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Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

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Old 10-03-09, 11:48 AM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

I just read David Walker's review here on DVD Talk. Looks like we all know a little too much about his showering activities now.

Last edited by Indy Jones Fan; 10-03-09 at 11:57 AM.
Old 10-03-09, 11:51 AM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

How much time has passed between the zombies taking over and the primary action in this film? I just couldn't help noticing that the power seemed to be on a lot in the scenes in the film.

Edit: The David Walker review says 2 months. Yeah, not likely to find power still on in very many places (if at all) two months after the collapse of society. Sorry to nitpick, just one of those things that always bothers me.

Last edited by jfoobar; 10-03-09 at 11:56 AM.
Old 10-03-09, 11:59 AM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

I agree with most people here. It was terribly fun.
4 stars.
Loved the extended cameo from one of my favorite actors ever. Great to see him bring the funny in here.
Wonder if he and Woody are friends after the move they did together in the mid-nineties?
It was too short though. Would have loved another 25 minutes of movie. It needed another big action scene in the middle of the movie me thinks.
But still, I give it a solid 4 stars.
Old 10-03-09, 12:00 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by Indy Jones Fan
I just read David Walker's review here on DVD Talk. Looks like we all know a little too much about his showering activities now.
Yeah, but it was a metaphor almost every man on this planet would identify with.

From the same review:

Right about now, some of you are probably saying, "It's a f***ing zombie movie, asshole! It doesn't need depth or social commentary!" To which I would respond, "The greatest zombie movies of all time--Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead--all had depth and social commentary." Hell, even zombie movies that skimp on the social commentary in exchange for humor--Return of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Dead Alive--have a certain amount of depth and story complexity that makes it more than just movie about the walking dead. But the problem with Zombieland is that it makes no social commentary, it trades depth and dimension for humor, and instead of seamlessly mixing the humor and the horror the way Return of the Living Dead and others have, it treats the two as separate elements. The result is a movie that is both horror and comedy, but seldom at the same time.
That's a good paragraph and I strongly suspect that I will agree with him, at least to an extent, once I have seen the movie.
Old 10-03-09, 12:18 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread



this is one of those movies you see over and over again and love it each and everytime and find something new as well.

what a lot of fun. saw it in a packed house and the giddy laughter that evaded even after a good sight gag or joke was absolutely infectious and intoxicating. people just kept laughing and giggling throughout, me included.

i won't say it is a perfect movie by any means, but it was just so much fun and done so well. it was cast perfectly and written beautifully. each scene flowed so well and just built on previous scenes magnificently.

finally, a great zom-com in the very essence of Shaun of the Dead, which this sits right under.

just great. for me- just about everything worked. only complaints would be what was mentioned already. i mean the sisters being so coy and smart about conning, but then to end up in the situation they did at the end was off.

even though i knew he/she was coming, i loved the cameo, save for the after credit stinger which i didn't think was quite so funny. but, his/her few minutes on screen was priceless and really worked very well. even though it seemed like it was going to happen, everyone gasped
Spoiler:
when he killed Bill Murray and you could over hear everyone with enthusiasm and laughter "oh my god- he killed Bill Murray"


just a damn fun time @ the movies!

Last edited by OldBoy; 10-03-09 at 12:21 PM.
Old 10-03-09, 12:22 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

All I know is that this cost only $23M to make.
Old 10-03-09, 12:37 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by devilshalo
All I know is that this cost only $23M to make.
that is excellent and should make that back at least 5 fold. and i can't believe, but so thankful they did get away with some of the stuff in this 'R' rated movie. maybe because of lack of nudity?, but the gore quotient was certainly on ultra-high.
Old 10-03-09, 01:01 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

The audience I saw it with was totally into it, clapping and laughing throughout. Interesting that while this movie has only been out for a day or two, people already showed up in costume (some as zombies, a couple as Tallahassee).

I think that with it being October and Halloween around the corner, this movie should have some legs in coming weeks.
Old 10-03-09, 01:30 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by Dr. DVD
I don't know if I need to spoilerize this or not, but
Spoiler:
since we never learn Tallahassee's real name, did anyone else get the vibe that one could assume that he might be Mickey Knox? Granted, the whole bit about how he used to have a son kind of shoots that argument down, but if I recall at the end of NBK Knox had a change of heart and decided he wouldn't kill anymore. Of course I really couldn't see Mickey Knox tolerating Columbus and other stuff the way he did, so doubtful. This kind of falls in line with whether or not Ordell Robbe is actually Jules Winfield or the character Sean Connery played in The Rock is meant to be James Bond.
I think it's way more likely that
Spoiler:
the pianist in Kill Bill Vol. 2 is Jules Winnfield than Ordell Robbie. Of course, that'd mean Jules gets killed, which is a disappointing ending, but I'm just saying. Ordell is a mean, hateful racist motherfucker, and Jules isn't.


