Film Review: Paranormal Activity

Every few years there is a film that is released to such an amount of hype that everyone and their mother is talking about it. This year is another one of those years and the film in question is “Paranormal Activity”. By now you have probably experienced the well done viral campaign either by way of internet trailers, television trailers or good old fashioned word of mouth, god know I have. By now you have also probably been told by countless people that “Paranormal Activity” is the scariest film ever. I am not sure what film all these people saw.

“Paranormal Activity” follows along with the odd, paranormal goings on of dating couple, Katie and Micah. Katie (Katie Fetherston) has a history of paranormal experiences dating back to her childhood and Micah (Micah Sloat) has the idea to capture the strange happenings at night with his nifty new camera. And capture strange happenings he does. Doors inexplicably moving, shadows on the wall, Katie’s weird sleepwalking behavior, lights flickering, chandeliers moving by themselves, all of it captured on film. If you name it and Micah probably captures it on film, including the tension that builds between Katie and Micah as the days progress and more and more unexplainable actions take place.

In a film of this nature it is very important for people to be able to relate to the primary characters and at the beginning “Paranormal Activity” seems to nail it but about halfway through the film, when the proverbial excrement begins to hit the fan Micah reveals himself to be an absolute jerk. Despite having visual and audio evidence that shows something odd is indeed happening he, instead of being supportive of Katie, actively does things to provoke Katie and make things worse (both in his relationship and the “haunting”). An argument could be made that Micah was struggling to believe that what was actually happening was real and it is a fair enough argument except for the fact that Micah continues to believe he can solve the problem himself even when spontaneous combustion, broken pictures and lizard like footprints appear in the house. At some point even the most ardent skeptic would have to give in.

I hate to be the film snob but “Paranormal Activity” fails at the key ingredient to any horror film, and that being scares. The amount of actual scares in 90 minutes of watching the film for me counted at one and that one was a cheap genre tactic that even the worst horror films can pull off. Much like “The Blair Witch Project”, “Paranormal Activity” attempts to pass off its footage as “real”. This can be a problem for the film outside of the first few audiences who see it that do not know what they are getting into. I actively tried to avoid any spoilers about the film but like “Blair Witch” before it, trying to avoid coverage of something as massive as the hype train for this film is impossible.

“Paranormal Activity” does do a good job of trying to establish itself as something different. There are no credits at the beginning or end of the film except for a quick copyright disclaimer and there are some neat camera and special effects work that really intrigued me. Director Oren Peli has studied graphics and animation and his expertise in that area comes through quite well as the tricks he employs come off on screen as amazing, unfortunately he may need to study up a little more on what makes a good horror film.

Peli has been quoted as saying he admires the slow burn approach to horror as in film like “The Exorcist”, “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Sixth Sense” and it is evident he tried to model “Paranormal Activity” after that pacing. There is nothing wrong with taking a deliberate approach with a film but there are other factors that play into the overall success a film has as a whole though. Unfortunately due to the way he chose to deliver his film (as “real” footage) he ignored some other key aspects of those films including good acting, storytelling and exposition. It doesn’t help that the film itself has some plot inconsistencies that actively took me out of the “experience”. I don’t want to spoil anything here but suffice it to say that I had major issues with the alarm system and the location where Micah says he finds a particular photo.

I love horror films. A good one really gets me going, with rapid heart beating, cold sweats, and adrenaline flowing to produce a natural high. I wanted to like “Paranormal Activity” but as a horror film it just doesn’t work for me. The film is far from the horror masterpiece people are making it out to be.

(It is however a technical marvel that I am interested in learning more about.)

2 out of 5

Friday Funnies

I’m really busy working on finishing up some reviews for Hooked Gamers but I did stumble across these videos today (while slacking off) and I felt they needed to be shared.

Enjoy.

more about "Cartman playing Rock Band – giantbomb…", posted with vodpod

Film Review: Saw VI

Over the last half decade a tradition has been formed for my friends and I, right around every Halloween we set out to the theater and take in the newest film in the Saw franchise. The series is very much everything that is wrong with the horror genre these days but I’m not going to lie I still find the overarching storyline to be quite enjoyable. From a personal standpoint the films have gone progressively downhill since the second one and I honestly was not expecting for “Saw VI” to do anything different and for the second year in a row, leave the theater disappointed.

