Binks, you took the words out of my mouth. The soundtrack really blew me away. And when a soundtrack is good in a in a movie, it really hits different. Um, this soundtrack had so much depth to it. You had Bob Dylan, Guns N' Roses, Bon Ivers, Scorpions, The Boss, fucking Bruce, Bruce Springsteen. Like you had it's crazy. You had so much depth in music, and I gotta say, you know, uh Dave Franco, he must be a John Waite fan because for some reason he has uh Missing You and Midnight City by M83 in two of his movies, 21 Jump Street and Warm Bodies.

SPEAKER_06 14:47

It's a thing, it's a thing. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Yeah, he's a fan of it. It's interesting, but you know what? You know what I was really surprised about? I didn't know the dude from My Chemical Romance was in this movie. I'm just kidding. No, I'm just kidding. It's Nicholas Holt. It's just the look that he gave off just instantly reminded me of My Chemical Romance. But you know, he just really did a good job. I'm just kidding. Uh he Nicholas Holt did a good job. It's just the first thing that came to mind when I saw R in the in the film.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

I'll tell you what, though, I just re-watched the trailer for Renfield that's coming out in April after watching this movie. And there's a moment where Nicholas Holt is also in a red-ish jacket with some blue jeans, and I thought, here he goes again.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Nice. Just pulling off those vibes. Yeah, it's a good look for him. R, right, in this care in this movie. He also surprisingly, I know we're talking about the soundtrack, but R surprisingly had a really good vinyl collection.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

He did. He had a good everything collection. I I saw R, and there's a moment where R, you know, is referred to as a collector of things, and I thought, this is me.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

This is me as a zombie, but taller and more attractive. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Yeah, the birds, Joni Mitchell, again, Guns and Roses. Come on, good stuff. Good stuff.

SPEAKER_06 15:56

A man of good taste. A zombie of good taste.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

I know there's some Easter eggs in the film, right? The the the the thing that I loved the most was R holding up the uh DVD of uh Lucio uh Fulci's zombie.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Oh, the face comparison?

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Yes, yes. That I love that film. I just I don't know. I love that film. I even have I was wearing the shirt, I think, when we were recording the last episode.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

You really were. You were. Yeah. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Yeah. So I love I love that.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

I love that little uh look at you manifesting shit for us.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

So good.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

An obvious thing about this movie is that it's a zombie movie that is not gonna scare you at all. Uh there's a lot of comedy, there's a lot of romance, but I don't even I don't even know that there's really any jump scares in here.

SPEAKER_06 16:42

I don't think so. I I I really don't think so. There is an antagonist that could be kind of intimidating, but it's not the the point of the movie is not really to scare you at all. You're too caught up in the romance and everything to feel the fear.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 16:55

But there's definitely like a creepy antagonist, but not not to the level of other movies that we've reviewed.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Yeah, there's no there's no real fright factor here. The film is a lot of things, but what it isn't is frightening. Um the film does really not have jump scares, but what it replaces jump scares for is like, you know, teen romance, gruesome grit for dark comedy, right? It blends that all together, but it doesn't really make the film scary at all.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

It doesn't, but I will say that one of the most frightening things that, you know, is considered like a a source. Yeah, kind of like the great grandfather of this movie would be obviously Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. And I was very happy that even within this, I haven't read The Warm Bodies book, but it looks like this not only deviated from that book, but also did enough to deviate from the traditional things that you would expect from Romeo and Juliet, and just really carving out all the toxicity of that story.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

And so I found that, you know, we talk about zombie movies, we talk about, you know, horror romance, horror comedies, you think about Tucker and Dale versus Evil. I feel like this is something that is very, very different, even though it's combining so many things from other subgenres.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

I love what you said there because I think that where this film gets its originality from is its fresh new take on that sort of mashup between Romeo and Juliet and some like 80s teen movie set in a like a post-apocalyptic zombie backdrop, right? Like deep down, we've all seen this kind of thing before, just not the undead cut.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

Not the undead cut. Nice, nice, nice.

SPEAKER_06 18:30

I think that's kind of why I said earlier, like it's it's not overtly Romeo and Juliet, aside from character names and like you know, the overall basis. Like when I think of this movie, it's kind of like Romeo and Juliet is maybe like the bones of the body, right? You it's like the foundation of the story, but like the blood and tissue of the body is the concept of humanity, right? And like being able to be in the mind of the main character as he like realizes that he's you know starting to feel human again, is starting to connect, like starting to feel something, love, you know, all of these things that I don't I mean, sure, so subvertly, maybe that's the story of Romeo and Juliet in some ways too, whatever, but we don't get that in a zombie movie, you know? So I I don't know, I haven't read the book. I don't know kind of like what the differences are in that way, but um, I'd say that this concept and being able to be in the mind of a zombie that is starting to feel human again. When have we seen another movie like that?

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Yeah, listen, maybe the Beatles do have their place in a zombie apocalypse because all you need is love.

SPEAKER_04 19:41

Look at that.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Love is all you need.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Love is all you need.

SPEAKER_04 19:45

Bravo, bravo.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

I will say though that one of the best things about this movie is I think its approach to the ending. When you consider all the ways that this movie could have ended, when you think of all the possible routes or solutions there were there were that existed for this story, I'm so glad they went with the one they did.

