By Christopher Stipp
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The Messenger – DVD Review
Woody Harrelson is a human litmus test for what the ravages of war can do to an individual.
The Messenger is a movie that defies a conventional critique as the movie unspools in a manner that feels more real than it does made up, more visceral than it does imagined. While Kevin Bacon’s turn in Taking Chance was a heartfelt swan song to one human’s life who died for his country, The Messenger is grittier in its portrayal of a man tasked with delivering the news no family member wants to get about their fallen soldier.
It’s grittier and more immediate thanks to the liberating decisions made by first time director Oren Moverman. The camera seems to always be bobbing, moving, trying to angle for a better position with which to see men like Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, who finally gets a role that feels like it was written to play to his talents, navigate a world where there is no more war to fight. It’s the adjustment where the movie excels. There have been too many films to directly or indirectly address the battle that wages on between us and our supposed enemies but not one like this which addresses the human toll that costs many men and women their sanity.
The movie challenges you to assess which would be worse, fighting in a war and killing those you hate or ringing the doorbell of a stranger and killing those who you don’t even know with just a few words, and rewards you with surprises that make this so much more than just a movie about getting back into the swing of normal day-to-day living. Foster, whose behavior might seem strange, opting to don sunglasses in the middle of the night, or Harrelson, who can outdo Gary Busey in his prime for sheer scenery chewing, are a wild pair that completely satisfy as case studies for the silent deaths these men have to endure long after bullets have stopped slicing past their helmets.
The editing, for those that care about these sorts of things, allow scenes to breathe in a way that helps front load the emotional impact for what’s happening on the screen. For instance, when the duo is relaying the news of a soldier’s death to the father of the service member, played by Steve Buscemi, the scene is just allowed to play out in a way that not only felt organic but heightened the devastating impact the moment had on both characters. It’s but one of many moments that Moverman earns as a director looking to create a connection rather than making a moment to exploit. By the time Samantha Morton enters the film, as a woman who learns of her husband’s death through Foster, you are ready to crumble under the weight for what Moverman has already established. We get and understand the impact and you fully buy into the story that unravels between these people.
The Messenger is a film that not only deserves your time but, I would assert, deserves your attention and heart. It’s a movie that shows you what the ravages of war can do a man but it also shows you how that man can be put back together if all the elements are present; sometimes they are and sometimes they are not and it’s the latter ones that are completely devastating.
About the movie:
Co-written by Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon, THE MESSENGER is a powerful and tender story about a returned war hero making his first steps toward a normal life.
In his first leading role, Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband’s death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Moverman, THE MESSENGER brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity.
Pulling John- DVD Review
Let’s just get this right out of the way: I was sold that Over The Top was the probably the best movie to come out in the winter of 1987.
There was something about the allure of Sylvester Stallone, still riding on the fame that made him the most bankable action star of the 80’s, in a role that was for all intents and purposes family friendly. That said, this documentary about guys who really do want to reach each other half-way but not necessarily across the sky, Pumping John is one entertaining film.
The movie deals with one man who has reigned for 25 years, a quarter of a century, as the all-time grand champion of this sport. And make no mistake, as you see these men train and internalize the nature of what they do, this is a sport. There are fans of this man and his legacy and you would half-think that the oddballs that the film showcases as wanting to dethrone the patriarch of the sport would be somehow a goof or funny. While there are some unintended moments that are humorous there is a real heart in this movie and I cannot believe it took this long to discover this independent gem.
About the movie:
A TOP 10 MUST SEE FILM FROM SXSW AND WINNER OF 10 INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE AWARDS, THIS IS THE SWEAT-DRENCHED STORY OF A CHAMPION’S GLORY IN AN UNSUNG, OFFBEAT SPORT — ARM WRESTLING
A living legend in a sport he helped popularize, John Brzenk has enjoyed a 25 year run as the undefeated arm wrestling champion of the world. Yet, at the age of 40, he’s consumed by one question: should he retire on top or succumb to the inevitable: a loss to a new champion. PULLING JOHN, the rousing and universal story of a champion’s glory in an unsung sport, debuts this May on DVD in an extras-loaded version”¦only from IndiePix.
