So after a false start a couple of nights ago, I’m finally getting to watching the 1987 Schwarzenegger classic, The Running Man, which I believe it fair to describe as a movie that foretold modern culture’s infatuation with so-called “Reality TV”. For those unfamiliar with it, the movie is basically Survivor meets ancient Roman gladiatorial event.
Credits on that one go specifically to Stephen King, who wrote the book upon which the movie was based.
I would simply like to add that — apart from predicting the whole “Reality TV” fad of our time 15 years in advance — the very first sentences of the movie’s opening titles happen to read:
By 2017 the world economy has collapsed. Food, natural resources, and oil are in short supply.
CNN has posted an article about a new zombie movie, called Colin, that is causing a stir at this year’s Cannes festival.
But this isn’t your father’s zombie movie:
Online social networking was an invaluable tool in both generating buzz and cheaply sourcing the undead: “We went on Facebook and MySpace and said ‘Who wants to be a zombie?’”
Oddly, I’ve recently mentioned in three separate conversations to friends how I really want to be in a zombie movie before this life is done, so I’m a little chuffed to have missed out on the casting call.
Here’s the trailer:
It also apparently cost a mere $70 US to produce.
Marc Price, the film’s director, explains that the money was spent on “…a crowbar and a couple of tapes, and … some tea and coffee as well — not the expensive stuff either, the very basic kind… Just to keep the zombies happy.”
There’s something deliciously brainy about crowdsourcing the undead.