For the most part “Saw VI” stays true to the formula it has built for itself. There are still elaborate traps that result in some grisly deaths. There is still multiple storylines involving the deceased Jigsaw, his wife, Jigsaw’s apprentice, Amanda, and his ultimate successor, Hoffman. And there is still one giant game to be played, this time focusing on the quite topical health-care industry and insurance in general.

Kevin Greutert took the helm for this installment of the franchise after working as an editor on the previous films. While it may seem that the Saw films could probably direct themselves at this point in time, Greutert does an admirable job at keeping the film focused and clear even with the multiple storylines and plot points spanning all the way back to the original film in the series. Greutert has the style of the series down pat and if any complaint could be leveled at his finished product is that it feels much to similar to every previous film.

With the loss of Jigsaw as the primary adversary the films since the third film have lost a step. Almost nothing in “Saw VI” really stands out. Sure the traps are new and they result in some amazingly gory scenes but it all feels like we have been there and done that before. What does stand out in the film though is the ending, which neatly ties together the Jigsaw storyline (and possibly actor Tobin Bell’s involvement in the series) and leaves open the possibility for an entirely new direction to be taken.

“Saw VI” is anything but original but it is also able to do just enough for longtime fans of the series to be more than pleased with the outcome. Let me make this perfectly clear, “Saw VI” is not going to change anyone’s impressions of the series. If you did not like any of the previous films you will not like this latest sequel. However if you are looking for more pieces to the ever evolving puzzle that is the Saw franchise then the price of admission will be well spent.

3 out of 5

Epic DJ Hero Unboxing

Today Activision unleashes their newest music themed game, DJ Hero and I have the photos to show you what is inside the box.

The generic shipping container.

A hero lies within this box.

Where the magic happens.

Instructions and power to make the magic happen.

The game itself.

It may not have been particularly epic like the title implied but the review should be, so look for that in the very near future.

Game Review: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

You would think that with “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” being the biggest Sony release of the year that a salesman at a particular gaming store would know what Uncharted was all about. Oddly enough though, when I went to pre-order the title a couple weeks before its release I was asked by an employee of this company what Uncharted was. After overcoming my shock at this individual’s ignorance I gave him the following description, “Its like Tomb Raider with a dude, but better.”

Obviously that description is very generic because “Uncharted”, as a series, is so much more than that. However I stick by that description because on a base level “Uncharted” is “Tomb Raider” with a dude, but better. So much better.

I have to confess, “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” almost slipped me by. I bought the game upon release but amidst all the great games that were released during Holiday 2007 it kept getting overpassed and sat in its cellophane prison on my game shelf for longer than it deserved to. Once I finally got around to it though the game shined as something special. A mix of “Tomb Raider” styled platforming adventure gameplay and Gears of War styled combat, all wrapped in a cinematic, Indiana Jones as played by Nathan Fillion, veneer.

For me, personally, the game stroked a nostalgic nerve the hearkened back to the days of my childhood where I was a great archaeologist (adventurer) hunting for treasure trying to stay one step ahead of the Nazi’s. “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” was not without its flaws though and in retrospect I may have been too forgiving of those flaws when I wrote my review. Regardless of if I was overly generous in my critical analysis of the game or not, there is little denying that the game was one of the best Playstation 3 exclusives at the time. There was little doubt in my mind that “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” would warrant a sequel, however I never fathomed the amount of hype “Uncharted 2” would have to carry on its proverbial back.

2009 has been a fantastic year for the Playstation 3 in terms of exclusive games. “Killzone 2” and “inFAMOUS” really raised the expectations of what games on the Playstation 3 could be and those expectations were of course painted onto “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves”. Hype can be a both a blessing and a curse. It can help to bolster interest and early sales but it also creates expectations that sometimes cannot be matched. The anticipation and expectations for “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” were off the charts and you want to know how it holds up.

If you are reading this review to help you make up your mind about purchasing the game, let me make it very easy for you. Buy it.

If you are reading this review to validate your purchase of the game, I’ll make it easy for you as well. Good job. Great purchase. Pat yourself on the back because you have bought one of the best games of this generation.

“Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” is a great game and nothing anyone says will change that fact. If you consider yourself a gamer, you owe it to yourself to play it. The game does what every great sequel should do, it improves on every aspect of the original while staying true to its roots. The game does a great job of acclimating both fans of the original and potential newcomers to the controls and after a few minutes of the game starting I was once again fully engaged in Nathan Drake’s adventures.