In the vein of dramatic, championship-caliber docs, Bigger, Faster, Stronger and King of Kong, PULLING JOHN is a feature-length verite shot over four years which follows Brzenk, the legendary armwrestler, who works as an airline mechanic by day and now must decide whether to leave the sport he was raised on. Taking a journey to the far corners of the world where men define themselves by trying to beat the undisputed champ, the film visits with 23 year old Alexy Voevoda from Sochi , Russia and Charlestown, West Virginia ‘s 26 year old Travis Bagent, colorful characters who have been raised on the legend of Brzenk. And, in a philosophical and thrilling ride through human nature, PULLING JOHN culminates at the Zloty Tur Championship in Warsaw , where Bagent and Voevoda have the chance of their life — to dethrone the conflicted champion.
About PULLING JOHN, San Diego City Beat says, “once you’ve watched it, you’ll be shocked that you’ve never heard of John Brzenk” and, Spout.com says “you will find yourself screaming out loud!” Don’t miss out on this thrilling film, which IndiePix is presenting in widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; also featured are bonuses including commentary from director Vassiliki Khonsari and Brzenk, a Pulling John graphic comic, over 50 minutes of additional scenes and more!
Yesterday Was A Lie – DVD Review
Yes, when you read a description that uses the words avant-garde 99% of the time you should run in the other direction. Most likely what you’ll get is a movie that is so into itself it negates the possibility of anyone else liking it.
Not here, though, as this movie is a genuine treat that both entices and rewards on multiple levels. It feels like a noir thriller that ought to exist somewhere in the 30’s or 40’s with its mimimalist set design, cinematography and music choices. The story revolves around a hard nosed female detective on a case that, while it would be useless to try and compress into a neat paragraph, blends the scientific with the very mundane aspects of filmmaking that have long since been tossed aside.
While not steampunk by any means, the movie still feels like a hybrid of the very old and the very modern. Director/writer James Kerwin blends some fantastic elements that deal with the nature of space and time with a fun take on the old gumshoe who just can’t say no to the sauce.
Again, looking at the film’s description you would be hard pressed to want to check out a movie that seems like a blend of too many genres but I can assure you that it’s worth watching simply for Kipleigh Brown’s portrayal as the weather beaten detective Hoyle and for Chase Masterson of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame. These two together make seeking this movie out entitrely worth it. Kerwin, as well, deserves much love and respect for crafting a story that not only  works as a noir throwback but it also succeeds in bending your mind’s eye as it challenges your expectations of a film dealing with the subject matter it does. Such a wonderful outing for a filmmaker that finally does take a risk in a landscape of directors who play it safe.
About the movie:
Combining “stunning black-and-white cinematography, a sultry jazz score and a refreshingly high-minded script,” YESTERDAY WAS A LIE is a groundbreaking new metaphysical noir thriller from writer/director James Kerwin. Exploring mind-twisting modern sci-fi themes including the nature of time, reality and human consciousness, this acclaimed independent feature and U.S. theatrical release has received over a dozen film festival Best Feature awards and virtually unanimous critical praise. This April, sci-fi fans everywhere will rejoice as YESTERDAY WAS A LIE, the latest feature from genre-favorite stars Chase Masterson and Peter Mayhew, makes its eagerly anticipated DVD debut for $24.98 SRP ““ only from E1 Entertainment.
In YESTERDAY WAS A LIE, Kipleigh Brown “exudes Bacall[2]” as Hoyle, a girl with a sharp mind and a weakness for bourbon who finds herself on the trail of a reclusive genius (John Newton). But her work takes a series of unforeseen twists as events around her grow increasingly fragmented, disconnected and surreal. With a sexy lounge singer (Chase Masterson) and a loyal partner (Mik Scriba, The Last Seduction) as her only allies, Hoyle is plunged into a dark world of intrigue and earth-shattering cosmological secrets. Haunted by an ever-present shadow (Peter Mayhew) whom she is destined to face, Hoyle discovers that the most powerful force in the universe – the power to bend reality, the power to know the truth – lies within the depths of the human heart.  The film also stars Nathan Mobley, Warren Davis, Megan Henning, Jennifer Slimko and famed radio personality Robert Siegel.
Named one of the year’s “Ten Best Films on the Festival Circuit” by Film Threat, YESTERDAY WAS A LIE opened theatrically late in 2009 to rave theatrical reviews after successful screenings in over 50 festivals on four continents. The film has won numerous accolades including Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography at Visionfest and was an Official Selection at the Barbados International Film Festival and the St. Louis International Film Festival, among others.
