Yes, that’s one of the many reasons a Hummer is bad business when it comes to a zombieland of any kind. It’s reasonable to assume gas is a rare commodity (and this is one of the factors of the last _Resident Evil_ movie I appreciated, the scarcity of gas), so you’d want a car that could stretch every drop out for miles. Plus, the fewer mpg your vehicle gets, the more often you’d need to stop for gas- and every stop is a liability. And within the movie: they take it on a cross-country trip. What’s to say they’ll have enough places to refuel on the way or that those places will have fuel at all? Even though there was gas at the station Columbus went to at the beginning, how often would he be lucky like that? How many stops until he finally bites it because he gets bitten???????

I’m stopping now before I let myself get (even more) carried away, but you get the idea.

Hoh muh gawd, Heather, you’re asking for an essay. To be *EXTREMELY* brief, basically all of the complaints about Hummers and SUVs that generally come out in the real world today would be exacerbated and become even bigger problems in a post-zombie-apocalypse world. The Escalade and whatever the last black SUV was, those were hard enough to deal with, but a Hummer is already an extreme version of an SUV, so put that into a world infested with zombies and you’re basically driving around in your hearse, IMO. Or at least what *would* be your hearse, if there was anyone alive to give you a funeral after you BECAME DINNER. And that’s just a feeling about zombieworlds in general- a Hummer doesn’t fit within the established rules/world of the movie, either, or at least wouldn’t be necessary to optimize survival as according to said rules.

RE: McG – I truly thought it was a huge typo or something… as a nickname it’s cute, but to use it as your moniker on a movie is obnoxious… at least in my opinion.

_Castle_!!!! I totally love that show and was squealing with delight when the whole fanservice thing happened at the beginning. And I agree about the episode’s writing, Josh- it was one of the best-written episodes of both seasons so far. I’d say the show is more like _Moonlighting_ than _Murder She Wrote_ because there is absolutely no coincidence the characters are around the murders- Beckett is a *homicide* detective, after all. It’s sort of her job. And the dynamic between Castle and Beckett is similar to the one between David and Madelyn, a total love-hate thing ripe with sexual tension. Some of the banter between the two leads could be switched (along with name changes) and one would be none the wiser. AND, both sometimes play off the idea that the woman is the more professional one and we’re supposed to be pleasantly surprised when the man does something right or maturely for a change. I could say soooo much more about this show, though.

Haunted houses: The dorm I lived in as an undergrad sophomore was a converted hospital, so every year residents put on the Haunted Hospital, open to the public (FREE with a canned food donation) by decorating their rooms and the hallways. The flying, bloody baby my year was “absolutely disturbing and terrifying,” thus a student-favorite; but apparently some non-students that came complained to the administration and it was banned thereafter. Sad.

For themes, does the event movie or franchise really need to be current? How about a _Die Hard_ theme?* But I’m with you, Lee- I see no reason why scrutinizing a movie you don’t enjoy couldn’t feel satisfying and still be something you stand behind. Or even picking apart one aspect of a movie or show you love because it’s the main thing that irks you about it. (I have been pondering why the eff they chose a Hummer as the uber vehicle in _Zombieland_ for example: I can think of so many reasons why NOT to drive one of those after a zombiepocalypse, but I still totally love that movie.) And besides, if you back up your claims with legitimate and reasonable arguments, why *wouldn’t* you be able to stand behind it, Wrather? It’s sometimes easier to criticize than praise, after all, especially if the source material is fruitful enough or you feel passionate enough about it.

As for McG… I’m too lazy to look it up, but does anybody know why he goes by that at all? Is it a pretentious thing, or maybe a way to keep some anonymity? Is he covering up a relation to a serial killer or something? I picture a dude in a heavy cowl and Anonymous mask, although I doubt this is very accurate. Any ideas for a replacement? None here, off the top of my head.

*This may have been mentioned before, but the _Die Hard_ movies went through the same thing as the _Indiana Jones_ movies in that the first was good, the second was goodbad, the third was good, and the fourth was a poorly executed attempt at fanservice. Maybe both series could be themes for ya…

THIS is how a proton pack should be done:

http://gizmodo.com/5393730/ghostbuster-proton-pack-uses-real-lasers-can-probably-hunt-real-ghosts

RE: McG. Yeah, buy the franchise just to fire the director. I really don’t understand how some ideas and scripts are greenlit in Hollywood.

I actually just saw Terminator: Salvation on a cross-country flight last week. It wasn’t as terrible as I expected, but seriously, they used EVERY SINGLE Terminator catch-phrase in terrible, terrible ways. I haven’t seen T3 and have no plans too… but I loved T2 when I was a kid, my brother and I had it memorized, hence why I noticed all the friggin catch phrases being RUINED in T4.

I think a few years need to go by before the franchise can seriously be rebooted… it’s been overplayed recently. The first two movies were brilliant and I wish John Connor would send a terminator back in time to prevent the second two movies from being created.

Oh, and here is Joss Whedon’s actual letter he posted on his blog: http://whedonesque.com/comments/22240

So my second thought was that, assuming T:S is a dead end, let’s bring in someone, maybe not Josh Whedon, but a real killer storyteller, to reboot the franchise in a big way. Retell/reimagine the Kyle-Sarah-John story without all of the baggage from the original movies and their twisted time travel logic.

Crazy? Possibly. But it couldn’t be worse than the rumors I’ve been hearing about McG’s ideas for the next Terminator movie:

http://www.screeninglog.com/journal/2009/5/5/mcg-talks-terminator-salvation-sequel.html

Anyway, Heather, you should listen to the podcast and let us know what you think about Steven Seagal movies. ;-)