Post by Chicago Jake on Jan 2, 2012 0:59:08 GMT -6
Late night cable movie, Ruben Fleischer's "Zombieland" from 2009, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Bill Murray as himself.
There have been plenty of zombie movies in the past. There have even been a few comedy zombie movies in the past, such as "Return of the Living Dead" and "Shaun of the Dead." But I'm pretty sure this is the first Romantic Comedy Zombie move I've ever seen. Let's call it a Zom-Rom-Com. I'd almost call it a "sweet" movie, like your parents might enjoy. You might even consider it a bit of a “road” movie, like Hope and Crosby might have made back in the day. If they were the walking un-dead, that is.
Which isn’t to say it isn’t gory! It has plenty of the red stuff, never you fear.
Basically, it is about a shy nerd (Eisenberg) who finds himself alone, and trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. But, more than that, he is also trying to find love. Hey, aren’t we all? And as tough as that is, being hunted by zombies is one of the minor obstacle in the search for a soulmate. Anyway, he is very much a Woody Allen type character; full of neuroses and self-doubt. He also has a litany of “rules” that he lives by, primarily rules aimed at survival. His rules form a major motif for the entire movie. Most of them are supremely practical, such as, “Always check the back seat” and "Beware of public restrooms." Good advice indeed!
Nerdy nebbish that he is, he soon hooks up with a brash and cocky zombie hunter, played by Woody Harrelson. This odd couple makes for an amusing (and effective) zombie fighting team. Then they hook up with a pair of sisters, and the romance angle comes into full play. As they wander the land in search of food, shelter, guns, and Twinkies, they eventually find themselves in Bill Murray’s Hollywood home, and meet up with the man Murray himself. This leads to some self-indulgent sequences that I would have deleted if I were the director, but some may find them amusing.
The romance angle follows the standard cycle: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to get girl back…. etc. But I won’t spoil the outcome for you. Suffice it to say that it is clichéd and familiar on one level, but fresh and interesting in the zombie context.
Couple other notes: there are no names used in this movie! Every character is known by the name of their home town, or the town they are trying to get to. I think this adds to the dissociated feeling of the post-zombie landscape; none of us are really ourselves anymore. The best we can hope to be is the community we hope to connect with. Also, Jesse Eisenberg is good here, but I had trouble NOT thinking of him as Mark Zuckerberg from “The Social Network.” Not that this is a problem; I actually think that extra layer of uber-geek made his character in this movie even more effective!
Classic quote from the film: “Nut up or shut up.” I wonder if I can find a way to work that into casual conversation?
There have been plenty of zombie movies in the past. There have even been a few comedy zombie movies in the past, such as "Return of the Living Dead" and "Shaun of the Dead." But I'm pretty sure this is the first Romantic Comedy Zombie move I've ever seen. Let's call it a Zom-Rom-Com. I'd almost call it a "sweet" movie, like your parents might enjoy. You might even consider it a bit of a “road” movie, like Hope and Crosby might have made back in the day. If they were the walking un-dead, that is.
Which isn’t to say it isn’t gory! It has plenty of the red stuff, never you fear.
Basically, it is about a shy nerd (Eisenberg) who finds himself alone, and trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. But, more than that, he is also trying to find love. Hey, aren’t we all? And as tough as that is, being hunted by zombies is one of the minor obstacle in the search for a soulmate. Anyway, he is very much a Woody Allen type character; full of neuroses and self-doubt. He also has a litany of “rules” that he lives by, primarily rules aimed at survival. His rules form a major motif for the entire movie. Most of them are supremely practical, such as, “Always check the back seat” and "Beware of public restrooms." Good advice indeed!
Nerdy nebbish that he is, he soon hooks up with a brash and cocky zombie hunter, played by Woody Harrelson. This odd couple makes for an amusing (and effective) zombie fighting team. Then they hook up with a pair of sisters, and the romance angle comes into full play. As they wander the land in search of food, shelter, guns, and Twinkies, they eventually find themselves in Bill Murray’s Hollywood home, and meet up with the man Murray himself. This leads to some self-indulgent sequences that I would have deleted if I were the director, but some may find them amusing.
The romance angle follows the standard cycle: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to get girl back…. etc. But I won’t spoil the outcome for you. Suffice it to say that it is clichéd and familiar on one level, but fresh and interesting in the zombie context.
Couple other notes: there are no names used in this movie! Every character is known by the name of their home town, or the town they are trying to get to. I think this adds to the dissociated feeling of the post-zombie landscape; none of us are really ourselves anymore. The best we can hope to be is the community we hope to connect with. Also, Jesse Eisenberg is good here, but I had trouble NOT thinking of him as Mark Zuckerberg from “The Social Network.” Not that this is a problem; I actually think that extra layer of uber-geek made his character in this movie even more effective!
Classic quote from the film: “Nut up or shut up.” I wonder if I can find a way to work that into casual conversation?