It’s finally here. Whatever you do, don’t go over to the IWOOT site and type ”UNDEAD” into the search box…
Archive for the ‘Film Stuff’ Category
The Worst Zombie Film EVER Made
Monday, October 26th, 2009Woody Harrelson Is Prepared For The Zombie Apocalypse
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009Whilst waiting for a bus to work this morning, I was reminded of a valiant man who, despite the ridicule of the press, is truly ready for the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse. A poster for the comedy (or documentary?) ‘Zombieland’ was on the side of my bus this morning and its star, Woody Harrelson, is a man on top of the Z.A. After the film had finished shooting, Mr. Harrelson apparently assaulted a photographer at La Guardia airport – you can read the full story at CNN here.
This may be old news, having taken place in April, but seeing Harrelson on the side of a bus reminded me of his defence:
“I wrapped a movie called ‘Zombieland,’ in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character. With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie.”
Though this defence is completely hilarious, it should be added that if we were all to adopt such a lifestyle (in which we assume everyone we don’t know is a zombie), the chances of total carnage would be somewhat reduced… something to think about? Or are we taking this too seriously?
Silent Star Wars
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Apologies if this video has already done the rounds, but we’ve only just seen it. A simple enough pairing on paper – Star Wars and silent movies – and suddenly all those gravitas-laden moments from history’s most important trilogy are transformed into Buster Keaton-esque pratfalls, Chaplin-inspired Vaudeville clowning and music hall melodrama. Life must’ve been so much simpler in the age of the silent movie, and if that discipline can reduce said trilogy to a cavalcade of slapstick and physical comedy, imagine what it could do for similarly worthy titles.
Gasp as the chariot race from Ben-Hur becomes a joy-ride with restless piano accompaniment!
Cheer as Mel Gibson does some high-speed running around the Higlands in Braveheart!
Laugh yourself silly as Norman Bates claims another victim, Stooges-style, in Psycho!
Just amazing.
So, are there any other films that would benefit from the silent movie treatment?
More Zombies…
Friday, September 18th, 2009Following on from EddyWoot’s post regarding survival of the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse (it’s a-comin’ folks, accept it), I’ve been forced to contemplate my own escape routes. You see, I’ve just moved house AND changed jobs in the last fortnight, so I need to figure out some new security policies should hell finally overflow and the dead walk the earth.
My old office was on the first floor and next door to a Police station – perfect. A quick hop across the fire escape and we’ve got a one-way ticket to human victory. An armoury, and either some heavy-duty vehicle protection or at least some horses are ours for the taking. There’s something romantic about galloping through the streets of London, merrily decapitating the strolling undead with whatever discarded Police weapons one can lay their hands on.
Similarly, my old flat was reasonably secure. Again on the first floor, it had access to a network of roof terraces – perfect for sentry positions, snipers (armed with whatever’s to hand – shoes, books, heavy electronic equipment, that sort of thing) and generally keeping an eye on the hordes. This time, the nearest Police Station was a couple of streets away so, should the need arise, we could make a dash for it. There was a Somerfield on the way too, so anyone peckish for anything other than live human flesh could fill their boots.
Now, all I can think of is the security lapses in my new lifestyle. I don’t know the IWOOT building all that well yet and, truth be told, it’s more akin to a labyrinthine secondary school than a standard office. Corridors wind on and on, every corner turned is a possible face-off with something that wants to eat your face off, and I’ve no idea where the Police Station is. Short of throwing unopened boxes of hefty gadgets at my zombified colleagues, I’m out of ideas.
As for home, I’m now miles away from help. I haven’t got an escape route and I haven’t even thought about where I might be able to salvage weapons from. What have I got? Ikea cutlery? Coasters? A saucepan or two? That’s not going to help anyone in the Z.A.
I’m dead. Any suggestions?
Zombies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, September 18th, 2009It’s Friday, we’re all itching for the weekend to start, so naturally the conversation in the creative team has turned to Zombies. Lock 5 people in a room together for long enough and it’s bound to happen (try it for yourself. You should probably ask the other peoples permission before you lock the door or you’re going to get in a lot of trouble).
Now, when discussing zombies, some ground rules have to be set: first off we’re talking Romero zombies NOT haitian folk lore zombies. Secondly, zombies can and do not run. Ever. As Simon Pegg once wrote, “Death is a disability, not a superpower. It’s hard to run with a cold, let alone the most debilitating malady of them all. “. Forget what you saw in the Dawn of the Dead remake, it wouldn’t happen. There’d be bits falling off with every footstep and they’d be reduced to a mass of quivering blubber by the time they got within 10 feet of you.
So what does one do when the zombie apocalypse finally arrives? Luckily, I’m one of those jammy people who lives in a house with bars on the window (I live in a dodgy part of London), but the front and backdoor pose a bit of a security concern. Pile 10 or 20 zombies up against them and they’d burst open like John Hurt’s chest, leaving the grateful undead free to run amok in my sitting room while me and the missus cower upstairs, no doubt hiding under the quilt in a misguided attempt at keep “the bad things” away (we all revert to our 3 year old selves when faced with horror movie scenarios). And that would be it – we’d be strolling around the town centre with the rest of them in no time, eyes fixed with a vacant glazed expression and on the hunt for human flesh.