SPEAKER_06 20:02

It's interesting. I I feel like I only saw it going one certain way. Maybe because I I the air of it felt so optimistic. And again, considering its foundation and its source material-ish, like sure it could have been, but I never doubted it for one minute. I think it's it's that light-hearted ending. It's a rom-com ultimately, right? And and for the most part, rom coms in the way that they are like structured don't necessarily end on such a like a sad note. And with it being a zombie film, you know, we we're gonna get a little action in there.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Let's let's be clear though. This may be a rom com, but there was not a meat cute. What do you mean there wasn't a meat cute? That was a meat filthy. Oh. One of them was real cute.

SPEAKER_06 20:41

Okay, but I thought it was kind of but I thought it was kind of cute.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Was it cute in in theory, sure, but it w they weren't both looking cute.

unknown 20:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

It's test it's it's really it's really testing the boundaries, you know, of these of these genres coming together. It would have felt just felt really awkward if it ended on a uh on a dark note or on a sad note. It's not that it couldn't have maybe worked, but it just wouldn't have hit the same. I think I really enjoyed the ending to the film because it it really did just hit all the feels, right? I I don't have any qualms with it. I feel like it was it did all the right things, it made you feel good, you didn't you didn't need anything more from the film, and I think that made it successful.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Well, let's see if it was so successful that it bodes for a positive rating for this movie. But before we get there, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Uh, you know, this film does a really good job at giving you just enough gore to satisfy that zombie itch. Like not but not quite enough to make it truly gruesome or horrific, right? So uh you see some kills, but the way it's edited almost, right? It it cut away right at the kill moment, and it effectively takes away from the impact of the gore, and not in a bad way, right? Like it still makes it for a really good watch. Um, overall, I would say this gets a medium gore score just because I I mean there are zombies. Zombies, and we all know that you can't have zombies without people getting eaten.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

But what about the Animal Report?

SPEAKER_06 22:05

Happy to report that we are completely safe in this movie.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Alright, well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings then. Warm bodies from 2013, nominated by Nathan and voted on by the rest of the patrons. Was it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Here's the thing. Here's what this movie does really well. It takes you on a teenage romance with heavy 80s undertones set in a post-apocalyptic zombie backdrop. I said it before. The film has everything you want in a feel-good movie: horror, romance, comedy, zombies, drama, death. It has it all. And it doesn't go too heavy on any of it. It's very well balanced. It's a slash for me.

SPEAKER_06 22:44

Look, I'm gonna keep mine a little short and sweet because I think we can kind of get an idea of how I feel about this movie from the beginning. But just to kind of do a little sales pitch here, and a little elevator pitch, right? For me, it's that at the end of the day, this movie is not a full-blown horror movie whatsoever by any means. And I think we've established that pretty clearly. But here's my thing is this a totally killer movie to warm your cold heart? The answer is yes, absolutely. It's fun, it's comedy, it's Romeo and Juliet, but there are a lot of frickin' dead people, you know? And at one point there's a weed whacker just going and slaying. Love it, you know? So so quite frankly, you're gonna get the best of both worlds. It's a little cheesy, it's a little, you know, it's it's romance, but it's a movie that you can just sit down and enjoy, feel good, and at the very least, that soundtrack, wow, just incredible. So I have to say it's a slash. I would recommend it to anyone. And I know that I sometimes kind of bring this up in a few of our past episodes and movies when I talk about horror movies that you might want to introduce to people that aren't like very into the genre or kind of want to dip their toes. This is that movie. So if you can walk away with this with anything in terms of this episode, at least walk away with this. Warm bodies, a good intro movie.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

You know, it's funny. I was actually going to just start my uh rating for this movie by talking about how it is a great gateway drug into the genre. It is something that's like a good um, you know, dip your toe in, the water's not too cold around these parts. You can start learning how to swim a little bit before you go into the deep end. I think what's best about this movie is that it does just enough to give us really good effects and a good look for the zombies. The performance themselves of the zombies I really enjoy. We think about things like, you know, some of these more intense zombie films like Army of the Dead, where you get really intricate. There's a lot of lore behind the zombies. What this movie does is wield simplicity and spread its quality and spread its focus on the storytelling in several different places. So it doesn't just have great zombies and then sucks and everything else. It doesn't just have great comedy but then misses the mark on the gore. This movie, I actually have very few negative things to say, if any at all. It's absolutely a slash. Now, with that, Warm Bodies from 2013 is nominated and chosen by our patrons. Heads are under Universal Slash. You can find this movie streaming online, so go check it out. Then join us in the second half so we can warm up that heart together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_06 25:25

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SPEAKER_01 26:22

Welcome back, folks. You are now entering the spoiler zone for warm bodies, which has earned a universal slash. Now we have a lot to get to here, but before we dive into the specifics of our ratings, let's go through the kills.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Hey, listen, we we actually have a pretty high kill count in this film.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Bro, you got to. It's zombies.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Yeah, you wouldn't necessarily notice it, but this movie really racks up the bodies. There's something like I I want to say 35 kills in this film. Kills by zombies, bonies, humans, you name it.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

It's a lot. I mean, it is on the shorter end of the of the zombie kill counts that we've that we've had in the past, but I think there's plenty of action in here to enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Oh yeah, absolutely. There's a lot of death in the film. There's a there's definitely a lot of kills. Uh, what were your all favorite kills?

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Listen, I just want to take Perry off the board because fuck Dave Franco. Actually, Dave Franco's probably a swell guy. I don't even know why I'm saying that. I think it's just that I I've come to dislike James Franco so much. Dang. And actually watching this movie, I didn't dislike Perry's character as much as I did in the past. But I do think he's like the pivotal death in the movie, right? Like you have R eating his brains. He's kind of like the spark that sets everything off. So I think he has the most dramatic and therefore the most enjoyable.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Dang. Not Dave getting uh guilty by association.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Yeah. Also, Perry, Perry, Paris, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

I cannot.

