And now for the continuing adventures of Andrew and, well, me. This time Andrew and I try out pubcasting, which for the uninitiated is when you sit down in a bar and record a podcast. Our first victims/subjects are writer/director Pericles Lewnes and Executive Producer Ed Bishop who are responsible for Redneck Zombies, which as part of its 20th Anniversary is playing as part of the International Zombie Summit here at the Flyway Film Festival.
Just got back from a screening of Zombieland and I don’t have too much to say about it. It’s a solid zom-com thought it is far from the best. The film drags early on and takes its sweet time getting to its actual point but it does have its share of highlights.
First, the opening credit sequence is pretty solid. And by solid I mean really freaking good. It will easily rank as one of the better opening credit sequences of the year and that includes Watchmen. No matter how much I see it, slow-motion plus people running from zombies always seems to work, and Zombieland makes sure to show you things you’d never thought you’d see in a zombie film.
Second, while the film drags for much of its second of four acts it really picks up its game when it introduces an absolute monster of a cameo in the third act. Epic in both the scale of the person involved and what they bring to the film. The cameo elevates the entire film and even when it ends it has built up enough momentum to power the film through a solid 4th act. This performance alone begs the film to be rewatched, and possibly even owned. Its that freaking good.
Third, at around 80 minutes the film doesn’t overstay its welcome, which is good because it feels a hell of a lot longer then 80 minutes. The film has its fare share of pacing issues, but once it finally gets to the meat of its story the film doesn’t fail to produce an entertaining and funny film.
Fourth, the audience I saw this with sucked. Their are few things I hate more then people who try and laugh louder than everyone in the theatre and this screening was full of them. yes, we get it. You know this is a comedy so you want to make sure that everyone knows how funny you think it is. So funny, in fact, that you will laugh at things that are not even supposed to be funny. That way, every one in attendance will know that you, and only you, truly “get” this movie.
So to sum up, Zombieland is a solid and entertaining film that should please pretty much any fan of the genre, even when douchebags in the audience try and ruin the film for everyone but themselves.
Zombieland opens at any theatre worth a damn on Friday, October 2nd.
When I started this column my main hope was to find interesting films that I had never seen before that I could review. I hoped that I would enjoy the majority of them, but I knew that in sampling such odd fare that it was inevitable that I would eventually encounter some duds. But I also held out hope, as naive as it probably was, that since I was watching primarily experimental films, that I would enjoy at least some aspect of these movies, no matter how terrible they might happen to be. I held out that hope until now. Until Mutant. I just wish this day had never come.
Two brothers, Josh and Mike (Wings Hauser and Lee Montgomery) from somewhere hip and cosmopolitan, are heading to a small southern getaway to engage in some much needed male bonding. It seems that have become estranged for some unexplained reason and this trip to a place that they hate, and hates them they back with equal fervor, will be the perfect place to solve all of their problems. That is, until the vampire acid zombies show up and ruin everything.
I’ve been trying to slog through Mutant for close to a month now. Considering I’ve watched any number of awful films in my day just what possibly could have made Mutant so difficult to sit through? The short answer is really rather simple. Everything. It is difficult to know just where to begin describing the failures of Mutant. It is the kind of colossal disaster that could destroy companies. Funny enough, Mutant did.
Recently I was having a conversation with a friend about the over saturation of zombies. Just when did they suddenly become cool? You seemingly can’t go more then a few weeks nowadays without running into a new zombie film out at the theatre, and zombie themed books are cropping up all over the place. Oh sure Jane Austen could probably use a couple of brain munching ghouls to spice up the prose, but what the heck are zombies doing in my Star Wars Universe?
But sure enough, just a few days after taking this stance my opinion was shaken with news that a zombie themed bar was opening up in North Minneapolis. Not just zombie themed, but inspired by Shaun of the Dead. As if that isn’t enough, the owner of the bar is Leslie Bock, probably best known for owning Saint Sabrina’s and the outstanding biker tiki bar Psycho Suzi’s. If anyone can pull of this kind of a drinking hole, its Bock.
As noted by the Star Tribune, these are some of the more interesting “accoutrements” of the new Donny Dirk’s Zombie Den.
•The floor is covered with casino-grade tiger-striped carpeting. Ridiculous.
• The walls feature brown, custom-made smoked mirrors. “Very hard to find, I might add,” Bock said.
• All of the booths and bar stools are covered in plush Vegas-style tufted vinyl.
• There are three deer heads (one was already there; she added the others for good measure).
• Hanging above the bar is a green neon sign that reads, “Undead Frank Lives.”
• Frank’s legend also lives on in one of the “specialty” drinks, a $3.75 humdinger called R.I.P. Frank (basically a shot of liquor on ice). If you want something a little fancier, try the Donny Dirk signature cocktail, which is the bar’s version of a chocolatey Alexander.
• This week, the bartenders began offering the “Weird Science” interactive cocktail, which is a drink you design yourself. Bock compares it to raiding your parents’ liquor cabinet as a kid. You write down the liquors on a note card, the bartender mixes it, you pay for it. If you like it, they’ll keep your card on file for the next time you come in.
Now if you will excuse me, I need to grab my cricket bat, some electro and head on over to the north side.
Just when I thought it was safe to go back to surfing through trailers (Bless you The Fantastic Mr Fox, Ninja Assassin and A Serious Man) along comes yet another [REC]² teaser that once again terrifies me to no end. If they keep this up, I might be too damn scared to leave my house and make it out to the cinema.
Thanks to Twitch for the heads up, and hopefully this film sees a release sooner rather then later as their still isn’t a US release date to speak of.
Flyway Filmcast - Pericles Lewnes & Ed Bishop (Redneck Zombies) [15:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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