Developer Naughty Dog embraced the action-adventure movie motif for “Uncharted 2” even more so than they did for the original. The game starts off roughly halfway through the story with Nate waking up injured inside a train wreck that is hanging precariously off the edge of a snowy cliff. As Nate makes his way out of the wreckage Naughty Dog employs the use of flashbacks and non-linear storytelling to introduce (or reintroduce players as the case may be) players to Nate’s world of treasure hunting and lays out the ground work for the entire story. While not entirely original, it is a welcome change from the standard gaming story conventions.

The story itself places Drake on the trail of Marco Polo and his lost fleet and quickly spirals into a search for the mythical Kingdom of Shambhala. Of course no one goes on an adventure of this magnitude by themselves and Nate will find himself allied with a mix of old and new friends and foes as he follows the adventure on its course. The story is filled with all the beautiful locales, twists, turns and betrayals people have come to expect from the genre and it does so with what may be the best voice acting ever put into a game.

Voice acting is not the only thing that sounds great in the game though. Greg Edmonson, the composer of the short-lived television series “Firefly” and the original “Uncharted”, returns to score “Uncharted 2” and it may be my second favorite aspect of the game as a whole (next to Drake’s voice acting). It is understated and bombastic as need be but it is always there driving the player onward in just the right way. In many ways it rivals feature film compositions and in my opinion only the Halo soundtracks do a better job in a game.

Adding to everything is the games visuals. The game has some of the best graphics on the Playstation 3, or any system for that matter. Few action games have reached the level of graphical detail that “Uncharted 2” does. The locations that Nate visits throughout the course of his adventure are near photo-realistic and the expansive vistas are a sight to behold. In addition to looking pretty the game moves great as well. The animations are spot on. Characters never feel robotic in the least which adds a real human feel to their movements and the environments themselves have a lifelike feel to them which really helps engage the gamer.

The gameplay is a refined version of what was going on in “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” as “Uncharted 2” is still very much a healthy mixture of “Tomb Raider” and “Gears of War”. Everything has been touched up though. The platforming segments are decidedly better designed, the camera works more to the benefit of the player instead of as a showcase for the beautiful graphics and as a result camera influenced deaths are minimal. As great as it is to not get killed by missing a leap do to a wonky camera it is even better to not have to worry about shoddy collision detection when in a firefight.

The gun-play in “Uncharted 2” is much improved over its older sibling and while it is still the weakest aspect of the game, shootouts are now more balanced towards exhilarating instead of frustrating. Once again Naughty Dog gives players an armory full of weapons to use against your adversaries. Everything from handguns to rocket launchers are available. I for one found myself progressing through the majority of the game using the 92FS handgun and the M4 assault rifle but everyone should find a weapon that works for them. Just remember to engage in your shootouts behind some cover.

Using cover in these shootouts is a necessity and it too has been improved, depending upon how you look at it. Figuring out the strategy of moving from cover to cover was something the first game did particularly well, it added a strategic element to those sometimes frustrating shootouts. “Uncharted 2” is very much the same but with the addition of destructible cover which adds another wrinkle into the already frantic firefights. I personally had very little issue with the cover mechanic other than Nate attempting to take cover in the wrong position sometimes, leaving him exposed and with a poor viewpoint. I’d like to blame it on my poor gaming skills but I also tinkered with the cover mechanic outside of a battle and there are certain fixtures that Nate will only stick to one way which can be frustrating especially as you are being fired on by a team of mercenaries.

Shooting people is not the only way for Drake to take out the big bad guys though. One of the most fun aspects of the game for me is the hand to hand combat. Engaging in fisticuffs is both exciting, especially if bullets are flying, and fully satisfying. Knowing when to engage in hand to hand combat is something that requires split second timing and sound judgment because doing so at the wrong time could very well result in Nate becoming a bullet sponge.

In association with the hand to hand combat are stealth movements. When undetected Drake can get the drop on his opponents by sneaking up on them and performing a one hit kill on them. Outside of a few instances though players are never really forced to use the mechanic if they do not want to but utilizing it can help to make the game much easier.

The overall improved combat also makes multiplayer in “Uncharted 2” something other than the bad idea I initially thought it to be. Multiplayer in “Uncharted 2” is quite obviously inspired by many of the aspects present in both “Gears of War” and “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”. The modes are your generic multiplayer mode, like Deathmatch, Elimination, Capture the Flag (treasure), Zones, King of the Hill as well as a co-op mode that plays very much like Horde mode from “Gears of War”. There is a leveling and perk system (called boosters) and it makes for an interesting persistent gaming experience but what makes the multiplayer in “Uncharted 2” stand out so much is that the game is an action-platformer and the platforming segments have been added to the multiplayer as well.