SPEAKER_06 27:44

I'm still at the like guilty by poor Dave Franco, bro. His brother's trash. So my favorite kill, I mentioned it in terms of the scoring, is Julie with that weed whacker, bro. Nuts. I mean, we love a we love a good kill with a conventional weapon, you know, with a domestic, you know, out here just doing some lawn work, but also wham. Yeah. To the throat. I love it. And actually, what what's interesting about that kill, the actress Teresa Palmer, she said that it was kind of like an homage to her previous film, I Am Number Four. So I I feel like it's like another little more of a sci-fi movie and such, but uh I used to be a big fan of that movie too, it was really cute. So I was like, wow, go figure. I didn't know that in terms of kind of like that Easter egg for fans.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Dang. Yeah. Well, you know what? You you two actually took both of my favorite kills, so it's really hard. I know there's a lot of kills, but those two were probably the best kills in the film. Perry's kill scene for me, like I just wasn't I I wasn't necessarily I don't know why. I wasn't expecting it to happen for some reason. And then when I found out that you can get the memories and the thoughts and the emotions from the brains of these humans, that is such a cool concept. That is such a cool concept, and I'm so glad. I don't know if that's how it was in the book or whatever, but that is such a cool concept that I feel like I haven't seen, and I'm a zombie fanatic, and that's such a cool way of depicting zombies in a film.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Yeah, you know, I feel like if a zombie ate my brain and they just get real bummed out, yeah. They won't be finding love.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

They'd just be like, damn, Chris, I'm sorry I killed you.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Jeez.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

I feel like they would start to like me and then just feel bad about themselves.

SPEAKER_06 29:18

But I think that's kind of what happens to R though in terms of Perry. Because he starts to cry towards the end, he starts to cry, like being like, damn, yeah, I messed this man up. Which also, well, we're gonna get to him in a second.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

But it's like, who cares? Because he got the girl, you know what I mean? Like, screw Perry. That's that's how I feel.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Mm-hmm. He's like, Wow, I feel bad, but also this worked out perfectly.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

Yeah, like he feels bad, but really feels bad for Julie, but doesn't really care about Perry and like really just was hungry and wanted some brains, and you know, Perry. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

He's just doing a recon on a girl he has a crush on. Yeah, stalking her Instagram through her boyfriend's memories, whatever.

SPEAKER_06 29:58

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Yikes, yikes, yikes. But you know, we're we're talking about you know, brains and being in these memories and whatnot. Uh so to talk a bit about like the my favorite visual element. I don't want to talk too much more about the soundtrack because man, I I've said my piece, but just wow, one more time. Just one quick moment to be round of applause for that soundtrack. Frickin phenomenal. You brought up M83 Midnight City, and that actually I was curious about it. I was like, man, you know, I associate that song specifically to this movie, right? And I was trying to look into the the history of of Midnight City when it kind of came out, and it turns out that there were two things that skyrocketed that song specifically in the US market. Although it had, you know, M83 had already been touring before then. That song specifically was skyrocketed because of a Blake Lively commercial and Warm Bodies. So we hear that song all of the time because of technically this movie. I love that. And then Dave Franco said, You're coming with me to 21 Jump Street, you're you're sticking along. So I thought that was interesting. Aside from the soundtrack, in terms of like being in the mind and and and the brain, there's this particular scene that they're in the airplane and R is just staring at Julie. And as you kind of like notice the camera angle starts to shift as he starts to lean back into the chair, and it kind of made me feel like, wow, now we're in his mind, you know. Like, what if I ate R's brain and this is a memory, a core memory that he's gonna have forever, you know? That's kind of how I felt watching that scene. So I thought that was kind of great. I I I'd hope that that's kind of what they were trying to say a little bit. Maybe I read too deep into it, but that's kind of like what I don't know, I thought of when I first saw it.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

Man, no, I I love that so much. I bet his brain would taste rotted as fuck considering the color of the liquids that were spewing from his body. But I love that, I love that angle, and it's so deep. But I'm gonna counter your favorite visual with a favorite visual for me that is much less deep and is actually literally skin deep. Uh it's very surface level. It is the the progression of the zombies from beginning to end, from how they are just completely rotted and deteriorating. Uh Nicholas Holt as a zombie, fucking amazing. You know, he has such a great look. Uh, even the the wounds and the veins coming from his neck, etc. And those piercing blue eyes that he is just like just so so admired for, they work so well as a zombie. But then to see even the rest of the zombies slowly start to get a little bit better as you go, the makeup the the makeup artist for this film just did an absolutely phenomenal job.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Yeah, the makeup was really good. You know, uh before we go too far away from how a zombie brain would taste in comparison to a human live brain, uh, I gotta think like maybe maybe it's like a delicacy kind of taste, like maybe it's an acquired taste. Like there's some delicacies out there where people are eating like fermented eggs and like weird shit like that. So hey, you never know. Don't knock it till you try it.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

So you're telling me that in a world of eating brains, which you can do for animals, whatever, sure. You think zombie brains would be the ones considered the delicacy?

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:07

I'm not I'm not saying it's not a hundred percent. I'm just saying maybe. Anything is possible. My favorite visual in this movie, there was that kind of scene where it's like our walking through different places that were within the memories that Perry had with Julie. Like that whole that whole visual and that progression, I thought that was really actually a pretty cool thing to see visually. I don't know why. It just that's one thing that really stood out to me.