Saw this at a midnight and had a blast, going back with friends tomorrow morning.
Old 10-03-09, 03:19 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

I missed the scene after credits...anyone care to shed some light on it for me?
Old 10-03-09, 03:52 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Post credit scene:
Spoiler:
It appears to be an outtake of the Bill Murray death scene. Woody Harrellson is trying to do the line "In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, 'Au revoir, gopher'", by Carl Spackler from Caddyshack. He can't quite get it and asks Murray for help, Murray kind of stays in in the scene but does the Spackler character and line.
Old 10-03-09, 03:57 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

could someone tell me what the song was that played right when they were going into LA for the first time? thanks.
Old 10-03-09, 04:27 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by chris_sc77
It was too short though. Would have loved another 25 minutes of movie. It needed another big action scene in the middle of the movie me thinks.
I thought it was the perfect length, any longer and it would have started to get stale... by keeping the pace brisk, it makes the film feel kinetic. I liked how there wasn't a lot of Zombie action in the middle, because that's probably what it'd be like - you'd find places where there really weren't a lot of zombies around. Thought Fleischer knocked it out of the park, with a lot of the stylistic choices just WORKING like gangbusters. Great cast, great dialogue and that cameo still has me cracking up. 4.5/5
Old 10-03-09, 04:37 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by mdc3000
I thought it was the perfect length, any longer and it would have started to get stale... by keeping the pace brisk, it makes the film feel kinetic. I liked how there wasn't a lot of Zombie action in the middle, because that's probably what it'd be like - you'd find places where there really weren't a lot of zombies around. Thought Fleischer knocked it out of the park, with a lot of the stylistic choices just WORKING like gangbusters. Great cast, great dialogue and that cameo still has me cracking up. 4.5/5
i agree wholeheartedly. didn't even notice the time and felt it had all the elements and moved along at a nice pace, not too swiftly so it flew by with a blink, seemed, really perfect actually.

which isn't to say i wouldn't mind seeing some more seamlessly branched in a DC if it has all the same ingredients and feels exactly the same as the theatrical with just some extra scenes of gory fun.

also, loved that they did include some heart into this. i really thought they would only go for the gut-busting gory goodness, but to include some emotion as well just put it over the top for me and hides just below Shaun of the Dead on my zom-com enjoyment factor.

Last edited by OldBoy; 10-03-09 at 04:40 PM.
Old 10-03-09, 04:58 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

I liked it a lot. Not great, but close enough for what it is.

However I strongly disagree with this being anywhere near the funniest movie of the year. Here is a list of movies that were funnier:

Extract
Bruno
Hangover
Observe and Report
I Love You, Man

There could be more, but these popped into my head.
Old 10-03-09, 05:21 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Loved the movie. Cameo wasn't nearly as funny to me as people made it out to be. Part of it could be that
Spoiler:
his death bothered me so much, since no one would be that fucking dumb to be made up like a zombie and go scare a guy with a shotgun. They should have just done it where Michael Cera walked in on them in the living room and just shot him thinking he was about to attack Woody or something.
Old 10-03-09, 05:31 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by Maxflier
Loved the movie. Cameo wasn't nearly as funny to me as people made it out to be. Part of it could be that
Spoiler:
his death bothered me so much, since no one would be that fucking dumb to be made up like a zombie and go scare a guy with a shotgun. They should have just done it where Michael Cera walked in on them in the living room and just shot him thinking he was about to attack Woody or something.
You know that wasn't Michael Cera, right?
Old 10-03-09, 07:01 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by BJacks
You know that wasn't Michael Cera, right?
I know I couldn't tell the difference. Someone needs to tell the actor also, because I don't think he knows it either.
Old 10-03-09, 07:58 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by BJacks
You know that wasn't Michael Cera, right?
Originally Posted by Sessa17
I know I couldn't tell the difference. Someone needs to tell the actor also, because I don't think he knows it either.
Too right. Either Jessie Eisenberg does a really poor Michael Cera impersonation or Michael does a much better impersonation of Jessie. I can't tell which is true...
Old 10-03-09, 08:58 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by Indy Jones Fan
Too right. Either Jessie Eisenberg does a really poor Michael Cera impersonation or Michael does a much better impersonation of Jessie. I can't tell which is true...
I would say that they do play similar roles in movies, but Eisenerg seems slightly older, more intellectual and verbose, whereas Cera puts more into the meek or dryly sarcastic elements than Eisenberg.

I didn't like Eisenberg in Adventureland, but I thought he was very good in this.
Old 10-03-09, 09:18 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Saw it this afternoon and enjoyed it quite a bit. I don't think it was *that* funny outside of a few lines by Woody, but just flat out entertaining. It felt longer then 80 minutes to me, but just the right length for this kind of thing. I kind of wish the girls did a little more or were just cut altogether for more Woody and Eisenberg, but oh well. The cameo also wasn't as great as I thought it would be based on all the good things I heard about it.
Old 10-03-09, 09:21 PM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by dan30oly
Just got back.

Meh.

It was no Transformers 2
You realize that's a good thing, right?
Old 10-04-09, 12:18 AM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by scott1598
could someone tell me what the song was that played right when they were going into LA for the first time? thanks.
anyone on that song? i know it wasn't an easily recognizable song as the others were. i've looked on iTunes for a soundtrack listing, but seems there isn't one as yet.
Old 10-04-09, 01:34 AM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by droidguy1119
I would say that they do play similar roles in movies, but Eisenerg seems slightly older, more intellectual and verbose, whereas Cera puts more into the meek or dryly sarcastic elements than Eisenberg.

I didn't like Eisenberg in Adventureland, but I thought he was very good in this.
I tend to like movies with Eisenberg or Cera. They play similar roles, but effectively, and I don't think either is copying the other.

Eisenberg was excellent in The Squid and the Whale. That was the first time I really noticed his strong acting chops.
Old 10-04-09, 02:52 AM
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Re: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009) — The Reviews Thread

Originally Posted by BJacks
You know that wasn't Michael Cera, right?
Of course. But, this guy was doing Cera's schtick to a T in this movie. I've never seen him in anything else so I don't know if he does it in every movie.


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