Naughty Dog delivered on something that was at best a risky idea to begin with. While it is true that the Playstation 3 has a number of good multiplayer games, “Uncharted 2” is going to scratch the itch that “Gears of War” did for XBOX 360 owners and I have a feeling that gamers will still be playing “Uncharted 2” all the way up to the inevitable release of “Uncharted 3”.

For the most part “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” is a beautiful diamond, maybe on an engagement ring between you and your Playstation 3. But like many diamonds there are some flaws and while the stone itself may still be gorgeous, those flaws will always be there.

The level design of the game is near perfect but a couple of them just don’t work and I found myself wondering where I was to go next. One of these instances in particular left me with a very sour taste in my mouth. While being chased by a tank through a small village I came upon a point where my next destination was not clear to me on my 60 inch television screen. I ended up dying more than my fair share of times in this location and at one point actually shut the game off in frustration. I know I am not the only one to have experienced this either as some high profile and highly respected members of the game press have also lamented about this particular segment.

The other big issue I had with the game revolves around the end boss. While I have no intention of spoiling it for anyone, suffice it to say that after 25 levels and over 10 hours of gameplay that does so much to make you forget you are playing a game (and for the most part succeeds) the end boss is felled by a generic repetitive gaming convention that actually left me with a bad taste in my mouth when it was over. It certainly did not spoil the game for me but it did leave me feeling more than a slight bit let down.

Everyone has their own personal caveats so everyones experience is going to be different. These issues effected me personally and they may not do so to you. You may in fact find other aspects of the game to be flawed or you may not experience anything that grates on your nerves at all, I can not say for certain how you will experience the game. I can however say that from a technical standpoint “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” is a highly polished game. And if you, like me, grew up on Indiana Jones, Allan Quatermain (as played by Richard Chamberlain) and like game like “Tomb Raider” and “Gears of War” then you can do no better than “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves”. It truly is a fantastic game.

5 out of 5

Film Review: Law Abiding Citizen

The job of a movie trailer is obviously to entice you to go and see the film. I very rarely make my viewing decisions based on these trailers however, so for a trailer to convince me to head out to the cineplex is has to be something special. For most people the trailer for “Law Abiding Citizen” will seem like another generic thriller and honestly that is what the film is but the fact that Philadelphia, my home town, was the setting for the film really sold me on it. There is nothing wrong with being sold on a trailer provided the film comes through, sadly “Law Abiding Citizen” does not come through.

“Law Abiding Citizen” is a revenge thriller starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Fox. Butler plays Clyde Shelton, a man who witnesses his wife and daughter being brutally murdered during a home invasion. Fox plays Nick Rice, the hot-shot prosecutor tasked with trying the case. In an effort to maintain a high conviction rate, Rice makes a deal with one of the two murderers to guarantee the death penalty for the other murder. This decision obviously does not sit well with Shelton who makes an emotional, yet unsuccessful, plea to Rice to not make the deal.

Fast forward ten years later and during the execution of the one murderer something goes wrong. The execution, which should have been painless is decidedly not so. All clues point to the other of the two murderers as having been the culprit of the “accident”. As police are closing in on him he receives directions from a mysterious caller who helps him escape, albeit directly into the arms of Shelton who brutally dismembers the culprit of his family’s murder. At this point it does not take long for the police to tie Shelton to the murders and he is arrested and that is where things go off the rails as Shelton continues his revenge killings by offing everybody in the system who was associated with the case.

The mystery behind how Shelton is killing people while behind bars should be an interesting one unfortunately poor execution and a confused plot mar an otherwise great idea. Director F. Gary Gray (“Be Cool”, “The Italian Job”) never sets up the film to have a bad guy. This is the biggest issue with the film because the entire movie is set as a perilous game between Rice and Shelton, yet the viewer has no clue who to root for. Do you root for Rice who orchestrated a deal with a murderer or do you root for Shelton who suffered the traumatic loss of his wife and child but is now killing people himself?

Outside of the primary conflict being set up poorly the film falls apart completely over the last act. An anonymous source, that is hardly explained and all too convenient, cracks the case for Rice and Shelton makes uncharacteristic moves that make the ending seem extremely contrived.