SPEAKER_06 33:36

I think it plays to like the the character in and of itself. I it was that was like a little heartwarming moment for sure.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

That was it was sweet to see. Yeah, for sure. I could tell you what I didn't really like visually though, and and I know I know that you know, Chris, you really liked the makeup and the progression of the zombies. I don't like the full-on progression of the zombies. I thought the bonies looked like too fake to me.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

Oh yeah, they were definitely giving them mummy from 1999, but like decrepit.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

Yeah, it just looked overdone. It didn't look real. Like I feel like there was an opportunity there to try and make it a little bit more, I don't know, a little bit more realistic, a little bit more gruose. I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

So here's the thing. I think where this movie could have shined more would be if they went the practical route with the bonies, or just modified how how they were going to take on the task of doing that like digitally. Because you look at that horde of zombies that you had and you saw them all collected in one place, you realize like this is just a finite cast, right? They're not padding the numbers with CGI or anything. Right. So to have had to have devoted the amount of the budget that they did to the bonies, if we could have just pulled some of that back and did some more practical work and then just complement some of the bonies with CGI, I think that could have worked out a lot better.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

I could see that for sure.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

I will say though, that as much as the bonies sucked, you know, one of my favorite scenes is in the very beginning where we're actually getting to get such a good look at the world as it is. We're seeing R shambling around, we're getting first introduced to the bonies, and I feel like when we first see them at a distance, they didn't look half that they didn't look half bad. So I think the world-building moments for me, hearing R's memory or lack thereof from of what he experienced, what his life is like now, bumping into people, his inner monologue, the opening of this movie is just it sets the proper tone for the rest of it.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Yeah. There's a lot of really good scenes in the movie. It's hard to pick like a top, like number one. One I thought was really hilarious right off the bat was the scene where R and M are first meeting, like you're first introduced to the both of them, and they're sitting at the bar, you know, right towards the beginning, right? And they're just like grunting and moaning as their form of communication. Yeah, they're just like, oh like and it was just hilarious. I don't know. That was uh to kick it off, that was such a good one.

SPEAKER_06 36:04

My favorite scene doesn't even have our main characters. It's when M is staring at his reflection and he's starting to remember a little bit of his past self and feel that love coming through, and little by little, you know, these fellow zombies are starting to feel that same way, but the bonies appear in that reflection. Okay, I I feel like I'm going a little deep with this movie. Keep going. Hear me out. Like I know it's a rom-com, but for me, I I was thinking about, you know, how easy is it to kind of let yourself fall into feeling nothing, you know? And when you start to feel happiness or feel joy or feel love, sometimes that opposite feeling of nothingness is so tempting, is always there, and it's gonna want to keep you there. That scene kind of reminded me of that in a way, right? Because again, the whole point of this movie is humanity and and love reigniting you and making you feel live again and all of that, right? So in that scene, we start to clearly see that by seeing these happy memories and feeling that love, these zombies are coming back to life. But the bonies are already too far gone and they smell that happiness, they smell that love, and it's not what they're wanting. They don't want that.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 37:23

So I don't know, it kind of rem it reminded me a little bit of like mental health and how that can feel, or like, you know, just in in moments of grief and sadness, that it's gonna want to keep you there, right? So I know deep moment, but I don't know. It was it was a sweet moment.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Oh, you're really peeling back the layers here.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Here's the thing. I think based on this and a couple other poetic ass things you've said on the show.

SPEAKER_05 37:44

Poetic ass.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

You've now taken the title from me as the person who looks very deeply into movies, so nice. I give that I pass that on to you. Carry that torch well. Okay. However, second thing, I love that take so much. And it's like the bonies are your your party friends who just want the worst for you, who just want you to keep on going out to to drink and to go to the club, the friends who are miserable so they want you to be miserable too. The uh the friends who are gonna be there to dim your shine. That's who the bonies are.

SPEAKER_06 38:14

Yeah. I mean, that's right. It's perfect. Because the moment that he starts to feel love again, or or the zombies start to feel love again, they're like right up in his face, you know? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

Toxic friends, the bonies.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Oh no. This is what my parents warned me about. You know what was really funny though, just to just to try to get back to a lighter note. A hilarious moment was Julie acting like a zombie, being over the top, the body movements and doing her like best zombie moans. That that was such a good moment.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

Yeah, and then R saying, too much. Like I expected some inner monologue to be like, wow, this is what she thinks of us. What a stereotype.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Dang.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

I mean, but yeah. Okay, but like the the scenes that frame that, right? That kind of bookend it. One, the scene of R seeing Jules for the first time or Julie for the first time in slow motion, so fucking good. Yeah. It was just it made me feel like every 80s romance I had ever seen.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

And with a song to boot. Oh, for sure. Are you kidding me? With the song that's playing it. It's so good.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

For sure. You had you had some so many classic moments. You had like even the even the classic kind of root uh Romeo and Juliet uh vibe where the where the uh boy comes up to the window upstairs and is trying to you know what I mean? I mean, that's also in a lot of 80s movies, too. There was also a scene that was really got really heavy too, the scene in the when they were in the bedroom or oh bedroom, like in bed or whatever, and Julie says, you know, don't look, but R keeps staring, and then the whole scene is really just kind of heavy, right? You get the early feeling of that teenage love, but then the pain of death, and then the really the awkwardness of R killing Perry that coming to light. Like that was uh it was such a a lot of emotions running in that scene. That was a good scene too.

SPEAKER_06 40:03

Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. And and I think she kind of says, like, I kind of figured, you know, but still turns her back to him. I mean, yeah, because yeah, I you kind of expected that. I I don't think it was ever kind of gonna be a moment of like no, and and uh and the dramatics. Julie doesn't kind of give off that kind of character type, but it still is pretty heavy for sure.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

It was kind of like oh no. She's smart, she knows what's going on, and I think that's what makes her so interesting as a character because she's tough, she knows what she's doing, but it's not just like the classic teenage daughter rebelling against her dad, like she's a very principled person, and I love how much we learn of Julie through Perry's memories, and you see how different she and Perry have become because all we get introduced to them as is him not wanting to hold her hand in the moment and wanting to pay attention to what's happening. Uh, but then when you go back and and see how their relationship started, then you see how it ended with his death, and then you see how she is by the end of the movie. I just think it makes her one of the one of one of the better uh final girls I've seen in a zombie movie.

SPEAKER_06 41:15

You know, to me, I think of Julie and and in summary, I think to myself, you know, ultimately Perry was mid, okay? And she deserved better. And that and and that being said though, I'm just gonna call it for what it is, you know, it's kind of like she was saying, you know, Perry, you were so mid that a zombie is better than you. A zombie that ate you is better than you. And honestly, that's sa that's savage.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

At least this zombie who eats brains can think for himself. Yikes. But I mean, and it's okay to go back to your deep parallel there, right? How fucked up is it that Perry has lost so much of his own identity that he is almost brainless and a zombie and is just following orders, and then she literally falls in love with the undead who is freely expressing himself even when his conditions are are are countering that. Everything about R says you shouldn't have a single fucking thought in your head. But here he is collecting shit, having a personality as a zombie.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

Yeah, dang. I love that take.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

But here's the thing though, I've always been in the camp of like fuck Perry, because I just like for some reason always got the vibe that he was just a douchebag. But watching this again and seeing how he was from being a small child, but then seeing how he fell in love with Julie and seeing their relationship progress, but then seeing the moment that he realizes his dad is dead and now a zombie, and you see how that that kind of changes him moving forward. Granted, I'm not saying I'm team Perry. I'm not saying I wish Perry hadn't died, not saying that at all. But I'm I'm I'm less harsh on him than I was previously because it was fascinating to see his character arc through his memories, through his flashback, and give you more context rather than just being the shitty boyfriend who didn't want to hold his girlfriend's hand.

SPEAKER_06 43:06

Yeah, and you see that's where I was saying that I feel the opposite. I feel like I continue to see this movie and I continue to my eyes just continue to roll further back and back into my skull. Because although we see those memories and things, it's almost a little frustrating that yes, I I loved your take on how he's lost everything, he's become kind of undead himself on the inside. But I like to think that I and I feel that Julie was trying to pull him in a little bit. He didn't really like want to allow that, right? From Julie. He kind of like saw her, but didn't want to like understand what he was doing to her by his actions and the decisions that he was making and how he was becoming. And that's I understand there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that and a lot of grief that kind of is entangled in it. But man, I I don't know. Like I said, I stand by he was mid. Yeah. And it's disappointing. And and ultimately at the end of the day, like what was Julie supposed to do? You know?

SPEAKER_01 44:04

Yeah, it's true. I mean, the the level of resentment that he must have low key, understanding that logically it made sense for her to kill his dad, but then also just probably hold that in his heart for that much time. I mean, there are marriages that couldn't survive much less than that, you know what I mean? So I think that's interesting. I think it's and again and again, Julie in in no way. Like let's say he didn't die that day. There was no world in which Perry deserved Julie. However, Perry deserved a therapist for sure to work on his shit desperately.

SPEAKER_00 44:36

I I you know what I I I think really is and I don't know if anyone else can relate to this, but I feel like the whole the whole thing with Julie and R, and even if you throw Perry into the mix and you throw in that whole dynamic of like it's relatable in a way, right? Like I don't know if everyone's felt that, but like I feel like I've definitely been in I'm not obviously uh in a zombie situation or anything like that, but I feel like I've been in situations like that where you know, like I liked a girl or I liked somebody and there was somebody else in the mix, and like really I'm just looking to get that person out of the fucking picture. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:16

And if I was a zombie, I'm killing that fucker. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 45:20

Number one, let's go. That's what it is.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

But you know, I don't know, it's relatable. Like the whole thing is relatable, the relationships are relatable, the the characters are super relatable. I think that's what makes it really enjoyable. I I think Julie and R specifically have really good chemistry throughout the film.

SPEAKER_01 45:37

Having chemistry with a zombie and being able to convey that chemistry as a fucking zombie is just so incredible by on the part of like you know, Nicholas Holden, and and we think about just the dynamic of the relationship. R is so fucking relatable, even beyond the obvious of like, yo, if I was a zombie and I uh was interested in some chick and there's some other person in the picture, fucking cut him out of there. Even aside from that, right? My heart broke so much when R had the moment of M asking if he's okay and R just saying, no. Like it was it was devastating. And I'm like, bro, I've been there. Someone asked me if I I had a moment last year when I was having a really fucking awful day and so many things were happening. And and you know, a woman that I work with, like who is not emotional at all and also does not hug, just looked at me and for some reason, like, are you okay? And I was like, No, and I just like immediately started my eyes tearing up and crying, and she hugged me and I was like, What the fuck is this? Oh my god, feelings get away from here. But that's what this moment made me remember, and that's what this moment made me feel. And it's just some other great quotes. Every great thing starts out a little scary, doesn't it? And then it's R saying it's easier not to feel, then I wouldn't have to feel like this. That's a Capricorn if I ever heard one.

SPEAKER_06 46:59

I know you did that on purpose. I know that was good. Okay, but you know what? With that, with that quote, that last one specifically, it speaks to my take, does it not? Like 100%. It's tempting, it's tempting to feel that way. But gosh, Nicholas Holt, man, he did it. It's such a it's it's such an amazing character. He's so funny, he's lighthearted, and when he's sad, he really takes you there. And it's coming from a zombie. Like, how how do you take this seriously? I think I think he really did that. So I'll give him that. I don't want us to miss this particular character, and I want to take a quick moment to bring him up. Uh Julie's dad, Grigio. Oh, yeah. John Malkovich. Fuck that guy. Come on, everyone. Come on, everyone. Hold on, hold on.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

What? What are we saying?

SPEAKER_01 47:44

No, hold on, not fuck John Malkovich. Fuck her dad. Okay, sure.

SPEAKER_00 47:49

Okay, but also like fuck John Malkovich. I don't like that guy.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

I don't I don't know enough about him to have an opinion.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

I don't know that much about him either. I just don't I don't know something about him. I just don't like very much.

SPEAKER_06 48:01

You know, he does he come off like he a punch uh a punch. Wow. Does he come off like a face that you just want to punch? Is that what it is?

SPEAKER_00 48:08

Yes, he's like he's got a face that like only a mother can love. And like here's the thing. I don't know. Like he's just always kind of an asshole in everything. Like he's always like a douchebag. Like, I just don't like this guy. And I gotta imagine if that's what he's like in every movie, he's probably just like that's that's how he is because he's just typecasted. Like he's just that's who he is. I know, I know, I know from a little bit of experience, these typecast are asshole roles. Like I know that those are real, that's a real feeling, that's like a real thing deep down.

SPEAKER_06 48:41

Okay, I don't know. Look, I don't know anything about John Makovich. I just know that I agree with you. He does play a lot of assholes, and that is why this character was fantastic because when he pulled that one liner and he threw when he threw uh R against that fence, I was like, that is the exact reaction that I expect from a father.

SPEAKER_05 49:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 49:02

And basically, you know, a dictator. So so yeah, yeah, you know, the lack of heart and everything. Uh John Malkovich always tends to be in those situations. So I just wanted to shut him out because I figured we were gonna have a take one way or another about him and his acting.

SPEAKER_00 49:16

What was his name in the film? Grigio? Grigio, like Pinot Grigio. Grigio?

SPEAKER_01 49:21

Isn't it sad that that's Julie's last name? Since R doesn't even have a fucking name, just a letter, she's not even gonna have a good last name to marry into. Isn't that a shame? You just make that shit up. She can just be Julie. Like Prince, just one name. Yeah, fuck it.

SPEAKER_00 49:34

Well, Julie Grigio didn't sound very good either, so it's giving Julie a Gullia, you know? Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_06 49:40

You know what? Hold on. I now that we're talking about Grigio and that being the last name, is that really the worst part of this movie? Because it might be.

SPEAKER_01 49:48

It might be. When when we came into the recording tonight, before even talking about this movie, I don't have a single fucking negative thing to say about it. So I was gonna give it to the bonies. Um if we if we want to give it to Julia Gulia, that's fine too. But let me tell you this: the worst part of this movie is to know that we had Nicholas Holt looking like this, being this dude, being this cool. And was not only was he not Edward in Twilight, but he also did not win the Batman role from Robert Pattinson, and that makes me very sad. I just want to see Nicholas Holt in more things, and I can't wait for him in Renfield.

SPEAKER_00 50:22

So the worst part of this movie, to be clear, is that the is that Nicholas Holt didn't get a part in another movie.

SPEAKER_05 50:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:29

Is that what we're talking about here?

SPEAKER_05 50:31

Sean's like, the math isn't math. The math is not mathing.

SPEAKER_01 50:34

Listen, I'll give it to the bony sure, but I don't like this movie was so good that I don't have much to say about it at all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 50:40

That's fair. That's fair. Look, I have I have two quick things. And I they're not the worst part, but they're definitely some things that are like, yikes, just a smidge. One is the opening credits, but not like the whole scene, right? It's the typography that they decided to use for the opening credits. What was that? It was giving the mean one all over again in terms of, you know, a word doc situation. I don't know. Something about it. Not the word doc. It didn't, it didn't it didn't strike with me whatsoever. But then the second part is what R does to mask Julie's scent, just the a little a little smidge, a little dollop of whatever the hell on her face. Come on, yo. You're gonna tell me that two little dollops of just a little just a little smidge. A little smidge. There was barely anything on her face, and all of a sudden she was masked. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 51:25

Okay, hold on. Let me redirect you to how many sprays of Kelowna perfume do you put on a day? Don't help me this way. What what are you listening two spritz and you're good?

SPEAKER_06 51:35

Yeah, yeah. Two spritz? No, depends what you're using. Because if it's gonna be a body spray from Bed Bath and Beyond or Bath Body Works, I can never get those freaking stores.

SPEAKER_05 51:46

One of those.

