Zombieland (2009)

Shaun of the Dead has always been my go-to zombie comedy so I never really cared about watching other movies of the genre. Then eight/nine years ago I fell in love with Emma Stone which translated in me watching every single film she made. Zombieland was one of them, and, despite Jesse Eisenberg, it was love at first sight and now it's kinda replaced Edgar Wright's film.

The story follows Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a geeky young man trying to survive the zombie apocalypse by following a long list of rules he has created. On his way to Ohio to see if his parents are still alive, he meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a man who hates zombies and enjoys killing them like nobody else on a quest to find the last Twinkie, and they decide to travel together. While on their journey, they meet Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), two sisters who are heading to an amusement park nearby Los Angeles which is believed to be zombie-free.

Plot-wise, there's not a lot going on in Zombieland as the plot is extremely simple and uncomplicated, it doesn't have any surprising twist nor turn, and, to be completely honest, there are a lot of conveniences and it doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. It's its simplicity and its silliness though that makes it work. 

The characters don't have a lot of depth nor complexity either as they all are one-dimensional, cardboard-like characters. Yet, there's something memorable and likeable about each one of them, whether it's the neurotic geek who is probably afraid of his own shadow, the kinda psychotic cowboy obsessed with Twinkies, or the girl with the perfect hair, perfect makeup and well-thought outfit during the zombie apocalypse or her tremendously ignorant teen sister.

Columbia Pictures

The actors don't do anything new as they all play characters they've played before —Jesse Eisenberg is the only exception because he plays Jesse Eisenberg— but they share a nice chemistry and they are fun to watch, especially Woody Harrelson who gives a humorous performance as the tough guy who just wants a Twinkie and seems to be born to play this kind of role.

Ultimately, Zombieland is not a smart movie, one of those films that keep you hanging with its twists and turns. On the contrary, it's pretty simple dumb, but the cast, Bill Murray's funny cameo and the often black humour make for a pretty entertaining flick.

Train to Busan (2016)

TV shows, movies, comic books, video games, songs, they all have been infected by zombies which is great if you ask me since I love zombies. The problem is that cinema is saturated with these monsters and very often movies involving them are a let down which is why I avoid most of them. Train to Busan (Korean: 부산행 Busanhaeng) though has been on my watchlist for quite some time as I've heard great things about it --also, it's South Korean and they know a few things when it comes to making horror movies. 

Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), a divorced man who is always busy with work and has no time to spend with daughter Soo-an (Kim Su-an), offers to ride with her on the train (the daughter wanted to go by herself) to see her mother in Busan. But as soon as the train departs, a zombie outbreak happens and Sok-woo, with the help of another passenger, Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok), tries to isolate the safe front cars from the infected ones. 

Plot-wise, there isn't much new here. It's the typical and very simple zombie outbreak plot with people struggling and fighting for their survival --which is great as a more complex story could have been harder to follow because of the subtitles-- but it's engaging and compelling from start to finish. 

One of the reasons for that is the film's characters. Though they too are your typical zombie flick characters --there's the anti-hero, the brave guy, the coward, the young lovers, and so on-- they aren't one-dimensional as they usually are in these movies. It looks like they are at first but, as the plot moves forward and they start to interact with each other, we see their personalities and their growth, and it's impossible not to become emotionally invested and root for them. 

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The writer, Park Joo-suk, however, is not the only one who deserves the credits for that. Most of them go to the great cast. Gong Yoo is a very likeable and charismatic lead and effectively delivers the development of his character, a selfish, uncaring businessman who turns into the hero we all root for. Kim Su-an is very young --only 10-- but that doesn't prevent her from giving a great performance and being the emotional/dramatic core of the film. Ma Dong-seok too is charismatic as Sang-hwa, a devoted husband who is always on the front line to help the others. He also adds a little comedy to the film. Also worthy of a mention is Kim Eui-sung who plays a selfish man with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. 

Another aspect to love about Train to Busan is the action. It's executed very well, so well-choreographed and exciting. And let's not forget about the zombies. They aren't the slow, retarded kind, but very fast and very aggressive flesh-eater, like those from 28 Days Later. 

I had somewhat of a deja-vù feeling while watching Train to Busan though. At times, it feels like watching Snowpiercer. Not only both movies are set on a train, but both movies use cars to represent levels of the hierarchy of our society. Is that a bad thing? No, because both movies handle it well. 

Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)

Genre

Comedy | Horror

Director

Matthias Hoene

Country

UK

Cast

Rasmus Hardiker, Harry Treadaway, Michelle Ryan, Alan Ford, Georgia King, Jack Doolan, Ashley Thomas, Tony Gardner, Tony Shelby, Georgina Hale, Dudley Sutton, Richard Briers, Honor Blackman, Elizabeth Webster

Storyline

A gang of bank robbers fight their way out of a zombie-infested London.