Presented in 16×9 with 5.1 Surround Sound, the YESTERDAY WAS A LIE DVD features English SDH Subtitles and is supplemented by an amazing array of bonus features. Extras include a feature-length audio commentary by James Kerwin, Kipleigh Brown and Chase Masterson as well as multiple making-of featurettes, interviews with the cast and crew as well as a production stills photo gallery. Produced by Helicon Arts Cooperative, the film is rated PG by the MPAA for language, some violent content and smoking.
YESTERDAY WAS A LIE will also be available for digital streaming in 720 HD on iTunes and Netflix. For more information about the film, visit www.yesterdaywasalie.com.
Giggle, Giggle, Quack and Runaway Ralph – DVD Review
So…I sat my four year-old and six year-old in front of the television to watch the latest from Scholastic Storybook Treasures in order to get an accurate bead of whether anyone else in their cohort class would find this fun or at least mildly entertaining.
I took this as an opportunity to see whether they would enjoy the experience of reading along with a movie. Honestly, it’s one of the things which I thought would be a primer for their eventual exposure to foreign films which, as a cineaste, I hoped they would enjoy as much as I do.
I’ll tell you what, it sure beats having to sit through an insufferable little twit named Caillou or a troubled chimp known as Curious George.
Giggle, Giggle, Quack is a collection of stories read by Abagail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Alexander Gould (the voice of Finding Nemo and regular on Weeds), and Country/Western star Randy Travis is a solid choice for any parent out there looking to buy a DVD that you’ll at least be able to sit through and not count the minutes go by. Runaway Ralph, penned by the Ernest Hemmingway of kids fiction, Beverly Cleary, was just as entertaining to both kids as the two discs offered both long form and short form entertainment.
While Giggle, with it’s collection of five different stories on the disc, obviously appeals to the shorter attention spans of kids who just want brevity over substance you cannot go wrong. The stories are fun, are animated well and honestly do offer a literacy component should you decide that reading is somehow fundamental to nurturing a well-balanced kid. Runaway Ralph, as I could have suspected, appealed more to the six year-old as she’s learning to appreciate longer stories and is eagerly consuming works where she can read aloud. Now, for all her enthusiasm I think she’s just reading and not genuinely comprehending everything I at least appreciated that this movie sparked an action something other than drooling complicity as the television does all the entertaining.
As it is with a lot of kids, the collection of stories hold up to repeat viewings, and more repeat viewings, and even more repeat viewings, just fine. As the unwitting recipient of a multiple view marathon I can attest that after showing my kids the read along function they could not watch it without having it on.
The fact of the matter is that there is a dearth of good entertainment for kids out there and there really is only so much artistic growth that a show like Yo Gabba Gabba can engender. It’s nice to know that, for at least a little while, these two discs kept my kids attention.
About Giggle, Giggle, Quack:
Spring into spring with Scholastic Storybook Treasuresâ„¢, as they release a new collection of colorfully animated stories adapted from tales by best-selling author Doreen Cronin. Featuring everyone’s favorite personified animals, GIGGLE, GIGGLE, QUACK “¦ AND MORE STORIES BY DOREEN CRONIN includes adaptations of many of the author’s best-loved books and celebrity narration by Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Alexander Gould (Weeds) and Grammy® Award-winning singer Randy Travis. The DVD, which supports reading comprehension, vocabulary and problem solving, will be available in stores and at newkideo.com on March 30th for $14.95SRP.
The title story is the hilarious sequel to “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type”. This time, Farmer Brown’s animals pull their old tricks on Farmer Brown’s brother, Bob. Duck instigates the action, ordering pizza with anchovies for the hens and renting “The Sound of Moosic” for the cows. The lively animation and witty ploys of the animals will keep kids laughing, as will Randy Travis’ warm and humorous style of narration. Adapted from Cronin’s story and Betsy Lewin’s illustrations Weston Woods Studios original production captured an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children’s Video and Notable Video selection by the American Library Association.
GIGGLE, GIGGLE, QUACK “¦ AND MORE STORIES BY DOREEN CRONIN also includes four additional stories, animated from the original storybook illustrations of Betsy Lewin and Harry Bliss: “Dooby Dooby Moo”, “Duck for President” and the best-selling “Diary of a Worm” and “Diary of a Fly.” As an exclusive bonus, the DVD also includes an interview with illustrator Harry Bliss and Spanish versions of “Giggle, Giggle, Quack” and “Duck for President.”