However, being the forward planner that I am, I have strategically placed my bookshelf right beside the backdoor and moved my tool box downstairs. As soon as the news lets slip even a whiff of the impending zombie takeover I’m fixing that sucker over the door and screwing it into place. Let’s see them open the door now. As for the front, it’s nothing a filing cabinet or two can’t fix. Mrs Woot has been nagging me to take it upstairs for the last couple of months, but she’ll soon change her mind when London all goes a bit Lucio Fulci.
I once lived in Stoke with someone who’s strategy was so brilliantly misguided that I’ve been waiting for it to show up in the next Schlockbuster at Halloween: Ride around town on a skateboard popping caps in zombies with a shotgun. The two things that struck me as problematic were the availability of a shotgun in the Trent Vale, and my friends ability to cope with the recoil mid skate. It would be great to watch on the big screen though, wouldn’t it?
Have you prepared for a Zombie Scenario? We’d love for you to let us know. So get creative in the comments section. Who knows – we might all learn something from each other.
Transformers Competition Results
Monday, July 6th, 2009After sifting through hundreds of emails I’m very pleased to announce the winner of our Transformers Goody bag. Let’s give Dave from Southampton a huge round of applause – he correctly named the MechRC as the IWOOT product designed by a Transformers artist, and he even remembered to include the link to the product page. He’ll be receiving a Transformer goody bag in the post, courtesy of Paramount Studios.
Now you may be asking yourself “How on earth do they choose the winners without being biased?”, and you’d be perfectly justified in asking. Well, I’ll tell you. I passed the buck completely and used a random number generator, courtesy of Random.org. I’d heard that quite a few organisations have opted to use their wonderful site for competition purposes, so I checked out their testimonials and decided to give them a shot.
This competition has been quite a success (in spite of the fairly shaky start) so I’m hoping that our marketing team can come up with loads of new and exciting goodies to give away in the near future. In the meantime: watch this space.
Ergonomic Vacuum Back Pack
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009As Mrs Eddy Woot will tell you I am absolutely rubbish when it comes to hoovering. I try my best, but having to push a noisy plastic box full of dust up and down the house just really doesn’t appeal to me. If we had the Ergonomic Vacuum Backpack, however, I think things would be a lot different. I can’t really explain why, but there’s just something outrageously cool about a hoover you can strap to your back.
“Capable of cleaning virtually any surface from carpet to tile to stone or hardwood floors., the Ergonomic Backpack Vacuum comes with a powerful suction that is even able to tackle items like broken glass, confetti, nuts and bolts and pet hair among others. Each $170 purchase will come with padded backpack straps, a HEPA filter to remove 99.9% of all dust, telescoping wand, easy reach attachments, a 26 ft. power cord, reusable collection bag and six disposable bags.”
Maybe after you’ve finished dust busting with it you can spend the rest of the day ghost busting! Or at least pretending to. . .
Ubergizmo via Geekologie.
Win a MechRC Robot
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009Fancy winning a £450 robot to celebrate the release of Transformers 2? Then get over to Den of Geek right now! All you need to do to enter the competition is register as a Den of Geek reader and then answer their fiendish question.
Buzz about the new Transformers film has been taking over the internet for a good few weeks now and, not being one to miss out, Den of Geek have created a fantastic Guide to the Transformers in Transformers 2. Being Transformers fans ourselves we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the new film than by hooking up with our friends at Den of Geek and giving them the mighty MechRC to give away to one of their lucky readers.
The competition closes at 10AM on Friday 3rd of July, so get over there while you can and win yourself a robot.
Win an exclusive Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen goody bag!
Monday, June 22nd, 2009Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (cert 12a ) was released at cinemas everywhere on June 19 and to celebrate the release we’re giving you the chance to win a Transformers goody bag!
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the summer blockbuster of 2007; the battle for Earth is not over and the Autobots are in a race against time to stop the Decepticons from destroying the planet and the universe. Both the Autobots and the Decepticons are on a world wide search for the remaining pieces of the AllSpark and the location of the Matrix of Leadership. Once again Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) must become a hero and team up with the Autobots, lead by Optimus Prime, to stop the Decepticons in this global, epic battle to save the world from destruction.
For more information please visit www.transformers2movie.co.uk
Your Goody Bag prize includes: a fold up keyboard, a transforming 4 way USB port, a circuit board notebook and an ‘Autobot’ t-shirt!
EDIT:As so many of you rightly pointed out, it just isn’t a competition without a question (yes, I know – I’m rubbish) so without further ado:
Q. One of our products was designed by a Transformers Artist. Which one? Send your name and the correct answer with a link to the product page to eddywoot@gmail.com
The winner will be chosen at random. EDIT:The competition closes at Midnight, Friday 3rd July – competition is open to UK residents only. SIGH – you’ll have to forgive us, this is the first time we’ve been allowed to run a competition.
Copyright © 2009 PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION and DW STUDIOS L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.
HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. © 2009 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
The First Casualty of Nerf is Innocence
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009The Nerf N-Strike Havok Fire (or as we like to call it the Nerf Havok Fire Automatic Blaster) has arrived at IWOOT and we just couldn’t resist having a bit of a play in front of the camera. MattyWoot was first to volunteer so we dressed him up like a manly soldier, got him to practice his 1000 yard stare and covered him in green boot polish (boot polish, camo paint – it all looks the same).
I cannot wait until we finally start selling this Nerf Gun. For too long have the creative team been subdued by barrages of foam darts from marketing island. With a couple of these babies placed in strategic positions around the office we might just be able to bring the fight to them.