1. It’s Dead Sexy: If you didn’t know already, English model-actor Nicholas Hoult is so handsome, he makes zombie makeup and blood-stained rags look like the next hipster-chic fashion trend. The star is even more striking in person. Much taller than his 6’2″ Google listing, Nicholas was dashing at The Cinema Society premiere in a three-piece suit and cheek bones sharp enough to be wielded as weapons in the zombie apocalypse. Even though his character can hardly speak, his expressive face helps him carry scenes with hardly any dialogue at all. And speaking of sexy . . .
2. The blond K-Stew: Warm Bodies is the story of a zombie who falls for a feisty, shotgun-shooting human survivor of the zombie world-takeover, played by Aussie actress Teresa Palmer. Although she looks nothing like her Breaking Dawn doppelgänger in person, you could swear in some scenes director Jonathon Levine, 36, had simply grabbed Kristen Stewart and poured a bottle of bleach over her head. That’s where the resemblance stops however – there were no reports that the lovely Teresa broke up any marriages while filming.
3. The Soundtrack: Nicholas plays, “R,” a zombie with his human mind and feelings mostly intact – even though he can only remember one letter of his former name. When not guiltily binge-eating brains, “R” spends most of his time playing old records in the abandoned jumbo jet he calls home. The filmmakers have pulled together a moving mix of classic rock and soul songs, blended with perfectly picked indie gems from Feist, Bon Iver and the little-known but haunting Chad Valley. It’s the spot-on use of indie artists’ songs in place of a score that sweeps you up in the charming mood of this unusual film.
4. Edward Zombie Fingers: The zombies in Warm Bodies may be more human on the inside than your average living dead, but they are still afflcited with that classic zombified stiffness, playfully referred to as having, “zombie fingers.” Director Jonathon Levine explained to me his biggest inspiration for creating a romantic lead that can’t quite express himself to the girl he loves.
“Edward Scissorhands is the closest reference for this and proved to us we could do it.” Johathon explained that even though this movie is less fanciful than Tim Burton‘s classic fairytale, he knew it was possible to craft genuine love story between living and dead – even if “R” doesn’t have full range of his all his digits.
5. Davey’s Brains: Slight spoiler alert . . .Dave Franco, 27, has made his young career out of playing snotty characters you love to hate. For those of you who thought he should have gotten what was coming to him in 21 Jump Street (2012), James Franco‘s baby brother plays a similarly annoying alpha male in Warm Bodies, but this time, he doesn’t get away so easy. “R” eats his brains, and then does much, much worse. Catch Warm Bodies in theaters Feb. 1 to to witness the worst insult to injury in cinema history.
As a bonus, The Cinema Society’s Warm Bodies premiere after-party was at the Penthouse of Hotel on Rivington, where all the stars drank a Robert Mondavi Private Selection hot mulled wine called the “Body Warmer.”
— Gino Orlandini
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