SPEAKER_06 51:47

Can am I the only one? I can't frickin' decide which one's which. I don't know. Point is if you're using the Japanese cherry blossom, you're gonna want to do four or five. You want to really feel like a Japanese cherry blossom, okay? I know I'm not the only one that does this, regardless of the fact. I just a dollop of what was it? Fecal zombie matter? Like is gonna mask a whole body?

SPEAKER_00 52:10

Fecal zombie matter.

SPEAKER_01 52:12

It was his zombie blood. It was brown, okay? It was brown. It's the same brown stuff. It's his rotting zombie juices that were pouring out of his wounds in the shower. Uh all I'm saying is my leather and brandy cologne from Bath Body Works, two spritz, and I'm good. And I will say this imagine how disgusting that brown fluid must smell. Of course it's gonna mask her scent because that shit is probably overpowering. It's like walking into a locker room full of axe body spray, I imagine those smidges.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 52:39

I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 52:39

We're gonna agree to disagree.

SPEAKER_00 52:41

But then, like in The Walking Dead, they had to like smear a shit ton all over themselves to get through.

SPEAKER_06 52:46

That's what I'm saying. Different zombie lores.

SPEAKER_00 52:49

I know. I know. I'm just comparing.

SPEAKER_06 52:51

I think that what Warm Bodies was trying to do was kind of make fun of that though. It had to be because it could be. I almost forgot that there was something on her face when she went back on that plane.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 53:03

Did she wash it off? And with what? I would have.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

I would have thrown up if that shit was on my face.

SPEAKER_00 53:10

Can you imagine? Yikes. Look, really, really you're right, Chris. The wor the worst part of the movie, you really can only truly give it to the bonies and the way they looked in the film. So like it's kind of a cop out. If I'm trying to pick something from the film that I didn't like, I'm gonna start trying to poke holes in the story, right? Or poke holes in what they're trying to do. So like the oversight of small details, like our not being able to remember remember his name, but also being able to remember things from past life. Like he he's he's too far gone to remember who he is, but he can remember what janitors are, or he can remember what professions are. Like, I'm gonna start poking holes in this story, right? Bonies somehow can just run and have super strength, but zombies move slow and aren't that strong. Like, I I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 54:03

Bro, do you see how fucking aerodynamic those bones are? You'd be fast too.

SPEAKER_00 54:07

No way. There's like nothing on them. Where's the muscle mass? Come on.

SPEAKER_01 54:12

That you don't gotta worry about it. It's holding you back. It's holding you back. Just strip it all off, Sean. Just fucking yeah, you're fine. I don't have as much of a problem with the forgetting certain things because it's like different forms of amnesia. I don't know enough scientifically to like really back that up, but you know, drop some links in the show notes. Sure. I want to believe in the possibility. I'm thinking about that movie with Sandra Bullock while you were sleeping.

SPEAKER_00 54:34

Hey, hey, look, and and these are things that I can clearly overlook because the film is super enjoyable. I'm just thinking if I had to really dig for something that I had to say as a is a a bad part, right? I can't say it's the worst part. It's just a bad part of the film, is that you know, pay it pay a little more attention to detail. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 54:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 54:55

No, it's a good one. It's a good note, it's a good note.

SPEAKER_01 54:58

When we get the 2033 reboot of Warm Bodies, just better bonies.

SPEAKER_00 55:02

There you go.

SPEAKER_04 55:03

No more reboots for the love of God.

SPEAKER_01 55:05

So I will say this though. I'm disappointed in myself that I have not watched this more, uh, especially more even more recently in 2016. I will probably start watching this every February along with my bloody Valentine.

SPEAKER_06 55:17

Nice. Definitely. I'm surprised that I haven't rewatched this more recently because I used to re-watch it often. This is gonna be a February moment for sure.

SPEAKER_01 55:27

We're gonna start to have a horror Valentine's Day party where we just watch love-related or love-adjacent horror movies. That's actually a really good idea.

SPEAKER_00 55:34

There it is, just building the uh horror valentine's list. There it goes. Boom. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I could definitely see myself watching this film again. Um, it's a fun film. My wife and I both love this film. I'm sure we're gonna revisit it soon. Uh, you know, this is also um, you know, you you both made good points as far as like the whole Valentine's Day angle, and it made me think like this is also one that all of you horror fans out there can watch with your partner if they aren't really into horror. It's like a great way to watch a horror movie with your significant other and not have it be too intense, you know, and still get the feels.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

Yeah, it's like uh a way to watch a horror movie and not get in trouble because you made them watch a horror movie.

SPEAKER_00 56:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 56:16

Just slip one right under the rug there.

SPEAKER_00 56:17

So good.

SPEAKER_01 56:18

Well covering the eyes. Alright, well, obviously we are due for some rewatches, but let's see if I can make things a little bit more interesting for you with some factor fiction. Are you ready, competitors?

SPEAKER_00 56:27

I'm never ready for these, but yeah, let's go.

SPEAKER_01 56:29

Alright, number one. Nicholas Holt is a huge fan of George Romero's work and revisited all of his dead series films to help inspire his own zombie movement as R.

SPEAKER_00 56:39

I just really hope this is true. So the the core being of me says fact, because I really just want it to be a fact.

SPEAKER_01 56:48

Yeah, I'm definitely gonna say fact. Too bad, that's actually a fiction. He and the other zombies actually practiced with circus performers to help achieve the right body movements, and so they keep rehearsing and ask the director if it was too much or too little.

SPEAKER_00 57:00

Circus performers? Cirque du Soleil.

SPEAKER_01 57:03

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

What the hell do circus performers know about zombies?