Perfect for early readers, ages 3 to 8, the DVD features an enhanced read-along function and NEW Talk about the Story questions to enhance early literacy skills. Children will also have the opportunity to hone their bilingual skills with the two of Spanish adaptations, which also includes the enhanced read-along where they words are highlighted as they are read.
The SCHOLASTIC STORYBOOK TREASURES series hails from the vaults of Weston Woods Studios, world-renowned for their careful film and video adaptations of best-selling children’s storybooks. Librarians and teachers around the country have long been using these very same productions, created by Weston Woods Studios with authors and illustrators, to enhance their students’ pre-reading experiences. Founded more than 50 years ago, and now a division of Scholastic, Weston Woods continues to produce top-notch video storytelling. SCHOLASTIC STORYBOOK TREASURES collects and presents these productions for the home marketplace and has, since its launch in 2003, become a top award-winning home video franchise for children.
About Runaway Ralph:
Beverly Cleary’s beloved and rascally character Ralph S. Mouse comes to life in live action DVD based on a best-selling children’s book, RUNAWAY RALPH, The latest in the acclaimed Scholastic Storybook Treasuresâ„¢ collection, this newly remastered edition of RUNAWAY RALPH supports reading comprehension, vocabulary and problem solving, and will be available in stores and at newkideo.com on April 27 for $14.95SRP.
RUNAWAY RALPH is the third installment of Cleary’s classic tales building on the adventure and excitement of THE MOUSE ANDTHE MOTORCYCLE and RALPH S. MOUSE (both available on DVD from Scholastic Storybook Treasures). Ralph is tired of living at the quaint and quiet Mountain View Inn and dealing with his annoying relatives. He longs for “a life of speed and danger and excitement.” He certainly gets his wish when he sets off on his mouse-sized motorcycle and meets a series of fur-raising adventures. After some run-ins with the resident cat at the Happy Acres Summer Camp, Ralph befriends a young boy named Garfield and helps him through a difficult decision. In this fantastic tale of friendship and growing up, Ralph learns that the wild is not necessarily better than home, even with all its problems, The original film production won an Emmy nomination and awards from the American Library Association and the Columbus Film Festival.
Perfect for early readers, ages 3 to 8, the DVD features an enhanced read-along function and Talk about the Story questions to enhance early literacy skills. The DVD also includes the bonus story Commander Toad in Space (based on the book by Jane Yolen).
The SCHOLASTIC STORYBOOK TREASURES series hails from the vaults of Weston Woods Studios, world-renowned for their careful film and video adaptations of best-selling children’s storybooks. Librarians and teachers around the country have long been using these very same productions, created by Weston Woods Studios with authors and illustrators, to enhance their students’ pre-reading experiences. Founded more than 50 years ago, and now a division of Scholastic, Weston Woods continues to produce top-notch video storytelling. SCHOLASTIC STORYBOOK TREASURES collects and presents these productions for the home marketplace and has, since its launch in 2003, become a top award-winning home video franchise for children.
Further proving that everything is awesome, the awesome LEGO Movie (Warner Bros., Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$59.98 SRP) arrives in full 3D glory just in time for a much needed boost of awesome as the sweltering heat of summer descends. It should come as no surprise that the only way you should purchase such an awesome film is via the deluxe “Everything Is Awesome Edition”, which features both the 3D and 2D versions of the film, plus a 3D portrait of Emmett and, most awesome of all, an exclusive Vitruvius LEGO minifigure. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, outtakes, and a sing-along. Awesome.
Seth MacFarlane relaunches Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking science program for a modern audience? The Family Guy guy? And it is great? Yes, the brand new Cosmos (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.98 SRP) truly is great, as Neil deGrasse Tyson fills Sagan’s massive shoes in spectacular fashion in a tightly crafted journey through the universe and humanity’s place within that impressive expanse, while also exploring our place on Earth. If you’ve not seen it, watch it. If you’ve seen it, watch it again, as well as the over 2 hours of bonus material and commentaries on the Blu-Ray set.
More often than not, I find I’m left cold by the overly-precious affectations of Wes Anderson’s films, but there is much to love in the rather straightforward fable presented in The Grand Budapest Hotel (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which feels like his most straightforward narrative since Rushmore. Bonus materials include a trio of vignettes and a clutch of featurettes.
