Mini Munch: Zombieland

I shouldn't really have to say that to get in the mood for Halloween you should see "Zombieland"- it is not a scary movie and you should see it anyway. I guess it is fitting for the holiday though, there are zombie and lots of blood.

The story is simple. The infectious crazed apocalypse has already happened. Zombies are everywhere and humans are just fighting to survive to not become one of them. Columbus is our narrator- the characters are given names by the cities they are from- and he has found an interesting way to get by, based on his own set of rules. When he meets Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrleson, they decide to travel together by default. They are overtaken by two females, Wichita and Little Rock on their way to a theme park that is considered "safe". Along the way, they learn to stick together for their own safety and share how they each get by. For example, when Tallahassee gets really angry he takes anything he can find and tears it up. This makes for a fun scene when they all take out their frustration in a gift shop.

Without ever getting too emotional the film hints at how afraid and alone they all are, realizing that they only have each other in this crazy world. Characters fall in love and a new family is born, all while they each kill zombies to avoid getting bitten. The film starts off where most zombie films end and it makes for a different twist on the genre. A warning- the gore is intense in this film, but it is never frightening, just uncomfortable to look at sometimes. Also, "Zombieland" has one of the best cameos I have seen in a while, but no, I will not give it away. This film is so delightful because it never takes itself too seriously-it knows exactly what it needs to do to keep your attention, getting the audience to gasp and laugh at the same time. In the vain of films like "Shaun of the Dead" this film makes fun of itself, but brings fresh ideas to the living dead.

Box Office. Office Box.

I had many opportunities to get myself to a theater this weekend and yet every time I thought about it, I was not inspired to see anything. Perhaps it was the poor marketing decision of distribution companies to put out TWO sci-fi flicks- "Pandorum" and "Surrogates"- at the same time. Not only am I presented with two science fiction choices, I am left confused by their advertising campaigns because I have no idea what these films are actually about. This got me thinking about all of the times that this happens at theaters- the double booking. I really do not like this because I only want one option, I do not want to have to decide. In most recent memory this happened when studios released "The Illusionist" and "The Prestige" at the same time. Two films about magicians, both with stellar casts, both hard to tell apart. They were each good in their own respects, but why confuse the public? There is only a certain amount of information that can be given away in a trailer and it's not enough to tell films like this apart. What about when "Antz" and "A Bug's Life" went head to head? I know that it has happened more than this. As for the recent sci-fi releases I was just left confused by poor marketing. I know that they are very much different stories, but to make me decide between the two makes me have to pull favorites. Honestly, Bruce Willis is usually the immediate choice (star of "Surrogates"), but I wanted to give Ben Foster a chance in "Pandorum", but those were my only choices this weekend. This dilemma along with lack of excitement for either of the titles left me skipping the theater to catch up on the pile of DVDs that I have at home.

This week, I get "Zombieland", the Cohen brother's new film "A Serious Man" and Drew Barrymore's directorial debut "Whip It". If I get to the theater on Thursday night for zombies, I think I can squeeze in a quirky drama, a cute rollerskating film or maybe one of the sci-fi titles by the latter end of the weekend. Now that is a stellar weekend at the movies. Different films for different moods and different people. What film will you go to?