I just watched this film not 20 minutes ago and I’m already wanting to tell everyone who firkin awesome it is!

The film is set in the present day after a zombie apocalypse. Pretty standard ‘zombie bites you and you turn into a zombie so run away form the zombies’ stuff. The two lead roles are filled to perfection by Woody Harrelson  the big tough “nut up or shut up” zombie killer and Jesse Eisenber the geeky video games player turned comedy side kick. Who along the way meat up with the femme fatale and her younger sister played by Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin.

I wont lie, the first zombie in this film terrified me. xD I knew what was going to happen, all the tell tail signs of a zombie were there but the gore… EWWW! It was one of those fast slashing zombies from Dead Set or 28 days later. Though after the initial screams it reached a state of comedy zombie and more woo shock factor than horrific AAHHH! factor. So don’t be afraid of this film, it has it’s horror shock moments then it gets on with it.

It’s not too deep but you empathise with the characters, it’s not so stupid that it’s unbelievable, and it’s not so serious that you get bored. It has a lot of “Holy crap did that just happen” moments of both the awesome and the hilarity types. This movie is very American at times and lacks some edge because of that. It’s a lot like Shawn of the dead in some ways but with out the Britishness. Some of my friends said it was better than Shawn of the dead, I don’t really know if I could go that far but it’s defiantly at the same level.

All in all, this film is awesome! Would I buy it on DVD? Maybe. Defiantly worth a watch while it’s out at the cinema though!

Cast

Jesse Eisenberg -Columbus

Woody Harrelson -Tallahassee

Emma Stone -Wichita

Abigail Breslin -Little Rock

Bill Murray -Himself

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Whats it about?

It’s about a news anchorman in San Diego, but not any ordenary anchorman, this is the Legendary Rob Burgundy! With his trusty news team Brian Fantana, Brick Tamland, and Champ Kind they dominate the male… Dominated news world until they have to deal with an old wooden ship called Diversity! Veronica Cornignstone joins the news team and makes her way to becoming First female anchor on network news shocking the current news team and ultimately leading to Rons demise. But all is well when Veronica finds herself surrounded by bears and Ron is reinstated to report the news!

Why is it so special?

This film is so well written, the jokes mature with age, slap stick scenes aren’t thrown in your face they are subtly triggered with seemingly sensible pretense that draws you in.  Stating the obvious has never seemed so cool. Overly emotional acting gives the characters a child like attitude to what they do making them easy to relate to, everyone has been a child, and on a base level, we all wish the world could be so simple to live it like a child.

Who’s in it?

Will Farrel - Ron Burgundy

Christina Applegate – Victoria Corningstone

Paul Rudd – Brian Fantana

Steve Carell – Brick Tamland

David Keochner – Champ Kind

IMDB Page

Whats your opinion on this film? Let me know in a comment below!

This week I’m looking to a more modern film, one only recently released in fact (well here in the UK at least). District 9, all I knew about this film is that it was si-fi, CGI and full of action. I was pleasantly surprised when that’s not exactly what it was. The story could have been told a million different ways with different subjects and different methods but the aliens, brilliant idea. It’s a story about immigration but with aliens. Shot documentary style gives this film a real life touch that makes it become believable. I love the interviews with co workers, friends and family, they add a whole new story and depth the the main character. The main character isn’t super cool and flashy, he’s an average guy excited about his new promotion and his important role that he will play in talks with the aliens. You probably know a guy who is like this guy, just a normal guy… Who has the worst day at the office ever.

On a more technical note, one of my favorite shots of the film is during the action, the camera is placed on the tip of the gun and you watch the soldiers roll into action. Possibly norsiating if over done this shot works very well and isn’t over used. Putting you right into the action and right into the soldiers point of view.

The CG (Computer Graphics) were fantastic, at no point did they seem out of place to me. I big mistake a lot of people are making is that CG looks like real life so it can release real life and look perfect. This was a mistake made in The Matrix 2, some of that just didn’t look right. In District 9 there isn’t much CG, or at least I didn’t recognize much. Some things you know are CG, but it’s possible to suspend disbelief if it looks good.

Overall District 9 was an awesome film, If not for it’s technical brilliance in making it all look so real but for it’s ingenuity in telling an original story.

4 Scratch Stars!

Whats it about?

Pulp Fiction is the story of the Hench men, it’s not about the big gangsta bosses and the cool assassins battling it out in a blood fest. It’s the story of what goes on behind the scenes of the gangster world, the day to day trivialities. Of course it’s strange and unusual goings on to use because we are not gangsters. But along with this is the story of another who is on the run from the gangsters. But not in the usual high speed chase fight scene way. In the way that might actually happen in real life. Full of unusual coincidences and classic lines that could be uttered by anyone of us at any time “You know what they call a 1/4 pounder in France?”. Really you’ve got to be there, but being there is worth it.

Why is it so special?

It’s slow like an old western, there are no slick one liners (though “Shit I just shot Marvin in the head” is pretty funny in context), there is no big action scene or chase scene. So why does this gangster story stand out? It’s frikin hilarious! Scene after scene gets more and more bizzar than the last. One minute you’re watching a messed up obscure rape scene followed by a totally unexpected “woops my bad” as something goes terribly wrong (don’t want to go into too much detail for those who haven’t seen it yet). The time line in this film is messed up, it starts at the end, ends in the middle and some one weave its way in and out of sync as the story progresses. Scenes appear and you watch along blindly and only later realise “Wait… This hasn’t happened yet?” your subtly told what happens after the end of the movie before you’ve even finished watching. Which is kinda magical and sobering when you realise you already know whats going to happen to the characters.

Whats this about the music?

All the music is original, from Quentin’s library, vinyl recordings of the the songs. I hear it was a pain for the copyright people but makes this film a perfect snap shot of the era it’s set in. The music will stand forever and with it the film will never seem out of date. A lot of films would have had new music created specially for the film to go better with the visuals and save on time/money with copyright. But Quentin seems to write his films to the music intertwining them which always sounds better. I’ve always liked a good sound track that worked in harmony with the video and not jsut been there to fill it out.

Review

This film is one of the first films that made me have a favorite film. As strange as it sounds it just stood out, made me thing more about the film. You can take this film at face value and have a good film or get involved and have a great experience. Yeah it sounds cheesy but that’s what movies is about. When you’re a kid it’s about the magic of the movies, when you grow up that magic is taken away with “maturity” (for most of us). This film is full of nostalgia for me because it made me change the way I thought about film.

Who’s in it?

Samuel L Jackson – Jules Winnfild
John Travolta – Vincent Vaga
Bruce Willis – Butch Coolidge
Uma Thurman – Mia Wallace
Tim Roth -  Pumpkin/Ringo
Ving Rhames – Marcellus Wallace

IMDB Page