Cooties movie review

So last weekend here in YXE I managed to attend the film festival the night Cooties was playing. I had mentioned in the summer  I was excited to see this film and I am so thankful it played in my city cause this film is DOPE. 

mmmm

First off there are a ton of faces we all know and love. Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, and Jack McBrayer, are just to name a few and these actors play teachers having to deal with shitty summer school students who end up getting "cooties" from a defective batch of chicken nuggets. Which I must mention in the scene opener the whole chicken nugget process is shown from the chicken on the farm all the way to the plant and into the mouth of a very hungry child. From here all hell breaks lose as the teachers have to last all day in order to get some help and save themselves and two students. Great thing about this virus is if you have gone through puberty, you don't get turned. YAY for menses! 

 While the plot was slow to start with and the kid zombies could have been better, the cast in this horror comedy makes the audience laugh and the gives us the satisfying sensation to go out a beat up a shitty child. (No actual children. Just zombie ones). 

Doug explaining his weekend

I loved the easter egg dealing with Wood, seeing Wilson with facial hair and being a total douche, and the character Doug, which instantly becomes a favorite as soon as we see him reading a book called "How to Have a Normal Conversation”. This dude is far from normal and his role in the movie just gets stranger and funnier.
The part that got the audience really giggling in the beginning is what I am going to leave you with to enjoy and entice you to go out and see this kick-ass film. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Here in the White North we have a little holiday today. Now I'm stuck with my cone head dog after his neutering and my fiancé playing games but I hope the rest have enjoyed a weekend full of laughs, family, and turkey.

Monday Mention: Zombie Elementary: The Real Story

Zombie Elementary: The Real Story
by Howard Whitehouse

Larry Mullet is your typical fourth grader. He's not the biggest kid or the smartest kid or the best looking kid. He rides his bike, plays baseball, takes the school bus, avoids cafeteria food, and--oh yeah, he's a zombie hunting expert. Larry was just doing his usual thing when Alex Bates from Ms Hoag's class tried to eat him. Sadly, that was only the beginning. - Goodreads

While being cute and easy to read for most kids, this story could have used a bit more zombie dialogue than the redundancy of "BRAAAAIIINS" and "AAAAAARGNNNNNN". I did enjoy how the story was set up. Larry is doing a Tell All file to a buddy named Kyle about zombies coming to school, how they got rid of them, and how no adults really seemed to take notice. I enjoyed a character called Chucky and his Grandma since they were kooky and all hillbilly. There was just enough gore like heads being hit off bodies and missing legs but no blood or guts type of gore. It was good for what type of audience this is intended for. I just had such struggles with that redundant zombie noise and how Larry kept trying to explain metaphors or ask if something was a word. It was like the author was trying too hard. 

The research, aka movie watching, Larry was doing seemed like content beyond his age and too mature to watch alone. As much as I love zombie flicks, kids should not watch 28 Days Later or WWZ, Resident Evil or Shaun of the Dead.
I thought the layout of the book worked great with a back and forth narrating to a script like dialogue by Larry and the interviewer. Also "Zombie Tips" are thrown through out the book which are both zany and helpful.

2 out of 5 monkey brains

Photo a Day Challenge rantings

I follow this sweet YA blog called Forever Young Adult on all types of social media and visit their site daily. They some times have these photo a day challenges and it just happens they are having another one for the month of October. All book/Fall/Halloween related.

WTF does this have to do with zombies? Well I will be participating in it with my instagram ZD account @dearzombiediaries and that will be linked to my twitter @ZombieDiaries3 so if you want to follow along and do so, please do. I'm going to try and do everything related to zombies as much as I can while keeping true to me...but just the zombie side of me. I do have a life beyond zombies people!!!! SORRY NOT SORRY.  
And since this is a zombie blog where I started off with reading books and doing reviews, seems like this challenge fits into what I am trying to accomplish. 
Maybe in the future I could create a challenge. 

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. 

Monday Mention: Afterlife With Archie #8: A Ghost Story

Afterlife With Archie #8: A Ghost Story (Afterlife With Archie #8) 
by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Writer), Francesco Francavilla (Artist)

The spirit of Xmas can't be ruined with zombies! Spirits of the dead have come to say hello as the gang takes refuge in an abandoned hotel. Archie rehashes his journey so far with his old pal Jughead, who we  are sad we didn't get to know much about before his fatal run in with a dog ironically named after a food Jughead loves to eat. 

Just one night of "magic" lets this gang see their loved ones again. But with this loving time we learn evil is still roaming and has been for many years in Riverdale. Years ago a deal with witches was struck, sacrifices were to be made. Could this be why zombies have emerged? People should know magic always comes with a price. DUH!

I thought a great background story worked well in letting us tie in Sabrina and Archie and getting to know zombies aren't something new. It did seem kind of random for zombies to start happening so this Archie explains that. I kind of had a GASP moment too. It all makes sense now. I really enjoyed seeing some Jughead. We didn't get to know his character pre-zombie apocalypse. 

3 out of 5 monkey brains

Control your dog!

Tonight I was at the dog park with my boo and pup and you always have those moments of either your dog being a total weirdo or someone else's dog wanting to get ruff *teehee* with yours. Now Dexter is a wee Minpin but he can be tough if needed but really he is such a sweet little wuss. But if you want your dog to be controlled and even more scary get the werewolf/zombie dog muzzle!


As if seeing dogs with a muzzle on wasn't already a stigma, might as well slap this sucker on! Just like Geekologie said wearing this probably will get you kicked out of a dog park (or anywhere) or a few phone calls to the authorities. 



Would you want your pooch in this?

Monday Mention: Good Night, Zombie (Scary Tales #3)

Good Night, Zombie (Scary Tales #3)

by James Preller, Iacopo Bruno (Illustrations)

Welcome. Have a seat. Ignore the shambling undead outside. Let us tell you a story. But be warned. Good Night, Zombie isn’t just any tale. This is a Scary Tale. - Goodreads

For young children this tale has such a spooky feel to it. Any school after hours always feels strange and scary with the dark, quiet halls. Now throw in an old man spouting tales about curses and phrasing like "They are coming" and no one will feel comfortable. These three unknown children end up creating a bond as they go through an evening of black crows and zombies surrounding the school, a creepy old janitor they have never seen before, and a having their memory wiped of it. With little character build but a fast moving plot, this little tale would have been great until the very end where it got cheesy and the author reiterated the experience in a closing paragraph. Besides that it was still a great read for young kids looking to be scared shitless. 

3 out of 5 monkey brains