To their credit Butler and Fox do well with what they are given but ultimately despite having two fairly strong leads “Law Abiding Citizen” does not work. Shelton’s goal throughout the movie is to teach Rice a lesson which he finally does learn in the last minutes of the film. My goal with this review was to teach you, the reader, a lesson. That lesson is to avoid “Law Abiding Citizen”. Hopefully you got the message.

2 out of 5.

Evolution of a Writer

Everyone has dreams and aspirations. Mine are to sit on my ass until I become the size of Jabba the Hutt and need a skiff to transport my awesome girth. Unfortunately that dream doesn’t pay the bills. So sometimes I dream of being a professional hockey player but then I remember that I am 31 years old, haven’t played competitively in over two years and have blown out my knee three times. Other times I dream of being a rock star but then remember that my musical talent is minimal at best (I can make noise come out of my instruments) and I sound like a dying cat. I do however have a passion for something that I have been told by people other than my mother that I have some natural ability in, that of course is writing.

Over the last few months I have started chasing after the dream of being a professional writer more seriously and aside from sending out resumes and cover letters I am attempting to put together an online portfolio of my collected published writings. When I talk of these writings I do not refer to the work I have posted on my personal blogs (like this one you are reading now) but rather sites that have requested and/or recruited my work for their sites. Some of my material is long gone, in the early 2000s I wrote film and music reviews for a site called the Soap Box which is no longer in existence, along with links to my published work. However a good portion of my writing is still out there on servers around the globe and I am working on compiling them for use in this portfolio.

Embarking on this is certainly an interesting endeavor from a personal standpoint. As you can imagine, it is weird to look back and actually see your writing style (and skill) evolve over time. Sadly a lot of what I wrote for the first site I am combing has been corrupted from various site changes and content management adjustments over the four years since my first work appeared on their site. I have however been able to salvage a small handful of critical reviews (if you want to call them that) for use in my portfolio.

But it would not be fair for me to just smugly tell you about these old pieces and then not allow you to read them, so have at it:

Saw II
Wicked
Nacho Libre
Cars

I also managed to dig up a couple other pieces that I find fairly funny from a retrospective point of view.

Damn Commies Strike Again – I hold a long standing belief that the state of New Jersey is a communist state and the actions described in this helped make my case.
Joel Siegel is a Dick – A piece where I call Joel Siegel a disgrace to film critics in something of a fanboy rant.

Hopefully, those of you that read my work regularly, can see the evolution from these pieces to how I write now.  (God, I hope they can see a difference)

Another piece, my 300th published article on the Philadelphia Metblogs, that I am not going to share with you directly, still rings true for me in a lot of ways. In that piece I presented a top ten reasons for writing there. This post tonight, is nothing special but I present you with my nine reasons I write.

9. From my couch I can mock the Eagles. I hate them so.
8. From the same couch I can cover the Flyers.
7. I get to debate stuff in a large forum with people, because it is fun to argue even if I do not agree with the point I am making. I like to be able to voice my opinion even when I am so obviously wrong.
6. I do it for the chicks. No, seriously.
5. OK, I lied about the number six because I am not getting any chicks from writing this stuff but if I was single I’m sure I could.
4. I’m able to increase the readership of my lame movie reviews.
3. I’m able to increase my readership of any of my rambling for that matter.
2. I get to hang out in the most diverse arena in the world (the internet) with some pretty cool people outside of my normal circle of friends and sometimes drink while doing it.
1. I do it for me. Because I love it.

-chris

Film Review: Whip It

Little known fact about me is that I grew up on roller derby. The sport has always interested me as it is a mix of the physical aspects of hockey, track racing and the theatrics of professional wrestling. A friend of my father’s was a professional roller derby skater (as well as a charter bus driver) and he would sometimes get us tickets to go and see roller derby matches. Watching men skate was always fun but the real thrill always came when the women’s teams would take the track. The ladies always glammed it up and played up their sex appeal to rile up the crowd, something that was more than likely lost on my adolescent self but I certainly got the feel that the ladies were the main draw and loved when they were on the track. Sadly roller derby went out of style and became more of an underground event and I lost touch with it. Leave it to Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore, two personal favorites of mine, to bring my long forgotten infatuation with the sport back into my life with the comedy “Whip It”.

“Whip It” focuses on the life of high school student Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page). Bliss leads an awkward existence, her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) pushes her to compete in beauty pageants while Bliss rebels and does everything in her power to subvert her mother’s wishes. It all plays out like many other mother – daughter relationships that have hit film, it all takes a turn though when Bliss discovers the existence of roller derby and is convinced to try out for the league by skater Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) and of course makes the team.

