Zombieland was a movie I was highly anticipating. All the reviews out there made me want to watch it even more. People were saying it was absolutely hilarious, and some even made the bold claim that it was even funnier than Shaun of the Dead. While I like to hear this I was skeptical it could surpass one of my favorite movies of all time, and I think that it definitely failed to live up to the overwhelming hype that surrounded it for me, but it wasn’t a bad movie.

Let me first say that I liked Zombieland. I found it to be a fun experience, and it is definitely a movie you want to see in the theater with a big crowd. The film really benefits from a good movie crowd to up the fun and laughs. It just won’t be AS good if you wait and watch it on DVD unless you are doing so with a bunch of friends, and some substances. Oh yeah…substances are definitely recommended for such a movie if you are into that sort of thing.

Zombieland is pretty descriptive in the title. It is more or less just another zombie movie, but not a HORROR movie. It is and should only be expected to be, a comedy. It is set in a post-apocalyptic U.S.A. that got infested somehow, and has little if any real plot. It follows Woody Harrelson as a badass zombie killer driving a #3 (This is an homage to Dale Earnhardt, obviously.) SUV with body plows on the front truck grilles. Jesse Einsberg as his new found weakling friend (He is actually the main character and the everyman), and a sister combo they meet along the way played by Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin.

The effects are top notch so seeing it in the theater is a good idea for that aspect. Slow motion flying through the front windshield clips in the opening credits to their fun little way of coping with their “Zombie Kill of the Week” flashbacks. The way they incorporate their “Rules of Survival” into the scenes is also funny, and well done.

As a comedy, and as a zombie movie in general it isn’t as good as Shaun of the Dead. Let’s just say that outright to see what I was trying to compare it with going in based on reviews and overall hype. I found out immediately that it is more in line with a movie like Grindhouse: Planet Terror in the way it is presented. A lot of gore at times, and over the top action that tried to be unbelievable. I actually found Grindhouse to be more entertaining as well although it isn’t tehcnically a zombie/comedy movie .

Comedically it had some good one liners, and a few funny scenes, but to me it felt like they were just trying too hard the entire time to be funny. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t extremely funny at times, but it wasn’t side-splitting as most reviews would have you believe. I did laugh out loud probably 3-4 times, however.

The story was poor. Obviously a zombie movie isn’t going to have a great story, especially a comedy zombie movie, but the two sisters roles made absolutely no sense at all through the majority of the movie. The things they did were illogical (as people, not for a zombie movie), and the movie tried too hard to try and make them seem like some sort of awesome scam artists and outlaws, and it was silly. They were needed to move the story along in parts just to have a reason to tell the story, and throw a little emotion into it for the two main men in the movie, but it was just stupid at times.

Too long didn’t read version (for the general population):

Overall the movie is fun, has some good special effects, and a very good cameo that was even over-hyped to some degree. Once all the luster of “new movie” (IMDb.com ratings for new movies are always ridiculous. I wouldn’t go by this right away. I would expect it to land around a 7/10 eventually.) wears off I am not going to call this movie one of MY classics. Not something that I will want to watch over and over again like I was expecting with the concept and the people in it. Some people may find it in this, but it just didn’t cross into the realm for ME.

It is definitely worth a watch though and most people will like it. Considering the other crap out now this is one of the better movies for entertainment purposes, and is fantastic to watch with a good movie crowd (ie. don’t watch this at some douchebag arthouse and expect uptight tools to enjoy it.) Just don’t go in expecting an epic comedy classic. Just enjoy the fun of the crowd, gore, and laughs, and you will be fine.

Too long didn’t read version (for stuck up film nerds):

If you have high standards for movies in general it will disgust you in its obvious cliches in every scene trying to appeal to the general stupid masses, and nerds. This movie is supposed to be fun, but it was clearly made for the general idiot out there, the ex-teenage nerd, or the stoner that will be high enough to laugh at anything. If you can’t get over yourself and find comedy in these things this movie isn’t for you. If you want something that has a bit of depth, why the hell are you watching a movie called “Zombieland” anyways? That is your own fault.

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Haven’t been doing many reviews at all which is kind of silly since I have a Netflix account and watch about 4 movies a week. Just watched Hostel II the other day and figured I’d write a short review on it.

First off, I would suggest that anyone who hasn’t seen the original Hostel go there before they watch this one. It is far and away a better movie. When it comes to sequels I tend to hold the movie to a much higher standard than I did the first. The first Hostel was kind of a unique movie in that it was a sort of new type of story where backpackers in Europe are coerced into some sexy relationships by some hotties getting a nice pearl necklace and end up getting drugged and taken hostage by some rich fellas who like to let people pay them so that they can violently murder the poor backpackers.

Hostel IIis no different, except this time it is with chicks as the victims! That should be good news right off the bat eh? Well not really. When the girls are the stars one thing is pretty typical. Not as many nude scenes…haha There were a couple, but nothing to get excited about.

Anyways, the movie is almost exactly the same as the first, which from the outset is a big negative since you really want to see at least something new. The other thing is that although there is some pretty graphic violence the entire torture and kill part of the movie is pretty lame. The movie wasn’t suspenseful at all compared to the first. I swear the movie was as straight line as you could get and there was nothing in it that made you wonder what was going to happen. If there was a twist I certainly missed it.

The acting was “OK” I guess, but nothing incredible. I guess you can’t expect much from this type of movie anyways. It was directed by Quentin Tarantino so I guess if you are a big fan you will watch it anyways, but it certainly isn’t great work by him.

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I was excited to get this movie because I love the Ali G Show. I expected to see non-stop laughs and even rolled up a fatty for the occasion. Unfortunately this movie didn’t really entertain me and felt like it was entirely too long and pointless.

There were a slight few comedic moments, but mostly there was nothing funny about what he did. I wasn’t offended because I didn’t care what Borat thinks, or says. He’s a loser and so is the film.

I watched this right after Jackass 2 and it wasn’t close to which movie was funnier. Jackass 2 by a wide margin and it didn’t get near the critical acclaim this did.

This movie reminds me of Napolean Dynamite. I wanted to just turn it off and do something else. As much as I hated Naplolean Dynamite, Borat was even worse. Total disappointment after how so many people raved about this stupid movie. I guess the payola got handed out well for this one.

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This movie stars Robin Williams and Rory Culkin and was made in 2006. The story is based on true events. The film is about Gabriel’s (Robin Williams) romantic life falls apart he receives a manuscript from a troubled young fan (Rory Culkin). Despite his friends’ warnings, fragile Gabriel develops an unsettling relationship with the boy and his blind guardian.

This is one of those “WTF” type movies you see out there. I didn’t think that it was very well written myself and the story really gave away the suprise of what it was about I think very early on. It just seemed to have nothing to offer really to me. IT is tough to tell you what I thought was ridiculous in it with out giving too much away, but really the story gives it away pretty early on. There is actually another character who plays Culkin’s guardian that is more prominent in the movie which ends up being what the film is essentially about. That character is kind of a whacko and it becomes apparent about halfway through the movie that she is very odd.

The acting was very poor in this movie other than Williams. The dialog was very poorly written and it was just one of those movies that didn’t surprise you at all. This movie I guess could be put into the drama category, but it is listed as a Thriller most places I look. Believe me there is nothing thrilling about this movie. Nothing that is going to freak you out, or keep you on the edge of your seat by any means. You just already know where this story is going because they don’t do a very good job at keeping it a mystery.

This movie is probably a 2.5 out of 5 stars movie for me. I watched it because I got it from Netflix, but it certainly didn’t immerse me in anything and I could have shut it off at any time with out ever really caring what happened.

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