SPEAKER_04 57:06

Flexibility and shuffling. Yeah, Cirque du Soleil, though, hold up a second.

SPEAKER_00 57:10

I'm not saying it's a bad show. I'm just saying they ain't fucking zombies.

SPEAKER_01 57:14

They should have made Cirque du Soleil as dress up as the bonies, is what they should have done.

SPEAKER_00 57:19

That would have been cool. They'd probably have been in better zombi better bonies.

SPEAKER_01 57:22

Mm-hmm. Well, number two, let's talk about the book a little bit. In the movie, we see R dressed in jeans and a hoodie, but his counterpart in the novel is actually a little bit more formal. In the book, he's a corporate zombie with a black suit and a red tie, and he even has a zombie wife and zombie kids he has to feed. What?

SPEAKER_00 57:40

I have no fucking clue.

SPEAKER_01 57:41

Fiction.

SPEAKER_00 57:42

Really? Fiction? I have no clue. I've never read the book. I don't know nothing about the book. You know what? Just to switch it up, I'm gonna go fact. Let's see who's right.

SPEAKER_01 57:50

Fair enough. It's a fact. What? Hell yeah! Jesus! I know. I don't have the context, right? But I think it's fucking hilarious to have a zombie wife and zombie kids. Did he meet them as zombies? Or is like is this his family from prior? You know what I mean? Wait, it's interesting. We is it an affair? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 58:07

It is an affair.

SPEAKER_06 58:08

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Like w what kind of dynamic or love relationship was going on in terms of the book then.

SPEAKER_01 58:15

We gotta read the book and find out. I'm smelling a hacker slash book club moment.

SPEAKER_00 58:18

It's definitely one of the deadly sins.

SPEAKER_01 58:21

He says with a smiling frown.

SPEAKER_00 58:23

It's the eighth deadly sin.

SPEAKER_01 58:25

Alright. Well let's go on to number three. Teresa Palmer, who plays Julie, wanted to build chemistry with the rest of the cast before diving into the romance. She negotiated for the last day of shooting to be for her scenes kissing R and then Perry in the car.

SPEAKER_00 58:38

Both of them towards the end, huh?

SPEAKER_01 58:40

I mean, damn.

SPEAKER_00 58:41

It's it seems logical, but too fucking logical. I'm going fiction on that shit.

SPEAKER_06 58:46

For how would that work logistically?

SPEAKER_05 58:48

And then like, damn, both of them on the same day? Girl! What a time to be alive. I'm gonna say fiction. I hope it's fact, but I I'm gonna say fiction.

SPEAKER_01 58:57

It is fiction, you're correct. She made no such negotiations, and in fact, her first day shooting anything for the film was her scene kissing Perry in the car.

SPEAKER_05 59:06

Just get it done. They said, Dave Franco, gotta go. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_01 59:10

Alright, so number four, our final one here, since it's just a couple of us tonight. To help mirror another popular Summit Entertainment romance film featuring the undead, Nicholas Holt also drew inspiration from the tortured Edward Cullen, particularly for his intense stares at Julie. He's even quoted as saying he thought of Twilight as a zombie film, whether it was or not. Because you had to feel sorry for Edward. I was thinking of Edward when I did R.

SPEAKER_06 59:33

I know that that was a lot of detail. I know that was a lot of detail. However, you wanna tell me that Nicholas Holt got inspiration from his competitor? Maybe, but no.

SPEAKER_04 59:47

Wasn't a competitor until the Batman. Oh I g alright. No man, no. Fa fiction, fiction, fiction.

SPEAKER_00 59:54

Interesting. So I don't I don't know. That's a tough one. I I don't I don't necessarily doubt that he may have gotten inspiration from the character. I don't think he necessarily pulled off an Edward Cullen by any means. And not saying he did a bad job, but he definitely wasn't Edward Cullen. But I'll go fact.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:14

So here's the thing. Oh god. He this is a quote as a zombie film, whether it was or not, because he had to feel sorry for Edward. I was thinking of Edward when I did R. This is a real quote from Nicholas Old. Okay, but it is fiction though. Alright. Okay, okay, okay. He did say this, but he was talking about Johnny Depp's Edward from Ted from Tim Burton's Edward Scissor Hands.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:34

Different Eds.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:36

However, one reviewer for The Washington Post did refer to this movie as less funny and self-aware than Tron of the Dead, less swooningly romantic than Twilight, and less scary than pretty much anything else out there with zombies in it. And there are several articles that actually compare R and Edward Cullen in terms of the intensity of their stares.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:56

Of course. People have so much time on their hands.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:58

Yeah, I just think there's no way that you're gonna beat Edward's stare. I just don't think so. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:04

I don't know. His stares at Julia were pretty good, but for now, there you have it, folks. Warm bodies has earned a universal slash. And we certainly had a robust discussion here, but it doesn't end here by any means, because we want to know what you think.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:16

Alright, so we want to know if you were in this movie, would you fall in love with a zombie? Would you give zombie, you know, R a chance? I'm just curious, for myself included. You know? I'm I I mean Nicholas Holt, he is appealing, but let us know, okay? Uh you can join in on the conversation by hanging out with us for free in our Discord. The link will be in our show notes so that you can sign up.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:38

Yeah, and if you've enjoyed listening to this episode, consider joining the fucking party and becoming one of our patrons like Thomas and Justine just did. Visit patreon.com slash hackerslash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, live shows, and all kinds of other cool shit.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:54

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember, there's a lot of ways to get to know a person.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:58

Yeah, and the dead do not sleep.