Ellen Page continues to prove that she is quite the talented little actress. Some may argue that she is playing the same character she portrayed in the critical darling, Juno, and to an extent it is somewhat true. I have, in recent weeks, been quite critical of her Juno co-star, Michael Cera, for very much the same issue. However Page continues to progress as an actress, giving flashes of something more underneath her witty, rebellious demeanor. Each film she does she presents a new angle and some added depth to her characters, making them feel more real in the process.

Enough gushing over Ellen Page though because she is certainly not the only good thing about this film. Through and through, “Whip It” is filled with fine performances. All the members of the Hurl Scouts (Bliss’s derby team), led by Drew Barrymore (both on-screen and off) deliver plenty of laughs but the best moments in the film (outside of Page) come from a quintet of individuals. Those being, Daniel Stern, Alia Shawkat, Andrew Wilson, Juliette Lewis and Jimmy Fallon all of whom deliver more than their fair share of laughs when they get screen time.

With “Whip It”, Drew Barrymore, in her feature film directorial debut, delivers a charming little film despite its rather generic themes. To steal an overused sports film cliché, “Whip It” has heart and that is really what drives it from being just an ordinary film. The relationship between Bliss and her mother is a strong focal point and like many sports movies, there is a lesson to be learned within but Barrymore does a fine job balancing the cliché riddled themes with heartfelt laughs and “Whip It” ends up being far better than it has any right to be.

The film is not going to shatter anyone’s expectations of what a sports film can, or should be but it will entertain you for its nearly two hour run time and sometimes that is all a movie needs to do.

4 out of 5

Film Review: Zombieland

One of my favorite horror films in recent years was the zombie horror/comedy “Shaun of the Dead”, which is undeniably a British film. Ever since “Shaun of the Dead” I have been waiting for Hollywood to do this type of film their way and with Ruben Fleischer’s “Zombieland”, I finally get my wish.

“Zombieland” is the story of Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and his journey home after the world has gone to hell and the streets are filled with zombies. Columbus has a set of rules that he abides by to stay alive but once he runs into the kooky Twinkie hunting Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) everything seems to go to wrong for the neurotic Columbus. Soon enough, Tallahassee and Columbus find themselves paired with the devious pair of sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), heading towards an amusement park in California.

Plenty of mishaps happen along the way and those mishaps offer plenty of laughs but the real humor lies within the dialog and the deliveries of Eisenberg and Harrelson. Both actors play off each other pushing their characters opposite characteristics to the extreme for maximum comedic potential. Eisenberg is the perfect foil for Harrelson’s over-the-top performance and they both create plenty of laughs throughout the course of the film. The biggest laughs though may actually come in the form of a second act cameo that I will not spoil for you here but be assured that the cameo offers some of the best laughs of this year since “The Hangover”.

The film could have taken the easy route and just go for straight slapstick humor but it does not. “Zombieland” is not all sight gags and funny one-liners, the film has an emotionally touching undercurrent that guides the characters towards their ultimate goal. There is some down and dirty character development in “Zombieland” and while they never become deep characters, they all are real characters that evolve over the course of the film.

The film does have its flaws though. For a film that runs a scant 81 minutes there are some slow points and pacing may be an issue for some. It is a shame because when the film is firing on all cylinders it is really good. The other issue I had with it was the fact that despite its title, “Zombieland” is a lot of the times devoid of zombies which I just found quite odd.

However you want to look at it though it is rare enough that we get a very good horror or comedy film, let alone a very good horror/comedy and “Zombieland” meets all the specifications. It is everything one would want in this type of movie and maybe even a bit more.

4 out of 5

My Top 10 Zombie Films

I am going to heading out to see “Zombieland” in very short order but thinking about the film has also got me thinking about my favorite zombie films. I’ve seen a good amount of zombie films, including Romero’s works, some cult classics like Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” and some not-so-classic films like “Gangs of the Dead”, but I am not exactly a connoisseur of the genre. I have yet to see Lucio Fulci’s classic “Zombie”, any of the “Return of the Living Dead” films, or “Night of the Creeps” and there are tons of others that I probably do not even know about.

With all that said, take my list with a grain of salt and let me know some of your favorite zombie flicks.

10. Pet Cemetery
9. Fido
8. Resident Evil
7. Quarantine
6. Planet Terror
5. 28 Days Later
4. Night of the Living Dead
3. Dawn of the Dead
2. Shaun of the Dead
1. Dawn of the Dead (2004)