There’s brilliant and there’s bizarre, and then there’s the brilliantly bizarre True Detective (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP), which has more twists and turns than nay one series has a right to, which is why to discuss it is to spoil and lovely little ride. It’s enough to say it stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as a pair of police detectives investigating a bizarre murder, and… Oh, just watch it. Bonus materials include a pair of audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and deleted scenes.
There’s something instantly enjoyable about the travel documentaries fronted by Monty Python’s Michael Palin. As the Python troupe frequently exploited, there’s a lovely everyman quality to Palin that makes him intrinsically endearing. It also doesn’t hurt that the folks capturing his travels make it all look so gosh darn beautiful, as it most certainly does in his latest, Brazil (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), which finds Palin in the South American country currently hosting the World Cup.
The most I can say about Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) is that it’s an entirely forgettable attempt to relaunch, yet again, Tom Clancy’s action superspy, this time as a fresh CIA recruit played by FauxKirk himself, Chris Pine. Stuff happens. Things blow up. It’s an okay ride, and Kevin Costner is there. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted/extended scenes.
Long after his original series, Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason returned for a run of guest-star filled TV movies which found the world’s foremost crime-solving lawyer getting many a client out of a right pickle. The run of these can be had in the 3-volume Perry Mason Movie Collection – Volume 1: Perry Mason Returns/The Case Of The Notorious Nun, Volume 2: The Case Of The Lost Love/The Case Of The Shooting Star, and Volume 3: The Case Of The Murdered Madam/The Case Of The Sinister Spirit (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP each).
While it’s not nearly as good as the original 80s G1 animated series, Transformers: Animated (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.97 SRP) does at least fix the abysmal visual mess of the Michael Bay films into a much more pleasing form. The 6-disc complete series set contains all 42 episodes, plus audio commentaries.
If you’re younger than 30, you probably don’t recall that Sinbad was once a very funny stand-up comedian. Well, now you can find out just how he exists in my memory via his quite funny new stand-up special, Sinbad: Make Me Wanna Holla (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP).
There’s nothing like a monster teaching manners, except when those monsters are the ones teaching manners in Sesame Street: Monster Manners (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), with the master class being given by none other than Cookie Monster.
The fine folks at Mill Creek have opened the floodgates of their classic Sony TV catalogue program, re-releasing a veritable ton of TV, including The Jeffersons: Seasons 1 & 2 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), The Partridge Family: Seasons 1 & 2 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), Highway To Heaven: Season 4 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), Gidget: The Complete Series (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), Bewitched: Seasons 3 & 4 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), Party Of Five: Season 1 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), and The Larry Sanders Show: Seasons 1 & 2 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP).
Plenty of shirts are discarded with prejudice in Teen Wolf: Season 3 Part 2 (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Oh, and there are werewolves. Plus a bonus featurette. But it’s mainly just about removing shirts, from what I can tell.
Howzabout a soundtrack round-up for this week? Now available for your listening pressure are Rolfe Kent’s score for Gambit (Lakeshore, $9.49 SRP), Scott Shields’ Strike Back (Varese Sarabande, $9.49 SRP), Tony Morales’ In Your Eyes (Lakeshore, $9.49 SRP), Ceiri Torjussen’s Test (Moviescore, $8.99 SRP), Nima Fakhara’s The Signal (Varese Sarabande, $9.49 SRP), Jeff Beal’s House Of Cards: Season 2 (Varese Sarabande, $18.49 SRP), and Trevor Morris’ The Vikings II (Sony Masterworks, $10.99 SRP).
First, a word on how Zombieland isn’t Shaun of the Dead 2: Jay of the Dead (where did I get Jay? It rhymes with DAY… never mind.) All the atrocious grammar, inept spelling, and questionable motives of “talk backers” on the net would make one think that the issue of plagiarism would be no big deal. How wrong one can be. In the dim, darkened world of the internet-age all movies that are sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, sequel-remakes, remake-reboots, and rebooted-sequel-half-prequels are given a pass on their content. Generation “TROLL” screams out to Hollywood’s ears “Give me content I’ve already seen, only NEWER and with more CGI!” Yet, when a film tries to exist only on the merits of a script alone, that is when the content is harshly criticized. Apparently you can’t have two separate movies about the same subject anymore, not without bucket loads of hate spewed forth. These complaints seem to have mutated in the 90’s and snowballed into a mammoth sphere of ignorance.
Director Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland might be the first time fast-moving-non-zombies have actually been properly utilized. The nitpicking loser inside me wants to complain, but the forgiving, Left-4-Dead addicted, softy inside me has to admit something. At no point was I bothered by the fact that the “zombies” where still-living-infected-humans, in a film called ZOMBIEland. This is because of how much of the film’s comedy is derived from the speed at which these zombies move. Right at the start of the flick we are told that due to speed, “the fatties die first.” As a fatty myself, I have to admit that this hilarious (and sadly true) assertion alone is enough to forgive all further use of non-Romero-certified-undead-slow-motion-zombies. Plus the name Zombieland is coined by Jesse Eisenberg’s character… making it the character’s mistake instead of the script’s. Also, it is time all of us who actually care about the Fast vs. Slow zombie debate admit that if fast-still-living zombies became a reality, we would call them “zombies” without hesitation. That doesn’t mean we love George Romero any less.
A hilarious slow-motion credit sequence is all we are treated to as for the initial onslaught of the infected uprising. Zombieland drops us into the already post-apocalyptic world of desolation. Narrated by Jesse Eisenberg, we are introduced to this world through his “rules” for survival, which makes a great running gag throughout the entire film. The movie doesn’t try to be a satirical horror flick bogged down in the meaning of life with heavy syrup. There is no sub-textual message about how “we are them, and they are us.” Zombieland is a simple action-comedy, but great in its simplicity and it stays true to what it is.
Opening credits and flashbacks aside, there are only five non-zombified humans seen throughout the movie, all of them with the simple goal of finding something that reminds them of a pre-zombie life. The girls, Wichita and Little Rock, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, are looking to visit an amusement park one last time. Woody Harrelson’s zombie-hunter, Tallahassee, simply wants to eat a Twinkie, and Jesse Eisenberg’s Columbus wants to find his “family.” Even the characters in the movie try to avoid sentimentality by calling each other by the names of the places they are from. This is not to say that there aren’t serious moments in the flick, but no more then your average action movie circa 1985. When dealing with death and survival you have to add in some semblance of emotion, here those moments are welcomed, short, sweet, and do give depth to these four survivors. At no point does the film feel cold or devoid of relatable themes, which serves the comedy, and separates it from empty action fare like Transformers 2 (I know, I know, let it go already… )
Woody Harrelson gives one of his best comedic performances since Kingpin. He is a classical machismo “badass” but he never stops giving us that sense that he’s basically just being Woody Harrelson, himself, which is arguably even funnier. He of course becomes the big-brother figure of Jesse Eisenberg, who is nothing more then a weak, scared, little wussy. Tallahassee is older, cooler, a hero archetype and externalizes all of his anger, so basically they are the Odd Couple in a zombie flick. In fact this might be the biggest flaw of the whole film, its mediocre character premise. We’ve seen these characters before and it’s pretty obvious where everyone is going and why. Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese’s script side steps most chances to make the movie’s themes and characters unique, not to mention all the technical aspects of the zombies them selves. However, all the sidestepping leaves more room for the comedy and the action, which in the end sells the movie as a cohesive entertaining whole. The characters have depth, we’ve just seen these depths so many times before, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The run time even felt short. It’s a movie review cliché but the flick doesn’t “overstay its welcome” one bit. If I’m going down the road of review clichés then I might as well mention that the flick is “just plain fun,” nothing messy. There is passion behind the need to provide light, hilarious, balls-out action-horror entertainment, you got to love that. It’s a rarity in theaters these days. Add to that a pretty good soundtrack (Metallica, Mozart, Van Halen, and Willie Nelson) and a rather cool teaser poster (the one without photoshopped actors.)
If it must be done, I’ll do it. Is Zombieland as good as or anything like, Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead? No. Not really. Zombies and comedy is where it ends. Perhaps one could say that Shaun makes fun of the slow-moving-Romero-approved zombies in much the same way as Zombieland does the fast-movers. However, Shaun is a romantic comedy with zombies (a Rom-Com-Zom), with a much tighter, better script and a smaller scope. Shaun even has a “we are them, and they are us” message, plus a dump truck full of homage weaved throughout, with fantastic editing and direction to boot. Zombieland is a straight up action comedy, a great one, but that’s about it… unless there is something I’m not seeing. So there Mr. Internet, I hope that satiates your craving to compare mildly similar films. Thanks for reading.