ZOMBIELAND
RYAN: My new favorite film of all time is “Zombieland.” OK, just kidding.
CAROLINE: I had literally zero interest in seeing this movie and even made the disclaimer that I reserved the right to leave the screening early if it sucked. But it was actually kind of funny.
RYAN: My expectations were so low based on the trailer. I don’t mind zombie movies or horror flicks, but the fact that this is a comedy irritated me. I was prepared for lowest common denominator humor. And there was some of that, but some of the jokes were actually funny too.
CAROLINE: I laughed out loud a few times myself. I think the cast’s indie cred definitely helped. We all know Woody Harrelson of course, but Jesse Eisenberg is sort of an up-and-coming actor who played the geeky role perfectly.
RYAN: He reminds me a little bit of Michael Cera. Woody Harrelson, by the by, is one of my least favorite actors, but he’s actually fine in this.
CAROLINE: I’d say he’s better than fine. He’s hilarious! He made me LOL many times.
RYAN: Fine, but I just meant that he didn’t irritate me as much as I expected him to. Abigail Breslin, however…
CAROLINE: She needs to lay off the doughnuts. Puberty is not treating her well.
RYAN: She’s no Dakota Fanning.
CAROLINE: Emma Stone is adorable as always. Though she has a smoky eye throughout, which is a little unrealistic since they’re fighting off zombies for the entire movie.
RYAN: Yeah, they keep bitching about how they haven’t showered in forever but her eye make-up is perfect? Come on.
CAROLINE: I appreciated the little love story between her and Jesse Eisenberg.
RYAN: The gore level is pretty high though; almost as bad as a Quentin Tarantino movie. It was a little too much.
CAROLINE: Some of the zombies reminded me of the monsters from the “Thriller” video, with the goop dripping out of their mouths. I did not appreciate that. I realize it’s all done with comedy in mind, but it was still gross and freaky at times.
RYAN: The goriest part is the opening credits, which you missed most of.
CAROLINE: Thank God! I raced into the theater two minutes late to see a bloody, semi-nude woman wearing pasties running down a hallway. That was enough for me, thank you.
RYAN: There’s also egregious product placement in this movie, which irritated me. Especially that one scene in the grocery store – it was like product placement heaven. There was no attempt at hiding brand names or anything.
CAROLINE: I really don’t get why it bothers you so much. All movies do it, and they all need the money, so why not? Overall, this movie has a lot of funny moments, great pop cultural references and a brilliant cameo from a comedic actor we all know and love.
RYAN: I loved that scene. And I also thought the soundtrack was really good even though it’s a lot of heavy rock and guitars, which isn’t usually my bag. I’m not gonna download it from iTunes or anything, but it definitely works very well with the movie.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: I’m surprised to say I enjoyed this movie, but I did. I’m not gonna tell you to rush out and see it on the big screen, but if you stumbled across it one day on HBO six months from now, it’d make you chuckle a few times.
RYAN: It’s only 90 minutes, and even though it seems to be targeting teenage boys, it’s still decent. Not the greatest screenplay in the world, but it’s got a few cute, funny moments. Definitely a rental.
— RATING —
