CFQ Ultra-Lounge Podcast, Volume 2, Episode 45.2: Star Wars, The Walking Dead, and the Curse of Continuity

star wars kenobi vader saber battle

STAR WARS is back again – this time on home video – and a look at the 1977 original reminds Cinefantastique Podcasters Lawrence French, Dan Persons, and Steve Biodrowski that, despite having been retitled A NEW HOPE, the first film still works best as a stand-alone original, not as part four in an on-going franchise – fact that no digital enhancements or continuity tweaks can hide. And speaking of the Curse of Continuity, Steve Biodrowski expresses dawning concern over the direction of THE WALKING DEAD’s second season: will AMC’s excellent horror drama slide into LOST-style obfuscation as it holds onto secret plot developments like trump cards to be reserved for play at a later date? Digging deeper, the CFQ crew follow the Midochlorian DNA strand from STAR WARS and THE WALKING DEAD to ISLAND OF TERROR, RED STATE and WITCHFINDER GENERAL – a conversational obstacle course that navigates its way through more treacherous hive of scum and villainy than even Mos Eisley contains. But no matter how disturbing the twists and turns, don’t “opt out” like the raft of suicidal losers in THE WALKING DEAD; after all, hope – or a discussion of the epilogue from the credits of TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN, PART 1 – may be just around the next corner.


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'Walking Dead' Update

WalkingDeadImg3Looks like previous reports were accurrate; Frank Darabont is stepping down as showrunner of THE WALKING DEAD, and Glenn Mazzara (THE SHIELD) will indeed be assumming his responsiblities.

From AMC:
“THE WALKING DEAD’S Glen Mazzara, writer and executive producer, is expanding his responsibilities to assume the role of showrunner. AMC is grateful to executive producer, writer and pilot director Frank Darabont whose contributions to the success of THE WALKING DEAD are innumerable. We continue to discuss his ongoing role with the series.
Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels, executive producer and writer on the series, will remain in this role and will continue to steward the brand. Gale Anne Hurd will remain in her role as executive producer. The production continues on schedule for an Oct. 16 premiere.”

Via Entertainment Weekly.

Darabont Leaving 'Walking Dead'?

walking_dead_comicAccording to Deadline.com show runner Frank Darabont (THE MIST) is stepping down from the hit AMC zombie series THE WALKING DEAD.
It’s unclear whether Darabont, who was the force behind bringing  the Robert Kirkman-created graphic novel to television and directed the pilot, is leaving the show completely or just relinqhising the demanding  day-to-day control of a TV series.
It’s believed Kirkman, also an executive producer will be staying with the series, as will Gale Anne Hurd (TERMINATOR) , and the article speculates that co-executive producer Glen Mazzara (THE SHEILD) may step in as the new showrunner.
THE WALKING DEAD is currently in production of its second season, due to return to AMC October 16th.

'Walking Dead' Writing Staff "Fired"

WalkingDeadImg3Deadline reports that Frank Darabont, executive producer and writer/director of AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, has released all of the writing staff from season one of the popular comic book-based Zombie series.
The fact that there will be “changes to the writing staff” was confirmed today by AMC.
The site says it’s rumored that Frank Darabont may ultimately opt to not replace the staff, but instead go with freelance writers. Half of the six episodes of this first short season were written by Darabont himself (penning two), and one by comic book creator Robert Kirkman. Perhaps he plans to work out the plotline of the entire 13-episode second season himself (or with Kirkman), and simply assign scripts to freelancers.
This is not entirely unprecedented;  BABYLON 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski dumped his entire writing staff after two seasons.  He wrote the bulk of the next three years himself, with only two freelance scripts, if memory serves. 
It’s unlikely that Frank Darabont intends to go that far.

THE WALKING DEAD Trailer Shambles To A Computer Near You!

After months of being teased by photos, behind-the-scenes docs, and all manner of promotional material, the official trailer for AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, makes its way to home viewers. In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past year, here is a quick synopsis of the zombie goodness heading your way (from the Official Walking Dead Site):

The Walking Dead tells the story of life following a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, traveling in search of a safe and secure home. Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually, Teachers, Strike Back) will portray the lead role of Rick Grimes while actor Jon Bernthal (The Pacific, The Ghost Writer) will portray the character Shane, who worked with Rick in the police department before the zombie disaster. Other cast includes Laurie Holden (The Shield), who plays Andrea, one of two sisters who join the survivors of the zombie plague, Steven Yeun as Glenn, an expert scavenger and Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break), who plays Rick’s wife Lori.

Excited yet? If for some reason you aren’t – and if that is the case, what’s wrong with you?! – then feast your eyes on the trailer!
THE WALKING DEAD premieres October 31st, 2010 on AMC.
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'Walking Dead' Behind The Scenes Clip

Courtesy of MTV here’s a behind the scenes clip from AMC’s TV adaptation of THE WALKING DEAD.
Producer-director Frank Darabont told MTV: “We’re going to follow the Robert Kirkman narrative pretty closely, but we’re giving ourselves permission to veer off path and find the interesting detours…. We’ve got hundreds of zombies. We’ve got a downed helicopter; it just goes on and on. It’s crazy — all on a TV budget.”
Read the entire article at the link above.