Opinion

I've learnt about the existence of this film only recently and the title caught my attention as soon as I saw it. Unfortuntately, other than a very catchy title, "Cockneys vs Zombies" doesn't have a lot to offer.

Even though it doesn't sound half bad - actually it pretty much sounds like "Shaun of the Dead" which is good because I loved it -, the storyline is quite boring and the two "acts", the bank robbery and the rescue mission, don't seem to work well together.

Another issue with the film is that it's hard to get attached and care for the characters. Whether the attacks were successful or a failure, I just didn't care.

Also it lacks those clever elements that made "Shaun of the Dead" such a great zombie comedy, probably because the filmmakers put more effort into the title than they did for the rest of the film.

However, the film is actually well (and fast) paced, it does have nice killings, zombies make their way into the film early on and some scenes are a great fun to watch - like the slow paced "fight" between old men and zombies, or the zombie hooligans. And the humour, strictly British, is decent.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

Genre

Action | Horror | Romance

Director

Burr Steers

Country

UK | USA

Cast

Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance, Lena Headey, Suki Waterhouse, Emma Greenwell, Ellie Bamber, Millie Brady, Sally Phillips, Aisling Loftus, Dolly Wells, Tom Lorcan, Jess Radomska, Hermione Corfield

Storyline

The five Bennett sisters must try to protect themselves from the growing zombie threat, find suitable husbands for themselves, battle marriage proposals and unlikely suitors, and save the country before it's too late.

Opinion

I'm yet to read Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" - yeah, shame on me - but I sure know its reputation, and I have to say I was quite interested to see what kind of results blending such a classic with zombies, which I love, would have produced. I don't even know why I thought, even for a second, it could have been good.

Instead of being grotesque as I thought it would be, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is a bland "zombie/horror" flick where boredom reigns supreme. Seriously, it's so boring, it's hard to follow.

Even though I would never dare calling it is a zombie film, there is a zombie factor involved. The writers' brains, for instance, were probably eaten by a herd of undeads because the screenplay is rubbish. Someone should have told them that just putting zombies in a classic novel is not enough to turn it into a movie - and according to Wikipedia into another book.

The plot is more predictable than the Team Rocket always losing at the end of each episode, and there are so many plot holes it looks like a slotted spoon. And the zombies are intelligent and they have feelings too, and they walk among us without us knowing, and they have their own community. Isn't that crazy?

Unfortunately the writing isn't the only problem. The film cannot be defined as action film either. It is awful, and tedious just like the rest of the film.

The members of the cast also do their best to suck. But it's not their fault, not completely at least. The director is the one that deserves the blame, along with the poor script, because the guy clearly has no clue how to direct.

Expiration Watch: Wilder, Woody, and a Dead Chick

Short notice, I know, but among this month's expiring titles are two comedy classics and one horror classic in-the-making. All three will be gone from Instant as of Wednesday at midnight (8/1/13). So queue 'em up while you can...

Sabrina (1954)

Yet another classic Billy Wilder film bites the dust on Netflix. If a bit lightweight compared to some of the director's more well-known titles (Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment), Sabrina can still teach Hollywood a thing or two about crafting a genuinely funny and charming romantic comedy. Along with all the star power in front of the camera�Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden�Wilder is joined behind the scenes by co-screenwriter Ernest Lehman, who went on to pen classics Sweet Smell of Success and North By Northwest, among others. Bogie, in one of his last major roles, does seem old for the ascendant Hepburn (though not as old for her as Gary Cooper was in another Wilder souffle, Love In the Afternoon). But if you can get past such typical age-inappropriate Hollywood casting, there's a lot of fun to be had in this Cinderella-like tale of a chauffer's daughter climbing the social ranks to find herself torn between two high-society brothers�stuffy businessman Linus (Bogart) and younger playboy David (William Holden). If you've only seen Sydney Pollack's unfortunate 1995 remake, then here's your chance to see the story done right.

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New WORLD WAR Z Trailer Drops!

Oh man - this looks good! This is exactly what I am looking for in a zombie movie as running zombies really get under my skin. The anger really adds to the tension to me. The scenes all look really well thought out and nothing is missing in the special effects either. Enjoy the trailer!

And knowing that Corey Turner is involved, the 3D is going to be spectacular in this thing!

Here's the movie's storyline:
The story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (played by Brad Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.

WORLD WAR Z opens on June 21.

Paramount Officially Announces That WORLD WAR Z Will Be In 3D!

The only thing better than running zombies are running zombies in 3D and that's exactly what Paramount is giving us with WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt.

At the end of the recent Super Bowl teaser TV spot it's clearly revealed that WWZ will be in 3D. Since we haven't heard a thing about a native 3D production shoot, then it must be a conversion and these days the studios are doing great things with conversions, so confidence is high in that WWZ3D will deliver the goods.

I am hoping for a great time at the movies with this production. WORLD WAR Z 3D opens on June 21. Here's the TV spot I was speaking of: