Zombieland

There are not a lot of zombie movies like Zombieland. Zombieland doesn’t try to take zombie lore to a new place, instead it uses the new 28 Days Later style zombie plague and fast moving zombies, but what it does do is play up the comedic side of life in the zombie plague and make the focus one that does not concentrate on the horror of the situation.

I loved the four main characters in this film; all were entertaining and well played. However, I am in love with Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee and Abigail Breslin’s Little Rock. Harrelson was expertly cast as a man-child, complaining, Twinkie-seeking man who finally found his skill in life – zombie killing. Tallahassee is hysterical and surprisingly thought out for a character that should just be quick remarks and brutal attacks. I also think my life may be complete now that I have seen the little girl from Signs as a shotgun wielding tough girl. Breslin is a phenomenal actor, one that I did not realize was already in her teens and I hope that she can transition into an adult star as she goes through these next few years because I think she will be absolutely phenomenal as she gets older and may be another Natalie Portman.

If you haven’t already heard there is a side-splitting cameo in Zombieland. I will not name who it is or who they play in the film but the cameo is one of the funniest scenes in the entire film – and this is a film that had me laughing from the first few frames. You cannot miss this cameo.

The one element that stood out for me in Zombieland as being what I will carry away from the film had to be the rules that Columbus creates for surviving the zombies. We are introduced to rule number one as the film opens – cardio. That’s right, immediately Columbus explains that the fatties died first when the infection hit for obvious reasons – they couldn’t outrun the zombies. Columbus scribbles down all of his rules in a notebook through the film and never shies away from talking about them. The film even pops up the rules as part of the image when it wants to underscore a moment in the film, like when Tallahassee should have followed one of the rules and limbered up before attacking something.

This is a movie that I want to see again. This is a movie that I think I would like even if I didn’t like the zombie sub-genre. If you appreciate well written, well put together comedies I do suggest you see and enjoy Zombieland even if it’s on DVD.

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writers: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick
Columbus: Jesse Eisenberg
Tallahassee: Woody Harrelsom
Wichita: Emma Stone
Little Rock: Abigail Breslin

Columbus: Don't be afraid to use your ammunition, that lady should have, would have, could have, saved herself. Rule number 4: Double Tap.

A Scanner Darkly

I think that Philip K. Dick wrote stories that simply resonate with me in ways no other stories are capable of; I do not know why it is his stories that fascinate me so much but he is definitely one of the reasons that science fiction is one of my favorite genres. Dick was paranoid about the government and society and his themes often dealt with personal freedom among many other things, but his works are phenomenal and the films that are based on them can usually be just as phenomenal. A Scanner Darkly is no exception to this rule and is a fabulous addition to the movies made based on Dick’s works.

A Scanner Darkly takes place in the undefined near future, a time where the war on drugs is predominant and the government is invading peoples lives in order to stop it. Bob Arctor is an undercover narcotics agent who is so covert that he and he co-workers don’t even know what each other look like, much less their real names. Bob is trying to shut down distribution of substance D, the current drug of choice but to do so he lives undercover and has become addicted to the drug himself. As he lives his daily life with his girl Donna and friends Luckman, Barris & Freck he begins to question his sanity and if D has gotten the better of him.

What I love about this movie is that one of the main themes is paranoia. When does paranoia became a justified fear? When is paranoia a byproduct of your lifestyle? How do you live knowing that paranoia is a part of the world around you? Dick does not use his characters to answer any of these questions, but instead just uses each character to show the audience a different aspect of this paranoia steeped life and Linklater lets the actors inhabit the roles in a way that makes them utterly real and would make Dick proud.

When you talk about A Scanner Darkly you must address the visual style in which the film was made. A Scanner Darkly is one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen. To create the stylized visuals of A Scanner Darkly Linklater shot the film with the actors, sets, etc. and then has the image animated over. The end results are absolutely stunning and bring an otherworldly resonance to the story helping to put A Scanner Darkly into a timeline of it’s own instead of setting it firmly in the here and now.

As a resident of Orange County I loved the fact that the story is set in Anaheim and Arctor is a sheriff with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. It was a treat for me to see and hear places I frequent in the movie, right down to the ugly plastic flower art on the freeways. This is my home, except I don’t live in a drug den – at least I won’t until Dick’s version of the future sets in.

I must commend Richard Linklater for creating a masterpiece of a film in A Scanner Darkly; this film is going to be a staple in my DVD collection and I must admit that as I have been working on this review it has made me want to put the DVD in all over again and watch one more time.

Director & Writer: Richard Linklater
Bob Arctor: Keanu Reeves
Barris: Robert Downey Jr.
Donna: Winona Ryder
Luckman: Woody Harrelson
Freck: Rory Cochrane

Bob Arctor: What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does it see into me, into us? Clearly or darkly? I hope it sees clearly, because I can't any longer see into myself. I see only murk. I hope for everyone's sake the scanners do better. Because if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I do, then I'm cursed and cursed again. I'll only wind up dead this way, knowing very little, and getting that little fragment wrong too.