Warm Bodies, the story recently adapted for the screen, is a novel about a young zombie, R. R is a sensitive, intelligent dead man who is one of the few zombies who can think, talk and feel empathy for those he devours. Isaac Marion, author of Warm Bodies, takes readers on a whirlwind romance taken place among the dead and introduces a softer side of the zombie genre.

Julie is the female lead whom R falls in love with. A headstrong, confident and intelligent girl, she differs from other characters in the fact that she can survive on her own. Julie isn’t afraid of a fight; While out on a hunt for food, R, along with his zombie friends, shuffle into a medical building. There they find Julie, her beau Perry and other survivors sent to get more supplies for their town. The horde busts through the doors, attack and eat whoever they catch. R catches Perry, smashes his skull open and eats his brain. As soon as the fresh lobe is being devoured, R gets taken on a ride through Perry’s memories. When a zombie eats a persons brain, they view all of that persons memories and can feel what that person felt. Eating brains is as close as R gets to dreaming. Once he awakes from his euphoric delight, he hears Julie screaming and comes to her rescue by putting his own blood on her to distract his fellow zombies. This scene paves the way for their romance and the core of Isaac Marion’s story.

Toonari Post was able to interview Isaac Marion about his hit novel and incidentally gained some knowledge of his masterpiece.

Toonari Post (TP): What inspired you to write Warm Bodies?

Isaac Marion (IM): I’ve always enjoyed writing stories from the perspectives of people and things outside the normal human experience. It allows you to examine life from new angles and find unexpected insights. Looking at life through the eyes of a dead man provided a really interesting outsider perspective and led into some surprisingly rich thematic territory. Not to mention some nasty jokes.

TP: How did you come up with the characters?

IM: All my characters are bits and pieces of myself and other people I know, relationships I’ve had or observed. I don’t like stories that use characters purely as symbols or mouthpieces for the author. I try to make my characters feel like real people that exist and have lives before and after their time in my book.

TP: Have you seen the movie? If so, does it live up to your expectations?

IM: It went quite a bit beyond my expectations, actually. It’s different from the book, of course, has a lighter tone and a few differences in plot and character, but overall it’s surprisingly faithful. There are so many things that can go wrong in an adaptation, especially an adaptation of a relatively unknown novel, so the fact that it’s as faithful as it is and that it works on its own terms as a well-made and entertaining movie was a huge relief.

TP: Many who have read your book say it changes the “zombie genre.” Do you agree with this? Do you feel like you have/will start something completely different for the genre?

IM: I can’t really see there being a lot of inspirational, character-driven zombie love stories popping up in the wake of this. It’s such a bizarre concept, how can you do it more than once?

TP: Many of your fans are wondering, will there be a sequel to the book as well as the movie?

IM: There will be a prequel novella followed by one full-blown sequel that will conclude the story. Whether either of these will be made into movies, I don’t know. I think it would be a little challenging to make what they did with the Warm Bodies movie mesh with what I’m doing in the sequel book, but they are creative people…it could happen.

If you enjoy the zombie phenomenon, you will enjoy this novel. There is gore, romance, thrill and adventure along with comedy mixed in which is worth the read. At one point you will begin to relate to R and Julie’s romance and critiques of the new world. Isaac Marion is a brilliant author who has inspired the minds of many with this wonderful novel. Summit Entertainment is behind the movie based on the novel, which hits theaters February 1st, 2013, starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer.

Readers: read the novel and watch the movie when it hits theaters, you will be glad you did.

Image Courtesy : Warm Bodies

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Who totally like for sure loves 80’s movies? Honestly, it was the best time for coming of age films and Take Me Home Tonight certainly hits the mark. Topher Grace plays Matt, a recent MIT graduate who can’t figure what to do with his life. So, he decides to spend the entire summer working at Suncoast video until he can get his stuff together. But one day his high-school crush, Tori comes into the store and tells him about this party that will be happening that night. Matt feels that this is finally his chance to get her number, not that he didn’t have a million chances in high school. So matt, along with his coke-headed best friend, Barry played by Dan Fogler and his over-achieving sister, Wendy portrayed by the hilarious Anna Faris head off to a party they will never forget.

First off, huge fan of That 70’s Show so, it was nice to see Grace do another decade piece but not play the same character. Grace really nailed the nerdy, directionless, normal guy who is afraid to take a chance but knows that he eventually has to. Grace is a great talent and the only hope is that this movie takes him more places than one would expect. Grace is not Ashton Kutcher and he doesn’t need to go that route.

Anna Faris not only delivered a different performance in this movie but also met her husband, Chris Pratt on set as well. Pratt plays her cocky, preppy boyfriend. Farris is just adorable and it was good to see her not play the ditzy blonde for once, that may be because her hair was dyed brown for this role. Dan Fogler, not very well known yet buy could be after this film. While Fogler delivered some good laughs, it felt like he was doing an impression of all the heavy funny guys. Fogler could try to be more unique next time around.

Another star on the rise, Australian Teresa Palmer plays Tori. Palmer is not only absolutely gorgeous but portrays the recent college grad who hates her career quite well also. Palmer can also been seen kicking some serious booty in I Am Number Four, which may be more suited for her but she doesn’t do bad in comedy.  She also lucked out in this movie, by finding her real-life boyfriend Topher Grace.

When doing a film about the 1980’s there is something that is so vitality important that is it’s done wrong, it can ruin the whole film. This of course the soundtrack. Thankfully, this one delivered the hits of Duran Duran, Motley Crue, INXS, Journey and much more. Not what one may typically expect in an 80’s movie, but that could be because it’s set in the late 80’s so they wanted to stay more true to the time. This movie tried to stay as true to the time but it was not so stereotypical. Everyone’s overall look fit their character for that particular time. The only stereotypical part of this movie was the excessive drug use, but it was the 80’s and coke was the ‘it’ thing to do. The drug use actually delayed the release of the movie but honestly they could have loosened up because it’s just a movie and a hilarious one at that.

Every film in the 1980’s had a heart or a message that everyone could relate to, whether it was begging for attention or trying to get the girl or boy of your dreams. The message in this one was that there is one night that can change someone’s life and that was this is about. By the end of this film, the main characters lives have changed in many ways some for the stupid but mostly for the better.

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